Before the Iraq War began, 1000 veterans, many of them high-ranking, wrote a letter to the president telling him that going to war with Iraq would be the worst thing he could do if he wanted to stabilize the Middle East. Leaders of the Clergy tried to meet with Bush before the war to tell him they believed war with Iraq was not a "just" war, and so would be against God's will? Bush refused to meet with them. How many reading this article remember seeing either of those important stories covered by the media before the war?
And now in covering the situation with Iran the media is once more being complicit more in what it is omitting than what it is reporting. Physicists have written a letter to Bush telling him bombing Iran would be madness. How many people reading this article have seen these people or their letter featured on the news?
Interestingly enough, Langer also blamed the press for its part in Hitler's success. "When we try to formulate a conception of Adolph Hitler as the German people know him we must not forget that their knowledge of him is limited by a controlled press." (L. p. 47.) "In addition the press, newsreels, and so forth, are continually flooded with carefully prepared photographs showing Hitler at his very best." (L. p. 49.)
Clinton should have been so lucky.
In 2003 in answer to a reporter's question about the justification for war when no WMD's had been found, Bush said "And we gave him a chance to allow the inspectors in, and he wouldn't let them in." link Almost no press was given to that outrageous lie. Had it been uttered by a Democrat, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity would have feasted on it, and ridiculed the person who said it for weeks. Virtually everyone in the country would have been made aware of it. But, because talk radio and television is made up almost entirely of voices from the right, almost no one knows about it. Most people do not even know about the purging of names from the Florida voter rolls prior to the 2000 election. Again, had such a travesty been committed under a governor who was a Democrat, Rush and Sean would have been on it, to borrow a phrase from Jim Hightower, "like a gator on a poodle," and most Americans would be aware of it, at least in a vague way. As it is, if they know about it at all, they think it had something to do with the recount, which they perceive as being dishonest because of machinations by the Democrats.
Military analyst Bill Arkin attended the Veterans' Day commemoration at Arlington National Cemetery in 2003. He said that Bush talked and laughed and bopped his head to the music during the presentation of the colors. link Had that been shown on television, Bush would have lost not only the veterans' vote, but the election. But, it was not shown.
Bush seems unable to realize what war entails. Or else he simply does not care. Before the war, the BBC (but not American television) showed video of Bush clowning before his entourage minutes before he went on television to make the announcement America was about to invade Iraq. He actually pumped his arm and said "feels good," before he announced the beginning of a bombardment which undoubtedly meant the death and maiming of thousands of people, including many of our own soldiers, and the destruction of the infrastructure and homes and businesses of the Iraqi people. He is in such denial about war that, according to Pat Robertson, Bush told him there would be no casualties. According to the White House, Bush said he never said that. But, why should we believe him? His modus operandi is deliberate deception, and his lies fill volumes. He has consistently lied or side-stepped questions about his past. He was indisputably - authenticity of CBS documents notwithstanding -- AWOL - absent for 30 days - from his National Guard service. He delights in his "cunning" and ability to be devious. His fortune was built on unethical business deals. Honesty and a high standard of ethics is nowhere to be found in his life's history. We now know from Weade's tapes that had he lost the primary to Steve Forbes, he would have done nothing to help Forbes defeat Gore. He also said Forbes could forget Florida as well as Texas, which indicates Jeb would have done nothing to help Forbes. Hmm. Perhaps the Florida voter rolls would not have been purged. Of course it is extremely unlikely Forbes would have defeated Gore. After all, even Bush did not defeat Gore in the popular vote, and Bush does have a tad more charisma than Forbes. But, can anyone imagine a candidate with any decency acting in such a manner?
Contrast the differences in the 2004 presidential campaign between Bush and Kerry.
A former Republican Judge and Senator from Kentucky, Marlowe Cook, repudiated Bush's morals in an article for the Courier-Journal before the election:
"I hope you all have noticed the Bush administration's style in the campaign so far. All negative, trashing Sen. John Kerry, Sen. John Edwards and Democrats in general. Not once have they said what they have done right, what they have done wrong or what they have not done at all""
Even the Washington Post in "He Ought to Know" said it took a lot of "chutzpah" for the Bush campaign to accuse the Kerry campaign of being beholden to special interests when the Bush campaign was at least four times more beholden to special interests than was Kerry. "During the 2000 contest, the Bush campaign assigned an industry code to givers so it would know precisely how much it was beholden and to whom. As electric utility lobbyist Thomas Kuhn explained in a 1999 letter to fundraisers, putting the code on the check "does ensure that our industry is credited, and that your progress is listed among the other business/industry sectors." Mr. Kuhn's progress may well have been noted; he met at least 14 times with Vice President Cheney's energy task force." link
However, even Bush was not as arrogant in the early days of his presidency as he has become since. Hitler, also, did not begin his rule by killing people. First (and Bush suffers in this part of the comparison) Hitler lifted people out of a depression. He greatly reduced unemployment. He built roads and buildings. He seemed to work miracles. Because he did, the German people began to perceive him as almost godlike. They began to look upon him as a kind of Messiah. So did he. "His references to the Bible became more frequent, and the movement took on a religious atmosphere." (L. p. 36.)
"It is not clear from the evidence whether the new State religion was part of Hitler's plan or whether developments were such that it became feasible"it may be that his series of successes were so startling that the people spontaneously adopted a religious attitude toward him"In any case he has accepted this Godlike role without any hesitation or embarrassment"when he is addressed with the salutation, "Heil Hitler, our Saviour," he bows slightly and believes it." (L. p. 40.)
"All the stagings were designed to create a supernatural and religious atmosphere, and Hitler's entry was more befitting a god than a man. Notes appeared in the press to the effect that, "As he spoke, one heard God's mantle rustle through the room!,, On the side of a hill in Odenwald" "We believe in Holy Germany. Holy Germany is Hitler! We believe in Holy Hitler.-- (L. p. 62.)
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