it was the INTEL that was bad, and everybody saw the same stuff, and that's all we ever got - BULLSHIT!!!!!!
ANYBODY who wanted to could find whole supergalaxies full of information as to why the war was a bad idea and shouldn't be carried out. It was all out there for anyone to see and read about and study and learn. It was ALL out there. It just wasn't on TV because the media bowed and scraped to the White House and muzzled anybody who didn't cooperate. They were frozen out, their White House press credentials and even their seats in the press room were questioned and - in Helen Thomas's case - yanked, because she dared to ask uncomfortable questions they didn't feel they had to answer.
That was a signal they sent to the rest of the press corps, I believe. See what we can do to Helen Goddam Thomas? Whaddya suppose we can to do YER ass??? YOU DON'T WANNA KNOW, pals! They dangled that precious fucking ACCESS in front of everybody's noses in the news media. You don't play ball? Then you're frozen out. You won't get ACCESS to any of our players. Forget interviewing cheney, rummy, contradicta, wolfie, dougie feith, or any of those lovelies.
If I had been running a news division, I'd have thought they just handed me the new lead story. THAT VERY THREATENED FREEZE-OUT was the story. If my reporters were frozen out and lost access, I'd have made THAT the story and said why. The mistake that the Beltway press corpse made was to assume that if such high-level ACCESS was taken away, there'd be no one to talk to. AND THAT'S UTTER BULLSHIT!!! There were TONS of people who would have loved to have a little face time on TV and cable and radio and newspapers across the country. There were TONS of sources and credible experts and insiders who would have LOVED a chance to tell the truth. There were TONS of those individuals who yearned to get their OWN access to the media to get the truth out to the American people. They were frozen out, too. There would have been an abundance of sources and talking heads and experts from the other side to showcase in, and on, the news. There was no lack of sources!!! NO SUCH THING!!!! But oh man, we HAD to tow the White House line. It was a CRIME.
Helen Thomas had a FRONT ROW SEAT in the White House Press Room. FOR DECADES she held that seat. AP and UPI had the two key front seats for every press conference. She was the Dean of the White House Press Corps. FOR DECADES. When UPI fizzled, she STILL occupied that seat and commanded that respect. SHE was on top of the ziggurat. By tradition, she asked the first question to open the Q&A period after the opening statements were given. And also, by tradition, she closed every White House Press Conference by saying "Thank you, Mr. President." THOSE FOUR WORDS, always uttered by Helen Thomas, by tradition, were what marked the end of the press conference. And for doing her job and questioning the bullshit, her seat was yanked and she was sent to the back of the room. Anyone less (unless they were on TV, that is) would have had their press passes completely canceled. That alone made me seethe with anger, the way she was treated by these bush/cheney bastards, because she wouldn't blather the "company line." But I've lost count, by now, of all the shit they pulled in that God-Awful Squatter-stolen WAR CRIMINAL White House, that made me seethe with anger.
Also what made me seethe with anger was the sniveling cowardice of her hapless colleagues who did not speak up, did not lodge any protest or objection, and did NOT have her back. They said NOTHING. They just got out of the way when they saw her severed head rolling down the hall. COWARDS. CHICKENSHITS. They utterly abandoned her so they wouldn't lose their seats in bush/cheney's collective lap. They're an absolute disgrace to what was once an esteemed and respected profession.
They made an example of her to prove they could, and to send a GLARING message to the rest of her spineless colleagues to tow the line OR ELSE.
FUCKERS.
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