Read the stories that TV news networks forget to report!
THE PITIFUL PRESS CORPS!
ASK NO QUESTIONS - REPORT NO LIES! A TvNewsLIES.org ANALYSIS - October, 2004
WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE?
Because of the capitulation of the Press Corpse, and the abdication of its historic role, tens of millions of Americans are dangerously ill equipped to make a truly informed choice in the voting booth.
Where the hell is the outrage? We’ve just had three benign debates, all shamefully limited in scope and embarrassingly bland in content. But that’s par for the course in the world of politics. The array of questions was anticipated and the answers were well rehearsed. Once again, that’s par for the course in the prelude to Election Day. The questions were interesting, if not enlightening, - and I’m certain the nation is more prepared to make an educated choice in November after learning about the candidate’s love for their wives. But, as we said, that’s the way it goes.
Reality check: It was not the job of the debate moderators or even John Kerry to challenge George Bush on his dismal and dangerous record in office. That role has traditionally been the responsibility of the men and women of the White House Press Corps. They are supposed to ask the questions and pursue the answers all through the President’s term of office. They are supposed to be independent and undaunted. They once were. They no longer are. Where the hell is the outrage?
Where the hell is the outrage that the White House Press Corps has not asked the President a single spontaneous question in all these years? Where the hell is the outrage that the White House Press Corpse has not held George W. Bush accountable for his actions for all the years of his disastrous administration? Where the hell is the outrage that this most secretive of administrations in memory has been allowed a free pass by those who are supposedly responsible for guarding our Constitutional right to know? There seems to be no outrage, whatsoever.
Because of the capitulation of the Press Corpse, and the abdication of its historic role, tens of millions of Americans are dangerously ill equipped to make a truly informed choice in the voting booth.
A myriad of terribly important questions have never been asked of George Bush at press conferences that never materialized. They surely were not asked during the handful of staged press conferences that were held only sporadically in almost four years. No president in history has held fewer or more controlled press conferences than the present resident of the White House. And no president in history has so successfully intimidated and suppressed the media and the Press Corps. Where the hell is the outrage?
SOME QUESTIONS THAT WERE NOT ASKED!
Had there been an honorable and responsible Press Corps, and had there been a President willing to explain himself to the nation, we might have witnessed the following:
Why was it necessary to keep the participants and the agenda of the Vice President’s Energy Task Force a secret from the American people?
Why did you pretend to have only a passing relationship with Ken Lay of Enron?
Why did you withhold more than a hundred pages of the August, 2001 briefing that warned you about an impending attack within the US by Osama bin Laden?
Why were you on vacation for much of August, 2001 knowing there was an impending attack on this country? Why have you taken more vacations than any other president in our history?
On the morning of September 11th, after you had been told of the attack on Tower One, why did you still proceed to the school to read to children?
Where did you see the first plane hit the WTC, as you’ve claimed? What television set in the school showed the attack when no one had yet televised it?
Why did you arrange for members of the bin Laden family and other Saudis to leave the country after September 11th without having them questioned by the FBI?
Why were we not told about the several drills on the morning of September 11th that were directed by the Vice President and that simulated attacks on the WTC by high jacked airliners?
Why are convicted felons from previous administrations part of your administration?
Why was Halliburton awarded a number of no bid contracts in Iraq, when the conflict of interest regarding the Vice President was so evident?
Why was your family’s connection to the Carlyle Group not openly acknowledged, along with an accounting of the company’s involvement with the bin Ladens and its huge profits from the Iraq war?
Why was Ahmed Chalabi, a wanted felon, and an exile from Iraq for half a century, trusted as the major source of information about Iraq? Why was he paid tens of millions of our tax dollars to organize an internal revolt that never materialized?
Why did you lie to and frighten the American people and the world about the danger posed by Iraq? Why did you create the illusion of a need for an immediate invasion that was poorly planned and is now an unqualified failure?
Why did you claim that the atrocities at Abu Ghraib and other prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan were the work of a few enlistees who were acting on their own?
Why did you discount the warnings and recommendations of experienced generals and the American War College about the quagmire that was inevitable if you invaded Iraq as you did?
Why are you not a war criminal, considering that you violated international law with your preventive (not pre-emptive) attack on Iraq?
Why did you insist on bringing Saddam Hussein to justice when you exempt yourself and other Americans from the jurisdiction of the World Court?
Why did you wait 12 weeks before investigating the White House leak that exposed Valerie Plame as an operative of the CIA?
Why were we fed the fabricated and staged images and stories of the toppling of the statue of Saddam Hussein and the capture of Private Lynch?
How many innocent Iraqi civilians were killed and wounded as a result of Operation Iraqi Freedom. How many civilians have died in all as a result of your invasion of the country? Why have these numbers been kept secret?
Why are the numbers of American and coalition dead and wounded not reported to the American public on a daily basis? Why are the photos of returning caskets still being hidden?
Why are you so hated and feared around the world? Why are people all over the world, - who so admired Bill Clinton, enraged at the idea of a visit from you?
Why do you continue to insist that progress is being made in Iraq, despite all the reports to the contrary, and despite the continuing chaos and loss of life?
What makes you say that the world is safer now even though more terrorist attacks have taken place around the world since the Iraq war than ever before?
Why have you refused to join 85 heads of state and government in signing a statement that endorsed a 10-year-old U.N. plan to ensure every woman's right to education, healthcare and choice about having children?
Why can’t you admit ever having made a mistake in almost four years as President?
Dream on. These and many other vital questions have never been asked by the Press Corps or the mainstream media. These and many other vital questions will never be answered, and probably would not have been answered to anyone’s satisfaction during any press conference. BUT THE QUESTIONS WOULD HAVE BEEN RAISED! That’s the key, and that is where the outrage should have been focused.
For some inexplicable reason, George W. Bush has not been held to account for anything he has or has not done. He answers to no one, surely not the people he has sworn to serve. The White House Press Corps died a quiet death soon after this President took office. In recognition of its inaction, TvNewsLIIES.org wrote an obituary a while back lamenting the passing of the White House Press Corps(e). Since then, nothing has changed
In truth, as the months passed, we privately hoped for a resurrection, a revival, - a renewal of journalistic commitment or a concern for the nation. That never happened, and time has run out. There is no one with direct access to George Bush who will ever RAISE the questions that need to be answered. Where the hell is the outrage?
The Whole Truth About the Iraq War - DVD Theatrical Release Bonus feature: David O. Russell's documentary "Soldiers Pay"
This is NOT the version that is selling for $10 in Amazon and elsewhere. That version is the one we used to offer! This is the full theatrical release plus the additional material.
