The Bogus ‘Mommy Wars’

The Washington Post opinion page is finally saying what I have felt ever since this PR war began: after becoming a mother almost 4 years ago, there is NO mother that I’m at “war” with, whether she is working or not.

Go E.J. Graff for telling it like it is: this “war” was cooked up by publishers to sell books.

After Moyers Iraq Doc, D.C. Reporters Freak Out

We are experiencing a deluge of lame excuses being shouted from news rooms across the country in the wake of Bill Moyers’s brilliant analysis of lazy, and just bad, reporting in the many months before the Iraq invasion. A really fantastic short article by David Sirota details how these jerks are defending themselves. Did I say jerks? I meant “reporters.” Here’s Sirota’s conclusion:

“Moyers piece is important not just because it has exposed the entire sham that was pre-war Beltway journalism, but also because he has finally exacted a price — in this case, humiliation — from the reporters whose power-worshiping, must-stay-on-the-cocktail-party-circuit tendencies led them to aggressively push this country into war. And we can hope that fear of future humiliation will help prevent another gross abdication of responsibility next time around.”

To read the entire article by David Sirota, click here.

Government Oversight (finally)

Rep. Henry Waxman is the chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. He is the one who called the hearings into the disinformation surrounding the death of Pat Tillman and the capture of Jessica Lynch. He chaired the hearings on Walther Reed Hospital. Much more. Click here to get to his web site.

Click here to read the full testimony of Jessica Lynch (pdf file). Click here to see a video of the hearing.
Today, the Committee issued two subpoenas to the Republican National Committee requesting the testimony of RNC Chairman Mike Duncan and documents related to possible violations of the Presidential Records Act and the Hatch Act by White House officials. The third subpoena requests the testimony of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice regarding the fabricated claim that Iraq sought uranium from Niger and other issues.

People Who Call the Administration ‘Liars’ Don’t Get on the Front Page

(Susan Walsh/AP)

During a congressional oversight hearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday, lawmakers vowed to investigate whether the White House and top Pentagon officials played a role in lying to the public about the death of Pat Tillman in Afghanistan; and lying about the capture of Jessica Lynch, a former soldier in Iraq whose ordeal was inaccurately portrayed in the media as a heroic fight and rescue.

The initial stories of the fake reasons for Pat Tillman’s death, and the fake rescue of Jessica Lynch were on page one. I’m sure the media don’t see themselves as culpable in perpetuating a lie. But now that there is truth to cover, it’s not on the front page. Or on the second page. Or on the third…

The story in the Washington Post, which is on A4 of today’s paper, dedicated one sentence and one quote to Private Jessica Lynch at the bottom of paragraph 5.

At least the New York Times called the lies surrounding Tillman’s death and Lynch’s capture “egregious examples of officials’ twisting the truth for public relations” in the first paragraph. But, like the other newspapers, didn’t cop to their own roll in perpetuating the lies. Especially Jessica Lynch’s story—which was made into a tv movie (the Times story wasn’t on the front page either).

The buried LA Times story doesn’t even mention Jessica Lynch’s name till paragraph 11. They devoted the last 3 short paragraphs (one is 1 sentence long) to her testimony. Hey, some LA producer was probably behind making the movie.

The story might be only in the online version of The Wall Street Journal. Again, the lead is about the army cover-up of Pat Tillman’s death. They mention Jessica Lynch when committee chairman Henry Waxman is quoted as accusing the government of inventing “sensational details and stories” to promote the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Kevin Tillman said getting at the truth of brother Pat’s death was “being actively thwarted by powers that are more interested in protecting a narrative than getting at the truth…”

Buying the War

The most powerful indictment of the news media for falling down in its duties in the run-up to the war in Iraq will appear this Wednesday (April 25), in a 90-minute PBS broadcast called “Buying the War,” which marks the return of “Bill Moyers Journal.”

