SF Chronicle's & S Diego Union-Trib's takes on KALOOGIAN PHOTO INCIDENT:

[Nothing Without Hope]

LET'S HOPE THOSE CALIFORNIA READERS ARE SEEING KALOOGIAN FOR WHAT HE IS: A LYING SLIMEBALL BUSH ENABLER.

SF Chronicle (the article also links to photos, including one up at Wikipedia (and posted in the OP of this thread with the thread where it was shown) with the various glaring inconsistencies of the photo helpfully labeled:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/03/30/BAGD9I0HQP1.DTL
CAMPAIGN 2006

Candidate admits 'stupid' Web error
Conservative uses photo of Turkey, calls it Baghdad

Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer
Thursday, March 30, 2006

(snip)

The candidate said he hadn't recognized the error because "the military asked us to use our discretion and put things on the Internet that were nondescriptive ... (because) if we posted something that was easily identifiable, it could be a target."

The news could affect the 50th District election to replace Cunningham, now serving an eight-year federal prison term for bribery and corruption. The election in the Republican-dominated area has been a combative slugfest -- with 14 Republicans battling for their party's nomination.

Markos Moulitsas, the Berkeley-based founder of the Daily Kos, wrote in an e-mail to The Chronicle: "That this photo was recognized as a fake was amazing. That someone actually tracked down another photo of that very street corner in an obscure suburb of Istanbul, Turkey, is downright mind-boggling.

"The political landscape changes dramatically when you have hundreds of thousands of people doing real-time research into campaigns and candidates,'' Moulitsas said. "In years past, people would've taken Kaloogian at his word that the photo in an e-mail was from Baghdad."

(snip)

And the San Diego Union-Tribune, traditionally a more conservative paper. (This article linked to a captioned screenshot of a Talking Points Memo post showing a side-by-side comparison of Kaloogian's photo with an "authentic" one taken of the same Istanbul intersection - http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20060330-9999-7m30photo.html#name) :

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20060330-9999-7m30photo.html
Politics

Photo by candidate not taken in Baghdad

By Bill Ainsworth
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
March 30, 2006

SACRAMENTO – During his congressional campaign, Howard Kaloogian has portrayed himself as an aggressive conservative willing to go the extra mile, or in this case, 7,000 miles, to show that the war in Iraq is going well.

But a funny thing happened on the way back from Baghdad – at least according to Kaloogian: His group stopped in Istanbul, their pictures got confused and now he's at the center of a national Internet photo scandal.

(snip)

Kaloogian's explanation that it was an innocent mix-up isn't being bought by bloggers across the nation who uncovered the bogus photo.

Some of them believe he's guilty of what he's accused the mainstream media of doing: slanting the news to fit his own beliefs.

(snip)

Also see this DU thread list on the Kaloogian photo incident:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x797943
thread title (3-30-06 GD): KALOOGIAN PHOTO THREAD LIST and the perfect Tom Tomorrow CARTOON:

cross-posted in the Research Forum:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=358x3488
thread title (3-30-06 Research Forum): KALOOGIAN PHOTO THREAD LIST and the perfect Tom Tomorrow CARTOON

[nicknameless]

1. An "error"?

Looked like a lie to me. :eyes:

[ronnykmarshall]

2. Has he taken it off his website?

What spin has the Repug put on this?

[rodeodance]

3. the Dem motto should be: Can we trust him?

[Nothing Without Hope]

4. he says it's just a mistake, photos got mixed up, it's a staffer's fault,

and it's been removed from his web site. He's sent an email to his supporters railing against the liberal media and bloggers for this awful attack. Will they believe him?

See the thread list for more:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x797943
thread title (3-30-06 GD): KALOOGIAN PHOTO THREAD LIST and the perfect Tom Tomorrow CARTOON:

edited to add: be sure to go to the original Union-Trib piece and read the last 5-6 paragraphs, which I've not posted here because of copyright rules. They NAIL him on past incidents of self-serving lying, and NOT reported by the "left wing."

[maveric]

5. Isnt "Kaloogian" Armenian? Using a pic from Turkey?

Hmmmmmmm...???

[Nothing Without Hope]

6. ***BE SURE TO READ THE LAST FEW PARAGRAPHS OF THE UNION-TRIB PIECE***

THEY ARE NOT POSTED HERE - GO TO THE ORIGINAL PAGE AND READ THEM. It reports other incidents of self-serving lies by Kaloogian, reported by OTHER THAN the "left wing." If I could post more than 4 paragraphs, I'd include them. Don't miss them!

[Nikki Stone1]

11. No kidding! Great stuff

What a scum! Thank you.

[Old and In the Way]

7. Open Source Journalism at its finest.

Started with a hunch, then a whole lot of people adding circumstantial evidence to corroborate the hypothesis, then some digging for hard evidence, some blind alleys, then the proof. All in 24 hours. This would have taken 2 weeks for a news staff to run down leads in the traditional process.

Really an interesting case study for investigative journalism.

[Nothing Without Hope]

8. So true, and various professors have been cited to say exactly this.

For example, the SF Chron article cites Barbara O'Connor, professor of political communication at Cal State Sacramento: "It's a warning. These campaign sites are fair game for anyone -- and if you put it up, you better be prepared to defend it. ... And that's as it should be.''

