Danny Schechter: Beyond the Call to Surge, the Need to Purge Our Media

http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0112-25.htm

Beyond the Call to Surge, the Need to Purge Our Media
by Danny Schechter


In the aftermath of President Bush's prime-time war cry for escalation from the White House Library, the network newscasters were skeptical about his chances for success but seemed to be impressed by his willingness to stand up for what they think he believes, like some lone but gutsy hero on the prairie.

Much of the commentary deals with him as the beleaguered leader standing strong against public opinion but doing what he feels he had to do. The subtext was you just have to admire that man This is the very positioning his image managers cultivated.

The focus was on one man speaking to one camera, standing alone in a library, a White House room you had a sense with which he was unfamiliar, speaking to the teleprompter, reading someone else's words with as much well-practiced conviction as he could muster. The tone was reasonable because of his many claims of having listened to advice from his team and even his critics.

There was no analysis of who wrote the speech or the attitudes of his many Generals and advisors who disagreed with its thrust. There was no reminder that the Iraqi military actually opposed it. He positively cited the Iraq Survey Group whose recommendations he had actually rejected, as in, "in keeping with the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, we will increase the embedding of American advisers in Iraqi Army units - and partner a Coalition brigade with every Iraqi Army division." He dropped Joe Lieberman's name, a democrat rejected by the Democratic base who is now aligned with Republican John McCain.

The chutzpah (and cynicism) dripped from one sentence to the next.

For the newscasters, this war debate is now only between the Congress and the White House. PBS ran the Democratic response by Senator Charles Durbin who explained why his plan can't work and won't work. No one else did. Most of the networks offered only one side as usual.

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All over the news the talking heads were so pleased bush appoligized! What! That was Barely an apology. Then bush continues to explain how he is going to win this war by doing the same over and over.

In Nov. the people told bush to do something different, that they were tired of losing in Iraq. The people know we are losing. Congress must insist that bush resign, remember Nixon? Nixon was threatened by impeachment from His Party. This is the only thing that can save the repubs, so for self and party preservation they have to get him Out.