I, too, jumped on the bandwagon (Media Complicity)

[reprehensor]

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/7869004.htm

But any truth commission worth its name would have to look beyond the government. It would be instructive to examine the yahoo mood that came over much of the nation. The decision -- its urgency -- seemed to come out of nowhere. Yet most of America fell into line and in certain segments of the media, the Murdoch press above all, dissent was ridiculed. On Fox TV, France was a called a member of the ''axis of weasels.'' Colorful stuff, but wrong, irresponsible and craven.

I do not take myself off the hook. The mood got to me, too. And while I kept insisting that the Bush administration was exaggerating the case for war, was in too much of a hurry and was incompetently incapable of assembling a true coalition, I nevertheless went along with the program.

There is much cause for concern here. A consensus -- based on false facts, outright lies and exaggerated fears -- took over the nation. We didn't go on a bender, as we did after Pearl Harbor, and incarcerate a particular ethnic group, but we did go to war when we didn't have to. More than 500 Americans and thousands of Iraqis have died for a mistake. Peace has not been brought to the Middle East, and America is not only no safer than it was; it may well be in even greater danger. This was no mere failure of intelligence; this was a failure of character.

Why? No newspaper column could provide all the answers. But we were clearly unnerved by Sept. 11 and the subsequent -- and now mostly overlooked -- anthrax attacks, which disproportionately affected the news media. Saddam Hussein provided us with a nifty and useful personification of evil -- not to mention spurious links to al Qaeda. He was something familiar, Hitler and Stalin all over again. There was an understandable urge to settle some scores.

More at link.

[FloridaPat]

1. It was no mistake. The European and Internet news had no

problem finding the truth. The American news media is no longer the Fifth Estate - it's another version of reality TV.

[FloridaPat]

2. My reply to Mr. Cohen

The invasion of Iraq was no mistake. The president wanted a war, he wanted oil for his oil buddies, he wanted the defense industries to get a lot of money (Daddy worked for Carlyle Group) - he got what he wanted. 30% of the American public knew it was based on lies. 90% of the rest of the world knew it was based on lies. Why is it the American press and Congress didn't know?
Since before the 2000 election, the press has given Bush a free ride on everything. The American news media is a propaganda arm for the right wing nuts that now are in the White House. I didn't see anyone complain about the FCC new rules that could merge more media. You people are no longer the Fifth Estate. You have let greed and corporate income replace reporting the truth of what our government has done. You all are as guilty as Bush and his goons. They shredded the Consitution and you people never said a word. They stone-walled the 9-11 commission and you people didn't say a word. They plotted the invasion of Afghanistan for a year and they told the press that the Arab group Al Quada did 9-11 - with not one shred of evidence - and you people said not a word. They plotted the invasion of Iraq for 3 years and not one of you caught it.

The Democrats have been mute and the news media has been biased. We are on the verge of economic collapse. As I watch the Democratic primaries, I see the media again deciding who will run against Bush. Not the public. You are helping Bush at every turn. You are all as guilty as the republicans. You should all just turn in your pens and stop the presses. The Bushies have probably destroyed this country beyond repair, and you folks have no intention of turning things around.