Now that Team Bush has gotten its way and unilaterally launched an invasion of Iraq, those of us who oppose this immoral madness are sick at heart. It’s easy to feel impotent and, worst of all, like exiles in our own country. That is certainly one of the top goals of the Bush Board of Directors: to convince us that… return to article
-
subscribe to print magazine
-
email this article to a friend
-
Reader Comments (102)Page 1 of 1 pagesIt’s pointless to protest to CNN, Fox, etc. Today I ended my cable TV service, which costs me several hundred $$ per year. If a substantial number of the 42% opposed to the war did that, we would immediately have an enormous impact on the media.
Posted by Fred Whitehead on Mar 20, 2003 at 7:34 PM I was wandering what your position is regarding the Dixie Chicks story. Radio stations pulling their music off the air because of Natalie Maine’s statements about Bush last week while she was in London
Posted by Gary on Mar 20, 2003 at 8:36 PM I appreciate the efforts of Susan J Douglas to condemn the horrible job the personalities in the tv media are doing. But her comments about them and how to remedy the problem they represent are mild to anyone who tunes in to CNN at any time of the day, not just when Lou Dobbs is on, and sees the lies and the continual selling of war.
We should have done something about them when they were selling the impeachment of Bill Clinton and then were silent when Bush stole the election.
I wrote my senators and asked them to sponser a bill that condems or censors the pesudo tv journalists and to sponser a bill that would force the corporations they work for to actually pay us for the use of our public airwaves.
The level of lies over something as serious as an illegal war deserves a serious remedy and the people who deceive rather than give us the facts we need to know in order that we may govern ourselves, deserve to pay dearly for their lack of patriotism. They are the ones who hate America and all that America is supposed to represent.
Posted by Barbara Cornett on Mar 20, 2003 at 8:53 PM write to cnn? watch the daily show? ask for fair coverage?
you might as well fill out a comment card for your “democratic” experience: and so how was everything, as waiters politely intrude.
please, stop handing out dumbed-down advice to teenagers. if you are “unhappy” with war coverage on your tv, screw you.
go lock arms with others in protest. dump your television on the street for your neighbors to see. subvert the dominant paradigm in your own life.
if “in these times” is going to stick with zizek columns and trenchant commentary, it better stay clear of sophomoric articles like this on.
Posted by bojinka on Mar 21, 2003 at 6:26 AM I would also recommend sending letters to the editor, starting your own local zine, calling in to local and national talk shows. When doing so, remain factual and calm. Education is empowerment. Let us hope individuals such as bojinka understand that the greatest ignorance is self absorment. PEACE!
Posted by Roger J. Dyjak on Mar 21, 2003 at 7:26 AM You are correct who say it is pointless to contact CNN. You will merely get back an automated response telling you CNN is wonderful and to pass that along to as many people as possible.
For the most scathing article that does justice to the media and Bush go here
Posted by Barbara Cornett on Mar 21, 2003 at 7:36 AM Susan, the answer is:
PACIFICA NETWORK, the media voice of the peace movement for five decades (24-hr webcasts):
Posted by Glen Van Slyke on Mar 21, 2003 at 9:20 AM I guess when the war is over and those poor Iraqi people are liberated and are able to enjoy some of the freedom you so enjoyed, you will Than our President (Mr George Bush)for that.
People like you talk about saving Iraqi children but doesn’t give a damn when they are being killed by the Iraqi government. I can imagine if you were living during the days of Hitler you would be standing up for that Butcher as you do for Sadam too.
If you would be honest, you would confess that you true beef is not with the war, but it’s just your hatred for Mr. Bush. I don’t remember people like you rising up when Mr Clinton ( Who I bet you are a great supporter of) decide to lob 400 Cruise missle at Bagdad. Were you concerned of the Iraqi children then or did you look the other way. When the people in Rwanda were being massacred did you protest about the action to stop that seeing that that action too did not have UN backing. This just goes to show your hypocrisy. The president have a lot of support and the people of Iraq will be liberated and will thank him and people like us who support this action.
Posted by Devon on Mar 21, 2003 at 9:27 AM Devon the US in Smolia was a situation that Bill Clinton inherited when he took office, from Bush the first. It was supposed to be a peace keeping mission and a humanitarian mission but degenerated into an effort to get a war lord and that resulted in Clinton bringing our troops home.
But you can’t make a case for what Bush is doing by stating something that Clinton did.
You are right to compare Bush’s Iraqi war to Hitler’s campaigns tho because both were illegal and I hope that Bush will someday be held responsbile for this.
As far as liberating Iraq, how can a man who stole democracy in his own nation liberate another? Bush has no respect for democracy or he would have listened to the people when we told him we wanted the inspections to disarm Saddam and he would have respected the wishes of the Security Council.
The only reason any nations joined the coalition of the willing was because Bush promised them they would be included along with the US in the spoils (oil) of this action.
If the people in Iraq get true democracy do you think they’ll just give us their oil?
Posted by Barbara Cornett on Mar 21, 2003 at 11:30 AM Excellent! Some real ideas about concrete and useful actions. Please, send more of the same. Holding up signs has its limits after all.
Posted by K.C. on Mar 21, 2003 at 12:02 PM Thanks for this article! You’ve given us all some very good ideas.
Posted by Oby Thomas on Mar 21, 2003 at 3:01 PM Well, well, well.....isn’t it too bad that the media didn’t report this issue with the bleeding-heart-liberal angle that it does every other topic in the news. Too bad, you communist, socialst, liberal.
YOU are bad-mouthing CNN!?!?!? It’s the liberal’s sounding board for Christ’s sake! Otherwise known as the ClintonNewsNetwork for 8 years. Now you turn on them?!? The media has never been objective- It has always slanted to the left - PAY ATTENTION! You are SO liberal and SO brain-washed that you think your opinionated point of view is objective! - PAY ATTENTION!
Don’t fault my president for taking action, you coward. You’d rather wait for that Anthrax to find it’s way to America the “hard way” just so you could have some justification for a war. This and any war against ANY threat was justified on Tuesday September 11th 2001.
America will not stand by and WAIT for more American deaths. We will seek out ANY threat and destroy it...with or without the help and support of you cowards.
Go live in France.
Posted by Brian Kehoe on Mar 21, 2003 at 3:04 PM The level of ignorance of and disregard for evidence displayed by people like Brian Kehoe is what disturbs me most. As I recall, anthrax has already been used in this country--and the only apparent suspect is an American citizen with some shady ties to the government. Are you not bothered that this investigation is no longer being talked about (probably since the suspect isn’t a foreigner)? Why hasn’t “your President” taken action against anyone connected to the anthrax terrorism?
As I recall, Osama bin Laden and the suspected 9-11 terrorists had/have connections to Saudi Arabia, not Iraq. So why hasn’t “your President” taken action against this nation?
Instead, we’re taking action against someone who we THINK is connected to bin Laden and who we THINK might threaten us in the future, as opposed to those have already threatened us. Apparently you think this is okay.
Ms. Douglas, thanks for the ideas. I recently wrote to Lou Dobbs to complain about his fawning treatment of Richard Perle. But I didn’t think to ask the network to change his time slot. Your suggestions are helpful. Another reader argued that your suggestions aren’t good enough. They aren’t, of course, but they are an important piece of the puzzle.
