I have noticed the trend you are talking about, but I see it in slightly different terms.
I believe that US politicians are reasonably competent at their jobs. Politics is their one and only skill, and most of them have been training for it for their whole lives. The media, as well, I trust are fairly good at what they do. That is to manipulate people, emotionally, to feel as deeply about a story as possible. Used to be just for the sake of "truth", now as often as not to fill seats and sell corn nuts and beer. With that in mind, neither the US politicians not media are going to change the direction of the public (both domestic and abroad) in a matter of days. They can't really "tell" anyone what to do. They play, instead, a form of emotional Aikido. They tend to buck a trend only so long, then give in to that trend, follow it for a bit, get in the lead, and then steer the crowd in their new direction. Much like a couple of cowboys getting out front of a cattle stampede and circling the herd. The problems arise when more than one cowboy is out front and steering in different directions (Republicans and Democrats, US Govt and Media, cats and dogs, US and Israel.) Or when one side breaks the rules and deliberately scuttles the other side by calling attention to the tactic. So when I see the US press and govt suddenly shifting course and "swapping sides", I see a deliberate move to go with the flow until such time as they can redirect the anger and momentum back in a direction they want. Just my 2 cents. Jerry Johnson >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 04/08/02 10:45AM >>> When it comes to the ongoing of Israel and Palestine, I don't know all of the ins and outs of what all is going on over there. I read these posts with great interest to learn more about it, which I have. I have my opinions about what's going on over there, but I watched quite a bit of coverage on this over the weekend and it seems to me that the media and the administration is taking a more sympathetic tone with Arafat and the Palestinians and a harder line against Sharon and Israel. Even listening to the radio in to work this morning, the reports were predominantly focused on the actions of Israel and the activity of the military and were pretty pejorative in their tone. In other words, the reporting hasn't seemed to be very fair. I'm skeptical of the media to begin with. I think it's run by people with agendas and this seems to be fitting that. Has anyone gotten that same sense that I have about the coverage of this recently? It just seems that the actions by the Israelis is being magnified relative to the actions taken by the Palestinians and the suicide bombers. Michael Corrigan Programmer Endora Digital Solutions 1900 Highland Avenue, Suite 200 Lombard, IL 60148 630-627-5055 ext.-136 630/627-5255 Fax ----- Original Message ----- From: Nick McClure To: CF-Community Sent: Monday, April 08, 2002 9:36 AM Subject: RE: Bush's Mid East Policy Everyone knew Israel wouldn't stop the offensive. I am sure that there is some plan going on up there. You think his advisors would let him make that demand without having a plan? There is something going on up there that we don't know about. I don't know if it is the best solution, but there is a plan that is unfolding. At 09:26 AM 4/8/2002 -0500, you wrote: >Bush's demands of Israel was a no win situation. If Sharon had did what >Bush demanded he would have looked like a puppet of the United States. ______________________________________________________________________ Signup for the Fusion Authority news alert and keep up with the latest news in ColdFusion and related topics. http://www.fusionauthority.com/signup.cfm Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists
