Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - What Would the Conservative Biased Press be if a Democrat Praised this Guy?

host · 10-31-2007, 02:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loganmule

Agreed.

Host and Will, the point I was making (I'll try to be clearer next time) is that we can't count on accuracy, much less absence of political bias, on EITHER side of the media's polital fence. Is there a media presence with conservative bias? Sure. Is there a media presence with liberal bias as well? Absolutely. How can people be expected to filter out all personal bias, whichever direction it leans (although some admittedly do it pretty well, while others totally suck)? Surely you aren't naive enough, host, to believe that www.newshounds.us, a site whose motto is "We watch FOX so you don't have to" is just keeping FOX honest on their "fair and balanced" schtick.

Sorry to get your blood pressure up. I completely agree with the point you said you were intending to make. It's just that for every FOX, there's a MoveOn.org. If your point is that the conservative bias is more egregious, that seems to me to go more to the issue of whose ox is being gored.

Okay, loganmule...lemme get this straight. You're maintaining that there is no mainstream news media bias in favor of Bush, Cheney, and the conservative POV. If your opinion holds merit, can you explain this?

<h2>A foreign "guy". shits all over "our troops", our shuttle astronauts, Condaleezza Rice, and our president.</h2>

Quote:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...202095_pf.html
U.S. Envoy at Home With a Gun and a Plane

By Al Kamen
Friday, March 3, 2006; A15

.....Back in 2003, after insurgent rockets missed then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul D. Wolfowitz in Baghdad, Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt famously said: "We hope that next time the rockets will be more accurate and effective in getting rid of this virus and his like, who wreak corruption in Arab lands."

In early 2004, he noted: "We are all happy when U.S. soldiers are killed [in Iraq] week in and week out. The killing of U.S. soldiers in Iraq is legitimate and obligatory." He said he felt "great joy" at the 2002 space shuttle disaster because an Israeli astronaut died in it.

He has also said that the real axis of evil is one of "oil and Jews," and called President Bush a "mad emperor."

"The oil axis is present in most of the U.S. administration, beginning with its president, vice president, and top advisers, including [Condoleezza] Rice . . . . while the axis of Jews is present with Paul Wolfowitz ," he continued.

Jumblatt had been denied a visa a couple years ago on the grounds that he endorsed terrorism.....

<h2>....and, he's on record as being unrepentant...(if it's even possible to "repent" for what he had said about our "heroes" , and our president...)</h2>

Quote:

THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION
A Saban Center for Middle East Policy Briefing
THE STRUGGLE FOR LEBANESE INDEPENDENCE:
ONE YEAR AFTER HARIRI'S ASSASSINATION
Monday, <h2>March 6, 2006</h2>
9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

(Bottom of page 3....)

...MR. JUMBLATT: With me is the article whereby I've
insulted the policy of the States on a personal level and on a political
level. I know I have said that, but that's the past. <h2>I don't regret it, but I
have said that....</h2>

<h2>And...for his "trouble", the "guy" is, soon after his vicious, hateful, remarks.... praised by Dick Cheney, (more than once...) and invited to visit with president Bush at the white house:</h2>

Quote:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/relea...0288-515h.html
<center><img src="http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/02/images/20070226-6_d-0288-515h.jpg"></center>
President George W. Bush speaks with members of Lebanon's "March 14" coalition during a meeting at the White House Monday afternoon, Feb. 26, 2007, from left to right, former Lebanese Parliament member Ghattas Khoury; Lebanese Minister of Telecommunications Marwan Hamadeh and Walid Jumblatt, leader of the Progressive Socialist Party of Lebanon. National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley is seen at right. White House photo by Eric Draper

Quote:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/relea.../20071021.html
For Immediate Release
Office of the Vice President
<h2>October 21, 2007</h2>

Vice President's Remarks to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Lansdowne, Virginia

...It's been my privilege, as Roger mentioned, over the years to address the Washington Institute a number of times. In fact, most of you knew me long before anyone called me, Darth Vader. (Laughter.) I've been asked if that nickname bothers me, and the answer is, no. After all, Darth Vader is one of the nicer things I've been called recently. (Laughter.)....

