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The mental midgets at Newsbusters continue to point out that the facts are biased
It s been almost 3 years since the Iraq war began. How do I know? Because I was constantly reminded of this fact by CBS s “The Early Show” this morning.
Oh no, they said the war has lasted three years — BZZZZT - obvious liberal bias! Or, it could be possible that the war has lasted for three years.
Crazy talk, I know.
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From the article:
Four different people, 2 co-hosts and 2 reporters either mentioned that we are approaching the three year anniversary, or that it s been almost 3 years since the war began.
Pick that cherry, Oliver!
Is there something now wrong with newspeople stating facts (or because more than one person said it?)? Should they have detailed the exact amount of days since the war began, or should they have used the Republican math to talk about how things have been going great since Year Zero of the Bush revolution?
I don’t think it is required to remind us of the approaching third anniversary of any event, let alone 4 times in one show.
I guess that means reporters should have kept their mouths shut around September 2004, huh?
Man: It won’t take that long for me to paint the house.
Wife: OK.
Man: *begins painting house*
… almost 3 years later …
Wife: It’s been almost three years since you said you were going to paint the house.
Man: I don t think it is required to remind us of the approaching third anniversary of any event!
Yes, Mouse, that’s correct: On Sep 8, it is not necessary for four people on a newscast to remind me that in three days it will be September 11th.
But you knew that, didn’t you?
cellulose, somewhat humorous, but totally besides the point…
Damn Frank. You’re right. We don’t need to be reminded that we’ve been fighting a war in Iraq for three years. Hell, anytime the news media mentions the fact that we’re fighting a war in Iraq they remind us that we’re fighting a war in Iraq and I think they ought to stop it. I mean how many times do I have to hear the word “Baghdad” in a single year? And that goes for Bush too. He better stop talking about Iraq unless he wants to play into the hands of the left wing media. Every time Bush mentions Iraq he’s reminding us that were at war and it’s got to stop. He’s only helping the enemy.
More proof that around 90% of the so-called “liberal media bias” is just the media reporting FACTS that conservatives would rather ignore.
It’s liberal cowards like you guys that make me sick. If it wasn’t for traitorous liberal dogs like yourselves, this war would have ended years ago. Instead you keep pointing out all the things going wrong in Iraq and you just extend the war even longer. You say things like “Oh thousands of Iraqis have died this month alone because of violence,” yet you never mention the fact that they died free. Let freedom ring.
It just never ends though. The Iraqi people will get electricity, water, and waste disposal back sometime in the next seven years, yet all you and the devil media report are the bad things like the so called “civil war.” Hello. You can’t have a civil war if there are no civilized people there, you liberal idiots. You’re all so dumb with your big dummy Democratic talking points.
And furthermore, how dare you question the president’s authority to break the law and mislead the American people in the middle of an undeclared war with no time frame and no viable plan or clear enemy to attack. I puke just thinking about how traitorous you all are and how much you love terrorists and terrorism. I hope those burning American flags singe your eyebrows.
I don t think it is required to remind us of the approaching third anniversary of any event, let alone 4 times in one show.
A little sensitive are you?
Those Who Forget History are Doomed to Repeat It
Think Iran, douchebag.
I think he’s talking to you, Frank.
As Keith Olberman said ; “1,048 days since ‘Mission Accomplished.’”
Does anyone ever mention how long we have been in Afghanistan? I think the point is that the news media selectively reports facts. Which facts do they repeat and which facts do they ignore?
Oh come on, if the media said how many days we were in Afghanistan, the cons would just bitch about THAT.
Actually you all have done an excellent job of illustrating ignorance about the forms of bias. As Frank illustrated by oproviding context, CBS had four different people mention in the same show that the war is three years old. That is true but by constantly, unnecessarily repeating a negative, even a true negative, they show bias. If it had been mentioned, one or even twice in context, less a case for bias. But four times. Come on. It was liberal media bias from CBS - source of one of the most blatantly biased shows on TV - 60 Minutes.
