Anti-war or Anti-American?

With each passing day, I am more fully convinced that the U.S. national media either consists of a bunch of uninformed dupes or rabid leftwing nuts. Seriously. The bifurcation, cover-ups and appeals to emotion concerning issues dear to the hearts of the Left is so prevalent and unabashed that it truly makes me fear for the future of journalism in this country.

As only one, but far reaching, example, take the recent anti-war protest held in Washington, D.C. If you believed the national news media—almost to a number—we were simply witnessing normal, conscientious, well-behaved and articulate Americans expressing their right of free speech in opposition to the possible war against Iraq.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

What the national media didn’t tell you—-and what you only could have seen on the unedited (hence unbiased) televising of the event on C-SPAN—was that the overwhelming majority of those gathered on the Mall in D.C. were radical, lunatic fringe leftists who were actually anti-American, pro-Saddam mouthpieces. The irony is that the “Amerika” these people so vehemently loathe allows them the very freedom to spout their nonsense without fear of reprisal. You can’t imagine a pro-American rally in Baghdad because it could never happen in such a totalitarian regime.

These extremists were conveniently (purposefully?) overlooked by the national media. The news reports I saw didn’t show the “Bush=Hitler” and “Bush is a Terrorist” signs I witnessed on C-SPAN. I didn’t hear the interview with the Muslim woman from New Jersey who said that the U.S. had advance warning of the 9/11 attacks. Quoting Ms. Reesa Rosenberg: “The United States is like a stuck-up little bitch. 9/11 was terrible, but it was the first terrorist attack on this country. It’s like ‘oh, no!’ Somebody broke the United States’ nail and now the whole earth is going to blow up.” Brilliant. (These comments come from National Review Online in a column by Daniel Flynn).

It’s one thing to protest the war. Right now, in the conservative and libertarian movements, there is a large and influential number of right wing intellectuals who vehemently oppose the war, but do so in ideological, reasonable and dignified ways. This debate will, in fact, probably cause a major schism in these movements that may never heal. The fact remains that those on the right who are anti-war, e.g., Pat Buchanon, the Ludwig von Mises Institute, et al, are engaging in the protest of reason, ideas, debate and dialogue. The unwashed, hippy/yippie/zippie types that stunk up D.C. recently are the anti-conceptual, anti-reason nuts who hate anything that is even remotely pro-America or pro-Western Civilization.

Even our state’s own Clarion-Ledger got into the whitewashing act. A local reporter traveled with a handful of protesters which included some (surprise, surprise) Millsaps students and assorted other good ‘ol, normal folks to the event. You would think, by the subsequent sympathetic and flowery story, that all these kind souls wanted was to end bloodshed. In the case of the Mississippi contingency, that may very well be true, although sadly misguided and impractical. No mention was made of the crazies. None.

No mention was made of the table displaying pamphlets endorsing North Korea’s right to nuclear weapons. No mention was made of the activist cheering for a policeman to fall off a fire-escape ladder 30-feet above a Pennsylvania Avenue restaurant. No mention was made of the treasonous comments made against George W. Bush. Instead, we were given sanitized, squeaky clean coverage of fine patriotic Americans merely taking advantage of this nation’s tradition of protest. This is sad. It’s also bad journalism and a barrage of outright lies.

Moreover, it would seen that these supposed “anti-war” protesters would be all for war against Israel. They forget the sick inhumanity of Saddam Hussein, his killing of his own people, his videotaping the raping of opponent’s wives and daughters, his burning of tongues in acid of those who dare speak against him. No, these “anti-war” types are calling President Bush evil and Colin Powell “Uncle Tom” all the while screeching for a Palestinian state for the Middle Eastern West-haters and butchers.

Just for kicks, go to one of the anti-war web sites, www.indymedia.org to see what these types are up to. Then ask yourself why Dan, Peter and Tom—and the Clarion-Ledger—don’t give you the full story. The answer is rather ominous.

If you’re opposed to the possibility of war against Iraq, then protest. Do so, however, in a rational way, i.e., the American way. Sure, our Revolution and Civil War both were born of protest but of a significantly different type than anything in this country since the Free Speech movement was born in Berkeley in 1964. Taking a cue from these Abbie Hoffman/Jerry Rubin wannabes will only hurt your case.

I speak from experience here. Once, I, too, was in that leftist camp and attended more than one protest. It’s not something I’m proud of, but I was young and I paid close attention to the rhetoric of my professors (such as those in the Millsaps humanities department) and did what I thought was right. I grew up, though. I wish the same could be said for our media. DBJ