Posted by RC on Mar 21, 2003 at 6:42 PM The thing that bothers ME most about people from Chicago who don’t have the GUTS to even sign their name (How typical of a true coward) is that you don’t understand that when someone punches you in the face, you don’t punch them back - YOU SLIT THEIR THROAT! You don’t trade blows until someone wins. You go for the jugular. You don’t pussyfoot around and make excuses for a murderous dictator who ignores U.N. mandates for 12 years. You end it! Period!
If you wimps had it your way we would let this guy jerk us off for 12 MORE years.
Don’t worry, the Saudis are next, then North Korea, then the French.“I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the very blanket of the freedom that I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said, ‘thank you’ and went on your way.”
- A Few Good MenDon’t Tread On Me…
...Semper Fi
Posted by Brian Kehoe on Mar 21, 2003 at 8:51 PM I get the feeling this “Brian Kehoe” is writing from a state pen, having been sentenced for beating his wife to a pulp three years ago. Where does this scary aggression come from? Of course I’m not going to sign my name for you-- you sound like a loose cannon bent on slitting other people’s throats. Amazing. Let me ask you this: Have you read a thing about the politics behind invading Iraq? Do you understand the history of this nation’s diplomacy and how George W. Bush has thrown out 50 years of goodwill? Go read a book.
Posted by Doctah on Mar 21, 2003 at 9:47 PM You are right about Dobbs, but there is more! Wolf Blitzer, Connie Chung, Tucker Carlson (and there are many more) are not real journalists! They are right-wing fascist bootlickers. Listen to them cut people off as soon as dissent is raised, listen to them scream louder than anyone else to get their point across. It’s not news, it’s pure propaganda and commentary. They are obvious Team Bush advocates and I am sick of hearing their horrendously BIASED views. CNN, a so-called ‘news organization’ are really just a bunch of thought criminals and should be yanked off the air as they are lying to the people of America and the world. Shame on CNN for letting its already mangled credibility take such a beating from these imposters. I have NEVER seen such mass brainwashing in the media, and I hope to GOD someone gets some objectivity to the mainstream before we all pay a price that will take generations to repair.
Somebody help and let me know I am not alone!
Regards,
Sever Bronny
www.tribalmachine.com
Posted by Sever Bronny on Mar 21, 2003 at 10:00 PM Oh just to prove my point everybody please look at this report just done by F.A.I.R. (Fairness and Accuracy in News Reporting) on the media coverage.
It is VERY serious and can be found here;
http://www.fair.org/reports/iraq-sources.html
Posted by Sever Bronny on Mar 21, 2003 at 10:09 PM I wonder if Brian Kehoe is oblivious to the fact that the quote he gives from A Few Good Men was said by the villain of the film. Given the ignorant statements about anthrax, I’m guessing he is.
By the way, do you recall that the “pussyfooting” done by Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis actually worked? That was an imminent threat to the United States that could’ve become catastrophic had knee-jerk reactions won the day.
I’m sure you would’ve said “Nuke them” or something equivalent.
Now, I’m not against the war, which must confuse you terribly since I don’t sound anything like you. What I am against are insensitive, closed-minded people whose thinking mimics that of the very people who attacked us on 9/11. What’s that kind of thinking?
When there is a “threat,” you don’t “pussyfoot around,” you “go for the jugular.” That attitude sounds very much like that of the terrorists.
Posted by Dan K. on Mar 22, 2003 at 12:04 AM I think you have to be brain dead, as all dittoheads are, to believe the propaganda from the right.
OUR weapons of mass destruction deterred the only other SUPERPOWER in the world, the former Soviet Union for over 50 years.
And yet we are expected to believe they wouldn’t deter a little two bit thug like Saddam.
Saddam may be evil but that doesn’t make him suicidal. If he was such a threat why didn’t he toss us out of his nation where we controlled two thirds of his country and shot down HIS planes for 10 years.
We were there unilaterally. If he attacked us and kicked us out he would have been acting according to international law. But he didn’t kick us out. It must have been because he liked it so much. maybe he’s masochistic as well as suicidal.
like I said, only in the mind of a dittohead.
Posted by Barbara Cornett on Mar 22, 2003 at 6:35 AM I agree with the ideas in this story! Lou Dobbs and his bosses had damn well better listen to this criticizm, or move him to the so-called “fair and balanced” (HA!) Fox network!
Posted by Alan Taylor on Mar 22, 2003 at 8:19 AM SHOCKANDAWE - SHOCKANDAWE… SHOCKANDAWE let me rock you that’s all I want to do, SHOCKANDAWE wanna love ya’ wanna squeeze ya’ too....
All I hear anymore is “shock and awe”. Turn off your TV to maintain sanity and forget the sound bytes.
Posted by ROCKTIME on Mar 22, 2003 at 11:23 AM Great Article!!!!! I do not have anyone family or friends to talk to about the medias irresponsibility and the Bush War. This is such a consevative area, everyone I come in contact with are non-thinking “follow-the-leader” types. I go to the internet and C-span for my information. I am saddened and sicked by our “free press” and our so called leadership in this country. I love America and I do think of our troops as well as the innocent civiliams in Iraq. Keep up the good work.
Posted by Mary Schacntschneider on Mar 22, 2003 at 12:24 PM The thing that bugs me most about people like you and Martin Sheen is that for your whole life you have been brain washed by the liberal media. Now, when you see a story being reported WITHOUT the left wing angle you are all up-in-arms. I don’t really disagree that the coverage of the debate over the war has been biased. I LOVE FOX NEWS for that. They DO talk over voices of dissent. They DO call on a lot of retired military personnel. They probably should bring Janine Garafolo on for her great breadth of knowledge on diplomacy, international politics and military conflict - but they don’t. ...Can’t understand why. Hmmmmm.....
Seriously, you are calling for ‘fairness’ in the media because it currently does not support your point of view. Think about it....the other half of us have had EVERY story reported to us with a left slant on it for the last 30 years. My whole life I have been made to feel like I was wrong for disagreeing with the manipulative, left-wing media. Then I realized that it is OK to disagree. You liberals should know that. The definition of liberal is “open to new ideas” and “an opponent of the established systems.” You realize that the established media system is one of left-wing propaganda, don’t you? You are able to spot the right wing propaganda but not the left wing propaganda. That should make you think. Does it mean that the left-wing propaganda is so good that you think it is fair, objective reporting? I see how the right has attempted to manipulate people in covering this story. But, you folks don’t see how the same has been done to you for your whole lives. From the day you were born, you have been fed a little helping of ‘left’ with each story. It has been engrained in your psyche - THAT’s brainwashing. The media leans to the left and everyone knows that. On this topic it has not...it has favored the right. My point is NOT that you’re wrong about this...my point is, “Tough crap!” (read my first post).
You are socialists who want everyone to be sweet to one another. Well, that’s not gonna happen, cupcake. WE must dictate what happens in the world...who else is gonna do it? You? You, Martin Estevez???
Go listen to the Dixie Chicks with Susan Sarandon, you stinkin’ liberal.
