The Press and The Allusions (allusions: obs. - a parable, metaphor)

I am sorry, but I have now become completely disillusioned with the American popular press, including National Public Radio. There is a long list of events, covered by the press, whose reporting has led to the current state of affairs wherein we now have a useless, rootless press, wandering about, trying to figure out what is real and what is not. Fairness and balance has trumped investigation and follow-up reporting of the truth. Here is a list of the same old tunes from which the press might take some instruction:

July 18, 1999, revised 11/15/99 and 12/12/07

The Press and The Allusions (allusions: obs. - a parable, metaphor)

I am sorry, but I have now become completely disillusioned with the American popular press, including National Public Radio. There is a long list of events, covered by the press, whose reporting has led to the current state of affairs wherein we now have a useless, rootless press, wandering about, trying to figure out what is real and what is not. Fairness and balance has trumped investigation and follow-up reporting of the truth. Here is a list of the same old tunes from which the press might take some instruction:

Hit of the 50's and 60's:

Selma, Alabam, and Goddamn:
In which an oppressed people began the long process of leveling the floor on which we all stand. The press reported the views of the oppressed people far less than those of the repressors. Later on they said they were sorry. The 1950's and 60's civil rights protestors, who were right all along, were treated the same way by the press in the 50's and 60’s, as were World Trade Organization (WTO) protestors of the late 90’s.

Hit of the 60's and 70's:

Vietnam and the Commanders:
In which, suddenly, lots of young men got really killed, and their Mothers decided to put a stop to it. The press reported the views of the Mothers far less than those of the Commanders-in-Chief. 50,000 dead. For what? Later on the press said they were sorry.

Hit of the 80's:

Nicaragua and the Newly Fashionable Neocons:
In which the roots of anything other than Capitalism were pulled from the patient, in spite of a long tradition otherwise. The press reported the views of the patient far less than those of the capitalist pigs. Later on they said they were sorry for Ron, what with Alzheimer’s and all, and we were too.

Hits of the 90's:

Somalia and the Warlords:
In which the press re-interpreted the meaning of the word "Warlord", in spite of the real existence of a leader of a real Clan of 2 million people in Somalia, who was not taken so lightly by his clansmen as by the "made-in-Hollywood-on-the-Beach" attitude of an invading press, filming the boys coming ashore. The press reported the smoke and mirrors, and missed the unforgiving storm of antagonism from the Clan. Blackhawk down! They've yet to say they are sorry.

Bosnia, Ethnic Cleansing, and Hutu Blood:
In which the press was enamored of “ethnic cleansing,” the new term for genocide, and spent a long time exploring it’s meaning and so never reported the real thing in Rwanda and most of it in Bosnia. How many dead? They've yet to say that they are sorry for their inattention. Their inattention would not have lessened the dead, but at least it would have brought it to our attention.

Princess Di and the Land Mines:
In which the press didn't understand that a real princess had dedicated her heart to a real idea. The press reported her royal romps and missed the child without limbs cradled in her arms. They reported the smoke and mirrors of a chased maiden, and missed the unforgiving storm of antagonism from the world. They've yet to say they're sorry.

George the Elder and The Sand Blasters:
In which the press never talked about the obvious, that we put Saddam in power and enabled him, but instead, the press allowed George the elder to exploit fears about the danger of Saddam, and to commit a horrible atrocity (comparable to Mai Lai) by burying alive, and shooting like fish in a barrel, defeated and retreating Iraqi troops in the sand, with no questioning of the moral standards of those who allowed it. The war was already over. The press didn’t have a clue.

Bill Clinton and The Indiscretions:
In which the press interviews only three kinds of people about Bill's dilemma: religious high priests and priestesses, who in spite of their modern suits and ties and subdued gowns, continue to blindly follow mumbo-jumbo doctrine about an explanation that we made up 2000 years ago; lawyers who follow mumbo-jumbo legal logic about a document that we wrote up 225 years ago; and the random public who, by definition, have no coherent view - and so the press missed the obvious; that this was a matter of genes carrying out instructions made up 2 billion years ago, of dominant males and available females, of our species existence as sexual animals, and not of social mores. You know, we can go throughout our lives without ever admitting to being sexual creatures, but our bodies do not care about what we admit to. They are programmed to follow a set of genetic instructions to reproduce themselves; they don't care what your morals are, or what you have in writing. They will make whatever excuses are needed.

The first Hit of the new century:

GW and the Extremes:
In which the press allows George the younger to tell lies about Saddam, without telling the truth about imagined weapons of mass destruction and imaginary nuclear programs. Their notion of fairness and balance allows for unquestioning publicity for lies.

The press is a pretty sorry bunch; can they ever get anything right?