Claim: In 1941, newsman
FALSE
Example: [Hanson, September 2001]
What Should We Do?
By Edward R. Murrow
Washington, D.C.
December 8, 1941
President Roosevelt will call for a joint session of Congress today to discuss yesterday's bombing of Pearl Harbor and the reported loss of 2,400 Americans. I can report that our commander-in-chief is calm and will not ask for a precipitous "outright" declaration of war against the Japanese, but instead leans toward a general consensus to "hunt down the perpetrators" of this act of "infamy." Speaking for the Congress, Senator Arthur Vandenberg promised bipartisan support to "bring to justice" the Japanese pilots. Many believe that the "rogue" airmen may well have flown from Japanese warships. In response, Secretary of War Stimson is calling for "an international coalition to indict these cowardly purveyors of death," and will shortly ask the Japanese imperial government to hand over the suspected airman from the Akagi and
[Rest of article here.]
Origins: No, the iem referenced above isn't a reproduction of a vintage 1941 piece by famous newsman Edward R. Murrow. In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, more than a few Internetters were fooled by the appearance in their inboxes of a clever piece of satire stripped of
its attribution and other identifying information.
This article was a speculative piece titled "What If?: Rethinking 1941 with Edward R. Murrow" by writer Victor Davis Hanson, which was published on
Last updated: 31 May 2013
Sources: |
Hanson, Victor Davis. "What If?: Rethinking 1941 with Edward R. Murrow." National Review. 27 September 2001.