A whole friggin media industry serving up stupid pie
August 12th, 2008, 1:11 pm · 2 Comments · posted by jhogg
Occasionally the Ball Gunner gets so incensed at the tripe passed of as objective fact that he wants to follow the advice of Hank from a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court and, “Hang the whole human race and end the farce.”
In general, military matters are poorly reported. I can resign myself to this inevitability. But when stupidity bleeds into sheer revisionism and a propaganda campaign so intense that its almost questionable that it occurred accidentally, then the Ball Gunner gets his scowl on.
This recent incident, a frilly little war involving a dispute that has been going on for near a thousand years, has sent the bed wetters into overdrive. The Russians! They’re coming to get us. We must run and be afraid. AHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Let’s look at the headlines from the recent Georgia- Russia conflict.
August 8 from the Telegraph:
Caucuses in crisis: Georgia invades South Ossetia
Read the headline CAREFULLY. Who did what to whom? Who started all this?
August 11 from Global Financial News:
Bush slams Russia for Georgian Invasion, calls relationship “damaged”
Finally, we come to today, August 12, From the LA Times:
U.S. has few military options in Russia response
Really? Four days? It only took FOUR &*$%#@& DAYS to spin this into the EXACT OPPOSITE of what happened?
Let’s look at a few more.
I loved the BIG FARGING stink made about Russia bombing the airports, port and infrastructure.
Reuters on August 10:
Tblisi civilian airport hit in Russian air strike
To give you a good contrast, here is CNN on July 16, 2006 during the Lebanon-Israeli dustup:
Israeli warplanes hit Beirut suburb
Really? A suburb, you say? Oh wait, in the secondary head -”Israel attacks airports, major highway after Hezbollah lobs rockets”
The War Nerd already has a great entry. Go read it. But if you’re feeling lazy, he sums it up like so:
1. The Georgians started it.
2. They lost.
3. What a beautiful little war!
If you’re wondering what number 3 is all about, and you should be, click the link. Until then, I really, really encourage you to not pay attention to the vast amounts of stupid being dished up piping hot for all to enjoy. I especially hope you notice the literary lobotomies coming out of the pundit factories right now. Lots of whom seem to be seeking active hostilities with Russia.
By all means, if you’ve got some questions shoot the Ball Gunner a line. I’ll help you out the best I can. If you are relying on any of the big outlets (especially American outlets, European media occasionally does a reasonable job in covering war) then you are being aggressively led astray.
I think it bears mentioning that other forces beyond propaganda and sheer stupidity have played into how this is being covered. Despite violence ongoing in areas of Iraq, Afghanistan and plenty of other places most Americans can’t find on a map, the fact that a “new” battle began on the same day as the opening of the Olympic Games is bound to catch people’s eyes.
Also, is this just the scenario needed to help propel Condi Rice out of obscurity after failing to deliver any meaningful developments between Israel and Palestine? Is this enough to remind people she’s an expert on Soviet/Russo matters and get her some looks for vice president on the McCain ticket?
That’s one heck of a good article Jonas. Couldn’t have said it better myself.