Some statistics from the program include:

In the year before the invasion William Safire (who predicted a “quick war” with Iraqis cheering their liberators) wrote “a total of 27 opinion pieces fanning the sparks of war.” The Washington Post carried at least 140 front-page stories in that same period making the administration’s case for attack. In the six months leading to the invasion the Post would “editorialize in favor of the war at least 27 times.” Of the 414 Iraq stories broadcast on NBC, ABC and CBS nightly news in the six months before the war, almost all could be traced back to sources solely in the White House, Pentagon or State Dept.

Check Bill Moyers’s PBS page here for more details. For a preview of the program, click here.

Earth Day Blackout

Today is Earth Day, and I was very surprised at how little the newspapers covered the environment in Sunday’s papers.

The Washington Post wrote about students cleaning trash along the banks of the Anocostia River.

The Wall Street Journal wrote a piece about the Goldman Environmental Prize recipients, and asked Mr. Goldman what he had against corporations and progress.

The New York Times wrote a story about an Upper East Side socialite who became an environmentalist after her son got asthma.

Nobody said a thing about how our President still thinks Global Warming is a myth. Read here about Cheryl Crow and Laurie David’s encounter with Karl Rove.

Post Office to the First Amendment: Drop Dead

“The Post Office is in the process of implementing a radical reformulation of its mailing rates for magazines. Under the plan, smaller periodicals will be hit with a much larger increase than the big magazines, as much as 30 percent. Some of the largest circulation magazines will face hikes of less than 10 percent.

“The new rates, which go into effect on July 15, were developed with no public involvement or congressional oversight, and the increased costs could damage hundreds, even thousands, of smaller publications, possibly putting many out of business. This includes nearly every political journal in the nation. These are the magazines that often provide the most original journalism and analysis.

“What the Post Office is planning to do now, in the dark of night, is implement a rate structure that gives the best prices to the biggest publishers, hence letting them lock in their market position and lessen the threat of any new competition. The new rates could make it almost impossible to launch a new magazine, unless it is spawned by a huge conglomerate.

“Not surprisingly, the new scheme was drafted by Time Warner, the largest magazine publisher in the nation.”

This is an excerpt of an article written for the Baltimore Chronicle by Robert McChesney.

To read the full article click here.

To email a letter to the Postal Board protesting these policies, click here.

George Bush on Global Warming

(Will Farrel )

What Do Iraq and Ethanol Have in Common?

We’re winning in Iraq and Ethanol is the answer to our Energy and Environmental woes! Turns out Bush’s commitment to fuel produced from corn was as well researched as his war strategy.

Ethanol may pose an equal or greater risk to public health than gasoline according to a Stanford University study out today. Ethanol produces more ground-level ozone than gasoline. Ozone is a key ingredient in smog and can harm lungs even if inhaled at low levels. A spokesperson for the White House Council on Environmental Quality (didn’t know there was such a thing) said she had not reviewed the study, but reiterated the administration’s commitment to ethanol.

No Punishment for Invading Iraq, but Fire Him for Helping His Girlfriend

(Alex Wong — Getty Images)
It was okay for Paul Wolfowitz to cook up reasons to invade Iraq when he worked for the Pentagon.

But now that he’s head of the World Bank, it was not okay to orchestrate pay raises and promotions for his girlfriend.

Instant Karma is smacking him right on the face.

The media is too. They supported him when all he wanted was to blow a country “back to the stone age.” But when it’s about sex, the media will hang on and expose every detail till this guy resigns.

Slavery dubbed ‘Immigration Reform’

Yeah, it’s true. The “guest worker” program that Bush so loves and wants to expand is a lot meaner than it sounds.

Poor people are recuited from different countries with promises of lucrative jobs, usually in agriculture. When they arive in the U.S., they end upcleaning up debris from Hurricane Katrina and sleeping in a condemmed building. Their passports are taken, and usually they are not paid the rate promised. Sometimes, they are not paid at all. Read more here about some Thai guest workers. And here about what the Southern Poverty Law Center is doing to help them.

