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kentuck Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 10:53 AM
Original message
A Deeper Conspiracy ?
A Washington Post reporter on the MSNBC Olberman show last night, suggested that everyone in the media knew Bush was lying about going to war with Iraq? Could this be true? Does he have any idea the gravity of those statements?

They were hand in hand with the Bush Administration to deceive the American people into war? I personally did not "know" we were being lied to or deceived into war. I suspected it, but I did not "know" it. Evidently, the Congress did not know it either. More than 120 members of Congress have signed onto a letter to the White House to answer questions about this very matter. And this reporter says that the press knew Bush was being "deceptive"? They knew he was lying?

What does that mean? Did the NYTimes know that Judith Miller was working with a "con-man" to promote the White House push for war? Did the NY Times and the Washington Post know that Bush was lying to the people and they did not report it? Do they think it is their role to support and promote the agenda of any politician in office, without the full knowledge of the American people. This is so disturbing.

What does this mean? Who will tell the people if the press is involved in the conspiracy also? We all recall the cheerleaders and the excitement within the media, riding into war as "embeds", to report the glorious victory to the people back home. Am I looking at this from the wrong perspective? Or are matters much worse than we even imagined?
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ixion Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 10:58 AM
Response to Original message
1. well, I'm neither a 'pundit' nor a 'broadcast journalist' and I could see
Edited on Fri Jun-17-05 10:59 AM by ixion
that it as a massive LIE from the get go.

It would stand to reason that others, including those in the MSM, knew this as well.

Just like this society is so quick to arrest people who endanger us on the roads or at home, so should we arrest and indict those on the airwaves who have knowingly allow this tragedy to transpire.


The any organization that wants to refer to itself as a 'news' organization should NOT be allowed to lie, nor should they be allowed to act as enablers for fascist regimes.




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Eloriel Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 01:47 PM
Response to Reply #1
48. Being able to detect it is different from documentary evidence,
which the DSM most certainly is. And as Joe Conason points out, anytime you get documentary evidence on such a thing, it's ALWAYS NEWS whether "everyone already knows it" or not. I posted the link to his great column downthread.
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Up2Late Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jun-18-05 11:34 PM
Response to Reply #1
72. I wonder if, because of those statements, the FBI should start rounding...
..."All of them" and sending them to GTMO. Even if we know it is a Lie, I wonder if that could still be considered grounds for a trial for TREASON?
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liberal N proud Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 10:58 AM
Response to Original message
2. It has been fairly evident all along.
A large portion of the media is owned by large contributors to bu$h. They all are BIG business and we know the bu$h regime is pro big business anti little guy.
They lied to help the regime that was sure to help them.
I also believe there were many threats made to key reporters and editors to make sure they stayed in line. I do not have any evidence but my gut tells me there had to be something to keep all these people in line so well.
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AX10 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 11:00 AM
Response to Reply #2
4. But could the media, had they acted together...
acted as a balance to pressure from the White House?
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liberal N proud Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 11:08 AM
Response to Reply #4
7. That is why I believe that there were threats made to key editors
KKKarl Rove's hand is in this thing some how.
I know that several news papers last fall wanted to endorse Kerry but were told by the owners and publishers to endorse bu$h or no one at all.
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lyonn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 12:55 PM
Response to Reply #2
34. Notice what happen to the Donahue show
He was way to far left to be allowed to stay on air. I heard that his show had very good ratings and still they got rid of him. Maybe that is the price one pays to speak against this administration. McClellan tell reporters at his press conference "nothing" and what do the reporters do? They never tell the public that they didn't get an answer, they always repeat what McClellan says. That says it all. Patriots reporters are not!
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FreedomAngel82 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 07:26 PM
Response to Reply #2
58. Keeping your job now days is enough to
keep someone in line. Remember what happened to Helen Thomas when she got out of line. She got moved to the back.
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seemslikeadream Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 10:59 AM
Response to Original message
3.  kentuck look what Andrea Mitchell said about DSM
Her exact words


You would have had to be brain dead not to know what the president was up too.

