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Controlling the news

by Mark Gisleson

I'm never quite sure what to think when the Washington Times scoops the rest of the American media in running a negative story about Iraq. Edited by the Confederacy-loving Wes Pruden and owned by the notorious cult leader Sun Myung Moon, the Times is more than a little cozy with the Bush clan.

Jack Kelly's "Blackout on progress in Iraq?" isn't too hard to figure out. Biased news reporting out of Iraq is undermining the war at home for our hearts and minds, which in turn undermines the morale of our otherwise cheerful, determined and resolute troops.

So there you have it. Censoring the news isn't a negative story, it's a necessary development. Too bad this article is all justification and no news. You probably already know that the puppet Iraqi Governing Council has banned Al_Jazeera and Al-Arabiya from covering Iraq. Only a few Americans get their news from these foreign outlets, so I'm thinking this is a warning to CNN and other western news gatherers to cool it and get back to toeing the administration's line.

I'm sure they will.

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Knight-Ridder hasn't gotten with the new news containment program yet. I'm sure the powers that be took note of yesterday's Joseph L. Galloway report, "How to ruin a great army? See Donald Rumsfeld." Galloway rips Rummy for 1) working the army to death, 2) neglecting training, 3) politicizing the promotion system for generals, 4) inventing "newer, cheaper way[s] of fighting.

Another defense secretary who could not admit he'd erred was Robert Strange McNamara, who, like Rumsfeld, was recruited from corporate America. By the time he did, it was too late.

Josh Marshall's been posting a lot of great stuff lately, but this item about New Bridge Strategies, LLC, is, as Marshall says, "Un-#$%@#*&-believable." Is there anything lower than a war profiteer? How about a person that helps start the war, then leaves government to take their share of the loot?

Ret. General Anthony Zinni keeps expressing his concerns about the intelligence that led us into Iraq. Tony baby, that is so last week! You're at least two scandals behind in the news cycle.

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In all candor I don't know why anyone would care what the California gubernatorial candidates' positions are, but KQED has a "vote by issues quiz" for those who do care, or (more likely) have a dread fascination with this slow-motion train wreck / recall election.

Bryan Keefer is my least favorite debunker at SpinSanity, but I'll link to him when it suits my purposes. For the most part, Keefer gets it right when he dissects the spin on Wes Clark's "phone call flip flop." You can track and document the Mighty Wurlitzer, but it just keeps playing the same discordant music. For more, check out Phil Carter on Rush Limbaugh's recent assault on Clark.

Posted by Steve Perry at September 26, 2003 9:20 AM

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