Red Cross Report

(Sabah Arar/AFP/Getty Images) Why wasn’t the release of this report on the front page of every newspaper? I’ll let you answer that.

The International Committee of the Red Cross released a report April 11 documenting the ever worsening crisis for civilians in Iraq.

Called “Civilians without Protection,” the Red Cross—known for its political neutrality—calls Iraq a “disaster.” It notes that families are fleeing their homes, and medical professionals with their families are fleeing the country. The Red Cross estimates they helped 227,000 Iraqi civilians in 2006.

To see the full report (pdf file), click here.

Pawn

I want to go back to what happened on Tuesday in Baghdad. The Iraqi Army killed a couple of people in a Sunni mosque, then called in the American troops to come help them kill the “insurgents.” They crossed a line: the U.S. military is officially taking part in a civil war on the side of the Shiites. They might not recognize this. But they’ve taken sides, and they are participating.

The pawn is the weakest piece on a chess board. Though we have the strongest military might in the area, I think the current administration has the weakest understanding of what is happening there. They are being manipulated because they’ll do anything to look like they’re “winning.”

Disparity Between Witnesses and the Army Not Reported

Khalid Mohammed/Associated Press

Only the New York Times’ Alissa Rubin bothered to find civilian witnesses in reporting fighting in a Sunni Neighborhood in Baghdad Tuesday.

Statements by local residents and the American military differed wildly. Residents said the Iraqi Army instigated the battle when they raided a mosque and killed two people in front of the worshippers.U.S. troops said they didn’t know about any mosque raid, but said that they came to the aid of the Iraqi Army who were looking for insurgents in the area. An American military statement said seven people were killed. Residents said 36 were killed.

The Washington Post(usually my favorite), Reuters , and others seemed to be writing enthusiastically from a military press release. How lazy can you get?

Depleted Uranium – The Ultimate Dirty Bomb

please pardon the “dramatic” music… this runs just under 10 minutes.

Dr. Doug Rokke, a US Army Health Physicist and Nuclear Medicine Sciences Officer, was in charge of the Army’s effort to clean up DU in Iraq in 1991. Many in his unit died of the effects of DU, and he himself was declared 40% disabled by the VA because of it.

Cookie Bunny

Hostage Crisis?

Isn’t it funny that Bush and Blair have been hyperventalating over the capture of 15 British personnel when the Americans kidnapped 5 Iranians in January, and Iraqis in security forces uniform kidnapped an Iranian diplomat Jalal Sharafi over 8 weeks ago?

Sharafi was released to the Iranian embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday, but Iraqi officials said it had nothing to do with negotiations to free the British sailors and marines.

BBC question time, John Bolton vs the world

The Papers, and Britain, Try to Get Their Stories Straight

(Gerard Cerles/Agence France-Presse) British foreign secretary Margaret Beckett responding to journalists on Saturday.

It seems the LA Times and Washington Post didn’t hear the news that Britain seriously wants to tone down the sabre-rattling regarding their 15 captured sailors and marines that are being held in an undisclosed location in Iran.
Both papers made the unfortunate error of leading with Bush’s comments over the weekend, when he called the situation “inexcusable” and demanded Iran “release the hostages.” I guess Bush didn’t get the memo from Tony Blair that the UK now wants a quick and semi-friendly way out.

Only the New York Times adopted the new tone leading with the British Foreign Secretary’s words on Saturday when she came just short of apologizing with “I think everyone regrets [this happened],” and added “What we want is a way out of it.”

Turns out there is no established boundary dividing Iraqi and Iranian waters. This was pointed out by a former British diplomat who is also an expert on the region. How embarrassing.

Not that the New York Times is impartial about wanting the U.S. to bomb the crap out of Iran. Whenever the Administration or Congressmembers makes statements about the Iranian “threat,” the article lands on page one. But if U.N scientists return from inspecting Iran’s nuclear reactor and announce that there is no way those shoddy centrifuges could ever spin fast enough to manufacture high grade uranium to make a bomb, the article is buried on the inner pages.