Dugger, If I had Clinton on a 10 minute interview show and mentioned four times the he had been impeached - nahh, not bias, thats just a fact!
So how is mentioning, however many times, that we’ve been at war for three years biased in anyone’s favour? Seems to me that a Conservative could use that as a basis for a talking point just as easily as a Liberal.
Would you rather we talk about how long our mission has been acomplished?
How ridiculous. Left wing pundits are virtually shut out of major media and wingnuts bitch because someone says we’ve been at war for three years.
Next thing you know, wingnuts will be complaining because the newscasts mention the number of soldiers dead from this conflict. Oh, that’s right, they don’t.
Twenty-five years ago CBS had one rather famous newscaster who closed each broadcast by stating the number of days the hostages in Iran had been in captivity. What bias did that show?
So again. Dugger News goes on the air every morning and I march five commenters up who mention Clinton was impeached. Its not bias, right? Its true. What about context? Presidential race is starting Clinton’s are a big factor in that race.
It is bias, of course. Same as HARPING on any particular point would be. We all know CBS is a liberal, Bush-hating netwrok. They would do anything (including using forged documents) to get Bush. So they want to emphasize how long BUSH’s WAR has been going on.
It would be equally biased if Fox did four stories in a row about Iraq discusssing the good side only and not mentioninfg say casualties or ethnic strife.
Dugger, Its Bias, Get Over It
“We all know CBS is a liberal, Bush-hating netwrok.”
I don’t know anything of the kind.
“It would be equally biased if Fox did four stories in a row about Iraq discusssing the good side only and not mentioninfg say casualties or ethnic strife.”
Which they do on a daily basis.
I don’t recall any forged documents, but I do remember Hillary’s claim (I think on 60 Minutes) that she was not the “cooking baking, stand by her man” type getting plenty of not so favorable play.
And, per my post above, Walter Cronkite wasn’t doing Jimmy Carter any favors heading into the 1980 election.
Hello, wild ones! In case any of you are interested, I was referring to two points, and two points only: 1) The announcement was that the anniversary was approaching — approaching, as in not here yet!
With me so far?
Let’s continue…
2) I was referring to the fact that four different newshumans — again, four different newshumans — found it necessary to remind us, not this was the anniversary, but that it was approaching!
Does anybody announce on Dec 4, that the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor is approaching?
Does anyone announce on Nov 18, that the anniversary of JFK’s assassination is approaching?
cypher: Think — period, douchebag.
Oh, yeah, we’re approaching the second anniversary of when John “I was in Viet Nam, so vote for me, even though I protested against it” Kerry got his clock cleaned by George W “don’t you just love to hate that guy” Bush.
I’ll be waiting for it to be mentioned on CBS.
We all know CBS is a liberal, Bush-hating netwrok.
I don t know anything of the kind.
Of course not. What was I thinking. I remember Dan Rather standing up and telling Pres Bush and Laura he was behind them 1000%. And I sure remember 60 Minutes hit piece on the Clintons with those forged documents from direputable surces.
Dugger, Another $10 Mr Rove (it will cost you $15 a post for upgraded ytping).
“Does anybody announce on Dec 4, that the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor is approaching? Does anyone announce on Nov 18, that the anniversary of JFK s assassination is approaching?”
Um, those things are not currently unfolding and have long since receded to the distant past, Frank.
This whole discussion is truly insane. How dumb do you right wingers think the American people are? You don’t think people already know how long we’ve been in Iraq? Hell, sometimes to me I’m its amazing that it’s ONLY been three years, it feels like a freaking eternity since Bush was elected and his series of disastrous decisions started to unfold.
How mush brained do you ahev to be argue that the facts are bias? This craziness will only get worse as things get worse in Iraq. I swear pretty soon you WILL be saying that everytime the news even mentions the name Iraq it’ll be a sign of their liberal bias:
“How many times do you think the news media mentioned Germany or Japan during WWII? Everyone knows that they only mentioned Germany and Japan once at the start of the war and then not again until the end. What’s happened to the media in this country?!?!”
