If that stuff is getting to you don't even bother reading the mrc website highlights of the day. :)
In many ways, I think I've become almost immune to the bias. Being an information junkie for so many years can
do that to you I suppose. How anyone with a thoughtful mind can believe there is no left (or pro Democrat) bias in mainstream reporting completely baffles me. Fox can't hold a candle to Peter Jennings, or Dan Rather and company.
I got to thinking the other day about "definitions" in regard to left, right, conservative, liberal ect. Many who argue there is no bias, often use the definition angle to persuade others that no bias exists, or that it's an equally biased world out there. After all, how can you tell a bias exists, if you can't define what a liberal or conservative is? I've come to the conclusion these terms are part of an "emergent property" and can only be defined when looking at their wholeness, and not their individual parts. As an example; define beauty, define ugliness, define quality, or love. These are all emergent properties, meaning properties of their whole.
I may not be able to identify the individual parts of a liberal, but I can certainly recognize one when I see them.
CBS: “Hussein Gave Iraqis Dignity and
Pride,” But Also “Tyranny” mrc.org
All the networks on Tuesday night ran stories on how some pro-Saddam Iraqis rioted in protest of his capture, with CBS’s Kimberly Dozier reporting that “even many who suffered under Saddam have mixed feelings. His fall has brought American occupation and an uncertain future. And also, a measure of shame. Few can fathom that the man who terrified them for so long now seems so small.” She contended that “Saddam Hussein also gave Iraqis dignity and pride. He became a symbol of defiance across the Arab world.”
The CBS Evening News, however, followed up with a piece from Thalia Assuras about a man thrilled with Hussein’s capture who had, on the day U.S. forces took control of Baghdad, shouted “this is freedom!” as “he beat a poster of Saddam Hussein with the sole of his sandal.” Assuras noted that some Iraqi-Americans are hoping to bring him to the U.S. and “if he comes, he’ll bring along his sandal, a symbol of a man and a people liberated from the tyranny of Saddam.”
Dan Rather introduced the first of the back-to-back stories on the December 16 CBS Evening News, as taken down by the MRC’s Brad Wilmouth: “Even though Saddam Hussein was found cowering in a hole in the ground with weapons, even though he gave up without a fight, the former dictator still has many supporters, especially among Iraq’s Sunni Islamic Arabs. And today, throughout Saddam’s home region, CBS’s Kimberly Dozier reports there were angry, often violent, protests.”
Dozier began: “The tyrant has fallen. But for some, he’s a fallen hero. His followers cannot accept their leader is gone and their supremacy in Iraq truly ended. They vented their anger on U.S. troops and other symbols of the coalition. Overnight in Ramadi, the Americans opened fire on this crowd. Several protesters were killed. But the protests have been confined to the Sunni triangle, towns like Fallujah, Bacuba and Tikrit, where allegiance to clan bound the people to Saddam and won them his favor. In the rest of the country, there is mostly a sigh of relief.
“But even many who suffered under Saddam have mixed feelings. His fall has brought American occupation and an uncertain future. And also, a measure of shame. Few can fathom that the man who terrified them for so long now seems so small. And none can quite grasp that he went without a fight. 'He should have killed himself and at least one American soldier,’ this man says. Iraqis are much like abused children: scarred by the man who was both father figure and enforcer. His rules were simple. Obey, and he would provide jobs, food rations, electricity and security. Rebel, and punishment was merciless. [video of men being kicked]
“But Saddam Hussein also gave Iraqis dignity and pride. He became a symbol of defiance across the Arab world, never backing down from a fight. He spent half his time in power at war with neighboring countries, even taking on the United States not once, but twice. Those who loved him and those who hated him still can’t separate the man from the country in their minds. For many, his humiliation is their own. Kimberly Dozier, CBS News, Baghdad.”
Rather set up the second story, with a more inspiring look at an Iraqi with great hope for the future now that Saddam Hussein is definitely out of power: “Of course, many Iraqis in many parts of the country rejoiced at Saddam’s capture. CBS’s Thalia Assuras found one such Iraqi in Baghdad, a man with the courage to make his feelings clear in dramatic fashion months ago when the Iraqi capital fell.”
Assuras explained: “Zhwad Gaddim has been seen all over the world, but not like this. Like this: On April 9th when coalition forces took Baghdad. Shouting, 'This is freedom!’ he beat a poster of Saddam Hussein with the sole of his sandal. There is no greater insult in the Arab world. This is the first time Zhwad Gaddim has returned to the spot since that day. Why? Why did you do that? 'Because he destroyed us and destroyed our people, destroyed everything,’ he says. 'When I hit Saddam’s picture, it was as if I was hitting Saddam himself.’ He claims he’s been offered thousands of dollars for the sandal, which his wife keeps hidden for safekeeping. But he says it belongs to the Iraqi people and should perhaps be kept in a museum.
“Saddam loyalists threatened his family over this spontaneous act nine months ago, but he is optimistic now that Saddam is in U.S. custody. 'The time of terror is gone,’ he says. 'The future will be good,’ he says, 'Iraq will no longer have mass graves. There will be no torture.’ Zhwad Gaddim is a street vendor. He’s been earning only enough to keep food on the table and is forced to live with his wife and eight children in this squalid two-room hut by the side of a busy highway.
“But his delirious act of defiance has not been forgotten. A group of Iraqi-Americans has invited him to visit the United States. If he comes, he’ll bring along his sandal, a symbol of a man and a people liberated from the tyranny of Saddam. Thalia Assuras, CBS News, Baghdad.” |
