*PATRIOTISM REDUX*

*AGENCY MERGER?*

*STORIES TO WATCH*

It is a red white and blue Memorial Day Monday, with American media given over to cliches about “the ultimate sacrifice” and defining patriotism only in terms of soldiers who have died in war. Last night, Americans watched HBO’s 9/11 documentary urging viewers to “remember, reflect, and respond.” Much of it had a bare bones elegance to it with footage from 118 sources and, not for the last time, the projection of then Mayor Rudolph Giuliani as the hero surrogate for all the other heroes, a term that has long since lost its meaning. The program offered his spin — the official version of the events. It was selective, avoiding many of the controversies that have since swirled around the events. The music was majestic, the images filmic, the cliches overworked. Even for someone like myself, whose We Are Family film mined some of the same images with a different message, it was painful to watch it all again. What was new was a taste of the cell phone messages left by some who were trapped in the towers as well as footage of bodies flying from the highest floors to escape the fires. It was awesome and ugly.

WHERE WAS THE REFLECTION?

What was missing, and what is always missing when painful events like these are milked to score superficial points about Patriotism is the middle “R” of HBO’s slogan du jour: Reflect. There was little real reflection, or coverage of the response of many New Yorkers who did not cry for war and vengeance. Pictures were shown of the many who rallied in Union Square where the people’s memorial took place, not nary a comment was heard of the debates and discussions that took place there. Instead, the film ended not with questions or suggestions about how the Nation should have or could have RESPONDED, but with the cheap and easy recycling of a montage of American flags to the refrain of God Bless America sung by a tenor in the Police Department. It represented a pandering at odds with the honesty of film itself. No one at HBO must have remembered that other refrain that patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels. One other complaint. When the show ended, couldn’t they have left a moment of quiet to give some time for the very reflection they asked for. Instead, the mood was abruptly ruptured by a promo for the next movie. This “show must go on” juxtoposition was too much for me. I clicked the remote to OFF.

REMEMBERING PATRICK HENRY

I was a super patriot in my elementary school days when I won an elocution context for reciting revolutionary war hero Patrick Henry’s famous call to action which ended with the words “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death.” It was a great applause line. But Henry had a more nuanced of view what liberty actually demands—debate and opposition in the arena of government.

Here is how this orator who I so poorly mimicked felt about these issues. He wrote at a time when “gentlemen” ruled the roost. “No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the house. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony.”

ON THE BEACH AT NORMANDY

Oddly, CNN is on in the back ground with LIVE coverage of President Bush’s visit to Normandy in France, the battle ground that became a burial ground for so many American soldiers who were led ashore on June 6, l944. The invasion was led by General Dwight David Eisenhower, who was later to become a President himself, and a critic of the military-industrial complex against whose encroaching powers he warned. Bush will speak again on freedom. The French also welcomed another American to its shores: some one who lives American freedom. The radical author and filmmaker Michael Moore won a documentary award at the Cannes Film Festival. It was the first time I saw Mike without his signature proletarian baseball cap. Instead he was in a tuxedo. Congratulations. His film is about guns in America, always a favorite subject for more genteel Europeans.

Bush visited the gravesite of the son of President Theodore Roosevelt known for carrying a “big stick” in world affairs. Teddy Roosevelt Jr. died not of combat wounds but of a heart attack. His dad might have had a heart attack too by the way patriotic sentiments are being abused. According to a piece on BuzzFlash, this Republican Bull Moose also had a more nuanced view of patriotism, saying:

“Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the President or any other public official save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country.

“In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth–whether about the President or anyone else–save in the rare cases where this would make known to the enemy information of military value which would otherwise be unknown to him.”

These sentiments did not seep into the Presidents homilies to the French.

BUSH SNEERS AT REPORTER

The president got testy when asked about why many Europeans protest his policies. This story appears in the Washington Times:

“PARIS — President Bush yesterday derisively challenged press claims of widespread anti-Americanism in Europe and ridiculed an American TV correspondent for suggesting as much — in English and French — to him and French President Jacques Chirac.

“So you go to a protest and I drive through the streets of Berlin, seeing hundreds of people lining the road, waving,” Mr. Bush muttered to NBC News White House correspondent David Gregory during a joint press conference with Mr. Chirac.

