Sunday, April 27, 2008

From Alternate Universe #265

Or was it Alternate Universe #264 - you'll have to decide. John Yidste (mercifully filling in for Scott Simon) was talking to Aaron David Miller about the situation in Israel/Palestine, when Miller makes this statement:
"I think the main point here John is that the story of the Arab Israeli negotiations right now is not an American story. There are some hopeful signs, but neither of them involve right now a primary role right now for the United States. First you've got historic negotiations underway for the last year between Abbas and Olmert - an empowered Israeli Prime Minister and an empowered Palestinian President - on the four core issues that drive the conflict."
Whatever your opinion about the conflict in Israel/Palestine, where in God's name does the descriptor "historic" apply to the goings on between Israel and the truncated government of Abbas? And "empowered" to describe these two pathetic leaders Olmert and Abbas; that was a new one for me. I actually thought I misheard it from the radio, and went to NPR's website to relisten.

Ok, so Miller (by far not the worst of the servants of US/Israeli policy) can say whatever nonsense he wants; after all he in this LA Times opinion piece he calls Jimmy Carter's last book "a bad book" and Walt and Mearscheimer's work "another bad book." But where is the journalist during this little interview with Miller. Hello, Yidste, anybody there. There was nothing, no reaction, nada. As if often the case at NPR, the lights are on, but nobody's home.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not on topic with the cited story, but very germane to the subject of reporters' not challenging the lies thrown at them, I'd like to whine about the first segment of 'on the media', where bob garfield interviewed a major robert bevelacqua about the pentagon-military analysts-media daisy chain. The interview went O.K. until the end, where bevelacqua basically explained the whole phenomenon as 'conservative men and their natural inclination toward war'. Well, this is bob gatfield's show, and he could have not included this bit, or he could have mentioned: Scott Ritter, Marine Officer; Brent Scowcroft, Admiral; or Eric Shinseky, General. But instead garfield just said "thanks alot, bob". And this is EXACTLY the sort of pro-war shit that NPR and PBS has been spewing these last 8 years; the unblinking acceptance that war is the only truly groovy thing to do. garfield showed what a weak-spined chump he relly is, and our nation has suffered immeasurably because of him and the rest of the fake journalists who presented this war as a natural decision.

Anonymous said...

Yeah. War's just so groovy when all you have to do is sit in the press box salivating with all the play-by-play action. Weasels.