DU 20/20 and John Stossel

[medeak]

thanks for the head's up about John Stossel tonight...creep that he is went after Edwards

We need to DU him:

http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/2020/2020/2020_email_form.html

[joanne]

1. What happened?

:shrug:

[medeak]

2. creep fest about trial lawyers and Edwards

no wonder B. Walters left. Now Elizabeth Vargas is taking her place...she was news anchor in local tv...had affair with station owner's son...left him for dead when she got the big job.

Stossel and Vargas belong together.

[TeacherCreature]

3. done

[medeak]

5. thanks

if anyone saw it ... it was nauseating.

"give me a break"

[Mr_Spock]

4. I'd like to email that right-wing panderer Stossel, but IE crashes

every time I click link and all instances of IE crash! What a pain - did it twice! Is it appropriate for him to seem to do so many right-leaning stories now? Should he be fired for being biased - he has admitted as much?

[medeak]

7. totally admitted it

at least Franken skewered him today am told

[librechik]

13. Spock, IE is illogical--I recommend switching to Mozilla Firefox n/t

[countmyvote4real]

6. Stossel was pitiful on Al Franken today.

His "facts" are bogus. Al challenged him "nicely" each and every time, he squirmed and hemmed and hawed. He wasn't quite the arrogant asshole he gets to portray unchallenged on 20/20.

As for 20/20, after the F9/11 fiasco, Disney is as Disney does and Disney properties don't do it for me.

[Obamarama]

8. Glad I turned it off BEFORE his segment....

John Stossel has always made me gag. I NEVER watch any of his segments.

[neebob]

14. I couldn't stand Stossel, either

and now I really super can't stand him. The only reason I was watching is my PBS channel went out in the middle of Charlie Rose interviewing Ted Turner - who seems to be a liberal, from what I saw. So I turned to the next channel and caught this piece of shit about trial lawyers and "people like John Edwards." Ugh! Thankfully, PBS came back on before the Ted Turner thing was over and I felt better.

[EEgrad2003]

9. It's funny how..

...this guy always talks about the factors of fear in America, yet, hasn't brought up the factor of fear the Bush Administration puts into Americans citizens everyday

[Stew225]

10. EEgrad2003, welcome! eom

[EEgrad2003]

11. thanks

thanks!!

[medeak]

17. yes!

BIG TIME WELCOME!!!!

[neebob]

12. That was so sleazy I couldn't even believe it

The thing that irks me is my mother probably watched it and now thinks John Edwards is a scumbag instead of John Stossel is a scumbag.

[minkyboodle]

27. exactly

I feel the same way except substitute my dad for mother. Its so frustrating to have to constantly counteract the bullshit from the "teevee" that unfortunately many people accept without any critical thought. Its gonna be a long hard road...

[NightOwwl]

15. Thank god I missed it.

I'm angry enough as it is already.

I do not understand how anyone, even asshats like Stossel, can criticize Edwards for being a lawyer. He helped get damages for a family and their little girl, who got her intestines sucked out for crissakes. What the hell is wrong with that?

[Digit]

16. I turn the TV off..

...before John Stossel comes on.
They should dump his segment. It is worthless.

[Domitan]

18. Too bad "Dr. D" David Schultz

didn't smack him hard enough back in 1985...or maybe he did smack him too hard, hence Stossel's questionable thinking process today.

[Michael Harrington]

22. I thought I was the only one

Who remembered that.

Wrestling is fake. Hard hittin' stuff there. I'm stunned he didn't get a Pulitzer or an Emmy.

He's just like Mike Barnacle: a popular, proven liar.

[Lex]

19. ABC made John Stossel admit he's a FRAUD

several years ago, but they won't fire him because people actual watch the asshat. ABC is more interested in ratings than integrity (big surprise).

Here's a link if you want to prove to anyone that Stossel had admitted that he has done fraudulent stories:

http://www.fastq.com/~dwaz/stossel.html

[depakid]

20. Just turn John Stossel off

after as many stories that he's fabricated over the years, it's a disgrace that ABC even allows him on the air- The man has zero integrity. How many times do his lies have to be exposed before he's taken off of the air?

