*STATING THE UNION
*WAR IN THE WINGS
*ABC GOES PORN

“Mr. Speaker, The President of the United States.” And so, it will begin with these words tonight at 9 PM, with smiles and applause as President Bush strides to a platform that he has used before to boost his Presidency and popularity. There are two subjects on the agenda, two that might in the end collide. One is war. The other, the economy. On both, he will have to sell more than tell. The venue promises a “home court” advantage as his family and appointees jam the galleries and his party, now in a majority, orchestrate the floor response. We will see smiles and self-satisfaction, and an oversupply of hubris masked as humility. The real State of the Union might stink, but the State of the Union speech opportunity is coming at the right time for a President whose approval ratings have been slipping and whose credibility is increasingly being questioned.

What will he say? It almost doesn’t matter. From his perch on the New York Times op-ed page economist Paul Krugman asks “Can tonight’s speech do the trick? We can be sure that some pundits will acclaim the speech as bold and brilliant; they would do that if he read from ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar.’ Whether their praise and the theatrics of the moment will turn things around is anyone’s guess.”

TIME TO ATTACK IRAQ?

And all morning, everyone was guessing on the cable “newscasts” with a pause here and there for other news like the low turnout for the Israeli election that will return Ariel Sharon, now reconstructed as a centrist, to office with a shaky coalition and the new wave of heavy fighting in Afghanistan, the war we have been told is over and won. And of course there was speculation and debate about what’s next in Iraq. Over in the UK, Jack Straw is already saying that Saddam is in “material breach” of his obligations to the Security Council. The Council meets to discuss that. The US view of this, to be enunciated tonight, is unlikely to be conciliatory, despite a clear finding that Iraq is not running a covert nuclear arms program, as charged, and lots of speculation about what weapons they COULD be hiding.

You have read the reports like this: “In a plain-speaking and detailed speech, the head of the UN weapons inspection team, Hans Blix, today provided no ‘smoking gun’ that would indicate Iraq has built up an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction, but said that obstructions, inconsistencies and unanswered questions showed Iraq was not fully cooperating with inspectors.”

Odd, isn’t it? The inspectors are supposed to be mere verifiers and not investigators and yet hew we have the mercurial Mr. Blix implying otherwise. Their mission seems to continually resist firm definition.

They say they were given all the access they demanded. “He reported that Iraq had been cooperative on the process of inspections, particularly on providing access to the more than 230 sites already visited by UN personnel. “Access has been provided to all sites we wanted to visit and on the whole it has been prompt,” Mr Blix stated.

OK, so no wonder that France and Russia and China are not persuaded of that there has been a material breach. Will the US be able to massage, maneuver or prod them into embracing the need for war. That big story unfolds tomorrow when the Security Council assembles. Prediction: The inspectors will have more time.

COLIN POWELL: TACTIC OR TANTRUM?

Colin Powell, the former General posing as a dove is out of the closet with lots of tough talk. The NY Times calls it a “hawkish tone,” wink, wink, nod nod, a mere tactic because he is pissed off by the French and wants to stay in the President’s good graces. This melodrama has not yet worn thin, and so media outlets explain him away rather than realize that he is part and parcel of what used to be called “the Washington Consensus.”Give him a missile to launch, and I have no doubt he will.

And when will that happen? The Sunday Herald of Glasgow reports that March 3 is the new date to mark on your calendars. They say that Bush and acoloyte Tony Blair–who comes to Camp David over the weekend–have been been cooking up a timetable: “Tony Blair and George Bush have privately agreed a joint strategy that will delay any possible war against Iraq for four weeks…(See GVNEWS.net)