I don’t know for certain, but I imagine that on Dec 4, 1944 many reporters were talking about the upcoming anniversary of Pearl Harbor and on Nov 18, 1966 many reporters were talking about the upcoming anniversary of the assassination.
I don’t hate President Bush.
51% to 49% for an incumbent is not a clock cleaning.
“That is true but by constantly, unnecessarily repeating a negative, even a true negative, they show bias.”
Whoa, hold up there Dugger. Why is the length of the war automatically a negative?
Frank and Dugger, I don’t understand your (or News Busters) objections. If the Iraq war is going swimmingly, if Freedom is on the March!(TM), if everyday Iraqis are just having a dandy old time in their newly painted schools, why wouldn’t you want to be reminded of it?
ours = our
JSA
“I don t recall any forged documents’
Uhhh, oookayyyy.
Dugger
Whoa, hold up there Dugger. Why is the length of the war automatically a negative?
Because it shows how ignorant, unreasonable and ill-prepared ours leaders were, going into this conflict. Between Rumsfeld guessing the war wouldn’t last - he “doubted” - six months, and Cheney pontificating about the Iraqis “greeting us as liberators”, and whatever moron uttered the phrase “flowers and candy”, between that, and all the other pie-in-the-sky bullshit they crammed down the public’s throat, you’ve got Dugger and Frank wishing we just wouldn’t talk about it at all. They’d most certainly have us all just pretend it isn’t happening. Nobody is dying, schools are opening everywhere!!
Dugger, Frank, JWG, et al. would most certainly NOT have the American public reminded of how inept this administration is. They’d rather have them remain as uninformed as the leaders they, themselves, support.
Could these Cons have illustrated their contempt for truth, for fact, and for the notion of an informed American public any more clearly than they have in this thread alone?
Brilliant catch, Buma. Add to that the fact that Kerry being in Davos for an economic conference had NOTHING to do with what the story was about in this case.
Whereas in this case, the fact that we have been in Iraq for 3 years is extremely pertinent to the CURRENT debate over whether we’ve been there too long and how long we might have to be there still.
The conservatives here show once again that they hold everyone else to a much higher standard than they do themselves. No. Integrity. Whatsoever.
JSA
I don t recall any forged documents
Uhhh, oookayyyy.
Dugger
And I sure remember 60 Minutes hit piece on the Clintons with those forged documents from direputable surces.
Dugger,
I was refering to the 60 Minutes interview with Bill and Hillary during his first campaign (I think). I thought you were claiming it was a puff piece because no forged documents were used to smear them as with the President. I was pointing out even though that was the case, they still caught plenty of flak about Hillary’s comments regarding her not being a traditional housewife.
“Could these Cons have illustrated their contempt for truth, for fact, and for the notion of an informed American public any more clearly than they have in this thread alone?”
It’s really astonishing isn’t it.
Compare the wingnut responses with those under the “CNN Demonstrates Its Liberal Bias” post of two months ago.
http://www.oliverwillis.com/2006/01/27/cnn-demonstrates-its-liberal-bias/#comments
Nice one, buma. Ain’t it funny how the other shoe doesn’t fit?
Hey, Frank, you know that we’re currently in Iraq? Like, right at this moment?
What are you going to say next, Oliver? That if it weren’t for your ‘blog, no one would know?
If someone were doing a commentary, and began it with, “As we approach the third year of our involvement in Iraq…”, that would make sense.
But what does it mean when four different people make that same point on one show? I would say that someone is trying to hammer someone else over the head with an idea. Did the newscasters follow their chrono - based intoductions with a fair and balanced report on the negatives and positives (contrary to “popular”, i.e., Oliverian, opinion, there are positives) of our involvement? Knowing CBS, I doubt it.
If someone were doing a regular “NightLine” type broadcast, and introduced it everyday as Iraq: Day 1098, then keeping count would make sense.
Otherwise, it’s anti - war bias, pure and simple.