Posted by Brian Kehoe on Mar 22, 2003 at 2:12 PM to all of you who think protesting is unamerican...and democracy as opposed t ASHCROFTS new AMERICA and BUSH’S CORPORATE LANDLORDS are hero’s: I hope you don’t work for a living because hell has arrived and we will be working for peanuts without any rights or protections adn you won’t have any say about it because you back and administration who runs our government like the mafia. This administration is owned by corporte America....Iraqq is a bout oil and money at the expense of the of innocents. They have no conscience. If these reasons for war are so honorable then maybe teh tables should be turned! We used to be a great country until the American people stopped reading books and strted wtching too much TV wrestling. We used to be united inour democratic thinking until wer became republican/democrat along with the media and stopped looking at issues . We deserved what happened at Enron and that sleazy Cheney because we needed to wake up. Woking people who did not stand up against corporate crime and this administration continuing to vote for this administration just because they are REPUBLICAN are the dumbest of all and deserve what happens in the future. I hope you and your family doesn’t work for a living because there are not many in this administration who are for working people,republicans are blinded by their brainwashing corporate news! I challenge all to stand up and save America from these corporate raiders/lobbyists who are hell bent on destruction for profits! Boycott any television programing or infotainment presenting the “OFFICIAL TRUTH”, including Ben Stein!
Posted by zee on Mar 22, 2003 at 2:18 PM to all of you who think protesting is unamerican...and democracy as opposed t ASHCROFTS new AMERICA and BUSH’S CORPORATE LANDLORDS are hero’s: I hope you don’t work for a living because hell has arrived and we will be working for peanuts without any rights or protections and you won’t have any say about it because you back an administration who runs our government like the mafia. This administration is owned by corporte America....Iraq is about oil and money at the expense of innocents. They have no conscience. If these reasons for war are so honorable then maybe the tables should be turned! We used to be a great country until the American people stopped reading books and started watching too much TV wrestling. We used to be united in our democratic thinking until we became republican/democrat along with the media and stopped looking at issues . We deserved what happened at Enron and that sleazy Cheney because we needed to wake up. Working people who did not stand up against corporate crime and this administration, continuing to vote for this administration just because they are REPUBLICAN are the dumbest of all and deserve what happens in the future. I hope you and your family doesn’t work for a living because there are not many in this administration who are for working people, republicans are blinded by their brainwashing corporate news! I challenge all to stand up and save America from these corporate raiders/lobbyists who are hell bent on destruction for profits! Boycott any television programing or infotainment presenting the “OFFICIAL TRUTH”, including Ben Stein!
Posted by zee on Mar 22, 2003 at 2:21 PM Brian Kehoe--
Don’t you have a Klan rally to attend?
Seriously, I again advise to you read a book and learn about the intricacies of the modern global politcal system. Instead of wasting your time worry about what Janeane Garofolo or some Dixie Chick said-- or spending your day calling up local restaurants and asking them to rename “french fries” to “freedom fries” (yeah, nice use of your time and energy, moron) maybe you’ll actually learn a thing or two about how everything works. Here’s a newsflash, Mr. 8th Grade Education: Bombing Iraq has just made this country less safe than ever.
Posted by Doctah on Mar 22, 2003 at 5:20 PM Great story. Several things are not being addressed by the media. Where are the weapons of mass destruction? How many Iraqis have been killed? I can’t believe they even make a comment like protecting the oil fields for the Iraqi people. The media also seems shocked that the Iraqis are fighting back in some instances. Anyway, I’m angry about the fact that Bush has put our country in this position. He had no right!!!
Posted by Christina on Mar 22, 2003 at 9:17 PM I cancelled my subscription to the NY Times because of their lack of coverage of the anti-war movement.
I am also e-mailing some pro-war talk show hosts, major networks,etc. I believe it is only a grain of sand, but it helps.
Posted by dino marconi on Mar 22, 2003 at 11:40 PM thanks for this article. I am professor of semiotic at Fine Arts University in France and I regularly read articles from FAIR. This time, their links brought me to your article. We speak about the media treatment of the war in Irak with my students and I can, through that kind of texts show them that American people can also be responsable and have critical faculty towards the acts of Bush government and “their” media.
Excuse me for my approximate English.
Once a time, thank you very much.
See you later online.Dominique
Posted by dominique barreau on Mar 23, 2003 at 4:23 AM Good for you, Dominique! As an American concerned about the international implications of all of this, I am confused about the best way to handle it. I appreciate your methods of informing students of the many opinions in this country. It’s nice to hear open minded understanding from many nationalities. Thanks!
Posted by ROCKTIME on Mar 23, 2003 at 11:34 AM Once again, thanks for an unbiased and informative article. When are the American people going to wake up to the propaganda the media has been feeding us?
Posted by N.C. on Mar 23, 2003 at 5:44 PM Yes we must make our thoughts known, but there is a cost. The true problem we all have in voicing our opinions is regarding who is on the right side of the issue, and willing to stay there. My conflicts are with greed and the dominance of political power. Believe it or not, truth is wining; we just aren’t being collectively made aware of it. Knowledge is power, why else would billionaires be upset, and the poor so humble. They know itís our lack of common knowledge that keeps them in power. This is why media is what it is. But the web is growing and the information cannot be controlled.
Posted by James Herring on Mar 23, 2003 at 9:10 PM Regarding Brian Kehoe: He does make an honest point. Who is right or wrong s the debate. I just wish it were televised. Thanks for being honest Brian.
Posted by James Herring on Mar 23, 2003 at 9:18 PM May I add the following. I have cancelled my newspaper subscription as of this morning. As soon as I can figure out how to get c-span radio(I like that they cover a wide range of opinions without commentary), I will cancel my cable subcription, which means no more TV. I plan to subscribe to journals/mags/papers that will provide independent, critical analysis of a wide range of opinions to enlarge my thinking and which I can support in conscience. I am not interested in shrill liberal media any more than I am interested in shrill conservative media! I’m going to take a look at your paper. I plan to look at all my investments and re-direct them to funds which do not invest in any way in companies that research and develop weapons of mass destruction for us or our allies or our enemies who were once our allies. I plan to investigate whether there is any way to withhold my taxes which support the military. I will also e-mail or write newschannels and my local newspaper telling them of my decision. I am only one person, but it is enough. Thanks, Mara Evans
Posted by mara evans on Mar 24, 2003 at 10:07 AM Lou Dobbs, FYI, is a DEVOUT Catholic. In fact, once he got into a major pissing contest with one of his bosses at CNN who thought he was “too” Catholic. Anyone writing to him might want to point out the screaming hypocrisy of his jingoistic approach to this ill-advised war versus his faith....seeing that “faith” is so much in fashion during this regime.
Posted by Ima Patriot on Mar 24, 2003 at 12:04 PM EXCELLENT IDEA! There is a way to reach the advertisers, watch the ads on CNN for a bit of time and note which companies are involved, then draft an email boycotting their products because of a biased and untruthful view they condone in the media. That is the only way they will listen apparently, hit them where it hurts; the wallet.
The only problem is that a great deal of the ads are for investment companies. How does one boycott a playground for the rich?
