Hillsborough: Twenty Year Remembrance

Re: Open letter -Tim Vickery to WSD

Legends Raise Funds For Families

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A great letter

I guess Hillsborough is back to being history on these boards but I felt this letter on the official site needed some front page recognition:

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N164520090529-1138.htm\

 

Re: A great letter

An excellent letter by someone who understands.

One of the most upsetting things to me is some of his listeners/supporters saying that he's right and just Liverpool fans are trying to abuse his "1st amendment rights" (Jeesus, doncha love this catchall rhetoric?) whe he states his opinions. That we're just trying to close the only US radio chat show because of 'our' problems.

I'll say it again: It's not about an opinion. It's about the truth.....and a sick mind!

 

Re: A great letter

Having a bad day?

If someone is subscribed to the initial Hillsborough thread, they'll see it when it updates. Besides, if someone isn't perusing the History and NSR boards, they're just being lazy.

I'll merge this with the appropriate thread.

 

Oh great and powerful Wizard, I apologize. Your AnalRetentiveness

 

Actually, I'm more OCD and AR.

 

Working in the Garden this morning, wonderful day in the Northwest. Got sort of nostalgic while pruning this:...


Liverpool Remembers.

I think I posted this last year but it doesn't hurt to show it once again.

 

Re: A great letter

From a source. The original article before editing.

"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." A quote attributed to Winston Churchill and one that Liverpool fans can recognize the wisdom in, certainly since April 16th 1989, the day after Hillsborough. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of Hillsborough knows that lies have been threaded through the sad and terrible history, popping up at every turn. The South Yorkshire police, the press, the time of death; all lies. Lies to protect, lies to sell, lies to cover up. Unfortunately, Liverpool fans have become too good at recognizing lies and the motivations behind them. We've seen too many of them, too often. And, like weeds and litter, they never go away; there's always someone to tell the next one.

96 fans of our fellow Liverpool fans went to an FA Cup semi-final over twenty years ago and never came home. Over the years, the outrage at the lack of justice and the lack of official responsibility has festered. These were our fans and any one of us could just as easily have been at the Leppings Lane end of Hillsborough that fateful day, opportunity permitting. They were ours, that's the bond. And that's why we guard their memory and their reputation so closely. They are us. So if someone wants to lie about Hillsborough and the 96 and us Liverpool fans, then caveat emptor! Just remember that even Chairman Mao nodded at the strength of the Anfield Red Army. Ask Shanks.

That Red Army has being doing some mobilizing and organizing lately. There's a hate merchant in the USA called Steve Cohen, transplanted from London since 1982. A Chelsea fan. Steve has done quite well for himself, hosting Fox Football Fone In, a show on the main football cable channel, Fox Soccer Channel (owned by Rupert Murdoch). Think of 606, but on TV. He also has a show on Sirius/XM, satellite radio called World Soccer Daily, where he talks football every day. Through the years on both, it has been obvious to even the casual listener that Steve Cohen has a hatred of all things Liverpool. He despises the club, its fans and its history. In many respects, he's obsessed with us. But about three years ago, Cohen amped up the hate. He went after Hillsborough and the 96. He blamed Liverpool fans for the deaths and conflated Hillsborough with Heysel on Fox. Complaints rang down from outraged fans and a week later, he apologized. Crucially, he never apologized to the 96, their families or Liverpool fans. His apology was qualified saying that he had said things in the heat of conversation that shouldn't have been said and for that he apologized. If you were offended. There was every reason to believe that the apology was coerced by Fox as Cohen couldn't spit the words out fast enough and move on. And so it went. Cohen would make an anti-Liverpool statement on his radio show, walk it back when called on it and continue. Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat. That's what hate merchants do. Stir up the crowd when they can and when called on it, cry, "Who me, ref?"

