Ignorant and wrong

Asked by Boston radio personality Howie Carr about Howard Dean’s recent prediction that the U.S. would lose the war in Iraq, Fox’s Chris Wallace replied:

“We are in a war. We do have 150,000-plus American soldiers over there. I mean, it’s Tokyo Rose, for God sakes, going on radio saying we can’t win the war.”

Hello, Chris, Tokyo Rose is folklore. There was no such person (or personality) known as Tokyo Rose. It was a name created wholly by American GIs.

After the War, one American woman was tried for working for Japanese radio: Iva Toguri D’Aquino. She became known as “Tokyo Rose,” but her actual on-air name was “Orphan Ann.” Ignorant, biased fools like Chris Wallace were working for the news media after World War II, as well as now, and they helped railroad Mrs. D’Aquino into a conviction for treason. She was eventually granted a full pardon by President Ford — after a 60 Minutes report.

Thanks to Digby for the pointer. He provides this link for more info on Iva Toguri.