Blogcritics Author: Ron West

Announcement: Short-content feeds

Phillip Winn — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Sunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding.

Justifying Stenography to Power

Ron West — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 04:11:28 EDT

Over time, I've become increasingly disillusioned with the press, particularly in their coverage of major crises and events. I am not talking about the incessant coverage of freak shows like Anna Nicole Smith; no, coverage of the Iraq War - particularly in the dark days of 2002 and the first half of 2003 - has seriously burned me up. In particular, the perception that media elites are far more interested in cultivating and maintaining relationships with those in power than in speaking truth to power. This has become painfully evident in the run-up and sad aftermath of the Iraq War. Reporters like Judy Miller, who became an acolyte of the charlatan Ahmed Chalabi, gave cover to Bush administration propaganda about Winnebagos of death and Niger yellowcake. Then there was the Valerie Plame outing. Countless books will be written on this topic, but an important contribution has just been published by Max Frankel in The New York Times Magazine, a media elite during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Mr. Frankel does two things in the article - he provides an insightful analysis of just what transpired, starting with Ambassador Wilson's fateful trip to Niger and concluding with Scooter Libby's conviction. In addition, Mr. Frankel makes the case for why we need to maintain the system of making secret official information available to the public through official leaking to the press. Mr. Frankel is particularly exercised by prosecutors coercing reporters to give up their secrets - as in the case of Judy Miller, who spent time in the big house protecting her source, Scooter Libby. Mr. Frankel also spends time differentiating whistle blower leaks made in the public interest from the abusive leaks made by Mr. Libby and Vice President Cheney, et al, to discredit Valerie Plame and her husband Joe Wilson. Mr. Frankel concludes: It may sound cynical to conclude that tolerating abusive leaks by government is the price that society has to pay for the benefit of receiving essential leaks about government. But that awkward condition has long served to protect the most vital secrets while dislodging the many the public deserves to know... In loose translation: Prosecutors of the realm, let this back-alley market flourish. Attorneys general and others armed with subpoena power, please leave well enough alone. Back off. Butt out. Mr. Frankel, you cynical bastard. What you might call reporting, I call stenography to power. I have no more use for you than I do with the lying, cheating Bush Administration's running of the Iraq War. Bob Woodward, of Watergate fame, knew full well the sour game the administration was playing to discredit Plame and Wilson. Yet Woodward did nothing until prosecutor Fitzgerald came on the scene and busted up the endless martini lunch reporters were having with the administration. Media Matters quotes Woodward before it was even common knowledge that he was privy to the administration's mendacity: On the July 11 edition of CNN's Wolf Blitzer Reports, Woodward claimed Fitzgerald's investigation was "just running like a chain saw right through the lifeline that reporters have to sources who will tell you the truth, what's really going on," and was "undermining the core function in journalism." He also warned: "We better wake up to what's going on in the seriousness on the assault on the First Amendment that's taking place right before our eyes." Six days later, again on CNN, Woodward went on to say that the idea of government and "special prosecutors monkeying around with the relationship that reporters have with sources is a very, very bad thing." Mr. Frankel, Mr. Woodward, "monkeying around with that special relationship" isn't the problem - you collectively, the media elites, are the the problem. If you had done your duty - reported, investigated, spoke truth to power - the Iraq War may have never occurred. Or if it did still occur, the public certainly would have had a far greater understanding of just what was happening in the run up to the war. You would rather maintain a flawed principle at the price of war? Surely you have lost your soul during one of those martini lunches.

Ron West, 45, lives in Davis, CA with his wife and three kids.

A Measure of the US's Unpopularity in Iraq

Ron West — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 15:17:51 EDT

The Iraqi economy is in turmoil. The unemployment rate is estimated to be between 25 and 40 percent. However, economic stability is needed to help tamp down the insurgency and to restore civil order. So, the United States offers economic assistance to Iraqi businessmen to help move the economy along. The problem with this -and its a big problem - is that any covert offers of US-based assistance may result in harassment or even death to the businessman and his/her family members. The US has devised a plan to help the Iraqi businessmen, and to keep them from running afoul of myriad insurgents, jihaddis and assorted mini-Saddams. From the Wall Street Journal: "The only way things will work is if the U.S. contribution is totally invisible," says Maj. Christina Nagy, a civil-affairs officer from the 82nd Airborne Division. "I have people with higher ranks than me always wanting to have a ribbon cutting. I just listen and think, 'Sure, if you want the companies to get immediately shot or blown up.' " So how can the US possibly stay invisible in a country where we have over 140,000 armed and very visible troops spread through large swaths of the country? The answer is you stage fake raids against the Iraqi businessmen the US is helping. It is described as hiding in plain sight. A side benefit is US troops can determine if the businessmen are spending the money properly during the raids.While this may be move born of necessity, and helps minimize mayhem and destruction, it is also telling about just how unpopular this war is to many Iraqis. Are there any other examples where the US military must operate in such a furtive manner in order to accomplish the most basic of objectives? Surely the insurgents are going to catch on this little sleight of hand.Iraq is truly a FUBAR wrapped in an enigma.

Ron West, 45, lives in Davis, CA with his wife and three kids.