[Peace] NPR Rakes Esper on “Imminent Threat?!” and “Constitutional War Powers”

[Robert Naiman]

https://www.facebook.com/robert.naiman/posts/10159042202582656

NPR Rakes Esper on “Imminent Threat?!” and “Constitutional War Powers”

Pentagon boss Esper was on NPR this morning. NPR pressed Esper on “imminent
threat?” and Constitutional War Powers. It was absolutely glorious. NPR
totally humiliated Esper. NPR made Esper sound like a lying fool. Which, of
course, is exactly what he is. I’ve been listening to NPR for decades. I
never heard this version of NPR before. It was like listening to the BBC.
On the BBC, if a government official won’t answer a question, they just
keep repeating the question over and over until the government official
answers it, or until they feel they’ve adequately demonstrated exactly what
important question it is that government officials are unable or unwilling
to answer. Then, if the government official still won’t answer the
question, they cut the broadcast clip right there. Like, if this government
official is unable or unwilling to answer our questions, then there’s no
point in talking to them anymore. Then, everybody who hears the interview
knows exactly what important question it was that government officials were
unable or unwilling to answer. The only difference between NPR this morning
and the BBC was the tone. NPR has this deferential, reverential tone when
they’re talking with or about Pentagon officials. “Please, suh, can I have
some more?” That was the same as usual. On the BBC, the reporters have this
swashbuckling tone, like if government officials don’t hate you, then
you’re not a real journalist. But that was the only difference between NPR
and the BBC this morning, the tone. The effective content was the same.
Government lying was exposed. Everybody who heard that NPR interview now
knows that “Imminent Threat? vs. Constitutional War Powers” is the question
that Administration officials are unable or unwilling to answer.

We’re getting the oppositional U.S. media right now that we were entitled
to in October 2002. If we could have had this oppositional U.S. media in
October 2002, before Congress approved the Iraq AUMF, we could have stopped
the Iraq war.

The most important reason why we’re getting the oppositional media we
deserve right now and not the lapdog media we had in October 2002 is that
we’re getting the oppositional Democratic leadership we deserve right now,
not the lapdog Democratic leadership we had in October 2002.

The U.S. media takes key cues from Congress about what the boundaries of
permissible debate are and where to strategically press government
officials. This is where the “extra-parliamentary” antiwar Left got it
badly wrong in the past by not engaging with Congress more, not just in the
immediate run-up to war, but all the way along, when the seeds for war were
being planted.

U.S. media need two Batsignals from Congress in this juncture to go to
town:

1. The “opposition party” is mostly united in opposition.
2. There are some members of the President’s party speaking out.

This is what’s happening right now. U.S. media are getting the two
Batsignals they need from Congress, and they’re going to town.

Members of Congress go on TV and they say, “Imminent Threat??!!
Constitutional War Powers!!” And U.S. media says, “Woof, woof! Imminent
threat??!! Woof, woof! Constitutional War Powers!!”

Recall the scene in “All the President’s Men” with Bob Woodward and “Deep
Throat”/Mark Felt in the parking garage. Associate FBI Director Mark Felt
doesn’t tell Woodward what the truth is. He tells the Washington Post cub
reporter from Wheaton, Illinois what the right questions to ask are. He
tells Woodward what leads the Justice Department and the FBI would be
pursuing if they didn’t have the misfortune to be headed by appointees of
Richard Nixon. “Follow the money!!!”

This is what the Members of Congress are doing when they go to the
microphone and say, “Imminent Threat??!! Constitutional War Powers!!”
They’re telling the U.S. media: “Look over there! Follow this lead! Press
government officials on this question! This question is their Achilles’
Heel! This is the question they can’t answer!”

The main reason that we didn’t have the dynamics in October 2002 that we’re
having now is that key Democratic leaders in Congress folded immediately to
the Bush Administration on the Iraq AUMF. Dick Gephardt, Joe Biden, John
Kerry, and Hillary Clinton folded immediately on the Bush Administration’s
fraudulent case for war, and this undercut opposition in Congress,
including Republican opposition. Republican House Majority Leader Dick
Armey asked, why would we attack Iraq? Iraq hasn’t attacked us. But
Democratic House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt undercut Republican House
Majority Leader Dick Armey’s opposition to the war by announcing that he
would work with the Bush Administration to pass an AUMF.

It was widely perceived at the time that a key reason, if not the main
reason, why Dick Gephardt, Joe Biden, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton
folded immediately to the Bush Administration on the Iraq war was that they
were all planning to run for President, and they believed that opposing the
war would be a liability for their presidential ambitions.

Let’s suppose that this causation story is substantially true. Here are the
questions for the final exam:

1. When Dick Gephardt, Joe Biden, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton folded
immediately to the Bush Administration’s fraudulent case for war because of
their presidential ambitions, were they primarily concerned about the
opinions of voters, or were they primarily concerned about the opinions of
some other group of people?

2. If they were primarily concerned with the opinions of some other group
of people, what group of people were they primarily concerned about?

3. What implications does this have for the present juncture?

4. What did Deep Throat say to Bob Woodward in the parking garage?
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