Fraters Libertas

The Press Lives!

Rumors of the demise of the press have proliferated in certain circles, based on their complete absence in covering some of the major stories of the year. The many questionable claims of John Kerry about his combat record on which he based his Presidential run, the attempted use of forged documents by a major media institution to influence a Presidential election, and the UN Oil for Food scandal are examples of essential stories that were ignored by our sentinels in the fifth estate, making us wonder if they were indeed dead. Some observers began to wonder if they ever existed in the first place.

Well, I'm here to tell you, they are alive and kicking. In fact they're barking and squawking like the circus is in town.

During lunch I listened to a Pentagon press conference on the radio. A couple of Army spokesman were discussing recent allegations regarding missing weapons from an Iraqi stockpile. I only heard the last 10 minutes or so, but the spokesmen did a fine job in presenting the case that the US armed forces secured and later destroyed the overwhelming majority of munitions discovered during the charge to Baghdad. (Remember, they were still engaged in combat operations at the time, and that mission's accomplishment wouldn't be realized for several more weeks. Posting rear guard security teams was not, and should not have been, priority one. Are we clear on that?) The spokesman also reiterated that the preponderance of evidence is that the Al-Qaqaa depot was vacated before the US established control of the country.

But the press wasn't at all satisfied with the explanations given. Lordy, you should have heard the baying of these jackals (as Jesse Ventura used to call them). Every time one of the spokesman would pause in their answer, three or four reporters began desperately shouting questions, all talking over each other in blustering cacophony of righteous inquiry. It sounded like a bad science fiction movie, where the panicked press is trying to get some answers after the President announced we're about to be invaded by Flying Atomic Monkey Overlords. ("Yes, but sir, is it true the Flying Monkey Overlords acquired their weapons due to the negligence of US troops in a combat zone?")

When one of the reporters would finally shout down the others long enough to get to ask their question, the skepticism and insinuation oozed from their voice. You could literally hear their rumpled brows and askance looks over the radio. It was righteous outrage we haven't seen since, well we haven't seen it since George W. Bush's twenty year old DWI conviction was announced in late October 2000.

An impressive performance by the press, I must say. Hard to say how all of this will play out. But one thing is clear, the press is doing all they can to make this politically motivated, poorly reported, poorly understood, OLD news enough of a scandal to shave a few points of the President's total on Tuesday.

But what do you expect? They are the press. Showing some judgment and professional standards of objectivity, now THAT would be an October surprise.