Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Start blaming the media, stop blaming the people

AP's Deb Riechman has an article entitled "Americans tune out Afghan war as fighting rages on" which is typical of the press: Blame others for their own failures.

The American people, sadly, do not run the American press.  If they did, I seriously doubt hair cuts and other distraction stories would dominate.  I'm sure they'd be much more interested in government corruption, for example.  At the end of the day, taxpayer money really effects them more than how some male or female celebrity wore their hair today.

If AP feels the war is forgotten, they need to hold the press accountable.  Afghanistan is where Iraq was by 2008 in terms of the press.  It will be featured on the network evening news if a high ranking US official visits.  Otherwise, it will get a sentence or two if there's a large attack.  If neither of those things happen, it's not mentioned.  Over and over it's ignored.

So the press needs to get off their high horse and stop pointing to the people as the problem.  The problem is the press.  People only know what goes on based on what is covered.

Equally true, the press continues to refuse to hold Barack to any standard.  Bush was trashed by the press. They rush to make excuses and offer silences for anything that might cause Barack discomfort.

Gail Collins, for example, could get off her lazy ass of stringing together her horrible prose and start writing about the Afghanistan War.  She could speak to the families of people serving, she could write about the wounded receiving treatment.

But instead she -- and her awful paper -- would rather write that stupid snark that serves no one and that they should both be ashamed of.  That's not enlightening one person.  She's far from the only worthless columnist in America today but she's certainly at the forefront.  Until you're willing to call out journalists, hush your mouth about the American people.

They have real jobs that require more than the five seconds Gail Collins puts in weekly.  They're dealing with their jobs, their work environment, will they have a job next week, are they going to make this month's bills.  They turn on the TV or the computer or pick up a paper and what do they find?  Garbage, garbage, garbage.

 Compare and contrast Nightline under Bush and Nightline under Barack.  Nightline today is nothing more than Entertainment Tonight blended with a dash of Hard Copy.  Don't pretend that's a news program.  It's not.  It's not even public affairs.  It's more garbage from ABC "News" that tells people nothing that they need to know to be informed citizens.

When Deb and AP are willing to factor in those realities, they'll have something to say.  At present there's no point in listening to them.  And hint to those participating in Deb's future stories, big tough veterans don't look so big or tough when they're whining about grade school children.  Oh, no, a third grader confused Iraq and Afghanistan!  The horror!  Grow up.


 Violence continues in Iraq, though it won't make ABC, CBS or NBC's network news tonight or tomorrow night.  All Iraq News reports a Mosul home invasion resulted in the death of one woman who was shot to death.  Alsumaria reports that 1 man was shot dead in Dhuluiya.  The political crisis continues as well.

But you won't know it if you watch TV.

Maybe if Rosie O'Donnell had her heart attack in Baghdad?  Maybe then it would make the news?  Did you catch the crap the alphabets churned out?

Akin?

It's not a national story.  If you're not voting in Missouri, it really doesn't apply to you.  But CBS led with that story, didn't they.  Feigning outrage.  You know where the outrage needs to be?  How about at NPR which was 'reporting' on it today and using offensive language.  Akin's an idiot.  I'm not surprised he would use a term like "legitimate rape" -- I'm appalled that NPR adopted that same 'standard' in their so-called reporting this morning.

And I'm really sick of this nothing story.  We're talking about one person running for the Senate.  Find a real story to cover.  Diane Sawyer (ABC) at least opened with regional news -- fires and drought.  Even there, hearing that the west is seeing the worst fires in years, where the hell is the federal government?

That's the story the news outlets don't want to touch.  If you can't guarantee safety at home, you're really not doing your job and the federal government is not doing their job.  NBC Nightly News also opened with Akin.  Again, are we all voting in that election?  I live in California.  This doesn't have a damn thing to do with my life.  An idiotic politician made an idiotic remark (and issued some form of an apology). 

Diane then moved to Tampa and concerns over the RNC while CBS then went into fundraising by Mitt Romney and Barack Obama and only then went to Akin.  But, again, Akin's a story if you're in Missouri.  Outside of that state?  It's a headline.

It's a distraction.

Gen Martin Dempsey went to Iraq yesterday.  The Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  But where's that on the network news yesterday?

Again, if Deb and AP want to point fingers, start with the press.


Diane did manage to note the rocket fire on Dempsey's airplane while he was in Afghanistan.  25 seconds.  That was all.  Didn't even note he went on to Iraq.  25 seconds and Deb and AP want to blame Americans?  Over 3 minutes was spent by Diane on Rosie O'Donnell's heart attack but only 25 seconds on Afghanistan and not one word about Iraq?

Can someone teach Chuck Todd about polling?  If we're going to waste time on polling, can we learn what a statistical tie means?

And can Brian Williams explain how he is an anchor?

He spent about 25 seconds on the Afghanistan story.  He didn't mention Iraq either.  But he did something far worse.  He declared that, after the attack on Dempsey's plane, "the damage was enough to force Dempsey to use a different one for today's flight back home."

Back home?

Dempsey flew from Afghanistan to Iraq.  He had to take a different plane to Iraq.  (AFP noted, "Dempsey arrived from Afghanistan, where his C-17 aircraft was damaged by an insurgent rocket attack on the tarmac overnight at Bagram air base, forcing the general to use another plane for his trip to the Iraqi capital.") What an idiot.

I don't care for Brian Williams but we've praised him here before.  But what an idiot.  You're an anchor and you don't know enough to know that Dempsey flew from Afghanistan to Iraq?

