*A SALTUE TO FRANK W ON W DAY*

*QUOTING CARL*

*BUSH GOES PREEMPTIVE*

It is June 17th, the 30th anniversary of the Watergate break in at the offices of the Democratic National Committee in Washington, an illegal act that eventually brought down a presidency known for worse illegal acts. This morning, all the TV programs are buzzing with speculation about who “Deep Throat” was, the mysterious source who allegedly tipped Washington Post investigators Bob Woodward (now an editor and friend of presidents) and Carl Bernstein (now a freelancer and sometime-media critic) about where to look for the evidence that proved White House complicity in some, but not all, of the larger crimes. Unmentioned this morning was the man who brought the burglars down. He was Frank Wells, the security guard who noticed tape that didn’t belong over the door locks there and blew the whistle. Working class heroes like Frank tend not to be remembered.

WHAT WE FORGET

Also forgotten in the anniversary hoopla–that turns in part on a new E-Book by former Nixon Aide, turned J’accuse, lawyer John Dean that was to have named Deep Throat but in the end doesn’t–was the fact that Woodward and Bernstein were chasing the wrong story at first and they only stumbled onto the burglary because as police reporters they were in a local court on a Saturday morning when some of the burglars confessed to their CIA ties.

It was a lucky break for them and the country. The whole story almost went nowhere when other news outlets steered clear of the Washington Post’s scoops. When they finally piled on for competitive reasons, the Nixon gang went on the defensive until they couldn’t defend the indefensible. We should be celebrating and mourning this morning. Celebrating a triumph of investigative reporting — and mourning the absence of aggressive investigative reporting today. (Significant isn’t it that that CNN.com reports “Watergate figures say lessons largely unlearned.”)

THE MEDIA SCANDAL

Today, Carl Bernstein points to a much deeper scandal when he said, “We are being dominated by a global journalistic culture that has little to do with truth or reality or context. The result of a misuse and abuse of free expression in western democracies actually disempowers people by making them more cynical about public life” (From Editor and Publisher) Since the anniversary of this ongoing scandal has no date to mark, it is unlikely to be commemorated.

TIGER TRIUMPHANT

Sports topped the US news this am. In golf, Tiger Woods wins another US open, this one at Bethpage, a public course, known locally as the LIE open after the Expressway that will sometimes get you there when it is not a parking lot. There were cheers for the US soccer team that beat Mexico 2-0, and a flap over a pitch that almost hit Yankee Roger Clemens’s big behind… Getting less attention is a 75-mile Berlin type wall that is going up between Israel and the West Bank, enclosing Jewish settlers as well as Palestinians. A new Israeli incursion into Jenin rarely got a mention, as did the rejection by Israeli authorities of a group of American Moslems who had plan to meet with peace groups in Jerusalem.

BUSH TO STRIKE FIRST

President Bush has reportedly signed an order to accelerate a war with Iraq, authorizing a covert campaign by the CIA. Less covert, was another doctrine announced in his speech at West Point–pre-emptive war. This is freaking out many in Europe. Jonathan Steele writes in the Guardian:

“In a speech made in the midst of World Cup football fever and the Kashmir crisis, President Bush launched his concept of pre-emption. His speech can claim to be the most chilling statement of his presidency so far. In effect”..(he) ..”said the US has the right to strike, pre-emptively, at any nation which it decides is developing weapons of mass destruction or supporting terrorism. It is carte blanche for a war on the world. Bush Sr once talked about the need for “the vision thing”. His son’s West Point speech is “the doctrine thing.” US officials say it will be fleshed out in a national security strategy document this summer….

“Many nations have exploited the “war on terrorism”, either to gain favour with Washington or to clamp down on dissent. The Bush doctrine goes further. The US president is hijacking the anti-terrorist agenda and crashing it into the most sacred skyscraper in New York: the headquarters of the UN. If his doctrine is not rapidly rejected by other states, preferably those that call themselves Washington’s allies, Article 51 of the UN charter will have suffered a mortal blow.” (The Guardian Weekly 13-6-2002, page 12)

CNN IN THE DOCK?

CNN was buzzing with legal analysis of the John Walker Lindh Trial. His lawyers are claiming that a confession was in effect tortured out of him and will be seeking to suppress it, CNN’s legal expert also mentioned a possible action against the news network for airing an interview without permission from Walker Lindh When that issue was raised, anchor Carol Collins quickly moved to another subject.

