What I think, why I think it
Canadian journnalist Scott Taylor has a riveting account of being kidnapped ini Iraq up at Espirit De Corps: Five Days in Hell.
Fubar, over at Needlenose, has an interesting commentary up of the article up, Part I and Part II.
Apparently, it is legal to distort the news.
Akre and Wilson sued the Fox station and on August 18, 2000, a Florida jury unanimously decided that Akre was wrongfully fired by Fox Television when she refused to broadcast (in the jury's words) “a false, distorted or slanted story” about the widespread use of BGH in dairy cows. They further maintained that she deserved protection under Florida's whistle blower law. Akre was awarded a $425,000 settlement. Inexplicably, however, the court decided that Steve Wilson, her partner in the case, was ruled not wronged by the same actions taken by FOX.
FOX appealed the case, and on February 14, 2003 the Florida Second District Court of Appeals unanimously overturned the settlement awarded to Akre. The Court held that Akre’s threat to report the station’s actions to the FCC did not deserve protection under Florida’s whistle blower statute, because Florida’s whistle blower law states that an employer must violate an adopted “law, rule, or regulation." In a stunningly narrow interpretation of FCC rules, the Florida Appeals court claimed that the FCC policy against falsification of the news does not rise to the level of a "law, rule, or regulation," it was simply a "policy." Therefore, it is up to the station whether or not it wants to report honestly.
During their appeal, FOX asserted that there are no written rules against distorting news in the media. They argued that, under the First Amendment, broadcasters have the right to lie or deliberately distort news reports on public airwaves. Fox attorneys did not dispute Akre’s claim that they pressured her to broadcast a false story, they simply maintained that it was their right to do so. After the appeal verdict WTVT general manager Bob Linger commented, “It’s vindication for WTVT, and we’re very pleased… It’s the case we’ve been making for two years. She never had a legal claim.”
Up is now officially down.
Isn't it comforting to know that Homeland Security is keeping the country safe from folk singers? Thank GOD they finally got Cat Stevens. That was keeping me up nights.
Here's the Prezzy's speech to the UN. I didn't listen to it. I saw a couple of soundbites on TV. It looked like he was giving a speech to a room full of mannequins.
I read it though. Needless to say, it's full of platitudes. I like Bush's words. They are nice sounding and really quite consistent with what I would consider a Norman Rockwell painting. I like Norman Rockwell paintings. How could I not? They are so cute. Problem is they really don't have much to do with reality. Is Iraq really on the path to peace? You have to admit, it takes mighty big cojones to get up infront of a couple of hundred nations, most of whom are as poor as Iraq was, and blow smoke up there asses. Doesn't Bush know that he addressed them before he invaded? Oh. Wait. I forgot. He wasn't talking to the people in the room. He was talking to voters. Later this month, when he is debating Kerry, he will claim that he tried to strengthen the coalition at the UN. Watch.
Kerry rightly sounded the alarm by holding a news conference to announce that Bush is in La-La land.
On a completely unrelated topic, yet oddly germane, I think Iraq would be a mighty strange place to see Fahrenheit 9-11. The Pentagon has been showing the film there. I give kudos to them. The Christian Science Monitor examines Kerry's support amongst the troops in Iraq.
The incessant babble speak of the Bush administration lands in my ears every day. Kerry makes sense and they just respond by saying he's taking another position. Kerry says, "Iraq was a colossal mistake." Bush says, "Flip-flopper." It's priceless, I tell you.
For the 10th time, Bush says "Abu Nidal was a cold-blooded terrorist killer who killed Leon Klinghoffer" when everybody knows it was the late Abul Abbas. what's the difference between terrorists? Well, one is dead and guilty and the other is in Iraq and innocent of that crime, at least. Why is Bush making the same mistake over and over again? Oops. Silly Bush. Silly Texas rambling mouth. Not hardly. I could lose my sense of irony if I say this, but what the heck: I think Bush is doing it on purpose. I think he wants us to believe that the Iraqi insurgency is led by the guy that killed Leon Klinghoffer. Bush knows the score, here. But he doesn't care. His contempt for the truth, for you and me actually, is so very apparent. His contempt and abuse of the people that vote for him, primarily people he knows won't check his facts, is even deeper. That, in a nutshell, is why he is in power.
I watched some right-wing zombie on c-span say that Bush didn't actually SAY that Saddam was involved in 9.11. He got all red in the face as he said, Bush didn't actually SAY that Saddam had ties to Al Qaeda. And then there's Denny Hastert up there making the world less happy by opening his mouth to vomit out that Al Qaeda wants Kerry to win. I'd like to see Mr. Hastert's intelligence. Maybe Denny has been talking to the Big Al Q. Maybe he knows for sure. Denny is an Al Qaeda spy. See how this works? I could get good at this.
Sometimes it just gets so dismal. Like when you learn about stuff like this:
Pentagon blocks site for voters outside U.S
PARIS In a decision that could affect Americans abroad who are not yet registered to vote in the Nov. 2 presidential election, the Pentagon has begun restricting international access to the official Web site intended to help overseas absentee voters cast ballots.
I have been contemplating the slow decline of the US into something that resembles a fascist state. We are not nearly there yet. But there are events that are occuring, attitudes forming like tsunamis 1,000 miles out to sea, that could break over this country with great force. Some of those waves are already hitting shore.
It isn't all about Bush, I assure you. It is about the Conservative Movement. Please note, I do not say conservative values. I have written about some of my own conservative values at length. These are the kinds of values that uphold community, civility, common purpose, respect for your neighbor, spirituality, forgiveness, fiscal resposibility...little things like that. They are not the values of the Conservative Movement. Mature Americans will know the difference. David Neiwert has an excellent piece on the Morphing of the Conservative Movement. Read, consider, reflect.
