I frequent this blog for a number of reasons. One, its author is rational. Two, it addresses current issues related to media coverage of national politics. Three, it is the only blog where you are provided with daily examples of the types of logical fallacies used by politicians, political operatives and the media to further their agendas. Where else do you go to hear terms like

Ad Hominem

Begging the Question

Burden of Proof

Red Herring and

Straw Man

applied on a daily basis to media discourse.

These terms, intended to describe various failures in logic, are more often than not the preferred tools of the trade for many individuals and even entire organizations within the MSM.

We live in a democratic republic (sort of). In a democracy, free speech is intended to provide individuals with the opportunity to speak publicly for any reason or no reason and, if they desire, to have the opportunity to try to persuade others of the risks or benefits of choosing one course of action over another. Free speech is the bedrock of any democracy. It is a personal freedom that no one, not even a government, has the right to take away.

Logic is a means of persuasion, but not the only means. At this time in America's history, persuasion through appeals to emotions such as fear, anger and hate, often in combination with appeals to ridicule, flattery, popularity and authority dominate the media discourse. All of these are quick and easy paths to the plausible. But the plausible is not necessarily the true. More often than not, the plausible is a lie paraded as the truth.

The reason logical fallacies work is because, unless you have learned or been taught to think clearly and for yourself, a lie that takes the form of the plausible can persuade as easily as the truth.

In the late fifth century B.C.E, on trial for his life, Socrates addressed his judges and accusers with the statement, "How you have felt, O men of Athens, at hearing the speeches of my accusers, I cannot tell; but I know that their persuasive words almost made me forget who I was."

It is very important to understand that we are engaged in a conflict that will have a long term effect, not only on the future of this country, but on the future of global society. That conflict is economic, political, cultural and religious. Where the media is concerned, the tools of that conflict are persuasive in nature. How does one persuade a person to believe one thing and not another, to choose one thing and not another?

Logical and well-reasoned dialogue and the upward delegation of accountability are the tools Greenwald has chosen in his evaluation and critique of the MSM. He is showing, day by day, more and more, the systemic nature of the disinformation used at the highest levels of media and politics to convince the people of this country to act against our own intelligence and self-interest.

I cannot tell if it is an irony that a blogger is setting the example for responsible journalism by calling leading members of the MSM to task. Perhaps it is not an irony at all. Perhaps it is a natural course of events.

Just to correct a misperception that seems to be plaguing you, I didn't say that the Surge was a failure. It's way too early to know. I don't believe it will work, but the point I made here is that those who claimed The Surge Was Working did so on the basis of evidence which was both absurdly incomplete and misleading. That is not the same as arguing that The Surge Has Failed. - GG

From Juan Cole [2007-04-15]:

McClatchy estimates that 289 Iraqis were killed or wounded in political violence on Saturday. This passage is extremely important to understanding the sentiments of the Shiites of the South, among the main victims of the violence:

' Aqeel al Khazaali, the governor of Karbala, blamed the Baghdad Security Plan for the attack inside the relatively safe southern city. Karbala is about 50 miles south of Baghdad. "The Baghdad crackdown and the tribes in Ramadi are forcing the terrorists to leave their cities," he said. "Now Karbala is under fire from terrorists, and the central government has to take the necessary steps to help us to protect the holy city." '

I think Juan Cole is already of the opinion that the Surge has failed.

I wish this were not so. I wish that Iraq would stabilize.

It is important for Americans to know that large portions of the insurgency (particularly the Sunni) are not acting like terrorists at all but like well-organized and well-disciplined military ops. They move their operations from one spot to another as necessary in order to avoid direct conflict with the occupying forces. "The Battle of Algiers," although only a movie, would seem prescient to anyone who had not studied history. What we are witnessing is classic asymmetric urban warfare.

I hate this, but the occupation of Iraq is playing out like so many other Western occupatons (I include France and Russia) over the last fifty years. We were told this was going to happen by people at the highest levels who knew with near certainty. Even Colin Powell knew: "You break it. You buy it."