It's become all too easy to predict the next move of the mainstream media. It reminds me of reading a poorly written movie script, in which anyone of even middling intelligence can guess the next twists and turns.
For instance, let's just say there are two Democrats - one from Pennsylvania and the other from Connecticut. One is a Representative, the other a Senator. One calls for a withdrawal of all American troops within six months and says 80 percent of Iraqis want the United States to leave immediately. The other says real, tangible progress is evident in Iraq, that more than two-thirds of Iraqis say they are better off than they were under Saddam Hussein and 82 percent believe they will be better off next year than this year. One calls our military "broken," "worn out" and living "hand to mouth," while the other praises not only the military's ingenuity and courage but that of its Iraqi Army counterparts as well.
Now guess: Which of these Democrats will receive major media play and which will have his words quietly swept under the rug?
Would it help if I told you their names were John Murtha, who can't seem to get out of the spotlight, and Joseph Lieberman, who can't seem to find it?
I'll bet you didn't even know Lieberman has been to Iraq. But it shouldn't really surprise anyone. After all, Lieberman's views don't mesh with those of the mainstream media, which would have you believe Iraq is an unwinnable quagmire where every other civilian is engaged in planting roadside bombs.
Still, one has to wonder exactly how "unwinnable" this war is when suicide attacks are at a seven-month low, when Iraqis are actively campaigning for next week's elections and when Iraqi Army troops are increasingly competent on their own. That has been the goal from the beginning - Iraqi autonomy - and now it is probably less than a year away. Less than a year from now, our troops will begin coming home and leaving behind a mission fulfilled.
But apparently, a year from now isn't fast enough for some like Murtha and fellow Democrat, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who realize a successful mission in Iraq will deprive the Democratic party of its only salient talking point and force it to come up with an actually coherent agenda.
And the media - obliging accomplice that is usually is - remains more than willing to give Murtha a soapbox. They even go so far as to label him a "hawkish" Democrat, despite the fact he has been an opponent of the Iraq war since before it began. Apparently, the media believes painting Murtha as an erstwhile war supporter gives him more credibility. Far be it for them to let a little thing like the truth stop them.
The same media that love to hype Republican opposition to the war conveniently look the other way when a Democrat is an ardent supporter of it. Fortunately, Republicans called Murtha's bluff, and a vote for immediate withdrawal failed miserably. When it came down to it, apparently Murtha and Pelosi were more interested in talking points and poll numbers than actual action.
There is an entirely separate controversy over the U.S. Army pushing positive stories in the Iraqi media - maybe it needs to re-deploy and focus its attention on the U.S. media first. That might be the only way to get the blinkered and anemic old media to wake up and smell the progress.
Write to Tim at
redbaron.strikesagain@gmail.com
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