As the 20th Anniversary of Hillsborough approached, Cohen saw a way to increase his visibility and garner some free publicity. Go after the 96. Again. Blame Liverpool fans for the deaths of Liverpool fans. Again. Lie, invent make, stuff up. Again. “People showing up without ticket, hell bent in getting into somewhere where they shouldn’t be going because they don’t have tickets, is the root cause of [the Hillsborough Disaster]." But don't stop there, compound the lies. “I’m yet to read anybody write in this weekend’s Sunday papers in England, where they’re all doing big commemorations about the 96, and why we should never forget and how it’s changed the game, nobody discusses the 6-8,000 who showed up without tickets and my argument has always been, if those people don’t show up, this never happens." Like certain elements of the press, blame Merseyside. Lie and blame Merseyside. Rinse and repeat. And so Cohen went on a diatribe against Hillsborough, the 96 and all things Liverpool.

Cometh the time, cometh the man. Or rather cometh the men. The Liverpool fans across North America. Mel Abshier of the Dallas branch engaged Cohen asking for the truth to be told. Cohen sees the truth as a fungible commodity. Mel was told that these were Cohen's opinions and he could disagree with those opinions all he wanted. How can a lie be an opinion? The LFCNY (the official supporters' club in New York) wondered the same thing. How can Cohen so blatantly lie, call it an opinion and expect that no one would notice? Or care? Mel organized the North American branches, unified into a single complaint. The LFCNY also decided to act using some of its media contacts. Suddenly there were two parallel campaigns fighting the lies. Fighting the lies. Liverpool fans know about fighting lies.

Cohen couldn't be stopped from lying, the US Reds realized, but they could target Cohen advertisers and let them know what was being said in their name, with their money. That they were supporting someone who was knowingly and repeatedly telling lies. Cohen's right to lie is covered by the 1st Amendment. As an LFCNY press release said, "The 1st Amendment gives Steve Cohen broad rights to say what he wishes in the public square without government interference or censorship. No, you can't shout 'fire' in a crowded movie theatre, but yes, if you are the KKK, you can march up and down 5th Avenue. The Government has no right to tell Steve Cohen that he cannot talk about Hillsborough; they cannot force him to tell the truth about Hillsborough; they cannot fine him for knowingly lying about Hillsborough. So Cohen's lies stand or fall on whether sponsors would want to support someone who knowingly lies. The boycott campaign of the LFCNY is based on the belief that when the sponsors know that he has been lying about a large section of their marketbase, insulting 96 dead fans, they will not support him."

Mel Abshier put in yeoman's work digging down to find the email addresses of the sponsors and starting an email campaign. The LFCNY did the same and suddenly the sponsors were being deluged with emails of complaint from two different campaigns. 442 had no problem dropping him. As they said, why would they want to be associated with him? Fado Pubs, a chain of Irish pubs across the USA, denied him access for outside broadcasts and local advertising. 365-inc. (World Soccer Shop) who are a big replica shirt supplier in the USA, were appalled. Some of their deals with Cohen were a little more intricate, but they pulled advertising across the board and told Fox how annoyed they were. Who Are Ya Designs, a t-shirt maker refused to re-up their expiring contract. Are you watching Chairman Mao?

The campaigns continued unabated and then, stunned disbelief. A tape of Cohen's show from the 22nd of February '09 turned up. He accused Liverpool fans of milking the Hillsborough tragedy, conflated Heysel and Hillsborough, amongst other gems. "They are not the victims [of Hillsborough], they are the perpetrators......they are the most despicable people." Cohen went on to tell his audience that the Hillsborough Justice Campaign were completely "corrupt and ridiculous." Liverpool fans were just as guilty as the South Yorkshire police. Liverpool fans are "the scum of the earth". Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat.

Cohen went on to issue another one of his famous 'apologies' which interestingly did not include words such as "96", "Hillsborough", "Liverpool", or "dead". We queried if Cohen understood the definition of apology. Then after his apology, Cohen went on to talk about the campaign against him. We were denounced as "thugs", "terrorists" and "worse that the Taliban". And he was the one calling Liverpool fans "murderers"? He does seem to have a basic problem with the English language bytimes.

