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Shaming the Devil: Imagine the People Who Would Be Alive Today....

Submitted by RegAv on September 6, 2005 - 5:15pm

IMAGINE ALL THE PEOPLE WHO MIGHT STILL BE ALIVE
HAD THE CORPORATE MEDIA NOT BETRAYED THEM!

A TvNewsLIES.org Accusation
http://tvnewslies.org/html/they_might_still_be_alive.html

There can be no higher law in journalism than to tell the truth and to shame the devil. - Walter Lippman

A SINGLE MOMENT OF TRUTH

Mouths are agape and praises are flowing. Applause and accolades are heard everywhere. Imagine! Just imagine! For the first time in five years, a handful of reporters and television pundits actually told the truth. For the first time in five years, the evidence was so clear and the consequences so shocking, that a few corporate news people who were witness to the horror that followed Katrina, actually found their own voices.

For the first time in five years, the Bush administration was publicly accused of being inept and dangerous and deceptive. Finally, some reporters who could no longer deny the obvious simply refused to play the White House game. For a brief moment in time, American television viewers heard the hard questions and learned the damaging truth about a painful and devastating disaster from the corporate sychophants themselves.

And guess what? In the wake of this terrible tragedy, the likes of Tim Russert, Shepard Smith, Geraldo Rivera, Jack Cafferty Anderson Cooper and yes, even Paula Zahn, were transformed into instant heroes. Why, because they were actually honest with the public? Why, because they refused to toe the corporate line and give George Bush another uncontested pass? Why, because on this one occasion they did what they should have been doing for the past five years? Exactly.

Only it’s too little, too late. Thousands are dead in Louisiana because no one asked questions when they should have been asked. All of the hoopla is taking place after the fact. And therein lies the greater horror. In the past few years, so many lives might have been saved, not only in New Orleans – but in so many parts of the world, had the media only raised the questions they was morally obligated to ask. The dead are dead, and they had no one in the corporate media to champion them. The silence of the news networks has been shamefully deafening and will remain predictably so for a long time.

But for a moment, imagine the numbers of people who might have lived had the corporate media not betrayed them. Imagine what might have been had George Bush and his band of thugs been confronted at every turn by the hard questions that should have been asked by honorable journalists? Just imagine what might have been if this administration had been held accountable for its lies and deceptions by the news networks and the press corps. Imagine how many thousands of people might still be alive. Imagine how many maimed bodies might still be whole. Imagine how much suffering might have been avoided. Just imagine.

YEARS OF BETRAYAL

There is so much, it can’t all be told here. There’s no time to retrace the way it all got started during the disgraceful election of 2000. But we can start with the attacks that horrified the nation and the world on 9/11. What if the right questions had been asked back then? What if fear and intimidation had not paralyzed the mainstream media? What if they had acted as watchdogs instead of our lapdogs? What if the media had demanded the truth instead of becoming complicit in the lies? What if? What if?

What if people in the corporate media back then had exhibited the kind of backbone we saw coming out of New Orleans? What if these ersatz journalists had mustered the real courage that was needed to investigate the discrepancies and the distortions about 9/11 and its aftermath that were coming out of the White House? What if they had challenged the dangerous lies of the warmongers who used 9/11 as a tool to catapult us into Iraq? What if?

What if someone, somewhere in some news network had refused to swallow the distortions then as they did now? What if even one reporter had demanded that the President, his handlers, or his hired guns answer the questions that the American people had the right to know? What if someone, somewhere in some news network had bothered to investigate and reveal even a minimal amount of truth to the American people? What if?

What if there had never been a war against Iraq because the truth had been exposed? What if a single corporate news network had challenged the lies about WMD’s and the Iraq - Al Qaeda connection? What if someone had revealed the PNAC pre-9/11 war plans and had exposed PNAC members in high positions in the Bush administration? What if even one corporate news network had refused be a cheerleader for “Operation Iraqi Freedom?” What if even one corporate journalist had publicly questioned the legality of an unprovoked invasion of a sovereign nation? And what if only one honest investigative reporter had stood up and denounced the “shock and awe” bombing of a vibrant, populated city of innocents? What if?

What if the lies had been reported and as a result, carte blanche war powers had not been given to George Bush? What if there had been no war? What if there had been no beheadings, no road side bombs, - no insurgency and no increase in terrorism? What if there had been no horrific torture of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan and Guantanamo? And what if Halliburton and the Carlyle group had not profited so handsomely from the destruction their friends in Washington had designed. What if?

