Did you suspect that many of the military analysts used by the various tv networks were giving us administration talking points during the build up to the Iraq invasion and after? This article seems to show that it was happening.

"To the public, these men are members of a familiar fraternity, presented tens of thousands of times on television and radio as “military analysts” whose long service has equipped them to give authoritative and unfettered judgments about the most pressing issues of the post-Sept. 11 world.

Hidden behind that appearance of objectivity, though, is a Pentagon information apparatus that has used those analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime performance, an examination by The New York Times has found.

The effort, which began with the buildup to the Iraq war and continues to this day, has sought to exploit ideological and military allegiances, and also a powerful financial dynamic: Most of the analysts have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess on air."

...

"Again and again, records show, the administration has enlisted analysts as a rapid reaction force to rebut what it viewed as critical news coverage, some of it by the networks’ own Pentagon correspondents. For example, when news articles revealed that troops in Iraq were dying because of inadequate body armor, a senior Pentagon official wrote to his colleagues: “I think our analysts — properly armed — can push back in that arena.”

Entire article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/wa...ll&oref=slogin

I really doubt we'll be seeing this mentioned on tv any time soon.

I don't doubt it. The fight for the minds of the American public is constant and comes from all sides. And I think people sometimes like to be manipulated. It allows them to justify to themselves the lousy choices they want to make to begin with. And others go through life and have no idea that they are being manipulated.

There used to be a media that could be counted on to find the closest thing to the truth. No longer. If it doesn't fit a soundbite, or agree with the management or the reporters ideas, then the story gets eliminated or "rewritten" to accomodate their idea of what the "facts" should be. And that old saw, "If you say something often enough, people will believe it." is alive and well. Look at the people who clung to the belief that Iraq was behind the 9/11 attack, long after it was disproved and disproved again. There are still people out there that believe that.

It's a huge problem and I have no idea what to do about it. It doesn't surprise me that this administration has taken it to a whole new level. Part of the problem is the 24 hours so-called news networks. They have to have something to fill all that time. Maybe cartoons would be better...

Yes, and it is starting again this time with Iran.

The news networks are starting to cover more about the dangers from Iran.

Iran has non stopped taking US dollars for their oil.
Iran dumps U.S. dollar for oil trades - CNN.com

The reason this is so important to the US is the fact that other countries such as China and Japan do not need as many of our US dollars anymore.
Iran has been trying to convince the rest of OPECA to stop taking the US dollar.

Israel is "feeling threatened " by Iran because of possibility of nuclear weapons capability.
All 3 major presidential candidates have said we would protect our ally Israel.

I wonder how long before another "war" is being fought?

Oh, yeah! We are being manipulated big time. Pretty soon, we will hear the words, danger, answer to the recession, terror, gas prices, escalating prices of gas, building up of warheads, need help for the people of the country etc....just like last time and off we will march with our already spread too thin troops. I am not the smartest person in the world and I saw through the last march to Iraq, so I am thinking that others saw it at the same time....I am hoping we are smart enough to see through it this time.....we just don't have the resources to give at this point...especially for no reason.

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The neocons do not envision a troop presence in Iran. They envision a nuclear attack by sea. I think that's why we have so many carriers in the Straight of Hormuz. I honestly believe that they hope to provoke an incident which they can blow way out of proportion as an excuse to launch nukes. It's why Adm. Fallon was forced out.

Scott Horton has an article about the television show, 24. "How Hollywood Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the (Ticking) Bomb" by Scott Horton (Harper's Magazine) I found this paragraph to interesting:
"We should start with a frank question: has “24” been created with an overtly political agenda, namely, to create a more receptive public audience for the Bush Administration’s torture policies? I think the answer to that question is now very clear. The answer is “yes.” In “Whatever It Takes,” Jane Mayer has waded through the sheaf of contacts between the show’s producer, Joel Surnow, and Vice President Cheney and figures right around him. There is little ambiguity about this point, namely, if the torture system introduced after 9/11 can be traced back to a single person, it is Vice President Cheney. He pushed relentlessly for use of the tools of the “dark side,” and he ruthlessly took out everyone who stood in his way. He also worked feverishly to disguise or cloak his intimate involvement in the entire process. I take it as a given that Surnow is working to develop public attitudes which are more accepting of torture and to overturn centuries-old prejudices against torture. He is a torture-enabler."

Bush got re-elected because we were at war. Of course no one questioned the fact that he was the one who started the war and therefore should not be rewarded by being returned to the White House. At the time, I thought it was an exceptionally bad move on the part of the voting public. If you want a second term, start a war, was the message.

And to get another Republican president, they need to give the public a reason to vote for McCain over the other candidates. So it will not surprise me at all, if we make some attack on Iran between now and the fall. Probably late September or early October would be the right timing. And I also will not be surprised if the American public falls for it again. That old saw, "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me", no longer seems to apply when it comes to the voters. But it does prove the other one, "There's a sucker born every second." and unfortunately, many of them are registered voters.

I watched that show for the better part of the first two seasons and I got tired of the obvious agenda being played out in every show. I have also thought that TV is what is making us afraid of everything. People are much more fearful than they used to be. Every day on TV dramas, people, usually women or children, are being beaten, murdered in horrendous ways, stalked, bullied, raped, and then we wonder why we act the way we do. Kids see these shows and see nothing wrong with all this violence. They assume it's normal. If you have a problem, beat a woman, if you don't like your boss, kill the employees, if you're being bullied at school get a gun. All Middle Easterners are terrorists. Women are bitches. Torture is okay. Police brutality can be overlooked as long as the bad guys are taken care of. Oh he wasn't a bad guy after all? Oops. Sorry about that.

I think there's no doubt that some people were manipulated, but there were plenty of us that were screaming "NO!" to war even back in early 2003.

Me among them, but unfortunately fear won the argument.