If...sometime within the last 7 days a falsehood has been written in print, spoken on radio, or aired on television about Ms. Streisand...the TRUTH ALERT will contain a statement made by Ms. Streisand and/or her representatives to correct that falsehood. Current falsehood corrections will appear in the section called "Truth Alert." After one week all "Truth Alerts" will be transferred to the Truth Archive. A daily visit to both will keep you up-to-date with these additions.

TRUTH ALERT
(updated 10-16-02)

REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE ATTACKS BARBRA STREISAND
IN ADS IN DESPERATE EFFORT TO CUT INTO CAROLYN McCARTHY LEAD

FLAGRANT USE OF FABRICATED QUOTES AND DISTORTION OF STREISAND'S COMMENTS

A Republican/Conservative candidate trying with fading hopes to unseat respected Democratic Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy made a last-ditch effort to win headlines by devising ads in which she blatantly misquoted Barbra Streisand, fabricating outrageous quotes and completely misrepresenting Ms. Streisand's deep opposition to the Iranian dictator, Saddam Hussein. An Associated Press correspondent brought the ads to the attention of Ms. Streisand's representatives Tuesday, October 15, requesting comment.

Content of Marilyn O'Grady for Congress ad (as reported by Associated Press):

THE LIE:

"Barbra Streisand defends Saddam Hussein and then rips George Bush as a frightening dictator. The Post calls her Baghdad Babs, but Carolyn McCarthy calls her a contributor. After she voted to slash defense by two billion dollars, Streisand wrote her a fat check. Now McCarthy is silent as her liberal pal bashes our President. Marilyn O'Grady fully supports the Bush war on terrorism. Carolyn McCarthy doesn't."

THE TRUTH:

Following is the reply sent to Associated Press correspondent Frank Eltman:

This is another example of the Republican way of trying to discredit the messenger before the public can get the message. Dr. O'Grady's deceitful radio ad puts egregiously fabricated words in Ms. Streisand's mouth. The O'Grady assertion that "Barbra Streisand rips George Bush as a frightening dictator" is simply fantasized. In Ms. Streisand's remarks at the recent Democratic National Gala, she spoke of having seen President Bush on television saying jokingly.. and these are the President's words, not Ms. Streisand's.. "If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck-of-a-lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator."

Concerning her stated feelings about Saddam Hussein, currently posted on her website (www.barbrastreisand.com) is an article she asked columnist Robert Borosage to write for that website and which she introduces with the comment that "this says much of what I feel - except far more eloquently."
In it, he states: "No one questions the fact that Saddam Hussein is a brutal dictator, apparently still intent on building weapons of mass destruction in open violation of U.N. resolutions, and an avowed enemy of this nation." Further, in a memo sent on her behalf to House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, it was stated "While there are serious problems with Iraq and Saddam Hussein.. we can't let this issue become a distraction from the country's domestic problems and the President's inability to fully dismantle the Al Queda network."

As a further example of Dr. O'Grady's inaccuracy, Ms. Streisand has not contributed to Congresswoman McCarthy's campaign this year, although she admires and supports her and her work. Ms. Streisand's contributions for this campaign have been directed primarily to contests in which the outcomes are most seriously in question.

Truth Alert
(updated 10-04-02)

The Distortion

"STREISAND BOUGHT 800 SHARES OF CHENEY'S HALLIBURTON "
Drudge Report, October 3, 2002

Matt Drudge in his report stated "Streisand bought and traded 800 shares of Halliburton while Dick Cheney was its Chief Executive."

The Truth

WHAT DID THE REPUBLICANS 'DRUDGE' UP TODAY?

How low will Republicans stoop to try to stifle the voice of singer, director, actress, activist Barbra Streisand? Today's low blow has them rummaging through the tax returns of her charitable foundation. The Streisand Foundation gives away money to organizations that work to protect the environment, our civil liberties, the rights of women and children, and fight against nuclear proliferation. The Streisand Foundation's money is handled by an outside investment adviser who, at his discretion, buys and sells stocks and bonds to support the foundation. Unfortunately, since this administration took over, the foundation has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars that would otherwise go to worthwhile causes. Before Dick Cheney became Vice President, 800 shares of Halliburton were purchased for the foundation in April of 1999. All were sold in 2000 with a loss of $1,288 dollars.


