Letters to the Editor
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St. John
Necklacing in ZA was almost always used by ANC/SWAPO paras against police informants. ****The more you know****
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And yet we invited the head of Iran to stay here for a week
Doesn't much sound like a state of war or even much of a snubbing to me. Oh I don't live in Salon's Medication Free Zone, so it's hard for me to make sense of it.
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Neck-lacing @Anonymous
In reference to Neck-lacing, these were Dan Rather's words and referred to the fact that journalists in the U.S. are discouraged from reporting anti-establishment for fear of losing jobs and access. Did you read the Greg Palast piece and the interview referenced?
www.gregpalast.com
peace,
st john
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Dan Rather interview re: neck-lacint
So you don't have to search, here is a piece from the BBC transcript:
"HOLT:
And Rather told us with the nation so stirred, it's become almost impossible to hold the Government to account.
RATHER:
(Anchor, CBS Evening News)
It's an obscene comparison but there was a time in South Africa when people would put flaming tyres around people's necks if they dissented. In some ways, the fear is that you will be neck-laced here, you will have a flaming tyre of lack of patriotism put around your neck. It's that fear that keeps journalists from asking the toughest of the tough questions and to continue to bore-in on the tough questions so often. Again, I'm humbled to say I do not except myself from this criticism."
peace,
st john
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Rather wasn't right. Rather is left. And we now know it beyond any doubt.
A Salon letter-writer:
I was surprised in 2004 (and continue to be) that no one has ever brought up the notion that perhaps the memos provided to CBS were SUPPOSED to be revealed as fake, therefore changing the story from Bush's National Guard absence to the validity of the memos themselves.
I know that sounds a little conspiracy theorist. But, doesn't it sound exactly like something Rove and company would do to throw the lazy mainstream media off the scent?
No, it sounds exactly like somehting that the Rove-obsessed Bush-hating Angry Left would fantasize about...
Clearly, what Captain Ahab -er, I mean, Dan Rather wants to do now is to re-broadcast a 'second cut' of his original anti-Bush story in the guise of a civil lawsuit. Sure, it is a nutty thing to do, but Rather has nothing to lose now.
The real revelation here, as the political right already knew, was the depth of the Bush animus among the principals in the CBS reporting. Recall that Dan Rather knew practically nothing about the story. A CBS producer, Mary Mapes, worked it all up for a Dan Rather voice-over and introduction. Here is Mapes, a card-carrying opponent of President Bush in addition to being a news 'producer':
"In September 2004, anyone who had the audacity to even ask impertinent questions about the president was certain to be figuratively kicked in the head by the usual suspects.
What was different in our case was the brand new and bruising power of the conservative blogosphere, particularly the extremists among them. They formed a tightly knit community of keyboard assault artists who saw themselves as avenging angels of the right, determined to root out and decimate anything they believed to be disruptive to their worldview.
To them, the fact that the president wimped out on his National Guard duty during the Vietnam War--and then covered it up--was no big deal. Our having the temerity to say it on national TV was unforgivable and we had to be destroyed. They organized, with the help of longtime well-connected Republican activists, and began their assault."
That's the kind of thing that you'd expect to see on the Huffington Post, which is where Mapes in fact published her anti-Bush rant. It's also the kind of thing that you'd expect from someone writing at far left outlets like Salon, or FireDogLake, or DalyKos, etc. And, it's the kind of bias that organizations like CBS, CNN, NPR, and the New York Times deny among their ranks. But we know better, and Mapes proves the point. CBS is no doubt a better news organization for having fired Rather and Mapes, et al. But the broader problem remains. Rather is of course free to say any idiotic thing he wants to. He can ask Kenneth, "What's the frequency?" And he can file any stupid frivolous lawsuit his heart desires; I particularly welcome this one if it rips the cover off of all or the liberal Rathers in the mainstream media.
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Basic Common Sense
Basic Common Sense went out the window a long time ago Joan!Not necessarily yours but the people who are "In Charge".Follow this logic and see if it strikes your basic common sense--When Iran is attacked all the lies--thievery--war profiteering--investigations into the lying--thieving--war profiteering will not only be pushed off the front page and onto the back burner,they will be"Shocked and Awed" off the front pages and onto the back burners. Sound familiar?
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Iran - Here we come
Here we go again. Once more, Congress is ready to give away the store, and once again there are no facts. Furthermore, if we label one more group terrorists ie Quods ie Iran, it may become easier to label the non-terrorists in the world. The Bush policy of with us or against us is rapidly beginning to include many, who, while not against us, but rather do not support our actions, on the international stage. Not with us must be a terrorist.
It does seem a bit phony, we complain so much about the involvement of middle eastern nations in the affairs of other countries in the region. Look at the endless conflicts, we as a country have been involved in, in Central and South America. Furthermore, we are the worlds' largest arms supplier.
It is interesting to note, as a forewarning to those who seek our support for political gain, We, always support the wrong side in these internal conflicts.
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The weak, so far
All this blather about Rather.
I don't care what the frequency is, Kenneth, I want to know what the damned point is supposed to be.
Driving down the highway at 75 mph while looking in the rear view mirror with a pair of binoculars is pretty stupid. So is going back to the question of whether or not Bush fulfilled his military service commitments. Who the hell cares? It's over.
Look, even if suddenly some old retired TANG pilot went to his attic and opened his footlocker and discovered to his amazement that he had unknowingly kept all the flight records and physicals and daily logs, sick call, TDY, leave, and everything else right down to the last jot, and all this stuff proved conclusively that Bush was A.W.O.L., then what the hell would that mean today?
Not a damned thing.
What? You think Bush would suddenly resign in shame? You think any of the propagandists at Fox 'news' would suddenly throw up their hands and say, "We were duped! We're sorry! We think Bush is the scum of the Earth!"?
Nah. They'd just open the bullshit spigots even wider and hose down the American dumbasses with more lies.
So what's the point of revisiting this? Let Rather do what he feels he has to do, but this has no bearing whatsoever on the fact that Bush intends to attack Iraq with cruise missiles and provoke them into retaliating so that he can bring down the might of three carrier battle groups, including nukes, on Iran.
He's going for it. That's the big story. Not Rather's problems.