[Peace-discuss] 4000 U.S. Deaths Should Spark Congressional Debate on Iraq

[Marti Wilkinson]

News coverage during the Vietnam War happened in a much different media
climate than what we are dealing with today. Instead of three television
networks giving us news in-between programs we now have 24 hour media
conglomerates who are responsible for dispensing information. One of the end
results is we are abiding by the standards of Rupert Murdoch...as opposed to
Katherine Graham.

In looking at the website for our friends at CNN I see these being top
priority:

Iraqi PM oversees military operations in Basra

Govt. Laptop stolen with patients data

VA Tech Victims offered settlement

One 'Barbie Bandit' Heads to Prison

Pamela Andersons latest marriage annulled

Only on CNN can we see headlines regarding a Baywatch cast member being
according the same amount of attention as the Iraqi PM.

When support for Vietnam waned to the point where immediate action was being
called for Nixon took advantage of the medium that was available and
delivered his infamous "Silent Majority" speech.  Now that we are in an
election year the attention in political matters is leaning towards the
current campaign.

--Marti






On Mon, Mar 24, 2008 at 11:53 PM, John W. <jbw292002 at gmail.com> wrote:

> At 08:30 PM 3/24/2008, Morton K. Brussel wrote
> :
> >On Mar 24, 2008, at 6:49 PM, Robert Naiman wrote:
> >
> >>I totally agree with your suggestion. As I wrote, there are multiple
> >>causes for the fall-off in press coverage. I wanted to focus on one of
> >>them, which is that after Congress abandoned efforts to impose a
> >>timetable for withdrawal, news media took this as a cue that the issue
> >>was less important. If that is true, then it suggests that the
> >>Congressional debate was useful, by helping keep the issue in the news
> >>media, even though it didn't result in effective action to end the
> >>war. That undermines the argument that there is no point in Congress
> >>addressing the issue if it can't enforce effective action.
> >
> >On the other hand, to raise hopes (in Congress) and then to dash them
> >has been doubly discouraging, a turn-off for many. The issue about
> >funding the wars is/has been crucial. The Democrats, had they been
> >truly sincere and committed in antiwar efforts, could always have
> >refused to fund the war/military appropriations that Bush proposed.
> >Their leaders refused to even consider such an option.
>
>
> [This post]...In which I argue that the Democratic Congress is hardly
> going
> to make itself look foolish, inept, pusillanimous, and  prevaricating, for
> the sole purpose of increasing press coverage of its foolishness,
> ineptitude, pusillanimity, and prevarication.
>



>
>
> >>On Mon, Mar 24, 2008 at 2:40 PM, Morton K. Brussel  <brussel at uiuc.edu>
> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>  I especially would emphasize the statement in your article:
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>Surely the fact that just over a quarter of American adults could say
> about
> >>>how many Americans had been killed in Iraq represents an indictment of
> our
> >>>media and the actions of our political leaders.
> >>>
> >>>But I would suggest  that the media are complicit in the basic aims of
> the
> >>>Bush administration: Control of the ME and West Asia and its
> >>>resources---"our national interests", and that is a reason for their
> playing
> >>>down about what's occurring in our occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan
> as
> >>>well as probable plans for an attack on Iran.
> >>>
> >>>--mkb
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>On Mar 24, 2008, at 11:40 AM, Robert Naiman wrote:
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>In which I argue that Congress should be debating the Iraq war, even if
> >>>effective action to end the war is beyond their immediate grasp.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/four-thousand-us-
> >>>deaths_b_93083.html
> >>>
> >>>http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/3/24/122711/414
>
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