Follow this link to hear Dan Rather explain to you why the press continuously dupes you. None of this should be a surprise to you.
He also explains that you must fight this trend. This is what I try to do on this blog, in letters to the editor, and with my posts in various places on the internet.
I have lost all faith in the veracity of The New York Times. Therefore I would not normally comment on much of anything that they say. I have not read the original op-ed, just the rebuttal.
However, I know someone is going to claim that they learned something from the Op-Ed piece. My reason for this post is to keep a record of the link to the rebuttal just in case I need it.
Follow this link to what The New York Times Public Editor wrote about Edward N. Luttwak’s Op-Ed. The following paragraph introduces the piece by the Public Editor:
On May 12, The Times published an Op-Ed article by Edward N. Luttwak, a military historian, who argued that any hopes that a President Barack Obama might improve relations with the Muslim world were unrealistic because Muslims would be “horrified” once they learned that Obama had abandoned the Islam of his father and embraced Christianity as a young adult.
The following paragraphs are the conclusion of what the Public Editor wrote:
Shipley, the Op-Ed editor, said he regretted not urging Luttwak to soften his language about possible assassination, given how sensitive the subject is. But he said he did not think the Op-Ed page was under any obligation to present an alternative view, beyond some letters to the editor.
I do not agree. With a subject this charged, readers would have been far better served with more than a single, extreme point of view. When writers purport to educate readers about complex matters, and they are arguably wrong, I think The Times cannot label it opinion and let it go at that.
Follow this link to a blog posting by three McClatchy reporters who have been reporting the truth since way before the start of the Iraq war.
The McClatchy news organization is one of the few that I have found that doesn’t just parrot what everyone else is reporting. They actually know how to dig for news and present it.
Follow this link to watch a video of Captain Luis Montalvan (retired) discussing life after the war.
Captain Montalvan (retired) served in the US Army for 17 years. He received several medals for his service in Iraq. He currently suffers from post traumatic stress disorder. He also found a high level of incompetence among some of the Colonels and Generals with which he served.
Follow this link to read Barry Nolan’s explanation of the story behind his firing over his O’Reilly protest.
I always did like Barry Nolan on local TV.
In the earlier post about Jim Webb speaking out on racism, I added a comment from lurker Richard H. about how good Jim Webb might be as a vice presidential candidate on the Obama ticket.
Follow this link to a counter argument about Jim Webb as Vice President.
Follow this link to a counter argument to the above counter argument.
Max Blumenthal has a new article on Huffington post that introduces his mocumentary of Pastor John Hagee.
With friends like these “supporting” Israel, Israel doesn’t even need enemies. What was said at this meeting scares me more than anything Rev. Wright has said. That’s not saying much because Rev. Wright does not scare me at all.
Of course, Blumenthal has picked and chosen his snippets just as the main stream media has done to Wright. So you have to be very skeptical. Still it at least gives me pause.
What I find attractive about Obama’s and Wright’s message is that they say we need to stop attacking each other and start working together. That means not making mocumetaries like this one, I suppose. So, let’s take this all in good humor and not get too excited over it.
My previous post led me to do a little searching about Tim Wise. I found one set of links on YouTube. Up until today, I had never heard these ideas presented in quite this way.
Tim Wise speaking at the Unitarian Universalist Community Center in Ridgewood, NJ on January 6th, 2005. The topic was the Disadvantages of Privilege, a topic lifted from Wise’s most recent book, “White Like Me.”
The following links will take you to the audio clips of this presentation.
You can find more about Tim Wise by clicking on the following link to his own web site.
Follow this link to a video clip of Tim Wise talking about the history of white privilege.
This is an interesting take on U.S. history. He is not completely alone in saying what he is saying. I have read some books recently that corroborate a few of the minor points that he is making. (That is corroboration to whatever degree that you can believe what these books are saying.)
I have not done any research yet on who Tim Wise is. I suppose I could be taking a chance on posting a link to his lecture if he turns out to be some certifiable maniac. I have enough faith in you readers to think that you will be able to decide for yourself if there is anything of value here.
I cannot seem to get past the gate keepers at the MSNBC.com web site to post this letter to Keith Olbermann. Here is what I wrote to the MSNBC editors in the hope that they would pass it on to Keith Olbermann.
You sure do not make it easy to leave messages for specific shows.
I’d like to ask Keith Olbermann why he keeps talking about Rev. Wright’s National Press Club appearance as if he has the foggiest notion what went on there.
I have viewed the entire video of Wright’s appearance at the National Press Club. It is nothing like how Keith and his guest represent it.
I can understand why they cannot report on this event honestly. There was nothing wrong with Wright’s prepared speech. However, during the question and answer period the MC kept asking him hostile questions. He answered them all with great humor, intelligence, and equanimity. Obviously the MC was not prepared for such erudite answers. She was unable to change course based on what she heard. The more she proceeded, the more foolish she looked. Since many questions were prepared by members of the press, this just made them look like complete fools.
Thus the press has a conflict of interest on reporting this event.
I would like to see the press post the complete video of Wright’s appearance on their web sites. They should then show specific pieces of the appearance to back up their claims about it. Then they should tell their audience to view the entire video to see if the reporting is fair.
I guess this will happen at about the same time that the press can admit that Stephen Colbert’s appearance at the Washington Press Club dinner a few years ago was hilariously funny.
In both cases the non-press audiences at these events understood what the press seems constitutionally unable to understand.
See my post about stopping propaganda to see what you can do to help me fight this battle with the media.