BEHIND THE BUSHES

The President’s motives and behavior fascinates journalists, especially overseas. Ed Vulliamy of the Observer offers a profile which includes references to two new books.”It is part of American lore that the Bush dynasty is based upon oil. As President Bush junior wrote in his autobiography: ‘I lived the energy industry.’ But more than just oil propels the presidency, personality and ‘vision’ of George W Bush. Conservative ideologue David Frum has just published the first book offering a glimpse into the White House (The Right Man: The Surprise Presidency of George W Bush). Frum wrote speeches for Bush and coined the phrase ‘Axis of Evil’ to describe Iraq, Iran and North Korea. The most compelling sentence is the first: ‘Missed you at Bible study,’ Frum was scolded, upon entering the White House. Bible study, concludes Frum, ‘if not compulsory, is not uncompulsory either’. Bush opens every Cabinet meeting with a prayer. ‘To understand the Bush White House,’ he writes, ‘you must understand its predominant creed.’ Frum calls it ‘modern evangelicalism’, and finds it, despite himself being Jewish, ‘a kindly faith’.”Another, less trumpeted but more illuminating, book has also appeared: Made In Texas by Michael Lind. It concerns two divergent religious and political traditions in Lind’s and Bush’s native state. One came from hill country where Catholics and Lutherans from Germany and Scandinavia had settled, spawned loyalty to the Union during the civil war and then the liberal ‘Great Society’ of President Lyndon Johnson. The other, among Confederate Anglo-Ulster-Scots, nurtured a vehement, millenarian Protestantism, now the ‘fundamentalism’ of the Christian hard Right in Texas, which believes the Bible to be the literal word of God and demands that politicians enact the faith. Bush’s father, a theologically temperate Anglican, remained very much the East-Coast paternalist. George W, by contrast, is an authentic cultural West Texan. ‘He is clearly the wild son,’ said Karl Rove, mastermind behind Bush’s political career. ‘Even today.’”

THE MEDIA COVERAGE DEBATE

As war becomes more likely what is the likely role of journalists. The European Journalism Review carried this item yesterday.

” The US Department of Defense plans to fend off complaints that it limits media access by inviting journalists to accompany US forces in action in Iraq. But critics say on-scene conflict coverage doesn’t necessarily mean audiences will get a clearer picture of the war. In a column in the UK newspaper The Independent, British journalistRobert Fisk accuses American broadcasting networks of “cozying up” to the military to be first in the queue for the prized pool positions. Baltimore Sun columnist David Folkenflik writes that press pools have not worked in the media’s favour in recent conflicts and draws parallels with the previous Gulf War. “Reporters and photographers who were in Pentagon pools accompanying troops in the Gulf region had their work withheld by the military for days, sometimes weeks, after it was filed,” he writes. Mr Folkenflik argued that “unilaterals” - journalists who ventured into the desert without military authorisation - often came up with better stories, and managed to avoid delays in publication.”

Source: www.epn-world.reporter.com

:MEDIA NEWS: HEWITT, GOING , GOING BUT NOT YET GONE

The big news on US TV is that Don Hewitt, the king creator of 60 Minutes is finally being forced out. Next year he surrenders control to the younger producer who now runs 60 Minutes II. Don won himself a contract that will pay him to age 90. That’s clout…The next big news is what the NY Post–ha–calls “COPYCAT CHOPPERS” telling the story of two brothers who chopped their mother’s head off in a manner inspired by a scene on the HBO series “The Sopranos.”

On the American TV networks, banality rules as more and more sleaze slips into the mainstream. Over on CNN this morning, they were still talking about the commercials on the Superbowl..

ABC “NEWS:” “I TOOK A BEATING, AND IT WAS GREAT”

And on ABC, a great new contribution to our culture has been unveiled by the ABC “News” Magazine Prime Time Live. We have all been waiting for this:

“Love on a Porn Set: A Mormon Girl Gets Her Start in the Adult Movie Business”Here is a description from the ABC News website:

” — When 20-year-old Michelle Sinclair saw the handsome Spaniard who would later become her fiancé, she thought it was love at first sight.

“[WARNING: This article contains descriptions of sexual acts that some readers may find offensive.]

“The day we met, he said, ‘You’re going to be the mother of my children. I love you,’” she remembers. “You know what I mean? I never had that before. I never had a guy be so in love with me.”

“The couple met on the set of a porn film in a rented house in Prague in July 2001. Sinclair, the daughter of a retired Air Force captain and former bishop in the Mormon Church, was an up-and-coming starlet in the adult video world. She had had some setbacks in her first year in the business, but believed her career was turning around with the Prague trip, which would be her first starring role. Her co-star, 28-year-old Nacho Vidal, was already a well-established star.

