Friday - July 28, 2006

Media Morons, Parts I And II

Part I: I think we can safely surmise, based on the report below from the NY SLIMES, that the editors there are going to need a change of underwear. I sense an overwhelming sense of satisfaction in the wording. They’re probably dancing in the corridors up there by now. The SLIMES has done everything in its power to interfere, obstruct and spin the war to suit their Leftist readers.

I particularly noticed the part below about “an outpouring of newspaper columns, cartoons, blogs and public poetry readings (?) have showered praise on Hezbollah”. I’m sorry. I just don’t see it. I cruise both sides of the blogosphere aisle and I have yet to see that kind of madness. Perhaps the SLIMES is looking at the wrong blog sites? We already know that if they’re reading their own articles they’re reading the wrong newspaper. And what does “poetry reading” have to do with any aspect of this war ... unless they’re referring to “Ode To Flat Rachel” which I’m currently working on ... but I can’t seem to find a word that rhymes with “caterpiller”.

Tide of Arab Opinion Turns to Support for Hezbollah
_{(NEW YORK TIMES) - DAMASCUS, Syria - July 28, 2006}

At the onset of the Lebanese crisis, Arab governments, starting with Saudi Arabia, slammed Hezbollah for recklessly provoking a war, providing what the United States and Israel took as a wink and a nod to continue the fight.

Now, with hundreds of Lebanese dead and Hezbollah holding out against the vaunted Israeli military for more than two weeks, the tide of public opinion across the Arab world is surging behind the organization, transforming the Shiite group’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, into a folk hero and forcing a change in official statements.

The Saudi royal family and King Abdullah II of Jordan, who were initially more worried about the rising power of Shiite Iran, Hezbollah’s main sponsor, are scrambling to distance themselves from Washington.

An outpouring of newspaper columns, cartoons, blogs and public poetry readings have showered praise on Hezbollah while attacking the United States and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for trumpeting American plans for a “new Middle East” that they say has led only to violence and repression.

Even Al Qaeda, run by violent Sunni Muslim extremists normally hostile to all Shiites, has gotten into the act, with its deputy leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, releasing a taped message saying that through its fighting in Iraq, his organization was also trying to liberate Palestine.

Mouin Rabbani, a senior Middle East analyst in Amman, Jordan, with the International Crisis Group, said, “The Arab-Israeli conflict remains the most potent issue in this part of the world.”

Distinctive changes in tone are audible throughout the Sunni world. This week, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt emphasized his attempts to arrange a cease-fire to protect all sects in Lebanon, while the Jordanian king announced that his country was dispatching medical teams “for the victims of Israeli aggression.” Both countries have peace treaties with Israel.

The Saudi royal court has issued a dire warning that its 2002 peace plan — offering Israel full recognition by all Arab states in exchange for returning to the borders that predated the 1967 Arab-Israeli war — could well perish.

“If the peace option is rejected due to the Israeli arrogance,” it said, “then only the war option remains, and no one knows the repercussions befalling the region, including wars and conflict that will spare no one, including those whose military power is now tempting them to play with fire.”

- More drivel at NY SLIMES ...

Part II: meanwhile over at NEWSWEAK, columnist Christopher Dickey (what’s in a name, eh?) is already reading the eulogy for Israel and declaring Hezbollah the winner. The man must assume he is psychic. Like all the other Liberal journalists at NEWSWEAK, he can’t understand why Israel is “fighting fair” by warning civilians before attacks and not rendering the whole area a wasteland.

He, along with his seemingly anti-semitic friends, put pressure on the Israelis to fight with one hand tied behind their backs while praising Hezbollah for putting up such a “valiant fight.” Of course, the opportunity must also not be missed to blame Bush for this whole mess. Typical.

Let It Bleed
Leaders at the Rome summit on the Mideast are
ignoring the real bottom line: Hizbullah is winning.
By Christopher Dickey
_{(NEWSWEEK) - 2:57 p.m. CT July 26, 2006}

Worthy-sounding meetings of ministers, like the International Conference for Lebanon held in Rome today, rarely get very much done. The participants here were high-powered, to be sure: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the prime minister of the country in question, Fouad Siniora, plus a slew of Europeans and Arabs (but no Israelis or Hizbullahis). Instigated by Washington, it was all for show.
Story continues below ↓ advertisement

The assembled dignitaries expressed their “determination to work immediately to reach with the utmost urgency a ceasefire” in the war that started two weeks ago today when the Hizbullah militia crossed the border to capture two Israeli soldiers, and Israel responded with a massive counterattack the length and breadth of Lebanon. But, at American insistence, the ceasefire would have to be one that’s “lasting, permanent and sustainable.” Which means the flames searing Lebanon, threatening Israel and endangering the most volatile region in the world will go on for weeks, if not months, to come. The consolation prize: a promise of “immediate humanitarian aid.”

Imagine, if you will, that arsonists have set your apartment block on fire. You call 911 and plead for help. The dispatcher tells you of her “determination to work immediately with the utmost urgency” to douse the flames, but only if plans can be agreed on for the new building to be erected when the decrepit old one has gone up in smoke. She’s stalling, hoping the arsonists will be eliminated by the conflagration. And she’s got a great vision for the way that block should look some day. That’s what counts. Not your furniture, or for that matter, your family inside … No wonder Siniora looked distraught as the conference closed.

But as irrational as the politicians who make policy may be, the professionals in their entourages often understand reality quite well. And in the corridors of today’s conference I met several men and women who, on background or off the record (meaning they were afraid of losing their jobs if caught talking too frankly) laid out a picture of the situation in the Middle East right now that was convincing, frightening, and seems to have escaped the notice of Dispatcher Rice altogether.

The bottom line: Hizbullah is winning. That’s the hideous truth about the direction this war is taking, not in spite of the way the Israelis have waged their counterattack, but precisely because of it. As my source Mr. Frankly put it, “Hizbullah is eating their lunch.”

- More negative vibes at NEWSWEAK ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 07/28/2006 at 10:29 AM   
Filed Under: • Media-Bias •  
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