Quran Burning Story: This Is How The Media Embarrass Themselves

This week, the media has been giving credibility to a loon and his loony ideas. The Quran burning story was not simply reported once, but over and over, every hour on the hour, from every possible angle and with an endless procession of talking heads. This is why I have been watching the Weather Channel for the last few days.

However, this isn't the first time this has happened. In fact, it's the story of the last year. The screechy right shouts ("Obama's health care plan is going to bankrupt America, kill grandma..." etc.) and the media obediently turns it into a legitimate story, no matter how incredible it is. And now, when we need another stimulus, America is convinced that it is going bankrupt, thanks to the hysterical screeching magnified by the media.

The media has dropped the ball and lost all credibility. Only when we vote with our remote controls will they change. The media wouldn't cover this Qur'an burning idiocy if TV-viewing America didn't turn up their TV volume when it comes on the news. Turn it off, I say, and send a message to the media that their nonsense is truly nonsensical. We won't put up with it any more.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Hate to Say 'I Told You So"

The Economist reports:

"Over seven years after the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, America's direct military involvement is now coming to an end. President Barack Obama will set out his new policy in a speech from the Oval Office on Monday August 31st. American public opinion on the war has changed enormously during that time. When George Bush prematurely declared an end to major combat operations in May 2003 most Americans were behind the war, with only a quarter saying it was a mistake according to Gallup polling data. But the public's mood turned when allegations of torture by US soldiers came to light in early 2004. The bloody terror campaign by Sunni militia groups, which began in earnest in 2006 and killed Iraqis by the thousands and American troops by the hundreds, also had a profound effect on opinion."

And, I might add, not finding WMD, the major premise for the invasion, was a bit of a problem for public opinion.

See that lower left-hand corner of the chart, where some 20 percent or so of the population thought invading Iraq was a mistake? That was me. And a small minority of others who were mercilessly ridiculed as anti-American or dangerously naive about Saddam's intentions. Particularly in this case, after more than four thousand American deaths, countless thousands of Iraqis dead, it gives me no pleasure to say "I told you so."

US public opinion on Iraq: Big mistake | The Economist