Stop the strobe light and see the real world

Elizabeth Edwards has written a beautiful op-ed piece for the Sunday New York Times (4/27/08) imploring the media to do its job. It seems like it should go without saying, but the media has failed the American people and democracy in general for the better part of the last decade. The media is often referred to as the 4th branch of government, because a free press acts as a check on political power. If the truth is available, it’s much harder to be hoodwinked.

The internet has been the saving grace for many Americans, who know the “truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth” is out there somewhere, just not in the mainstream media. Mrs. Edwards, wife of former Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards, uses the phrase “strobe-light journalism” to describe the outline-only perspective presented by the mainstream media.

…every analysis that is shortened, every corner that is cut, moves us further away from the truth until what is left is the Cliffs Notes of the news, or what I call strobe-light journalism, in which the outlines are accurate enough but we cannot really see the whole picture.

She frames the situation far better than I could, and offers a stronger voice. Although a politician’s wife is no more an expert than any blogger, this truth will receive much more airplay because of her higher profile. I don’t believe the media will actually correct this issue, mostly because “the media” is no more a homogeneous group than “the American people”. A few of the pundits and talking heads are beginning to report more on the real issues, even if they fail to point out basic inaccuracies in the positions of each candidate.

For example, John McCain is able to freely attack Barack Obama over his proposal to raise the capital gains tax. I have yet to hear any journalist correct the statements of McCain, although they frequently play the statement and ponder “will this hurt Obama?” It will if nobody speaks the truth. First take a look at Sen. McCain’s attack on Obama.

Senator Obama says that he doesn’t want to raise taxes on anybody over — making over $200,000 a year, yet he wants to nearly double the capital gains tax. Nearly double it, which 100 million Americans have investments in — mutual funds, 401(k)s — policemen, firemen, nurses. He wants to increase their taxes.

Millions of Americans have investments, most have jobs. The problem is that someone making a living from investments alone end up paying half the taxes of the working people. Low capital gains taxes make investments available to more Americans, but most Americans aren’t making more money to invest. Lower capital gains taxes do benefit average Americans to some degree, but the wealthy to a far greater degree. A post at the DailyKos points out just how fundamentally wrong McCain is on this issue.

Investments contained in 401-K’s (Or in the case of ‘policemen, firemen’ usually a 403-B), pensions, IRAs, tax deferred variable annuities, and similar retirement vehicles aren’t subject to capital gains tax — they’re not taxed at all. Changing the capital gains tax rate will have zero effect on them. Withdrawals from tax deferred accounts by retirees are generally taxed at whatever the income tax rate is for that person at the time of withdrawal (Which, incidentally, is usually a hell of a lot more than the current long term capital gains tax rate, yet another way to rip off the middle class).

Many may dismiss anything from the DailyKos, but anyone with an understanding of our tax code and economy can confirm. Of course, people in the mainstream media discredit “far-left” bloggers at the DailyKos and other sites. The problem is, someone isn’t coming clean, and any deeper research reveals it’s the media. Many bloggers can be wrong about their facts, but they can also hyperlink ’til their heart’s content, allowing anyone reading the story to see the sources. Unfortunately, there exists no such option for the mainstream media. They quote and cite themselves as the expert, and we’re asked to accept it as fact.

I’ve always considered myself a moderate, although I’m sure many would call shenanigans. It’s just harder and harder to maintain any moderate views when our democracy has been so hijacked by ideologues who give most conservatives a bad reputation. A recent poll shows that 53% of Americans have an unfavorable view of the Republican Party, which I consider a shame, even though I admit I would like to see a Democrat win in November. A two-party system is divisive in some ways, but it can be divisive to the point of stalemate when the media decides to pick sides and report as a two-party media.

Jonathan Capehart of The Washington Post and Ryan Lizza of The New Yorker both deserve some serious credit for putting recent comments by Reverend Wright into real context, as I try to point out any time I see the truth told on TV. On today’s Hardball with Chris Matthews, both attempted to point out that Barack Obama has never aligned himself with the views of Reverend Wright. If he ever had, he’d already be out of this race. We know his pastor and his bowling score, now if only we didn’t have to look so hard for his positions on the issues.

Did you, for example, ever know a single fact about Joe Biden’s health care plan? Anything at all? But let me guess, you know Barack Obama’s bowling score. We are choosing a president, the next leader of the free world. We are not buying soap, and we are not choosing a court clerk with primarily administrative duties. – Elizabeth Edwards

TV analysts are the Bush administration’s Trojan Horse

The effort, which began with the buildup to the Iraq war and continues to this day, has sought to exploit ideological and military allegiances, and also a powerful financial dynamic: Most of the analysts have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess on air.