“I don’t view hostility here,” Mr. Bush said in the ornate Palais de l’Elysee. “I view the fact that we’ve got a lot of friends here.”

“He added: “And the fact that protesters show up — that’s good. I mean, I’m in a democracy.”

“Mr. Bush was responding to Mr. Gregory’s question about anti-American demonstrations in Germany, Russia and France during the president’s visits to these nations since Wednesday.

“I wonder why it is you think there are such strong sentiments in Europe against you and against this administration?” the reporter said. “Why, particularly, there’s a view that you and your administration are trying to impose America’s will on the rest of the world, particularly when it comes to the Middle East and where the war on terrorism goes next?”

Turning to Mr. Chirac, he added in French: “And, Mr. President, would you maybe comment on that?”

“Very good,” Mr. Bush said sardonically. “The guy memorizes four words, and he plays like he’s intercontinental.”

“I can go on,” Mr. Gregory offered.

“I’m impressed — que bueno,” said Mr. Bush, using the Spanish phrase for “how wonderful.” He deadpanned: “Now I’m literate in two languages.”

“Roars of laughter filled both the press conference room and a press filing center elsewhere in the city, where many members of the White House press corps were watching the exchange on live television.”

WILL THE CIA AND FBI MERGE NEXT?

Back in the USSA, The Administration is being embarrassed by the New York Times report:

“A re-examination of events before Sept. 11 clearly suggeststhat the Federal Bureau of Investigation paid insufficient attention to danger signals.”

On Sunday, the Washington Post, reported: “The CIA is dispatching personnel to help the FBI upgrade its ability at headquarters in Washington to analyze intelligence and criminal data for use in preventing terrorist acts, according to senior FBI officials. More than 25 agency analysts and at least one senior manager from the CIA’s Directorate of Intelligence will assist FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III in reshaping the bureau into an agency more focused on counterterrorism….”

MUSING ON MEDIA

Writing in the Nation, Michael Tomasky says that there are signs that the press is finally smelling the coffee: “Quick, pinch me–am I still living in the same country? Reading and watching the same media? This “Bob Woodward” fellow who co-wrote a tough piece in the May 18 Washington Post demonstrating that the now-famous August 6 presidential daily briefing, contrary to Administration officials’ claims about its contents, actually carried the heading “Bin Laden determined to strike in U.S.”–is this the same Bob Woodward who co-wrote the Post’s infamous “Ten Days in September” series earlier this year, the ur-document of George W. Bush’s Churchillization? And this is “Michael Isikoff,” sharing a byline on the eye-opening May 27 Newsweek cover story that shreds the Administration’s “we did everything we could” line of defense–is this the Isikoff who four years ago defined national security in terms of dress stains and cigar probes? One begins to suspect that unbeknownst to all of us, the terrorists have indeed struck–the Washington, DC, water supply.

“An overstatement, to be sure. But it does seem to be the case that wherever this potentially incendiary story leads, from fog of unprovables to hot smoking gun, one change has already taken place because of it that is well worth marking.

For the first time since September 11–or, arguably, since ever–the press corps appears ready to expend more effort poking holes in the vaunted Bush Administration spin operation than admiringly limning it. More to the point, Is a new skepticism stirring around such heretofore Teflonized officials as National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice? Before her May 16 damage-control press conference, Rice was probably the Administration’s leading untouchable. After it (”I don’t think anybody could have predicted these people would…use an airplane as a missile,” a statement left bleeding on the floor after a pile of evidence came forward showing plenty of people were predicting precisely that), her status has taken a major hit.

So, as Professor Harold Hill might put it, certain worlds are creeping into the media vocabulary–words like “serious credibility gap,” in the Newsweek piece…” See The Nation.com.

THOSE LAW SUITS IN FLORIDA

Speaking of credibility gaps, Jennifer Bergen asks some questions carried on TRUTH OUT about questions about the Department of Justices (DOJ) new law suits in Florida: Why is the Justice Department filing suit over voting irregularities in Florida (and why now) when the NAACP already filed over a year ago on the same issue? The NAACP recently settled with several counties over their suit. Does this mean that Gore would have won if thousands of black voters were not disenfranchised?

