First, I want to express my condolences to the family of Tim Russert. It's not that any one of them will ever read this blog in a million years, but since I am going to mention him, I want to get that out first. Second, I felt really bad about Russert because of course one hates to see someone die so young and also because I appreciated that during the buildup to the war and during the 2004 campaign, he at least allowed Democrats to get a word in and didn't berate those against the invasion and consequent war as did other broadcasters.
All that being said, other writers will do a better job chronicalling Russert's life and contribution to the media and to politics in general. What I want to mention is something Keith Olbermann said last night. Keith mentioned that Russert, coming form a working class family in Buffalo, NY, represented the common American. When Russert made his own personal decision in favor of the Iraq invasion, it was because of the potential nuclear threat. Olbermann said Russert told him, Russert supported the invasion because of the nukes and our obligation to stop Hussein from owning and using them. When Russert believed, he helped make America believe. The thing was, there were no nukes and that is where Mark Kirk comes in.
Mark Kirk works very hard to get himself into the media limelight and is very successful at it. Once in the limelight, he worked hard to convince people in the media that there was a strong Iraqi nuclear threat. He said he personally knew there were Iraqi nukes from his past experience as a naval aviator, intimated he was actually in the CIA, only to backpeddle on that when he realized it was not legal to be in the House and the CIA at the same time, and said he personally saw the current intelligence and was convinced Hussein currently possessed nuclear weapons. Now we know, "Mark Kirk, was one of nine Congressional Republicans hand-picked to craft the language to go to war." We also now know that all of it was part of the permanent campaign to keep a permanent republican majority in our federal and state governments. A permanent republican majority would go a long way to maintain economic policy that fails most Americans but is great for the wealthy and connected. Basically, if the majority of Ameircans weren't scared into it, they'd never vote for it and republicans know that.
So, putting it all together, Mark Kirk was particularly chosen and specifically operated so powerful and respected members of the media, like Tim Russert, believed there was an Iraqi nuclear threat; so broadcasters like Tim Russert would be personally convinced of the need to go to war and convince us of same. It worked. Russert was convinced and because he was a respected and fairminded reporter and pundit, we believed him (ok, I never believed him and many of you didn't either, but the majority did). The fear factor would be useful to maintain tax cuts for the wealthy, windfall profits for pharmas and oil companies, and cuts in social programs like Medicare and Social Security. You got a war to keep your votes against your interest.
That is what the district has received from Mark Kirk. So, if you want lies to convince media leaders to convince the rest of us of the need to invade another country, say Iran, for the specific purpose of causing us to vote against our own economic interests, by all means go ahead and vote for Mark Kirk. If you want the country to be led by people who care about the real facts on the ground and rational solutions to genuinely pressing problems, vote for Dan Seals. It really is that simple.
7 comments:
As much as I dislike Mark Kirk, it is still, in my opinion, very distasteful to use Tim Russert's passing to blast him.
I'm not using Tim Russert. They did.
Last night's MSNBC coverage was a rare look into the real goings on at a major network and since they chose to broadcast it, we are entitled to listen and gain deeper understanding of what went on in the media buildup to the war. From all accounts, Tim Russert was a political journalist who believed in his country. Olbermann's comment was the first comment I ever heard about the true beliefs of a major media political pundit. It is critical for our understanding of what happened to understand that Tim Russert really believed that Iraq had nukes. Why shouldn't he have. People in the public trust worked hard to make sure he and those similarly situated did believe.
I will never apologize for making this connection because it is an important one.
If you want to call something distasteful, why don't you point out it's distasteful for a US Congressman like Mark Kirk to intentionally lie to media giants like Tim Russert to get them in turn to pass the lie along to us and use their credibility to make it believable? That my friend is the real issue of distastefulness.
oooh so sensitive, cannot be bothered with a "distasteful" discussion of reality, discussing an issue is "distasteful". How Shocking it is to mention that someone like Tim Russert helped get us into a war and Mark Kirk was a writer of the dialogue that Russert showcased. NO PROBLEM AT ALL WITH OVER 4000 DEAD IN IRAQ.
First comment: Screwed up values.
EBG, you were too easy on Russert, but I hear you.
It's been documented through several sources that Cheney, Rove, Libby, etc., would leak a story about weapons in Iraq to the press, and then go on Sunday morning talk shows to cite the press reports they themselves leaked a few days before.
No treachery is beyond Republicans--none. And that goes for Mark Kirk, too. Kirk has lied to his constituents about Waukegan Harbor, his environmental record, and his legislative record.
I wouldn't put it past him to lie about Iraq, either.
Kirk showed up at our block party yesterday in Highwood. Looks like he doesn't have much to do as he stayed for close to 2 hours and there weren't that many folks there. We introduced ourselves as "Dan Fans" and he moved away quickly. I so wanted to face him with this exact question, "How could you have lied to us about seeing the 'evidence' of WMD's?" But I'll get more folks to vote for Dan with honey than will vinegar. It was hard not to confront Kirk though.
Kirk continued his lies and offensive comments this week by stating at a republican function that health care is a problem for the illegals and young and does not effect the average american. He continued his poor representation of our district by voting against extending unemployment benefits that would have helped 189,271 Illinois families.
Kirk at a block party in Highwood- How desperate is that! Then he runs away from a question. What seriously did you expect. The guy cannot handle any type of confrontation. Get him mad and you will see what will happen- he will run away like a jack rabbit. If I were Seals I wouldn't even waste my time debating him. Let Kirk beg you. Kirk is a cancerous name in the 10th District now- stay away. He gave his father's name a bad name.
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