- We have seen enough of the media cowering before the
Bush administration to realize that they are totally cowed. When Dan Rather
was deserted by his journalistic colleagues, when they and he knew he had
spoken the basic truth of the draft dodging and lying by GW Bush about
his National Guard service-it was clear that Dan caved in and so did his
professional colleagues and organization. Fear overrode any sense of ethics,
courage or anything else in their lives-they were afraid the Bushies would
come after them with anger and zeal.
-
- Actually, if Dan and the others had stood up, they could
have defeated the Bushies-but they lacked the courage to stand up. That
is the present failure of our media and our society-people have lost the
courage to stand up and demand their freedom of speech and the freedom
to speak the truth-they'd rather bow to the Bush team's lies.
-
- Then you have the National Press Club feting one after
another of the Bush team, and allowing such ignorant imbeciles as Joe Scarborough
to be host of important events. Scarborough is nothing but a name-calling,
swilling pig at the trough of big money, right-wing zealots and a person
with a mouth that won't stop making a fool of itself trying to act intelligent.
The other night he invited a man who had criticized him-and then proceeded
to keep hammering him, not letting him talk and then made more and more
ad hominem attacks on him. Finally, the man said, "Joe, we took your
show off our station because your ratings were so low, no one wanted to
listen to your rantings." I agree, we've had enough of the bullying
by the Bush regulars and their media supporters; it is time others stood
up as some of us in the internet ezine world have done.
-
- Just an example of how it is working. I was pleased to
be on PRI "The World" as a guest, talking about how the Muslim
world see Bush, the U.S. and what can be done to improve our image in the
Muslim world. The section of the show gave 50% of the time to Professor
Esposito of Georgetown, he is a Catholic who has made a reputation and
a lot of money off of Islam, but can't really grasp its essence; Bill Quandt,
a fine political scientist who knows a lot about the secular Arab World,
he received 40% of the time; then I, a major Muslim scholar and former
Director of The Islamic Center in Washington, DC, and the only American
to ever hold a major position in the Islamic World, was allowed 10% of
the time. Of course, since Esposito and Quandt are both bought men, they
make a living in Washington, DC by being "politique", they glossed
over the real outrage 99% of all Muslims feel about Bush and American foreign
policy toward the Muslim world, and 100% of all Muslims are outraged by
the desecration by American trops of the Holy Book from God, The Qur'an.
-
- again, Esposito and Quandt brushed over it, said, "democracy"
is taking hold and will help solve the problem. My point was that this
outrage is like a spreading flu virus, an epidemic that will take decades
and perhaps centuries, if it is ever forgiven or forgotten in the Muslim
world;one must remember that most Muslim children still remember well facts
about the Crusades, whereas most American children can hardly tell you
who Eisenhower was (this is based on a study done 3 years ago that showed
70% of the American students didn't know who Eisenhower was!).
-
- So, even NPR, and PRI are running with fear, CNN, and
others have long since capitulated, as has the NY Times and Washington
Post-so all we have left are we few on the internet, and at some point,
we'll be shut down, and some of us will probably be "persons of interest"
and possibly arrested for sedition and speaking out-as happened in Nazi
Germany as the Hitler Nazis took away more and more rights, freedom of
speech, freedom of assembly and every other human thing of value before
WWII and during that war. Bush has an "endless war" going on,
with his slippery use of "terrorism", so that this open-ended
war will eventually lead him to be able to impose "martial law,"
for the "sake of safety of our country." It is coming, and there
is no major media outlet in the US to speak against it, just as there was
none courageous enough to speak against Hitler as he took more and more
power and abused the German nation more and more.
-
- I hope that more people in the media will speak up; if
not, then we are doomed to fascism that will make Franco, Stalin and Hitler
look like amateurs, because we have technology today that even Orwell could
not imagine, technology Franco, Stalin and Hitler would have loved to have
had.
-
- Best wishes.
-
- Dr. Sam Hamod writes on world affairs; he is the former
editor of 3rd World News in Wash, DC; he edits, www.todaysalternativenews.com
; he publishes widely and is available for lectures. He may be reached
at shamod@cox.net
- c. 2005 by Sam Hamod - All Rights Reserved
-
- http://www.todaysalternativenews.
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