....I've gained much from the wisdom of many in the room today; people like Dennis Ross and, of course, Rob Satloff, as well as from the many other analysts who've been affiliated with the Washington Institute. I'm proud to say your former deputy director, John Hannah, is now my Assistant for National Security Affairs. And you can't have him back yet. John and his staff are on duty night and day, and with his leadership, they're doing a tremendous job.

I'm pleased to be among the many participants in the conference, <h2>a group that includes your key noter, Walid Jumblatt, from Lebanon. I've met with Mr. Jumblatt on a number of occasions, and I admire the courageous stand he's taking for freedom and democracy in his home country. (Applause.)</h2>

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/03/10/...t-anti-semite/
March 10, 2006

Cheney Quotes Racist Anti-Semite to Demonstrate ‘Progress’ In the Middle East....

<h2>The reaction by almost all of the US news media, and all prominent conservative pundits to the contrast documented above is....silence!</h2>

<h3>The following is the history and background to what is described above:</h3>

Quote:

http://www.state.gov/g/rls/rm/2005/42793.htm
Remarks on Release of Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2004
Paula J. Dobriansky, Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs
Washington, DC
February 28, 2005

(As delivered)

Good morning. On behalf of Secretary Rice, who could not be here today, it is my pleasure to present the State Department’s annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. These reports are a key part of this Administration’s activities to promote human rights and democracy around the world--part of President Bush’s forward strategy of freedom.

I would like to thank Ambassador Mike Kozak, the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, his staff, and other colleagues in the State Department who played a role in the compilation of these important reports.

Our approach on human rights is set clearly and unambiguously by President Bush. In his inaugural address, he stated: "The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world." In his State of the Union address, he elaborated that: "Our aim is to build and preserve a community of free and independent nations, with governments that answer to their citizens, and reflect their own cultures. And because democracies respect their own people and their neighbors, the advance of freedom will lead to peace." In other words, the United States will work globally to promote democracy, as democracy is the best guarantor of human rights.

Promoting human rights is not just an element of our foreign policy--it is the bedrock of our policy, and our foremost concern. These reports put dictators and corrupt officials on notice that they are being watched by the civilized world, and that there are consequences for their actions. With these in hand, we look forward to the day when all nations are part of the growing community of democracies, and tyranny and slavery exist only as a sad chapter in human history.

We find ourselves in an era of monumental advancement for human rights and democracy. As the President noted in Bratislava just last week, there was a rose revolution in Georgia, an orange revolution in Ukraine, and most recently, a purple revolution in Iraq. <h2>In Lebanon, we see growing momentum for a ‘cedar revolution’ that is unifying the citizens of that nation to the cause of true democracy and freedom from foreign influence.</h2> Hopeful signs span the globe, and there should be no doubt that the years ahead will be great ones for the cause of freedom.

As these reports show, there is much to do. Freedom and the ability to choose one’s government still elude many people and many portions of the globe. In much of the broader Middle East, people are increasingly conscious of the freedom deficit in the region and eager to taste the freedom and liberties that are being enjoyed elsewhere. If freedom and democracy work in Muslim nations like Indonesia, Turkey, Afghanistan and Iraq, why should they not be the norm in Iran, Libya, Syria and Saudi Arabia? Cuba’s government remains a blight on the stunning advancement of freedom worldwide. China’s human rights conduct remains one of the top concerns of the U.S. Government. Throughout China and notably in Tibet, affronts to the dignity of human life abound. In North Korea and Burma, citizens languish under repressive regimes which do not govern for their people but rather against them. We are concerned with circumstances in many other parts of globe, and we detail them concisely in these reports.

But our message today is one of hope and promise. This report is the embodiment of President Bush’s commitment that the United States will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those who live in tyranny and hopelessness and struggle for a better life. Our message to these true patriots of their nations is that you are not ignored and you are not forgotten. Furthermore, we will not excuse those who are responsible for your oppression. The months ahead will see intensive efforts by this Administration to advance the President’s bold agenda to support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture. In this journey, our principles--our commitment to freedom and the rights of individuals--are our compass. These reports are our map. ....

