Politics and Press

The interaction of the press and politics; public diplomacy, and daily absurdities.

Press

George Will: Miss Manners to the Political Stars

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I have always been puzzled by the notoriety of George Will. His writing is pompous, self-important, obtuse, and almost always off in defense of whichever Republican is in or near the white House. He has a history of dishonest journalism, kissing up to Republican presidents and slapping down anyone suggesting there are wrongs to be righted. He once wrote a speech for President Reagan and then complimented Reagan on the speech in a TV news broadcast – forgetting to mention that he was its author; he writes silly, yuppie sports columns on his adorable Chicago Cubbies, and he is one of the last defenders of the current President. Recently he turned into a Miss Manners, commenting on the egregious sins of Senator-elect Webb who refused to follow the George Will Book of Polite Suck Ups in dealing with President Bush.

I am grateful to one John Hanchette for alerting me to a recent Will column. Hanchette’s aptly-named piece, PRISSY PANTYWAIST GEORGE WILL POUTS OVER WAR HERO’S OFF-THE-CUFF REMARKS, appeared in a weekly, the Niagara Falls Reporter, and is a wonderful and entertaining description of Will’s foibles as a journalist, analyst and writer. Read it and laugh.

It is unfortunately symptomatic of the state of American journalism that a solid criticism of Will appears in a small weekly while the big boys and girls of media go about the business of slapping each other on the back. Will pontificates in sanctimonious terms in Newsweek, the Washington Post and on Sunday morning TV talk shows. He is a triple threat polluter.

Iraq Reality vs. President Bush

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In an earlier posting to this blog the point was made that as a lameduck president George W. Bush has nothing to lose other than whatever shreds of dignity might cling to him. We now await the Baker-Hamilton report which is widely reported to include recommendations for phased withdrawal of American troops as well as direct negotiations with Iran and Syria. But we are in the Bush universe and President Bush will commit to neither while his pal Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki, says he is ready for both and Iraqi President Talabani has just concluded a visit to Iran where he received a commitment of $1billion for reconstruction.

The only point here is that we have a president who simply refuses to recognize reality. Indeed, he is reminiscent of President  Nixon when he went bonkers in the aftermath of Watergate. So the danger is real that as leader of the free world, Bush will stay the course in Iraq, bomb Iran and ignore Syria while Lebanon burns.

Since a strike at North Korea’s nuclear sites would risk the death of hundreds of thousands of South Koreans Bush is unlikely to act there – but he is equally unlikely to open direct one-on-one negotiations without getting some concessions in advance – which is not really negotiating at all.

Some, including most of the press, ignore the fact that leaders have psychologies and that these can drive actions. Stubborn commitment to failed policies, an unwillingness to recognize or address reality, an inability to hear differing points of view, a refusal to admit mistakes – these are all characteristics of a person we would not trust with a business let alone an entire nation.

From Russia, With Love

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There was much glee in the West in 1989 as the Soviet Union imploded and the Cold War came to its supposed end. There was considerable optimism a few years later regarding the future of democracy in Russia when Boris Yeltsin stood on a tank and successfully resisted a takeover by old-style communist apparatchiks. The conversion appeared complete to President Bush when he looked into Putin’s eyes and saw his soul. His strange friendship – or is it a kinship? – with Putin continues in the face of clear evidence that Russia is heading down a far different road than we had once hoped.

Journalists critical of the Putin regime are attacked and not infrequently murdered (42 journalists have been killed in Russia since 1992), foreign–based NGOs are restricted by obscure licensing requirements, Radio Liberty and Voice of America are being forced out of long-standing re-broadcast agreements with Russian radio stations, and the Russian press has been cowed into a quiet acquiescence;  or risk an unfortunate accidental death by poison or gunshot.

The apparent murder of Alexander Litvinenko, the former KGB spy, in London is only the latest in a series of alarming events. The Committee for the Protection of Journalists has reported that 42 journalists have been murdered in Russia since 1992 but this apparent murder has implications of  future nuclear terrorism.

Meanwhile the Bush administration shows no interest in supporting international broadcasting into Russia at a time when its people depend on outside sources for its news. The budget for Radio Liberty, the premier American Russian language broadcaster has been seriously reduced which serves Mr. Putin’s interests. Since the money is a small issue perhaps the kinship between gut-level authoritarian leaders calls the shots.

“Civil War” or “Faith-Based Melee”?

