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July 05, 2005
To Hold the Press in Contempt
In the July 11, 2005 edition of The Nation, Alexander Cockburn writes "The rules of the game are changing. History is one big smoking gun and the function of the official press is to say this isn't so. So what happens when fewer and fewer people take the official press seriously, or even read it?"
On a recent edition of DemocracyNow, a Minnesota state legislator relates her experience with Donald Rumsfeld. The assembly woman from Minnesota had recently lost her son in Iraq and was at a convention, coincidentally in the same city where Donald Rumsfeld was holding a public meeting. The respected lady had earlier played a major role in urging her state to pass a resolution denouncing the phony war in Iraq. She asked the DemocracyNow audience how could anyone remain silent when given the opportunity to express how they felt?
She relates how she stepped to the microphone and asked Rumsfeld about the noncompetitive contract awarded Haliburton to perform tasks for the military which the American armed forces have always performed themselves. She echoed the many sentiments from British and American soldiers that there weren't adequate supplies, tasks weren't performed in a timely manner, soldiers were without adequate housing or ammunition. Rumsfeld stated that he wasn't an expert in accounting but gave his assurances (for whatever that's worth) that the privatized tasks were being performed at a highly satisfactory level. And furthermore, Rumsfeld added, he wouldn't have these slanderous statements misleading these "good folk", an openly slavenous stroking of the public perception ( I am saying nice things about you so don't believe what this woman is saying, no matter how truthful it is.) "Next question," Rumsfeld brushed her aside.
It is this shameless manipulation of the mainstream press that has made it nothing more than news entertainment. Donald Rumsfeld is in the position he is in because he is a master at manipulating propaganda. If you ask him a question in a public forum he is going to use it to his advantage. This is the fundamental flaw in the voice of opposition. The respected assembly woman would have said a lot more with her silence. If everyone protested the lies and manipulation of the media by our government with silence their would be little opportunity to use argument, at least in a public forum. The woman would've said a lot more by walking to the microphone, mentioning her dead son and simply turning her back. And when Rumsfeld was done blowing his hot air she should've simply told him "The people of the United States hold you in contempt."
Let the blowhards yell and tell their lies and wrangle among themselves. Pay them no mind. When they want to talk to you turn your back. When the local television news comes on recognize it for what it is, news entertainment. Be skeptical of everything you are being told in the press. And most importantly, never, ever, believe what a President tells you.
