AP Bureau Chief To Rove: "Keep Up The Fight"

Buried in a 50-page report titled "Misleading Information From The Battlefield" on Pat Tillman and Jessica Lynch is this nugget:

"Karl Rove exchanged e-mails about Pat Tillman with Associated Press reporter Ron Fournier, under the subject line "H-E-R-O." In response to Mr. Fournier's e-mail, Mr. Rove asked, "How does our country continue to produce men and women like this," to which Mr. Fournier replied, "The Lord creates men and women like this all over the world. But only the great and free countries allow them to flourish. Keep up the fight."

Fournier is now the AP's Washington Bureau Chief.

***UPDATE 8:24pm ET, July 14, 2008***

In a story that crossed on the AP wires, Fournier is quoted as saying he was simply interacting with a source in the course of his duties as a political reporter, and regrets the "breezy nature of the correspondence."

From the AP story:

The committee cited one exchange between White House political chief Karl Rove and Ron Fournier, then a political reporter for The Associated Press.

In a chain under the subject line "H-E-R-O," Rove replied to an e-mail from Fournier by saying, "How does our country continue to produce men and women like this?"

Fournier replied, "The Lord creates men and women like this all over the world. But only the great and free countries allow them to flourish. Keep up the fight."

Fournier, now the AP's acting Washington bureau chief, said Monday: "I was an AP political reporter at the time of the 2004 e-mail exchange, and was interacting with a source, a top aide to the president, in the course of following an important and compelling story. I regret the breezy nature of the correspondence."

Comments

[lizr]

New York times staff can't have bumper stickers and this AP Bureau Chief fraternizes with terrorists like Rove.

[levibatgirl]

The AP guzzling the right wing kool-aid.

[bmsrosmuc]

It had become increasingly obvious that there was an infection of the rove, bush, cheney spin throughout the MSM that gets it's base information from the ap. The tilt throughout this election cycle has only made it even clearer!

That's why we need MORE of the HUFFO POST, TPM, The NATION, DAILY KOS, CARPETBAGGER, THINK PRGRESS, ETC!

[01202009]

Did Fox News take over the AP?

[ugmold]

No,
That would be the CFR

[The Hedonistic Pleasureseeker]

How's Karl's overseas "vacation" going? For such a "great guy" Karl appears to be running from something.

[Zhonni]

There's no surprise the AP has been showing its bias in subtle but multiple ways. I realized they were beholden to the Republicans a while ago.

[WhiteDelyte]

he is not a hero.
his story is one of tragedy.
just like ALL the other Americans who have needlessly been killed, crippled, traumatized, brutalized, or will have to spend time in any VA hospital.

Support the Troops....then bring them home!

[NickNas]

NOW we know why the AP has been so bias now. Ths AP USED to be just straight news...I see we can't trust ANYONE anymore.

[davidwparker]

So much for LIBERAL bias in the press.

[Susanfrom29]

Certainly explains a lot.

[yesyesyes]

Unfortunately our once great country did not allow him to flourish. Keep up the fight indeed.

[MVPOnline]

This is why HuffPo (and its readers) should be careful about posting anything regarding American Politics (especially the upcoming elections) coming from AP.

Anything that comes from the AP should be treated as suspect, and checked against actual facts.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

A clear instance of Four-play by the brilliant Mr. Rove.

[kissmygrits]

This goes a long way to explaining the AP's sad excuse for journalism lately.

[OgreDaddy]

Of course, we have yet another right winger Bush watchdog keeping a lid on the real news.

This is how the "official" AP newswire RELEASE of information is controlled.

It shows us all a clear division between true investigative journalism
and sanitized, agenda driven talking points propaganda.

This is a disgrace to everything the framers fought for.

[Sioen]

It's long past time for the MSM to give up the charade of "objectivity." No one is objective; everyone has opinions -- it's just that the MSM lie to us by not telling us where they stand. If they would make public where they are coming from, we could weigh that against their work and be able to be alert for bias (subtle and otherwise).