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...What in heaven happened here on Earth?"

--Tower of Power, 1976
   from "Ain't Nothin' Stoppin Us Now"


A comment I left at the LiberalLoather may not reflect the truth about Iraq's ability to create a new nation to the same degree postwar Japan has. As Michael Rubin points out in his OpEd at OpinionJournal dot com [fair warning: free, but tiresome registration required],

"Cameras and reporters do not lie, but they do not always give a full perspective. Political brinkmanship devoid of context breeds panic. Beheadings and blood sell copy, but do not accurately reflect Iraq."
Personal Note: For my part, I would have left out "reporters." They, like all of us, cast shadows in the noonday sun, and therefore are quite capable of lying... but hey! That's me.

But it's worth pointing out that Americans generally do not always get an accurate picture of the world and other cultures. Media in America is a polarized, and polarizing institution, driven by Politics and Ideology more than an earnest desire to report the truth.

Fox News comes the closest to "Fair and Balanced" however much some claim to the contrary. For the most part these detractors will point to pundits like Hannity, O'Reilly, and others, while not bothering to include the likes of Chris Matthews, for one. AND these same detractors fail to note one very important thing... These "newspeople" are pundits, and opinion makers; paid to espouse their own brand of bias. It's their job. The real test of "Fair-and-Balanced" is how these same networks couch the news they relate. At Fox the news is not slanted to prefer one political ideal or the other. Katie Couric, Matt Lauer, and that Olbermann guy, can't say the same. They have a definite bug up the butt for bashing President Bush at every opportunity.

The media has polarized this nation to the extent that we spend most of our time debating and jockeying for Ideological Supremacy. As a result, we fail to see the realities of life in Iraq-- or anywhere else for that matter --its factions, and it's collective hopes for the future. Iraqi's know more about how Iraqi's will react to their new constitution than do American or European talking heads.

A great read if you have 5 minutes.

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