Posted by Sever Bronny on Mar 24, 2003 at 2:16 PM On Thursday afternoon, I was watching CSpan and there was a caller claiming to be in intelligence for an unnamed US agency. He indicated that US Citizens have been lied to, and that some of the ‘proof’ has been fabricated. He gave the name of a website before he was abruptly cut off. Anyone know what the name of the website was? I missed it.....
Posted by Jenny on Mar 24, 2003 at 6:12 PM Check this article out which exposes a “Script Approval Policy” on CNN. Scary stuff. http://www.middleeast.org/launch/redirect.cgi?num=1
Posted by Sever Bronny on Mar 25, 2003 at 12:57 PM Thanks for a list of things we can do even though the invasion has begun. I get so angry watching TV news that I can hardly stand it and often turn to CSPAN but now I can DO SOMETHING and that will feel so much better.
Posted by R. Dyer on Mar 25, 2003 at 4:14 PM Ms Douglas admonishes her readers to keep up pressure on the media for, “coverage of the humanitarian disaster that is certain to ensue.”
That is a good idea, but a little late. Where was the widespread coverage of the humanitarian distaster imposed upon the Iraqi people over the last several decades by President Hussein?
That decades long ‘humanitarian disaster’ Mr Hussein caused is being met by millions of dollars of US gov’t aid, and across the border in Jordan Christian aid agencies. Which by the way are aiding very few refugees (just hundreds so far) implying either that there are such constraints on the people they are unable to flee, or (2) that they do not want to flee they love Mr. Hussein so much, or (3) that the war has not caused a lot of ‘collateral damage’ because of allied technology and efforts to avoid such damage.
Posted by Carl Snodgrass on Mar 26, 2003 at 4:50 AM Sever Bronny of B.C. warns ominously of script approval at CNN.
My gosh, you mean a major news organization has superiors making decisions regarding the actions of the subordinates. Stop the presses, this is big!!! But wait the newspapers are in on it too, after all isn’t everybody now owned by Clear Channel.
It should be exceedingly obvious the the flow of information, escpecially news information, over the past two decades has seen a marked growth in volume, viewpoints, and spins.
Case in point In These Times.
Posted by Carl Snodgrass on Mar 26, 2003 at 4:57 AM Is anyone watching the live, nightly, broadcasts on CSPAN 1 at 9:00 pm of “The National” CBC’s (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) main newscast?
If not, you might want to give it a look.
Peace.
Posted by Geoff on Mar 26, 2003 at 10:04 AM To get a balanced view go see Al Jazeera TV’s english site: http://english.aljazeera.net
You can also get Arabic2English Translation here: http://www.aljazeera.net/
or you can also view CBC News from Canada.
Posted by MiK on Mar 26, 2003 at 2:25 PM Thank goodness the “millions of dollars in government aid” is finally going to the people we’ve imposed sanctions on for the past 12 years. Not a minute too soon! All it took was a massive illegal invasion, some MOAB lobbing and all this bluster of a civilian ‘uprising’. What humanitarians the Bush Administration are! As for that other disaster in the 80’s, the one Mr. Snodgrass referred to in which the Reagan Administration aggresively sold shiploads of weapons to both sides of a bloody eight-year war and turned a blind eye as U.S. companies provided Saddam with all the chemical weapons he could possibly want? I agree wholeheartedly that the mainstream media should have investigated those events, that should be their mandate, but perhaps they were a little preoccupied trying to contain that embarrassing little episode known as Iran/Contra. We all know how that turned out (check out Fox News correspondent Oliver North reporting in “real time” from Iraq). Oh well, so much for the liberal media. Yes, there are more news sources now. Now more than ever before. The problem lay in the fact that they all tow the official government line. I used to think CNN was a fairly decent, fairly objective alternative source to the networks. But Aaron Brown and his gang have proven me wrong. His smug arrogance and full acceptance of this kind of “speculative” journalism is more than suspect, it smacks of Orwellian overtones and should be condemned. Whatever integrity that was left over after the first Gulf War has been dumped in favor of the most blatant gushing this side of Jay Leno. Last night I bore witness to Ted Koppel reporting in full army fatigues and a helmet. Fatigues and a helmet. Sorry, The Daily Show couldn’t have topped that. These are truly strange times. No hard questions being asked. Criminal conflicts of interest being under reported or worse, ignored. Give me Edward R. Murrow, give me Bill Moyers, hell, I’d even take Dennis Miller over these elitists any day. Documentarian Micheal Moore was right to voice his dissent on national TV. It was opportunistic and over the top and totally totally appropriate. Someone had to break through and show some humanity. That took a lot of guts, and guts are something the american media lost around the end of the Vietnam/Watergate era. In this age of Geraldo & Connie aping “serious” journalism it’s hard not to feel powerless and spoon-fed. These are ‘fictitious’ times indeed. Shame on us.
Posted by Chandler Haun on Mar 26, 2003 at 11:24 PM Hillary Clinton is very quiet these days… Ya’ think maybe she doesn’t want to stick her foot in her mouth and piss off her blind following? Nah, that couldn’t be the reason.
Posted by MILLY VANILLI on Mar 27, 2003 at 10:55 AM It’s sickening that most people aren’t smart enough to realize that the military is now feeding all these “objective” journalists. Sure, they report what they are seeing and hearing, “uhh yeah I heard a boom”, is just about all I hear. News FLASH… Ted Turner owns CNN… News FLASH Rupert Murdoch owns FOX… we the what they want us to hear, from their point of view.
Posted by Jingo Jingo on Mar 27, 2003 at 11:51 AM Aaron Brown: what an ass. He just about wet his pants the other night watching US paratroopers leap into the night sky. He couldn’t contain his patriotism: his eyes were moist and his thin smile was more than enough to indicate his admiration for the soldiers. He oooed and aaahed and asked to see the pixelated, jumpy video over and over again. He askedo his co-anchor, the general, if he had ever been on a jump and listened to the general’s response like a rapt lover. Brown drips bias. When a paratrooper seargent said goodbye to Brown, addressing him as sir, you could almost see a utopian American Main St., all trim hedges and flag-draped porches and rollicking children, reflected in Brown’s adoring eyes. His continual, completely transparent adoration for pro-war ralleys or pro-war commentators or hometown patriotism or battlefield interviewees makes me sick. CNN should change its name to the Ministry of Information, its anchors should trade in their suits for fatigues, and the whole network should simply give up this charade of objectivity.
Posted by vaughan dickson on Mar 27, 2003 at 5:32 PM Thanks again for your coverage. It makes me feel a little more hopeful. I love my country so much that I expect better from it. Thanks especially to Sever Bronny for the link to fair.org and to Brian Kehoe for sticking around to debate.
Posted by Rachel on Mar 27, 2003 at 7:42 PM Brian Kehoe,
You and your oafish stupidity are one of the reasons Europe laughs at us. Your cheeseburger eating ways, you mouth-breathing, NASCAR watching ignorance and your masturbating in your parents basement because you can’t get a date just give fodder to America’s critics.
Sounds nice, doesn’t it? You get on a forum with intelligent, concerned people and you scream obscenities at them. If YOU’RE so concerened about this phantom fear, go get your little pop gun and join this war, you sissy.