Again, Deb and AP, the problem is not the American citizen, it is the American media.  I've caught all three broadcasts of the evening news yesterday, did Deb or AP?  They need to before they next call the American people apathetic about an issue the televised press doesn't even cover.

Here's the statement the US Embassy in Baghdad issued about Dempsey's visit:


 The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin E. Dempsey visited Baghdad on August 21, 2012.  He met with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other Iraqi officials to discuss regional and security issues, including the situation in Syria.  General Dempsey also met with U.S. Embassy officials, including Charge d'Affaires Stephen Beecroft and members of the Embassy’s Office of Security Cooperation in Iraq.
General Dempsey's visit is part of the United States’ efforts under the Strategic Framework Agreement to support Iraq's continued development as a strategic partner that contributes to peace and security as a leader in the region. 

Dempsey did not meet with the the US Ambassador to Iraq because there is no US Ambassador to Iraq.  Like most news accounts, All Iraq News notes that Dempsey's visit is the highest ranking official visit of 2012.  But again, it couldn't be noted by any of the network news casts last night.  Don't blame the American people for not knowing what they're not told.  Of the US Office of Security Cooperation in Iraq, RTT reports, "More than 225 U.S. troops, seven Defense Department civilians, 530 security assistance team members and more than 4,000 contracted personnel are currently in the office at the Iraqi government's invitation."


You can only know what gets covered.  Four women make up two US presidential tickets, but you might not know that due to lack of covearge.  The four:   Jill Stein has the Green Party's presidential nomination and her running mate is Cheri Honkala and  Roseanne Barr has the nomination of the Peace and Freedom Party and her running mate is Cindy Sheehan. 

Despite the fact that you've got two presidential tickets comprised solely of women, Ms. blog and Women's Media Center refuses to cover the women.  While whining -- and, yes, it is whining when you pout that others won't do something you're too lazy to do yourself -- that others aren't fair to women, Ms. and WMC refuse to be fair themselves.  They need to be covering these women.  And that's not one tiny story the way they did on Cynthia McKinney (WMC did) after we shamed and guilted them for weeks in 2008.  I'm not in the mood for it.  If you're also tired of the crap? This petition is calling for the two outlets to cover the two runs. Rebecca started it.  We'll be noting it more in the snapshot today.

Lastly, Senator Robert Menendez is a US Senator from New Jersey.  He serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.  In light of Sunday's front page New York Times article by James Risen and Duraid Adnan -- "U.S. Says Iraqis Are Helping Iran to Skirt Sanctions" -- Senator Menendez' office has released the following:
August 21, 2012
WASHINGTON – In response to reports that Iraqi entities are breaching sanctions on financial transactions with designated Iranian entities and with respect to Iranian petroleum exports, U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) today sent a letter to Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to urge him to take steps to ensure that Iraqi entities are abiding by U.S. and international sanctions regimes designed to deliver a financial impact on Iran’s nuclear weapons program.
“The recent sanctioning of Elaf Islamic Bank for knowingly facilitating significant transactions with Iran and providing significant financial services for designated Iranian banks that support Iran’s proliferation activities is illustrative of the problem,” Senator Menendez wrote. “Moreover, the sanctions appear to have been undermined by a lack of oversight by your government and by the Central Bank of Iraq, which has allowed Elaf Islamic Bank to continue participating in its daily auction to buy U.S. dollars.”
“What is even more concerning is that Elaf Islamic Bank’s activities do not constitute an isolated incident, but are, as the New York Times recently reported, “part of a network of financial institutions and oil-smuggling operations that…ha[ve] provided Iran with a crucial flow of dollars…” and which have knowingly allowed Iran access to international financial markets and needed hard-currency resources,” he added.
FULL TEXT OF THE LETTER:
The Honorable Nouri al-Maliki
Prime Minster
Republic of Iraq
Dear Prime Minister:
I write to express my growing concern about reports of Iraqi entities engaging in activities that may financially benefit Iranian nuclear proliferation efforts, including transactions by Iraqi financial institutions with designated Iranian financial institutions and activities by Iraqi shippers and oil traders to smuggle or intentionally obscure the origin of Iranian petroleum and petroleum products exported from Iraqi ports in violation of sanctions signed into law by President Obama on August 10, 2012.
The threat posed by a nuclear Iran is a threat to global peace and security, as well as to the political and security interests of Iraq.   Our commitment to deter this threat must be mutual and sustained.
The recent sanctioning of Elaf Islamic Bank for knowingly facilitating significant transactions with Iran and providing significant financial services for designated Iranian banks that support Iran’s proliferation activities is illustrative of the problem. Moreover, the sanctions appear to have been undermined by a lack of oversight by your government and by the Central Bank of Iraq, which has allowed Elaf Islamic Bank to continue participating in its daily auction to buy U.S. dollars.

What is even more concerning is that Elaf Islamic Bank’s activities do not constitute an isolated incident, but are, as the New York Times recently reported, “part of a network of financial institutions and oil-smuggling operations that…ha[ve] provided Iran with a crucial flow of dollars…” and which have knowingly allowed Iran access to international financial markets and needed hard-currency resources.
Similarly, unconstrained smuggling of Iranian petroleum and petroleum products by oil traders and shippers represents another significant source of revenue for Iran.  Such transactions are sanctionable under the recently enacted Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Human Rights Act of 2012.
It should be in everyone’s interest – including Iraq’s – to ensure that the sanctions work and that Iran never has the resources to advance its nuclear weapons program. I urge you to work within your government to enhance compliance with U.S. and international sanction.  
I look forward to working together with you in the future to resolve this issue.

The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.









Posted by at