The increasingly unhinged and incredibly shrinking
_resident did not "stay up" to hear Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mekong Delta) sound the battle cry last night. Since he took most of the summer before 9/11 off, it is not hard to believe he would miss his rival's first prime-time speech to the nation. And, he is, according to Beltwayistan insiders, under heavy anti-depressants, etc. these day. But the increasingly unhinged and incredibly shrinking _resident was on the stump in the state of Misery this morning, saying "results matter." Yes, results like turning an unprecedented federal surplus into a multi-trillion dollar federal deficit, 900+ died US soldiers, no WMDs, isolated, outnumbered and ill--equipped in the Mega Mogadishu of Iraq, a Medifraud plan that was passed on bribes, threats and lies and works better for the Pharmaceutical industry thanfor the elderly, and that's only three examples of all he has "accomplishmed," yes, "results matter." The LNS is delighted that the increasingly unhinged and incredibly shrinking _resident is going to run on his record...Too bad the "US mainstream news media" will not provide any CONTEXT or CONTINUITY...Yes, it's the Media, Stupid....The Corporatist Media, and its Orwellian "news organizations" is a greater threat, and a more potent force than the Bush cabal itself...
Ruth Lopez, www.buzzflash.com: As for why young people
think that The Daily Show is a good source of real
news, ask yourself this: When the vice-president of
the United States is caught, on TV, publicly lying
about leading this country into a war where almost
1000 of our young people have needlessly died, and
then later states, again on TV, that he never said
what he said, why is it that the only "news" show to
play the side by side tapes of him lying, and then
denying what he said, is The Daily Show? Why wasn't
that headline news on every news show? " Vice
President denies saying what we have him on tape
saying, soldiers dying every day because of it."
That's news, but I have to watch Comedy Central to see
it. What's wrong with this picture, Mr. Brokaw?
Break the Corporatist Media Monopolies' Stranglehold
on the "News," Show Up for Democracy in 2004: Defeat
Bush (again!)
http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/04/07/con04315.html
July 27, 2004
Note to Tom Brokaw: Why I get my hard news from Jon
Stewart
A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
by Ruth Lopez
Sunday morning, wanting to see some of the run-up to
the Democratic convention, I turned on CNN. There was
Judy Woodruff, talking to a Kerry spokesperson. In
thanking him for the interview, for her closing line,
she said, "Spoken like a true, loyal Kerry man." Did I
hear that right, I thought? Because it sounded to me
like a backhanded way to imply that he said what he
said just because he works for Kerry? A sly way to
discredit the speaker; slip in the line, close the
segment.
Then, because the Republicans have a "rapid response
war room" at the Dems' convention, Ms. Woodruff
interviewed one of the ex-Enron lobbyists that now
have jobs shilling for Cheney/Bush. I waited to see
how she would close the interview with him. First, I
had to listen to the same old tired list of Republican
"talking point" lies: Kerry voted to raise taxes 350
times (lie), Kerry is a flip flopper (lie), Kerry is
the most liberal senator (lie, but I wouldn't care if
he was). On and on, and not once did Ms. Woodruff
challenge or question the statements made. When he was
done, she thanked him sweetly for his time, as if it
had been a burden for him to have had to do all that
heavy lifting for lil ol' her. Yuck. I turned to
MSNBC. No better. They were all so excited to have a
"rabid response team" throwing them treats that they
were practically salivating on their mics.
Later in the day, while watching CSPAN, there was Ms.
Woodruff again, along with a panel of other esteemed
TV news professionals: Brokaw, Jennings, Rather. They
were discussing the sad state of news reporting during
the lead up to war. Yes, they admitted that they all
reported the war build-up wrong. They didn't ask hard
enough questions. They were cowed by an aggressive and
hostile administration. They were afraid to buck the
hyper patriotism in the lead-up to the war.
Then, I almost choked on my pretzel, Brokaw bemoaned
the fact that so many young people think that The
Daily Show is an acceptable way to get real news.
Note to Brokaw, Jennings, et al. You didn't just
misreport the insane drive to start an unnecessary,
pre-emptive war, you were part of the hyper patriotic,
jingoistic drumbeat. And it isn't just that you didn't
do enough to question it, it's that you didn't do
anything. And you still aren't. Your pathetic CSPAN
mea culpa, seen by less than 1% of the country, is
even less impressive when you go right back to your
studio and keep carrying water for the Bush
Administration, ala Ms. Woodruff.
As for why young people think that The Daily Show is a
good source of real news, ask yourself this: When the
vice-president of the United States is caught, on TV,
publicly lying about leading this country into a war
where almost 1000 of our young people have needlessly
died, and then later states, again on TV, that he
never said what he said, why is it that the only
"news" show to play the side by side tapes of him
lying, and then denying what he said, is The Daily
Show? Why wasn't that headline news on every news
show? " Vice President denies saying what we have him
on tape saying, soldiers dying every day because of
it." That's news, but I have to watch Comedy Central
to see it. What's wrong with this picture, Mr. Brokaw?
And it isn't just young people who are turning to Jon
Stewart for news dressed up as comic relief. I'm old
enough to remember another time when we had a VP like
Cheney. Spiro Agnew, Nixon's VP, pleaded no contest to
charges of tax fraud and resigned. Apparently, Agnew
had illegal payments -- which he called legitimate
political contributions (in unmarked envelopes
containing as much as $20,000 at a time) -- delivered
directly to his vice presidential office! Sound like
anyone we know? Somewhere from Hell I'm sure Agnew is
smiling up at Cheney.
Every one of the top news people sitting on that CSPAN
panel should remember Agnew's disgrace; they're old
enough, they were all around then. And then, like now,
the news media toadied up to the Nixon Administration
until the weight of evidence in Watergate became
unavoidably massive.
Now it's gotten so bad that flacks like CNN's Kelli
Arena can proclaim that Osama Bin Laden is a Kerry
supporter and she still has a job. (Kelli, how often
do you and Osama talk?)
What's it going to take this time, Mr. Brokaw? Because
apparently you news guys have forgotten. Today, once
again, you and the other infotainment anchors posing
as news people dither and dawdle and pander to this
corrupt administration and cry hot little tears of
self-recrimination in the quiet corners of CSPAN and
then trot right back to your "news" desks and do it
all again.
One good hour of self-flagellation in the desert of
CSPAN and you feel so refreshed!
Meanwhile this country is again taken for a ride, one
that puts Nixon and Agnew to shame, and now, like
then, more of our young people die every day for lies.
You know, Mr. Brokaw, you guys aren't kids any more.
What are you afraid of? You've made your fortunes.
Even if you got fired today, you'll never be out on
the street starving. How about finding your courage,
and speaking some cold, hard facts: This country was
lied into war. The vice president is a war profiteer
who is being investigated for taking bribes and doing
illegal business with sanctioned countries. Try it.
Walter Cronkite could give some advice on this. Bill
Moyers is out there trying to do it, I bet he'd like
some company. Try grabbing yourself by your manly
parts and standing up for the truth.
I bet you'd find an audience then. Hell, I'd watch
every day.
Ruth Lopez
Orlando, FL
A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
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