A lengthy article by David Barstow of the New York Times brings yet another Bush administration scandal to light. It details just how the administration planted “experts” branded as military analysts on cable news and talk radio to sell the war and keep it going. This is disturbing to say the least. It’s still early, but the fallout should be interesting.

A few expressed regret for participating in what they regarded as an effort to dupe the American public with propaganda dressed as independent military analysis.

“It was them saying, ‘We need to stick our hands up your back and move your mouth for you,’ ” Robert S. Bevelacqua, a retired Green Beret and former Fox News analyst, said.

Kenneth Allard, a former NBC military analyst who has taught information warfare at the National Defense University, said the campaign amounted to a sophisticated information operation. “This was a coherent, active policy,” he said.

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Though many analysts are paid network consultants, making $500 to $1,000 per appearance, in Pentagon meetings they sometimes spoke as if they were operating behind enemy lines, interviews and transcripts show. Some offered the Pentagon tips on how to outmaneuver the networks, or as one analyst put it to Donald H. Rumsfeld, then the defense secretary, “the Chris Matthewses and the Wolf Blitzers of the world.” Some warned of planned stories or sent the Pentagon copies of their correspondence with network news executives. Many — although certainly not all — faithfully echoed talking points intended to counter critics.

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There were also ideological ties.

Two of NBC’s most prominent analysts, Barry R. McCaffrey and the late Wayne A. Downing, were on the advisory board of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, an advocacy group created with White House encouragement in 2002 to help make the case for ousting Saddam Hussein. Both men also had their own consulting firms and sat on the boards of major military contractors.

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There’s a lot more, I just posted a teaser.

A collection of links and video on waterboarding

This will be sporadically updated and possibly organized better in the future. I want to have a good place to go for all of the information I constantly find myself sharing with people in chunks.

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7185648.stm

US national intelligence chief Mike McConnell says it would definitely be torture if HE were subjected to it.

• http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Highlevel_members_of_Administration_pressured_underlings_0402.html

There are some accusations of top level administration orders and pressure on underlings to follow-through with the torture. This is starting to have ‘war crimes’ written all over it.

• http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/03/our-torturous-vice-president/

Our Vice President and his chief of staff, David Addington were where the buck stopped for torture. At least until a memo surfaced with the president’s signature.

• http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/13/mccain-waterboarding-fail/

McCain was against waterboarding before he was for it!

• http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/004931.php

Torture gave them nothing but ‘crap’. If the information is useless, and you are still ‘ok’ with the torture, you’re just a sadist.

• http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=4631535

ABC News reporting that Dick Cheney had to OK the harsh interrogations.

• http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/07/opinion/meyer/main1981479.shtml

President Bush says we don’t torture. We’ve said we don’t, so we don’t.

• http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Waterboarding_drowning_water_torture_expert_testimony_1110.html

“This is not a simulation.”

• http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Romney_Ticking_time_bomb_justifies_torture_0113.html

Mitt Romney believes we must leave waterboarding open for the ticking time bomb. I wonder how effective drowning someone is in getting them to give up actionable intelligence? Making them go brain dead, temporary or no, will hinder any suspect’s ability to give credible information in the “ticking time bomb” scenario.

• http://www.newsweek.com/id/131298

Torture, specifically an internationally unacceptable method like waterboarding makes it harder for us to get criminals and terror suspects extradited. This is from an ally like the UK. There are just some times when you have to act as a responsible and moral nation and times you go in both guns blazing. After 9/11 we had the all clear to go into Afghanistan locked and loaded. We don’t have that anymore, and we never really had it with Iraq. Now it’s hurting our international relations and our ability to pursue our own justice against those who plot against us.

• http://arstechnica.com/journals/science.ars/2007/03/05/psychological-torture-as-damaging-as-physical-torture

Psychological torture is reported to be as damaging as physical torture.

• http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/06/07/sensory_deprivation/#

Sensory deprivation – the military’s number one form of ‘torture’.

• http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22548731-5001028,00.html

Not like we shape national security policy by what others think, but the Australians read that our House Majority Leader calls this torture. This is how our war on terror makes us less safe.

• http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-intel6feb06,1,1477654.story

The US government finally comes out and admits to waterboarding on February 6th, 2008. The memo referred to surfaced 2 months later.