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kentuck Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 11:05 AM
Response to Reply #3
5. She is admitting her guilt...
When did they decide it was OK to lie our country into war??
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ihelpu2see Donating Member (935 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 11:52 AM
Response to Reply #3
19. yes and my point is Andrea's comments then support the move to IMPEACH
Mr. Bush. Because if we all knew * still lied to US citizens and congress....
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AuntiBush Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 12:27 PM
Response to Reply #3
25. And Andrea Mitchell admits it!?! And "they knew" all along!?!?
I'm at a loss for words. This is horrid. How do they smile, dress to the nine? How do they sleep at nights, for god's sakes... so while their cashing in those big checks our troops are dying and the country spirals down-wards.

Oh sure. Take away our Social Security, our rights, liberties, fill the courts with rich neo-cons, and brainwash our fellow Americans all in the name of their (?) investments of war/oil?

I'd like to know how the Evangelical Right feels, right now?

They should feel shamed and disgraced right now. But thanks to the BS MSN, it's going to take some time to get this out to them.

:rant:
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Jim Sagle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 11:56 PM
Response to Reply #3
60. Migod, what a graverobber she is!
:puke:
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liberalla Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jun-18-05 08:17 AM
Response to Reply #3
62. Wow. Where did you get that quote?
You would have had to be brain dead not to know what the president was up too.

Do you have a link for her quote? What was the context for her comment? Is it part of an article? I'd love to read it!

You would have had to be brain dead not to know what the president was up too.... in fact we're not brain dead and we support him. My dear hubby is helping him!!!

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seemslikeadream Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jun-18-05 08:25 AM
Response to Reply #62
63. She was being interviewed on MSNBC
Edited on Sat Jun-18-05 08:39 AM by seemslikeadream
live so I don't have a link but I do have the original post when I heard it. I'll look for that.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1857100#1857166
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liberalla Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jun-19-05 09:47 AM
Response to Reply #63
76. Thanks !
Edited on Sun Jun-19-05 09:58 AM by liberalla
Appreciate your reply.

Personally, I never fell for it. I never believed the hard sell they were making to go to war. I'm not surprised 'journalists' who cover Washington did'nt also see through it... I just don't understand why they treated bush and gang so favorably.

Maybe now Andrea is feeling a little defensive? I'm not brain dead! I knew what was going on!

Of course, if the war had gone differently... if the fantasy they described to America had come to pass, we'd all (especially the journalists) be discussing the subject quite differently now. They were counting on a fantasy, a dream, to legitimize war.

what was it? the soldiers would be greeted with flowers and sweet breads?
____________________

OMG!
I just went to another thread and saw this toon which goes perfectly with my post above...

"if the fantasy they described to America had come to pass, we'd all (especially the journalists) be discussing the subject quite differently now. They were counting on a fantasy, a dream, to legitimize war."



edited to add image!
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Warpy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 11:06 AM
Response to Original message
6. I knew he was lying. Am I a part of the conspiracy?
I knew the whole gang was lying because I knew what Scott Ritter had said about destruction of the infrastructure and I knew what Hans Blix had said about having found absolutely nothing in the way of WMDs when they went back.

I knew they were lying because this is something they campaigned on in 2000, Fuckwit showing his father up by "finishing the job we started in 1991."

If an old lady out in godforsaken noplace in flyover country knows they're all lying, then OF COURSE anybody nearer the centers of power have to know they're all lying, unless they're TOTAL FOOLS.

So we have a government composed of either liars or fools. I think it's time to retire the lot of them. Incumbents are the problem. Incumbents are the ones who need to go.
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kentuck Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 11:16 AM
Response to Reply #6
8. But you are not part of the mainstream press.....
And you and most people here at DU, have been trying to tell the people that they were lying, and now the DSM proves you were right.