What if tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians were still alive? And what if thousands more had healthy, unscarred bodies? And what if more than 2000 American and coalition troops were still alive? And what if thousands in the military were whole again in body and in mind? What if? Really, what if?

WHO WILL SHAME THE DEVIL?

Full article:
http://tvnewslies.org/html/they_might_still_be_alive.html

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Mr. Bush, you have brought

Submitted by colors on September 6, 2005 - 6:03pm.

Mr. Bush, you have brought this nation to its knees. Shame on you. May you rott in hell.

It is toolate for many,

Submitted by Msfitts on September 6, 2005 - 6:57pm.

It is too late for many, particularly in New Orleans, that is the horror and the shame.
We must work with the fact that, as was stated, many in the media could not, would not, deny what they saw with their own eyes. They SAW IT ALL and it did not matter what was coming out of the White House. This is key.
(And IMO, just because this time they told the unvarnished truth, it does not make them heroes. They just finally did what they should have been doing all along).
Part of the country has been brought to it's knees. The restis shakey because of the scope of this disaster. But we won't let it remain there, IN SPITE OF, George W. Bush.
This could be Dubya's Waterloo!

Priceless moment

Submitted by googa1 on September 6, 2005 - 7:21pm.

Sometimes Terry Moran rips the President a new one but what they showed tonight on the news was truly priceless. Terry Moran asked Scotty McClellan who is actually in charge of the government, who does the buck stop with in this administration! Scott with that totally dumbfounded look - probably looking for Jeff Gannon - admitted that George W. Bush is ultimately were the buck stops at. FINALLY! Now of course tomorrow, we will be doing the "let's not play the blame game" again.

EDIT: Found the transcript here at The House of Lies - AKA The White House

Go ahead, Terry.

Q I just want to follow up on David's questions on accountability. First, just to get you on the record, where does the buck stop in this administration?

MR. McCLELLAN: The President.

Q All right. So he will be held accountable as the head of the government for the federal response that he's already acknowledged was inadequate and unacceptable?

MR. McCLELLAN: The President's most important responsibility is the safety and security of the American people. He talks about that often. That is his most important responsibility. Again, there's going to be plenty of time to look at the facts and determine what went wrong and what went right and how the coordination was between the state and federal and local authorities. Right now we've got to continue doing everything we can in support of the ongoing operational activities on the ground in the region to help people.

Q Well, the President has said that this government can do many things at once: It can fight the war on terror, it can do operations in Iraq, and aid and comfort people in Louisiana. Can it not also find time to begin to hold people accountable? It sounds, Scott, as if the line that you're giving us -- which is, you don't want to answer questions about accountability because there's too much busy work going on --

MR. McCLELLAN: Wrong. No, wrong.

Q -- is a way of ducking accountability.

MR. McCLELLAN: You don't want to take away from the efforts that are going on right now. And if you start getting into that now, you're pulling people out that are helping with the ongoing response, Terry. Not at all. The President made it very clear, I'm going to lead this effort and we're going to make sure we find out what the facts were and what went wrong and what went right. But you don't want to divert resources away from an ongoing response to a major catastrophe. And this is a major catastrophe that we -- and we must remain focused on saving lives and sustaining lives and planning for the long-term. And that's what we're doing.

Q And there are people in Louisiana and Mississippi who are doing that job very well. Your job is to answer the questions.

MR. McCLELLAN: And I have.

Q By saying you won't answer.

MR. McCLELLAN: No, by saying that there's a time to look at those issues, but now is not the time, Terry.

"They want the federal government controlling Social Security

like it's some kind of federal program."

- George W. Bush in a debate in St. Charles, Mo., Nov. 2, 2000

Huh, Scott

Submitted by dinamic on September 7, 2005 - 10:39am.

Q In view of the national crisis, will the President withdraw his proposal for this tax cut for the richest people in the country? And, also, my second question is, why did we turn down foreign help?

MR. McCLELLAN: Actually, I'm glad you brought that up. We have not. We have made very clear -- I made clear last week, the State Department made clear last week that we are going to take people up on their offers of assistance from foreign countries. There are some 94 nations and international organizations that have made offers of assistance -- whether that is cash support or I think water pumps from places like Germany or other areas. We said that if this can help alleviate things on the ground, we're going to take them up on their offers of assistance and we appreciate the compassion from the international community and their offers of assistance.

Q And how about my first question?

MR. McCLELLAN: Your first question?

