ALL PRAISES DUE

Jim Asher, investigative editor of Knight Ridder’s excellent Washington, D.C. bureau (which I have praised many times), writes:

“Read your interview on al-Jazeera. Shame you blast the American media before you read what Knight Ridder did to debunk the Bush administration point of view on weapons of mass destruction. Check out www.krwashington.com.

“It will renew your faith in journalism.”

Bill Amos writes from Boise Idaho:

“First of all, you are doing a great service to people who love their country. Keep it up! America needs you!

“Regarding the conflicts between China and Japan, I wonder if we Western people are reading a little too much into it. My lovely, church-going Korean wife turns apoplexic at the mere mention of the Japanese. And the reason is very simple. Everyone of middle age and beyond has first- or second-hand exposure to the crimes committed by the Japanese in the colonized areas of Korea and China. (I suspect, though she won’t say explicitly, that she had female relatives who were forced to be ‘comfort women’ or coerced prostitutes for the Japanese army.) The nerves and feelings of Chinese and Koreans are still raw to this day and are rubbed even more raw when they hear of the unwillingness of the Japanese public to confront their past.

“I have to tell you this story. Once several years ago my wife and I were watching CNN report on a very large traffic pileup on a Japanese highway. The anchor said ‘the accident involved dozens of cars, but only two people died.’ My wife pounded her fist on the table and said, ‘”Only TWO?”‘”

Linda Dennis writes from Brooklyn New York:

“With all due respect to all the people on this site and elsewhere who have ideas about which government is behind the protests of Chinese against Japanese, etc., all I can say is there is real and palpable pain from the Chinese community about the atrocities during the Second World War by the Japanese against them. It is amazing how sympathetic and sensitive most Americans are about the pain of the Jews regarding the Nazi past, including sympathy for their appeals for everyone not to forget, for war reparations, for Museums that remind us of the horrors and for return of their stolen property. This sympathy is world wide and in America and other civilized countries, very ardent and sincere.

“But when anything like a National Chinese concern about the atrocities of Japan come up the rhetoric in the U.S. rises like a Tsunami wave to shut down any real and thoughtful discussion of that past that might result in real sympathy or consideration of the deep and terrible pain the citizens of China suffered.

“Accusations of a Communist government conspiracy to hurt Japan, our preferred Eastern business and political partner — are fast and furious, with tongue in cheek deference to the tragedy of the Chinese people during the war. Comfort women and Nanjing were not all there was to it, as if that wouldn’t be enough!! Decapitations were encouraged by the military in Japan and shown in newspapers as a completive sport! This is only one small example. Many Chinese don’t need to be ‘trained and conditioned’ by a propaganda machine from their government or it’s educational institutions to resent Japanese - or Japan as a Nation…”

CHALABI IS BACK

Daryll Bowles writes from Madrid:

“I am certain you have heard that they have finally formed a government in Iraq. Well… Sort of anyway.

“Although they had to fill a number of Ministerial appointments temporarily. Like the Ministry for oil. And guess who pops up? Good old Chalabi. Ex CIA operative and big buddy of Dick (In every sense of the word.) Cheney and Paul, backdoor, Bremer’s choice as interim president in charge of giving The Iraqi oil to the Yanks. And now they have, just by chance I suppose and of course, without any prompting from Dirty Dick and Co. at all, put him in charge of what it’s really been all about all along. The black gold.

“And believe me, he’s just got to be the right choice. After all he has been convicted of fraud in Jordan and would spend quite a number of years in one of their prisons if here were to go there again. So he’s just got to be the man to deal with Halliburton and the Big Boys from Texas now doesn’t he. And this will in no way disqualify him in the oval office either I’m certain.

“Isn’t democracy wonderful! If you don’t believe it just ask Bush and Wolfie. Hang in there man.”

SAVE THE SEALS

From: Carol the Artist

Subject: A story that should be all over the media. And your website.

“Here is a story that doesn’t get the media attention that it deserves. The baby harp seals are being horribly slaughtered up in Canada — hundreds of thousands of them. Its so heartbreaking. This should be all over the media. There should be a cover story with a photo of a baby harp seal on the cover of Time Magazine, certainly not Ann Coulter.

“Go to websites like : harpseals.org, ifaw.org (International Fund for Animal Welfare), seashepherd.org, friendsofanimals.org, protectseals.org.”

IS MEDIACHANNEL POST-PARTISAN?

Doug Sherman writes:

“Since your announcement of a ‘post-partisan’ turn, I haven’t seen any diminution of the mediachannel’s absolute partisanship. And maybe that’s okay; maybe we of the left need aggressive advocacy by our media more than we need balance and self-criticism. But why claim to be trying something different?”

Doug: Partisanship usually means one is aligned with a political party. We aren’t. We carried an Accuracy in Media piece and have solicited comments from folks who don’t agree. Few are willing to write. Our letters certainly represent many points of view, including yours.–DS

Check this one out:

“I saw you on al-Jazeera”

Andy Joiner, who describes himself as “libertarian by nature,” writes:

“I visited your blog because I saw you on al-Jazeera. It seems to me that your news ‘dissection’ only goes one way. I appreciate the fact that you’re a liberal and have typical liberal belief systems. I find it interesting that liberals, in general, feel so threatened by conservatives.

