Bob Somerby has been on the right track for a long time. Fox News is a big problem, but the real problems come from the so-called Main Stream Media. The profits and the cachet that Limbaugh and Ailes have created, along with the right-wing activisim of the far-right religious minority, have completely convinced them to abandon any pursuit other than what Bartcop called "the ditto monkey dollar."

http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/anthraxsuspect.html

Read about Dr. Zack and then ask yourself how it could be possible that the FBI could steadfastly ignore obvious clues.

I searched the article and I couldn't find a reference to Brian Ross' Peabody award anywhere. Expect a sternly-worded reprisal from ABC!

ABC claimed the high ground of credibility when you challenged them on their most recent sycophancy about Iran. Now you have decimated that claim, and revealed the cesspool that is their actual habitat with this well-researched, unimpeachable post.

As I have been saying for a while here and elsewhere, the Democrats are doing a fair job of going after the Administration now. But it falls to us to take on their enablers in the press. Glenn, you have earned your prominence, and that prominence means that when you throw punches like these, they will do some damage.

Keep it up, man.

The reporting errors, as well as the complete lack of followup in the media, have always amazed me. Where did this story go? Great piece.

you're the one with the wayback machine, Glenn.

Glenn, you've written several times something similar to this quote from your article:

There is a widely accepted journalistic principle that reporters are not required to conceal the identity of anonymous sources who feed them false information with the intent to induce the journalist to disseminate the falsehoods. In fact, in such a situation, there is an obligation on the part of the reporter to reveal who the sources are who passed on those lies.

I see no evidence that such a principle actually exists and is followed. Sources lie to journalists, and journalists go back to the same sources, again and again.

Unfortunately, this is only too believable. Good job holding ABC accountable, and demonstrating the links and fabrications that led to war. Will ABC accept responsibility for their actions? We'll find out how strong a hold the current administration has on ABC when we see how they respond (or don't) to your reporting.

What is clear, and what we should always keep in mind is ABC News is not in the business of producing news, it is in the business of producing viewers -- that is, eyeballs for their sponsors. Nothing produces viewers more effectively than sensational stories. If Brian Ross were fed a story about little green men from Mars, he'd report it because he gets paid a lot of money to create sensational stories. He is not interested in what is true, nor are his bosses at ABC News. Nothing they report should ever be taken any more seriously than an episode of My Name is Earl.

about where the anthrax investigation ended up.

I have 3 speculations.

A. Hatfill is guilty but they can't prove it so they figure harassing him is the next best thing they can do.

B. Hatfill is innocent but the investigation led too far up the US food chain and had to be scuttled and leaving someone hanging in limbo as a "person of interest" was the best way to dissuade excess curiosity.

C. The FBI really doesn't have a clue whodunnit but they were harrssing Hatfill simply because it's fun.

Of course I'm not a big-time news organization so I'm free to speculate at will. ABC on the other hand actually has a responsibilty to seek the truth. We can all see how well THAT'S working out.....

So it was Cheney who attacked Senate Democrats with Anthrax!!! Given his well-documented history with the substance, it stretches credulity to imagine it could have been anyone else! ;)

The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology published a newsletter about a year after the Anthrax attacks. If you want to look at it, it is here: http://www.afip.org/images/public/nl081002.pdf

On page 6 of the document, Florabel G. Mullick, the Principal Deputy Director of AFIP, is quoted as follows:

“Ft Detrick sought our assistance to determine the specific

components of the anthrax found in the Daschle letter."

The article goes on to say: "AFIP experts utilized an energy

dispersive X-ray spectrometer (an instrument used to detect the

presence of otherwise-unseen chemicals through characteristic

wavelengths of X-ray light) to confirm the previously unidentifiable substance as silica."

then the article quotes Ms. Mullick as follows:

“This was a key component,” Mullick said. “Silica prevents the anthrax from aggregating, making it easier to aerosolize. Significantly, we noted the absence of aluminum with the silica. This combination had previously been found in anthrax produced by Iraq.”

Do you suppose Ms. Mullick was one of ABC's sources?

I didn't say journalists do out lying sources (although I'm sure some have) - I said that the code of journalistic ethics typically holds that sources who feed knowing lies to journalists shouldn't have their anonymity protected.

Here is one explanation of that principle - I don't have a lot of time find more, but I will later -

http://majikthise.typepad.com/majikthise_/2006/06/why_journalists.html

These guys will admit they're wrong when pigs fly...

I swear, I hold my subordinates to higher standards than half the Beltway seemingly do. And double that for the administration.

I hate to say this, but - someone is surprised that Walt Disney News (formerly the ABC network) shills for Republicans?

Anyone in who's been in Hollywood professionally more than 30 days can tell you all about working at Mauschwitz. As a good friend of mine once said, "I'll never have any trouble writing a screenplay about life in a not-so-benign police state - I've worked at Disney."

Disney's far right connections go back to Walt's admiration of fascism in the 30s, a fascination that nearly got him prosecuted during World War II under the Trading With The Enemy Act, and led to the company making all those godawful propaganda cartoons about our wonderful "little brown brothers" south of the Rio Grande. If you look throughout the Disney universe you will find - as Ariel Dorfmann did 30 years ago when he wrote "How to Read Mickey Mouse" - that "Disneyfication" involves the promotion of a very right-wing FantasyLand.

And if you look over the years at ABC, you will see that once Disney purchased Capitol Cities in the late 80s, you will see that the news "slant" changed from "slightly-conservative/centrist" to what is now out-and-out "Republican/right." Coincidence? Not.

Progressives who give Disney a dime for anything are helping to finance The Enemy.