I’ve been posting like crazy about the latest media/military propaganda scam that the NY Times broke a few weeks ago. You know, the one about the paid military generals-turned-analysts that the networks used to deceive the American public with so the Iraq war was such an easy sell. Since then we’ve found out that Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, CBS, ABC and NBC failed to respond to a PBS request for comment which has resulted in virtually a complete media blackout, but which caused the the Defense Department to temporarily stop feeding information to retired military officers pending a review of the issue. Col. Allard admitted to CNN that there definitely was a conflict of interest—while Sen. Feingold questions the legality of it in a letter he wrote. Now it looks like we’ll have some action because it seems that Harry Reid (h/t Glenn Greenwald) has been paying attention to the blogosphere’s call for action:
Harry Reid was at the FDL Book Salon today and an FDL reader asked: ” are you planning to hold hearings on the illegality of the Pentagon’s propaganda training program of retired military officers?”
Reid responded: “The answer is yes. I have personally spoken to Chairman Levin and he is tremendously concerned as I. And we are proceeding accordingly.”
Glenn Greenwald sheds more light on how the Pentagon was so very thrilled by these faux military experts.
The key issue here is that more and more, media analysts are having a greater impact on the television media network coverage of military issues. They have now become the go to guys not only for breaking stories, but they influence the views on issues. They also have a huge amount of influence on what stories the network decides to cover proactively with regard to the military. . . .
1.) I recommend we develop a core group from within our media analyst list of those that we can count on to carry our water. They become part of a “hot list” of those that we immediately make calls to or put on an email distro list before we contact or respond to media on hot issues…read on
Sickening, just sickening. Psy-ops, baby!
And I think we caught Lawrence Di Rita (the former Pentagon spokesman under Secretary Don Rumsfeld) lying on CNN with these new documents. Di Rita denies ginning up the militaryTV analyists to Kurtz:
KURTZ: Larry Di Rita, were you, the Pentagon, Don Rumsfeld, trying to get a positive message out through these TV analysts, these retired military men, who appeared to the viewer at home to be Independent?
LAWRENCE DI RITA, FMR. PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: Positive, no. I think our objective was a balance, a richer set of understandings. There was a general sense, and I think the public often — it showed up in polls — that they weren’t getting the breadth of the story.
(click image to make larger)
Yet in this note that Glenn Greenwald found—he cheers on the talking points.
This is a thoughtful note. . . I think it makes a lot of sense to do as you suggest and I guess I thought we were already doing a lot of this in terms of quick contact, etc. . . We ought to be doing this, though, and we should not make the list too small .
I wonder how Kurtz would feel knowing he was lied to on air by Di Rita?I’ll investigate further as the day goes on…
No Trackbacks To “Harry Reid is planning on holding hearings on the Military Analyst story“
Harry Reid has a book to sell. A book about the “Good Fight”.
What a laugh. Don’t worry– if he happens to stumble onto anything that would require a principled man to take action, he’ll find a way to retreat from it and bury it as quickly as possible.
Why it take 7 years?
What about the Downing Street Memos. Etc, Etc.
Don’t expect too much. The democrats are “hearing” impaired.
*yawn* Harry Reid is a liar and possibly a blackmailed spineless old man
How about going after the whole war profiteering shebang? We didn’t go to war so much for oil or to position ourselves in the Middle East as we went for profiteering. That was the incentive and the goal as well; the ends and the means. If congress had gone after the profiteers tenaciously from the first hundred days we might have gotten funding with timetables, the GOP would be in an even weaker position than it is now. We would start seeing how much the media is tied up in profiteering. Pelosi may have been forced by enough outraged citizens to even put impeachment back on the table. We may have had enough citizens calling for impeachment after seeing how their tax dollars are being gobbled up as company profits the way they are.
This is good that Reid is doing this, and we should demand that this leads to full investigations on war profiteering. But it won’t happen unless the people demand it because, evidently, both parties are to involved in it to go turning over those rocks and seeing what lies underneath.
Otherwise it would have been a no-brainer for the Dems to go after it. But some, like Feinstein, would likely find themselves sullied as well. And where does Obama stand on this? I haven’t heard anyone ask him that question yet.
