Continuous coverage of Ivan, nothing on the war in Iraq - cable news

[Mountainman]

I tuned into MSNBC last night and they had continuous coverage of hurricane Ivan yet the situation in Iraq is the worst it has ever been and there is no one reporting on it.

Is there a cable TV news blackout with respect to Iraq? This war could be the ruin of our country and no one is talking about it.

Is the Bush campaign trying to squash the news about the war? Is Kerry avoiding the issue? He said on Imus that he needs to see what the situation is in Jan 05 to come up with a plan for the war. He said that we need to ask Bush what his plan is. I agree that if people want Bush for 4 more years they should here what he is going to do about the war.

Kerry can't fault Bush without having a plan of his own. You can't expect people to vote for someone who says, "elect me and I'll come up with a plan when I get in office."

Kerry needs to have a convincing strategy for ending the war and contrast it to Bush's lack of action. Bush has only one issue on his side and it is keeping him afloat. Kerry needs to take it away from him.

What don't I get here?

[DaveSZ]

1. Think about what you're asking

You're asking why a war profiteering company (GE) would use one of its propaganda arms that initially helped mislead the public into believing Iraq was a threat to us to now tell the public the truth?

[Xenus Sister]

2. Um, it's a hurricane that's happening RIGHT NOW

and impacting Americans RIGHT NOW, where property damage, injury and death is going on RIGHT NOW. That's what you don't get.

RIGHT NOW, a hurricane is causing a shitload of damage on American soil.

Geez.

(not to defend the Cheney News Network, but lordy, complain about them when there ISN'T a massive hurricane lashing us)

[leftchick]

3. Um.... it does not warrent 24/7 coverage to the exclusion....

of our soldiers dying DAILY in an Illegal (Kofi just confirmed) war.
You watch, once Ivan is gone it will be something else covered 24/7 to drown out the continued horror in Iraq. 1022 have died as of 3:00am this morning. There is NO excuse to avoid what is happening to our soldiers and innocent Iraqis, NONE! Unless of course you are profiting from it as GE is.

[KharmaTrain]

10. Should We Have Iraq 24/7???

Fortunately I have no family in harm's way, and I hope you don't either, but this is a serious threat to millions of people...as much as any 9/11 or war...and the people most likely to get harmed are the poorest and rely on their TVs and radios as their lifelines.

Sadly, unless there's a "Tet" where the insurrection breaks out on such a scale where the Green Zone is over-run...the "drip, drip, drip" of this war is not a major factor on most people.

Unfortunately not enough people have been directly affected by this war...not enough coffins, not enough of their children drafted, not enough of their taxes hiked to pay for this adventure. My fear is the mindset is to accept deaths at this level, and even higher, and that the worst of this evil invasion lies ahead and not behind.

People who care, know Iraq is a disaster and we need to get out. Those who are deadset on re-selecting this regime won't care how many are killed (especially if they're not christians)...and may even find increased war coverage to be a good thing. Remember how the media sucked up to the "imbedded" game. Do we want that again?

Right now, the hurricane is the story, and for the many affected it will be for weeks and months to come. This storm not only hit the deep south, but rattled shattered nerves in Florida as well. There's an important story going on here as to how these people are coping and how this regime is responding.

Personally, I find this storm coverage (which is a farce, but at least banal)far more refreshing than the anal-retentive crap that fills most of the cable noise channels.

[leftchick]

12. "Should We Have Iraq 24/7???"...I did not say that....

I have family in harm's way in Iraq (my nephew) and friends and relatives affected by Ivan.

You missed my point entirely. I agree there should be some coverage on Ivan but I think as usual the cable "news shows" take a story and drive it to extremes like Kobe, MJ, Lacey etc. There is always something to distract. All stories that is except Iraq.

Don't forget if a person receives CNN and MSRNC they most likely have the best source for weather information, The Weather CHannel.

Don't flame me, I am tired of watching the supposed news shows in the US not delivering.

[21winner]

6. Well said.

It is news. And of course great video. It is news you can use.

[LisaL]

7. Yes, we know there is a hurricane right now-

do we need to be reminded 24/7? Are we that dumb that we couldn't remember there is a hurricane if they showed some other news for a little while?

[21winner]

4. You might want give up cable TV.

THE DEFINITION OF INSANITY IS DOING THE SAME THNIG AND THINKING IT WILL CHANGE.

[imax2268]

5. Bush made a statement today about Ivan...

"I call on all nations to stop these hurrikun thug killers..."

"now watch this drive!"

[bklyncowgirl]

8. Intelligence report on Iraq leaked today hmmm

The report is highly pessimistic. It was apparently commissioned by George Tenet and is a major story in both the NYT and Washington Post.

Interesting

[Supersedeas]

11. Interesting....NOW back to 24/7 IVAN aftermath...then PETERSON

[pss]

9. Because capitalizm is broken...

"It's after the end of the world. Don't you know that yet?"