[Rhodes22-list] Slim's review of politics Geraldo reports

[ed kroposki]

Slim,
	Thank you for the other side of the report.
                                   Ed K

-----Original Message-----
From: rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org
[mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org] On Behalf Of Steve Alm
Sent: Thursday, April 01, 2004 4:28 AM
To: Rhodes
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Politics Geraldo Rivera reports

Is Halliburton making a fortune?  Yes!  Has this stabilized the middle
east?
No!  Has it made the US safer?  No!  Has it had a positive effect on gas
prices?  Yes, if you're an oil company.  Has Bush spent his way to the
highest deficit in history?  Yes!  Has it led to better US relations
with
ANY other country in the world?  Yes, if you're Israel.  Has this
administration become a Fascist regime?  Yes!  (Fascism:  When
government is
in bed with industry, when civil rights are taken away and the rule is
by
intimidation, threat and fear.)  Is the war on terrorism best fought in
Iraq
(no connection to 9/11, but over 150,000 troops) or Afghanistan
(confirmed
connection to 9/11, but only 11,000 troops?) And speaking of connections
to
9/11, why do we have this cozy relationship with Saudi Arabia?  Could it
be...um...the oil?  Is it not the real Taliban training ground?  Most of
the
hijackers were Saudis,  Osama's a Saudi.  Hello????  One week after
9/11,
anyone with a Saudi passport was allowed into the US.  Egyptian--No!
Iranian--No!  Moroccan--No!  French--Kiss My Ass!  Oh, but Saudis--no
problem.  Bring money!

And does all this take Americans' minds off the domestic problems that
Bush
has worsened?  He wishes!!!

So I guess Geraldo didn't see the news today (Wed) from Fallujah, huh?
I'm
referring to the nine Americans killed in a raid where Iraqis dragged
the
burned and mutilated bodies behind cars and hung them up on a bridge.
How's
he gonna sugar-coat that one?  Is THAT simply leftist reporting?  A
couple
weeks ago Peter Jennings from ABC (Steve, some say ABC is too liberal,
some
say it's not liberal enough--but nobody says it's conservative) was on
location in Iraq reporting on the state of affairs one year after the
invasion.  There was plenty of positive news, but to suggest that the
Dems
are "nitpicking" for reporting stories like this one from Fallujah is
absurd.  C' mon!  Consider the source.  Geraldo Rivera???!!!  I'll take
Al
Franken's word over Geraldo's any day.  Hell, I'd even take Rush
Limbaugh's
word over Geraldo's.

But my real hero these days is Richard Clarke--tellin' it like it is!!!
There's no getting around it--the incumbent has to go come November!!!

Slim


On 3/31/04 6:58 PM, "ed kroposki" <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:

> Hey mark, check this out in scopes.  It was just sent to me.
> 
> The buildings that AREN'T burning in Iraq
> 
> "They have a saying in the news business," Geraldo Rivera related this
> week. "Reporters don't report buildings that don't burn." And with
that
> introduction, he told a TV audience about the story that is being
> systematically denied to our entire nation: the success story of
> post-Saddam Iraq.
> 
> Are we losing some soldiers each week? Yes,. Is there some frustration
> in the public about electricity and water service? Yes. Are some
Saddam
> Hussein loyalists throughout the land, making trouble? Yes. Has this
> opened a window for some terrorist mischief? Yes. But that's ALL we
> hear. No wonder the country is in a mixed mood about Iraq. If you hear
> about the buildings that are not burning, though, it is a different
> story indeed.
> 
> Rivera is no shill for George W. Bush. But Bush, Condi Rice and Colin
> Powell together could not have been as effective as Geraldo was
Thursday
> night on the Fox News Channel's Hannity and Colmes program.
> 
> "When I got to Baghdad, I barely recognized it," he began, Comparing
his
> just-completed trip to two others he made during and just after the
> battle to topple Saddam. "You have over 30,000 Iraqi cops and
militiamen
> already on the job.
> 
> This is four months after major fighting stopped. Can you imagine that
> kind of gearing up in this country? Law and order is better;
> archaeological sites are being preserved; factories, schools are being
> guarded." But what about the secondhand griping that the media have
been
> so efficiently relating about power, water and other infrastructure?
> 
> "To say that Iraq is being rebuilt is not true," answered Rivera.
"Iraq
> is being built. There was no infrastructure before; we are doing it. I
> just think the good news is being underestimated and underreported."
At
> this juncture, one must evaluate how to feel about the voices telling
us
> only about the bad news in Iraq, whether from the mouths of news
anchors
> or Democratic presidential hopefuls. At best, they are underinformed.
At
> worst, their one-sided assessments of post-Saddam Iraq are intentional
> falsehoods for obvious reasons.
> 
> If I hear one more person mock that "Mission Accomplished" banner
> beneath which President Bush thanked a shipload of sailors and Marines
a
> few months back, I'm going to spit. That was a reference to the ouster
> of Saddam's regime, and that mission was indeed accomplished,
apparently
> to the great chagrin of the American left. No one said what followed
> would be easy or cheap, and that's why the dripping-water torture of
the
> cost and casualty stories is so infuriating. Remember we pay our
> soldiers whether they are in Iraq or in Ft Bragg, North Carolina. We
> should all mourn the loss of every fallen soldier. But context cries
out
> to be heard. Our present news media is not performing this task. As
some
> dare to wonder if this might become a Vietnam-like quagmire, I'll
remind
> whoever needs it that most of our 58,000 Vietnam war toll died between
> 1966 and 1972, during which we lost an average of about 8,000 per
year.
> That's about 22 per day, every day, for thousands of days on
> 
> 
> 
> Local elections are under way across Iraq, Rivera reported. "Where
Kurds
> and Arabs have been battling for decades, things have been settling
> down. Administrator Paul Bremer is doing a great job." So does Geraldo
> think his media colleagues are intentionally painting with one side of
> the brush? "I'm not into conspiracy theories, but there's just more
bang
> for your buck when you report the GI who got killed rather than the 99
> who didn't get killed, who make friends, who helped schedule
elections,
> who helped shops get open for business, who helped traffic flow again.
> 
> "The vast majority of Iraqis are very happy to have us there. I would
> like to see a bit more balance." This needs to be reported to the
> American Public who are presently being duped. I expect the dominant
> media culture to nitpick and attack Bush, and Democrats to blast him
> with reckless abandon. But when that leads to the willful exclusion of
> facts that would shine truthful light on the great work of the
American
> armed forces, that level of malice plumbs new depths."
> 
> If you have a friend that is looking for the truth, pass this on.
> 
> 
> 
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