Even if they have no experience or information about the military that lets them evaluate military info, you'd think that someone on that campus would know an 8 year old. Even a brilliant leftist child wouldn't have written a letter with ironic commentary comparing the boss to the Vice President.

They avoid detailing the substance of "Kendee's" letters - but imply the hoax was perpetrated as some sort of pro-war propaganda.

Of course, because it's only the evil warmongers who would stoop to distortion and fabrication to promote their agenda. Every right-thinking person knows that those against the war are all honest and pure and only concerned for the welfare of others, especially the children. And, besides, even if it's not true it no doubt reflects the sentiments of the children of those fighting in Iraq.

Who else is awaiting the first invocation of the "fake but accurate" defense of this hoax?

There are two types of Iraq war veterans that have a tremendous appeal to the anti-war crowd - the fictional and the dead. Both types have a common, irresistible trait - others can claim to speak on their behalf.

Oh, you must be talking about things like this:

"I can't imagine Army Spc. Casey Sheehan would stand for a bunch of strangers glomming onto his mother's crusade and using him to undermine the war effort as they shouted 'W killed her son' in front of countless TV cameras."

Oh, but that was Michelle Malkin, and she's not part of "the anti-war crowd". So that must be OK, huh?

Remember, there's outrageous behavior and hypocrisy on both sides. Being opposed to the war does not automatically make you decietful or shameless, as Ms. Malkin proves quite adequately.

"I can't imagine Army Spc. Casey Sheehan would stand for a bunch of strangers glomming onto his mother's crusade and using him to undermine the war effort as they shouted 'W killed her son' in front of countless TV cameras."

Oh, but that was Michelle Malkin, and she's not part of "the anti-war crowd". So that must be OK, huh?

--

Well, yeah. Saying 'Don't use dead soldiers who can't speak for themselves to advance your cause' isn't the same as using dead soldiers to advance your cause.

Exsqueeze me ?

How did you get from Ms. Malkins article to your conclusion ?

Oh, and one point of fact Mr. Sheehan reenlisted while in Iraq.

Side note: Southern Illinois is Ward Churchill's alma mater. The place needs a good exhorcism.

I am ate year old and a prefessor at E-gip U, Carbon ILL and the fucallty hate Butch-Chimp-Haliburton-Rove-oil-for-blood-for-oil. I have no mother and never had but if I had one I wuld want Mother Sheehan for one cause I learned lots from her on TV that my cuntry was not worth dying for and that I cud curse the Prez and all others down to those who pick up the sh-t from the dogs in washintan and I could swear a lot and people wuld cry and that I culd tell everyone I wanted to run over my son with my car so he wudn't fight for his country and everyone would clap happily and I could show my burns from our nuklear attack on I-raq and I could say my husband loves me, you know, the one who divorced me, and I culd sh_t on his family who feel I am dishoboring my son because he can't speak and explain why he re-elisted even after I tried to run him over with my car.

I'm a newspaper editor, and I find it remarkable that even students could get sucked into such a hoax.

First, a decision to print such inflammatory material -- particularly attributed to a minor child -- should involve a great deal of background investigation and fact-checking. The first thing I'd do would be ask a reporter to find out if there is a Dan or Daniel Kennings in the armed forces, verify that it's the same guy, and perhaps seek his permission to run the letters (despite the purported mother's having given consent). And it looks like even that basic first step would've stopped this hoax cold.

Even if the letters had been authentic, I still question the paper's judgment in running them, much less running them for two years. With such a young child involved, exploitation is a serious concern. If a decision to run with the letters had been made, I'd be asking whether it's appropriate to use the real names of a minor child and an active-duty soldier in this context.

The paper's copy editors should've been perking up their ears too, since the language and even the spelling errors are often implausible. I mean, "evenchly"? An 8-year-old who knew the word and used it correctly would approximate the spelling a heck of a lot better than that.

Geeze.

Exhibit number 1 in the use of dead soldiers to advance your cause:

http://img322.imageshack.us/img322/5686/sheehan26zd.jpg

Who knew that Southern Illinois University was the home of the Janet Cooke School of Journalism?

Uncle BigBad wrote:

> Southern Illinois is Ward Churchill's alma mater.

What's your source on that?

Ward Churchill claims to have gotten his B.A. and M.A. from Sangaman State University: .

Sangamon State University is now known as the University of Illinois at Springfield: http://www.uis.edu/glance.html.

Southern Illinois University is a different school: http://www.siu.edu/.

Eveyone hated the "man of the last century" as much as they now hate GW Bush for saving the free world from tyranny. Some people (scumbag liberals specifically) never learn eh?
For those who aren't quite sure who the Man of the 20th century was, it was the late great Winston Churchill. He hated left wing facists too and didn't give a cigar butt about what they were saying about him. That's what makes people great. They can do what's right no matter how the deck stacks against them.

I attended SIU and worked at the Daily Egyptian as a reporter throughout much of 2002. They have a very good journalism program. They won a Pacemaker Award (a "Pulitzer" for colleges) for 01-02 along with Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern and University of Illinois. I was 34 and a college grad when I worked at the paper and was experimenting with journalism as a possible career. At the time I was there, there were only two reporters who had served on active duty, myself (11B 92-95 25th ID) and a guy who had been in the 82nd. Also there was a guy who had been in the reserves and was in ROTC in the advertising dept. I worked with Michael Brenner and while I didn't know him well, I don't believe he would be party to this kind of fabrication. The DE is run entirely by students. All the reporters, editors, photographers, advertising folks, and the Editor in Chief are all students. It is a successful paper that owns its own printing press and makes a profit from its advertising and workin there was a great experience. I wonder if I had stayed for the next semester or two, would I have fallen for the hoax. I don't know. I'd like to believe that given that I had served in the Army and was older than the other students that I would have been suspicious, but honestly I just don't know. I voted for Bush in 04 and support the war in Iraq and would very much like to be back in the Army today (but given injuries from the first time I was in, that is no longer an option.)So I am not some anti-American leftist. I believe (from what I have read so far) that the woman who perpetrated this is a wacko who had a weird thing for Brenner and a desire for attention rather than someone motivated by politics. Ultimately though we still have to see how this all plays out.

