skippy the bush kangaroo

Saturday, July 02, 2005

what usatoady needs is an edward r. murrow

we were pleased to see usatoady publisher al neuharth (not the psychologist on tv) write an editorial that ends with the words:

that's why i'm convinced the best way to support our troops in iraq is to bring them home. sooner rather than later.

but we're a bit perplexed at how al arrived at that conclusion:

the most important similarity between iraq and vietnam is that both democratic and republican presidents lied to us in wartime. to refresh your memory, here's how we got out of the vietnam quagmire:

walter cronkite, cbs-tv news anchor known as "the most trusted man in america," after a combat tour of vietnam in 1968 declared, "there is no way this war can be justified any longer."
johnson lamented to aides, "if i've lost cronkite, i've lost middle america." he announced he would not run for re-election.

the crucial difference between vietnam and iraq is that there is no cronkite to call bush's bluff. without a strong, trusted, non-political voice, too many of us remain bush-blinded. bush tried keeping the wool over our eyes again tuesday on national tv by repeatedly tying iraq to 9/11. that charge is as phony as his discredited prewar claim that saddam hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

gee, al, it's too bad you didn't know anybody who ran a national newspaper in the past few months!!!!

it's really too bad you had no way of getting news about the downing street memos out to the american public, so they would know awol lied to this country to get us into the war.

those are some mighty big crocadile tears, al, considering usatoady only had 4 articles about the dsm, and all in june, a full month after they were leaked to the times of london.

al, bubbi, listen to us...in this age of brittney and paris, if there's anybody who even comes remotely close to walter cronkite...and we're not saying there was, but if there was...it's you!!!

everyone reads your stupid rag! everyone! hotels give it away free to their guests! kids love the colorful yet meaningless pie charts! and who doesn't eat up the "news by state" section? (we always check colorado!)

al, you da man! plaster this dsm and rove/plame stuff all over that fish wrap of yours! you've got the power, kiddo!

run stories every day on the front page! analyze the hell out of this crap from every angle: what did condi know, what did rummy know, what font does matt cooper use in his emails, does rove have problems with "leaks" in other parts of his life (if you know what we mean)...

come on, buddy, you're the closest thing to a newspaper that there is in the 21st century!

if you think we need a walter cronkite, it's up to you to make sure there is one!

don't dream it...be it!

posted by skippy at 10:35 PM |