JULIUS CAESAR QUOTE USED IN DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL GALA SPEECH
(updated 10-02-02)

Introducing her performance of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" at the Democratic National Gala, Barbra Streisand read material which she identified as having been written by William Shakespeare. It had been passed to her by a friend, but she learned the following day that it is, rather, a passage which is widely circulated on the internet as an excerpt from Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" but which is, in fact, an anonymous composition, not Shakespeare at all.
She wanted this brought to your attention, with the following note from her:

"The authorship of this is important. But it doesn't detract from the fact that the words themselves are powerful and true and beautifully written. Whoever wrote this is damn talented and should be writing their own play."

For those website visitors who have not read the passage elsewhere, it appears below:

"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war
in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor,
for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword.
It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind.

And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no
need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry,
infused with fear and blinded with patriotism, will offer up all of
their rights unto the leader, and gladly so.

How do I know?

For this is what I have done.

And I am Caesar."

THIS IS A RESPONSE TO MATT DRUDGE'S ARTICLE ABOUT THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE SHAKESPEARE QUOTE AT THE RECENT DDDC GALA
OCTOBER 1, 2002

LETTER FROM BARBRA STREISAND TO MATT DRUDGE, THE DRUDGE REPORT

Matt,

Thank you for directing your readers to my Truth Alert on the misspelled words matter. In regards to the Julius Caesar quote, that was called to my attention last night. I'm putting a Truth Alert about that on my website, too. But it doesn't detract from the fact that the words themselves are powerful and true and beautifully written. Whoever wrote this is damn talented and should be writing their own play.

Here are two other quotes that impress me, and I've thoroughly checked out their authenticity so I don't buy into another terrific but internet-generated statement.

"THOSE WHO MAKE PEACEFUL REVOLUTION IMPOSSIBLE WILL MAKE VIOLENT REVOLUTION INEVITABLE" John F. Kennedy

"TO ANNOUNCE THAT THERE MUST BE NO CRITICISM OF THE PRESIDENT, OR THAT WE ARE TO STAND BY THE PRESIDENT, RIGHT OR WRONG, IS NOT ONLY UNPATRIOTIC AND SERVILE, BUT IS MORALLY TREASONABLE TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC." Theodore Roosevelt

The full context of that one (an article Theodore Roosevelt wrote for the Kansas City Star during World War I) is just as fascinating, by the way, and I'm including it below in case you have time to read it:

"The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile."

It then incorporates the passage I mentioned above and concludes with:

"Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else."

Barbra Streisand

It seems that when the Republicans don't like what you say, they attack you on the lowest and least pertinent level. At least, that was the way a Republican source leaked a private memo which had been sent by Barbra Streisand to House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt. The manner in which this memo was leaked obliterated the imperative message of the note by drawing attention only to the fact that a few words had been misspelled.

The story behind the misspelled words is explained here only because those spellings were used as a ruse to avoid addressing the real substance of the memo. The questions raised in that note are far more pertinent to the decisions Americans will be making this November. The memo was DICTATED BY MS. STREISAND ON THE PHONE as she was rehearsing for her performance at a recent gala to raise funds for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Unfortunately, it was taken down and typed by a new employee who sent out a first draft before it had been reviewed by Ms. Streisand or checked for spelling. On top of that, as Barbra ruefully recalls, "It was also faxed to a wrong number.. my luck, a Republican."

THE IRONIC FURTHER TRUTH.. Hidden in this example of diverted news priorities is the fact that Barbra Streisand is a great speller, meticulous in her written communications!

But read the memo (on home page of this website) and come to your own conclusion as to what aspect of it should have been brought to the attention of a nation facing one of the most crucial elections in its history.

The incident illustrates how the Democratic message concerning the failures of this Republican administration are repeatedly pushed aside in the media, pre-empted by silly side-issues. The real truth, the really important and relevant truth, is having a hard time getting through.