Only Nixon could go to China

I am still mad about this. I have read a little more about these "vnr" or "video news releases" and it makes me very nervous. The GAO, btw, said these were propaganda and the agencies should not do it. Bush said his Justice department said they were fine and angencies should ignore the one agency that kind of audits the federal government. No mere mortal dare criticize the Bushies.

These videos are made with taxpayer money, and were aired on many stations without disclosing their origins as public relations pieces. So, the State Department can release a video that shows Iraqis thanking Bush and the USA, and poor and stupid news agencies can replay that as if it is real reporting. A cynic could say that there is little difference between these government made reports and what Fox turns out on a regular basis, but that is the cynical view.

I have thought about this for a while. I remember Spock's line in one of the Star Trek movies where he is pushing Kirk to make peace with the Klingon or somebody. Kirk's longstanding repuatation as a Klingon-hater gave him credibility. Just as Nixon's longstanding anti-communist stance allowed him to make some steps with "red" China that Johnson or Kennedy could never do.

That is the positive side of this kind of bias. The negative appears to be the fact that a "conservative" is also the only one who can truly undermine your civil liberties because no one expects him to. Under Clinton, these kinds of videos would be called propaganda too, but from Frist, and Lott, and Hastert and Delay. "Slick Willy" was noted for spin, and for being liberal, so he was accused of undermining free speech and civil liberties on every turn--even when he was prosecuting nuts in compounds. But Bush can insist on loyatly oaths to enter his "town meetings," pay off commentators, allow a gay prostitute shill to ask him questions (under a fake name), and now release propaganda videos. My conservative friends say nothing. I am puzzled.

We have historically made fun of regimes that lacked a free press. I remember the jokes about Soviet "news;" the fact that Pravda meant "truth" and the government completely controlled the news. Conservatives were loudest in that criticism. Now they watch and justify and make excuses.

You also see how gradually and how innocently this can begin. Every institution does it. Watch a college football game and see the little video clips that tout each individual institution's credentials. No one really thinks that they are unbiased. They are propaganda. Like when the 700 club has a "story" on Regent "University." All are owned by Big Head Pat, and so no one is really surprised that all the stories are glowing, right? Same when ABC covers Disney?

Make no mistake about it--if they try to sell this as a news story with "this is Kelly Wilson reporting," they are trying to deceive. This is propaganda. And if this were as pervasive under Clinton, many of you would be sneering. But you are so used to defending Bush that you have lost the ability to see it.

A conservative is taking away your freedoms and you are patting him on the back. Somewhere you will need to take a look at what conservative political philosophy actually is. You know, small government, not intruding on state court cases, a belief in the free market and free press. None of these are supported by Bush. And you are all helping him.