And if everyone knew they were lying, what was the purpose of "lying"? Lying by definition is meant to deceive.
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nostalgicaboutmyfutr Donating Member (991 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 11:21 AM
Response to Original message
9. So why did they not report he was lying....
Why didn't they report it......impeach the press along with the NSC, Defense leadership and the right wing echo chamber....
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kentuck Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 11:24 AM
Response to Reply #9
11. Because they didn't think it was important ?
People have died and continue to die because of those lies and they didn't think it was important? I'm sure the parents of those dead soldiers knew it was a lie when they sent their sons and daughters to fight and die for their country. We are all being tortured.
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Ysolde Donating Member (368 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 11:22 AM
Response to Original message
10. Funny thing...
I was listening to the weekly news roundup on the Diane Rehm show this morning and Susan Page (of USA Today?) basically said the same thing. And, then she made some sarcastic, asinine remark like "I can't imagine a president saying one thing privately and another thing publicly". What BS! There is a huge difference between policy discussions and sending the country to war! What is wrong with these people? Why don't they seem to care that the Iraq war is more than a debacle? Why will they refuse to admit that they colluded and conspired to lie to the U.S. people and have caused a nightmare for us and the Iraqis? The Fourth Estate needs to be demolished and rebuilt from the ground up!
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kentuck Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 11:26 AM
Response to Reply #10
12. And they seem blind to the fact....
That people have died and continue to die each day because of those lies...
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lyonn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 01:07 PM
Response to Reply #10
36. Well put Ysolde! n/t
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suziedemocrat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 01:30 PM
Response to Reply #10
40. Clearly the press thinks it is OK to lie to justify an unnecessary war!
They are in essence saying they support that. Fuck 'em!! They all should rot in Hell!!!!
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LizW Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 11:27 AM
Response to Original message
13. I don't think they "get" the gravity of the statements
Edited on Fri Jun-17-05 11:29 AM by LizW
Without a doubt, many members of Congress knew Bush was lying. Many, if not most, members of the press knew, too. Yet, it's not a conspiracy in the way we think of a criminal conspiracy. Certainly, there are government "plants" within the media who pump out propaganda or even operate as editors to control the flow of information, and those people are criminals. There are also certain "attack dogs" in place who keep watch over the rest and jump on anyone who strays out of line.

But there is also a large group of media and other Washington insiders, who don't consciously conspire to protect Bush and the neocons. They do what they do because they have abdicated any journalistic responsibility to the truth and are just doing what it takes to maintain their place of comfort and status. The same applies to many members of Congress.

I think many of these insiders have given up on ever making a difference. The crazies in Washington have accumulated enough power that the non-crazies have despaired of ever being able to make a difference, so they have just given up and are going along.

The problem is, the crazies keep demanding more and more. What is required to "get along" keeps getting more and more extreme. The frogs are boiling and they don't realize it yet.

Edited for typo.
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kentuck Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 11:30 AM
Response to Reply #13
14. When we have lost our "free press"..
we have lost our country. And it appears we have lost both...
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RaleighNCDUer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 11:32 AM
Response to Original message
15. There's "knowing" and there's "knowing".
I knew, just by watching what was going on and seeing the obvious lies. No doubt in my mind that the media knew, as well. Only a large part of the media supported it, and refused to ask the pertinent questions, while those who might have asked were being shut out.

How many and actionable proof that they could have presented? Virtually none, and none of those who would be inclined to use it. Not in this country, anyway.
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kentuck Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 11:35 AM
Response to Reply #15
16. But the purpose of lying is to deceive...
Who did they feel they needed to deceive? Our enemies? The troops that were going to die for the lies? The masses? It sounds like wholesale treason to me.
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RaleighNCDUer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 11:49 AM
Response to Reply #16
18. That is the question.
And my answer has been, it was meant to deceive the uninformed masses, right from the beginning. The people who even today think that Saddam had WMDs, who think that Jessica Lynch was tortured and raped, who think that the international community wanted us to take Saddam out.

