According to Ralph Peters, the Iraqi civil war so dreaded only a few days ago is a chimera. He takes his article the inevitable one step further: You are being lied to. By elements in the media determined that Iraq must fail. Just give ‘em the Bronx cheer.
If this is true – and I think it is to a great degree – then the sadness inherent in it is monumental. The Bronx cheer may make some people feel good (not me), but it won’t fix much.
PJM Home
Pajamas Media appreciates your comments that abide by the following guidelines:
1. Avoid profanities or foul language unless it is contained in a necessary quote or is relevant to the comment.
2. Stay on topic.
3. Disagree, but avoid ad hominem attacks.
4. Threats are treated seriously and reported to law enforcement.
5. Spam and advertising are not permitted in the comments area.
The clause regarding "hate speech" has been deleted because readers criticized it as being too loosely defined. We agreed.
These guidelines are very general and cannot cover every possible situation. Please don't assume that Pajamas Media management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment. We reserve the right to filter or delete comments or to deny posting privileges entirely at our discretion. If you feel your comment was filtered inappropriately, please email us at story@pajamasmedia.com.
9 Comments
1. David Thomson:Donít blame me. Iíve taken it for granted that the war in Iraq was won long ago. The evidence is on my side. The terrorists are murdering far less than one percent of the total population. Most Iraqis remain mostly unaffected by the violence. The economy is growing—perhaps by leaps and bounds. Itís as simple as that. Why do some people like William F. Buckley get hysterical? This is because he probably still reads the New York Times and Washington Post on a daily basis. Heís only getting confused by their trashy journalism. I rarely, if ever, visit their websites. There are better things to do.
Mar 1, 2006 - 8:08 am 2. Roger:I understand your feelings, DT, but the only way to change a culture is to get in and battle it … unless you can convince everyone else to join your boycott, but that hasn’t worked so far.
Mar 1, 2006 - 8:27 am 3. Brentbo:I tell my leftist friends that civil war in Iraq is probably too much to hope for, but we can reasonably expect continued violence provided that it receives good press.
Mar 1, 2006 - 8:51 am 4. David Thomson:ìI understand your feelings, DT, but the only way to change a culture is to get in and battle it … unless you can convince everyone else to join your boycott, but that hasn’t worked so far.î
Feelings? I prefer to consider my attitude as the result of meticulous logical analysis. My boycott, however, is not absolute. I make it a point to read the pieces published in the New York Times and Washington Post—if another blogger links to them. Does this make me something of a hypocrite? Yes, I am guilty as charged. I guess I am letting others do the dirty work for me. These people should admittedly be thanked for their self-sacrifice. They are similar to the professinal movie reviewers obligated to watch a newly released film staring Paris Hilton. Somebodyís got to do it. Thank God that itís not me! My main point is this: we should pay as little attention to the MSM as possible. They are not going to completely disappear overnight. Still, the water is slowly leaking out of the tub.
Mar 1, 2006 - 8:55 am 5. BarCodeKing:Is the MSM lying to us? Well, duh! Whether it’s bogus polls (C-BS: “Bush Popularity Drops to 34%!”) or slanted, inaccurate stories (”Bush Giving Away Security of U.S. Ports to Arabs!”), the Grima Wormtongues of the MSM are waging agenda journalism against the Bush administration, hissing lies and distortions into our ears.
Mar 1, 2006 - 10:05 am 6. MarkD:I’m with David. I avoid them. Shrinking circulation dries up both the revenue from subscriptions, and the advertising revenue as well.
If I played the market, I’d short their stock. Absent that, I get actual enjoyment from watching them tank.
I’d feel guilty about deriving pleasure from the pain of others, but they have no compunction about publishing information that makes my life less safe. So in response to their declining circulation, “faster, please.”
Mar 1, 2006 - 10:09 am 7. OJ:The MSM has an ulterior motive – shame and disgrace our President at all cost.
Just reviewing the major stories from last week – Iraqi civil war not included – paints a nasty image of what is happening here. We have an obligation to fight back! This is War!
Mar 1, 2006 - 10:55 am 8. RAZ:Detainee abuse? From Iraq the Model, discussing the documentary evidence submitted in Saddam’s trail….
The documents revealed some unbelievably terrifying facts about the Dujail massacre; can you imagine that when orders were given to execute the 148 “convicts” the prison authorities executed only 96 of them. Why?
Mar 1, 2006 - 11:23 am 9. Steven Mitchell:Because the remaining 48 “convicts” had already passed away during “interrogation”!!
What kind of interrogation was that killed one third of the suspects?!
“I understand your feelings, DT, but the only way to change a culture is to get in and battle it … unless you can convince everyone else to join your boycott, but that hasn’t worked so far.”
I’m learning not to discount the power of outright mockery. Conservatives aren’t good at (with a few exceptions). Our mockery leans more to the understated or crosses over into brutal satire, given free rein. OTOH, the current MSM provides so many fast balls across the plate that even a mocker with one hand tied behind his back can connect occasionally.
I’ve noticed that the mocking the MSM has improved substantially since the Dems have driven more of the middle into the GOP by default.
Mar 1, 2006 - 11:43 am