-Caveat Lector-

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0212/S00004.htm

Jason Leopold: Wag the Bush
Monday, 2 December 2002, 11:39 am
Column: Jason Leopold

Wag the Bush

By Jason Leopold

What if this whole squabble with Iraq is just an attempt by President Bush to cover up 
a
White House sex scandal? What if the President was caught getting it on with a girl 
scout in
the Oval Office and was about to be exposed so he cooks up a phony war to divert the
media away from the real story.

That’s the plot line in the 1997 movie Wag the Dog, a satire on media manipulation.

But based on the way the media has covered the President and Iraq as of late the story
doesn’t seem that far-fetched. In reality it appears that our trusted unbiased news
organizations are in on the scheme.

Since September 11, the media has tiptoed around the President and has refused to
second-guess Bush on the economy, his own business acumen or the war on terror
because that would be unpatriotic.

Sure, there have been a few stories written about those issues. A couple of reporters 
have
challenged Bush, only to be publicly discredited by the President’s cronies, and that’s
enough to put the fear of God into the rest of the journalism community.

Unfortunately, there are no Bob Woodward’s or Carl Bernstein’s in modern day journalism
because most reporters don’t have the balls to ask tough questions. Like the old saying
goes, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

So, in a time when the public is bombarded with information, be it through the 
Internet and
traditional outlets such as newspapers, magazines and television, we're stuck with
propaganda from so-called credible news organizations like The New York Times, The
Washington Post, CNN and Fox.

How can any person with a brain trust that the coverage from Fox is fair and balanced
when Roger Ailes, Fox News Channel’s chairman, is giving President Bush political 
advice?
CNN and The NY Times downplay the anti-war movement and our last bastion of hope, Bob
Woodward, the man who brought down former President Richard Nixon, just published a
book about Bush that says absolutely nothing important. (Woodward did, however, 
disclose
the Ailes/Bush correspondence.)

When op-ed columnists and bloggers are spilling more ink on the underhanded tactics of
the Bush administration than the reporters on the Hill assigned to the beat, you know 
that
the state of journalism is in trouble.

What we know about Bush since he was sworn into office is that he operates under a 
veil of
secrecy. Journalists don't even attempt to dig for answers to lingering questions 
about the
President's relationship with big business, particularly Enron, his alleged insider 
trading into
Harken Energy and most importantly what he knew about the September 11 terrorist
attacks and when he knew it.

Rest assured, the American people won't find out about the latter now that Henry 
Kissinger
is heading the inquiry. That's like asking Ken Lay to head a task force investigating 
the
California energy crisis.

And so it seems likely that in a few weeks, the sequel to Wag the Dog, "Wag the Bush: 
War
with Iraq", produced by Roger Ailes, will air on your local Fox News Channel. Just in 
time
for the holidays.

******************

- Jason Leopold is an investigative journalist based in California, he is currently 
finishing a
book on the California energy crisis. He can be contacted at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
This story is available for republication, please contact the author by email.



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