So?!

That one word adequately reflects the cynical hubris of this criminal administration regarding the massive dissent to their disastrous policies. You can count on a Clinton of McCain adminstration to continue that attitude along with the worst aspects of an extreme right corporate dictatorship whereas, there is room for hope that an Obama administration might be different. On this fifth anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Iraq, corporate media are doing their best to promote the misbegotten mantra of "success" in Iraq along with the glorification of "Heroes" lost in this ignoble venture. In response, I sent the following letter to my local rag:

No matter how you spin it, the war was sold on lies and the promulgation of known
misinformation. There was never any connection between Iraq and al qaeda nor any
WMDs. Many of us knew it and many knowledgeable people like Hans Blix and Scott Ritter pointed this out but the administration played on the opportunism of Democratic leaders by falsely portraying Iraq as a dire threat while linking a policy of aggression to "patriotism" and demanding action on short notice. Lying to Congress
is a crime. Fomenting war based on known misinformation is the ultimate crime and has cost well over a million lives. Had the press done it's job we wouldn't be in this situation today and many lives would not be ended or in ruin. Instead, dissent was suppressed and administration lies were parroted. The Pilot still wrongly refers to the occupation of Iraq as "the war on terror." The complicity of the press in aiding and abetting the crimes of this administration is a crime as well.

Unfortunately that pattern continues.We see no coverage of the "Winter Soldier" hearings in which Iraq vets describe the reality if their experience and no coverage
of the large and well supported local anti-war rallies marking this sad anniversary.
Instead only the reverential memorial to "heroes" whose lives have been squandered in this neocon debacle.

We who have objected to this illegal and unjustified aggression from the beginning
also mourn the many lives wasted. Had the press listened to what we were saying then, many of these soldiers would not be gracing the pages of a memorial spread.
Would that the press begin to cover the realities and, like the majority of citizens,
demand an end to this tragedy and the application of the rule of law in holding
our leaders accountable for their crimes, maybe there wouldn't be a new batch
of missed faces in the paper next year.

and this is what they printed:

No matter how you spin it, the Iraq war was sold on lies and misinformation. Had the press done its job, we wouldn't be in this situation today and many lives would not be ended or in ruin.

The Pilot still wrongly refers to the occupation of Iraq as 'the war on terror.' The complicity of the press in aiding and abetting the crimes of this administration is a crime as well.

Unfortunately, that pattern continues. We see no coverage of the large and well-supported local anti-war rallies marking this sad anniversary. Instead, we see only the reverential memorial to heroes whose lives have been squandered in this neocon debacle.

My point being that the cynicism, hubris, and criminality of this administration would not be effective or even practicable without the vital abetting of the corporate press. While they are glad to print an extremely edited version of my letter to show how "fair and balanced" they are, their edition along with the quality of news presented shows just the opposite. What they failed to report adminst the supplementary pages lauding a failed war and it's dead "heroes" was any of the local actions against the war taking place which were received with overwhelming support in this conservative military town.