Richard WarnickIraq and Afghanistan Disappear from TV Screens
There’s a presidential primary campaign, complete with dirty tricks (let’s run the video clips of that crazy black preacher one more time!) –and the news media have largely forgotten that American soldiers are still fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Even CNN’s excellent Saturday report “This Week at War” with Tom Foreman has been renamed “This Week in Politics.” According to the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, just 3% of February’s news stories focused on the wars, as compared to 15% in July 2007.
Even this week’s coverage of the fifth anniversary of Bush’s invasion of Iraq wasn’t very informative. You might think it would be a perfect time to sum up the Bush administration lies, the boneheaded mistakes, the casualties, the corruption, the devastation, more lies, the Iraqi refugee crisis, the war crimes, the loss of America’s allies, the emboldening of our enemies, the mind-boggling cost, more lies, and how the occupation of Iraq led to the current recession.
No such luck. Bush and Cheney went on TV and repeated the same lies again. Last night, CNN’s Anderson Cooper followed the Obama campaign but skipped over the fact that Obama set aside his usual stump speech and delivered an excellent issue speech on the foreign policy consequences of the Iraq occupation.
You didn ‘t see these guys on CNN.
As I mentioned here before, last week the four-day Winter Soldier II hearings were almost completely ignored by the media. You can find the testimony of these brave soldiers at The War Comes Home.
UPDATE: It’s interesting to note that Fox News Channel, arguably the network most supportive of the Iraq occupation, devoted the least amount of airtime to Iraq in 2007.
UPDATE: Over on TPM, Robert Bateman dissects the lack of in-depth reporting on Iraq and Afghanistan.
“We are not a nation at war,†one hears in the Army and Marine Corps hallways at the Pentagon, “We are an Army (and Marine Corps) at war…and that’s about it.†It is a biting observation, but one which rings true.
March 20th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
The reason the war has disappeared from our tv screens and why Democrat politicians have shut up about it, is because things are going well. If it was going to Hell in a hand basket (The way you and many at OneUtah.org, Moveon.org, Cindy Sheehan and ilk would like it to go) Then it would be plastered on every newspaper, the lead story on every newscast, and we wouldn’t be talking about Obama’s racist pastor. It’s just like the old adage “No news is good news”. By good news I mean we are kicking butt, as opposed to your definition of good news meaning getting our asses kicked.
March 20th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
My ilk says “Up yours, Rush Bingham!” Lovingly and peacefully, of course.
We (the media of corporates sponsorship and ownership) present stories of neighborhood murders, preachers speaking thier minds in this free country, the drop-kick our overloards in the banking realm have generously screwed into our backsides, all of which and more are inextricably linked - precisely so that in the twenty minutes of ‘news’ programing, they won’t have to bring up the ugly facts that reflect the illegal war in the middle east and Afghanistan. Wars that you rabidly support both with your tax dollars and obviously, your sentiment. Is that a banana in your pocket? Loser.
Now, can we impeach the war criminals and thier enablers, already?
March 20th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Obamas’ passport files reveal that he is really an aging white male, one Ken Limbaugh, a resident of northern Utah and a much decorated veteran for his services in many of the nearly endless wars the Unified Snakes of ??? have perpetrated upon the rest of us throughout its short history.
March 20th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Here is a good read from up north. It is mostly for Larry, to educate him on how elections mean very little anymore.
Take note that Hellyer agrees with Lewis Lapham, editor of Harpers Magazine, who describes the “2 governments” in the US. The unelected one that runs things, and the one we “elect”, that reads their scripts. Very revealing, as it is the view from our soon to be no more, in real terms, neighbor to the north. There is no escaping the conclusion.
http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/home/News1/2006/03/06/01146.html
March 20th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
The ‘global fascist axis’ does seem to have it going on. (insert republican elephant logo here)
Good article, glenn,
March 20th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
That isn’t the point Cav, many dems are shilling for it in their “sheeple” suits.
March 20th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
I take the Rush Bingham as a complement and if I had of been blessed with a son I may have named him Rush (If I could convince my wife that is). Peace Man!
Why are you hacking on Afghanistan, I thought that was the good, legal war sanctioned by the UN?
March 20th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
But glenn I’ve shown you that some of the “sheeple suited” blue dogs have now decided to say no to the new world order by voting to require the huge telecom giants to face the court. I’m not naive enough to think they may be pulling a fast one by letting the issue get out of the public eye so they can pass immunity through unnoticed, but I can hope.
