The foul odor of media-in-the-can-for-McCain and the Rethugs hangs over the 2008 campaign. McCain sez: It's fine with me if we're in Iraq for 100 years. The media sez: He didn't say that!
The Washington Post charges Democrats are "distorting" McCain by saying, well, that he said what he said. The New York Times says Democrats are misharacterizing and distorting McCain, by saying, well, that he said what he said. Again, the facts the media is trying so hard to ignore: McCain said he'd be fine if we stayed in Iraq for 100 years. After all, he said (you can watch it here on YouTube),
QUESTIONER: Yes, please. President Bush has talked about our --
McCAIN: Please, please, please start over.
QUESTIONER: President Bush has talked about our staying in Iraq for 50 years --
McCAIN: Maybe a hundred.
QUESTIONER: Is that -- is that --
McCAIN: We've been in South Korea -- we've been in Japan for 60 years. We've been in South Korea for 50 years or so. That'd be fine with me as long as Americans --
QUESTIONER: So that's your policy?
McCAIN: -- As long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed, then it's fine with me. I hope it would be fine with you if we maintain a presence in a very volatile part of the world where Al Qaeda is training, recruiting, and equipping and motivating people every single day.
But no, the media cries: He didn't really mean it! Stop picking on our Johnny Boy! They want so badly for their pal John McCain, McSame, McLame, McBush, etc., to take them on BBQs at his "cabin" (read, rich man's estate) in Sedona for the next four years.
Media Matters: When McCain cries foul, the media are eager to agree
And what other zombie lies has the media been feeding us? The bowling prowess, or lack thereof, of Barack Obama is a very significant story, according to graduates of the country's finest schools of journalism. Glenn Greenwald sums it up:
In the past two weeks, the following events transpired. A Department of Justice memo, authored by John Yoo, was released which authorized torture and presidential lawbreaking. It was revealed that the Bush administration declared the Fourth Amendment of the Bill of Rights to be inapplicable to "domestic military operations" within the U.S. The U.S. Attorney General appears to have fabricated a key event leading to the 9/11 attacks and made patently false statements about surveillance laws and related lawsuits. Barack Obama went bowling in Pennsylvania and had a low score.
Here are the number of times, according to NEXIS, that various topics have been mentioned in the media over the past thirty days:
"Yoo and torture" - 102
"Mukasey and 9/11" -- 73
"Yoo and Fourth Amendment" -- 16
"Obama and bowling" -- 1,043
"Obama and Wright" -- More than 3,000 (too many to be counted)
"Obama and patriotism" - 1,607
"Clinton and Lewinsky" -- 1,079
And as Eric Boehlert documents, even Iraq -- that little five-year U.S. occupation with no end in sight -- has been virtually written out of the media narrative in favor of mindless, stupid, vapid chatter of the type referenced above. "The Clintons are Rich!!!!" will undoubtedly soon be at the top of this heap within a matter of a day or two.
As I write this, "Clinton Tax Returns" google search returns 4,320 news results. "yoo torture" returns 172 results. "mukasey 9/11" 45 results.
The media is dead. Long live the servile, corrupt and shameless corporate media.
As Stephen Colbert said:
But, listen, let's review the rules. Here's how it works: the president makes decisions. He's the decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Just put 'em through a spell check and go home. Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. You know - fiction!
Replace "president" with "McCain" and you have the current behavior of the media.
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