Sometimes, I despair.
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REACTIVATED IN CT Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 12:29 PM
Response to Reply #15
26. Exactly !
We "knew" they were lying - what we have now is proof
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kentuck Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 12:31 PM
Response to Reply #26
28. Yep...their hand in the cookie jar....
and crumbs are all over their lying lips...
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zann725 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jun-18-05 11:43 PM
Response to Reply #15
73. All the same arguments apply to MSM's coverage of Election Fraud.
Yet "knowing" and doing nothing,and actually participating in the cover-up makes them "accessories to the fact" (or lack thereof). And that makes them legally culpable.
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LuPeRcALiO Donating Member (587 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 11:41 AM
Response to Original message
17. "Did the NY Times and the Washington Post know that Bush was lying?"
Oh hell yes. But they decided to back the administration, as they usually do.

p.s. They knew the SBVT ad was a lie too but they turned it into a "story" instead of simply calling it a smear.
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AndyTiedye Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 11:58 AM
Response to Original message
20. When Media Execs Get a Call From This Man, They Do Whatever He Says
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City Lights Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 11:58 AM
Response to Original message
21. If bush lying us into war is considered a "no brainer" to so many in
the press corpse, why did bush say "nothing could be farther from the truth" in response to the information in the DSM? We've got chimpy (and blair) denying the accuracy of the minutes, and the press :shrug:ing over it.
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kentuck Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 12:05 PM
Response to Reply #21
22. Let's ask all the troops in Iraq if they knew ?
And the families of those that have given their lives? It's all so incredible!
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tallahasseedem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 12:26 PM
Response to Original message
23. Well if they all knew.
There is going to be a huge trial going on for high treason. This isn't the game of war, it is war. Real people die. Somehow this gets lost in the midst. Even like when that jackass Bill Maher says that even if they did lie, its going well now. What is going on with this country?
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earth mom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 12:26 PM
Response to Original message
24. Haven't we all been saying this for months?
That the media is in on it-in cahoots? It's obvious that the Corporate Media is motivated by greed and the bottom line. Though maybe just maybe they are afraid of the repercussions of not doing so. Like what happened to Dan Rather or maybe they worry about some Anthrax heading their way.

Which doesn't excuse what they've done whatsoever. There is a lot of blood on their hands. :puke:
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kentuck Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 12:30 PM
Original message
Yes. We have been saying that....
And now we have the proof....and they know it. But, nevermind, we knew he was lying. Anybody with half-a-brain knew that...Oh, my God!
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graywarrior Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 12:30 PM
Response to Reply #24
27. Haven't we be sayin this since before March 03?
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lulu Donating Member (294 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 12:37 PM
Response to Original message
29. It's like a game to them
They are all sociopaths.
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kentuck Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 12:41 PM
Response to Original message
30. Maybe Conyers should request that a few reporters testify ?
Voluntarily, of course. But to see just how much they knew that they did not tell the people? Did they really collude and conspire with this White House to take us to war on lies and deception?
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EVDebs Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 12:56 PM
Response to Reply #30
35. He could even mention Operation Mockingbird...and that tips over
the whole chamber pot !
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lala_rawraw Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 12:47 PM
Response to Original message
31. I am just writing an op ed piece about this.
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Beam Me Up Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 12:49 PM
Response to Original message
32. "WAR" IS BIG BUSINESS.
But lets stop calling this a "war". As horrible as it is, "war" still sounds potentially honerable. This isn't a "war" it is an "invasion," a wholesale "theft" and "rape" of a sovereign nation.

Who owns the media? What are they selling if not a "reality" that benefits those who own it and control it? What is it used for if not TO CONTROL THE PERCEPTION OF WHAT IS REAL OF A SUBJECT POPULATION?