It’s good to know our friends to the north are experiencing the same types of horrors we are because we can fight together. I was amazed to find out Canada was having just as much of a “hippie, dippy, yippie, skippy” youth movement as we were in the 60’s too, but then even more amazed to find out Russia was having a youth movement too. People just like great music more then war I guess. Funny thing about that.
Don’t give up hope glenn. It’s not a done deal yet, as long as we keep trying. There is a great thing called “clean elections” which is helping people with great ideas get elected instead of people backed by millions.
We have programs like “Democracy Now” that even we in Utah can hear on KRCL. That program covered some of the winter soldier event. There is hope glenn. Stop being so defeatist.
March 20th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Ken:
That Oxycontin is great stuff, huh? It’s real heavy man!
March 21st, 2008 at 7:25 am
Ken, IMHO the USA is kicking its own butt in Iraq. That’s the story the news media haven’t been covering.
March 21st, 2008 at 7:26 am
Rush, the Taliban of Afghanistan, might have turned Osama over to the authorities, had the U.S. been able to provide justification for so doing. This offer was made more than 5 times…but no, there was more at stake than simply prosecuting an accused criminal. There was a pipeline deal a So. American oil company had arranged with the Afghanis that sort of got in the way of Cheney’s grand plan. The Talibs legal demand for rationality netted them the carpet of bombs promised them if they refused to play along. Look it up Rush, It’s all out there.
ps. Glenn, many dems need just a smidgen more courage and I believe they’ll be getting it real soon. I mean: what appeal do the republicans have? McCains’ aged war-lust? I don’t think so.
March 21st, 2008 at 7:53 am
Larry,
You finally “got” Glenn (defeatist) which, as you know is the fodder of anarchists. On ANY given subject with Glenn, the sky is falling.
Just be careful. When you call Glenn on his shit, he starts throwing things.
Watch.
Hey Glenn. If you really believed your own crap, you wouldn’t spend so much time here trying to validate your stupid arguments. Not unlike Dwight-Light, you stay because we respond.
March 21st, 2008 at 9:47 am
You ‘aint around much. There isn’t much response that isn’t just partisan agenda based drivel. As for defeatist, can’t win if you don’t play. When you do play it is with
such a partisan bend, it’s like playing tennis with no net.
Last time I checked it was Cliff that said the sky is falling and were all going to cook as the Earth warms. As for politics the sky won’t fall, just following the historical patterns that have brought us to this point. I have 0 faith in the current crop of reps, no matter their party. We would not be where we are if they were worth anything.
Funny thing Larry, for all the hippy dippys here we are. Don’t see anyone condemning nafta running, and I’ll think that the vote means squat when I see the money for their crimes and the disassembling of their apparatus. As it stands there is nigh no more time for these issues to be addressed at the ballot box. We will simply live in a diminished world, as if we are not already.
Who’s giving up hope? With tactics the left use there is no hope of victory. “False optimism is true pessimism”. My dictum. To wit, the whining bleeders this last 8 years with their under-estimation of bush and their simpleton incredulity has made things so much worse.
Ask me someday how to win, because despite your illusions, the presidency is far from in the bag.
So far there are few comers’ Cliff, at least I can give Dwight his due, he makes the effort and is pretty good at it, even if inconcise, read long, you have to. You on are the other hand are a simple partisan that falls to name calling the moment your glass house threatened. Oh yeah, and I got the rocks.
I do this as an exercise, like running around a track. Got to go, have to go run.
March 21st, 2008 at 9:51 am
Be sure Cliff, that if I wasn’t here, this place would be a absolute snooze.
March 21st, 2008 at 12:13 pm
This is never correct EVER, “if I wasn’t here”. The proper form is if I *weren’t* here.
I can’t say I read this blog to stay awake.
I do on the other hand, resent having to wade through the unintelligible arguments.
March 21st, 2008 at 3:33 pm
If t’weren’t here then, you’d be sleepin’. Sticking to my colloquial American patterns.
Unintelligible is strictly a subjective matter. By now any argument that what has befallen our nation is one mans fault, is truly imbecilic.
Just so know ’smarmy, the spelling is GRAMMAR.
March 21st, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Here is, “if I wasn’t here”, and it ‘aint wrong. Depends on what tense you are using, as in my statement I was there, and I had also been there in other writings.
The mixed conditional sentence. English grammar 101