This reporter gets it. "The media tricked the media"

[Robbien]

Like freed hostages who gradually cease to identify with their captors, mainstream media outlets seem to have been seized by a new spirit of liberation in their coverage of the Bush administration. Lately, we've seen a rash of astonished, outraged stories and editorials relating to the administration's recently discovered malfeasance.

They go something like this:

. . .

And, hey, this whole time, Dick Cheney has been completely off the reservation! The guy kept everyone out of the loop, including the Cabinet, as a recent Washington Post series meticulously documented. When senior administration officials learned — belatedly — of Cheney's machinations on military commissions, Guantanamo and interrogation tactics, many of them considered the vice president's positions unjustified, outrageous, even dangerous. Why, much of the time, virtually no one seems to have supported the controversial positions Cheney took, except for Cheney himself, a handful of dedicated acolytes and the clueless president.

The new media message is righteous and clear: Administration officials tricked us — all of us! They assured us that everything they did was legal ... necessary ... for our own good ... but now we see that they were lying!

. . .

Someday, historians will ponder our strange collective passivity in the face of Bush-Cheney madness. Why did the editorial boards of our major newspapers either parrot the administration line or raise only muted criticism? Where were the tough journalistic questions? Why didn't more members of Congress protest the administration's blatantly unjustified policies and transparent constitutional outrages?

For that matter, when Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, John Ashcroft and countless others found that the administration was, at Cheney's insistence, adopting policies they knew to be irresponsible and even illegal, why didn't any of them go public with their protests back when it would have made a difference?

It's hard not to conclude that collectively, we were all too cowardly, slothful or puffed up with our own self-importance to ask the right questions and stand up for principle. The administration didn't trick us; we tricked ourselves.

http://www.montereyherald.com/opinion/ci_6320499

Nice to see at least one gets it and has the decency to say it in her editorial. The entire editorial is worth a read.

[Greyhound]

1. K & R

[lligrd]

2. They Weren't Tricked

They were bought.

[Orsino]

8. Bought.

Each successive media consolidation means that journalists are owned by richer and richer men. Inevitably, their work reflects this ownership.

Rather than asking why they sound like the Administration, they might consider asking why they sound so much like each other. The answer's in plain sight.

[SpiralHawk]

9. Corporate media compliantly "Assumed the position"

and became republicon lapdog propaganda catapulters.

Documented photo below shows Bill O'Lielly in drag Assuming the Position

[Edweird]

12. Hey, that was an awesome movie. Don't besmirch it by associating it with billo.

:)

[Jacobin]

10. Yup. It was no accident

It was intentional

[xchrom]

3. tricked is the wrong word.

[fasttense]

4. Just don't publish pictures of the drunken debauchery of the bush* twins.

Dick will send you an anthrax laced letter.

[Mist]

5. The real question is: Why are they "awakening" from their fog NOW? nt

[diane in sf]

17. I think the powers that be are preparing to sacrifice Cheney and Bush.

They're so incompetent and arrogant that they've revealed and damaged many of the levers of power over the people of the US and world. And unless you are selling oil or arms they've screwed up the economy and they have screwed the dollar, our defenses, and everything else they've touched.

The fact that this is being allowed on corporate (mostly Republican-owned) media is a strong indicator of movement to dump them behind the scenes.

I feel that bush/cheney have been unwitting agents of evolution because of the extreme irritation of their actions to the rest of us (sadly leading to death and disaster for many). They've helped push the movement toward the web and people-led democracy.

[formercia]

6. The Emperor's New Clothes

http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type1620.html#andersen

The Emperor's New Clothes
Denmark

Many years ago there lived an emperor who loved beautiful new clothes so much that he spent all his money on being finely dressed. His only interest was in going to the theater or in riding about in his carriage where he could show off his new clothes. He had a different costume for every hour of the day. Indeed, where it was said of other kings that they were at court, it could only be said of him that he was in his dressing room!

One day two swindlers came to the emperor's city. They said that they were weavers, claiming that they knew how to make the finest cloth imaginable. Not only were the colors and the patterns extraordinarily beautiful, but in addition, this material had the amazing property that it was to be invisible to anyone who was incompetent or stupid.

"It would be wonderful to have clothes made from that cloth," thought the emperor. "Then I would know which of my men are unfit for their positions, and I'd also be able to tell clever people from stupid ones." So he immediately gave the two swindlers a great sum of money to weave their cloth for him.

They set up their looms and pretended to go to work, although there was nothing at all on the looms. They asked for the finest silk and the purest gold, all of which they hid away, continuing to work on the empty looms, often late into the night.

"I would really like to know how they are coming with the cloth!" thought the emperor, but he was a bit uneasy when he recalled that anyone who was unfit for his position or stupid would not be able to see the material. Of course, he himself had nothing to fear, but still he decided to send someone else to see how the work was progressing.

