If God Had Wanted You To Think, He Wouldn't Have Given You The Washington Press Corps

Things are starting to converge: the war, the criminality of everyday business on the Hill and in the Oval Office, the rape and pillage of our labor laws and environmental and public health regulations, the theft of votes, the force-feeding of poisonous presidential appointments aimed at bringing down the very systems that have protected us, however imperfectly, from boardroom sharks and wealthy conscienceless thugs. It's putting me into an activist state of mind I haven't felt since the protests of 1969 and 1970, remembering the fearlessness of those days. And to watch Cindy Sheehan taking a stand down south recalls those days, as she attracts others to her vigil by the sheer determination and bravery of her stance. The old poster on the left sidebar is a reminder of those days; it came straight out of the Vietnam anti-war movement, and it's a horror and a shame that it's still relevant today. So the Social Security Birthday Party tomorrow is on the agenda for me, and the March on Washington against the Iraq war the weekend of September 24. I don't know if participating will make a difference, but it surely won't if I sit on my ass and keep my mouth shut. Which is more like what the wordpimps running The Washington Post have in mind for their own people, as Editor & Publisher notes:

"The Washington Post has no plans to withdraw its co-sponsorship of a controversial Sept. 11 memorial walk being organized by the Department of Defense, according to Publisher Bo Jones. But, he said the paper would pull out if the event turns out to be some kind of pro-war or political march."

Bo knows political:

"This has nothing to do with politics or the war or support of any political position."

So just to be sure the White House-organized event was not seen as supporting the war, they got this clown for the big finale:

"The gathering will culminate in a concert by country star Clint Black, known for a pro-war song "Iraq and I Roll," which declares, "We can't ignore the devil, he'll keep coming back for more."

You mean like, a third term in office? More about Black in a minute. The problem is, as usual, those who got shall get, and those who don't get to sit down and shut up:

"But Rick Weiss, a Post science reporter and co-chair of the Washington Post unit of the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild, noted the hypocrisy of the paper's involvement, since it bars reporters from participating in partisan events. "It is dismaying, to say the least, that I can be fired for participating in a peace march while my employer feels free to co-sponsor an event that so blatantly beats the drum of war," Weiss stated."

Dismaying. Indeed. We really are on our way to besting the Brits at understatement these days, especially since braying our "dismay" too loudly can get us canned or hauled off for a body cavity search.

Not political? Please, people. Since when did this administration ever do anything that wasn't calculated to advance its agenda and "catapult the propaganda"? And right now, with support for the war at an all-time low, what better time to try to re-capture the high-androgenic pre-war excitement once stirred up so successfully by Clear Channel and its herd-intoxicant whupass rallies? (I once watched the faithful stream past in the hundreds for one held in Valley Forge National Park. A stench of anger and belligerence hung over them as they marched their paunchy bodies over the gentle hills, waving flags and celebrating the impending deathfest--of which, from the look of them, most would never have to take part.) But just to make it interesting, E&P points this out:

"Post spokesman Eric Grant echoed the publisher's view, claiming the paper's interest was strictly non-partisan...
"The walk was never presented to us as a rally to support the war and we would be very disappointed if it took that approach."

Whew! That's enough for me. They never told us it was political, so it's not. Mind you, these are supposed to be people whose careers are based on winnowing truth from lies, so how could the wool be pulled over their ever-vigilant eyes? If the President says it, well, then, by God, that's good enough for the millions of readers who trust them to get to the bottom of any funny business, right?

Sad. Grown people taking paychecks to make decisions that would be as easily made in the sandbox of any progressive kindergarten. Not a pro-war rally, no way! Oh, and remember Clint? He validates the wistful trust of WaPo with this verse of his crowd-pleasin' pulp fiction, soon to mark the crescendo of the rally:

"IT MIGHT BE A SMART BOMB
THEY FIND STUPID PEOPLE TOO
AND IF YOU STAND WITH THE LIKES OF SADDAM
ONE JUST MIGHT FIND YOU"

Speak out against criminality, murder, and lies, and now you're just like Saddam Hussein. And if that's not enough to shut you up, just remember:

"I'VE GOT INFRARED, I'VE GOT GPS AND I'VE GOT THAT GOOD OLD FASHIONED LEAD
THERE'S NO PRICE TOO HIGH FOR FREEDOM
SO BE CAREFUL WHERE YOU TREAD"

Are you going to let these moral insects determine what kind of country you will live in?