Sure, it boggles my mind how Brian Williams could embellish and “misremember” an event like his helicopter ride in Iraq years ago, but the firestorm around his imagined combat experience is inordinately fierce compared to the relative silence around all of the other Iraq War-era ‘misrememberings, journalistic and otherwise.
Remember the networks’ “military analysts” who were part of a coordinated Pentagon propaganda campaign to sell the war, who personally profited from defense contracts at the same time? I don’t remember any higher-ups in the media or the military getting fired or suspended because of that shameful episode.
I think the “fog of war” as an excuse should be left for the people who are actually fighting the war. You know, the ones who may actually experience fog, dust and obscured vision. (Not to mention traumatic brain injuries and PTSD.) The rear echelon politicians, cheerleaders and war planners seem to have another sort of selective memory, that’s where the Frog of War comes in. Enjoy the cartoon, and be sure to check out the links behind the cartoon.
Frog of War:
Rrribbit.
So Brian Williams “misremembered” whether he got shot at or not.
Big deal . . . it happens all a’ the time.
And when you surround yourself with military analysts and retired generals who have a financial stake in war, it’s only natural it feels like you’re closer to the action than you really are.
These guys are doin’ some real misrememberin’.
They remember bein’ patriots and heroes . . . but were really just turnin’ a buck—
And had a nice PR outlet on NBC and other networks, thanks to the Pentagon Propaganda program.
(Not that you really need it on a network owned by a defense contractor.)
There’s a lotta’ misrememberin’ that goes on the farther you get from the front lines.
That’s the Frog a’ War— I’m for the desk jockeys and armchair guys!
George Bush misrememberin’ his National Guard service? The Frog a’ War.
Ronald Reagan liberatin’ the death camps? Frog a’ War!
Hillary Clinton and the snipers? That’s me, too!
National news outlets selling a lie that killed hundreds of thousands? Oops, Frog a’ War again.
So while you’re bustin’ Brian Williams, remember, there are a lot bigger Weapons of Misrememberin’ Destruction out there!
I’m the Frog a’ War sayin’ . . . sayin’ . . . um, I forget.
Rrribbit.