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TOM MORGAN'S MONEY TALK
Perhaps the Iraqi war will give
us the added benefit of better reporters and better spokespeople
for the left.
First, the reporters. Clearly a lot of them were not reporters. They were advocates. They decided before the war which side they were on and they stuck with that side no matter the evidence.
These were the reporters who decided the U.S. forces were stuck in a quagmire after a few weeks. These were the guys who told us Iraq was winning the information war. And that Iraqi civilians would never welcome our guys. And that our war plan was all wrong. And that this war was no re-run of the Gulf War triumph. And that Iraq's cities would be our downfall. They would be honeycombed with Republican Guard warriors who would fight to the last man.
Newsweek reckoned we had made ''An arrogant blunder for the ages''. R.W. Apple wrote of our ''diplomatic debacle'' in the northern front. Seymour Hersh wrote about a stalemate. Robert Wright told readers of Slate.com that sympathy for the American invasion would evaporate and that Saddam would gain more support amongst his people.
The reason these reporters were so far off the scent is that they were not reporting. They were advocating. They were expressing their wishes as if the wishes were reporting. In this they were not much different than the buffoon who played Information Minister. His reports on the war were about as accurate as theirs. And for the same reason. They all let their hopes distort their reports.
Perhaps some of these birds will lose their perches. Perhaps we will begin to see less advocacy and more objective reporting. One can hope.
And perhaps the war will cause the Left to jettison some of its spokespeople, or pay less attention to them.
One after another prominent people on the Left strode to the end of the plank and fell in the soup.
They took positions that proved ridiculous. They supported a UN that clearly was feckless. They agreed with the French who clearly were duplicitous. They suggested Saddam was innocent of the stuff we accused him of doing.
They called for regime changes here, at the moment that Bush was enjoying his greatest popularity. Dumb. They criticized and second-guessed war leaders who were turning in a brilliant performance.
Yes, they walked the plank. Blindfolded by their own hand.
Hillary was smart enough to keep her mouth shut most of the time. The rest of them tried to outdo the Hollywood idiots in making dumb remarks.
The Left deserves better. There are sensible ways to express opposition during such times. There are ways to express opposing views in ways that will stimulate doubt and discussion.
Most of the prominent guys on the Left ignored them. In doing so, they did the Left a disservice. Their rantings drove a lot of supporters away. They helped to isolate the Left, to make it look like a movement of a permanent minority of whiners.
I am hoping the Iraq war will inspire a better quality of ideological opposition. And hoping that the reporting of that development will grow to be much better than the reporting of the war.
From Tom...as in Morgan.
First, the reporters. Clearly a lot of them were not reporters. They were advocates. They decided before the war which side they were on and they stuck with that side no matter the evidence.
These were the reporters who decided the U.S. forces were stuck in a quagmire after a few weeks. These were the guys who told us Iraq was winning the information war. And that Iraqi civilians would never welcome our guys. And that our war plan was all wrong. And that this war was no re-run of the Gulf War triumph. And that Iraq's cities would be our downfall. They would be honeycombed with Republican Guard warriors who would fight to the last man.
Newsweek reckoned we had made ''An arrogant blunder for the ages''. R.W. Apple wrote of our ''diplomatic debacle'' in the northern front. Seymour Hersh wrote about a stalemate. Robert Wright told readers of Slate.com that sympathy for the American invasion would evaporate and that Saddam would gain more support amongst his people.
The reason these reporters were so far off the scent is that they were not reporting. They were advocating. They were expressing their wishes as if the wishes were reporting. In this they were not much different than the buffoon who played Information Minister. His reports on the war were about as accurate as theirs. And for the same reason. They all let their hopes distort their reports.
Perhaps some of these birds will lose their perches. Perhaps we will begin to see less advocacy and more objective reporting. One can hope.
And perhaps the war will cause the Left to jettison some of its spokespeople, or pay less attention to them.
One after another prominent people on the Left strode to the end of the plank and fell in the soup.
They took positions that proved ridiculous. They supported a UN that clearly was feckless. They agreed with the French who clearly were duplicitous. They suggested Saddam was innocent of the stuff we accused him of doing.
They called for regime changes here, at the moment that Bush was enjoying his greatest popularity. Dumb. They criticized and second-guessed war leaders who were turning in a brilliant performance.
Yes, they walked the plank. Blindfolded by their own hand.
Hillary was smart enough to keep her mouth shut most of the time. The rest of them tried to outdo the Hollywood idiots in making dumb remarks.
The Left deserves better. There are sensible ways to express opposition during such times. There are ways to express opposing views in ways that will stimulate doubt and discussion.
Most of the prominent guys on the Left ignored them. In doing so, they did the Left a disservice. Their rantings drove a lot of supporters away. They helped to isolate the Left, to make it look like a movement of a permanent minority of whiners.
I am hoping the Iraq war will inspire a better quality of ideological opposition. And hoping that the reporting of that development will grow to be much better than the reporting of the war.
From Tom...as in Morgan.
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