Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Williams A Piker When It Comes To Media Lies

     I have recently become disappointed with my so-called conservative brethren in talk radio and elsewhere. It seems that some on the Right have fallen for the distraction of the tabloid-like story about, surprise, surprise, a member of the mainstream media lying. What a shocker! The fact that anyone who has been even half aware over the last twenty years thinks that it is shocking, and worthy of prattling on about for a week, when a member of the media embellishes and makes themselves part of the news, is shocking in and of itself.
     The Lie(s) told by NBC News anchor Brian Williams is one of those big yawn moments, even for anyone who may be left in this country foolish enough to believe that the media has even a scintilla of integrity and honesty.  Because even if one does belong to this unfortunate group, the lie(s) told by Williams do not affect the average American in the least. It did not cause new legislation to be passed through congress based on it. And it did not endanger the men and women of the military serving abroad.
     Mr. Williams ego-driven fallaciousness was intended only to increase his stature among his ignorant viewers with regards to his bravery, compassion, and ability to keep his head under fire. No one was hurt, excepting Williams himself, and even that is not yet for sure. Unlike other lies told by the main stream media of the past.
     There was of course the lie admitted to by Washington Post editor during the Watergate scandal, Ben Bradlee, who said years later that they knowingly printed stories they knew were untrue just to make a better case against Richard Nixon. Dan Rather, years after Ben Bradlee's admission, defended the practice of deception engaged by the Post during their Watergate reporting by saying, "This was a corrupt administration and we had to use any means we could to bring it down." Gee, and I thought the media's responsibility was to report the news, not "take down" administrations they, in all their intellectual glory, deem corrupt.
     The above media lie actually greatly affected world affairs because it lead to the resignation of Richard Nixon and the Democrats taking control of the congress, which they promptly used to go back on their own government's word to South Vietnam. Which lead to the previously defeated communist North overrunning the South and millions of dying who would have otherwise not died.
     And of course who could forget the years of lies engaged in by CNN news at the behest of Saddam Hussein during the 1990s. The editor of CNN news at the time, Eason Jordan, admitted they were mouth pieces for the Hussein regime, which involved broadcasting stories they knew were untrue. Mr. Jordon glibly said they engaged in this purposeful deception in order to keep their Bagdad bureau open. This deception enabled Saddam to forestall action by the "world community" and lead to much more bloodshed than would have been necessary.
     So in the grand scheme of media lies, Brian Williams is a piker, and his lie is not worth much more than a quick mention and moving on from it. I am still waiting for anyone on the Left or the Right to mention the other media lies I have mentioned, which affected historical events and lead to more instability in the world.

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