Quote:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...-2005Mar2.html
The Branding of Lebanon's 'Revolution'

By Jefferson Morley
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Thursday, March 3, 2005; 6:00 AM

On the streets of Beirut, they call it the "intifada for independence." In the corridors of Washington, they prefer to call it the "Cedar Revolution."

In a media age, such branding could be crucial. The name given to Lebanon's popular political movement is shorthand for its historical roots and its future direction. The label will help shape how the world understands Lebanon's small but telling part of the ongoing struggle for democracy throughout the Middle East.

The "intifada" brand emerged on Feb. 18 when Beirut's Daily Star reported that the opposition leaders, outraged by the Feb. 14 assassination of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri, were "calling for an 'intifada for independence'" as they stepped up attacks on the government.

The Jerusalem Post reported that "the so-called civilian intifada . . . has done what years of civil war and internecine fighting failed to achieve. It brought the citizens of Lebanon together as Lebanese."

When the protests forced the resignation of the pro-Syrian prime minister on Monday, the Daily Star quoted opposition leaders saying "the resignation marked the 'first success of the peaceful intifada' it waged on the government." A correspondent for the Morocco Times uses the same phrase.

And when the Daily Star interviewed an 18-year-old student at Hariri's grave on Wednesday, she said, "we came to thank him for starting this peaceful intifada for Lebanon's freedom."

It's easy to see why the Bush administration prefers not to adopt the "intifada" label. Intifada is an Arabic word meaning "shaking off." It was coined by Palestinians during their spontaneous uprising against Israeli military occupation in 1987. To speak of Lebanon's "intifada" places this month's events in the tradition of the Palestinians' struggle against Israeli occupation. And it implies that Syria, a decaying Arab autocracy, and Israel, a favorite U.S. ally, have something in common as occupying powers.

All of those ideas are credible on the streets of Beirut, where Israel is remembered and reviled for its 1982 invasion. The Israeli Defense Forces, led by then defense minister Ariel Sharon, launched a surprise attack designed to install a friendly government in Beirut. Israel's bid to dominate the country collapsed amid fierce factional fighting and massacres that devastated Beirut and killed upwards of 10,000 civilians. In the ensuing chaos, the Syrian military moved in, effectively installed their own friendly government, and demanded the Lebanese go along.

Given this history, the "Cedar Revolution" brand is more congenial to the Bush administration. <h2>It was coined by Undersecretary of State Paula Dobriansky in a Feb. 28 news conference that touted President Bush's foreign policy.</h2>

"In Lebanon, we see growing momentum for a Cedar Revolution that is unifying the citizens of that nation to the cause of true democracy and freedom from foreign influence," Dobriansky declared. "Hopeful signs span the globe and there should be no doubt that the years ahead will be great ones for the cause of freedom."

The Cedar Tree is the national symbol and depicted prominently on the Lebanese flag. The brand name portrays the anti-Syrian protest movement as essentially an effort to recover Lebanon's national tradition. It gives the movement a Lebanese, not an Arabic, face. It evokes benevolent nature, not unpleasant memories of Israeli military might. It fits rather more comfortably with Bush's foreign policy notion that "freedom is on the march" in the Middle East.

But no one in the Lebanese press is talking about "the Cedar Revolution." The cedar tree is the traditional symbol of the country's Maronite Christians, derived from a reference in the Christian Bible (Psalms 92:12, "the righteous flourish like the palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon."), according to the Flags of the World Web site. It was incorporated into the Lebanese flag in 1943 when Christians were a majority of the population and the much poorer Shiite Muslims living in the dusty south were all but shut out of power.

That era is gone. Today, Shiites are the biggest single ethnic/religious grouping in Lebanon. They are represented by Hezbollah, the Shiite political party that holds 12 seats in the 128-member parliament. Denounced by the United States as a terrorist organization, Hezbollah is respected across the Lebanese political spectrum for driving the Israelis out of southern Lebanon in 2000. In the words of the newsweekly Monday Morning "the alliance between Damascus and Hezbollah is now decisive" in maintaining the country's pro-Syrian political order.

