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AFTER LISTENING TO THE BUSH BLATHER
A LESSON FOR THE MEDIA
From TvNewsLies - May, 2004
Never before have Americans been so blatantly misled without the protection of journalists to hold their leaders accountable. Never.
Many were expecting George Bush to accept responsibility for the events in Iraq tonight. We at TVNL are waiting for the media to accept responsibility as well.
On May 24th 2004, George W. Bush gave a much heralded speech to America and the world that was supposed to explain his remedy for the fiasco in Iraq. It did not. It was, however replete with the standard distortions and duplicity for which the President is known. During this entire administration, the American news media has failed miserably to hold this president accountable for his unrelenting misrepresentations on every issue from health care to global warming. But where the invasion and occupation of Iraq are involved, the media has been at its complicit best in helping the President reach a new and surreal level of deception.
Below are some simple lessons for the American news media. Perhaps, if the members of the news media were to take their time and read the following very slowly and very carefully, saying each word aloud, they might become aware of stark difference between the erroneous impressions that have passed on to the American public and the reality of these tragic times. I said, perhaps.
1. A MATH LESSON
Number of times George Bush used the word terror or terrorist during this speech: NINETEEN Number of times George Bush acknowledged any mistakes in planning the invasion and postwar occupation of Iraq: ZERO Number of times George Bush explained how the invasion of Iraq was even remotely connected to the war on terror: ZERO Number of times George Bush explained how anyone in the US or the world is safer as a result of a pre-emptive war against Iraq: ZERO Number of times George Bush explained why he has given 27 different rationales for a pre-emptive strike on a sovereign nation that posed no threat to the US: ZERO Number of times George Bush explained why he refused to listen to the generals and statesmen and women who warned him about the quagmire he was about to enter: ZERO Number of times George Bush admitted to duping the nation and the world into believing that Iraq posed an imminent threat on the United States: ZERO Number of times George Bush explained why the Iraqi people did not greet us as liberators with candy and flowers in hand: ZERO Number of times George Bush explained his connection to Ahmed Chalabi and the false information that was used to justify a pre-emptive attack on Iraq: ZERO Number of times George Bush explained why Iraqi women are afraid to walk in the streets of Baghdad for fear of being kidnapped or raped for the first time in their history: ZERO Number of times George Bush explained why Halliburton was given huge unbid contracts in the rebuilding of Iraq: ZERO Number of times George Bush revealed that he has offered only limited, not full sovereignty to the Iraqi interim government, with no power to enact their own laws: ZERO Number of times George Bush explained why the UN was irrelevant only months ago, and now is in full charge of selecting the interim Iraqi government: ZERO Number of times George Bush acknowledged that the prisoner abuse scandal reached far beyond the criminal acts of a few soldiers at a single prison: ZERO Number of times George Bush gave a full account of the ridiculously minimal number of soldiers and funds provided by the nations he calls his coalition partners: ZERO Number of times George Bush explained why there are so many foreign civilians working in Iraq when Iraqia have such high unemployment: ZERO Number of times George Bush mentioned that a portion of Saddam’s oil money went to providing free education and health care for all Iraqis: ZERO Number of times that George Bush explained why since he took office his administration has fought for exemption from war crimes prosecution and why he removed the US’ signature (Bill Clinton) from the International Criminal Court: : ZERO
2. ANOTHER MATH LESSON
Number of Americans hurt or killed by an Iraqi terrorist prior to the US invasion of Iraq: ZERO Number of threats to America or Americans made by Saddam Hussein that were not in response to American threats: ZERO Number of wars launched by Iraq on America: ZERO Number of threats to launch war on America by Saddam Hussein: ZERO Number of times Iraq denied the UN inspectors access to inspection sites after the inspectors returned in 2003: ZERO Number of times Saddam refused cooperation once the inspectors returned: ZERO Number of Iraqis involved in the 1st attack on the World Trade Center: ZERO Number of Iraqis involved in the attack on the USS Cole: ZERO Number of attacks on US embassies around the world by Iraqis: ZERO Number of Iraqis who are part of the top leadership of Al Qaeda: ZERO Number of Iraqi hijackers on September 11th, 2001: ZERO Number of nuclear devices detonated by Iraq: ZERO Number of WMD’s ever used by Iraq against Americans: ZERO Number of WMD’s found after the invasion and occupation: ZERO
3. A CURRENT EVENTS LESSON
The US invaded Iraq. Iraqis are resisting the invaders and occupiers of their country, using the only methods that they have. THIS IS NOT TERROR; IT IS WARFARE! The media can not continue to support the lies told to the American people about Iraq having been a threat to us. The media cannot continue to support the myth that invading Iraq was part of the war on terror. George W. Bush has continued to relentlessly lie to us about this. It is the responsibility of journalists to challenge these lies and to set the record strait.
4. AN ENGLISH LESSON
LIE: THE DEFINITIONS
-n.
a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth; a falsehood. something intended or serving to convey a false impression; imposture: an inaccurate or false statement.
-vt
to speak falsely or utter untruth knowingly, as with intent to deceive. to express what is false; convey a false impression.
5. A LESSON SUMMARY
George Bush does not misspeak. He does not misstate facts. He does not exaggerate, over sell, over state, twist words or manipulate. He lies, -simple at that. When a person intentionally seeks to leave a false impression, that person has lied. The media has lied as well in their refusal to expose the lies of this administration. They have allowed themselves to be the conduit through which America has been lied to about matters that have changed the face of this nation and the world. Never before have Americans been so blatantly misled without the protection of journalists to hold their leaders accountable. Never.
Digest the real definition of a lie, Understand that George W. Bush has lied about virtually every issue since his campaign started. The media has rolled over and timidly permitted this to happen. They have permitted a president with virtually no knowledge of world events, recent or historic, or of foreign cultures and no experience in battle, to send us to war. And they waved their collective flags as that war was waged, as it sputtered in failure, and as it stands today so badly mired in its own stagnation.
Many were expecting George Bush to accept responsibility for the events in Iraq tonight. We at TVNL are waiting for the media to accept responsibility as well.
Many say the buck should stop with the President, and so it should. But the acceptance of deception and the absence of any challenge to the lies we have heard involve accountability as well. For this travesty, the buck rightly stops with the media.
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