“The suit brought by the NAACP in January 2001 was on behalf of black voters only. The DOJ suit appears to cover largely the same issues. A St. Petersburg Times editorial claims that the DOJ’s intention is “to get voluntary admissions of wrongdoing from the counties and a plan to fix the problems before it files the lawsuits.” Fixing the problems, the writer claims, is what counts.

“The two settlements in the NAACP suit focus on this, as well. Leon and Broward Counties have agreed to revise their laws and voting procedures. Specifically, the counties agreed to “provide a written explanation to voters when ballots are rejected, review disputes over voter registration, the voting process and voting lists,” according to a May 9, 2002 NAACP press release.

The trouble with both the NAACP suit settlements and the DOJ proposed suits is that they do not address the results of the election itself. If a substantial block of voters was admittedly disenfranchised, what does this mean about Bush’s election?…”

DISSECTOR’s WORLD TOUR OF THE UNDERCOVERED

Let me take you on a dissector’s world tour on this Memorial Day to give a head’s up about stories to watch.The War in India and Pakistan top the list. Unmentioned in most media accounts is the fact that the United States arms both of these belligerents. It would be interesting to know what the weapons sales department at the Pentagon is doing as the war escalates on the Subcontinent.

PALESTINE

What is happening in the Palestinian communities? Media attention has vanished. A delegation from the ANSWER coalition reports:

“The mainstream media, has largely withdrawn from the area despite the escalating harsh conditions of existence and human rights violations imposed by the Israeli military on Palestinian civilians through the continued occupation. Meanwhile, the Israeli military has reinforced its encirclement of the eight [sic] major cities of Tulkarm, Qalqilya, Jericho and Hebron–which now exist as isolated ghettos. Tanks rest poised on the perimeter of Ramallah, apparently ready to attack on a moment’s notice.” Israeli troops moved in Bethlehem last night and claim to have capture a “major terrorist.” CNN did not give the man’s name this morning.

ANGOLASean Healey of ZNET writes about another undercovered crisis on this Memorial Day/ This one is taking place in Africa, in Angola:

“Out of sight of the world, a humanitarian crisis of enormous proportions is unfolding in Angola, as perhaps hundreds of thousands of people flee the “grey zones,” the 90% of the country which has until now been closed to outsiders, including humanitarian aid agencies and even civilian medical structures.

“Many are dying of starvation on the roads. Others find themselves in towns and regional centers that have no food and no medical infrastructure and are too weak to go further. Those lucky enough to get to areas where humanitarian organizations can reach are still in grave danger, as the amount of international aid which has so far reached the African nation is far less than what is needed….

KOREA

Another type of confrontation may be shaping up in Korea as nearly l00,000 Chinese soccer fans get visas to cheer for their team in the first round of Word cup competitions. The Chinese are fierce fans…perhaps as enthusiastic and given to violence as some of the football fanatics in England. Keep an eye on this.

REMEMBERING NKOSI JOHNSON

From South Africa, a story close to me as the organization of people living with AIDS announce plans to build a memorial to a young man, an AIDS orphan about whom we produced a film two years ago. From their announcement:

“This year marks the first commemoration of the passing away of the internationally Renowned HIV/AIDS Child Activist, Xolani Nkosi Johnson, who died at the age of 12 from AIDS-related illnesses… At the time of his death last winter (2001), many people around the world rallied together to mourn his death. Xolani Nkosi Johnson became famous for his vocal campaigning on issues that are affecting children living with HIV/AIDS.

“Xolani has set roles and standards that few people can match. He was laid to rest last year during the same season, leaving behind all those children who are living with HIV/AIDS. Some of these children are not famous and as result they spend sleepless nights without food to eat not to mention the basic treatment. Children who are born with HIV are faced with a lot of discrimination, firstly by their youthful parents, who in turn, dump them in the drainage [ditches] due to lack of information poverty and other socio-economic problems. Some are dumped in the hospitals and left to die. HIV positive children need care, love and support to lead dissent lives.

“We as NAPWA are planning to engage the department of local government with the suggestion that a monument in memory of Xolani Nkosi Johnson be built at Daveyton Township.”

That’s it for me…a take on what is in — and not in — the media I’ve seen. I will back tomorrow, same time, same station or URL as is the case of this weblog. Help me keep this weblog interactive. Your comments are welcome. Share them by writing dissector@mediachannel.org