That's why opposition leader Walid Jumblatt is calling for dialogue with Hezbollah. Jumblatt says he disagrees with Washington's (and France's) insistence that Hezbollah disarm immediately.

Al Manar, Hezbollah's TV station and Web site, reported Wednesday that Jumblatt's representative will soon meet with Hezbollah's leadership.

Hezbollah, it is safe to say, wants no part of a U.S.-backed "Cedar Revolution." But it might be persuaded to join an "intifada for independence," especially if the new government would allow it to keep its weapons after Syria departs.

A lot hangs on how the Lebanese brand this moment in their political history.....

One, lonely voice, a "liberal" columnist, calls it what it is:

Quote:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...202095_pf.html
U.S. Envoy at Home With a Gun and a Plane

By Al Kamen
Friday, March 3, 2006; A15

<h2>....Is U.S. Eating Jumblatt's Bitter Words?</h2>

The enemy of my enemy, as the saying goes, is a truly wonderful chap -- even if he had also been my enemy.

Back in 2003, after insurgent rockets missed then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul D. Wolfowitz in Baghdad, Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt famously said: "We hope that next time the rockets will be more accurate and effective in getting rid of this virus and his like, who wreak corruption in Arab lands."

In early 2004, he noted: "We are all happy when U.S. soldiers are killed [in Iraq] week in and week out. The killing of U.S. soldiers in Iraq is legitimate and obligatory." He said he felt "great joy" at the 2002 space shuttle disaster because an Israeli astronaut died in it.

He has also said that the real axis of evil is one of "oil and Jews," and called President Bush a "mad emperor."

"The oil axis is present in most of the U.S. administration, beginning with its president, vice president, and top advisers, including [Condoleezza] Rice . . . . while the axis of Jews is present with Paul Wolfowitz ," he continued.

Jumblatt had been denied a visa a couple years ago on the grounds that he endorsed terrorism.

But he's coming to town next week to meet his pals. Such as? Well, Rice -- who visited him at his home in Lebanon last week -- national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley and, yes, World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz.

On the Hill, Jumblatt, who's a member of the Lebanese parliament, is visiting with Sens. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) and John E. Sununu (R-N.H.) and others.

How did this happen? Simple. Jumblatt became anti-Syrian and even joined the mighty Coalition of the Willing in 2005.

"It's strange for me to say it," he told Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, "but this process of change" to democracy "has started because of the American invasion of Iraq. I was cynical about Iraq. But when I saw the Iraqi people voting, 8 million of them, it was the start of a new Arab world. The Syrian people, the Egyptian people, all say that something is changing. The Berlin Wall has fallen. We can see it."

Jumblatt. A guy you can count on........

Quote:

http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache...lnk&cd=1&gl=us
THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION
A Saban Center for Middle East Policy Briefing
THE STRUGGLE FOR LEBANESE INDEPENDENCE:
ONE YEAR AFTER HARIRI'S ASSASSINATION
Monday, <h2>March 6, 2006</h2>
9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

(Bottom of page 3....)

...MR. JUMBLATT: With me is the article whereby I've
insulted the policy of the States on a personal level and on a political
level. I know I have said that, but that's the past. <h2>I don't regret it, but I
have said that....</h2>

Quote:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...07.html?sub=AR
Sins of Commission?

By Al Kamen
Wednesday, <h2>March 8, 2006</h2>; Page A17

....Our new pal, Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt , speaking at the Brookings Institution on Monday, held up Friday's column item about his viciously anti-American, anti-Semitic musings.

<h2>"With me is the article," Jumblatt said</h2>, "whereby I've insulted the policy of the States on a personal level and on a political level. I know I have said that, but that's the past....

[/quote]

<h2>Consider the reaction from the white house and the conservative "universe", to these much milder "transgressions":</h2>

Quote:

http://mediamatters.org/items/200405280003
Fri, May 28, 2004 12:59pm ET

Following former Vice President Al Gore's May 26 speech (sponsored by MoveOn.org and delivered at New York University), conservative commentators echoed misleading statements released by the Republican National Committee (RNC).

