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nalism.” The problem is that absent a real alternative;
the rest of the media essentially adoptsed
its Fox’s worldview, even if it does cool down
some of rhetoric and arrogance.
At the center of it all are a group of smart
media strategists led by Roger Ailes, loyal servant
of Republican politics, and aided and abetted
by the neo-con intellectuals led by William
Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, Rupert’s
loss leader into influence and power in Washington.
Some of the left websites spend time
denouncing them, but most of these critics are
not trying to come up with competitors or support
alternatives. They see them as fools not
fanatics who must be taken seriously. Example:
“Who are these idiots? From talk radio and
right-wing chatter to national policy – anti-U.N.,
unilateral, finger in your eye foreign policy –
aggressive military – and see what we have – the
country weaker not stronger, poorer not richer,
more despised, more fractured, GREAT WORK
GUYS! We have found the Homebase, the nest of
vipers of the Brilliant Fools who have made a new
record – never have so few done so much damage
to so many so quickly – Fox News Channel analyst
William Kristol is the center of the ring of evil.”
Evil is no faceless stranger
THINKING about evil, may I share this verse
from the “Book of Counted Sorrows? I like it better
than the rhetoric of denigration.
“Evil is no faceless stranger
Living in a distant neighborhood.
Evil has a wholesome, hometown face,
with merry eyes and an open smile.
Evil walks among us, wearing a mask
which looks like all our faces.” ●
PRODUCING THE WAR
67
MARCH 13: MESSIAHS AND
MORE MEDIA MISHIGAS
TONY BLAIR was defiant yesterday in Parliament.
I watched some of his Question Time in
Parliament on CSPAN last night. It seemed that
his supporters were lined up in advance to pitch
softballs that he could hit out of the proverbial
park. His new proposal, with its cheeky “benchmarks”
was rejected by Iraq, which called it a
pretext for war, by the U.S., which said nothing,
and by France, which called it a non-starter. So
we are back to square one, except for one development.
It seems that the U.S. full court press has
ground down resistance from more members of
the Security Council who have been bribed and
bullied for weeks. Some have apparently capitulated,
but not enough to give the U.S. the nine out
of the 15 votes it demands. My hunch is that several
presidents in other countries have agreed to
give the U.S. anything it wants as long as they
don’t have to take another phone call from President
Bush. When newscasters say he is “working
the phones,” I can’t help wondering what it
would be like to be on the other side of one of
those Saddam-is-evil rants. How much could you
take?
The final daze
AS for the religious not so subtle subtext in all of
this back and forth, Tarif Abboushi offers a view
on Counterpunch.org that takes seriously all the
religious mumbo jumbo that seems to be driving