Greg Dispatching the Times
Another must-read from Belgravia Dispatch.
The Hedges quotes are simply staggeringly bad.
Outright lies written not because of any principle or higher purpose, but written only to hurt American policy. And it's actually not because of hatred of the policy or because of a suggested alternative policy, but instead these lies are written and published only because of hatred for the policy makers themselves. If a Democratic president was doing exactly the same things in every particular? All we would hear from the NYTimes is how good everything is going and how soon it will all be over - which, of course, would be as false as the above - but that is exactly what we would get from the Times.
It should now be accepted as a maxim of all political commentary that whatever is in the Times - good or bad - is never factual. Whatever their arguement is, whatever their facts are, it's all false. Every time. Every issue. Every way. Every day. If there is a way to hurt the country with false news - the NYTimes will find it.
If I was advising the president, I would have the White House and every federal office completely ignore the Times and never, ever speak to them on any issue. Then, when they made a stink, I would simply read that quote above to the American people. The American people would understand in an instant. The American people have a right to know? Yes, the American people have a right to know the truth, and the Times isn't interested in that.
The Hedges quotes are simply staggeringly bad.
We are losing the war in Iraq. There has been a steady increase in the assaults carried out by the insurgents against coalition forces. The attacks over the past year have risen from about twenty a day to approximately 120. We are an isolated and reviled nation. We are tyrants to others weaker than ourselves. We have lost sight of our democratic ideals. Thucydides wrote of Athens' expanding empire and how this empire led it to become a tyrant abroad and then a tyrant at home. The tyranny Athens imposed on others it finally imposed on itself. If we do not confront our hubris and the lies told to justify the killing and mask the destruction carried out in our name in Iraq, if we do not grasp the moral corrosiveness of empire and occupation, if we continue to allow force and violence to be our primary form of communication, we will not so much defeat dictators like Saddam Hussein as become them.
Outright lies written not because of any principle or higher purpose, but written only to hurt American policy. And it's actually not because of hatred of the policy or because of a suggested alternative policy, but instead these lies are written and published only because of hatred for the policy makers themselves. If a Democratic president was doing exactly the same things in every particular? All we would hear from the NYTimes is how good everything is going and how soon it will all be over - which, of course, would be as false as the above - but that is exactly what we would get from the Times.
It should now be accepted as a maxim of all political commentary that whatever is in the Times - good or bad - is never factual. Whatever their arguement is, whatever their facts are, it's all false. Every time. Every issue. Every way. Every day. If there is a way to hurt the country with false news - the NYTimes will find it.
If I was advising the president, I would have the White House and every federal office completely ignore the Times and never, ever speak to them on any issue. Then, when they made a stink, I would simply read that quote above to the American people. The American people would understand in an instant. The American people have a right to know? Yes, the American people have a right to know the truth, and the Times isn't interested in that.
posted by JCH | 1:52 PM
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