• http://thinkprogress.org/2007/11/03/waterboarding-abc-news-levin/

Dan Levin, a former Department of Justice offical was forced out of his job after conducting his own tests on waterboarding and determining it was not legal. He actually underwent the procedure himself, a rare insight in this debate.

• http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/05/AR2008040502099.html

Could the president have a prisoner’s eyes poked out? John Yoo says maybe.

• http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/08/AR2007120801664.html?hpid=topnews

Some issues with the Democrats’ handling of this issue. It’s not like they’ve done anything since 2006 when they took over both houses of Congress. I still think a snake rots from the head, and that this president bred a climate in Washington that made it impossible to get anything done without kick-downs to his buddies at KBR and Halliburton.

• http://www.pensitoreview.com/2007/10/29/mukasey-wont-say-waterboarding-is-torture/

In 1947 the US condemned waterboarding as torture and yet our new Attorney General won’t admit it? That sounds barbaric.

• http://waterboarding.org/water-based_torture_history_with_pictures

A nice time line of the history of waterboarding, from the Spanish Inquisition to Cambodia POW camps circa 1975. I wonder how many other Inquisition torture techniques would work to maim our enemy and bring us more sadistic revenge for 9/11?

• http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110201170_pf.html

Waterboarding used to be a crime. In 1983 federal prosecutors charged a Texas sheriff and three deputies for violating civil rights by forcing confessions through waterboarding.

• http://thinkprogress.org/2007/11/28/romney-torture-black/

Former presidential hopeful and no-doubt future candidate Mitt Romney talks about deferring to a “counterterrorism expert” on the issue. His expert is connected to Blackwater, the independent contractor (see militia) group working in Iraq which is linked to at least 30 deaths of Iraqi civilians. Yeah, I’d say he’s considerate of human rights and the implications of condoning torture at a national level.

• http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/08/bush.torture.ap/index.html

As recently as March 8th, 2008 President Bush vetoed a bill banning waterboarding.

• http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Pres._Carter_US_tortures_prisoners_I_1010.html

President Carter argues he knows for a fact that the US tortures prisoners. Why not believe a former president, who has held that office and knows its inner-workings?

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5368360.stm

Then there are the reports that Iraqis feel the torture is worse in their country after Saddam Hussein’s regime has been removed. Who knows how widespread these feelings are, but it’s not a small matter when the administration already patronized us with phrases like “we’ll be greeted as liberators”.

• http://firedoglake.com/2008/02/13/mccain-standing-up-or-standing-down-on-torture/

McCain has talked a big game, but failed to deliver on a torture bill. His claim was that President Bush would inevitably veto the bill. Way to stand up to make sure no one in the military you wish to lead must endure what you went through for five and a half long years.

• http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/77151/

Congress’s priorities are reflected by the will of the public. A recent CNN poll showed tha 68 percent of Americans said waterboarding was torture.

So what does the White House claim? That the Congress is just being influenced by far-left bloggers. Thats hilarious, if 68 percent of Americans were doing what I am right now we’d be a far less productive nation.

• http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKN0852061620080208?rpc=401

The United Nations also believes that waterboarding should be prosecuted as torture. I know a lot of Americans are told to hate international governmental organizations, but we actually control the UN more than we have to go along with it. It takes a lot more for them to sanction us than for us to put harsh economic crunches on inter-war Iraq, for example.

Brave New Films on the unsuspecting civilians asked to carry out horrific acts, authorized at the highest level. Very powerful! It’s always interesting to hear the private thoughts of people carrying out these orders.

A Scranton native explains how it was partly John McCain’s father who helped communicate the warning of the military industrial complex to President Eisenhower. He also warns against military-funded think tanks.

Would waterboarding be torture if Iranians did it to our soldiers and civilians?

I doubt anything would actually come of this, but the idea of people being called on their transgressions and possibly even taking responsibilty for them gives me a warm feeling. Ahh…fantasy-land.

Matt Lauer confronts President Bush on waterboarding and torture. The president basically says “don’t look behind the curtain…” I wonder if he knows we’re smarter than this, or if he thinks he’s got us duped? Oliver Stone needs to use the song Big Balls by AC/DC in his docu-drama, maybe as W entrance music during the coke-daze in college.

Below are the declassified documents alleged to be memos authorizing torture, which are signed by President Bush. You be the judge, and we’ll see as people with resources investigate. Originally posted at DKos.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, saying that torture isn’t a violation of the 8th Amendment, not because it isn’t cruel or unusual, but because it isn’t punishment.

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