No one noticed that a little girl had the state of mind to make a copy o fthe letter she sent to heaven?

I'm just a newcomer to this story, but in five minutes it looks a whole lot worse for the student paper than folks are saying here.

From the link provided in the article here,
http://newshound.de.siu.edu/voices/stories/storyReader$2152

the paper wrote:
" (For anyone wishing to send Dan Kennings letters, his e-mail address, which he is able to check periodically (weekly if he?s lucky), is dbkennings@yahoo.com.)

"He called the DAILY EGYPTIAN a few days ago and said he is doing fine. He sounded upbeat, though he desperately wants to leave Iraq. It is a situation he will never get used to.

"He had called the DE wanting to talk to the people his daughter regularly interacts with because he knows, as we all do here at the DE, that Kodee is no stranger to the SIU Communications Building.

"She has become a normal part of life in the DE newsroom, regularly calling and dropping by. Kodee started a Nerf-gun war in the newsroom a few weeks ago that lasted more than an hour, one of many things she has done to keep the newsroom light-hearted. "

He called? He talked to us on the phone from iraq? She regularly drops by the newsroom? This was no simple hoax, folks, this was a two year Hollywood major picture production.

Responsible people should resign over this.

Disgusted, Isshi.

In the Vietnam era, it was the "war crimes" industry and to hell with whether or not it swept the ordinary soldier's honor away with it. For this Iraq war they've tried the prisoner abuse card, pushed it and pushed it. That didn't fly very far. They tried the anti-war Iraq veteran card - VVAW redux. That never really got anywhere. Now we have the KIA-victimization card, and finally this chapter two of same, with an added dollop of orphan-waif heartbeak. The common thread in all this leftist agitprop is a total lack of integrity and a total lack of the simplest level of common human decency. Anything to delegitimize the traditional values and sentiments of ordinary Americans - now our "hallowed dead" are merely cheap stage props for vilifiying what the nation stands for - and against. The most disgusting thing is that it does work to some extent; eagerly gullible fools sell their common sense, if not their souls, to wallow in these macabre charades. And drop by drop the community of will to resist the forces that would destroy us is eroded. What a noble enterprise to devote your political energies to!

A Bevine

Your post is priceless.

Just a small pointer for future reference. Free internet accounts from yahoo, etc. are beloved of hoaxers and phonies of all kinds.

If someone purports to be in the Army, tell him or her to send you mail from his or her "AKO Account." Every soldier has one now (yes, even Guard and Reserves) and they're good for life. They have a name close to the individual's (obviously there have to be alternatives to john.smith) and end: "@us.army.mil."

Most soldiers also have a private email account (all AKO mail is monitored, for one thing) but anybody who's legit could prove bona fides this way. The Air Force is introducing a similar system.

It's obvious that the whole staff of this paper, and the Journalism department, were deeply committed to this hoax, and all were knowledgable and participated. As far as the paper winning "the college equivalent of a Pulitzer" -- would that be Janet Cooke's Pulitzer, Mike Barnicle's Pulitzer, J. Ross Baughman's Pulitzer, or Walter Duranty's Pulitzer? (All of which were based on phony reporting, and they're only some of the ones that were caught).

That the AP lied about the story isn't surprising either. The AP's reporters participated actively in the mutilation of civilian contractors in Fallujah in 2004 and in the brutal murders of Iraqi election workers on Haifa Street earlier this year.

Oh, yes, the AP received a Pulitzer for the Haifa Street "story," but they have never revealed who their man was because they are protecting him from the courts of law.

This fraud doesn't stop with editor Mike Brennan. Note that an SIU professor (that the Trib doesn't name -- professional courtesy from one gang of fabricators to the next) was phoning around trying to get publicity for this touching tale. A journalism professor. This is what they're teaching at SIU and in every J-school in the country.

Jaimie Reynolds should apply for a job as producer at CBS "News". Michael Brenner seems to be a gullible dope, so I'd recommend he seek employment at the NYT or Wash. Compost.

Go back and read some of the original columns. It's laughable that anyone would actually consider this real. I mean seriously; didn't anyone else in the paper's newsroom know another 8-year old? I know plenty of 8-year olds who are far better at spelling than this one was alleged to be. And on that same point, didn't anyone - professors included - become concerned when, over the course of 2 years, the child failed to progress in her education to the point where she could spell even simple words? Didn't someone say, "Hey, I wonder what's up with this kid's home schooling?"
Nope. This was a hoax perpetrated with the full knowledge of the faculty and staff of the paper. They were lying then, and they're lying now. The goal was to provide a symbol for an anti-war movement that would center around a little 8-year old, blonde angel who just missed her daddy.
The professors should be fired, the students expelled and the paper closed.

Something has really screwed up the boundaries of this post, rendering it almost unreadable. Usually when this happens someone in the comments section has posted a long URL without using html. It appears that the offending comment is one posted by "rh." About the only way to "tame" the borders is to edit the comment, by turning the URLs into hypertext links.