Another Kind of 4 Letter 'F' Word - Fear.

[RascalPuff]

The dishonesty of the media
Asked to give a toast before the prestigious New York Press Club, John Swinton, the former Chief of Staff at the New York Times, made this candid confession [it's worth noting that Swinton was called "The Dean of His Profession" by other newsmen, who admired him greatly]:

" There is no such thing, at this date of the world's history, as an
independent press. You know it and I know it. There is not one of you
who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know
beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for
keeping my honest opinions out of the paper I am connected with. Others
of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who
would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the
streets looking for another job...

"If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper,
before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone. The business of
the journalist is to destroy the truth; to lie outright; to pervert; to
vilify; to fawn at the feet of mammon, and to sell the country for his
daily bread. You know it and I know it and what folly is this toasting
an independent press. We are the tools and vassals of the rich men
behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and
we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the
property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes. "

From a very young age we are all raised in the belief that the media is supposed to keep an eye on the government, to watch out for wrongdoing. There is a carefully crafted illusion of an independent media, but it is illusion only. Since WW2, the Central Intelligence Agency has been running operation MOCKINGBIRD which places CIA assets in management positions of all the media. That the CIA wields a great deal of control over the media and what it tells the American people was revealed by the heavy handed actions taken in regards to covering up that portion of the Iran-Contra scandal that took place at the Mena, Arkansas airport. Following the killing of cocaine smuggler and Iran-Contra pilot Barry Seal, writers Roger Morris and Sally Denton uncovered documents proving that Seal had been working for the CIA. That information was written up as an article for the Washington Post, and had been cleared for publication by legal and fact checking when Managing Editor Bob Kaiser spiked the article without explanation. When writer Gary Webb wrote his series of article "Dark Alliance", which accused the CIA of being the source of the cocaine that poured into Los Angeles in the 1980s, virtually every major newspaper, including the Los Angeles Times, united in their attack on his story. Less than one year later, the CIA's Inspector General issued a report that admitted to the cocaine trafficking in connection with Iran-Contra. None of the newspapers that savaged Gary Webb ever bothered to apologize to him.

http://www.wtv-zone.com/Mary/TRUTHINJOURNALISM.html - This url has been nullified for reasons which can be determined when you Google 'John Swinton independent press speech'.

[Graybeard]

The dishonesty of the media
Asked to give a toast before the prestigious New York Press Club, John Swinton, the former Chief of Staff at the New York Times, made this candid confession [it's worth noting that Swinton was called "The Dean of His Profession" by other newsmen, who admired him greatly]:

" There is no such thing, at this date of the world's history, as an
independent press. You know it and I know it. There is not one of you
who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know
beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for
keeping my honest opinions out of the paper I am connected with. Others
of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who
would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the
streets looking for another job...

Hi Rascal ..... a question ?

Shouldn't a journalist only write up the known facts. Shouldn't his own personal opinion, however honestly he believes it, be kept to himself. He is not Censor, Judge and Translator for others ?

If he wrote up his own opinions, then .... the press would not be independent would it ?

There are two sides to every story .....

cool bananas ... greg

[RascalPuff]

Hi Rascal ..... a question ?

Shouldn't a journalist only write up the known facts. Shouldn't his own personal opinion, however honestly he believes it, be kept to himself. He is not Censor, Judge and Translator for others ?

If he wrote up his own opinions, then .... the press would not be independent would it ?

There are two sides to every story .....

cool bananas ... greg

Dear Greg:
A lot is learned about the remarkably mysterious 'John Swinton' when his name is Googled, as 'John Swinton independent press speech'. It is known that he existed and was who and what the above post describes him as being, on the other hand, according to several of the ten blogs listed that I perused, strangely enough, it's not certain what century the man made this famous speech in. Of the list of blogs encountered on the (Googled) subject, please make a point of having a look at TRUTHINJOURNALISM - which starts with a night time photograph of the N.Y. TIMES Bldg.

Your observation and benevolent admonishment is duely considered, and I agree with your qualification(s).

I think Swinton - a seasoned mainstream journalist as well as executive - was alluding to major press outlets, rather than the *lesser publications - *The Berkeley Barb (of the '60's) for example, and, the San Francisco GOOD TIMES, both of which are comparable to and often featured poetry and prose from such people as Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

An expedition through popular mainstream media stored in large libraries will indeed demonstrate that the major media did in fact support the Vietnam war, long after the multi-polled majority of voting Americans were personally, politically and ethically opposed to it. Of course 'the polls' are not always reliable, especially in such controversial matters.

Kewel Kukumbers,
- RP

[Graybeard]

An expedition through popular mainstream media stored in large libraries will indeed demonstrate that the major media did in fact support the Vietnam war, long after the multi-polled majority of voting Americans were personally, politically and ethically opposed to it. Of course 'the polls' are not always reliable, especially in such controversial matters.

