AP's Ron Fournier To Karl Rove: "Keep Up The Fight"

Via Talking Points Memo: the House Oversight Committee has unearthed a key quote from the 50-page report on Pat Tillman - the former Arizona Cardinals star killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan under circumstances that the military labored to conceal from Tillman's family - and Jessica Lynch, who was caught up in some Iraq War mythmaking of her own.

On page 21 of the report, the committee reprints an email exchange between Ron Fournier - then a reporter for the Associated Press, now the head of the AP's Washington bureau - and Bush's chief adviser Karl Rove:

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."

An email to Fournier, seeking clarification on what "fight" he thought Rove was engaged in at the time, was not returned.

***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

[LaFeminazi]

Smell that sea air, life is good.

The sound of stock markets crashing is a sheer joy.

See McCain no whining here.

Gawd I love it when GSE's become nationalised its so Capitalistic.

;)

[LaFeminazi]

Smell that sea air, life is good.

The sound of stock markets crashing is a sheer joy.

See Mc--Cain no whining here.

Gawd I love it when GSE's become nationalised its so Capitalistic.

;)

[ZHarris]

Your comments on Government Sponsored Enterprises is certainly breezy this morning...

[LaFeminazi]

Oh whats a few trillion here and there between taxpayers.

tra-la-la!

[uvymopkq]

Go Carl...goo­d job!

[watcher269]

It's not "Carl" It's Karl Kristian Rove!

[lornejl]

Anyone got a copy of the new word filter ? I could save myself a lot of time typing.

[Imzadi]

LOL!!!

[kay]

"lorax", "lornejl",­......

[LaFeminazi]

@@@@@@ @@ @@@@@@ @@@@@@ @@@@@

Oh pretty

;)

[ZHarris]

@ @
o
__
/

[lornejl]

Hey, that is pretty, although some might find it offensive.

[sassafra]

the word filter and moderation is just getting stupid here. it went stupid as a reaction to billo's harping on some of the more extreme commenters posts. i still have a problem with huffpost over filtering posts due to its being intimidated by the likes of billo.

[lornejl]

Almost anything crappy can be traced back to a repub.

[AliHajiSheik]

I can translate.

"I regret that you discovered I took part in a massive propoganda campaign, and that there is a nefarious motive behind my articles critical of Obama."

[jahzilla]

Follow the money.

[TrueBlue]

He also said he regrets the breezy nature of his cheerleading for the War in Iraq.

How does our country continue to produce "journalists" like this? And why do they keep moving up the ladder?

[BushBites]

Because the people on top of the Corporate Media are all Rich Repubs who want to keep their tax breaks.

[LaFeminazi]

FTSE 100 5,180.50 -119.90 -2.26%

DAX 6,046.17 -154.08 -2.49%

CAC 40 4,061.91 -80.62 -1.95%

Nikkei 225 12,754.56 -255.60 -1.96%

Hang Seng 21,174.77 -839.69 -3.81%

Straits Times 2,830.75 -73.37 -2.53%

USD to JPY 104.74 ¥

USD to EUR 0.6248 €

Light sweet crude for August delivery was up US$1.11 at US$146.29


Good morning, ready for another fine day of bear markets, falling banks, tumbling dollar and oil high enough to cause split ends?

All we need is for George to give another economy talk today.

[Imzadi]

What does that have to do with THIS article?

[LaFeminazi]

I was being positive, and actually its far more important.

[LaFeminazi]

Oh and good morning to you to.

[alaintex]

What a giddy tone.

[LaFeminazi]

Its a wonderful day.

[truthyguy]

Rove asked, "How does our country continue to produce men and women like this?"

Obviously Rove would have to ask this since he never was in the armed services or conducted himself with any semblance of honor, ethics and morals.

[jking]

Funny that. You can always count on a story that looks curiously pro-Republican having an AP tag on it.

Like just yesterday: "Bush Trumps Congress and Orders Off-Shore Drilling." Wow. He's so tough!

Of course, the article quickly points out that his action is a nullity without Congressional action.

That would not be "trumping" anything, would it?

Or you can depend on a steady diet of other important lies:

"The wiretapping program pits the fight against terror against civil liberties.­" Uh, no, the pathological liar in the White House says it's part of the "fight against terror," and as we know, this is not even conceivably true.

"The wiretapping program began after 9/11." Yeah, sometimes they even get this lie into the same sentence as the previous one. It began before 9/11. Good thing 9/11 came along to legitimate it, right?

[kay]

Sidoti: “As you mentioned, Ron, myself, and a couple of other AP reporters, we spend quite a bit of time with you on the back of the Straight Talk Express asking you questions, and what we’ve decided to do today was invite everyone else along on the ride. We even brought you your favorite treat.” (hands McCain a box of doughnuts)

McCain: “Let’s see if we got the right kind. I’m very discriminating. Oh yes! Dunkin’ Donuts with sprinkles!”

Sidoti: “Dunkin’ Donuts with sprinkles!”…

(applause from the audience of AP reporters)

Sidoti: “A little coffee, with a little cream, and a little sugar.”

Sounds like a parody, right?

There's video. It's not.

[donttasemebro]

Lobbyist offered access to Dick Cheney and other US leaders in return for a donation to the Bush library. (Caught on tape)

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article4322719.ece

[TiffanyHusseinBanned]

Watching Morning Hoe

Gee I think O should take the advice of Harold Ford Jr.

Isn't Harold Ford Jr. one of those losers who knows how to win? That's the best kind of loser if you ask me.

[lornejl]

He's a hot shot with the DLC, the cancer of the dem party.

[k6007]

Watching morning hoe---(instrument used to spread manure)

How can you stand it, aren't you afraid of going blind?

[watcher269]

Another story about Karl Marx Kristian Rove - the fugitive who ignores congressional subpoenas and thinks he's above the LAW - where's the warrant for his arrest?

[watcher269]

Hmmmm, 1 million people on the Terrorists list - 1 million iPhones sold - Hmmmmmm.

[eahce]

when does the round up start.