The aim of the campaign is to get Steve Cohen off the air. We want him gone from Fox, gone from Sirius/XM. Gone. We continue to email sponsors and we have yet more arrows in our quiver. Other companies are being targeted, other companies are being contacted, other Premier League clubs are being asked to denounce him. The association of Celtic Supporters Clubs in North America has joined our campaign, but, then again they would, wouldn't they? That's who they are. Liverpool FC have issued a statement condemning Cohen and there are more to come. This campaign wants to make Steve Cohen toxic to all advertisers, sponsors and media. We are continuing our outreach to blogs, using facebook and Twitter. We are winning, but the battle is far from over. We need all the help we can get from every Red everywhere in the world.

The 96 are as much part of the DNA of Liverpool Football Club as the 5 European Cups and 18 League Championships. Those 96 are us. They are with us every day, every game. But they are dead and they cannot answer for themselves. But we can and we will. The Red Army will. Fight the lies. We may have been 3-0 down, but Stevie G has put in the first, Vladi has knocked in the second and Xabi is standing over the ball on the penalty spot. This game will not be going to penalties or even extra time, we won't need the double save from Jerzey. We're going to win.

Steve Cohen is discovering how intrinsic the 96 and Hillsborough are to Liverpool. We answer for them, we fight for them because they cannot, because they are dead. But they are us. Liverpool.

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Re: A great letter

In this life or the next Cohen will get his now won't he?

 

Re: A great letter

Excellent article. I don't think these people will give up until Cohen's gone, done, toast, off the air.

Of course, he'll be the innocent one in this hounded by lying scousers.....Of course!

 

Re: A great letter

In Defeat Our Grief Was Lifted As Normality Returned (Kind Of)

 

10,000 Set For London To Attend Hillsborough Justice March

I am posting the following article, because it wouldn't be proper for our club to expect respect for a disaster yet some don't respect a disaster that happens at a rival club.

Shankly Group Promise Probe Over Munich Songs

 

Help Restore Hillsborough Garden

Damage Done To Hillsborough Memorial Garden​

Teenager Arrested In Connection With Damage To Hillsborough Memorial Garden

Above link has more information. It also has before/after pictures of the Memorial Garden. It is a quite beautiful garden. I hope they can restore it back to what it was, maybe even nicer. It is a great tribute to the 96 and the families.

 

Heck, I appreciate them trying to raise money. But they should make the kid/kids that did that pay for it all. Or their families. They caught one of them. Garnish his wages until it's paid off. If he doesn't have a job now, he better get one.

 

I very recently finished this book -



It was a very good read and I'd recommend it to anyone. The book was printed in 2004. It had a chapter devoted to Hillsborough and it made me think a bit more about the tragedy and in particular, Sheffield Wednesday's part in it.

Here's the final paragraph of the chapter -

 

Help Restore The Hillsborough Garden

Home Secretary Alan Johnson's Hillsborough Documents Release Vow

Fans March For Hillsborough Probe

 

Chelsea tell Cohen to piss off.

 

Chelsea gives Cohen the "suck it".

Awesome. Still not a huge fan of Chelsea and the way they do things, but my respect for the club has risen a little bit.

 

Hillsborough Justice Campain Left Out Of Home Office Talks

 

Hillsborough Files To Be Released

 

Why Hillsborough still matters.

 

Great article.

I wasn't about the bloggers on BS, but I am definitely starting to warm-up to them now.

This article made my respect for the writer rise significantly.

 

Maybe someone should hang this plaque up near whatever street gutter Cohen is laying in.


“It’s there to remind our lads who they’re playing for, and to remind the opposition who they’re playing against.” Bill Shankly about the ‘This is Anfield’ plaque

You don't ******** with our club or our supporters and expect nothing in return.