Q Biggest tax cut, permanent tax cut for the richest people in the country -- in view of the national crisis, in view of the deficit --

MR. McCLELLAN: The highest priority for this administration right now is the ongoing response and recovery efforts --

Q No, no, I'm asking you a question.

MR. McCLELLAN: And I'm responding to your question. The highest priority right now for this government is the ongoing Katrina response and recovery efforts and helping the people who need the help. There are other priorities, too, and we'll be working to address those, as well.

Q Has he made up his mind about that, the tax code, changing the tax code?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think he's made clear what his views are on other priorities.

Ok so what did he tell us?

Proud member of the reality based community.

trying to translate

Submitted by googa1 on September 7, 2005 - 4:38pm.

This is not the time to play the blame game. Katrina victims are at the top of the priority because that damn media isn't falling for Rove spin this time. We won't talk about tax "relief" because even people who aren't accountants can't figure out how the government is going to make the money magicly appear. The "other priorities" of this administration is trying to create a new way to tax the average citizen and not the wealthy. Karl is in the back room not ironing out some great new catch phrases for the dumb American public to swallow.

Don't be surprised to see a "terrorist" attack against the USA. Yes, I know that King George attacked his own people. Didn't we say we needed regime change in Iraq because Saddam wasn't caring for his people and how is this different? If we got hit again by Al-Qaeda then people won't blame Bush on raising our taxes. And don't think this little incompetence drill isn't going to help Osama out big time on his next attack. Bush has showed Osama that we are NOT prepared to deal with any problems.

"They want the federal government controlling Social Security

like it's some kind of federal program."

- George W. Bush in a debate in St. Charles, Mo., Nov. 2, 2000

Arianna Huffington

Submitted by dinamic on September 7, 2005 - 7:17pm.

Arianna Huffington: George Bush, David Caruso, and Katrina: Why Now Is Precisely the Time for Finger-Pointing

Here's one for the Hypocrisy Hall of Fame: At the same time the administration is putting Karl Rove's "pin-the-blame-on-the-locals" plan into effect, President Bush told reporters gathered at a cabinet meeting today, "I think that one of the things that people want us to do here is play a blame game. We've got to solve problems. We're problem solvers. There will be ample time for people to figure out what went right and what went wrong. What I'm interested in is helping save lives."

How noble. A week and thousands of lives too late... but noble. He makes it sound as if anyone interested in trying to figure out what went so horribly wrong in the aftermath of Katrina is somehow impeding the recovery. As if we can't help the victims and analyze the debacle at the same time. As if any time spent by reporters ferreting out the truth -- and by Congress overseeing -- would otherwise be spent tossing sandbags on the levee, disinfecting the Superdome, or driving evacuees to Houston.

As if those seeking answers will have blood on their hands.

That's certainly the ominous rhetorical tack being taken by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. He's all about moving forward, and not looking back (which isn't surprising given how many corpses he'd see in his personal rear-view mirror). "What would be a horrible tragedy," he said, "would be to distract ourselves from avoiding further problems because we're spending time talking about problems that have already occurred." Gee, Mr. Secretary, I thought that was called 'learning from your mistakes.'

So the White House is for time management and against "finger-pointing" -- a two-talking-points-for-the-price-of-one Chertoff scored when he asked, "What do you want to have us spend our time on now? Do we want to make sure we are feeding, sheltering, housing, and educating those who are distressed, or do we want to begin the process of finger-pointing?" Well, when you put it that way...

Also receiving the time management/finger pointing memo were White House spokesman Scott McClellan, WH communications director Dan Bartlett, and former FEMA director Joe Allbaugh:

"This is not a time for finger-pointing or playing politics," said Scotty.

"I know a lot of people right now want to point fingers and criticize, but people should keep their powder dry," said Allbaugh.

"If we focused more of our attention on decisions that have already been made, rather than those before us, there's potential for making far greater mistakes... We really don't have time to play the political game right now," echoed Bartlett.

With that kind of message discipline, how long before the media start parroting the party line? With a few brave exceptions like Jack Cafferty, the correct answer would be... right about now. "Not a great time for finger pointing is it?" asked Miles O'Brien on CNN's American Morning. "When you hear it's not the right time to point the finger, doesn't that seem reasonable?" asked anchor Carol Costello a few hours later on CNN's Daybreak. More here

http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20050907/cm_huffpost/006950

Proud member of the reality based community.

They cant finger it out yet

Submitted by wahoo on September 7, 2005 - 7:21pm.

