You interpreted "intentional" and "accidental" in a way different from what I meant. We have very different frames of reference when it comes to conflict. You are very influenced by your strong affinity for Israel. I am very influenced by my experience facilitating consensus decision making and my systems background. As an aside, I always find it interesting how different people read things differently
Interesting.
The only idea I've heard from the howlers is that we turn the media into a propaganda arm of the government. I think that's a bad approach, but at least it's an idea for fighting back. Then there are the people who are trying to compensate for the problem by installing other media voices in the ME.
One other big idea is the whole blogosphere, which holds both the government and the media to account. The media should not be the only unaccountable player in the game.
Edit: to suggest that the American media should be rooting for American troops to win, and not lose, is not exactly prescribing that American media turn into Pravda of the old Soviet days. It's like sports announcers. I expect the local baseball announcer to call the game accurately, and not to call the other team bad names unless they've done something to deserve it. On the other hand, I do expect him to express a preference for a Red Sox win. I think Boston fans would definitely have an issue with an announcer who was clearly rooting for the Red Sox to lose. How much more serious, then, when I hear so many reporters who not only expect but clearly hope for, an American loss in Iraq?
This is a war of ideas, and the way to fight the idea of an institutionalized double standard is with the idea of a single standard.
. The enemy has co-opted our system and made it work against us. We can change the system in response. Or we can find a way to turn it into a boomerang. It's our system. We should be smarter than they are about finding ways to keep it from being used against us
Agreed. Part of changing the system, I would argue, involves not just rolling over when we get accused by outside parties for motives of political gain - while still being able to accuse ourselves and debate ourselves on these issues. Americans assume too much that human rights charges are always made by impartial players in good faith. We need a greater mental toughness, and the ability to hold ourselves to our own standards, without any expection that they will satisfy most of our critics. |
