Makes ya wanna holla
How supremely infuriating is it to hear, on the very media outlets which rah-rahed and cheer-led for the war, gave Bush cover every step of the way, actively participated in reporting every bit of PR hype about Bush while likewise making out opponents as some sort of unstable traitors, to hear these very same people now asking why it is that the congress is ONLY NOW getting around to asking the questions which needed to be asked about this misguided invasion.
These people bear every bit as much of the responsibility for not informing the American public of the truth and misleading them. They bear every bit as much responsibility for swallowing the Bush myths whole and for being scared and bullied into giving no credence or credibility to those who have been opposed to this train-wreck since the beginning!
Yet now, as if they had nothing to do with it, they cluck and shake their heads while condeming politicians for not having stood up and asked questions about the advisability of invading Iraq! ARRRRRRRGHHHH!
The media were a large part of the reason spineless and cowardly politicians were stampeded into approving this war. It is because the media all fell into line behind Bush and the right and actively promoted him as some fearless and bold leader while demeaning and ignoring those who pointed out the truth, that cowardly politicians felt they didn't dare ask questions. To not blindly go along was to invite a huge negative reaction. Of course, that shouldn't have mattered, but of course, they went along to save their skins and because they didn't know what the hell was going on. They should have.
Both congress and the media are fully responsible for completely abandoning their duty to ask questions and inform the public. They are equally implicated in their roles in allowing this administration to push the country into a misguided and reckless invasion at the cost of thousands upon thousands of lives.
It is beyond reprehensible for the very same media to now point the finger at congress. If the press had done their jobs, the politicians wouldn't have been running scared, and the questions which needed to be asked would have been asked, and maybe, just maybe, the country wouldn't have found itself in the mess it's in today.
posted by The Inside Dope @ 11/16/2005
2 comments
2 Comments:
For those who may not be familiar with "Goodnight and Good Luck", though I haven't seen it, I understand it's a movie about Edward R. Murrow and deals with his honest and courageous reporting on Joe McCarthy's infamous activities (which are far too close to a lot of what has occured lately).
The film highlights the role of journalists as an essential watchdog and reporter in preserving democracy and looking out for it's citizens.
As Diehard notes, a role which networks have largely abandoned with news programing being consumed and perverted by the drive for ratings and corporate profits.
It's produced by George Clooney who plays CBS news honcho Fred Friendly, and is said to be an excellent movie. I hope to catch it.
The movie's website can be found here.
As long as media corporations are allowed by Republicans to continue to consolodate and merge to the point where there's only a handful of mega-corporations which own every outlet, including the situation currently in place where at times, a single corporation, with offices thousands of miles away, owns every single media outlet in the area, every radio station, tv station, and newspaper, is allowed to continue, the press will never get back to it's original role as the fourth branch of government, the one included and protected in the constitution itself.
Corporate interests, the very corporations which own nearly all media, are aligned with the right and figures such as Rupert Murdoch and other corporate heads are decidedly conservative and thus ensure that what news their outlets provide are skewed and anything but "fair and balanced", not to mention that it insures the rise of garbage tv which races to the bottom in the quest for ratings.
Until the government steps in and limits corporate ownership of the media, thus ensuring more diverse and independent voices are heard, the situation will only continue to get worse.
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