Are these people totally worthless, not to mention uninformed, or what? I don't want to attach names to the above but, almost every reporter and talking 'brain' was guilty of just about all of the above.

Please post more example of stupidity, if you have more.

Most reporters today majored in "communications" and other fluff majors (there are serious comm programs at some schools, but far too few) - they know nothing about military strategy, tactics or weaponry. They know absolutely nothing about history - including historical events which unfolded during their own adult lifetimes.

As they reported on the war, they did what everybody else in the US was doing - guessing. Their lack of knowledge made them guess wrong again and again.

I believe that MANY, if not most, of these "strange" press reports you speak of are intentional disinformation and that SOMETIMES, the journalist in question is actually -KNOWINGLY- ...just doing his/her part in the War Effort... to confuse & confound the ENEMY. None of us civilians here are on a NEED TO KNOW clearance, LOL.

Other times, whoever is LEAKING the intentional disinformation to the press is probably smirking at how EASY it is to mislead the mass media, as the mass media is most concerned about RATINGS, and thus desires true scoops... and rshes to print without verification.

Remember the adage, The first casualty of war is TRUTH.

We only watch the talkingheads shows, when we do it, only for their entertainment value.

Watching a moron is not necessarily funny. But watching a pompous, self-important one is. And watching a bunch of them 'discussing' things IS entertainment.

Be kind to those who are lacking mental stability.

If you recall, they were nearly-unanimously demanding that the general in charge of the region be replaced and were in fact asking for his head, the sooner, the better.

I also recall, several weeks ago, one of the Pentagon's briefers, trying to educate the reporters who were loudly complaining about the 'small number of sorties' and general lack of progress in the war. The man actually told them that what we are doing may look like nothing is happening for a while until... you see a sudden collapse, on all fronts.

Somehow, this didn't make it beyond C-Span. I guess it wasn't a good topic for the nightly 'debates'.

Oh, goodie. I had a thread on this the other day, but I am always happy to contribute to the cause!!

Today the Rumsfeld press briefing included an outright attack on the US by the MSNBC reporter, who cited atrocities reported by UN officials. Rumsfeld said "there are no UN officials in Afghanistan. There are EMPLOYEES of some UN agencies, but that's it." Reporter said they had these reports...at which Rumsfeld blew a gasket and told her that everything coming from the other side for the last few weeks were LIES, and that the NA had been very restrained, considering the history of the country. He then went on to say that when this is all done, he thinks this will be the tranfer of power with the least loss of life in the history of Afghanistan!

I really thought Rummy was going to throw a chair at her!!

I highly recommend watching this. I also recommend watching the Bush/Putin press conference, in which both Bush and Putin slam the press. Highly entertaining!!

Oh, how about the dire predictions concerning the 'terrible Afghan winter'?

Somehow, no one noticed that it was the Taliban who had to wack through waist-high snow and and hide in unheated (really) caves. There were a few timid voices noting that winter time would make it a lot easier to spot the inhabited caves from the air but... hey, we all know what lots of snow on the ground could do to a B-52. Right?

Speaking as someone who remembers (dating myself here), the reporting from Vietnam wasn't much better. "Plus Ca Change, Plus C'est La Meme Chose"

Ain't Rumsfeld great!!! He has always treated morons like morons, but today he was even less patient with the idiot reporters.

"Are these people totally worthless ... ?

While I am not ready to say they are totally without worth, I have been and more than likely will continue believe they consider their value much greater than I do. They have an important role to play in our constitutional republic but for quite some time now not many of them (the press) have risen to any where near the level they need to operate from in the exercise of their rights and responsibilities. Their bloated over estimation of themselves has kept and continues to blind them as to their proper role in our society.

If they keep on the path they have chosen for quite sometime now we will find ourselves markedly limited in our 1st Amendment rights and the culprit will be the press themselves.

"Is it fair to attack retreating troops?"
Today's most grievious example.

Rumsfeld gives great press conference BTW.

Or how about the inevitability of us committing lots of ground troops who were expected to die in large numbers before this was over? It's almost as good as the predicted 10,000+ dead in Iraq. And yes, it WAS indeed for oil. What else?

Was that Norah O'Donnell?

Ain't Rumsfeld great!!!

His greatest line, so far, on a 9/11 press conference.

When asked what he 'felt' when the plane hit the Pentagon his answer was (paraphrasing): 'I felt the building shaking, then I heard a lound noise.'

Washington press corps = spoiled by Clintoon -- spoon fed, brainwashed to be anti-US -- too many limos and dinners on "deep background" with spin-doctors dispatched by the Liar In Chief himself.

Was that Norah O'Donnell?

Norah likes to 'wow' his audience with her newly-gained erudition. Note that, as she learns new 'exotic' words, she keeps repeating them over and over. Sometimes a dozen times during a 60-90-second 'reportage'.

'Mozar-e-Sharif'

Kill one terrorist...create a hundred...

MEDIA -- Mental Endowments Deemed Inappropriately Able

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld answers a reporters question during a Pentagon news conference Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2001. Rumsfeld said a small number of U.S. troops are in Kabul, helping northern alliance forces who drove the Taliban out. Photo by Heesoon Yim (AP)

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Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Richard Myers, left, accompanied by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, answers a reporters question during their Pentagon news conference Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2001. Rumsfeld said a small number of U.S. troops are in Kabul, helping northern alliance forces who drove the Taliban out. Photo by Heesoon Yim (AP)