September 16, 2004
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Bullets aren't just points in a memo...
By Jack GrantWhile we're worrying about proportional fonts and acronyms for events occurring with respect to a war that was over 30 years ago, the war that is on NOW may be coming off the rails.
Wake up, folks... Are the people at the wheel (in this case, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld) steering us towards a disaster? Read this (link lifted from Pennywit, read his post, too), and tell me if "memogate" is worth more energy than what is being devoted to understanding what is happening in Iraq TODAY.
If the "green zone" in Iraq can no longer be kept secure, what is occurring in the rest of the country? Can a viable democracy really be established in what is essentially a war zone that is beginning to rival Beirut during the height of the Lebanese Civil War?
Here we bloggers are, patting ourselves on the back because we "exposed" the mainstream media... PEOPLE ARE DYING IN IRAQ, OUR SERVICE MEN AND WOMEN!!!!!!!!
To Hell the Goddamned forgeries, they are a NON-ISSUE now. What is important? What are our priorities? My priorities do not include strutting around proud to be a blogger because some of my colleagues cried "foul" when the mainstream media fucked up. Mine are winning the war we are in now, and making damn sure our government does not needlessly place the lives of our military in danger through arrogant incompetence.
What are your priorities?
Posted by Jack Grant at 20:07 on 16 September 2004I'm going to disagree with you slightly here, for one huge reason. The larger issue in the memo affair is not that bloggers caught CBS in the middle of a forgery, but rather that journalistic standards have deteriorated overall.
How do we know the Green Zone isn't safe? Because we read it in Financial Times. How do we know the deficit is up? We read about it in a multitude of media outlets. How do we know President Bush's programs will cost $3 trillion? We read about it in the Washington Post.
Collectively, the media are responsible for bringing as true a picture as possible to their consumers. If the media are not meeting that responsibility, it's a huge, huge issue.
Posted by: pennywit at September 16, 2004 08:43 PMGood point. My main concern is the amount of self-congratulation I've seen in blogworld. I fear we are taking our eye off the bigger ball. Self-congratulation usually leads to a fall, not to better days.
Of course, I could just be a Cassandra... hey, wait a minute, wasn't she right in the end????
Seriously, though, your point is taken. I tend to think there's not a true bias in the media, other than one towards laziness and stupidity.
Posted by: Jack at September 16, 2004 08:50 PM
