Letters to the Editor
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Freedom of the Press?
Horseshit is the proper expression! Bushit dominated in spite of the fact that Rathers story is true. As was reported recently, in talks with the Spanish president Bush claimed that he knew all about war and its risks. Sure as hell, as a AWOL artist who got away with it due to "ma daddies" intervention and influence, he knew all about avoiding it and its dangers to life and limb. Good for Dan Rather to expose the dealings of the Bushite mafia headed by Karl Rove. They managed to slur the reputation of a real fighter and hero like Senator Kerry and convinced the CBS "free press?" agency to go after their best reporter and fire him based on falsehoods and undue influence of the lackeys of the administration. Unfortunately these facts came out several years to late to save the country from the disaster named George W. Bush. Again congratulations Dan Rather. Facts will dominate!
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Be the Witness
When I want clear insight that cuts through the media hype, I find Salon articles by Sidney Blumenthal always enlightening, especially the one he wrote today about Dan Rather and his lawsuit against CBS over his firing and suppression of his report on Bush’s National Guard service. I’ve lived long enough to have seen the rise and fall of Dan Rather, and well remember how he became the target for Republican darts.
And I also remember growing up with the unquestioned belief that the evening news was the truth, in the same way that the Sunday sermon was the truth. The news anchor was our anchor to God’s truth, and it was only this single tether that kept us from drowning in a sea of conflicting opinions. The news anchor reflected our own inner witness who stood back from the ego and its passions and kept us grounded in our highest nature. The news anchor represented our conscious and our soul in the collective mind that is our society. We trusted him.
But the takeover of the news media by corporations is like the take over of the soul by the ego, and now what is true is what is good for the ego. This is Rather’s complaint, warning, and final story. Like Edward R Murrow and Walter Cronkite before him, his mentors, Rather’s last stand is not about reporting but about the ability to tell the difference between the real and the unreal. If there is no impartial witness, can we ever tell the difference? And if we can’t tell the difference between the real and the unreal, then we have lost our golden thread to God and our salvation. We drown in violence, confusion, and dread, and there is no one to throw us a rope.
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Go Dan Go
I have always had the greatest respect for Dan Rather as a journalist. Of all of the TV journalists, he was the one most likely to speak truth to power. But it is also important to remember that journalists do not get to decide which stories they want to cover. That is done by an assignments editor.
I can remember when there was substantial debate about allowing non-news corporations buy any of the TV networks and the fear was that the focus of the news coverage would be affected. Well, we now know the answer to that debate.
Just as there used to be a requirement for equal access in terms of political discourse and Reagan had the FCC do away with that requirement.
Then under succeeding Rupublican administration, we have seen more and more media consolidation, so that 5 major media corporations control what the American people know about their government.
All of these neo-cons and their collaborators need to be held accountable, preferably in criminal court but if that is not possible then in the public arena.
Dan's lawsuit has the potential for shining the biggest, brightest light on all of these people, who have worked to undermine our constitution, our democracy and our democratic institutions.
This may be Dan's biggest scoop and investigative story of his long and distinguished career.
Kudos to Sidney Blumenthal for this article and to Salon for publishing it.
Go Dan Go.
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Who cares?
First, TANG records show that Bush fulfilled his obligation with TANG. http://www.nationalreview.com/york/york200402180840.asp
Second, the effeminate Blumenthal was born in 1948 and was of draft age during Vietnam. His bio shows no military service. Therefore, what gives him the right to criticize someone else's military service?
Third, Blumenthal worked for Bill Clinton, a veritable draft dodger. See http://www.geoffmetcalf.com/761.html. Blumenthal and other Clinton sycophants told us in 1992 that Clinton's failure to serve was not an issue in his campaign against Bush 41, a WWII veteran. They told us the same thing in 1996, when the draft dodger ran against Bob Dole, another WWII veteran. Why then did Bush's service in TANG become an issue in 2004, four years AFTER he was elected commander in chief?
Lastly, Dan Rather often claimed that he was a former Marine. In fact, Rather could not handle Marine Corps boot camp and was sent packing. His failure to complete boot camp means he never earned the title "Marine," and, thus, lied ever time he claimed he was a former Marine. A weak and dishonest man like Rather should not be questioning the military service of others.
Cpl. Kevin Groenhagen, USMC
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Beside the point!
All this technical debate about how the documnents were produced is TOTALLY BESIDE THE POINT! Whether the documents were valid or not, the following facts remain:
. The key witness asserts that the INFORMATION in them is TRUE, and there is additional corroborating evidence. The underlying story is true. Therefore, the man who got himself elected by cultivating an image of military toughness while his campaign denigrated the service of others, who led us into a disastrous war under premises that have been demonstrated to be false and who staged a carrier landing and posed in a flight suit in order to bolster false claims of success in that war is revealed to have used his family's pull to get into the National Guard in order to avoid going to Vietnam and then SHIRKED a good part of his obligation.
. CBS News failed in its obligation to report the truth and inform the public of the significant facts they needed to make an informed decision. They were more afraid of offending those in power and the effect that might have on their financial bottom line than they were of failing in their basic function.
Those are the things we need to keep the focus on! I fervently hope that Rather's suit will serve to bring the truth to light in such a way that all will finally be forced to acknowledge it.