“It seems to me that there is a phobia that prevents the liberal mind from realizing that there are plenty of intelligent people out there capable of forming their own opinions, and that they will do that based on the reality of today’s events, rather than seeing things the way they were 30 years ago.

“Look at the red states of today and you might draw the conclusion that today’s younger voters are more conservative socially and more inclined to frequent churches, synagogues, etc than they were 30 years ago. Combine that with the liberal stranglehold that has existed in the nations universities for the last 30 years, which academically penalized any contrary thought to the liberal party line.

“In short, when you become ‘the establishment’, you set yourself up for the inevitable fall. The interesting thing to me is that every blog dedicated to the Democratic Party(whatever that ridiculous organization stands for any more) rants and raves about the FOX news network and the Bush Administration. There’s never an effort to build a case for liberal politics, it’s just a continuous effort to tear down the opposition.

“I thought the DP might learn a lesson from the last election, but they did little self reflection and pulled out the same tired old dog and pony show by trotting out Howard Dean as the new leader of the DP. The liberal media created the market void that FOX news filled by failing to report the news, but frequently editorializing events to try and shape public opinion. Now FOX does the same thing for their viewership that CNN has been doing for theirs since it’s inception.

“Where are the Walter Cronkites when you need them? Nobody will ever take you seriously if you don’t get objective about what you’re doing. Look for the story and not how you can advance your political agenda. Realize that all conservative ideas aren’t evil and that all liberal ideas aren’t absolutes. Only then will you be able to reach out to the masses. Just my two cents.”

DS responds: Andy, sorry but your characterization doesn’t fully fit. I am not a DP booster or Fox hater. I look critically at all media and know how as it does the bidding of its corporate owners, it increasingly dumbs down the news and ignores the world. Where do you watch al-Jazeera?

If you look at Dean, he has moved right, no longer calling for withdrawal from Iraq. Is it any wonder that kids express the views they do as our school system fails and the media goes into the toilet?

Please don’t pigeonhole me. I went on al-Jazeera as part of a film festival that screened my film, not as an advocate of “liberalism” or what positions you project on to me. I criticize all the networks, not just Fox.

IRAQ-VIETNAM PARALLEL

Peter Davis, director of the Academy Award-winning “Hearts and Minds,” writes:

“Danny, Right! The parallels are what they are, and the differences are even worse. For instance, against all history, the Vietnamese mostly do like Americans. I doubt that’ll ever be true with Iraqis, who accurately see this as one more crusade.”

Danny Li of Honolulu, Hawaii, writes:

“I read D. Schechter’s post at CommonDreams site today. You might be interested to see the following commentary I sent to Indybay.org on April 30. Talk about arriving at similar conclusion independently! Your feedback welcome.”

Original article is at: http://www.indybay.org/news/2005/04/1735484.php

Dan Cassidy writes:

“Iraq has definitely turned the corner. Look for one defeat after another for Bushites, domestically, internationally and economically as the multi-stranded and violent unraveling gathers momentum.”

LSE: OLD TIMES THERE ARE NOT FORGOTTEN

James Eyton writes from my graduate school alma mater, the London School of Economics:

“I read your blog with interest and I have requested your film (’Student Power,’ 1968) from the LSE archive which I hope to view on Sunday. It is a sad shame that the LSE today shows little fervour or spirit which the students of your time fought to create.”

VIETNAM COMMEMORATION

An enthusiastic mixed Vietnamese and American audience turned up Saturday for the screening of “Hearts and Minds” and “WMD” at Lan Cao’s Galley Viet Nam in Tribeca, and Tiana’s work in progress, “Vienama Dejevu,” featuring footage of Robert MacNamara in Hanoi being arrogant in a meeting with Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap. This is what you didn’t see in “Fog of War.” Powerful!

New York Police Chief Ray Kelly even dropped by and bought a copy of the “WMD.” We heard the details of the recent Agent Orange lawsuit brought in federal court by attorney Constantine Kokkoris. He is appealing a decision that questioned whether dioxin is dangerous. Huh?

Notice how so much of the U.S. coverage of the commemorations in Vietnam downplayed the legacy of the war, including the Agent Orange victims, and stressed that the Vietnamese have turned towards capitalism, as if the market economy there is new. It is not, but it is a way to frame a defeat of the U.S. as a victory for the west.

USA Today reported:

“Last year’s economic growth was 7.7%, one of the fastest in the world. The signs of new prosperity are most apparent in Ho Chi Minh City, where new glass-walled skyscrapers have transformed the skyline.

“This summer will mark 10 years since the United States and Vietnam re-established diplomatic relations. The United States bought $5 billion in Vietnamese goods last year and American warships have visited its harbors.”

And so it goes in our world of newspeak.

Your letters welcome to dissector@mediachannel.org