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The Bush administration is wrangling with the press over whether to call whatever is happening in Iraq a “Civil War”. While Jon Stewart has come up with “Faith-Based Melee” as a possible reference, President Bush spends more time trying to define it as something it is not than figuring out how to stop the bleeding. Bleeding which he started; by choice, not necessity. When the discussion moves into these kind of surreal details it is clear that the game is up and that we are watching the death twitches of a miserably failed operation. The next step will be to announce that the operation was a success but – alas – the patient died of his own hand. For a short but sweet discussion of the great Iraq War Terminology Debate go to the American Journalism Review website for Rem Reider’s take on it all, which includes this straight-forward advice to America’s journalists:

“At any rate, the Bush administration isn’t the nation’s copy desk chief, at least the last time I checked. America’s newspapers and TV stations and news Web sites should start calling the Iraq war what it is, not what someone wishes it were.”

Run-up to Iran??

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Seymour Hersh reports in this week’s New Yorker that while VP Cheney (and presumably the President) are seriously considering preemptive bombing of nuclear facilities in Iran, they are sitting on a report from the CIA indicating that there is no evidence that Iran is actually moving toward production of nuclear weapons. Hersh is careful to point out that the CIA report is not definitive in terms of eliminating the possibility, but he maintains that the report is being purposely ignored by the administration.

Hersh then morphs into a discussion of a range of issues around the decision-making apparatus in the Bush White House during a time of lame duck presidency, control-freak vice-presidency, and Geroge H.W. Bush bringing in his troops to salvage junior’s presidency. It is not a pretty sight and is full of real-world ambiguities. Read the Hersh piece for a look into the surreal world of the Bush Presidency.

Also – ask yourself why I can find discussion of the Hersh piece in the press in Germany, Turkey, China, and France – but virtually nothing in the U.S. mainstream press. When Bob Woodward, the Bush Court Stenographer, publishes his notes form conversations with the powerful the press is all over it. When Sy Hersh, perhaps the last of the great investigative journalists in America breaks a story everyone waits to see what the competition says about it before they even describe it, let alone comment on it.

For what it is worth the Bush White House commented that the Hersh story had no merit. Pretty much what they said when he broke the Abu Ghraib story.

International Broadcasting News

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Al Jazeera International (AJI) begins broadcasting in English from studios in Washington, DC today with a staff that includes former “Nightline” anchor Dave Marash.  It is unlikely that AJI will attract a large listenership in the U.S. for reasons both ideological and practical.  The station will not be carried in the U.S. by cable giant Comcast and, in fact, it is difficult to find out just who will carry it. This is unfortunate since it seems worthwhile for Americans to have an opportunity to assess the network on its own merits and to learn something about the Arab world and its views on events. The U.S. administration, especially the Defense Department has been highly critical of its Arabic broadcasts and for its willingness to broadcast Osama Bin Laden videotapes. But a country that can put up with Rush Limbaugh and the O’Reilly Factor ought to be able to listen to Al Jazeera without losing its collective marbles.

In an unrelated story…President Bush has renominated Ken Tomlinson as Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors and for a term on the Board expiring in 10 months.  The Board oversees Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Radio and TV Marti and several emerging broadcast initiatives in the Middle East. Tomlinson has been criticized for financial irregularities, but most likely these are in part a smokescreen for more substantive issues related to the declining quality of U.S. international broadcasting. More on the general topic of U.S. international broadcasting later.

LA Times Reporters Warn of Dems’ Seeking Action

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Well, on the 12th of November the dust had settled and it was time to begin warning of the impending disaster of the Democrats believing they had actually won the election. In a piece of journalism designed to bring the great press critic A.J. Liebling back from dead, the LA Times warns: “…Some of the very activists who helped propel the Democrats to a majority in the House and Senate last week are claiming credit for the victories and demanding what they consider their due: a set of ambitious — and politically provocative — actions on gun control, abortion, national security and other issues that party leaders fear could alienate moderate voters and leave Democrats vulnerable to GOP attacks as big spenders or soft on terrorism….”

We just went through a period of Republican rule that has given us an untenable, counterproductive war, tax breaks for the very very wealthy, a prescription drug program that is a gift to big Pharma, a deficit that mortgages the country to China, faith-based initiatives aimed at eliminating the division between church and state, the demise of habeas corpus, illegal wiretapping of U.S. citizens, use of torture to get questionable information, a refusal to use diplomacy to attack serious challenges abroad, the loss of allies’ trust and faith in the U.S. – the list goes on.

