The Pot Inspects The Kettle
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You’ve heard the saying about the pot calling the kettle black? Well here’s a new one for you… How about the pot inspecting the kettle to see if it is black??? Not that I don’t trust our government in any way mind you, but I’m REALLY curious as to what kind of impartial verdict is going to be reached by this next informative bit here…
In CommonDreams.org we have the continuing saga of the Pentagon pundits, (see my other articles Here and Here). Those jewels of the military, all retired individuals with stellar careers that the news media brought in in order to give us an understanding of what was going on in Iraq. Now we find out that they duped us all by being the mouth-pieces of the military. The bush administration says it was, <heavy sarc>for a good cause, yes indeed, a very good cause, that of disseminating information… </heavy sarc>
So, now Congress wants this investigated. All well and good if it was done by an independent OUTSIDE source with NO vested interest in the outcome. But Nay, such is NOT so… Congress has asked the Department of Defense’ Inspector General to investigate. Pot/Kettle, Kettle/Pot… <sarc> Hmmmmmm, yup, this will be interesting don’t you think??? </sarc>
So, members of Congress want this investigated. Well, why didn’t they ask an impartial third party? Perhaps they couldn’t find one? This is probably true. Because I hate to tell you this, but I seriously doubt that this will be anything but a cover-up with a few heads that will roll but nothing too serious, except for those that are used as scape-goats… And while I feel sorry for them, if you are complicit, you are guilty. But I really want the top guys, something we won’t see, cuz gosh all mighty, these guys have brilliant careers behind them we wouldn’t want to see ruined… That is the verdict you are going to see. Not the one that gets the top brass on this one, the guys behind the plan, only those that implemented it, you watch and see.
This makes my point perfectly I’d say:
‘Not only must the inspector general now account for what it did and did not know about this state-sponsored propaganda effort, but they must also explain why, if they knew about the propaganda campaign, it was allowed to proceed,’ DeLauro said.
‘Additionally, we are calling for the inspector general to launch an investigation to ensure no detail surrounding this programme remains hidden,’ she added. The House members also want to know if the inspector general considers the programme to be illegal.
The inspector general referred in the above lines is the inspector general from the Department of Defense… This is the SAME Department of Defense that ordered the propaganda in the first place, Is there anything LESS IMPARTIAL here than the ones responsible doing the investigating???
In my article on Pentagon Propaganda is Illegal I included this tidbit here:
“Unless otherwise authorized by existing law, none of the funds provided in this act or any other act may be used by a federal agency to produce any prepackaged news story unless the story includes a clear notification within the text or audio of the prepackaged news story that the prepackaged news story was prepared or funded by that federal agency.”
Byrd’s remarks are below:
Mr. President, in every year since 1951, Congress has included a provision in the general government appropriations act which states the following: “No part of any appropriation contained in this or any other Act shall be used for publicity or propaganda purposes within the United States not heretofore authorized by Congress.” [Section 624 of P.L. 108-447]
Now, I’m POSITIVE I never saw one of these disclaimers in any of the commercials, news articles, or pentagon pundits shows I saw… I’m very curious how they are going to get around this one. Because it seems PRETTY CLEAR to me. Of course, with the military you can never tell what is clear and what is mud. Pot/Kettle, Kettle/Pot…
Propaganda as defined in Wikipedia is:
Propaganda is a concerted set of the messages aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people. Instead of impartially providing information, propaganda in its most of the basic sense presents information in order to influence its audience. Propaganda often presents facts selectively (thus lying by omission) to encourage a particular synthesis, or gives loaded messages in order to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired result is a change of the cognitive narrative of the subject in the target audience to further a political agenda.
SourceWatch defines War Propaganda as:
War propaganda is that branch of public relations devoted to manipulating people’s attitude toward a war or war in general, rather than engaging in open dialogue. It includes both pro-war propaganda, by governments and war industrialists, and anti-war propaganda by pacifists or enemy sympathizers. What makes it propaganda isn’t the sincerity or insincerity of its originators but its methods of media manipulation, going beyond lies to misdirection, loaded vocabulary, staged events, and fallacious demagoguery, all of which can be justified/rationalized by a ‘good’ cause, whether patriotic or idealistic.
War propaganda is used to confuse and demoralize enemies and also to influence public opinions in friendly countries. Often, a nation at war uses propaganda to influence its own citizens. According to British scholar F.M. Cornford, “Propaganda is that branch of the art of lying which consists in very nearly deceiving your friends without quite deceiving your enemies.”
And SourceWatch also has an article on Radio and Television:
American Forces Radio and Television Service
From SourceWatch
According to its website, the American Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) “is part of the Department of Defense, and is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia. The AFRTS mission is to communicate Department of Defense policies, priorities, programs, goals and initiatives. AFRTS provides stateside radio and television programming, ‘a touch of home,’ to U.S. service men and women, DoD civilians, and their families serving outside the continental United States.” The only people authorized to obtain an American Forces Network “decoder” to receive AFRTS signals are “the following personnel living or assigned overseas and authorized military exchange privileges: active duty military, and Department of Defense civilians.”
And you have GOT to read the SourceWatch article on the Military Mass Media Complex
The bush administration was accused way back in 2004 and again in 2005 of using propaganda and violating U.S.A. Laws by doing so. In an article by NewYorkTimes in October of 2005 which said:
In a blistering report, the investigators, from the Government Accountability Office, said the administration had disseminated “covert propaganda” in the United States, in violation of a statutory ban.
It is a great report but there are SO many others. This administration, since its inception, has been determined to use any and all means of swaying the public to support it, BY WHATEVER MEANS NECESSARY! Those means include but are not limited to PROPAGANDA…
An article by TheNation reveals the extent of the lies and propaganda that the bush administration went to in order to get its way with We the People. You can view that article here:100facts-showing-propaganda-and-the-bush-administration
This article was from October of 2004… The history of this abomination of an administration goes on, and on, and on… It is with thorough disgust that still see his face on public TV as head of the United States of America. But then, the first time he was elected, he used illicit means to get it also. So has anything changed? Not a bit!
Can the DoD Inspector General’s Office be counted on to be objective in this case? And, what will the consequences be, if any, of their findings? Certainly there is enough evidence for charges of propaganda against United States citizens. I point you to this article in FindLaw:
Brainwashing America and Political Propaganda, cont’d 6
And, just in case this should disappear… Not saying it will, but just in case, I’ve copied it and placed it as a word doc HERE:brainwashing-america-and-political-propaganda
The facts are waiting, there in bold black and white for all to see and reference. When considering the Media military analysts, words like Trojan Horse, infiltration, shaped terrorism coverage, etc. are used to describe them.
According to SourceWatch, Clear Channel Communications organized Pro-War rallies.
The Clear Channel’s activities go beyond radio. In March 2003, its affiliate stations throughout the United States organized pro-war rallies, under the name of Rally for America, to coincide with the Bush administration’s launch of war with Iraq. “Experienced Bushologists let out a collective ‘Aha!’ when Clear Channel was revealed to be behind the pro-war rallies, because the company’s top management has a history with George W. Bush,” reported Paul Krugman in the New York Times. Although Clear Channel denied sponsoring the rallies, “they were promoted repeatedly by the company’s widely syndicated radio personality, Glenn Beck.
So, I decided to look up the Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General and see what was going on there. You can find the list of things currently being looked into or after HERE: And then you tell me if this is going to be a successful investigation or not? I somehow doubt it…
Maybe I’m being overly pessimistic here, but given the track record of the bush administration and the fact that this really is the Kettle examining the Pot, I can only conclude this is yet another waste of time but look good to the public ploy.
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