So long as some men, a few men, men who never see battle and never get their hands dirty with the blood they have spilled, SO LONG AS MEN CAN PROFIT FROM WAR, WARS WILL PERSIST.

I can easily believe that people within the media knew that the information being presented to the American people was a lie. I believed that to be the case at the time. I believe quite a few members of Congress on both sides of the isle knew this as well. I believe quite a few heads of state around the planet also knew it or strongly suspected it. I found nothing convincing about their dog-and-poney WMD show. Nothing. And yet it was presented to us as a matter of fact, as a 'done deal,' as, for them, it was. All they needed was ACQUIESCENCE.

They got what they wanted. "THEY" is much bigger than "Bush", much bigger than "PNAC" much bigger than those who own the Corporate Owned News.

We need to ask the question: ARE LIES EVER HONORABLE? You know, don't you, if pressed, they WILL pull the "Interests of National Security" out of the hat, don't you? After all, Governments lie to their people all the time--nothing new in that.
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kentuck Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 12:54 PM
Response to Reply #32
33. Governments lie all the time....
and they attempt to coverup those lies. The press is supposed to be the watchdog that exposes those lies - not a poodle that helps promote the lies. Otherwise, what type of government do you have? We are a nation of the people, by the people, and for the people. We are not a nation for corporate interests or any political Party, Democrat or Republican.
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lyonn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 01:18 PM
Response to Reply #33
38. And Conyers got no respect from the media
They treat him like he is full of "sour grapes" since he has always been against the war. No discussion as to why he has always been against the war. It's a white-wash by the media. All those that spoke at the hearing yesterday got precious little coverage and there was plenty for them to go after, at least question. I am sickened once again.
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suziedemocrat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 01:42 PM
Response to Reply #38
44. Sometimes I think the Press are like the popular kids in school.
Making their own rules. Always siding with the other "cool" kids. Cruelly making fun of the "uncool." Reporters can be very immature. Grown-up life is not always a popularity contest. The "beautiful" people are not always right. Hollywood scriptwriters know this. (Think of all the movies where the underdog is triumphant!) Reporters need to grown up - graduate into the adult world - and do the right thing!
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windbreeze Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 01:31 PM
Response to Reply #33
41. I hate to tell you this.....
But that is exactly what we have become....The MSM is controlled by a very few who have their own interests at heart...so what did we think they would do? tell the truth? The media has been lying to us for decades..right alongside the gov't...It's possible that this particular coverup/conspiracy goes way deeper than even we can comprehend...but I keep hoping the other half of the nation opens it's eyes before it's really too late, that is, if it isn't already..IF we were a nation of the people, by the people, and for the people....why was Rep.Conyers locked out of the WH, and refused a meeting room?...The ones in power have forgotten they work for US...they are too busy wallowing in the power we allowed them to have, by electing them, and their time is spent figuring out how to use that power against us......

windbreeze

"If we take control of the Legislative and the Executive Branch, we will reinforce our control of the Judicial Branch to direct it against the Democrats" G.Nordquist...9/12/04

http://tinyurl.com/5vo7e

"I think it would be fun to be a dictator..as long as I am the dictator"...GWB...
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socalover Donating Member (359 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jun-18-05 09:08 AM
Response to Reply #32
68. Thank you!!!! nt
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elehhhhna Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 01:14 PM
Response to Original message
37. Remember those threatening anthrax mailings to Media personalities & Dems?
Hello? That was their warning to shut up.
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Stand and Fight Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 01:19 PM
Response to Original message
39. If the Press is Involved...
Then...

Well...

A nation without a free press is a nation in chains. A nation without a free press is a nation without freedom.

Has it come to this?

Did the U.S. boys and girls in Iraq die for this?

Good God. Good God...
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donkeyotay Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 01:34 PM
Response to Reply #39
42. The free press is a free pass, and GE brings what?
"A nation without a free press is a nation in chains."

That pretty well sums it up, Stand and Fight.