“The director had told Sinclair that Vidal liked her work, and when the pair saw each other they immediately fell into each other’s arms, kissing from one side of the house to the other…”

ABC spent two years (TWO YEARS!) bringing us this vital story.

But when ABC’s “director finally got the pair to settle down to the business at hand — filming a sex scene — the tone changed. Without any prompting, Vidal got rough during the sex, slapping Sinclair’s face violently from side to side, and choking her… “I look torn up — can you tell?” she asked an ABCNEWS producer who was following her progress for Primetime. Laughing and wiping her eye, she turned away and said without conviction, “I took a beating today, and it was great.”

A HITLER CHANNEL

And speaking of porn, years ago, when I was with ABC’s 20.20, I produced a story called “Hitler Mania” that looked into why TV networks and publishers continue to churn out films, books, documentaries and TV shows about Adolph Hitler. It explored why his evil doings still seems so fascinating. The History Channel in America has long been guilty of programming one Hitler saga after another to exploit the audience’s fascination with evil. I was this not surprised to read this parody passed on by my partner Rory O’ Connor:

“History Channel goes to all-Hitler format

by Pug James

“Standing in front of a 40-foot-tall image of Adolf Hitler, Nickloas Davatzes, president and CEO of A&E Television Networks, announced that the History Channel will be moving to an all-Hitler format beginning in the fall of 2000.

“”We honestly tried to provide a wide range of historical content,” said Davatzes, semi-flanked by Abbe Raven, executive vice president and general manger of the History Channel. “But the overwhelming trend of our ratings showed that only Hitler-oriented content was drawing viewers.” Both executives wore red and black armbands emblazoned with an especially Teutonic version of the History Channel’s “H.” The evocative symbol also adorned two dozen 80-foot-tall banners which lined the site of the press conference, the Roseland Ballroom in New York City.

“After leading the gathered crowd in a rousing triple-chant of “Yay, History!” Davatzes turned the podium over to Raven, who detailed the new programming for the fall season. In addition to the usual slew of documentaries about WWII Germany, and the life, death and machinations of Adolf Hitler, the channel is developing a number of “Hitler-inspired” series. The most notable follow:

“”Cooking with the Fuhrer”÷A one-hour cooking/talk show hosted by acclaimed German chef and Third Reich historian Helmut Niederlander. Each episode will feature the re-creation of a meal that would have been served to Hitler, peppered with interesting anecdotes about his dietary and social habits.

“Hitler’s Top 10 Funky-Fresh Videos”÷Aimed at the 18-24 set, the show will feature a beautiful hostess and a hilarious, wisecracking Hitler puppet. Those videos meeting the puppet’s approval will be played “for 1000 years,” while those deemed inferior will immediately be thrown into an on-set, fully functional blast furnace.” And it goes on….Yeah, it is disgusting. And yeah it is all too true.

FLORIDA BALLOTS MAY GO MISSING AGAIN

Media Whores Online are reporting that Jeb Bush, the Florida Governor and Presidential Brother has cut the budget of the Florida Division of Library and Information Services which was designated as the repository for all the Florida disputed ballots of 2000! And now? Reports MWOL:”In his new proposed 2004 budget, Governor Jeb Bush has cut funding to the Florida Division of Library and Information Services to….ZERO!….it look as if Jeb is about ensure that the ballots get destroyed — and to hell with historical significance”

OH CANADA

Claudia writes:”Hi Danny, I’m a print journalism student at Ryerson University in Toronto, avid reader of your weblog….the Canadian mainstream press completely ignored the World Social Forum as well. The WEF made front pages. It’s unfortunate that this is expected. However, a good Canadian alt-news site is rabble.ca.

“Anyhow, thanks for your critical eye! I’m half-waythrough News Dissector: Passions, Pieces andPolemics…it’s inspiring.”

And I get inspired too when readers send in tips and tributes. (Checks would be great too) Keep them coming. My computer is on the fritz today so I don’t have access to all the latest and greatest Hopefully I will be back on line before I know it. In the meantime, this is the best I can do.Share your responses by writing dissector@medichannel.org