Journos Gone Wild

If you're looking for proof of media bias -- but why would a sensitive, intelligent person like you be looking for any more proof? -- check out this:

A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that President Bush and top administration officials issued hundreds of false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The study concluded that the statements "were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses." (AP)

What were the misstatements that these evil, evil men used to lead "the nation to war on the basis of erroneous information that it methodically propagated and that culminated in military action against Iraq on March 19, 2003?" You already know the answer, don't you?

The study counted 935 false statements in the two-year period. It found that in speeches, briefings, interviews and other venues, Bush and administration officials stated unequivocally on at least 532 occasions that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or was trying to produce or obtain them or had links to al-Qaida or both.

Holy cow! No WMDs!! How fresh! Let me think ... there's probably a slogan in there somewhere ... Bush ... Bush lied! Bush lied and ... and ... ah, forget it.

How many intelligence agencies thought Saddam had WMDs? America, France, Germany, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt ... am I leaving anyone out? Apparently the two nonprofit journalism organizations, the and the Fund for Independence in Journalism missed these minor details.

Iran's al-Qaeda links, while not exactly hot stuff worth fighting wars over, did exist and have been documented.

Let's just say this about the Center on Public Integrity: It was founded by Charles Lewis, a one-time 60 Minutes producer, because he didn't think the media was doing a good enough job of investigating "'the systematic problems hampering government and the political process."

So think of his little cabal as Dan Rather on steroids.

And the Fund for Independence? Well the purpose of its existence is to fund the Center on Public Integrity. And it owes its existence to one George Soros, the major money man pulling the strings behind the scenes.

If shouting "No WMDs!" at this point is what constitutes better journalistic investigating than the mainstream media offers, then Charles Lewis has a very small vision indeed.