Some prominent Americans have signed a call to resist the war on terror but the only newspaper that I saw that carried it in full is the Guardian in England. It reads in part:”Let it not be said that people in the United States did nothing when their government declared a war without limit and instituted stark new measures of repression. The signers of this statement call on the people of the US to resist the policies and overall political direction that have emerged since September 11 and which pose grave dangers to the people of the world.

“We believe that peoples and nations have the right to determine their own destiny, free from military coercion by great powers. We believe that al persons detained or prosecuted by the US government should have the same rights of due process. We believe that questioning, criticism, and dissent must be valued and protected. We understand that such rights and values are always contested and must be fought for.

“We believe that people of conscience must take responsibility for what their own governments do - we must first of all oppose the injustice that is done in our own name.” Among the signatories: Laurie Anderson, Edward Asner, actor, Russell Banks, writer,Rosalyn Baxandall, historian, Henry Chalfant,author/filmmaker, Martin Luther King III, president, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Barbara Kingsolver, Gloria Steinem Alice Walker., word artist and Howard Zinn, historian. Contact the Not In Our Name statementnionstatement@hotmail.com

ANTHRAX WHO DUN IT?

Nick Peters of The New Scotsman reports that “American investigators know the identity of the killer who paralysed the US by sending anthrax in the post but will not arrest the culprit, according to leading US scientists.

“For several months the Federal Bureau of Investigation has claimed it has few leads and little evidence about the group or individual who targeted politicians and media organisations.……

“Last week scientists at Fort Detrick, the US Army’s top secret biologicalwarfare research centre at Fort Detrick, Maryland said the FBI had looked atways in which anthrax could have been smuggled out of the complex.”

THE BEAT ON THE MEDIA BEAT

FAREWELL: The Center for Commercial-Free Public Education reports they have run out of funding: “We are sorry to report that we have closed our doors. We are searching for a non-profit partner who can take over our core mission. Until that time, we will be in hiatus … Thank you for all the time, work, and passion you put into fighting commercialism in schools.

THE BEST KEPT SECRET

Independent Congressman Bernie Sanders from what was once jokingky called the People’s Republic of Vermont has spoken out against media domination in The Hill, a Congressional newspaper:

“One of our best-kept secrets is the degree to which a handful of huge corporations control the flow of information in the United States. Whether it is television, radio, newspapers, magazines, books or the Internet, a few giant conglomerates are determining what we see, hear and read. And the situation is likely to become much worse as a result of radical deregulation efforts by the Bush administration and some horrendous court decisions…

“If television largely ignores the reality of life for the majority of Americans, corporate radio is just plain overt in its right-wing bias. In a nation that cast a few million more votes for Al Gore and Ralph Nader than for George Bush and Pat Buchanan, there are dozens of right-wing talk show programs. Rush Limbaugh, G. Gordon Liddy, Bob Grant, Sean Hannity, Alan Keyes, Armstrong Williams, Howie Carr, Oliver North, Michael Savage, Michael Reagan, Pat Robertson, Laura Schlessinger. these are only a few of the voices that day after day pound a right-wing drumbeat into the heartland of this country…..

“In Zimbabwe, unprecedented fees have been imposed to chill press freedom by requiring organisations and journalists to register and accredit news…Variety reports that in New York, ‘Chuck Dolan’s Cablevision Systems won a skirmish Friday in its war against the New York Yankees’ YES Network when a federal court threw out a class-action lawsuit by five Yankee fans seeking to force Dolan to carry the channel.’ THE YES network, owned by Yankee owner George Steinbrenner, has the rights to broadcast Yankee games and has imposed a fee which other cable systems in the region are passing on to their customers–hiking cable costs. Dolan has refused to do so… In free expression news, despite attempts to by the Government of Iceland to prevent Falun Gung supporters from protesting Chinese leader Jiang Zemin’s visit to that country, nearly l000 did so.”

RECOVERING

That’s my dissection for now. I seem to have twisted my foot so spent most of yesterday watching TV and reading. Good repeat story on 60 Minutes about deceptive and illegal practices by telecommunications companies who are allowed to scam customers thanks to a lack of regulation….It seems like the karma is catching up with these companies whose stocks are in the toilet. Also check out The New Atlantic for the first of three in-depth articles on the World Trade Center cleanup. This one tells about an attempted billion dollar heist from a vault that survived the attack, as well as other scams and bureaucratic wars in the ruins….Hopefully, all of this rest will speed my recovery. Ironically, as I was confined on this Fathe’rs Day, my own father suffered a serious malady, too. Was it a coincidence or something more?

Another week is upon us. Please take up my invite to share your concerns, items and comments with me. Write dissector@mediachannel.org