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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: elpolvo who wrote (57429)	9/28/2004 2:05:40 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

On Eve of Big Tour, Springsteen Says Press Has 'Let The Country Down' ________________________________ By Editor & Publisher Staff Published: September 27, 2004 8:00 PM EDT NEW YORK On the eve of the Vote for Change tour, which has sparked controversy in newsrooms where reporters have been ordered not to attend the pro-Kerry fundraisers, Bruce Springsteen, one of the stars of the concerts, has a few words for the press. In a wide ranging interview in the just-published Oct. 14 issue of Rolling Stone, Springsteen says, "The press has let the country down. It's taken a very amoral stand, in that essential issues are often portrayed as simply one side says this and the other side says that....The job of the press is to tell the truth without fear or favor. We have to get back to that standard." Most of his criticism, however, is aimed at TV coverage, and he reveals that as "a dedicated" New York Times reader he has gained "enormous sustenance" from columnists Maureen Dowd and Paul Krugman. The problem, according to Springsteen, is that "Fox News and the Republican right have intimidated the press into an incredible self-consciousness about appearing objective and backed them into a corner of sorts where they have ceded some of their responsibility and righteous power." In this regard, he finds The Washington Post and The New York Times admitting mistakes in their initial reporting about Iraq "very revealing." Overall, while there has been some great reporting in the press, it has fallen far short, Springsteen tells Rolling Stone founder Jann S. Wenner: "Real news is the news we need to protect our freedoms. You get tabloid news, you get blood-and-guts news, you get news shot through with a self-glorifying façade of patriotism, but people have to sift too much for the news that we need to protect our freedoms....The loss of some of the soberness and seriousness of those institutions has had a devastating effect upon people's ability to respond to the events of the day." But Springsteen mainly aims barbs at cable news, mocking the "enormous amount of Fox impersonators among what you previously thought were relatively sane media outlets across the cable channels." He also knocks the media for allowing the White House to get away with the "disgraceful" policy of refusing "to allow photographs of the flag-draped coffins of the returning dead." Even the scripted political conventions deserved more coverage than they got, especially since they were often upstaged by reality TV shows. "No matter how staged they are," Springsteen says, "I think they're a little more important than people eating bugs," although he hastens to add, "If you want to watch people eating bugs, that's fine, I can understand that, too." mediainfo.com

To: elpolvo who wrote (57429)	9/29/2004 4:05:37 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 89467

Turn on the Radio, John Kerry _____________________________ by Tom Gallagher Published on Wednesday, September 29, 2004 by CommonDreams.org It's taken John Kerry far too long to be clear that George Bush's invasion of Iraq was wrong, and he can't waste any more time getting to the point that the continued occupation of Iraq will also be a disaster – no matter who the president is. Unless Kerry gets a jolt from somewhere, he's going to blow the opportunity he's been in training for all of his political life. So maybe someone ought to turn on the radio for him so he can hear John Fogerty's new song, Deja vu (all over again)... johnfogerty.com Kerry might even recognize Fogerty's voice from Creedence Clearwater Revival, the group whose hits were all over the radio during the Vietnam War. More importantly, he might also recognize Fogerty's "voices rising ... (as) we count the dead and dying ... all over again," and maybe even find his own antiwar voice – all over again. Just as they say that generals always fight the last war, there have been stretches of this presidential campaign when you might have thought it was Vietnam that was the issue and not Iraq. But the privates always know what war they're fighting – and hopefully the voters will too. And, actually, much as Kerry's political prominence stems from being a veteran opposed to the Vietnam War, given the way it's been contorted in this campaign – with Kerry's supporters insisting that their man really was a hero in a battlefield where he, and most of them, argued Americans shouldn't have been in the first place, while George Bush and Dick Cheney are the ones attacked for not going to the war they said they supported – it may be just as well for Kerry that Vietnam will not decide this election. The American soldiers Bush has placed in harm's way in order to destroy Iraq's nonexistent "weapons of mass destruction" are quite another matter, however, as are the hugely lucrative contracts this doomed foreign excursion has brought to Cheney's last civilian employer, Haliburton. They could, and should decide the 2004 race – but only if someone makes an issue of then. And "someone" is John Kerry, whether he likes it or not. What could Kerry say to cut to the chase? Well, how about "I not only promise never to lead the American people into war under false pretenses, but every American George Bush sent to this war will come home within the first thirty days of my administration." That may be a bit too blunt for his style, but whatever words he uses, they need to get him better headlines than "Kerry says he'll have American troops home in four years." We know that the Kerry campaign is cautious and calculates that the antiwar vote has no place else to go, while fearing the unknown consequences of a serious antiwar stance, but "American troops home in four years"? They start checking you for a pulse with political reflexes like that. Can they really think that offering four more years of Americans under attack in a military occupation is an electable stance? This is going to make voters rush to the ballot box to turn the current rascals out? And does Kerry think blaming the prior administration will satisfy the young antiwar veteran who asks him "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a lie?" John Fogerty has written a great antiwar song, but most of us would just as soon not listen to great antiwar songs for the next four years and whether or not we will have to has a lot to do with Kerry's answer to the song's question, "Did that voice inside you say I've heard it all before?" With Republican Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar characterizing the Administration's prewar notions "that we will simply be greeted with open arms" as "nonsense," and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan calling the war "illegal," it shouldn't be all that hard for Kerry to hear that voice. Someone play him the song – it's worth a shot. Tom Gallagher is a former Massachusetts state legislator who lives in San Francisco commondreams.org _______________________ DEJA VU (ALL OVER AGAIN) Did you hear 'em talkin' 'bout it on the radio Did you try to read the writing on the wall Did that voice inside you say I've heard it all before It's like Deja Vu all over again Day by day I hear the voices rising Started with a whisper like it did before Day by day we count the dead and dying Ship the bodies home while the networks all keep score Did you hear 'em talkin' 'bout it on the radio Could your eyes believe the writing on the wall Did that voice inside you say I've heard it all before It's like Deja Vu all over again One by one I see the old ghosts rising Stumblin' 'cross Big Muddy Where the light gets dim Day after day another Momma's crying She's lost her precious child To a war that has no end Did you hear 'em talkin' 'bout it on the radio Did you stop to read the writing at The Wall Did that voice inside you say I've seen this all before It's like Deja Vu all over again It's like Deja Vu all over again -John Fogerty ©2004 Cody River Music / ASCAP