[mountainvue]

21. Stossel is a

freeper sellout like Dennis Miller. He's telling the public not to sue their doctors now.:eyes:

[LoZoccolo]

23. Anti-trial lawyer = pro-disembowelment of children.

The defining case in Edwards' legal career wrapped up that same year. In 1993, a five-year-old girl named Valerie Lakey had been playing in a Wake County, N.C., wading pool when she became caught in an uncovered drain so forcefully that the suction pulled out most of her intestines. She survived but for the rest of her life will need to be hooked up to feeding tubes for 12 hours each night. Edwards filed suit on the Lakeys' behalf against Sta-Rite Industries, the Wisconsin corporation that manufactured the drain.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2001/0110.green.html

[sheelz]

24. Emails to 20/20 and John Stossel

Mr. Stossel:

Give me a break! The piece you did on Trial Attorneys was a poor excuse for "journalism." Your biased presentation failed to include the outrageous profit margins of large corporations and insurance companies and an explanation of how awards injured patients or consumers have received are an extremely small percentage of these profits. There was no mention of corporate responsibility, whatsoever. Dangerous products have been removed from the market and many laws that protect consumers have been established due in large part to the work of trial attorneys who represent regular Americans.

Furthermore, convoluting other situations and unintended consequences that have nothing to do with the work John Edwards performed as an attorney, such as the serial murderer nurse, is obviously politically motivated.

I'm looking forward to seeing a piece on corporate responsibility featuring Haliburton Dick Cheney and Enron.



I just sent the following email to John Stossel at ABC News:

Your portrayal of our legal system was one of the most abject and disgusting examples of propaganda I have ever seen. I imagine that Goebbels would be filled with envy if he could have watched the show.

Jurors are not fools! They are common, ordinary people who do their duty. Most of them have plenty of common sense, and serve conscientiously. They have the final "say" in all judicial proceedings. All it takes in most states is for just one juror to say "no!" and the plaintiff loses. Then the big, rich insurance companies laugh all the way to the bank.

I just cannot believe what an incredibly unbalanced, prejudiced program you presented against our legal system!

I fear that because of propagandists like you, ordinary Americans will eventually lose our precious constitutional rights, like the right to trial by jury, that make our country great.

Shame on you!

No, Thrice shame on you!!!!!!

[LittleApple81]

25. Here is the transcript. It is all innuendo and stupidity. As the victim

of a doctor without a conscience whom his fellow doctors would not isolate or condemn (If this happened more frequently, not so many suits would happen) I really get upset at his statements. It might be true that there are people who sue without real justification but the majority HAVE been damaged and need a good lawyer.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/2020/GiveMeABreak/GMAB_edwards_040723-1.html

Lawyers and the Little Guy
How Helpful Were V.P. Hopeful Edwards’ Courtroom Triumphs?

you can read the rest if you want. It is not worth it for me to copy.

[sandnsea]

28. Blabber, blabber

Key findings from the analysis of National Practitioner Data Bank
(NPDB) records include the following:

- The number of medical malpractice payouts made by OB/GYNs declined 13 percent from 1991 to 2002, dropping from 1,303 to 1,129. Moreover, the number of payouts declined 22 percent from 2001 to 2002 - the peak of
the malpractice "crisis."

- The median malpractice payout made to individuals by OB/GYNs declined by 9 percent from 1991 to 2002 when adjusted for medical inflation. In 1991, the median obstetrics malpractice payout in the United States was
$175,000. By 2002 it had risen 51 percent, to $265,000. But the cost of medical care services rose by 65 percent over the same period. Both consumer advocates and the insurance industry have pointed to heath care
inflation as a major factor in pushing up malpractice awards in recent years.

- The total amount of malpractice payouts by OB/GYNs has remained nearly flat over the past decade when adjusted for medical care services inflation. In 1991 the total amount paid to settle malpractice claims against OB/GYNs in the United States was $326 million. In 2002 the total
of malpractice payouts was $557 million. Adjusted for medical care services inflation, the 2002 figure would be $336 million - a .03 percent increase. Total payouts declined by 21 percent from 2001 to 2002
(not adjusted for inflation).

"All the numbers show that the insurance premium increases over the past year are not tied to lawsuits," said Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen. "The only number that correlates with the premium increases is the decline in malpractice insurers' investment income."

http://progressivetrail.org/articles/040224CitizenPress.shtml

[Brewman_Jax]

26. Big Al spanked him earlier in the week

on the Al Franken Show. Made him look like the corporate shill he was/is!