Posted by neil on Mar 27, 2003 at 10:49 PM I like boys:
http://www.briankehoeisgay.mil/nmam.html
Posted by: Brian Kehoe on 3.25.03 | 1:01 pm from NYC
You say you like boys?
Posted by neil on Mar 27, 2003 at 10:53 PM See BRYX.com for independent views on topics from The Oil War to Computer Design, Music, etc.
[To e-mail me, go to: www.bryx.ocom/mailform.htm—this kind of email is one way we protect against computer viruses.]
gs
Posted by Gregg Strom on Mar 28, 2003 at 1:14 PM Until I read this article, I did not give much thought to the profound perspective-skewing aspect of literally surrounding media persons with US military over in Iraq. It is daunting to my civilian mind to try to figure how that could affect one’s viewpoint psychologically-- let alone how one reports objectively in that situation. I am grateful for the insightful commentary.
But one aspect of the article troubles me, too. And that is: when the premise of objective journalism is the actual subject of the article, why are statistics from CBS News used as a basis for the author’s position? ("52 percent of those polled by CBS ...") It saddens me that viewers/readers are thrown these statistics and other similar ones constantly as if they are some “over-half” litmus test for War sentiment. I want to ask: how exactly was that particular question phrased? To whom? What were the exact response choices? Further, aren’t there any other polls besides from the media itself? Not to mention that I personally don’t believe that if over half the voting public didn’t vote for the person behind this war, that “51” seems awfully high.
I know this is rhetorical musing on my part, but as intelligent viewers/readers I think we all should take a strong second look at the polls before passing along their “findings.”
Posted by LISA WEST on Mar 28, 2003 at 1:46 PM As you all can see, my repressed love boys in uniforms (yummy!) sometimes clouds my outlook. But my testosterone is just trying to burst out and sometimes I can’t hold back. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a panzy like you bleeding hearts, but I am a panzy just the same. Damn I hate myself.
Posted by Brian Kehoe on Mar 28, 2003 at 2:11 PM As a Latina from a country where U.S. sponsored repression is rampant, I feel compelled to overcome the fear that has been instilled in me and speak up. So here is what I wrote to CNN:
I’m writing to let you know how disgusting is your “reporting” of the war. Together with my family and friends, we have decided to never tune in to your tv stations. The way in which you diseminate your blatant propaganda is reminiscent of the worst science fiction nightmare of a police state in which the media is but one of the tentacles of a totalitarian monster intent in brainwashing and destroying with impunity.
Andina la Colombiana
Posted by Luz Marina Cardona on Mar 29, 2003 at 7:46 PM Sorry folks. You are just wrong. Saddam s an evil man bent on power and fear. He has to be removed from power. CNN may be as balanced as they ever were at this time. The blind hipcrosy of some of you makes me sad.
Are you disenters going to make the veterans of this war feel as lost as the Viet Nam vets when they came home?
Do the people of the US deserve any protection from a repeat of 9-11? Oh wait..some of you have this wild theory that Bush caused 9-11 too. Why do I even waste my time?
Posted by Brian on Mar 29, 2003 at 9:41 PM The only way to combat the terrible news media coverage is to get media ownership away from power hungry titans. Check out this website:
http://wwww.realultimatepower.net/
This site highlights all that is good and bad with total power. The author of the site has done his homework and has footnoted almost all relevant facts… pretty powerful stuff…
Posted by Chris on Mar 30, 2003 at 1:36 AM Pobrecita, Luz Mariana…
CNN is biased, obviously, but the problems in Colombia can hardly be traced to US repression. How much Food, Money, and Aid does the US annually give to Colombia? Perhaps you favor the methods and philosophies of FARC?Give me a break. You can always go back to the well run, safe, and progressive streets of Colombia if you don’t like it in the US. Nobody is holding you here. Many of your countrymen disagree with you… I CAN PROMISE YOU THAT!
No hay mucho luz en su mente… Luz. Podemos nunca dar demasiado dinero a los hispanos, no???
Posted by ROCKTIME on Mar 30, 2003 at 4:46 PM i like the idea of objective reporting. i was an editor of my high school news paper. i know objective reporting when i see it, and today it is a rare sight, indeed. writing to the (cable) news networks won’t really do anything though because they are owned by larger corporations. anything that could harm said corporation isn’t tolerated and won’t be released to the public. if we want to change our media, we need to change our government. thomas jefferson wrote the following in the declaration of independence:
--That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
why has this not been done. it is up to the people to change this. the longer we say “it is the way it is” the longer it will be the way it is. it can no longer be. a change must occur.
it must and it will happen.
Posted by joel mason on Mar 31, 2003 at 5:23 AM ROCKTIME ...
Do you seriously think that by throwing money at the successive corrupt governments in Colombia, the US is helping the citizens of Colombia?
Can you seriously not see a link between US policies and the situation in Colombia?
If the US stopped buying all the opium and cocain Colombia produces, and stopped spraying the country with defoliants, so that nothing can be cultivated on affected areas for years ... and the campesinos could finally make a decent living for other farm produce ... maybe then the situation would change ... but not by the methods currently employed.
Posted by Alx on Apr 1, 2003 at 10:16 AM Brian ...
I agree that Saddam is evil and should be removed ... but how can a war, where most casualties are civilian, hope to topple or force into exile a brutal dictator how gives less than a rat’s ass about “his people”? A dictator who has built palaces with golden toilets bowls while “his people” died (and continue to die) of starvation and lack of medical care due to UN sanctions imposed? One who mustar-gassed them a few years ago?
If US weapons were as “intelligent” as they are reputed to be, why wasn’t Saddam killed 12 years ago ... or earlier?
If the goal of this war is to get rid of Saddam and thereby “liberate” the Iraqi people, why not simply send in a few assassins to finish him off?
Why bomb a whole country?
It would be just as legal as this war ... but with a lot less loss of lives ... on all sides.
Posted by Alx on Apr 1, 2003 at 10:33 AM Neil in Idaho,
Most of the people on this page are not intelligent. This is not an intellectual forum...Sever Bronny has proven that a few times over. The woman who wrote this article seriously suggested that we stop watching cable news and watch The Daily Show! For cryin’ out loud, I think Jon Stewart is funny but C’mon!By the way, you seem to be a homophobe...that doesn’t fit the liberal profile. What if I AM gay?
It’s nice to see that of all the posts on this page, mine is the one that stirred your anger. I guess I hit a few sore spots there, huh?
I did not make ad homenim attacks on specific individuals. I simply classified liberals as I see them. Your personal attacks on me only serve to prove that you are not bright enough to win the argument so you call me a “fag.” What are you 12?
