Is the LATimes trying to turn Obama into a pinata on NAFTA?
Just 15 seconds on google, let alone Lexis or any other of the databases they have access to, would have told them that this story has been discredited. Yet they take what was originally reported as a phone call and elevate it to the status of a "memo" without reporting the story's history.
Outrage, pictures, after the jump.
LATimes slings mud on behalf of Clinton campaign?
During a debate last week, both candidates pledged to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement to add protections for U.S. workers and for the environment. But Clinton's campaign cited a memo about a meeting between a senior Obama economic advisor, Austan Goolsbee, and consulate officials in Chicago reassuring the Canadians not to take Obama's message "out of context" and to view it "as more about political posturing than a clear articulation of policy plans."
The memo was written by a Canadian official. Goolsbee, a University of Chicago economist, has disputed its accuracy, as has the Obama campaign.
http://www.latimes.com/...
Here's a close-up from a screen capture of today's online edition:
(link to larger version)
Here's the CTV story at the heart of the controversy. Note that word "memo" is never used:
Here's one reaction from the Canadian Government:
A spokesman for the Canadian Embassy to the United States, Tristan Landry, flatly denied the CTV report that a senior Obama aide had told the Canadian ambassador not to take seriously Obama's denunciations of NAFTA.
"None of the presidential campaigns have called either the ambassador or any of the officials here to raise NAFTA," Landry said.
He said there had been no conversations at all on the subject.
"We didn't make any calls, they didn't call us," Landry said.
"There is no story as far as we’re concerned," he said.
http://www.politico.com/...
Here's the Goolsbee denial:
The memo that has now emerged, which was widely distributed within the Canadian government, was written by Joseph DeMora, who works at the Canadian consulate in Chicago, The Associated Press reported Monday.
DeMora wrote the memo after a Feb. 8 meeting with Goolsbee and Canada's consul general in Chicago, Georges Rioux.
But Goolsbee denied the comments in a response to The Associated Press.
"This thing about 'it's more about political positioning than a clear articulation of policy plans,' that's this guy's language,'' Goolsbee said of DeMora.
"He's not quoting me. I certainly did not use that phrase in any way."
The document, which is more than 1,300 words, is the first public confirmation that a meeting took place.
http://www.ctv.ca/...
And from the Canadian Embassy, which is a source you think the LATimes might have checked in with:
The Canadian Embassy and our Consulates General regularly contact those involved in all of the Presidential campaigns and, periodically, report on these contacts to interested officials. In the recent report produced by the Consulate General in Chicago, there was no intention to convey, in any way, that Senator Obama and his campaign team were taking a different position in public from views expressed in private, including about NAFTA. We deeply regret any inference that may have been drawn to that effect.
The people of the United States are in the process of choosing a new President and are fortunate to have strong and impressive candidates from both political parties. Canada will not interfere in this electoral process. We look forward, however, to working with the choice of the American people in further building an unparalleled relationship with a close friend and partner.
http://geo.international.gc.ca/...
(hat tip to joy sinha and bettertogether)
So, to recap, we have the Clinton campaign's original charges, which alleged a phone call from the Obama campaign and now, according to the LATimes we have a "memo". There's a big difference between the two. One is an allegation that requires a wiretap to prove. The other is a literal smoking gun, aimed at the Obama campaign. Is this attempt to throw gasoline on smoking coals on the eve of two crucial primaries? Is it also a transparent attempt to pull Hispanic voters who are disenchanted with NAFTA away from the Obama campaign
Well, over here at KOS, we report and you truly do decide. See you in the comments.