Kewel Kukumbers,
- RP

Dear Rascal ...

By the term 'major media' you are of course referring to the 'American' media. A common misconception in your part of the woods ?

If you wish to report facts and not just opinion then whether the Americans supported or did not support the war is only half a story. The Vietnamese did not support it ... but they had no choice but to fight it ( first the French and English, then the Americans) as it took place in their country .... this is an important fact which you do not mention ?

A lesser fact is that the New York Times has no 'Chief of Staff'.

So all in all ..... as politics are not allowed on the forum .... please ... no bias ..... neutral viewpoints. Both sides or none at all.

You have not totally convinced me that this thread comes under ToeQuest guidelines ??

cool bananas ... greg

[RascalPuff]

Re: Another Kind of 4 Letter 'F' Word - Fear.

Originally Posted by RascalPuff
An expedition through popular mainstream media stored in large libraries will indeed demonstrate that the major media did in fact support the Vietnam war, long after the multi-polled majority of voting Americans were personally, politically and ethically opposed to it. Of course 'the polls' are not always reliable, especially in such controversial matters.

Kewel Kukumbers,
- RP
-----------------------------------



Dear Rascal ...

By the term 'major media' you are of course referring to the 'American' media. A common misconception in your part of the woods ?

If you wish to report facts and not just opinion then whether the Americans supported or did not support the war is only half a story. The Vietnamese did not support it ... but they had no choice but to fight it ( first the French and English, then the Americans) as it took place in their country .... this is an important fact which you do not mention ?

A lesser fact is that the New York Times has no 'Chief of Staff'.

So all in all ..... as politics are not allowed on the forum .... please ... no bias ..... neutral viewpoints. Both sides or none at all.

You have not totally convinced me that this thread comes under ToeQuest guidelines ??

cool bananas ... greg
----------------------------------

Dear Greg:
Of course mine is a nationalistic perspective, written as though America were the Modern reincarnation of Rome in about A.D. 117 (at it's peak); which the U.S.A. is no longer comparable to. As a pre WW II born American, I am indeed handicapped with the notion that the world revolves around U.S. (Ahem: We were the semi catalytic 'Axis power' that rescued the world from Fascism and not all of the celebrants or confetti have hit the ground yet, about that. It happened in my own lifetime - coupla days ago in the historical scheme of things...).

As a student of both Western and Eastern Civilization I do submit that China didn't acknowledge your existence if she was not paid tribute to by her subordinates in all of the Eurasian world, and the Roman perspective was indeed the converse of that world view. The contrasts between Eastern & Western cultures are still in extreme evidence, though at least there is more communication between the two - it might be said, since the time of Marco Polo, and then there's Nixon's installation of the McDonald's chain in Beijing. Even the name of the Capital has changed (and 'southern China's capital of Hang Chow' has been obsolete since the 'inspiration' of the Yuan <Mongol> Dynasty - 1260-1360 AD)

With regard to your pointing out that the Vietnamese had no choice in fighting their defensive war against the invading United States I could not agree with you more. I, personally, was against that war from its advent (which is a history unto itself)- I had also read The Ugly American, which cautions Western interference in the East. Indeed, it would have been - and was - functional treason for the Vietnamese to acquiesce to the invaders, as the bourgeois Vietnamese did in the ersatz 'capital' of Saigon (You know, Ho Chi Minh City). Of course 'Premiere Ky' was on a leash, with his native cronies - residuals from three consecutive generations of French colonization. Refer, Fire in the Lake, by Pulitzer Prize awarded author, Frances Fitzgerald.

Moving along to another perspective...

Webster's has 'politics' translated as: 'The art or science of government'. Does ToEQuest accomodate forms of art and science?... Please understand that this is not a trite or flippant interrogative. Politics: 'Winning and holding control over a government - competition between groups or individuals for power and leadership. The formal studious address to which is entitled 'political science'...

Are not the 'affairs of politics' directly related to 'the study of the development of human awareness (and behavior)' - which is the definition for 'phenomenology', which in turn is unavoidably contingent to psychology? Then there is the issue of 'propaganda', which returns to the issue of 'awareness' and education-by-addition-or-subtraction (of information). Gathering and/or transmitting information is synonymous with life itself, in all its - especially sentient - forms, though the process of evolution certainly includes a procession of learning - so far, it looks more or less like only some crustaceans, roaches, sharks and ants have 'arrived' and are no longer transcient life forms... British psychologist R.D. Laing - as I recall - passes that lesson along in his 'Politics of Experience'...