Posted by Briaan Kehoe on Apr 1, 2003 at 8:58 PM http://wwww.realultimatepower.net/
rules… Mik in Bangladesh.. I tried your fair and balanced Al Jazeer English site and it is MIA. Did someone forget to tell Al Jazeera that it is always good for a website to actually have content if they want people top return.. instead all I got was some not available message. If you are getting your info from them, then you are obviously not getting any info… rela ultimate power is the only source of real info…
Posted by Chris on Apr 2, 2003 at 1:03 AM Brian,
Orientation aside, I always have to ask such staunch opponents of the “liberal” media the same question: What is this left point-of-view that you folks always get steamed about? I’m talking concrete examples, man, not generalities. I ask this because I’ve always seen the media in the opposite frame. To me, mass media networks, publications, etc. seem to tow the line of keeping it safe and not taking any real chances; I define that as conservative. I would think that a “liberal” media would turn off that huge demographic of a moderate and/or conservative-leaning audience. Maybe it’s just that this pinko media of yours is just not hawkish and conservative enough for your specific liking. Hey, it’s not as open and critical as I would like it to be, but I’m not having a fit, I’m seeking out the things I want to know by going beyond the NBC’s, CNN’, and Newsweek’s of the world. Perhaps you should just stick with the National Review.
Posted by neil on Apr 2, 2003 at 6:04 PM Alx.....
If you think civilians are the higest number of deaths in this war you are on dope. If it were not for the US fighting with the handicap of protecting them this war would already be over. Are you paying any attention at all? The people of Iraq are HAPPY to see us there. MANY are being forced to fight by the threat of their familys being held hostage. We are not bombing without much thought and vision.
Kill Saddam with a few commandos or well placed missles? We may have already done that...but we can’t be sure yet. Saddam is very good at hiding and running. If he were not he would already be dead at the hands of his own countryman.Neil; One name..Peter Arnett!!!!!!!!!!! CNN= the Clinton News Network.
Posted by Brian on Apr 2, 2003 at 9:47 PM Alright, Brian from Florida, your “one name” a liberal media makes? Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Peter Arnett get a swift kick in the chops and is now left doling for some UK rag? Also, I do believe his statements (which were pretty much no different from some of what’s being said here on many a network) were on Iraqi TV. Are they part of the “liberal” media, too? Get off the soapbox, man; your argument is hackneyed and passe. It’s a broken record of whine.
Posted by neil's friend on Apr 3, 2003 at 9:50 AM I would like to say thank you to all the socialist/communist Americans for telling the truth about Bush. He is the hated enemy of the great Saddam. This infidel thinks it’s ok to push democracy and freedom on the people of Iraq. Saddam is all the people of Iraq will ever need. The Kurds & the Shite deserve to suffer because they do not agree with Saddam. Please keep protesting in the U.S.A. because the whole world should hate Bush & freedom. Socialism is the only answer. Please elect Clinton to another term. When he was president, we never had to worry about the safety of the great Saddam. Al Jazerra is the only network that shows the truth. Americans kill women and children & bomb the great Mosques of Iraq. Saddam only killed the infidel Kurd & Shite women and children. They deserve to suffer & die because they do not love the great Saddam. America is poison to the world.
Posted by Medina Hamarabi on Apr 3, 2003 at 7:47 PM Somebody call Neil a Waaahhhmbulance!!!! Yes the fact that NBC employed Arnett even after he was fired from CNN in disgrace does a liberal make. Yes the networks and CNN are realizing that they can’t be sooo offbase all the time and firing idiots like him. This is in spite of their labor union democrat brainwashed view on everything. This brings up a good point. The reason so many people are liberal is that they really only care about themselves and that shows in the way they lead their lives. Narsicism is the evil that propels these people to insist that the GOVERNMENT take up the slack. They can’t possibly be a caring and giving to the world person on their own. It has to be legislated to MAKE the country do what they see as right in their dim view of the world.
The media has to keep meat on its own table. That is why since the revolution of 94’ and FOX came in CNN and others have been careful not to be too far to the left. And liberals can’t stand it!!!! Neil you can’t handle the truth..you are wrong!!!GREAT POST MEDINA!!!
Posted by Brian on Apr 3, 2003 at 8:05 PM Come on, Jeb, what the hell is this “liberal agenda”? Is this just the case that if you keep beating the same tired drum then it must be true? It’s always the same that when you folks cry liberal media there’s little that you can justify to aid in the understanding of what in the world you’re talking about. Just because your media icons like Rush, O’Reilly, etc. speak for you does not mean that there’s a group at the other end of the spectrum doing the same for us “Marxists” (don’t you just love labels? they’re so easy to toss around and make you feel so darn clever.). Are we all on seperate teams where any protest or protest of a protest is viewed as a pep rally? I know you hate questions, guy, but that’s how you find out about all of those things you know nothing about. I do suppose that the truth can be scary sometimes, but maybe you should try it.
Posted by not brian's friend on Apr 4, 2003 at 10:22 AM Brian…
The death toll for civilian casualties in this war is already within the hundreds ... about 30 British soldiers have died/been killed, and as many or more US troops ... many in “accidents” and freindly-fire incidents .... in Kuwait and Iraq ... Civilians ARE the civictims here ... They didn’t enlist anywhere and never agreed to place their lives into the hands of army leaders ... which the soildiers did ... knowing they may be placed in to danger and killed in combat.
And where do you get the idea that Iraqis are HAPPY to see the Americans and Brits there? Some may be fighting because they are held hostage by fears of reprisals from Saddam’s regime, not without cause ... others to protect their country form yet another invading army… But precious few see the troops as “liberators” ...
The US are obviously handicapped in their advance on Bagdad by civilians they need to protect from the troops, especially when these civilians see the troops as just another invading army ...You write: “We are not bombing without much thought and vision.” ... wanna bet?
“Our job now is killing.” -Lieutenant Colonel McCoy, commanding the US Marine 3rd, Battery, 4th Regiment
“We had a great day,” Sergeant Schrumpf said. “We killed a lot of people.” - NYTimes, 29 March, 2003If a change of regime were truely the primary aim of this war, then it could have been avoided and Saddam toppled in another way. Not with a few placed misslies ... but rather with an assassin ... it’s been done before and seems a lot more legit than bombing the hell out of a starving population!
Posted by Alx on Apr 6, 2003 at 4:12 AM I want to attack one aspect of your argument. I have heard it before. It is an attempt to vilify us for ìLabelingî you. It is a common theme in most liberal rhetoric not to ìJudge.î Maybe if you learned to judge people for where they stand and for their mistakes all of you would learn something about responsibility. There is nothing wrong with making a ëjudgment.í
You wrote:
(don’t you just love labels? they’re so easy to toss around and make you feel so darn clever.).See, we right wing, conservative, capitalists have always been easy to attack because we clearly define where we stand. By the way, see how easy that isÖI just SAID where I stand. I labeled myself - I am a Republican.
Your best defense is to remain vague so that we cannot attack your position. Your argument is to tell us that we are calling you names. I didnít call you a NASCAR-watching retard, or a homosexual like you called me. I just called you what you are ñ a liberalÖa misinformed, brainwashed liberal. Why are you so afraid to admit what you are? Donít be ashamed, just say, ìI would like to see the American government tax people with jobs and use the money to set up programs for people who donít work.-I am a socialistî ìI would like to see peace and love and harmony rule throughout the world without any intervention from the United States.-I am an imaginative dreamerî
Sorry cupcake, but your idealistic dreams will never be realized. Try talking to your Muslim friends about peace. Ask them if Islam will soon embrace the ways of ìWestern Satan.î
Syria is next.“We will not tire, we will not falter and we will not fail.”