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Stand and Fight Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 01:47 PM
Response to Reply #42
47. Then we will not go down without a fight.
So be it.
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Felix Mala Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 01:35 PM
Response to Original message
43. Recall the UN inspectors, Hans Blix, et al. They were vilified,
especially on the Faux Network, because they kept asking the question: "Where are all these weapons supposed to be? We can't find them." They were dismissed as anti-American. Let us not forget the 2002 mid-term election in which many Democrats lost seats because they didn't think Iraq was a threat. The arguement wasn't whether we should go to war, it was why elect someone who puts America at risk to attack. I think the forgotten "stolen election" of 2002 is lots worse than the actual invasion.
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sendero Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 01:42 PM
Response to Original message
45. Not just the press..
.... come on, most Americans knew they were being sold a bill of goods, they simply did not care.

They all thought that we'd go over there and kick some Arab ass and be home for Xmas.

Now that the grim reality that the people with a hint of intelligence knew would develop has come to pass, they are looking to pass the blame. It's ironic, Bush** is going to find out that you can be convicted for a crime even if the crowd told you to go ahead.

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Pooka Fey Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 03:53 PM
Response to Reply #45
53. I didn't know I was being sold a bill of goods. I believed a PBS show...
a documentary about the search for WMD's, about the suspicious behavior of the Iraqi gov't not allowing the inspectors to do their jobs, I believed the crap about the truck moving the nuclear materials from a location right before the inspectors arrived, etc., etc.,

Because the documentary was on PBS, I believed it. I hadn't supported the Iraq invasion when it was 1st proposed, but then when I saw this propaganda piece, I swallowed the disinformation whole. And HELL YEAH, I care that I was lied to. Maybe many don't care, but I HATE being lied to.

Impeach Bush, take down his lying, criminal administration, and then prosecute the whore media for collaboration in the commission of a felony.
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sendero Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 04:04 PM
Response to Reply #53
54. It's really too bad...
... when you can get more accurate information on an internet message board than on TV.

I realize that PBS has garnered a certain amount of respect, but clearly the program you saw was wrong. And frankly, PBS has been under pressure, as has NPR, to become more "balanced". Telling one side's truth and another side's lie is not balance.

Many experts, people who had been there a long time, said point blank that there were no weapons (Scott Ritter) and many others said they highly doubted that there were (Hans Blix).

Frankly, I think a lot of people thought there MIGHT BE some weapons, but you don't go to war on a MIGHT BE.

I honestly don't think Americans at the time cared that much either way. The polls showed overwhelming support for the war. Those who live by the inattentiveness of the American people are sure to die by their vindictiveness when promises made (of a quick painless victory) are not kept.

(And BTW, I'm aware that Bush** has often said this would be "tough", etc - but that was against a backdrop of "this will be a slam-dunk" posturing. As usual, you cannot judge Bush** on his words, you have to take them in their context (such as - he never said Saddam was involved with 911 but he implied it over and over and over))
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Pooka Fey Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 04:20 PM
Response to Reply #54
55. I watch ZERO televised "news" programs now.
I get all my news from the 'Internets'. The PBS show I saw wasn't merely wrong, it was disinformation and propaganda.

I don't like that. And as far as PBS being under pressure to report more "balanced" news - because we live in the post-Orwellian world, I have to ask - are you talking about 'FAUX News fair & balanced' or 'English language fair & balanced'? PBS & NPR budgets are being gutted because the ** administration cannot tolerate educated citizens. Frankly, I no longer trust ANY mainstream media source, although I've come to realize that Knight-Ridder is a cut above the rest because they have reported on the Downing Street Minutes.

And I agree with you that most Americans don't want to be bothered with what's going on in the world - until it's their son, daughter, husband or wife that's being shipped off to die.
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kitkat65 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jun-18-05 12:28 AM
Response to Reply #53
61. Me too, Pooka. Me too. n/t
After 9/11 it was easy to believe it.
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dchill Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jun-18-05 11:26 PM
Response to Reply #53
71. "Impeach Bush,
take down his lying, criminal administration, and then prosecute the whore media for collaboration in the commission of a felony."