BGA,
“I don t understand your (or News Busters) objections. If the Iraq war is going swimmingly, if Freedom is on the March!(TM), if everyday Iraqis are just having a dandy old time in their newly painted schools, why wouldn t you want to be reminded of it? ”
Is this another hit and run job BGA? When the going gets tough and thoughtful discussion is called for, you call names and leave? If so, why bother.
But I will ’splain it to you and the others anyway. Conducting war is painful and hard and costly, both in terms of people and material resources. No matter how good (or bad or just) the war is, the longer it goes on, the worse it is. By definiton. Verstanden sie? So if one were against war and wanted to propagandize against it, one would choose to overly emphasize its inherent negatives, not the positives that might come from it. Much like trying to dissuade a kid from getting a shot by harping on the length of the needle and pain of the shot.
Dugger, An Archipelago of Sanity in the Ocean of Inanity
Hey kids, really want that shot. That needle is 5″ long?
“No matter how good (or bad or just) the war is, the longer it goes on, the worse it is.”
Neat switcheroo there Dugger. This isn’t the questions at hand. Of course the longer a war goes on the more death and destruction occurs. But that doesn’t mean that the longer a war goes on the more likely it is that the public will see its sheer duration as a negative.
I doubt that three years into WWII the American public saw the sheer duration of the war as a negative because they could point to clear and steady progress being made. And so could their leaders. In addition, at the outset of the war they were prepared for just such a long hard struggle requiring much self-sacrifice.
Three years is only a negative, in and of itself, if as Curmudgeon points out, the American people were lead to expect a swift victory. There’s no question that’s how the invasion of Iraq was sold. Now three years in it’s difficult to point to progress as there’s still violence everyday. So now people are asking themselves what it’s all about because what they were told would happen has not ocurred. Reality has undermined the rhetoric.
But even so, I have to ask again, how dumb do you think the American people are? Obviously you think they have to be pretty dumb since they have to “reminded” by the press about how long this war has been going on. As if every day there’s a report of more violence people don’t stop and think, “Still?”
At the same time, I think it’s important to point out that the dipshits at Newsbusters only cite one example of the four that they said occurred. At least when Media Matters says something was said on a news program, they back it up. Here’s the only example cited:
Lara Logan: “Three years after this war began Iraqis are still facing an uncertain and violent future.”
Someone want to tell me what’s inaccurate or “overemphasized” in this sentence?
JSA,
Ok.
I was referring to rathergate.
Dugger
I’ve noticed that, if a news item is being rolled out on TV, the same facts are usually mentioned several times, because those joining the item some way through might not realise what the item is about.
The talking heads dispense their pablum with all the bias of networks
hungry for ad revenue. They repeat the lead story several times
per hour, sometimes for days. They are deathly afraid the competition
will outdo them both in being first to the story, then in following the
story to it’s bitter end. They sqeeze all the juice out.
Good gawd. Their first priority, like most of us, is to get the money.
Conservative MediaHate. It’s not enough to just hate the media.
So Frank, how do you plan to celebrate the third anniversary of MISSION ACCOMPLISHED this May? Remember how so many wingnuts couldn’t control their ejaculations that day? So now, three years in the making, is the big third anniversary bash coming up. Only three years, but so many hundreds of billions of taxpayer (and borrowed from foreign creditor) dollars. All at the hands of a self-descibed Compassionate CONSERVATIVE! We are living his disaster. Thanks a lot, Bush voters. Thanks a lot.
Here in the UK the TV marked the 10th anniversary of Thomas Hamilton shooting dead a bunch of very young children in Dunblane, which lead to the laws on keeping handguns being changed (ie you can’t). Shame, because I used to love using airguns and air-rifles for target shooting. British shooting Olympiads (something we always do quite well in) have to train abroad, unless they are police/military.
“Otherwise, it s anti - war bias, pure and simple.”
The war was doomed from the start. You said so.
You can take it back if you want.
The war was doomed from the start. You said so.
Of course, you can retrieve that comment.