"Inattention to Murtha, a coal-country Pennsylvanian and rock-solid patriot, suggests a level of indifference, if not denial, that is dangerous for a president who seeks to transform the world."Posted on 12/18/2005 7:59:46 AM PST by SmithL
Even as up to 70 percent of eligible voters in Iraq turned out for the parliamentary election Thursday, Newsweek was painting a picture of President Bush in a bubble, "the most isolated president in modern history."
"Inattention to Murtha, a coal-country Pennsylvanian and rock-solid patriot, suggests a level of indifference, if not denial, that is dangerous for a president who seeks to transform the world."
"What Bush actually hears and takes in, however, is not clear. And whether his advisers are quite as frank as they claim to be with the president is also questionable."
"The official says that the way Bush phrased his questions, as well as his obvious lack of interest in long, detailed discussions, had a chilling effect."
The Newsweek attack amounts to yet another false meme in the litany of slander against the president. First: Bush is stupid. Then: Bush lied, people died. Now: Bush lives in a bubble.
Let me translate. What the magazine really means is: "Bush refuses to do what we tell him to do."
I'm sure that as far as Bush is concerned, the magazine can naff off. He has long since rejected the New York-Washington-California press as an honest voice in the debate. His administration considers coastal journalists to be nothing more than a political action committee for the Democrats.
Bush has decided to accept this as a natural state of affairs. He doesn't fight the press; he has simply cut it out of the process. He intends to make the right decisions in Iraq and let events vindicate him two or three decades hence.
It's a good plan. What fool seeks advice from his enemies? Listen to one of Newsweek's top editors himself, Evan Thomas. No one can call Thomas a Republican. He is not only one of the authors of the "bubble" hit job, he is also the grandson of the famous American socialist Norman Thomas. Yet, last year Thomas admitted:
"The media, I think, wants Kerry to win. And I think they're going to portray Kerry and Edwards ... as being young and dynamic and optimistic and all; there's going to be this glow about them that some, is going to be worth, collectively, the two of them, that's going to be worth maybe 15 points."
It's not just the 2004 election in which these 15 points come into play. It's every election, and it's every poll. So the next time you read that Bush's popularity is 39 percent approval vs. 55 disapproval, remember to add 15. If the press didn't mark the cards, Bush's rating would be 54 percent approval vs. 40 percent disapproval -- excellent numbers for a president in his second term.
The same equation applies to the 2008 election. If Mitt Romney runs against Hillary Clinton, he doesn't have to win 51 percent of the vote -- he has to win 66 percent. Romney will need a landslide. Democrats were angry that Bush "stole" the 2000 election. Bush didn't steal it. He just won it by less than a landslide.
Press bias is a corruption of American democracy, but more immediately, it is a betrayal of the Iraqi people. They want to see our troops leave their country -- but only after we have established their security first.
Consider a recent survey of Iraqis carried out for the BBC and ABC News. How is the new government performing? It's doing a good job, say 61 percent. How are things going in their personal lives? Quite well, say 71 percent. Will their lives improve in the coming year? Yes, say 61 percent. Will the situation improve nationwide? Yes, say 69 percent.
Killing the jihad crazies at a ratio of 20:1, our soldiers are similarly optimistic. But just 33 percent of our journalists believe we will establish democracy in Iraq. Now, who would know better? The Iraqi people and the soldiers? Or the reporters? Tough call, isn't it?
The Brookings Institution makes other crucial points. Despite terrorist sabotage, the Iraqi economy is likely to grow 17 percent next year. Per capita income is 30 percent higher than before the war. There are five times as many cars on the street, five times more telephone subscribers and 32 times more Internet users.
According to ABC News, teacher salaries have risen from $9 a month to $200. Civil servants and police officers have seen similar pay increases.
Norman Podhoretz adds that our troops have built 3,400 public schools, 300 water and sewage facilities, 260 fire and police stations, and 150 public-health facilities. Another 920 such projects are under way. And here I thought we were there just to steal the oil.
To an observer without an agenda, it's clear we are winning the war. It's also clear this is the best-kept secret in America today. It is agonizing every time a bomb kills another Marine. But the story here is more than just our casualty count.
Democrats such as Howard Dean declare "the idea that we're going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong." How can he say something so offensive and ignorant?
The answer is that, secretly, his party is deeply frightened of victory. Many Democrats don't believe America deserves to win. They don't believe our military can ever be a force for good, unless it's fighting to save Russian communism from extinction, as it did 65 years ago. They don't want Bush to get any credit. Tearing him down is more important than securing a stable and prosperous Iraq.
Mr. President, block out the losers. Stay in your "bubble." Finish this war. Win.
The truth is getting out and most Americans are very happy with our success and the Iraqi joy at having set democracy lose in their new country of growing freedom!
BTTT
"I took great relish this past week, shredding that entire issue and putting it in the chickens' nesting boxes, LOL!"
You didn't flush it down the toilet? After all, if a Koran can be flushed, certainly Newsweak can be.
I sent Mr. Bowers a note congratulating him on seeing the media's real agenda here: attacking a president who pays no attention to them. The press are acting like babies.
Political bias has been a hallmark of the American Press since before the Revolutionary War.
We can say, "but its different now". Which may be true, but then again, everything is different now.
I can confirm that they do this. My late father had a newsweak sub for years. After he passed and the renewal notice had long since been trashed, the magazines kept coming to the 'ol Homestead' for at least a year and we never saw a bill.
Yes we were, until the pol's stepped in...
Excellent, excellent, excellent! Great post and it should be made into a Web ad...
The fact that Newsweek has this gentleman has its international editor tells me a lot about them. I think they should consider renaming the magazine "Al Jazeera West Magazine."
From his eponymous website:
Fareed Zakaria was named editor of Newsweek International in October 2000, overseeing all Newsweek’s editions abroad. He also writes a regular column for Newsweek, which also appears in Newsweek International and often The Washington Post. He is a regular member of the roundtable of ABC News’ "This Week with George Stephanapoulos" as well as an analyst for ABC News. He is the host of a new weekly PBS show, "Foreign Exchange," which focuses on international affairs.
It's interesting how he is fawned over by other members of the press: New York article on Mr. Zakaria, "Man of the World", which begins with this paragraph: ‘My friends all say i’m[sic] going to be Secretary of State,” fareed[sic] Zakaria muses from a banquette in the Grill Room at The Four Seasons. “But I don’t see how that would be much different from the job I have now.”
Great news!
"You didn't flush it down the toilet? After all, if a Koran can be flushed, certainly Newsweak can be."
LOL! Nope. Not going to risk my septic system. ;)
There!
bump
yeah, my lyin' eyes---
check out the lines at the polling places---
http://photoshow.comcast.net/watch/JY8xs3uG
Bingo, Bang-go, Bongo BUMP!
The Truth is leaking out through the New Press. Great article.
Pray for W and Our Victorious Troops
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.