[Cross posted at
The Left Coaster]
The blogging world is predictably abuzz this morning that irrefutable video evidence of Bush blatantly lying about Katrina has surfaced; it's also weakly covered by the Washington Post this morning. Apparently the lying was broadcast on the national news last night, but that will be the end of the matter.
American "journalists," circa 2006, know how very difficult it is to capture the attention and inform American citizens (shocking, dismayingly high numbers don't even know who controls Congress this year). As Markos reiterated in his book, driving a message home in the American media landscape is all about repetition, repetition, repetition.
The what American "journalists" did to Bill Clinton when they caught him on video lying about his weenie and Monica, they broadcast the clip 73 times in 66 days.
As we all know, George Bush has always received very, very different "journalism" treatment than Clinton or Gore--in fact, the Bush team manipulated American "journalists" in the 2000 campaign to endlessly blather about the semi-square, straight-laced Al Gore as a liar. At any rate, rest assured this latest Bush lie will instantly slide into a total fade. Three weeks from now maybe 2 million Americans will be conscious of this latest blatant, empirically confirmed, Bush lie. American "journalists" pulled this precise trick just two weeks ago.
Bush was and is caught dead cold in a total lie--on video--describing what it takes to get a wiretap: a court order. But it is now known--Bush admits it!--that he had in fact ordered wiretaps without court orders well before he so totally lied about it in that video clip.
American "journalists" let it go, let it blow on by in the breeze, and only aired it 16 times in a week, never to be seen again. Brave, aghast citizens are sneered and ridiculed for being "angry" about Bush in such scenarios by the very networks that hid the lie.
Such will be the fate of this latest Katrina video lie. Every Bush lie has always been glossed over and ignored by American "journalists," God Bless Corporate America. That's one reason he lies so much, he can.
My marriage wouldn't survive a day if I was a liar. Neither would my career, my friendships or even my acquaintances. I'm certainly not complaining about it, I like being an honest person. My Dad taught me that ethics make one feel good, sure, but at their core ethics are a survival mechanism of the species, the best set of rules we have devised so far to keep us from tearing each other apart.
American "journalists" have decided that for George there is no penalty for lying. Cindy Sheehan knows differently. So do the survivors of 9/11 waiting for Osama to be caught, the dead and displaced in New Orleans, the unemployed, the underpaid, and those suffering from denial of health care.
Oh yes, the lying tears at the fabric of our lives and kills our brothers and sisters wantonly, along with maiming and crippling untold millions. How strange it is to live in the United States, to enjoy a life of ethics and honor, only to see the leadership of the country be enabled in inflicting great harm by "journalists," "professionals" allegedly committed to--get this--reporting the truth.
It's also a searing mockery for every good honest American, but the "journalists" who enable so much death and damage to us all are beneath our contempt and anger. We need all of our energy committed to working together in retaking Congress this year and staunching the gaping wounds inflicted upon the country by Bush.