CBS’s latest duplicity again uncovered by bloggers: CBS’s “average” Republican, Bush-supporting mom is really an activist leader of a group called “People Against the Draft.” Its Web page is packed with left-wing creedos and links to far-left groups.

Richard Schlesinger pegged a piece, on CBS Evening News, on supposed fears that the draft will be imposed, to Beverly Cocco, identified on screen as a “Pennsylvania voter,” whom Schlesinger showed working as a school crossing guard in the Philadelphia area. Schlesinger asserted: “She’s a Republican, but she’s also a single-issue voter. Would you vote for a Democrat?” Cocco replied: “Absolutely. I would vote for Howdy Doody if I thought it would keep my boys home and safe.” Schlesinger concluded with a warning: “She’s a Bush supporter today, but if she doesn’t like what she hears between now and November, Beverly could easily cross over.”

The next night, the NBC Nightly News took up the same subject as Tom Brokaw maintained that “the Internet is aflame with stories that the draft is coming back.” But instead of exploiting the fear as did CBS to fire a warning shot a Bush, NBC’s Jim Milkaszewski discredited the fears.

CBS’s Schlesinger had hyped how “the machinery for a draft is already in place, and the acting director of Selective Service believes he could start drafting people quickly.” But Miklaszewski dismissed all the Internet claims that Selective Service is gearing up for a draft: “Pentagon officials call it ‘bunk’” as he pointed out that the “two bills to reinstate the draft pending in the House and Senate” have “almost no political support. And both are sponsored by Democrats.” Miklaszewski added: “If more soldiers are needed, the military says they’ll increase incentives to volunteers like enlistment bonuses up to $20,000.”

More on Cocco, followed by a ful transcript of the Miklaszewski piece:

A quick Google search for “Beverly Cocco” turned up her name, on the “People Against the Draft” Web site, as the contact person in the Philadelphia area. Check this page, http://www.nodraft.info/contact.html, and you’ll see: “Philadelphia Lancaster/Bucks County affiliate: Parents Against the Draft. Contact Beverly Cocco, babby61754@comcast.net”

The home page for People Against the Draft: www.nodraft.info

The Web site features a PDF of a flyer you can download, a flyer which presents their evidence a draft is imminent. Up top, a quote from Britain’s left-wing Guardian newspaper, followed by: “How do we know a new draft is in the works? Nationwide, long-dormant draft boards — local committees that decide who must fight and who is exempted — have been quietly reactivated and restaffed (Lindorff, ‘Oiling Up the Draft Machine,’ Salon.com, Nov. 3, 2003).”

The page also showcases this quote from “McGovern,” maybe George: “While conceding that the Iraq war has been a military and political disaster, the US power elite — from George Bush, to the New York Times editorial board, to Presidential candidate John Kerry — agree that we must “stay the course” in Iraq. In plain language, that means crushing resistance to the occupation. To subdue a population that wants us to leave and is willing to fight for independence, will require many more troops – as many as 500,000, say some Pentagon estimates (McGovern, ‘Calling for Backup,’ TomPaine.com, May 7, 2004).”

For the flyer www.nodraft.info

The links page is full of far-left and/or anti-American groups: www.nodraft.info

CBS hinted at none of that activist political activity by Cocco, though, as Schlesinger stated that “Beverly is petrified about a military draft, and she’s not alone. Mass e-mails are circulating among worried parents,” on screen CBS briefly showed quick shots of a couple of Web pages, including a shot of a screen with “People Against the Draft” across the top. But Schlesinger made no connection to Cocco. Bloggers uncovered the connection, however, as FNC’s Brit Hume noted in his “Grapevine” segment that same night.

Those Freepers really know what’s cookin’…. they had a thread about it which featured a reprint of the MRC’s CyberAlert article about the CBS story, so here’s that FreeRepublic discussion thread which also reprinted a letter Cocco wrote to a local newspaper: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1230443/posts

Underhanded promotion of an anti-draft activist under the guise of sharing the views of an “average” republican. But what can we expect from C-BS? We just have to watch each others’ backs.

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