JON STEWART FOR A PEABODY?
I've often gone off about the lamentable state of journalism in America. But last night, the full depths to which the press has fallen really hit me.

Last night, I was watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. In his monologue, he mentioned the comment by Gen. Garner, the viceroy of Iraq. [see below for more on that]

Then, there was a skit with one of his sidekicks Stephen Colbert about weapons of mass destruction [WMD]. Basically, it went something vaguely, very vaguely, like this...

STEWART: So where are the WMDs?
COLBERT: I don't know, Jon. We still don't have full access.
STEWART: No access? But don't we control the whole country?
COLBERT: Yes Jon. But these things take time.
STEWART: But I thought that getting rid fo the WMDs was the top priority of the administration?
COLBERT: They need more time. It's a slow, complicated process. More time is needed.

The joke, of course, is that the US is adopting the "finding the WMDs needs more time" line that it viciously attacked as appeasement before the invasion. There is also the irony that the Americans are calling for sanctions against Iraq to be lifted even though the WMDs have not been accounted for. This is also contrary to the pre-war position of the administration.

Tommorrow, I will explain why the WMD situation proves the anti-war movement was right. But for now, I will focus on the media.

The flip flop on WMDs is a legitimate question (although entirely expected). The comments by Gen. Garner show, in my opinion, a shocking triumphalism. Made even more shocking by the realization that this is in fact the driving sentiment of the War Department and other parts of the administration. Yet, were any of these discussed on Fox "News" Channel or CNN or MSNBC? Did "flaming liberal" Dan Rather ask these questions or report on this? I doubt it.

It's a sad commentary on the state of American journalism when you can learn more from satirical programs than on so-called news networks which have 24 hours a day, seven days a week to explore whatever they want. By not cowering in fear about asking tough, substantive questions, are comedians performing a public service and informing us better than the "news media"?

Where have you gone Cronkite and Murrow...

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PEACOCK REVEALS ITS FEATHERS
We ought to be beating our chests every day. We ought to look in a mirror and get proud and stick out our chests and suck in our bellies and say: 'Damn, we're Americans!' --Retired Gen. Jay Garner, American viceroy of Iraq.

I am very upset at Gen. Garner. "Chest-beater" is a phrase I've been using regularly, as a less offensive alternative to "warmonger." I expect Gen. Garner to send me a royalty check... after all, he'll have access to plenty of oil money.

Yet in a sense, I'm thankful for Gen. Garner's comment. It demonstrates quite nicely the mentality of those people who are in charge. None of this "we're sorry we had to do it and we're sorry about the 'collateral damage' but it was unfortunately necessary and our troops did a good job in difficult circumstances" charade of the Garner's War Department colleagues in Washington. Gen. Garner's thinking is the same as Wolfowitz, Perle and company, only he's more honest about it.

If Arabs were pissed about the soldier who covered the face of the Saddam statue with an American flag, let's hope al-Jazeera doesn't notice this comment.

These people still haven't figured out the dangers of this in your face behavior. Of course, imperialists usually consider themselves immune not only to this kind of triumphalism, but immune to history in general. Let's hope it doesn't come back to bite him, or especially us, in the rear.

Source: Reuters via Yahoo! News