Failure Of The Fourth Estate.

The heavy-handed manipulation of the press after Dick Cheney’s recent hunting fiasco caught America by surprise. Am I the only one paying attention? The media outlets in this country consistently permit the White House to delay, distort, and dismiss.

Whether it’s the Vice President carelessly discharging his shotgun in a friend’s face, or the recent release of video showing President Bush nonplussed at the warnings of Katrina’s potential destruction, Republicans are allowed to release information on their own terms and schedule.

Experience has taught our government; the older the story the less likely the uproar. To that end the admission of illegal wiretaps, torture, war mismanagement, and domestic bumbling is released years after the fact.

More frightening than the media’s acceptance of neoconservative delay tactics is the tolerance of outright distortions.

Recent allegations against a corrupt military press corps has forced the Pentagon to conduct its own internal investigation. So far White House officials have disclosed that the Lincoln Group, (a defense contractor managed by up-and-coming Republican operatives), is paying Iraqi newspapers to falsify news reports.

Iraqi leaders are appalled at these fabrications which inflate military achievements and downplay failures. They demand President Bush show the same reverence and respect to the free press in Iraq that he would in the U.S. In his own monarchy King George holds the media in even greater contempt.

In times of war jingoistic propaganda is to be expected. Perhaps the Pentagon was justified in withholding the true cause of death for ex-NFL player Pat Tilman, (weeks after his memorial service it was reported he was killed by fellow Army Rangers in an act of “gross negligence”). However, the distortion of Jessica Lynch’s capture and subsequent rescue has made a mockery of military journalism and impeached the ideal of an American free press.

The President further discredited our nation’s integrity last October when he claimed to partake in a “spontaneous give and take…a back and forth discussion,” with deployed American soldiers. Unfortunately the cameras were rolling previous to the President’s entrance, showing repeated rehearsal of both the questions and answers.

Sadly his domestic agenda has been equally staged. Republicans have been charged with producing hundreds of television “news” segments. These segments have the same look and feel as local news stations, yet support the government’s position on social security, regime change, Medicare, etc. with great bias.

This bogus news includes sympathetic officials giving interviews which are both slanted and rehearsed. These features, which never acknowledge the source or intent of the broadcast, are not only unethical they’re illegal. The stated opinion of the General Accounting Office, (Congress’ investigative arm), is that these “video news releases” violate a statute outlawing the use of federal funds for domestic propaganda.

When Conservatives can’t buy network time they buy network talent. Republicans paid commentator Armstrong Williams $240,000, to shill for the President’s education program. For that amount of money it was expected he would aggressively support “No Child Left Behind” on both his syndicated TV and radio shows. He was also to use his influence to get other leaders and commentators to do the same, never reveling to his peers or his audience the pay off.

Soon Bush decided rather than bribe reporters it would be cheaper to create them, which is exactly what he did with James Guckert. Although he was never a reporter and had no media affiliation, Mr. Guckert was credentialed and placed in the White House media room. Evidently a stumbling orator like our President had to be sure of at least one friendly face he could call on for a powder-puff question or supportive follow-up.

While every other reporter was subject to an exhaustive FBI background check, all Guckert, (a purported internet porn star), had to do was change his name to Jeff Gannan and request a special one day pass. He was issued this special pass daily for over two years.

If all else fails Republicans simply dismiss the news. When deep thinking, intellectual liberals, (pardon my redundancy), pose legitimate criticisms of the White House we are immediately marginalized and dismissed as “Bush haters.”

I do not hate George W. Bush. I try to give him the benefit of the doubt, but after 6 years there is little doubt left; he is an incompetent, arrogant, demagogue. As a puppet to the neoconservatives circling the Oval office he is responsible for a great many failures, both domestically and internationally.

While that may not make him hated, it certainly makes him dangerous. Even his corruption of the media can’t disguise that.