Why the media bought the war

Star Ledger ^ | 05.01.07 | Paul Mulshine

[Coleus]

In his public television special "Buying the War," Bill Moyers decries the tendency of the media to help the White House sell war to the public. Moyers should know. He was quite a salesman in his day. Moyers served as press secretary to Lyndon Johnson in the run- up to the Vietnam War. In that role, he employed all the tools of modern-day public relations, from schmoozing reporters to intimidating them, to get the press to go along with a war "so poorly planned it soon turned into a disaster."

In the documentary, Moyers ap plies that description to the Iraq war. But the parallel to Vietnam is inescapable, right down to the ar rogance and cluelessness of the Texan in the White House. "The story of how high officials misled the country has been told," says Moyers. "But they couldn't have done it on their own; they needed a compliant press to pass on their propaganda as news and cheer them on."

A compliant press? Propaganda? Is the man having flashbacks to the 1960s? Morley Safer would no doubt think so. "Flashback" was the title of Safer's memoir of covering the Vietnam War for CBS. In it, Safer details how the Johnson White House pressured TV executives to tone down criticism of the war effort. Safer writes how in 1965 Johnson summoned CBS president Frank Stanton to a meeting attended by Moyers during which "'Johnson threatened that, unless CBS got rid of me and 'cleaned up its act,' the White House would 'go public' with information about Safer's 'Communist ties.'"

[doug from upland]

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DFU SONG: I'll Never Find Another You (Bill Moyers job to out Goldwater staff homosexual)
DFU SONGS | 7-2005 | Lyrics, Doug from Upland

Posted on 07/22/2005 9:04:28 AM PDT by doug from upland

This is just too good. Years ago, the compassionate lib Bill Moyers was given an assignment to out a homosexual on the Goldwater staff after Walter Jenkins was outed. Hey, Bill, sing along with us.

Bill and Walter.

MIDI - NEVER FIND ANOTHER YOU

From the White House they called...with words from LBJ
They said, "Billy Moyers, get over here today
There's a Walter Jenkins problem, so your assignment's clear
In the Goldwater campaign, go find a queer"

You can check out rest stops or fly off to San Fran
'Cause in their bath houses, you'll find them man on man
"There's a Walter Jenkins problem, so your assignment's clear
In the Goldwater campaign, go find a queer"

A few weeks till election...Bill's carrying the ball
He must do it or this thing could blow it all

This compassionate liberal would do the dirty deed
They were hoping he'd come through with the homo that they need
"There's a Walter Jenkins problem, so your assignment's clear
In the Goldwater campaign, go find a queer"

(musical break)

"There's a Walter Jenkins problem, so your assignment's clear
In the Goldwater campaign, go find a queer"

[xzins]

How can anyone write any article on this and not mention 9/11 in the opening paragraph.

It’s like mentioning WWII and forgetting Pearl Harbor.

Obvious trash writing.

[umgud]

Back when GWB decided to invade Iraq, most of the world powers, the MSM, the democrats and almost all of his current detractors believed Saddam had WMD’s, forget the fact that there was plenty of other justification to take him out.

With all these folks, GWB included, believing Saddam had WMD’s, GWB would have been derelict in his duties had he not taken out Saddam and all who are now against him would have been just as viscious toward him for not acting.

Because WMD’s were not found in the volumes and type expected, GWB has been left twisting in the wind. He was, in effect, in a no-win situation.

Because we did invade Iraq, we now find ourselves in a position where we can’t cut and run without some pretty unacceptable ramifications.

[Intolerant in NJ]

Moyers was also the “creative” force behind the disgraceful Barry-Goldwater-will-drop-an-atomic-bomb-on-this-little-girl ad and helped engineer the elimination of a legitimately selected slate of Georgia delegates (all black) from the ‘64 Democrat convention in favor of a slate favoeable to LBJ (all white) - back in the day he was Johnson’s most slimy henchman.......

[ClaireSolt]

To me, it is ludicrous to expect that the press which relies on government leaks would know something different. The way I reember it the press was banging the war drums before the administration did. Maybe the analogy with Hearst and the spanish American war is apt.

[Richard Axtell]

Ridiculous. Just damn. I’ve heard this “the press enabled Bush’s war” offal over and over, generally from the same pundits and press clowns that react like scalded cats whenever anything approaching the truth is told about their complete unfamiliarity with the concept of patrotism, and the fact that they planned from the start, and continue to this day to give aid and comfort to the enemy. Bill Moyers as authority on this issue? Yah, right, a man that certainly deserves the role of counselor at “Camp Quisling.”

[MNJohnnie]

You know Leftist trash like Moyer never ever know when to quit. They continually set up political situations that later come around and bit their asses. They loved the Special Prosecutors during the Reagan years then watched the same SP’s pretty much destroy the Presidency of BJ Clinton.

Now we have this war on the President’s credibility the Left has been playing for the last 7 years which is pretty much going to destroy ANY ability of any future Presidents to get anything done.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1840821/posts

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CREDIBILITY
Creating Orwellian Worldview ^ | 5-28-07 | Alaphiah

Posted on 05/28/2007 4:15:42 AM CDT by Alaphiah123

As you know America is at war. But I’m not talking about the Iraq war no I’m talking about the war which many Americans think less important yet this war is much more insidiously devastating to America. This war has ripped the concept of truth right out of the soul of this nation and will be the death of this country if allowed to continue. This war is the war on credibility.

(Excerpt) Read more at creatingorwellianworld-view-alaphiah.blogsp

[MNJohnnie]

What I am still waiting to have some one explain to me is HOW the DC insiders suddenly KNEW all the information BJ Clinton and his Democrat Party cronies used to bomb the heck out of Iraq during his Impeachement was “fake” the second a Republican took the office?

If the Leftist trash like “knew” the Intelligence was “hyped” why did they all help hype it in 1998? Either they lied to us in 1998 or they are lying to us now.

[umgud]

Either they lied to us in 1998 or they are lying to us now.

I assume that's a rhetorical question.