“ I will not forget the wound to our country and those who inflicted it. I will not yield, I will not rest, I will not relent in waging this struggle for freedom and security for the American people. “
President George W. Bush - September 21, 2001
Posted by Brian on Apr 6, 2003 at 1:19 PM Alx you must be watching the Saddam news network. “Bombing a starving population”? Yes bombing them with millions in aid, medicine, and food. Are we killing people? Damn right! If they will not stand down to our men and advance aggressivly they are killed. What would you do? How do you feel about a man that uses a pregnant woman to draw our soldiers in to be blown up? Like I said before Saddam is very good at hiding. Killing him with an assasian would be great but one of his sons would just take over. He has been running and hiding behind his gaurds for many years.
Yes the media is a hell of a lot more fair now...like I said they need to keep meat on the table. That does not change what went on for the 30 years prior. Just yesterday I was watching CNN. The blond anchor (name?) had a piece about how we are clearing an area that some sniper fire had come from. The soldiers brought the family out of there home and they were scared. They were treated with utmost respect and not harmed in any way EVEN THOUGH they may have been hiding the sniper. The blond anchor goes on and on about “hard to get the faces of that scared family out of your mind”. Not a word about the job the soldiers did. Not a word about how scared they may be. What she said and what I saw on the film were not te same story. She wanted to make our boys look like the bad guys with her comments. So there is you much requested example of the bias I see. It is hardly an isolated event either.
Yes it is better than it ever was for reasons stated. My god the bias was awful during things like the Iran/Contra deal ( I have a friend from El Salvador who can’t believe Reagan was criticised for this) or any congressional budget battle of the last 20 years.You guys are sad. Why don’t you give some real reasons for your stance. All I see here is name calling and misinformation. “Bombing a starving population”...SHEESH!
Posted by Brian on Apr 6, 2003 at 8:51 PM I think I saw Brian Kehoe goose-stepping outside this morning with a tattered flag in his hands demanding everyone come outside and march for the sake of glory, bravery and patriotism. It’s amazing how irresponsible a view could be without objective sources of thought. The war is going exactly as Chomsky predicted, and it would do good for the goose-steppers to read not just the republican regurgitations but perhaps some of Noam’s works. He just released a DVD by the name of “Distorted Morality, America’s War on Terror?”. If anybody has a free library system or a free democratic distribution system where you live I urge you, for the sake of clarity, to pick this one up. As for people like Brian Kehoe, all I have to say is, read some George Orwell (’Animal Farm’ or ‘1984’), and stop trying to tell us that there are five lights when there are only really four.
Posted by Sever Bronny on Apr 7, 2003 at 1:53 AM Brian,
Naw, I was just givin’ you shit. Sorry if I go overboard sometimes.I disagree with your views. Beyond that, everything is cool.
Posted by neil on Apr 7, 2003 at 2:39 AM With the larger moral fist comes the verdict? Perhaps a bit of vagueness comes in handy when one wants to keep an open mind to many ideas. It must be so confining and trite to have to wear those “patriotic” labels on your lapel at all times. As for the loathing of pinkos or commies or socialists, the playground belongs to you self-identified bullies. If you want to make it about teams and persuasions (which you folks always seem to do), then go right ahead play with yourselves; I’m taking my bongos and dope and heading home…
Light many lamps and gather round his bed.
Lend him your eyes, warm blood, and will to live.
Speak to him; rouse him; you may save him yet.
He’s young; he hated War; how should he die
When cruel old campaigners win safe through?
-- Siegfried Sassoon ("The Death-Bed")If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
-- Wilfred Own ("Dulce Et Decorum Est")History has reason, fellas. Too bad so many people (ahem) are “misinformed.”
Posted by James (not hiding behind anything) on Apr 7, 2003 at 9:27 AM I’m sorry, but “arrogant, megalomaniac quasi-fascists” is YOUR description of the “evil five.” Come to grips with reality people. I agree with this guy.....
“The US “ain’t no saint”. Our foreign policy is riddled with double standards, the CIA is incompetent, and every wacko in the world wants us to suffer. The problem is, everyone wants something from the US. Damned if we do, damned if we don’t.
When water is the new currency and the US is bone dry, the Canadians will be the players and decisionmakers. I truly and sincerely wish you luck in maintaining peace in this fucked up world...”
Have you ever met people who complain about every God damn thing known to man. Yeah, war is a bitch and unfortunately it exists, the world isn’t perfect, but who is?
If you can run/rule the world void of hate, jealousy, destruction, fear, etc. then go right ahead and do it. I do believe it would require a great deal of effort to perform this mass exorcism and these war protestors are not helping. They look like a pathetic bunch of whiners who lack assertive gumption. Okay, so the US turns into a puddle of “understanding and compassion” what then? Are these crazy “missionaries” of the Koran going to take notice? Are they going to back down and bashfully withdraw their suicide heros? What is it you people wish to accomplish?
Posted by Lori on Apr 7, 2003 at 11:39 AM Self-identified bullies? Looking over these comments I see more bullying coming from the left. I consider myself a “lefty”, but I do believe we’ve got some extremists on our hands.
Posted by Lori on Apr 7, 2003 at 12:38 PM Think about this:
The “Conservatives” are being liberal with our use of war, and liberal with tax cuts. The “Liberals” are being conservative with war and conservative with tax cuts. Does this seem ironic to anyone else? I wonder how many other situations this applies to! Maybe it’s time to re-evaluate who are the conservatives and who are the liberals in this country!
Posted by jo story on Apr 7, 2003 at 2:19 PM This doesn’t answer my question. Conservative/liberal.....there are deeper inplications here. I am considered a liberal for my beliefs. I too do not want people to suffer and die, but what are the alternatives? Please, will someone tell me why we wage war upon our fellow brothers and sisters? Is it our duty to “discipline” other nations. Is it our duty to “discipline” our own people? Do we fight against the leaders of Iraq and say, “no this isn’t okay” or do we turn our heads and pretend the situation doesn’t exist? If it is for greed, money, etc.....are we Americans the only gulity party?
Posted by Lori on Apr 7, 2003 at 3:10 PM I am consistent. I said that I am considered liberal. I said that war exists, unfortunately (not imaginary, right?) Am I being consistent? I have not contradicted myself. Please indicate in my writings where I am not consistent. If I am liberal does that means I am opposed to the war? It’s an all or none principle? War=evil peace=good Yet, both exist....simultaneously....is this where I am not being consistent? Stating what appears to be this “liberal"=good “conservative"=bad. Has war not existed since the big bang, creation, etc.? I know in my history books I read quite a bit about war and the reasons/rationale behind it. I mean, come on folks, people are basically good and evil, right? I mean who the hell is perfect here? Yes war is a travesity, but it is part of the human plight. Fear, jealosy, and the lust for power is a part of human nature, right? There are people who accept this way of life, right? Am I wrong here? Please correct me if I am not getting a clear picture of reality.
Think about this....
“For if you are rich, your simplicity of life will both go towards smoothing over the dreadful contrast between waste and want, which is the great horror of civilized countries and will also give an example and standard of dignified life to those classes which you desire to raise, who, as it is indeed, being like enough to rich people, are given both to envy and to imitate the idleness and waste that the possession of money produces.”
