Sunday, July 02, 2006
Wag The Dog, Updated: Larry Beinhart
I think the last word—well, words—on the Republican accusations that the NY and LA Times papers committed treason by printing stories on money-tracing have been written by Larry Beinhart, on Buzzflash.
I’ve copped excerpts, below, but the whole essay deserves reading.
http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/06/06/con06280.html
George Bush, as reported by the AP and widely reprinted, said, "For people to leak that program and for a newspaper to publish it does great harm to the United States of America … [and] makes it harder to win this war on terror."
Peter King, (Republican, NY), also speaking to the AP, said, "We're at war, and for the Times to release information about secret operations and methods is treasonous."
"Some of the press, and particularly The New York Times, have made the job of defending against further terrorist attacks more difficult by insisting on publishing detailed information about vital national security programs," Cheney said the day the story was published. (Toronto Star)
"Loose lips kill American people," said the Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert.
(Toronto Star)
"Running the story about the money-tracing program is a version of giving Anne Frank’s address to the Nazis." Richard Valeriani (Huffington Post)
Wow! That’s heavy stuff!
***
If the story was like giving Anne Frank’s address to the Nazis, somebody must have been shipped off to a concentration camp or dead! Mr. Valeriani, the author of that metaphor, was an NBC reporter for 28 years, back when the "news was news." Some young Jewish girl must have been taken. Or a Christian girl. Or a banker’s daughter. Somebody.
***
The fantasy people believe that if they have top secret, national security programs that are 'fighting the war on terror,' that a real life version of "24" is taking place -- even if there are no results.
The reality people are, frankly, flummoxed. They – we – are just catching up to the idea that the people who are running the country live in fantasyland. That the closest they get to reality is something akin to reality TV. They are not, as Ron Suskind suggested, faith based. They live inside rhetoric and stories and only come out in the world for vote counting.
Yes, inside the fantasy of national security, the NY Times has surely put our country at risk and has even committed treason! In reality, eh! In reality all they have done is written about a program that should have produced a lot more results than it should have.
That should be the next story. That’s the real story.
A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
Larry Beinhart is the author of Wag the Dog, The Librarian, available at nationbooks.org, and Fog Facts: Searching for Truth in the Land of Spin available at BuzzFlash.com Progressive Marketplace.
I’ve copped excerpts, below, but the whole essay deserves reading.
http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/06/06/con06280.html
George Bush, as reported by the AP and widely reprinted, said, "For people to leak that program and for a newspaper to publish it does great harm to the United States of America … [and] makes it harder to win this war on terror."
Peter King, (Republican, NY), also speaking to the AP, said, "We're at war, and for the Times to release information about secret operations and methods is treasonous."
"Some of the press, and particularly The New York Times, have made the job of defending against further terrorist attacks more difficult by insisting on publishing detailed information about vital national security programs," Cheney said the day the story was published. (Toronto Star)
"Loose lips kill American people," said the Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert.
(Toronto Star)
"Running the story about the money-tracing program is a version of giving Anne Frank’s address to the Nazis." Richard Valeriani (Huffington Post)
Wow! That’s heavy stuff!
***
If the story was like giving Anne Frank’s address to the Nazis, somebody must have been shipped off to a concentration camp or dead! Mr. Valeriani, the author of that metaphor, was an NBC reporter for 28 years, back when the "news was news." Some young Jewish girl must have been taken. Or a Christian girl. Or a banker’s daughter. Somebody.
***
The fantasy people believe that if they have top secret, national security programs that are 'fighting the war on terror,' that a real life version of "24" is taking place -- even if there are no results.
The reality people are, frankly, flummoxed. They – we – are just catching up to the idea that the people who are running the country live in fantasyland. That the closest they get to reality is something akin to reality TV. They are not, as Ron Suskind suggested, faith based. They live inside rhetoric and stories and only come out in the world for vote counting.
Yes, inside the fantasy of national security, the NY Times has surely put our country at risk and has even committed treason! In reality, eh! In reality all they have done is written about a program that should have produced a lot more results than it should have.
That should be the next story. That’s the real story.
A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
Larry Beinhart is the author of Wag the Dog, The Librarian, available at nationbooks.org, and Fog Facts: Searching for Truth in the Land of Spin available at BuzzFlash.com Progressive Marketplace.
