Overall the report was reasonably fair – and mildly better than I would have expected.
But it wasn’t perfect.
First of all, I find it “amazing” that you consistently found people who expoused positions who didn’t have any first hand knowledge on those positions. It’s a bit like how reporters always seem to find the one person who didn’t see the accident – “what happened?”
The one person who didn’t like Fox – but has seen Brave New Films work documenting the networks partisan agenda – didn’t know that Roger Ailes was a former staffer for Karl Rove under G.W.H. Bush and is now major player in the Giuliani Campaign – while simultaniously running Fox News?
And he didn’t remember the Chris Wallace ambush of Bill Clinton over the U.S.S. Cole – an attack whose perpetrators weren’t verified until after he’d left the Presidency? Funny that when Clinton did attack following the East Africa bombings when he did have some verified intelligence – he was accused of “wagging the dog” but did it anyway. As President you really should take the shot no matter what if you have reasonbly good data just as Barack has stated and Bush has himself has already TRIED (via Predator Drone) in Pakistan.
Why hasn’t Wallace ever asked Condoleeza Rice or Dick Cheney the same question “Why didn’t you do something about the Cole and Bin-Laden when you had the chance?” – even though he’s received 20,000 email requests to do so?
Have our Civil Rights been violated? Of course they have. Habeaus Corpus has been (at least partially) revoked. Domestic Spying without a Warrant is now rampant has been repeatedly abused. Torture, Use of coersed (sic) Testimony and Kidnapping are now part of U.S. Policy. We have literally become a rogue nation, ruled by fear and paranoia – not reason or the rule of law.
The real question is has any of that made us safer? And judging by the resurgence of Al Qaeda in Pakistan, while Musharraf establishes a Peace Treaty with the Taliban, while they announce a Merger with Al Qeada – I think not.
If you guys really want to “defeat terrorism”, never mind Iraq, why do you let Bush have a pass on that?
But here’s the money quote that you guys should really pay attention to and take to heart.
I wanted to see what this was all about, and I learne a lot of things – and I believe it with all my heart.
These people here are good people, it’s not like the way the media presents it that they’re “crazy” or whatever. We have to reach out so that we can understand each other, that’s the only way that these problems – y’know the problems that we’re facing. I’m trying to… the terrorist want us to be divided. I don’t want… I’m not here to divide people, I’m here to be open and try to pull people together because division is what the terrorists want.
The above was stated by Sgt Aguina the fervent surge supportor about the people you are currently vilifying at Kos. Try putting your own anger and finger pointing aside sometime and think about that.
Vyan
P.S. One of the people you interviewed (but apparently didn’t recognize) was Sam Seder of Air America and Kos was absolute correct about the New Center.
