Press Corpse

Knight-Ridder has a jolly take on the sitch in Iraq as the elections grow nearer:

"Nearly three-quarters of Iraqis say they "strongly intend" to vote in next month's pivotal elections, and a small majority believe the country is headed in the right direction, according to a major new poll of Iraqi attitudes.
"The poll of nearly 2,200 people across most of Iraq found a resilient citizenry modestly hopeful that the Jan. 30 elections will improve life. Iraqis said pocketbook issues such as unemployment and health care are more pressing than the bloody insurgency that claims Iraqi and U.S. lives virtually every day."

Yes. And the 3rd paragraph down reveals the source of this happytalk poll: The International Republican Institute, a mouthpiece for the Republican party that has John McCain at the helm of its Board of Directors, and which has been involved in "sowing" democracy around the world, including money-laundering for "regime changes", and a campaign to destabilize Haiti.

It's one thing to accept "news releases" from propaganda machines.
It's another thing altogether to publish them whole cloth without even a background lede or a disclaimer. Is it any wonder Americans are the most ignorantly benighted developed country in the world?

As Bob Somerby would say, "There's your 'press corps'"!