Submarine   USS Wahoo  ss238

The only finger I am pointing at them
is the long middle one

They deserve everything they get, and should
be fired asap.

F- them all for letting this happen

That's what scares me - that

Submitted by Msfitts on September 7, 2005 - 7:50pm.

That's what scares me - that the media is returning to it's parroting of the "party line", the repetition of those key Rove inspired phrases, and it's obsequiousness regarding whatever the BA does.
It looked like there was going to be a change with the Katrina reporting. I don't want to see back pedaling.
Of course, the BA has gone into full press damage control. Will any media persons be able to resist??

Like B Bush

Submitted by dinamic on September 7, 2005 - 7:59pm.

they won't want to bother their pretty minds with this tragedy for long. I think that it was the shock of the picutres of the situation and the reports of what it was actually like on the ground that made the difference, but the mind will want to let it all go as soon as they can and soon things will be back to the way it was a week before the storm. We have to keep them on the real topics for as long as we can.

Proud member of the reality based community.

UnAmercian

Submitted by googa1 on September 7, 2005 - 8:02pm.

They will be calling anyone who questions this current situation "UnAmerican" before too much longer. Just like 9/11 and this war with Iraq, if you are against the Presidents agenda, then you are UnAmerican - well, Bush likes the Terra-ist word though.

"They want the federal government controlling Social Security

like it's some kind of federal program."

- George W. Bush in a debate in St. Charles, Mo., Nov. 2, 2000

He told us

Submitted by Msfitts on September 7, 2005 - 4:44pm.

He told us nothing........but.....if you've been watching or listening to this administration since the beginning, you know exactly what is being said.
Mr McClellan is getting alot of experience at tap dancing....perhaps he should try out for that reality show "So You Think You Can Dance?"

It's started...Censorship

Submitted by googa1 on September 7, 2005 - 7:21am.

U.S. agency blocks photos of New Orleans dead
07 Sep 2005 00:56:29 GMT

Source: Reuters

NEW ORLEANS, Sept 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. government agency leading the rescue efforts after Hurricane Katrina said on Tuesday it does not want the news media to take photographs of the dead as they are recovered from the flooded New Orleans area.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, heavily criticized for its slow response to the devastation caused by the hurricane, rejected requests from journalists to accompany rescue boats as they went out to search for storm victims.

An agency spokeswoman said space was needed on the rescue boats and that "the recovery of the victims is being treated with dignity and the utmost respect."

"We have requested that no photographs of the deceased be made by the media," the spokeswoman said in an e-mailed response to a Reuters inquiry.

The Bush administration also has prevented the news media from photographing flag-draped caskets of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq, which has sparked criticism that the government is trying to block images that put the war in a bad light.

The White House is under fire for its handling of the relief effort, which many officials have charged was slow and bureacratic, contributing to the death and mayhem in New Orleans after the storm struck on Aug. 29. (Additional reporting by Deborah Charles)

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N06101601.htm

Bush NOW wants to "show respect" to these people? He should have respected them BEFORE they died by trying to get these people out of area after the Hurricane.

"They want the federal government controlling Social Security

like it's some kind of federal program."

- George W. Bush in a debate in St. Charles, Mo., Nov. 2, 2000

Of course Bush doesn't want

Submitted by Msfitts on September 7, 2005 - 9:03am.

Of course Bush doesn't want anyone viewing/photgraphing the bodies of tbe victims, and it had nothing to do with respect. This is an attempt to regain control of the story coming out of New Orleans. The BA is attempting some sort of damage control.
You can be sure that it will hard to get an final accurate count of the dead either, because the BA won't want that released.

another white wash

Submitted by googa1 on September 7, 2005 - 9:28am.

And forced evaculations will help Bush hide the evidence even more with no civilian witnesses. We will have to rely the incompetent federal government to tell us the real damage of their inaction. Great - another white-wash!

"They want the federal government controlling Social Security

like it's some kind of federal program."

- George W. Bush in a debate in St. Charles, Mo., Nov. 2, 2000

I am going to keep pressing

Submitted by Msfitts on September 7, 2005 - 9:52am.

I am going to keep pressing the media, and my representatives, to keep full information regarding what's happening in New Orleans and elsewhere, flowing out.
No spin! No covering up! No white wash! We simply can't allow it.

The News Industry Is Our 4th branch of Government.

Submitted by Allexxis on September 7, 2005 - 7:48am.

