● There has been a mountain of evidence documenting the truth of McClellan's observations about the press for years now. Books have been written demonstrating their mindless deference. Both The New York Times and The Washington Post have acknowledged, to varying degrees, that they were complicit in disseminating false pro-war propaganda and suppressing the anti-war case. And the networks themselves -- though they pretend otherwise -- are smack in the middle of a growing scandal over the fact that they continuously presented Pentagon-controlled commentators, plagued by all sorts of undisclosed financial and ideological ties, as "independent analysts" to spout the pro-Government line on everything having to do with the war. War opponents were almost nowhere to be found on those same networks. And their own stars are beginning to speak out about the pressures that were put on them to avoid confrontation with the Government.
● MP3 of Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com interviewing Jeff Cohen, the former producer of the MSNBC show Donahue, which was canceled weeks before the invasion of Iraq despite being that network's highest rated show because, as a leaked NBC memorandum revealed, that network did not want to host an anti-war commentator -- not even a single one.
● It quite amusing watching these members of the press dance on the head of a pin trying to sell us on the idea that they didn't actually kiss George W. Bush's ass for nearly six years before it finally became too unfashionable to do so. They are acting as if this has never been brought up before and they must defend their honor. Sorry guys. Scotty is just saying what everybody who pays attention to this stuff already knew. Remember this?
* This extraordinary column from the McClatchy journalism team that proved that real journalism with regard to administration claims was possible in the run-up to the war. They understandably have little tolerance for the self-serving, transparently false defenses offered this week from the likes of Brian Williams and Charlie Gibson, which they label as "Hogwash. Hogwash! HOGWASH" (emphasis in original). If you read one column in its entirety this week, that one should be it.
● McClatchy: Until now, we've resisted the temptation to post on former White House press secretary Scott McClellan's new book, which accuses the Bush White House of launching a propaganda campaign to sell the war in Iraq. Why? It's not news. At least not to some of us who've covered the story from the start.
Here's 3 McClatchey articles calling the Bush administration's propaganda DURING the propaganda YEARS AGO:
● Posted on Monday, March 15, 2004: Iraqi exile group fed false information to news media
● Posted on Monday, February 9, 2004: Doubts, dissent stripped from public version of Iraq assessment
● Posted on Wednesday, November 30, 2005: U.S. military pays Iraqis for positive news stories on war, 11/30/05
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