Two extremely important events involving the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice - her trip to Russia to push for US military expansion into Poland and the Czech Republic and her maneuvers in Jerusalem with Abbas and Olmert to supposedly push for "peace" between Israel and the Palestinians. Guess what expert we get from NPR to provide background and analysis? The dutiful Michele Kelemen who has repeatedly shown herself to be a mouthpiece for Rice (e.g. January 2007 and July 2006). Kelemen has NO expertise on the Middle East and offers no significant information on why Rice is a completely discredited agent for such efforts. Listening to Kelemen, you'd never know that the consistent thrust of the Bush administration has been to undermine any and all efforts at finding a just peace between Israel and the Palestinians.On the bogus "need" for missile defense in Eastern Europe and Russia's understandable suspicions of this US policy, we get nothing from Kelemen. Would have been a good opportunity to interview to some experts who dissent from the pro-administration line - Katrina Vanden Heuvel, Stephen Cohen, or Anatol Lieven. Anything with substance, instead of the empty parroting of Kelemen.
4 comments:
Not to mention the emptiest of filler statements from Condi herself, our most worthless Sec'y of State ever. Why doesn't she just say, (with convenient airplane noise as additional filler in the background): 'Um, I'm, um, just stalling, um, for, um, time, and, um, I'm, um, giving it, um, 100, um, percent, um, of my, um, effort, um, while I'm, um, uh, still, um, in . . . office . . .'
I was happy to see the names of Katrina Vanden Heuvel, Stephen Cohen, and Anatol Lieven together on your blog. I have nothing but the highest repect for Lieven and Cohen, (One of my favorite TV moments EVER was earlier this year when Cohen was interviewed by Charlie Rose about his latest Nation article. While Rose was reciting a pat question based on banal conventional wisdom, Cohen - for just a fraction of a second - wearily rolled his eyes at Rose's stupidity.), as well as Cohen's wife Vanden Heuval, who definitely fights the good fight.
I can't remember every hearing any of them on NPR... even on fresh air.
"even on fresh air"? Oh, bwah-ha-ha. Neither of them are Nick Lowe (but then, el Gross-o's no Amy Goodman either)
Oh, and let me share my fun little Rice-a-Phony game: when I hear her "um... um..." brain freezes, I posit that she's fighting little visions of a little spree at the shoe shoppe! Example: "ummm... Prada! LV! Gucci!!!"
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