And what do we have from the LA Times? Omigod, the people who won the election actually believe they won the election! They might actually try to use that fact to change the direction of the country. The Times article warns of attempts to reduce health costs, to force the executive to follow constitutional law and to find a way out of Iraq.

The Democrats won the election and it is their turn. And while they certainly have the capacity to screw it up it is very difficult to imagine a more incompetent, venal Congress that the one that is currently embarking on a lame duck flurry of unpleasant and unwanted actions.

We can expect more of this kind of thinking (sic) in the press; the view that the Democrats must be careful and not fulfill the promise of their victory. We need a more competent press and it is papers like the LA Times that need to serve that role.

TV Election Coverage Through a Jaundiced Eye

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The current Low Post section of Rolling Stone’s online site has Matt Taibbi’s diary notes made while watching the election results on TV.  These are not for the young or the pious; they are for the news junkie who wonders why they fell asleep early last Tuesday night. Politicsandpress commented on the mindlessness of TV coverage in its earlier blog: “TV or Not TV”.  But Taibbi managed to stay awake long enough to provide greater detail.  Read and laugh and/or weep.

Spanking Jumbo*

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There is little to add to the words from all quarters about the election.  But a few random thoughts;

Much of the press’s analysts (sic) began almost immediately asking what the new Democrat-controlled party will do about Iraq. Their thinking (sic again) seems to be that since they don’t like what Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld have done it is time to put up or shut up.  The problem with this approach is that the war is the President’s – he bought it and owns it. Journalists should not have to be reminded that in the United States form of government the President manages foreign policy and serves as Commander-in-Chief.  This is simple high school government class stuff and the likes of Chris Matthews et alia need to get out their old textbooks.

My Kiwi friend reminds me that the Congress can have an enormously positive impact in two important domestic policy areas: stem cell research and cost of drugs.  I would add health care costs in general and tax reform for the middle class, and environmental issues.  One problem will be that the GOP Congress created so many messes that just managing the agenda will be a challenge.

Some journalists have referred to the possibility of the new Congress holding hearings on issues related to the war, energy policy, and environmental issues as “vengeance”.  The checks and balances that have served the interests of the American people for over two hundred years require such hearings. For example, shortly before the election the administration eliminated the office of the inspector general for the Iraq War.  This must not stand and the Congress is where it can be revived in spirit if not in fact.

The long overdue firing of Rumsfeld will mean little as long as the president continues to live in his fantasy world. Gates is, by most accounts, a smart guy who will work with James Baker and Lee Hamilton to extricate us from this Dubya disaster but the president really needs to face the reality he created and to work with the new Congress to find an honorable way out of his dishonorable war. At his press conference yesterday the president continued to operate in his state of denial although he talks less and less of “victory” and more and more of the need for the Iraqis to take over. We shall see.

Finally, this political upheaval presents opportunities to rebuild relationships between the U.S. and its long-suffering allies.  There is no need to pile on here – only to recognize that the U.S. has lost prestige, honor and friends during the Bush years and we can hope that this election is the first step on the long road back

* With apologies to Matt Taibbi, author of “Spanking the Donkey” the best book on the press and the politics of the 2004 presidential campaign.

Kerry Healey: Lessons Not Learned

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The race for governor of Massachusetts was characterized by nasty, not-so-subtly racist ads by Kerry Healey. I commented in this blog at the time that channeling Lee Atwater at his worst was not an especially effective approach in Massachusetts and that the lesson that Atwater learned, that “…you can acquire all you want and still feel empty. [that] It took a deadly illness to bring me eye to eye with that truth, but it is a truth that the country, caught up in its ruthless ambitions and moral decay, can learn on my dime.’ Healey did not learn this lesson, suffering a devastating defeat (21 percentage points!).

In this morning’s Boston Globe the youngsters who ran her campaign (Tim O’Brien and Stuart Stevens) defended their approach while seeking to shift blame to the Massachusetts Teacher’s Union, the candidate herself and her mentor (Governor in Absentia) Mitt Romney. From the Globe: “her advisers defend their approach, saying that Healey was in the race to win. Running an upbeat, positive campaign from that point would have amounted to surrender.
“It’s actually quite liberating, because once you understand that, your direction was very clear,” said Tim O’Brien, Healey’s campaign manager.”
There are no regrets expressed by Healey’s campaign staff on the quality of their campaign – only a lackluster blame of the voters who when offered raw meat, refused to bite.