Hanif on Media

Where were all those supposedly liberal voices on Iraq? Michael Moore appropriately laments the betrayal by liberal voices that helped squander our national treasure and flush our economy down the toilet:

Early liberal support for this war was the key ingredient in selling it to a majority of the public. I realize this is something that no one in the media — nor most of us — really wants to discuss. Who among us wants to feel the pain of having to remember that liberals, by joining with Bush, made this war happen?

I’m no politician. But I am a professional journalist, who at the time was irritated beyond insubordination. I weep for the loss of human life thanks to our so-called liberal media. And like Moore:

I blame the New York Times more for this war than Bush. I expected Bush and Cheney to try and get away with what they did. But the Times — and the rest of the press — was supposed to STOP them by doing their job: Be a relentless watchdog of government and business — and then inform the public so we can take action.

Instead, the New York Times gave the Bush administration the cover they needed. They could — and did — say, ‘Hey, look, even the Times says Saddam has WMD!

With this groundwork laid, the Bush crowd ended up convincing a whopping 70% of the public to support the war — a public that had given him less than 48% of its vote in 2000.

And today? Our so-called news media are still making us sick (see here and here).

— C.B. Hanif