Why do some nations despise America? Could our trade agreements have anything to do with whether or not we gain support? It’s all about the mighty dollar friends(soon to be replaced by the euro, no?) I believe there are deeper implications here. Is anyone getting my drift?
Posted by Lori on Apr 7, 2003 at 9:19 PM Yes Lori I get your drift. In America our founding fathers set up a system of governent that has allowed our hard work to be rewarded. We have tried since 1945 to bring anyone else who wants to come up with us. We have spent countless billions to help those less forunate raise the standard of living tey have. Now some of these peoples do not want our help and indeed spit on us for trying. I say we keep trying but we WILL NOT allow them to TAKE from us the freedom we have worked so hard for. Just because they don’t like our way of life, religion, skin color, or the freedoms we allow all sexes and races is no reason to hate us and declare jihad against us. Lori you need to keep reminding yourself that WE are the tolerant ones. WE are the people who stand for goodness and equality in this world no matter which side of the aisle you may align yourself with. WE will also not allow anyone to force us to live in fear of terror.
Posted by Brian on Apr 9, 2003 at 2:37 PM Brian from FLA: Well said!
Lori: You are not an intelligent individual. Your writings are stuttering, sputtering, stammering, diatribes of stupidity.
Posted by Brian on Apr 9, 2003 at 10:26 PM I know you liberals are upset that the United States Government got what it wanted but you have to admit that it was an impressive show :-) We kicked ASS!!!!
I know three weeks was too long and I know it’s not the way the New York Times expected it to turn out but HOLY CRAP WAS THAT A SHOW OF FORCE, OR WHAT?! Total domination!
When we take Damascus we’ll try our best to complete the task in under two weeks this time.American Imperialism, baby!
Posted by Brian on Apr 9, 2003 at 11:06 PM Brian from NYC,
you can’t be serious about imperialism being a good thing.
Posted by neil on Apr 10, 2003 at 2:21 AM I agree that my style of writing could use some work. Thank you Brian from NYC for pointing that out.
I realize you must be playing devil’s advocate here.
Posted by Lori on Apr 10, 2003 at 8:04 AM Nice alliteration, BTW.
Now back to the more important topic of discussion.......
Posted by Lori on Apr 10, 2003 at 8:08 AM Lori,
I do believe that Brian from NYC is perfect here, don’t you?
Posted by neil on Apr 10, 2003 at 11:50 AM No, I was just being inflamatory. Once in a while I would rather wind you folks up instead of making an argument.
I suppose it would be bad if the United States took over the world....although I’m not sure why.“We will not tire, we will not falter and we will not fail.”
Posted by Brian on Apr 10, 2003 at 3:31 PM What just happened?
http://www.bowlingforcolumbine.com/involved/operationoily.php
Posted by Sever on Apr 14, 2003 at 8:02 PM And back to topic, the oppressive right-wing media and its ‘hitler youth’:
http://media.guardian.co.uk/mediaguardian/story/0,7558,936087,00.html
Posted by Sever on Apr 14, 2003 at 8:20 PM I would like to post an outrage regarding a report on CNN’s “Inside Politics” program hosted by Judy Woodruff two days ago. She did a review of the Democratic candidates with CNN reporter Candy Crowley. First Crowley introduced each candidate with highly insulting and (to her) humorous descriptions. Then, to top it off, she showed the candidates on a deck of cards just like the cards used by the military to show the “most wanted” of Iraq’s upper leadership. I was shocked at the blatant equating of the candidates as war criminals. I have heard no critique of this and it was treated as a news coverage of the Democratic candidates by CNN! Outrage.
Posted by Victoria Harper on Apr 23, 2003 at 11:41 AM You know what, it’s people like you who are passive, do nothing, and only whine and moan about the government. If you want to moan, DO something constructive about it, run for president. You think you can do a better job? How do you think the people of Iraq felt when they had their innocent relatives murdered? Grow up, and if you don’t like the way the government is run, get the hell out you liberal whining idiot.
Posted by Nathan Zimmerman on Apr 25, 2003 at 2:18 PM Subject: The Party’s Over
Victoria,
If CNN has turned on you then you’re SCREWED! I’ll admit that FOX news is blatantly biased, right-wing coverage. It WAS the only one until the other cable news networks saw the ratings. They folded like a cheap suit (Typical liberals - so weak) I don’t know if you’ve read my earlier posts. Most of them were just malicious rants about how weak and pathetic I think liberals are. (This is not one of those posts)
What I want to do in this post is point out how weak and pathetic the Democratic Party is. You wimps are dead! You can’t possibly think that Lieberman can beat Bush. You can’t possibly think that any wimp you put up there stands a chance. The problem is that you don’t stand for anything. You just stand AGAINST everything. Everything that America is...strength, capitalism, national pride and defending ourselves. The American people have given up on your bullshit. We ain’t gonna be nice anymore. Your attempt at socialism in America will fail.
When CNN and the rest of the liberal media turn on you it’s over.No blood for oil?
No oil for pacifists!
Posted by Brian on Apr 30, 2003 at 11:55 PM Hi,
I just want to know if you war protestors protested When BIll Clinton attacked Iraq or if you are merely hypocrites or even just selective about whom attacks Iraq? Seems a lot of you love Saddam, and think he was the greatest, sweetest guy and a nice, warm leader.
As for the Dixie Chix, they have the right to say whatever they want, and thats why Arlington is crowded with the bodies of fallen soldiers - they fought for that freedom we have. Dixie Chix used their freedom of speech and I support that right. Those who backlashed at the Chix, stopped listening to their music, threw out their cd’s and the stations that reacted by pulling their music ALSO exercised their freedom of speech which I also support. IT IS HYPOCRITICAL to allow one but not the other. People who got mad at the backlash are hypocritiacal, so which is it, do you want freedom of speech or not? Or are you guy’s being selective again? People are SO willing to speak freely in America, THAT’S EASY! Go to a country that does not have freedom of speech and talk against that government and I’ll be impressed.And you protestors are a small minor percentage in THIS country, but you are in the majority WORLD WIDE. It’s not a Bush conspiracy, it is a fact.
Lastly, you said Lou Dobbs doesn’t hide his ‘right-winger’ views… isn’t that a GOOD thing? Unlike the left-winger news “reporters” who do hide their views, yet present their slanted view as news. ~~Tim
Posted by Tim on Oct 6, 2003 at 6:45 PM Page 1 of 1 pages -
register a new account »Posting Security
Also by Susan J. Douglas
Popular Discussions
- The 9/11 Faith Movement
Many Americans believe 9/11 was a conspiracy by the U.S. government
1972 posts since Jul 11 06 - What’s the 411 on 9/11?
891 posts since Dec 21 05 - Democrats: It’s the War
659 posts since Nov 1 05 - Was the Presidential Election Stolen?
462 posts since Jun 19 06 - A Fundamental History Lesson
The rise of National Socialism proved politics and religion don't mix
426 posts since Oct 10 05
© 2003 In These Times | Reprint Policy | Privacy Policy | Powered by Expression Engine | RSS Feeds
