ARE WE SURPRISED? Not here at the Silent Majority! The ‘Drive-By Media” twisting the news to fit their needs. Read excerpts from below:
Ignore The Media…
July 21, 2008
It’s an established fact that the drive-by media is supporting Barack Obama‘s candidacy this election cycle (just ask previous media fave Hillary Clinton). But in the last few weeks, as Obama attempts to redefine himself before the voting masses begin to pay attention in September, the media has gone from being merely biased to advancing false propaganda on behalf of the Obama campaign.
The latest incident has to do with the apparently fictional article published in yesterday’s Der Spiegel magazine in Germany: Iraq Leader Maliki Supports Obama’s Withdrawal Plans. The piece, released to coincide with Obama’s trip to Iraq, purported to ‘quote’ Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as saying that he supported Barack Obama’s plan to withdraw troops from Iraq within 16 months after Obama assumes office. In addition, al-Maliki was ‘quoted’ as saying that he “apparently” opposed John McCain‘s “open ended” Iraq policy. The article goes on to claim that al-Maliki complained about President Bush’s reluctance to agree to a withdrawal timeline, and also points out that the comments allegedly said by al-Maliki come immediately after the two countries released a statement Friday agreeing on a “general time-horizon” for removing troops from Iraq – thus suggesting that even the Bush Administration has seen the error of its ways and is beginning to see the world through Obama’s majestic eyes.
As soon as the Der Spiegel article hit our shores, it was the top news story on all the news outlets. This morning, predictably, reports on the article made it onto the front pages of newspapers around the country: New York Times – Maliki Backs Obama’s Troop Withdrawal Plan, Chicago Tribune – Maliki backs Obama troop pullout plan, Los Angeles Times – Iraq President Maliki embraces Obama withdrawal plan. Notice anything similar about the headlines, although all of the articles are by different reporters?
Then something remarkable happened. The Iraqi government came out Sunday morning, after the Sunday newspapers were printed and delivered, and issued a statement of their own announcing that the Der Spiegel article and its allegations about statements made by the Iraqi Prime Minister were false. Not that it matters much – in general, American news consumers remember the first, original news accounts, especially those concerning a story as topical as this.
(SNIP)
The drive-by media in the United States didn’t think that such a mistake on their part was worth a correction – they just ignored the new development from the BBC calling their original reporting (and methods of verification) into question. The equation for the drive-by media was simple. Original story = benefit for Obama. Correction = benefit for McCain (and President Bush). Therefore, no widespread dispersal of a correction is warranted.
(SNIP)
The drive-by media also attempted to claim (before the Der Spiegel story hit the wires yesterday) that since Friday’s official White House statement included the words “time horizon”, it meant that President Bush had flip-flopped on his long-term position on troop withdrawals from Iraq. Obviously, the subsequent line destroys that line of reasoning by the media. The position of both President Bush and Senator John McCain has remained the same throughout this entire war. Reduction of our troop presence, including that of combat troops, is predicated on the improving security situation on the ground. And Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki agrees with that, no matter what propaganda the media distributes suggesting otherwise.
(SNIP).
The media should be ashamed of itself. They won’t be.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/07/ignore_the_media_almaliki_did.html