kazoo
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Re: Ray McGovern article
An interesting look from FAIR.org, “How did TV News Talk About Torture in Coverage of the Torture Report?”
How Did TV News Talk About Torture in Coverage of the Torture Report?
I would say instead though that the “partisan bickering” talking point seems more of a straw man constructed to evade any real discussion of torture, leading to the conclusion of “nothing of substance will result from this (so-called) report b/c ….”
Biting the hands that feed them? Doubtful at this moment
excerpt:
———-Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer (12/14/14) was the only host to offer an opinion on this issue. He said the CIA “went too far in the interrogation practices it adopted,” but that it is “hard” for him to “condemn those who were trying to prevent a second attack” after 9/11. Schieffer did not once use “torture” to describe the CIA’s interrogation methods, but euphemistically described them as “ghastly practices.” Schieffer interviewed torture defenders Rep. Mike Rogers, Sen. Saxby Chambliss and former CIA Director Michael Hayden.
The only times Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace (12/14/14) even uttered the word “torture” was to ask whether or not the CIA’s activities legally constituted torture. Two of the guests Wallace interviewed helped implement torture: former White House adviser Karl Rove and CIA Deputy Director Jose Rodriguez.
State of the Union host Candy Crowley (12/7/14, 12/14/14) only used “torture” three times in two episodes, largely avoiding using it when speaking to prominent officials or members of the intelligence community: George W. Bush, House Intelligence Committee Chair Rep. Mike Rogers, fellow committee member Rep. Peter King and military officer Steven Kleinman, who was the only one she interviewed that opposed torture. When interviewing King, Crowley was more interested in asking him about how the CIA can “get its reputation back.” Such softball questions create great platforms for torture hawks like King, who insisted the CIA did an “excellent job” in preventing terrorist attacks.
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Can we learn? I think we have to.
Raleigh,
from what I’ve seen in the past 14 years these terrorist attacks have the greatest impact on the mainstream Muslim population and *their* freedoms of speech.
These people suffer the most, both in Arab nations dealing day-to-day with “Terror Wars” (in all it’s fury), and as Muslims living in Western nations dealing with Western responses (in all it’s volume).
I also think there is a huge question mark within the form of payoff in the extreme media coverage garnered. I was pretty shocked to learn when these attacks happen, people who live in places so remotely removed that you wouldn’t imagine them feeling connected to the events, are aware of them and hear of them exactly as you do or I do, and that these stories dominate their media and consciousness too.
It’s seriously worth contemplating our global psyche more deeply.
The corporations and their transgressions?
Another story, as this one already dominates.———————————–
“Because no battle is ever won he said. They are not even fought. The field only reveals to man his own folly and despair, and victory is an illusion of philosophers and fools.”
― William Faulkner, The Sound and the FuryFree speech, yes. But, remember that with that freedom comes a host of responsibilities, restrictions against libel, slander, hate speech, and depending on the nature of your speech even some risks (the inevitable outcomes of choice).
I know the trend for the past 4 decades has been that of constantly pushing boundaries, but there is a difference between being a bit provocative and deliberately poking the bear. Certain types of jabs and slights are going to (predictably) set off certain types of people.
After the 1993 World Trade Center bombing attempt in the car garage (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_World_Trade_Center_bombing) it was not an unreasonable prediction to make that the group(s) behind it would try again. Given Bin Laden’s position in 2008 (https://www.reuters.com/article/2008/03/20/us-security-binladen-idUSN1933824120080320) and the suicide bombing attack in Sweden in 2010, this risk this magazine was taking must have been very clear to them.
