Thursday, October 02, 2003
Hidden In Plain Sight
Media Misses Gap Between Bush And Reality
"That is a lie." - The mainstream news organizations could have used that phrase in many a story about George W. Bush.
When he said the estate tax forced families to sell their farms. When he said he only got to know Kenneth Lay after becoming governor. When he said that budget deficits were the result of 9/11. When he said he would produce a plan to "reduce" global warming.
These were all lies. Yet most media outfits did not see it as their mission to stamp "lie" on a demonstrably untrue Bush remark or to question Bush’s truthfulness.
In October 2002, when the CIA, under pressure, released the findings of its analysts who had concluded Saddam Hussein was not likely to strike at the United States unless he felt threatened, The Washington Post’s front-page headline read, "Analysts Discount Attack by Iraq." The New York Times said, "CIA Warns That A U.S. Attack May Ignite Terror." These newspapers could have reasonably announced, "CIA Suggests Bush Misleads Public on Threat from Iraq." But that’s not how they do business. [...]
Media Misses Gap Between Bush And Reality
"That is a lie." - The mainstream news organizations could have used that phrase in many a story about George W. Bush.
When he said the estate tax forced families to sell their farms. When he said he only got to know Kenneth Lay after becoming governor. When he said that budget deficits were the result of 9/11. When he said he would produce a plan to "reduce" global warming.
These were all lies. Yet most media outfits did not see it as their mission to stamp "lie" on a demonstrably untrue Bush remark or to question Bush’s truthfulness.
In October 2002, when the CIA, under pressure, released the findings of its analysts who had concluded Saddam Hussein was not likely to strike at the United States unless he felt threatened, The Washington Post’s front-page headline read, "Analysts Discount Attack by Iraq." The New York Times said, "CIA Warns That A U.S. Attack May Ignite Terror." These newspapers could have reasonably announced, "CIA Suggests Bush Misleads Public on Threat from Iraq." But that’s not how they do business. [...]
themassesareasses© on blogger Thursday, October 02, 2003 
