|
|
Mainstream media:
Completely on board with Bush administration lies
|
by Helen & Harry Highwater, Unknown News
May 3, 2005
The President of the United States is lying. Again.
|
Bush noted that on April 9, 2003, a statue of Hussein that stood in Baghdad was pulled from its pedestal to the ground on the day American commanders declared Hussein's regime no longer ruled in the city.
|
|
|
| "The toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue in Baghdad will be recorded, alongside the fall of the Berlin Wall, as one of the great moments in the history of liberty," Bush said. |
That's excerpted from an article (see sidebar) that was written by an Associated Press reporter, and ran in hundreds of American newspapers. The part where the reporter points out that Bush was lying was never written at all, so never published.
The toppling of Hussein's statue was a staged photo, pure propaganda for American audiences. Even the mainstream media has admitted it was phony. The square was roped off to keep real residents of Baghdad out, while Americans and American agents pulled down the statue. It made for great pictures, but it was a phony event.
Yet Bush's statement, reported verbatim in virtually all American newspapers, played and replayed on national newscasts, was challenged in (by my research) zero newspapers and newscasts.
Further, in the weeks since the AP article appeared, my persistent Googling suggests that nobody in the mainstream media has mentioned that Bush was lying.
Quite the contrary, Bush's lie is now being quoted as if it's a memorable quote from a statesman. As if it confirms that the lie wasn't a lie.
In a "think piece" in the San Francisco Chronicle, normally semi-awake writer Marc Sandalow uses Bush's line to launch speculation that Bush might have been right about other things as well, including the invasion of Iraq. In the Seattle Times and at least 18 other papers, syndicated columnist Kathryn Lopez likewise pretends Bush's quote is true, and follows the lie to its logical conclusion -- "Folks disagreed vociferously with Ronald Reagan's Cold War policies that helped bring down the Soviet Empire, but history is what it is."
Yes, history is what it is. The falling of the Berlin Wall was not a staged photo op; the falling of Hussein's statue was. But if enough reporters repeat the lie enough times, it will no doubt become "history."
Not so many years ago, it was newsworthy when a President made a "mis-statement." In 1976, for example, when Gerald Ford said Poland was an independent and autonomous nation, not under Soviet domination, reporters reported his wrongness later the same night, and dissected his misstatement for days.
Now, the news media simply broadcasts the lies, reports the lies as fact, and later references the lies to substantiate the next round of lies for full propaganda value.
Repeating lies that are known to be lies, without adding that you know they're lies, is lying. This is what American media does. Lies from the White House are reported as if they're truths, thoroughly distorting the public conversation. The facts of any matter can never be discussed by both sides, because there is no national arbiter -- the press -- telling we the people what the facts are.
Can you even remember the last time Vice President Dick Cheney had a sound byte on television that didn't include a straight-forward lie or two? I can't.
Last week, we saw President Bush in a live, prime time press conference. If you saw the broadcast, you saw what we saw: A man in a nice suit walked out, shook some hands, and made a fool of himself. Bush displayed a tenth-of-a-thimble's depth of knowledge on every question asked. To any observer aware of the issues of the day, it was painfully plain, again, that this President of the United States couldn't possibly pass a seventh-grade current events test.
But in all the coverage and pundits' analysis, only comedians Dave Letterman and Jon Stewart even hinted at the Emperor's obvious lack of clothes.
In the media that pretends to tell the truth, it was presented as if an American President had held a press conference.
These are dark, shameful days for America. Hicks, charlatans, and thoroughly evil operatives drive the national debate, and run the mainstream media. Stone Phillips reports that he's reporting, ABC News does an exposé on American Idol, and the mainstream media covers the White House with all the skepticism of WWE Smackdown -- as if it's all real. |
|
|
Bush thanks soldiers, but says work not over
by Nedra Pickler, Associated Press
April 13, 2005
FORT HOOD, Texas -- President Bush visited soldiers at the largest US military base yesterday, marking the two-year anniversary of the end of Saddam Hussein's regime by saying it will be remembered along with the fall of the Berlin Wall as one of history's greatest moments.
Bush thanked the soldiers at Fort Hood who have recently returned from Iraq or are heading there this fall, but said it isn't time to start bringing US forces home.
"Iraqis want to be led by their own countrymen," Bush said. "We'll help them achieve that objective. And then our troops can come home with the honor they deserve."
"In the last two years you have accomplished much, but your work isn't over," he said. Terrorists "will remain under constant pressure from our armed forces."
Base officials said 25,000 soldiers came to hear the commander in chief. As the Marine One helicopter carrying Bush came in for a landing, the pilot circled the enormous crowd crammed shoulder to shoulder on a base parade field, waving small American flags.
"Whether you are coming or going, you're making an enormous difference for the security of our nation and for the peace of our world," Bush told them. "I want to thank you for extending freedom to millions, and I want to thank you for making America proud."
The crowd remained somber and silent for much of the speech as Bush talked about the plight of Iraqis and soldiers who have aided them. They let out occasional whoops as Bush mentioned various base contingents who have contributed.
"If we can start to change the most powerful country in the Middle East, the others will follow," Bush said. "Americans 20 years down the road won't have to deal with a day like Sept. 11, 2001."
Bush noted that on April 9, 2003, a statue of Hussein that stood in Baghdad was pulled from its pedestal to the ground on the day American commanders declared Hussein's regime no longer ruled in the city.
"The toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue in Baghdad will be recorded, alongside the fall of the Berlin Wall, as one of the great moments in the history of liberty," Bush said.
Bush wrapped up a week of travel with the pep talk and lunch with soldiers stationed at Fort Hood, the largest active-duty armored post in the military. The president made his way through the mess hall serving line, piling a plate with fried chicken, collard greens, and macaroni and cheese.
He was meeting privately with the families of about 30 soldiers who have been killed before leaving the base. Fort Hood has lost 146 soldiers in Iraq, according to Fort Hood spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Dan Baggio.
Soldiers and residents in Iraq still face daily violence, such as a truck explosion Monday near a US convoy and a suicide bombing attack at a Marine outpost. The abduction Monday of a US contractor also heightened fears among foreigners working in Iraq.
Bush also visited Fort Hood on Easter Sunday, when he worshiped at a base church and said he prayed for peace. His return to the base, just a short helicopter ride from his Crawford ranch, was originally scheduled for Friday but was delayed so he could attend Pope John Paul II's funeral in Rome.
Bush left Washington for Rome on Wednesday and after the pope's funeral flew directly to Texas for a weekend at his ranch. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visited Monday.
Bush was returning to the White House yesterday.
As originally published
|
|
|
As if the President answered questions Thursday night.
As if what Bush or Cheney says is somehow related to the facts of any matter.
As if "freedom is on the march."
As if "the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue" was anything more than a few Marines and CIA operatives doing what they'd been told.
* * *We the people are being lied to daily, by our President, by his White House staff, and by their media errand boys and hired girls.
I like to believe Americans are smarter than this -- that the American public will eventually see through the charade and stop believing the horse manure that's been spread across every front page, every newscast.
I like to believe the nation will snap out of its trance, but I'm probably just lying to myself. There's no evidence that the American people are getting tired of being duped. There's no sign of any end to the lies, no hint that your average American can even tell the difference between truth and lies any more.
That's quite an accomplishment, when you think about it. It's terribly impressive, and impressively terrifying, what the nation's press has done -- by refusing to do its work.
© by the author.
What do you think?
|
|
|
|
|
