Archive for the ‘Media’ Category
It’s important to note the anniversary of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, and it’s important to give credit where credit is due. But this whole narrative about how President Obama somehow stood out from the pack by ordering the raid and that others, particularly Mitt Romney, would not have done the same mystifies Murdoc.
Osama bin Laden was a bad guy. One of the baddest of the bad. Nearly everyone everywhere agreed. He was held up as the poster boy of what the forces of freedom were fighting against. Regardless of their political persuasion or position on the War on Terror or opinion about regime change in Iraq, all US politicians supported the effort to defeat and capture or kill bin Laden.
When the Taliban was overthrown, opponents of President Bush criticized him for letting Osama bin Laden escape. When the campaign in Iraq was being launched and fought and wound down, opponents of President Bush criticized him for diverting resources from the “real war,” the one in Afghanistan against Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. When the attempt to build a nation in Afghanistan began to degenerate into the quagmire that it was almost certainly destined to become, the fact that Osama bin Laden was still at large was held up as a symbol of the futility of the war against terror. When terror attacks continued, it was always noted that, while Al Qaeda had been scattered and weakened, they were still a troubling organization and that their spiritual leader was still out there somewhere, lurking in the shadows.
For ten years after 9/11, countless hours had been spent by countless people in countless organizations trying to track down Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice. The combined efforts of international military, intelligence, and law enforcement agencies had continuously struck out against the number one target in the world.
And when a solid lead was finally found, it was some sort of “gutsy call” for President Obama to order the raid.
As if anyone else would have made a different call.
NBC Apologizes, Admits ‘Error’ in Dowdifying Zimmerman 911 Call
Here is how NBC reported Zimmerman’s 911 call:
“This guy looks like he’s up to no good … he looks black,” Zimmerman told a police dispatcher from his car.
Here is how Zimmerman’s 911 call went:
ZIMMERMAN: This guy looks like he’s up to no good, or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about.
11 DISPATCHER: Okay, is this guy, is he white, black, or Hispanic?
ZIMMERMAN: He looks black.
NBC says there was “an error made in the production process that we deeply regret.”
Murdoc’s guess is that the error they deeply regret is getting called out on their misleading reporting.
Media Myth Alert: Why WaPo should reveal sources on bogus Jessica Lynch tale
It’s become common wisdom that the tales of Jessica Lynch’s heroics in Iraq in 2003 were a Pentagon fabrication to hype up support for George Bush’s war.
Except that it wasn’t the military that told the Washington Post the tales.
One of the reporters on the botched story, Vernon Loeb, is on record as saying who the sources were not.
So it should be a small step to saying who they were.
Loeb, in an interview on NPR’s “Fresh Air” program in December 2003, stated unequivocally:
“Our sources for that story were not Pentagon sources.”
He also said he “could never get anybody from the Pentagon to talk about” the Lynch case.
“They wouldn’t say anything about Jessica Lynch,” Loeb said, adding:
“I just didn’t see the Pentagon trying to create a hero where there was none,” he added. “I mean …they never showed any interest in doing that, to me.”
Loeb also described them as “some really good intelligence sources” in Washington.
It’s probably too late to change the story in the public’s mind. Which was probably the plan.
Also noted in the article is Jon Krakauer spreading the lies in his book Where Men Win Glory. When confronted, Krakauer removed the passage from later editions of the book. Murdoc was unaware of that whole story.
Faith in science? Why skepticism is rising
Study
suggests that it’s the increasing use of science as ammunition for big-government schemes that has led to more skepticism.
Murdoc thinks that the methods used in environmental scaremongering (especially Global Warming) have pretty much torpedoed any hope that a rational scientific approach to the issue is possible.
Meanwhile: EPA Backpedals on Fracking Contamination
The Environmental Protection Agency has dropped its claim that an energy company contaminated drinking water in Texas, the third time in recent months that the agency has backtracked on high-profile local allegations linking natural-gas drilling and water pollution.
Terrible news. Blogger Neptunus Lex was killed when the Kfir aggressor he flew at TOPGUN crashed yesterday.
I met Lex at one of the Milblogger Conferences a few years ago and stood by while he and Pinch traded Tomcat and Hornet barbs. Pinch posted a photo of the two of them from that evening.
There are a lot of comments over at Lex’s site and a lot of posts going up around the sphere. Look around and check them out.
He will be missed.
Republicans muscle tax cut bill through House
The Republican-controlled House has passed legislation sought by President Obama to extend Social Security payroll tax cuts through 2012. But the bill also includes a requirement for construction of an oil pipeline that has drawn a veto threat.
The Republicans “muscled” it through. That’s like getting enough votes to pass, but way meaner.
Iranian Press TV accused of making up stories about U.S. drone strikes in Somalia
The channel, which is based in Tehran and broadcasts around-the-clock in English, claims that more the 1,370 people have been killed in 56 drone strikes since September – an average of 24 deaths per attack.
But an analysis of their reports by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism found no evidence to back up the claims.
How much you want to bet this number shows up on some anti-war or Occupier sign in the near future?
Why Corporate Elites Should Be Petrified of Occupy Wall Street
The occupation of Wall Street has formed an alternative community that defies the profit-driven hierarchical structures of corporate capitalism.
I’ll bet corporate America is shaking it its boots right now over this.
Yeah, AlterNet. But still funny.
At Auschwitz, future U.S. military leaders learn what not to do
Yeah. Because otherwise they would have set up concentration camps and genocided someone.
Honestly, the story reads like it was written by whoever directed that Coke commercial where everyone wants to teach the world to sing.
Op-Ed by Joe Nocera in the NYT:
You know what they say: Never negotiate with terrorists. It only encourages them.
These last few months, much of the country has watched in horror as the Tea Party Republicans have waged jihad on the American people.
Remember, Republican vitriol and rhetoric leads to violence in places like Arizona and Norway.
