The Main Stream Media is DEAD!
Newsweek’s Howard Fineman:
A political party is dying before our eyes — and I don’t mean the Democrats. I’m talking about the “mainstream media,” which is being destroyed by the opposition (or worse, the casual disdain) of George Bush’s Republican Party; by competition from other news outlets (led by the internet and Fox’s canny Roger Ailes); and by its own fraying journalistic standards.
Wait!!!--Let me guess. You did not see this in your newspaper---did you?
WASHINGTON, Jan 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. government ran a $1 billion budget surplus in December, helped by a rise in corporate tax payments, the Congressional Budget Office said in its latest budget report released on Friday. The surplus, which compared with an $18 billion deficit in the previous December, helped create a smaller fiscal deficit for the first three months of the 2005 fiscal year, than in the same quarter of the prior year.
- Under normal circumstances, I do not support torture
- I believe the very existence of Al Qaeda is a clear and present danger to millions of people, American and otherwise
- I believe Al Qaeda is different from other enemies America has faced in the past (USSR, for instance) because their philosophy does not involve targeting of military targets but instead civilian population centers
- I believe that we are not safe until all members of Al Qaeda have been apprehended and/or killed
- I believe that once confirmed Al Qaeda members are in custody, any means used to make them personally reveal possible terror plots should be undertaken
- In essence, I believe that so long as an Al Qaeda network exists there is a "ticking bomb" going on
- I do not believe that Al Qaeda associates, their families, etc. should be tortured to glean this information
- I do not say things like this - or anything on my site for that matter - to get traffic or to be an "agent provocateur". I say this, because I believe in it. I understand that many - far away the majority - disagree with me on this. That's just how things work out sometimes
How is it that a smart person could support a war that will certainly kill hundreds, probably thousands of innocent Iraqis -- and a good number of Americans -- in the name of preventing another 9/11, but not support torturing a man who has made no bones about his desire to murder as many Americans as possible, if doing so might prevent another 9/11?
And now for a little satire:
4 More Jobs Lost on Bush's Watch
Buckling under pressure from digital brownshirts and nipple-phobic right-wing radio jocks, CBS has pounded four more nails into the coffin of honest and unbiased journalism. CBS Senior Vice President Betsy West, 60 Minutes Wednesday Executive Producer Josh Howard; Senior Broadcast Producer Mary Murphy and investigative journalist Mary Mapes were all given the axe this morning to clear the way for the religious right's Orwellian control over all news media.
Sadly, they'll never be able to work in TV media again without this whole thing hanging over their heads. Jayson Blair dared speak out against Bush, and now he can't even write out a grocery list without being sued for plagiarism. Goddess help Mary Mapes. Now that she's been branded with the scarlet "L" and unjustly labeled as a left-wing hack bereft of all objectivity, she'll probably wind up over at NPR - no doubt working for peanuts, thanks to Bush's budget cuts.
They tried to get Dan the Man, too, but he slipped away quicker than a greased pig on a hot skillet. We probably won't see him again until some laughing jarheads drag him out of his spiderhole, shirtless and mumbling, "The story is true...the story is true..."
Yup, I expect Jerry Falwell is moving into Dan's old office over at CBS as we speak. Get ready for a whole new 60 Minutes geared towards the Red State dittoheads and 100% approved by the Jesus & Guns crowd! Gone are Mike Wallace, Harry Reasoner, and the whole posse of truth-seeking dinosaurs. Tonight, Sean Hannity looks into why God hates fags. Ann Coulter will enjoy a nice back alley abortion, and Pat Bukkkanan will lynch an entire black family for kicks. These stories, and Dennis Miller, tonight on 60 minutes!
And to think, none of this would have happened if Bush had simply been a man and confessed to the legitimate accusations raised by the phony documents, and then quietly bowed out of the race.
We live in dark times, my friends. But alas, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel.
