Not sure if this is of interest to anyone else but I was really hit hard when reading Dana Milbank's piece on Conyer's hearing. Naivete on my part perhaps but I expected better. It just shows that the fight has only begun. We not only have to battle the repugs but also the media and establishment dems who have either sold their souls to the dark side or can't own up to their prior collusion.
The letter is below. I invite others to also hold WaPo accountable: ombudsman@washpost.com.
I was frankly astounded to read Dana Milbank's coverage of the Downing Street Memo hearings chaired by Representative John Conyers yesterday. I have also read the letter Rep. Conyers sent in response and, though I have little to add in terms of specific complaints in the piece, I must declare my deep, deep anger at the Washington Post for publishing such a piece of trash.
We've heard much in recent weeks about the standard of excellence, courage and tenacity Washington Post writers displayed in exposing Watergate. I have the fortune to call W. Mark Felt a "neighbor" and consider him--along with Woodward and Bernstein--a model citizen for the role he played in ensuring that the American people would know the truth about the Nixon Administration and the crimes several of its officials committed.
The irony of the Washington Post essentially dismissing and deriding what is eerily reminiscent of the "smoking guns" of Watergate is far too painful to laugh at. The fact that the crimes committed in this case (namely, the tens of thousands of lives and billions of dollars lost in launching a pre-emptive war under false pretenses) are even more egregious makes it that much harder to stand. Considering the abysmal job the Washington Post and so many other news agencies did in covering the lead up to the invasion of Iraq (and since), I can almost understand the human tendency to not want to face your failures. Because the truth really is THAT painful. And, yet, that's no excuse.
Oddly, the corrupt, cynical and deadly deceit of this Administration doesn't pain me quite so much as the deplorable failings of institutions for which I actually still harbored some trust. The Washington Post was one such institution. It is no longer. As ombudsman, I thought you should know.
