The stunning complicity of journalists in spreading the propaganda of our political and economic ruling elites

glenn is not to be subdued by the torpor of the holidays... perhaps that's because it's now summer in rio and the temps are hovering daily in the mid-80's... however, i'm glad he's on the job altho' i do occasionally get concerned about his blood pressure...

[W]hat always strikes me is how indistinguishable -- identical -- are the political figures and the journalists. There's just no difference in how they think, what their values and priorities are, how completely they've ingested and how eagerly they recite the same ... script.

[...]

It's not news that establishment journalists identify with, are merged into, serve as spokespeople for, the political class: that's what makes them establishment journalists. But even knowing that, it's just amazing, to me at least, ... [that t]hey don't even bother any longer with the pretense that they're distinct or play different assigned roles

[...]

What an astounding feat to train a nation's journalist class to despise above all else those who shine a light on what the most powerful factions do in the dark and who expose their corruption and deceit, and to have journalists -- of all people -- lead the way in calling for the head of anyone who exposes the secrets of the powerful. Most ruling classes -- from all eras and all cultures -- could only fantasize about having a journalist class that thinks that way, but most political leaders would have to dismiss that fantasy as too extreme, too implausible, to pursue. After all, how could you ever get journalists -- of all people -- to loathe those who bring about transparency and disclosure of secrets? But, with a few noble exceptions, that's exactly the journalist class we have.

[...]

Bob Woodward has become a very rich man by writing book after book filled with classified information about America's wars which his sources were not authorized to give him.

nonetheless...

They're all petrified to speak ill of Bob Woodward because he's a revered spokesman of the royal court to which they devote their full loyalty.

the above excerpts are taken from his post today describing a cnn interview last night which can be seen in full in the clip below...

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Greenspan supported oil as the reason for invading Iraq

this comes across as a lot more honest than what has been bandied about in most of the rest of the media over the past few days...

Greenspan: Ouster Of Hussein Crucial For Oil Security

By Bob Woodward
Monday, September 17, 2007; Page A03

Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chairman, said in an interview that the removal of Saddam Hussein had been "essential" to secure world oil supplies, a point he emphasized to the White House in private conversations before the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

i'm not a big fan of bob woodward, but i am glad he decided to point out this key piece of context for greenspan's role in the whole goddam mess rather than what it's been made to sound like...

AMERICA’s elder statesman of finance, Alan Greenspan, has shaken the White House by declaring that the prime motive for the war in Iraq was oil.

In his long-awaited memoir, to be published tomorrow, Greenspan, a Republican whose 18-year tenure as head of the US Federal Reserve was widely admired, will also deliver a stinging critique of President George W Bush’s economic policies.

However, it is his view on the motive for the 2003 Iraq invasion that is likely to provoke the most controversy. “I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil,” he says.

and, let's not forget that tomorrow is the big night where greenspan gets interviewed by none other than HIS WIFE, andrea mitchell, an absurd piece of theater i posted about back at the end of july...

Former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan, who helped shape the nation’s economic and monetary policy for almost 19 years, talks about the people he met, the issues he faced and the crises he helped manage during five different administrations. Greenspan discusses the world we now live in, with a global capitalist economy that is more flexible, resilient, open, self-directing and fast-changing than ever. Greenspan is the author of a new book, The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World, to be published by The Penguin Press on September 17. He is interviewed in this rare public appearance by the person who knows him best, his wife, Andrea Mitchell, who covers politics and foreign policy for NBC News.

Date & Time: Tue, Sep 18, 2007, 8:00pm
Location: Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street
Venue: Kaufmann Concert Hall
Price: $50.00 Orchestra

and we certainly can't forget marcy - emptywheel - wheeler's trenchant observation...

You were one of the most powerful men in the fiscal world for almost half my lifetime. Yet you can't face live questions from someone who isn't your wife?

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"Disinformation, misinformation and unwillingness to tell the truth"

this should be pasted on billboards in every city and town in the country...

"The Bush administration," Bernstein continues, "is a far different matter in which disinformation, misinformation and unwillingness to tell the truth -- a willingness to lie both in the Oval Office, in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, in the office of the vice president, the vice president himself -- is something that I have never witnessed before on this scale."

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"This president has a record of dishonesty and obfuscation that is Nixonian in character in its willingness to manipulate the press, to manipulate the truth," he adds. "We have gone to war on the basis of misinformation, disinformation and knowing lies from top to bottom."

too bad bernstein's buddy, woodward, doesn't get it...

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