I was thinking it would be good if a lot of people e-mailed CNN and MSNBC saying they should include in their weekend orgy of Iraqi election coverage some sort of semi-intelligent piece regarding how we got into this whole Iraq mess. (The hype is driving me nuts: You'd think it was the Super Bowl the way CNN, MSNBC, and FOX are begging people to "tune into" their station to watch.)
If you're so inclined, here's the links:
CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form1.html?19MSNBC: Look for the "send us feedback" link at bottom of the "More about MSNBC section:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3096434/In my e-mail, I asked them to focus on the influence of the neoconservatives (I bet only 10% of Americans have ever even heard the term -- I'd never actually heard of PNAC until coming to DU a month ago).
This is what I wrote:
"Please devote some of your coverage of the Iraqi election to an in-depth look at how the war came about. I think it is critically important that Americans better understand the "neoconservative" philosophy that drives President Bush's foreign policy agenda. I would also like to see opposing viewpoints discussed (for example, those of Brent Scowcroft and others, who argued back in 2003 that invading Iraq would be a terrible mistake).
Note: If you're going to take the time to write them, it's best to sound very polite and not use words like "warmonger" (the media outlets tend to ignore irate letters or those that express non-"mainstream"** views).
**Except Fox, of course, which encourages extreme RW lunacy and isn't worth wasting time writing to.
(I called this "War Room" because it's an attempt to target ceratin media outlets in a coordinated way on one subject)