In one "RNC Research Briefing," the RNC recycled an attack on MoveOn.org, stating, "Two Ads Comparing President Bush To Adolf Hitler Appeared On MoveOn.org Voter Fund Website," referring to ads that were submitted for a contest held by MoveOn.org. However, as the non-partisan Columbia Journalism Review's website The Campaign Desk noted in its "Distortion" column, while "at least one [ad] was posted briefly on the organization's website ... MoveOn quickly removed it and disassociated itself from the offending ads."

Barbara Comstock -- former director of the Office of Public Affairs at the Department of Justice under Attorney General John Ashcroft and former director of research and strategic planning at the RNC -- seems to have taken a cue from her former employer, writing in a May 27 National Review Online commentary, in reference to MoveOn.org executive director Eli Pariser, "His group has promoted ads comparing Bush to Hitler." Comstock also echoed another part of the RNC release that described MoveOn.org's call for peaceful anti-terrorism responses following the September 11 terrorist attacks, writing, "Gore's top speaking destination of choice not only opposes the war in Iraq, they opposed the war in Afghanistan, too. Just days after September 11, MoveOn.org put out a statement saying, 'We recognize that we are now in a world where indiscriminate military actions can make us less safe....'"

Rush Limbaugh took the RNC assertion about the ad one step further during his May 26 radio show, saying, "MoveOn.org, this is the wacko bunch that is doing ads equating Bush with Hitler." A May 27 article by David Horowitz (co-written by Ben Johnson and published in Horowitz's online FrontPage Magazine) contained similar comments: "Gore appeared before the MoveOn.org, a radical group which had already compared Bush to Hitler."

The Campaign Desk noted that on CNN's American Morning on May 27, Republican convention communications director Mark Pfeifle also repeated the "stunningly false" charge that MoveOn.org "has run ads that compare the president to Hitler."

The RNC statement goes on to make other assertions, including taking financier, philanthropist, and political activist George Soros to task for calling the September 11 attacks "spectacular," although although CIA and FBI officials have used the word "spectacular" in a similiar context. A July 2001 CIA briefing warned of Osama bin Laden's intentions to attack the United States: "The attack will be spectacular and designed to inflict mass casualties against U.S. facilities or interests." Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet, in his March 9 testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee, warned, "A spectacular attack on the U.S. homeland remains the brass ring many strive for with or without Al Qaeda leadership." And CNN reported on March 13 the comments of an FBI counterterrorism official who said, "I believe that we in the U.S. will be hit with another terrorist attack, whether it's a 'spectacular attack' like 9/11..."

The RNC release concluded with another attack on MoveOn.org: "New Ad Featured On MoveOn.org Website Accuses President Bush Of Using 'Funds From Foreign Governments To Finance The Killing Of Innocent Civilians' And Of Having 'Established Links With Known Terrorist Organizations.'" But, in fact, the ad is not new -- nor is it a MoveOn.org ad. It was one of the ads submitted to MoveOn.org's contest last December.

Quote:

http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.as...14024&nav=0RZF
White House Spokesman Lashes Out At Kerry's Remark On Education And Iraq

Nov 7, 2006 12:37 PM

(WASHINGTON) -- The White House accused Sen. John Kerry on Tuesday of troop-bashing, seizing on a comment the Democrat made to California students that those unable to navigate the country's education system "get stuck in Iraq."

"Senator Kerry not only owes an apology to those who are serving, but also to the families of those who've given their lives in this," White House press secretary Tony Snow said. "This is an absolute insult."

Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran and Bush's rival in 2004, fired back, saying the president and his administration are the ones who owe U.S. troops an apology because they "misled America into war and have given us a Katrina foreign policy that has betrayed our ideals, killed and maimed our soldiers, and widened the terrorist threat instead of defeating it."

"This is the classic GOP playbook," Kerry said in a harshly worded statement. "I'm sick and tired of these despicable Republican attacks that always seem to come from those who never can be found to serve in war, but love to attack those who did. I'm not going to be lectured by a stuffed suit White House mouthpiece standing behind a podium."

Snow was asked about the comment which Kerry made during a campaign rally Monday for California Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides. The White House spokesman was clearly ready, consulting his notes to read a fuller account of Kerry's statement and unleashing a sharp attack.