Even though the media is NOW conducting the work that they are expected to do, it is still something that I am grateful for.

Our news industry is our 4th branch of Government. It's purpose is to report to us what the other 3 branches are doing. When that formula is tampered with or skewed that people should call it what it is...propaganda.

I am VERY HAPPY with CNN's new revised platform. For the last month they seem to have re-hauled everything and decided that coddling this Administration has not only give them power to do unimaginable things, but ruin there own ratings as well.

However, the best summed up report I have gotten this week has to be last nights Daily Show w/ Jon Stewart. Even though it is a spoof show, he and his cast slammed this President like no other.

The best line from that show, was from one of Jon's Correspondent's. The Correspondent (acting like a huge Bush supporter) was asked by Jon on what is the President's plan to fix NO. His response:

"Well Jon, The President is fighting this task head on by building a 5 Billion dollar dam in Arkansas".

Jon-"Why in Arkansas how is that going to help the people in NO!?"

"Well Jon our great President says we should take the fight against water in Arkansas so we won't have to fight it here in New Orleans".

You know what? We must not

Submitted by colors on September 7, 2005 - 8:02am.

You know what? We must not allow this. It is up to us to ensure the Bush administration does not try to white wash the victems of the most bungled and incompotent disaster relief efforts in the history of the United Sates. Hear me load and clear Mr. Bush:

You will not wash these blood stains from your hands as you did wit Iraq. Not this time. Never again!

NO MORE!

Submitted by PSW_1958 on September 7, 2005 - 8:21am.

FEMA has failed miserably to provide relief to those affected by Katrina and in fact has stopped intervention by other agencies.

This morning I got an email asking me to donate to FEMA.gov . Currently FEMA has not released any funds or provided any assistance and won't for at least another week according to news reports last evening, but are still asking for monetary donations. I guess they need the funds for legal representation to cover their asses when the spit hits the fan.

Until the government steps up to bat to help our own, I'm going to lobby for NO MORE FUNDS for ANY kind of foreign aide, the WAR or SPACE exploration. The war was proven to be a farce (no weapons of mass destruction) found. Thirty years ago they said there would be people living on the moon within a decade, IT"S NOT HAPPENING.

NO MORE! GOVERNMENT WASTE

NO MORE! GOVERNMENT LIES

NO MORE! DEATH AND DESTRUCTION OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

IMPEACH BUSH!!!!!!!!!!

Space exploration takes up

Submitted by Jim on September 7, 2005 - 9:30am.

Space exploration takes up zilch compared to other forms of spending.

Foreign aid, the altruistic form, takes up nada as well.

So did welfare then and now.

I agree with your broadest sentiments however.

FEMA needs the money because

Submitted by googa1 on September 7, 2005 - 9:35am.

FEMA needs the money because Bush has cut their budget so much that they have anything to run on even if they were not headed by a "horses ass." Bush has promised that he isn't going to throw the economy a curve by raising taxes so exactly how are we going to get out of this mess?

And then there are the president's standard lines: "It's not the government's money; it's your money," and, "One of the last things that we need to do to this economy is to take money out of your pocket and fuel government." Maybe Mr. Bush will now also tell us: "It's not the government's hurricane - it's your hurricane."

snip

As my Democratic entrepreneur friend Joel Hyatt once remarked, the Bush team's philosophy since 9/11 has been: "We're at war. Let's party." Well, the party is over.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/07/opinion/07friedman.html?th&emc=th

"They want the federal government controlling Social Security

like it's some kind of federal program."

- George W. Bush in a debate in St. Charles, Mo., Nov. 2, 2000

Whaaa?

Submitted by golfmonkey on September 7, 2005 - 7:52pm.

You got a solicitation for donations from FEMA? That's a little wierd, are you sure it's legit? That's like the ATF asking you for ammo. You'd think they'd have what was needed to do the job.

Be very careful! There are scam artists

Submitted by kwahlf on September 7, 2005 - 9:08pm.

bilking people out of their money under the
guise of donating to the rescue efforts.

If it sounds fishy- it probably is.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/HurricaneKatrina/story?id=1106006&page=1

Sept. 7, 2005 -- The American Red Cross has asked the FBI to investigate at least 15 fake Web sites that are designed to look like legitimate Red Cross appeals for donations to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

"It's outrageous what they are doing to American citizens who are giving their hard-earned money to help people who desperately need their help," said Mary Elcano, the general counsel for the American Red Cross. "There's no question in my mind that these are the lowest of the low."

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