Are we talking 'politics' when we allude to the massive exodus of the culturally marooned 'boat people'? How many of them perished on the high seas if they were lucky enough to make it that far? When it came to pass that my politically eschewed newspaper was - with extreme irony - delivered by a 12 year old Vietnamese boy: before that 'Police Action' ended - was that a dynamic of politics when he refused an offered tip of $5.00? The death of an estimated three million Vietnamese - is that politics? Were the Killing Fields of Cambodia, featured in the same publication that was delivered to me by a Vietnamese boy, politics? I personally know living survivors of the Holocaust, and permanently transformed W W II Vets (including my Mother's three perished brothers) whose demise was forged by politics - when there is so much more - and less - to such considerations... All too often 'politics' is a euphemism for the ethically suspended - shoulder shrugging - rationalisation: 'That's life'.
No: that's a lie. That's a cop out. That's the human abuse of power. To call it 'life' is Orwellian 'DeathSpeak'.
The greatest danger to humanity - and domestic tranquility - at large on this planet.
So, that's an inappropriate - irrelevant -subject? Politics can do anything - bridge the olfactory gap between Old Spice, jellified gasoline and nuclear weapons...
(Raze a village, or a City; in a flash...)
My - very awry - newspaper was revealing forbidden realities, between the lines, as it were. I don't buy any of it anymore, my former newspaper boy is presently an affluent political scientist and stock broker. Like so many of my American friends whose names are permanently engraved upon - and cannot be taken off - The Wall.
Walter Cronkite's anchored World News ('That's the way it is...') Tonight, was never delivered, so roundly...

Thank you for the inspiration, Greg. My friend,
Kewel Kukumbers,
- RP

[Graybeard]

(Ahem: We were the semi catalytic 'Axis power' that rescued the world from Fascism and not all of the celebrants or confetti have hit the ground yet, about that. It happened in my own lifetime - coupla days ago in the historical scheme of things...).

Dear Rascal .... Arguing or debating with you is equivalent to taking on Solomon. You have an answer for every situation ... its cool and as long as the thread does not go political ... no problems.

I do enjoy reading your posts ... rare insights into new topics.

However, re: above quote .... twas not America, nor England, nor France, nor any of the smaller allies (Australia) that rescued the world from Facism. We helped, much as a little brother would, but the brute force that overcame Germany was Russia !!

Also I take your point on the difference in discussing Politics (not allowed) and Political Science (allowed)

Good post.

cool bananas .... greg

[RascalPuff]

Dear Rascal .... Arguing or debating with you is equivalent to taking on Solomon. You have an answer for every situation ... its cool and as long as the thread does not go political ... no problems.

I do enjoy reading your posts ... rare insights into new topics.

However, re: above quote .... twas not America, nor England, nor France, nor any of the smaller allies (Australia) that rescued the world from Facism. We helped, much as a little brother would, but the brute force that overcame Germany was Russia !!

Also I take your point on the difference in discussing Politics (not allowed) and Political Science (allowed)

Good post.

cool bananas .... greg

Dear Greg:
You are soooo right about Russia.
Der Furher made The fatal mistake when he invaded the USSR.
No question about it and I'm surprised I didn't mention Stalingrad and it's symbolic as well as functional part in the 'Unknown War' of Russia vs 3rd Reich.
It needed to be brought out in this thread and you did that, promptly. Thank you, sir.

Post Script:
Russia was invaded on the (September) anniversary of Bonaparte's invasion of that same vast and formidable touraine, peopled by an extremely resilient genre of farmers and city folk.

The formidable Russian Soldier - and the Winter (along with gravity, the untillable steppes, mud and ice) finished the arrogant Nazis off... They swore to cross the Volga at Stalingrad, were within yards of it. And failed. At Stalingrad. Two and one half million Nazi KIA. One half million Nazi POWs. Their atrocities against the Russian people are sometimes unreadable - in archives that record some details of war crimes. I have always been very grateful, that Hitler betrayed Stalin (who murdered twenty million of his own people). Yah. Refer 'The Man Outside', by Wolfgang Borchert - a Wehrmacht martyr.

Kewel Kukumbers,
- RP

[Graybeard]

The Russians people are stoics. I recall an apocryphal story after the war.

A reporter points out to the Russian that they were oppressed under one deadly dictator and fighting another ... how did they work out where they're allegiances lay.

They replied, of the two Monsters, they preferred, on balance, the one who spoke Russian ... lol

grave humour ?

cool bananas ...greg

[austintorn@aol.com]

And then there's the time when Rascal entered a Soviet prison on purpose to obtain some information and then had to break out in another way when some plans went afoul, but that's another story…

[RascalPuff]

And then there's the time when Rascal entered a Soviet prison on purpose to obtain some information and then had to break out in another way when some plans went afoul, but that's another story…

The partially initiated might observe that Austin Torney knows more than he knows he knows...
But then, he knows that also. Kudos to the inexorable force of the unfathomable Poet Warrior (who I know only partially):
whoever, wherever and whatever he may be, go or do.