Elsewhere the article refers to the "unforgiving transparency of political campaigns in the Internet age."

The entire unfolding of the incident was, as you say, a most interesting case study. We should take heart at this sign that we are not without our own power. Finding and exposing the truth does still matters.

[Nothing Without Hope]

9. Here's a link/excerpt for the GOP-friendly Wash Post version of the story:

It's an Associated Press story and is very friendly to Kaloogian, far more so than the San Diego Union-Tribune. Note that unlike the SF Chron and the SD Union-Trib, it does NOT show photos of the egregious photo - instead, it shows a well-combed Kaloogian in an expensive suit announcing his candidacy for the US Senate in January 2004. It also plays down his importance to the GOP - see, he's just one of 18 candidates...

Here's how the WaPo version of the story ends:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/30/AR2006033001064.html

House Candidate Draws Fire for Web Photo

The Associated Press
Thursday, March 30, 2006; 6:04 PM


Caption: Republican Howard Kaloogian, a former California Assemblyman, announcing his candidacy for the U.S. Senate outside the Federal Building in San Diego in this Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2004, file photo. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

(snip)

Kaloogian, a former state assemblyman who founded Move America Forward to support the war and is now running for Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham's House seat, took the photo down on Wednesday.

He said it was innocent mix-up that arose from a trip to Baghdad that he took last summer with Move America Forward. Some of the travelers went home through Istanbul, he said. The group pooled its photos, and his Web master mistakenly selected one of Istanbul, Kaloogian said.

"They used a picture that was wrong. There's nothing sinister about it," he said.

Kaloogian, a Republican, is one of 18 candidates seeking to replace Cunningham, who was convicted of bribery and conspiracy and sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison.

[Nothing Without Hope]

10. The contrast between the GOP-biased WaPo/AP article and the San Diego

Union-Tribune article (and be sure to read the whole thing) could not be greater. It's hard to believe they report the same incident. But then one is reporting the spin and one is reporting the news. How anyone could consider the WaPo a "liberal" paper is beyond me - this is typical of them.

When I was a grad student at UCSD years ago, the SD Union was a conservative paper. I wonder what its reputation is now. I was impressed and heartened by the reporting in this article.

[Nothing Without Hope]

12. Also don't miss this DU thread on possible tax issues with Kaloogian's

pet "non-partisan, non-profit" tax exempt organization - a thinly disguised PAC:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x797300
thread title (3-30-06 GD): "Fake Photo" Kaloogian's IRS Form 990. Calling DU tax experts!
Supposed to be non-profit, non-political tax-exempt outfit behind Kaloogian. TPMMuckraker showed their 2004 IRS disclosure and comparison with known practices makes it look very fishy indeed. Excerpt: “As we mentioned yesterday, Howard Kaloogian, of Turkish Baghdad fame, founded Move America Forward. They're a nonprofit and tax exempt 501(c)3 organization - and so required to be non-partisan. There are a number of organizations that push that line, but look at Move America Forward's past work and you can see that they push it more than most. Because they're a non-profit, Move America Forward has to file publicly accessible disclosures, called 990s, with the IRS. We've posted their 2004 disclosure here. Take a look.”font]

[Nothing Without Hope]

13. one lst kick for the night. Be sure to read the entire SD Union-Trib piece

That Kaloogian has quite a history.

And he's currently trailing somebody named "Roach" (I kid you not) for the GOP candidacy. Both are well behind Francine Busby.

[NVMojo]

14. that stupid organization of his came to my town last summer ...

hardly a freeper showed up to support it and this is major freepersville where I live ...

[Nothing Without Hope]

15. Geez. No wonder another Repub named "Roach" is leading Kaloogian

for the GOP nomination. I mean, even they must have SOME kind of standards, right? And the name is so perfect, considering Tom DeLay.

I'd like to see that thinly disguised PAC of his exposed and prosecuted.

[Nothing Without Hope]

16. Thread list on Kaloogian's internet adventure in GD and Research Forum:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x797943
thread title (3-30-06 GD): KALOOGIAN PHOTO THREAD LIST and the perfect Tom Tomorrow CARTOON:

cross-posted in the Research Forum:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=358x3488
thread title (3-30-06 Research Forum): KALOOGIAN PHOTO THREAD LIST and the perfect Tom Tomorrow CARTOON

[Nothing Without Hope]

17. One more kick for the night. Be sure to read the Wash Post whitewash

version (link & excerpt in Reply 9) and compare with the San Diego Union-Trib version (in the opening post - and don't miss the last 5-6 paragraphs, which I didn't post here!) - the complete articles are hardly recognizable as being about the same incident. The Wash Post pushes the idea that it was an innocent and minor error and those mean bloggers are just so sinister and relentless.

'night, all! :hi: :boring:

[Nothing Without Hope]

18. Morning kick. Be sure to do the side-by-side comparison of the

Wash Post/AP story and the San Diego Union-Trib story. Hard to believe they're about the same events! Spin in action. The WaPo/AP is showing its Bushie colors here.