"I'll send my honest old minister to the weavers," thought the emperor. He's the best one to see how the material is coming. He is very sensible, and no one is more worthy of his position than he.

So the good old minister went into the hall where the two swindlers sat working at their empty looms. "Goodness!" thought the old minister, opening his eyes wide. "I cannot see a thing!" But he did not say so.

The two swindlers invited him to step closer, asking him if it wasn't a beautiful design and if the colors weren't magnificent. They pointed to the empty loom, and the poor old minister opened his eyes wider and wider. He still could see nothing, for nothing was there. "Gracious" he thought. "Is it possible that I am stupid? I have never thought so. Am I unfit for my position? No one must know this. No, it will never do for me to say that I was unable to see the material."

"You aren't saying anything!" said one of the weavers.

"Oh, it is magnificent! The very best!" said the old minister, peering through his glasses. "This pattern and these colors! Yes, I'll tell the emperor that I am very satisfied with it!"

"That makes us happy!" said the two weavers, and they called the colors and the unusual pattern by name. The old minister listened closely so that he would be able say the same things when he reported back to the emperor, and that is exactly what he did.

The swindlers now asked for more money, more silk, and more gold, all of which they hid away. Then they continued to weave away as before on the empty looms.

The emperor sent other officials as well to observe the weavers' progress. They too were startled when they saw nothing, and they too reported back to him how wonderful the material was, advising him to have it made into clothes that he could wear in a grand procession. The entire city was alive in praise of the cloth. "Magnifique! Nysseligt! Excellent!" they said, in all languages. The emperor awarded the swindlers with medals of honor, bestowing on each of them the title Lord Weaver.

The swindlers stayed up the entire night before the procession was to take place, burning more than sixteen candles. Everyone could see that they were in a great rush to finish the emperor's new clothes. They pretended to take the material from the looms. They cut in the air with large scissors. They sewed with needles but without any thread. Finally they announced, "Behold! The clothes are finished!"

The emperor came to them with his most distinguished cavaliers. The two swindlers raised their arms as though they were holding something and said, "Just look at these trousers! Here is the jacket! This is the cloak!" and so forth. "They are as light as spider webs! You might think that you didn't have a thing on, but that is the good thing about them."

"Yes," said the cavaliers, but they couldn't see a thing, for nothing was there.

"Would his imperial majesty, if it please his grace, kindly remove his clothes." said the swindlers. "Then we will fit you with the new ones, here in front of the large mirror."

The emperor took off all his clothes, and the swindlers pretended to dress him, piece by piece, with the new ones that were to be fitted. They took hold of his waist and pretended to tie something about him. It was the train. Then the emperor turned and looked into the mirror.

"Goodness, they suit you well! What a wonderful fit!" they all said. "What a pattern! What colors! Such luxurious clothes!"

"The canopy to be carried above your majesty awaits outside," said the grandmaster of ceremonies.

"Yes, I am ready!" said the emperor. "Don't they fit well?" He turned once again toward the mirror, because it had to appear as though he were admiring himself in all his glory.

The chamberlains who were to carry the train held their hands just above the floor as if they were picking up the train. As they walked they pretended to hold the train high, for they could not let anyone notice that they could see nothing.

The emperor walked beneath the beautiful canopy in the procession, and all the people in the street and in their windows said, "Goodness, the emperor's new clothes are incomparable! What a beautiful train on his jacket. What a perfect fit!" No one wanted it to be noticed that he could see nothing, for then it would be said that he was unfit for his position or that he was stupid. None of the emperor's clothes had ever before received such praise.

"But he doesn't have anything on!" said a small child.

"Good Lord, let us hear the voice of an innocent child!" said the father, and whispered to another what the child had said.

"A small child said that he doesn't have anything on!"

Finally everyone was saying, "He doesn't have anything on!"

The emperor shuddered, for he knew that they were right, but he thought, "The procession must go on!" He carried himself even more proudly, and the chamberlains walked along behind carrying the train that wasn't there.

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. Tricked, in the sense that they thought they were being loyal patriots

by being team players.

How many of these people, still don't get it? It's Whistler Blower time, folks. It's time to put country before Bush and GOP Party.

[formercia]

11. Many knew exactly what they were doing

and still behave the same.

They will turn only when their personal freedom and wealth is at stake.

They are all "Good Germans."

[Rob H.]

13. "...the administration's recently discovered malfeasance."

Trouble is, there's been malfeasance all along and the media either ignored it when they saw it or they bent over backwards to convince themselves that they didn't see what they were actually seeing.

After 9/11 it became very clear that they were scared witless to criticize the administration for fear of being labeled anti-American, anti-troop, etc. As a result, the vast majority of them (excluding people like Joe Conason, Robert Parry, Seymour Hersh, and Greg Palast) shut up and went along for the ride. The most egregious example of that mindset is the media's credulousness in the run-up to the Iraq war which allowed Bush and his cronies to lie with impunity to the American people with no fear of reprisal.

