|
Published on Friday, August 27, 2004 by the Knoxville News-Sentinel (Tennessee)
by Don Williams
Dear Big Media,
Yes you with the research assistants, cameras and sexy news-anchors there in Washington, New York and Atlanta. I know you try hard not to show liberal bias. In fact, I submit that you often bend over backwards. You betray your calling when you fail to connect the dots, or when you join in character assassination or shun your role as arbiter of what's true. You can do better. Here are nine questions from the heartland that might suggest how.
First, when quoting those Swift-boat Veterans for Truth over and over about what Kerry did between 1969 and 1972, doesn't balance demand that you recall President Bush's sketchy service record? Isn't it just as pertinent that some Air National Guard commanders never saw Bush report for duty? That there's a gap in his pay stubs? Aren't you ethically bound to remind the public that Bush stopped flying fighter jets in the spring of 1972, according to USA Today, and failed to take a physical exam required of all pilots, and that his sole medical treatments in the Guard were for dental fillings?
Second, if you're going to quote Bob Dole blasting Kerry's anti-war activities and Senate record isn't it pertinent to recount how Bush spent the same three decades?
You've replayed those tapes over and over in which Kerry catalogued atrocities in Vietnam. Don't you owe it to the public to point out that, while most veterans served honorably, history shows atrocities DID OCCUR? Shouldn't you mention My Lai? Operation Phoenix? Some three million Southeast Asians died in the Vietnam War. Is it possible Kerry had a point?
How can you compare the two vice-presidential candidates, as many have, without discussing Dick Cheney's alleged crimes? For instance, his role in the Valerie Plame affair? Or charges that Halliburton bribed top Nigerian officials while Cheney was CEO? Or evidence that Halliburton's offshore subsidiaries dealt with despots, including Saddam, between our two Iraqi wars? And what about Cheney's several deferments from military duty? Isn't this pertinent, given that he directed one war and beat the drums for another--wars that killed many thousands, wars from which he arguably profited?
How can you discuss Bush's religious faith without asking whether he believes he's fulfilling Biblical prophecy regarding the Middle East? You'd be surprised how many folks around here believe the Rapture and the Second Coming are near and that events over there are bringing them about. Does Bush believe this?
Why is no one connecting the dots regarding recent events in Iraq? There's a coherent narrative in the facts that--all within the period of about one week--the "government of Iraq" charged members of the opposition Chalabi family with crimes ranging from murder to counterfeiting, kicked out Al-Jazeera and other reporters and then attacked the holy Shi-ite city of Najaf, killing an estimated 500 Iraqis. You'd think some enterprising reporter would tell the fascinating story of how "our man Allawi" consolidated his power that week. Who is Allawi anyhow? Isn't this pertinent? Also, how can you cover the battle of Najaf without nailing down just who it is we're killing and why? Weren't these same Shi-ites once ENEMIES OF SADDAM? Isn't this worth remarking upon?
How can you let President Bush pat himself on the back for his plan to "bring home" up to 70,000 troops from South Korea, Germany and elsewhere, when it's obvious most of those troops or their replacements will end up in Iraq, probably soon?
How can you repeat charges that John Kerry is a flip-flopper without pointing out the ways Bush has flip-flopped? On global warming, the under-funding of "no child left behind," his conflicting positions on the CIA, nation-building and justifications for invading Iraq?
Speaking of which, did you ever hear of the Gulf of Tonkin? The Maine? Wouldn't a look at past pretexts for war be helpful when assessing press performance during the 2003 invasion of Iraq? I could go on and on but time and space do not permit. You have no such excuse, especially with the future of our republic at stake. Sincerely yours,
Don Williams is a prize-winning columnist for The Knoxville News-Sentinel, as well as a freelance journalist, short story writer and the founding editor and publisher of New Millennium Writings, an annual anthology of fiction, nonfiction and poetry. His writing awards include a National Endowment for the Humanities Michigan Journalism Fellowship, a Golden Presscard Award and the Malcolm Law Journalism Award. He is finishing a novel, ORACLE OF THE ORCHID LOUNGE, set in his native Tennessee. His book of selected journalism, 'Heroes, Sheroes and Zeroes, the Best Writings About People' by Don Williams, is now available for pre-ordering. For more information, you may email him at donwilliams7@charter.net. Or visit the NMW website at www.mach2.com.
|
|