Whatever happened to the “liberal” media? Turned into a GOP psy-ops so many years ago.
I’m glad to see that Reid is recognizing that in the stalemate between Lieberman’s ideological swings between being a Democrat or John McCan’s bearing’s checker, which truly limit his political reign in the Senate, that he may not be able to do anything with a so-called majority of one, or Bush’s need to veto anything Democratically conceived, that conducting hearings are his only real power in Congress.
Let’s have more of them. We still need A LOT more answers before Reid can take a bow.
Well, It’s a little to late Harry. The damning Downing Street memos also deserved a better look. But what the Hell. You and the other spineless Democrats will just ride out Dubyas second term and to Hell with the average American.
Leslie [Hussein] @ 6:
All I can say is “Thank Al Gore for the internet” (joking) so that those of us who aren’t thinking impared can have access to real news, grassroots politics, and best of all - each another.
Bridget Jones @ 9:
Really!!!! :-)
The collusion of the MSM, the gov’t (Repugs or the Dims) and corporations is the face of “democracy” we display to the world.
Is it any wonder so many countries now say “no thanks” where as they used to look on in envy at our system of freedom.
Harry can’t wait until he and his friends get front row at the trough.
For all those people who say that it’s too late to impeach the chimpster and his organ grinder, due to to the time left, I say we need at least to get the ball rolling. If tried by the Senate and convicted perhaps we wouldn’t need to pay their salaries for the rest of their lives. They won’t miss it. But additionally once they are no longer allowed to hold any public office, due to their conviction, their usefulness to “think” tanks will be negligible.
I heard there’s an international arrest warrent for chinless, so if he travels outside the US he could be arrested, but what about prince georgie?
Not only are many of the military “analysts” liars, but most of them can’t even get their facts straight. Just the other day, FOX News was blaring on the clarion call for war with China, by pointing out something that had been available on Google Earth for a week or two; that China has a new submarine base, for its relatively tiny SSBN fleet.
I shit you not however, with a straight face, the military “analyst” said that an aircraft carrier could dock outside or even get INTO said underground base. There’s a couple problems with this statement. One, China doesn’t have aircraft carriers (they’ve bought a bunch of decommissioned shells and plans from Russia, but they’re not operable and probably won’t be for years). Two, why would an SSBN fleet would travel with a carrier strike group (which they don’t, even in America whom has a SSBN fleet on constant patrol) ? And three, no mention was made that China’s SSBN fleet is almost always dry-docked; they hardly ever use them, except for occasional training patrols.
The point being is that they’re attempting to paint China as the next big competitor in the arm’s race. Not mind you, that China’s government wouldn’t mind doing so, or that ratcheting up tensions in the region wouldn’t behoove the various conservative, neo-nationalist forces in South Korea and Japan, amongst others. When both sides paint the other one as rapacious imperialist dogs its easy enough to get a whole bunch of people to sign up to shoot each other.
This is an extremely important story and cannot be allowed to die on the vine of the endless scandals surrounding the Bushistas, thanks for staying on top of this.
I’m glad that someone, anyone, in our govt. is putting SOME investigation into it. Letting them sweep it under the rug is not acceptable
Bridget Jones @ 9:
Leslie [Hussein] @ 6:
Whatever happened to the “liberal” media? Turned into a GOP psy-ops so many years ago.
All I can say is “Thank Al Gore for the internet” (joking) so that those of us who aren’t thinking impared can have access to real news, grassroots politics, and best of all - each another.
___________________________________________________________________________
I thought grassroot politics started with NORML.
ysbaddaden @ 13:
We’d never get a conviction in the Senate. The House only has a slim Democratic lead too. Although they ought to at least go after Cheney in the House. Sigh. It won’t happen.
Harry Reid (R) . Forget it , Harry . You’re one of “them”.
How does Howie Kurtz feel? Absolutely wonderful. He’s a OP himself — a lying scumbag married to a high-ranking Republican party offical named Sheri Annis.
Why no one in the NON “mainstream” media ever mentions this is a mystery to me.
Let the stern letters begin !!!!
Right. He can hold hearings while he caves in on another 100 billion
for the Iraq war.
Please spare me.
ysbaddaden @ 16:
LOL. Probably so.