More than a year ago, talking to a friend about the press' kid-gloves treatment of the president, I said, "Bush could kill and eat a human baby on the White House lawn, and the next day's headlines would read Courageous President Single-Handedly Destroys Sleeper-Wearing Sleeper Cell." It was said in jest, but it wouldn't have surprised me at all if it were to actually happen.

Now, when the president's "political currency" is spent and Bush's approval rating hovers in the mid-to-high 20s, now it's time to take the gloves off? It's easy to pile on an opponent who's too weak to fight back; when it was still a stand-up fight, the press was nowhere to be found.

I'd like to say one thing to the newly-emboldened-and-hopefully-not-too-late media: It's about time--where the hell have you guys been?

[EVDebs]

14. Monterey Herald also published Col Steve Butler's letter

after 9-11...Good for them !

Yeah, here it is

http://www.angelfire.com/ok5/pearly/htmls/butler-letter.html

They forced Butler out, because a Court Martial would have allowed him a defense and production of evidence in said defense. We now have much more evidence. Please read David Ray Griffin's Debunking 9-11 Debunking and/or just do more seaching on 9-11. The Official Conspiracy Theory just doesn't hold up.

[Spazito]

15. Excellent read!

Thank you for posting this, have saved it in my favorites for future use.

Recommended.

[DeepModem Mom]

16. Just a note: Rosa Brooks is a columnist for the L.A. Times, where this originally appeared.

Thanks for posting!

[Hidden Stillness]

18. Everything'll Be Different Next Time--Promise!

With all due respect, this does not sound or read like anything different from what I have been hearing/reading from the media for at least 25 years. First, they exploit and/or slant everything to an egregious, immoral degree, there is a backlash from the American people, the media puts on a very public and over-produced "mea culpa" hand-wringing, vows with much self-congratulation to "do better," and--bam!--at the start of the next business day, they are back to milking money out of every gruesome rape-murder, and telling us why rich people and corporations "should not" pay taxes.

When do they claim they were "just recently" "tricked" "for the first time"? It wasn't all those years when they pretended that Pres. Clinton was some kind of vague, generalized corrupt criminal, no matter how many investigations/persecutions were shown to be baseless; was it when they all started using the bizarre expression "unborn child," a phrase which has no meaning at all, at the same time during the '80s when they began running anti-abortion ads and no longer ran ads from NARAL, was it then? Maybe it was when they all refused to mention the multiple crimes and impeachable offenses of the Reagan Administration, and suddenly began the worship of the corporate bastard. Maybe you were "just recently" "tricked" "for the first time" when you launched the 24-hour-a-day campaign, that continues to this day, to slander everything from, of or by the Government, and praise the corporate deregulation and tax-shifting, or "free" market as you call it, of the increasingly concentrated corporate ownership that pays you. Maybe it was so many years ago, when they first started to pretend that anti-poverty programs don't work, when they do. We have been listening to this slant--recall when the New York Times of all things, knew about the transmitting device Bush was using during the 2004 Presidential debate, and voluntarily censored the fact until after the "election"--for over a generation, of the corporate, commercial media putting out exactly the same message as the corporate, rich Republican Party; nothing about it is new.

Of course, as with this latest editorial, they are still either blaming everyone else ("politicians," etc.), or pretending that really, they are all basically moral, in the world of profiteering--("we did it, but we will teach ourselves the lesson, so don't regulate anything we do, or call us, or anything else...")--and so this routine will, yet again, allow the whole controversy to blow over, with no change to their conduct. The editorial contains a strange quote, a description of the Cheney/Bush Administration: "From the very beginning, this administration had no real plan, no coherent ideology, no evidence behind many of its assertions. That's been entirely obvious for more than five years now." It continues, "Bush and Cheney valued power and expedience, nothing more," etc. This unbelievable claim refuses to face that everything they have ever done has benefitted only two groups, 1) global corporate oil interests, and 2) the Republican Party as a partisan institution. If you are still covering up the pattern, denying the content, and refusing to learn a lesson about which is the threatening group here, then you will allow it to continue, and will attack anyone who does not play along with the corporate media's decided "all-personal/psychological-motive" (which is how they finally wrapped up Watergate, pretending it was all "Nixon creepy neurotic," etc., killing it before real reforms could be passed by Congress), "commercial ownership of public expression not a problem" game.

Not only does this not end the threat to social ownership of the means of our society's public messages, it on the contrary, merely presents another corporate ad campaign, disguised as another fake "mea culpa." They're off our backs--back to hyping Giuliani and "American Idol"!

[TahitiNut]

19. "cowardly, slothful or puffed up with our own self-importance"

That's about as good a summary as we'll get. :shrug:

We asked for it; we got it; payola.

[mitchum]

20. No, they were turning tricks