One Utah

Of course that’s the headline many of us disenfranchised citizens would have liked to have seen after Democrats finally stood up to Bush and the telecommunication giants, AT & T and Verizon for ignoring the FISA law and illegally wiretapping American citizens. I wouldn’t count on any present day media outlet portraying the Democrats in a dominant position, (which they are), or report on them taking a tough stance on a very important issue, (which they have), but it does look mighty nice as a headline, doesn’t it? I would go as far as to say the media magnates have been following Ronald Reagan’s 11th commandment, (thou shalt not say anything negative about a fellow Republican) in nearly every story since Bush took office except to permit a smattering of left wing opinion pieces to give the impression of “fairness” and “balance” Let me make my case.

In my post from a couple of days ago, I linked to one of the above opinion pieces by Paul Krugman. You should read Krugman’s article because you can apply it to most of what you read in the media. Another great template Krugman gave us to dissect our news stories a few years back was his observation that truths which are not advantageous to the powerful are offset by lies. As an example he said that if Bush proclaimed the world was flat, the headlines the next day would be “Shape of The World, Views Differ.” Although, even Bush, wouldn’t say anything THAT stupid… it makes a perfect point.

If you read my post from last Friday, you’ll remember how exited I was to see Democrat after Democrat, stand on the floor of the House of Representatives and finally rebuke the dismantling of our constitutional rights by this administration. Even Jim Matheson, who has been more then willing to trade freedom for security in the past, voted for the House bill against immunity. Glen Greenwald was equally excited and wrote a great article about it where he beams:

As impressive as the House vote itself was, more impressive still was the floor debate which preceded it. I can’t recall ever watching a debate on the floor of either House of Congress that I found even remotely impressive — until today. One Democrat after the next — of all stripes — delivered impassioned, defiant speeches in defense of the rule of law, oversight on presidential eavesdropping, and safeguards on government spying. They swatted away the GOP’s fear-mongering claims with the dismissive contempt such tactics deserve, rejecting the principle that has predominated political debate in this country since 9/11: that the threat of the Terrorists means we must live under the rule of an omnipotent President and a dismantled constitutional framework.

If you want to feel great for the first time in a long time, please read Glen’s article. My optimism falls a little short of Greenwald’s, however, when he says he thinks CNN is going to start printing headlines that make the Democrats look like winners. When I got to work the next day and read the Deseret Morning News article about the vote to remove telecom immunity for wiretapping, I was enraged when it reiterated the point that the wiretapping was implemented as a result of the attacks on 911. That is the main Republican talking point. When I got home, I jumped on the internet and started going through all of the news stories I could find. Without exception, all of the major news organizations included a sentence with the words AFTER/POST 911 when referring to the wiretaps.

See for yourself:

ABC News
CNN
The New York Times
Reuters
NPR
The Washington Post
USA Today
The Associated Press

Even the usually comprehensive:

Guardian UK

However, as usual, the sources that the, so called, main stream media dismisses as unreliable, such as:

The Raw Story

Includes this sentence:

Critics say Bush and the NSA began working to subvert FISA even before 9/11.

Since nobody is allowed to see anything the administration does under the guise of national security, we don’t know exactly when the illegal wiretapping occurred, however, this article from the Washington Post tells us that the request for the illegal spying came months before the tragedy that has given Bush and Cheney everything they could have dreamed for in their insatiable, wanton grab for “unitary” executive power. You would think the Qwest story could be explored in more depth. What is happening to former CEO, Joseph P. Nacchio, is very similar to the events surrounding Don Siegelmans suspicious incarceration.

This entry was posted Monday, March 17th, 2008 at 3:34 am and is filed under 4th Estate (Media), Civil liberties Infringement, Political Corruption, This Blog, Wiretapping, censorship. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.