Hear, hear!

I honestly couldn't tell if some of them knew they were lying - but some of them I did know - like Chris Matthews, Andrea Mitchell - and everyone at Fox.
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Eloriel Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 01:42 PM
Response to Original message
46. I think Joe Conason has the answer -- and a great rebuttal
I was just reading it:

Joe Conason... 'A Press Coverup' (Salon)
Leave it to the Beltway herd, with their special brand of arrogance, to insist that the Downing Street memo wasn't news.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3884061
Link: http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2005/06/17/dsm_pre

Worth the day pass, IMO.
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dchill Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 02:04 PM
Response to Reply #46
51. Indeed it is.
But your link doesn't work.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2005/06/17/dsm_press/index.html

Hope this one does.
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kentuck Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 03:35 PM
Response to Reply #51
52. Thanks! Good to know there is at least one journalist....
that has a tad bit of logic left...

<snip>

A classified document recording deliberations by the highest officials of our most important ally over the decision to wage war is always news. A document that shows those officials believed the justification for war was "thin" and that the intelligence was being "fixed" is always news. A document that indicates the president was misleading the world about his determination to wage war only as a last resort is always news.

And when such a document is leaked, whatever editors, reporters and producers may think "everyone" already knows or believes about its contents emphatically does not affect whether that piece of paper is news. The journalists' job is to determine whether it is authentic and then to probe into its circumstances and meaning. There are many questions still to be answered about the Downing Street memo, but the nation's most prominent journalists still aren't asking them.

As striking as the bizarre redefinition of news now underway among the Washington press corps is its strange deficit of memory. Everyone did not know in the summer and fall of 2002 that Bush had reached a firm decision to wage war -- not even if "everyone" really refers only to the readers of the Times and the Post.

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info being Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 01:50 PM
Response to Original message
49. I knew
All you had to do is watch the UN hearings and understand what Hans Blix was doing. Watch "Manufacturing Consent" by Chomsky for you answers.
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dchill Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 02:01 PM
Response to Original message
50. The problem for the media is ...
that they deliberately sold White House talking points (lies) as news, effectively taking part in a coverup of the facts which are now disclosed by the highest British levels in the Downing Street documents, of which there are now seven (a highly unreported fact in the news/punditry cable media stew).

The New York Times is still a major offender, trying to minimize their involvement - by attempting to minimize the truth. This does not work well for news organizations, generally. Calling Rep. Conyers' ad hoc committee an "Anti-War group" minimizes both the meeting and the term anti-war. It minimizes the truth.

To go after the DSM story, for the media means going after themselves.
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bobbieinok Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 07:17 PM
Response to Original message
56. remember Newt's affair with an intern during Clinton-Monica????
later news media figures said 'everybody knew Newt was having affair' while he was railing on TV about 'Clinton's immorality'

I remember being FURIOUS when I heard that....only news people 'knew' this BUT they sure didn't think it 'news' enuff to let the rest of us in on the story