Bridget Jones @ 22:
Someone has grassroots? :-)
StirFry @ 20:
He might get even stronger and write a Stern and BITTER letter.
♠Bangkok-Bob♠ @ 24:
At least it would be better than NO letter and no hearing.
I tried to post this below, but my dial-up won’t let me after about 50 or so comments.
I realized because of what St Augustine said, that I think JFK was running for reelection when he was assisnated, which means LBJ filled in for him only a few months.
Because of my dial-up I couldn’t keep this site open, and research the 1947 (?) Presidential Succession Act.
I also asked St Augustine what he thought of Johannes Scotus Erigenus.
Leslie [Hussein] @ 17:
That would be whatever the opposite of a nightmare is… :D
If ANYONE in all of this Bush Junta deserves to be convicted and locked away, it is that evil tyrant. Just the sight of the man makes my uterus go into violent convulsions of disgust. Ugh.
speaking of propoganda…. (am I the only one to notice this?)… Has anyone else noticed that there is a cable channel called the “pentagon channel”?
http://www.pentagonchannel.mil/
see also:
http://www.pentagonchannel.mil/aboutdod.aspx
Bridget Jones @ 9:
Actually, I do thank Gore who played a major part in expanding the Internet from it’s roots in DARPA and as a tool used by a limited number of academics into the public sphere. What part of World-Wide-Web did he not understand?
Leslie [Hussein] @ 23:
“Grass”roots? Literally, it seems :)
Leslie [Hussein] @ 25:
How?
Leslie [Hussein] @ 25:
Your right on that … ANYTHING is better than nothing.
But I’m too hammered to care right now, too many drinks and it’s after one in the morning.
perhaps later, … when I’m straighter
G’nite good Democratic People of America.
But not to omit the republicans … piss off and be miserable, you bigoted immoral turds.
Harry “I’ll talk a good fight until it’s time to DO something and then I’ll cave” Reid? Really?
He’s selling a book! As a Senator, he’s trained to say whatever he thinks will make him look good in front of a camera and he’s pandering on any show that will have him. Did you see him on the Daily Show? I’ve seen better animation at Disneyland.
I lost my last vestige of faith in Reid. He doesn’t act like an opposition leader; more like an enabler. Good luck with getting ANY “justice” for the people while these pols are in charge. They have shown us time and time again where their true loyalties are. The DLC, not the DNC.
Bridget Jones @ 22:
ysbaddaden @ 16:
Bridget Jones @ 9:
Leslie [Hussein] @ 6:
Whatever happened to the “liberal” media? Turned into a GOP psy-ops so many years ago.
All I can say is “Thank Al Gore for the internet” (joking) so that those of us who aren’t thinking impared can have access to real news, grassroots politics, and best of all - each another.
___________________________________________________________________________
I thought grassroot politics started with NORML.
LOL. Probably so.
Someone has grassroots? :-)
_______________________________________________________________
That’s what happens when you mistake your Rogaine Foam with Miracle-Grow.
Harry won’t do a damned thing.
Harry Reid may hold hearings but they will be ignored by the news media, who control the information flow in this country, so he might as well not bother.
Welp, if this story wasn’t justification for destroying the media industry as we know it and build it back from the ground up, I don’t know what is.
26 ysbaddaden
Assassinated
MargeAggedon @ 31:
You serious? For one thing, we might learn more about it. For another thing, the MSM might be forced to report on their complicity in it. Because, so far, their silence is deafening.
Noodles @ 5:
heh heh heeeeeeeeeeee!lol
Assuming the hearings ever happen:
Harry Reid:
Pentagon:
Harry Reid:
Pentagon:
Harry Reid:
So this isn’t America and hasn’t been for a long time now . . . probably will never be again. We take impeachment off the table and do precisely dick. Hearings . . . bfd. Yes, this is horrid, but we are too busy fighting gay marriage and loving Jeebus to give a shit.
What is necessary is for the American people to be made aware of this illegal and incessant cheerleading.
Sadly, the govt. will be allowed to skate away from any prosecution but the knowledge of their propaganda needs to be made transparent, and only if Sen. Reid and the Honorable Henry Waxman, however tepidly, investigate and pursue this.