<h3>The Massachusetts senator, who is considering another presidential run in 2008, had opened his speech at Pasadena City College with several one-liners, joking at one point that Bush had lived in Texas but now "lives in a state of denial."

Then he said: "You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."</h3>

Snow said the quote "fits a pattern" of negative remarks from Kerry about U.S. soldiers and suggested that whether Democratic candidates -- particularly those running on their military service backgrounds -- agree with their 2004 standard-bearer should be a campaign litmus test.

Unsubstantiated allegations about Kerry's Vietnam War heroism from a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth figured prominently in the 2004 Kerry-Bush race. Even Kerry has blamed his slow and uncertain response to the group's claims for helping doom his White House chances.

Snow said a lot of Americans have joined the military since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"As for the notion that you can say this sort of thing about the troops and say you support them, it's interesting," the press secretary said.

A potential rival to Kerry in 2008 -- Republican Sen. John McCain -- said in a statement that Kerry "owes an apology to the many thousands of Americans serving in Iraq, who answered their country's call because they are patriots and not because of any deficiencies in their education."

Like Kerry, McCain is a decorated Vietnam veteran.

House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, also called on Kerry to apologize, labeling his comments "disrespectful and insulting to the men and women serving in our military."

<h3>If anyone can post examples that counter my claim that Bush/Cheney were successful in achieving a near total "lock down" of negative reaction...from the press, and from their usually quite shrill conservative chorus, when it came to responding to a sudden, very public embrace of the pariah, Walid Jumblatt, I'd love to see it.</h3>

The very shrill chorus, encompassing almost all of US news media and conservative bloggers, and an army of pundits, most evident at Salem Comm. radio newtwork, and their townhall.com, and the voices at foxnews when it is "unleashed", reacts as one....on cue, as it did against John Kerry on the eve of the 2006 mid-term election, and in 2004, against moveon.org.

I think that I've stumbled upon a phenomena even more disturbing. This example of predicted reaction to the Bush/Cheney "warming" to Jumblatt....not happening...despite defiance on Jumblatt's part....despite Jumblatt formerly attacking everything that Bushworld holds "dear", supports my contention that:

<h3>A.) The notion that there is a "liberal bias" in the reporting of the US working press is absurd....as in the exact opposite is much closer to the truth.

B.) The notion that conservative professional or grassroots pundits act independently to defend any ideals or strongly held "principles" (as in, strong support for "the troops"), indeed...the notion that they speak out independently, at all, is....an effing joke, as the "Jumblatt pass" shows.

C.) The notion that either Bush or Cheney "means what he says, and says what he means", is not evident in the "pass" they've accorded to Jumblatt. Bush and Cheney do not even respect their supporters enough to keep their Jumblatt capitulation and ass kissing private, and they've put a lid on their press and pundit chorus that is so tight that there is not even a "hey, what is going on here?", murmer.... Indeed, Bush and Cheney have so little regard for their adoring, "faithful, attack on cue", chorus of apologists, they have acted as if no explanation for their "Jumblatt pass", is even neccessary.

D.) The "Jumblatt Pass" makes the press and the pundits appear to be puppets of extremely arrogant dictators....desperate dictators, willing to overlook any grave past transgression, willing to shred anything that they've rallied support for in the past, as long as they think that it legitimizes their foreign policy objectives. Hey, we've got Jumblatt "on board" !!!
</h3>

<h2>Mercifully, no one from the press will print or broadcast an opinion that kissing Jumblatt's ass , now, either adds credence to his past offensive remarks, or serves to display Bush and Cheney as ridiculous and desperate, now.</h2>

Loganmule, you failed to explain the examples I've previously posted on this thread in support of my contention that only a national press with a conservative bias could or would ignore my examples of a blatant, unexplained, "disconnect" in the prrior rhetoric and reaction of Bush and Cheney, compared to their curious "relations" recently with Walid Jumblatt. Since they offer no explanation for what they've had to ignore and dismiss to arrive at their recent public posture with Jumblatt, it is all the more important for the working press to ask Bush and Cheney how they can ignore what Jumblatt has said, and his unrepentant, public, reaction to what little reporting there has been about his vile comments.