[extropy-chat] Reaction to government lies, and the lack thereof

[Olga Bourlin]

From: "Adrian Tymes" <wingcat at pacbell.net>
> Samantha said it well.  The media was supposed to be
> that which stirred up the outrage - but then it
> started sparking outrage to bump its own sales, and
> began losing its ability to generate outrage.  Look,
> for example, at what happened to CBS during the
> election: it wanted so bad to make some outrage and
> attract viewers that it let not-too-hard-to-spot
> forgeries through as "evidence".

The CBS incident has continued to perplex me.  The tactics employed by CBS 
and Dan Rather were wrong, wrong, wrong (and the imbroglio actually served 
the Repubs by taking away the focus from Bush's embarrasing "military" 
record and throwing the spotlight on CBS's and Rather's credibility), but 
didn't Bush in fact *get* preferential treatment during his military stint? 
Is there any doubt about this?  Observe:

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2004/09/29/notes092904.DTL&nl=fix

> Also, the entire government is starting to be viewed
> as dishonest and corrupt.  What does it say when
> President Bush, who sets the tone for the entire
> Executive Branch, cleans his cabinet of those who
> pointed out his lies and rewarded those who repeated
> his lies?  What does it say when Congress passes law
> after law that is unconstitutional on its face, and
> when the courts say as much, Congress's response is to
> complain about judges "legislating from the bench" and
> entertain the notion of stripping the Judicial Branch
> of its powers?  Those who want truth and honesty start
> leaving government to those who would pursue even more
> corrupt policies.

Yes, so sad.  And we probably haven't plumbed the depths of this black hole 
yet.  Even Christopher Hitchens - who is an *Iraq war supporter*  (in a 
March 2003 Vanity Fair article) - presents what he calls "non-wacko" 
evidence that something was seriously wrong with the voting process in Ohio. 
Very disturbing stuff.

Olga