maybe the truth is that news people just enjoy being 'on the inside' and privy to 'important secrets'.......they lose this feeling of being 'in the know' if they tell anybody, ie, report it to 'us'....so they don't tell/report
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FreedomAngel82 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 07:22 PM
Response to Original message
57. I wouldn't be surprised but I don't know
I think some of the media didn't know but BIG names probably did and the others could've followed along with them because of their bosses or something. I don't know. But I do think the neocons have control over the media. I think either them or the Saudi's own the media. The Saudi royal family has a lot of intrests with the media. Someone posted a video from ABC of someone with a Saudi prince and this prince shows the reporter a boat he has and he has all these various logo's. So I could see this prince putting pressure on the people who own media outlets, like Murdoch for example, and having them go along with it since they both get something out of it. I remember reading in another post Murdoch wanted revenge on Bush. But didn't know why he would. :shrug: Maybe it has to do with this.
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stickdog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jun-17-05 11:29 PM
Response to Original message
59. What it means is that they'll say ANYTHING to avoid analyzing the
enormous damage their "Onward Christian Soldiers" and "God Bless Our Great Protector Bush" pre-war dereliction of duty has wrought.
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woodsprite Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jun-18-05 08:43 AM
Response to Original message
64. If the press/media knew it was a lie,
then they shouldn't b1tch and moan about their journalists dying, because they were at fault too! Just as much as if they pulled the trigger or set the bomb! And the journalists families should let them have it. Wrongful death suit, anyone?
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LuPeRcALiO Donating Member (587 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jun-18-05 08:50 AM
Response to Reply #64
65. case in point: Milbank's Washington Post article
on the DSM hearings. Classic hitpiece with misleading follow-up. Conyers is now officially an anti-Semitic kook shunned by his own party.

Pressitution is hard work!
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Phoebe Loosinhouse Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jun-18-05 09:04 AM
Response to Original message
66. When they LAUGHED raucously at the Bush WMD skit at the
Edited on Sat Jun-18-05 09:06 AM by Phoebe Loosinhouse
Press Club dinner, they laughed because THEY WERE IN ON THE JOKE.
How much clearer can they make it? Were there gasps of horror? Was there a shocked silence? Was there media commentary afterwards? The press is part of the problem. Let's consider them "unindicted co-conspirators". If we want real coverage we have to look to the international press and the domestic unmuzzled internet sources.
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socalover Donating Member (359 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jun-18-05 09:04 AM
Response to Original message
67. My english professor told me that our government controls the media
I don't know where she got that from but that's what she shared with me after reviewing a paper I wrote.
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rman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jun-18-05 09:41 AM
Response to Reply #67
70. If you take into account that corporations control the government,
you come full circle.
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SoCalifer Donating Member (652 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jun-18-05 09:16 AM
Response to Original message
69. I totally believe the media is complicit
In my opinion the media = owned by big money/corporate interests. War is the biggest generator of revenues for big business. Ergo as part of the military industrial complex, its to the media's interest to promote the war.

Take NBC / MSNBC / CNBC for example; owned by general electric which is one of the top military contractors providing munitions and armaments - yeah no conflict of interests there /sarcasm. Also, general electric (if I remember correctly) is part of the Morgan interests, as well is many other businesses. So we are right back to where we were once before in this country - a few family names controlling most every aspect of our country. Rockefeller, Morgan, DuPont, etc..

CBS is owned by Westinghouse and if I remember correctly is part of the Rockefeller interest, and of course we all know about Rockefeller and Standard Oil, which is now Exxon, Mobil, etc, etc..

Its been awhile since I researched these connections, but I am pretty sure I am remembering correctly.

This is exactly why our founding fathers forbid businesses from giving ANY money to politics --and-- from allowing them to buy into eachother's stocks.

It appears to me that our country needs a good house cleaning - if you ask me..




--
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Disturbed Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jun-18-05 11:47 PM
Response to Reply #69
74. Laughing at shrub's little skit...
was disgusting.

"Impeach Bush, take down his lying, criminal administration, and then prosecute the whore media for collaboration in the commission of a felony."

I say Impeach all of the Bush Regime!!!
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KnowerOfLogic Donating Member (841 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jun-18-05 11:56 PM
Response to Original message
75. Of course the war-whores knew. *Everybody* knew, or should have
known. It was so obvious that there was no case for war, but the american people wanted to kick some Arab butt, with or without cause, and sadaam was as good a target as anyone. The press simply got on the bandwagon for the sake of ratings and to stay on the good side of WH criminal gang. This is why there is no outrage as each successive Bush lie is uncovered - people already knew that the case for war was crap and they accepted it.
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