{"id":354032,"date":"2018-03-27T04:36:02","date_gmt":"2018-03-27T03:36:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/why-are-progressives-cheering-cable-news-parade-of-hawks-and-liars\/"},"modified":"2018-03-27T04:36:02","modified_gmt":"2018-03-27T03:36:02","slug":"why-are-progressives-cheering-cable-news-parade-of-hawks-and-liars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/why-are-progressives-cheering-cable-news-parade-of-hawks-and-liars\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Are Progressives Cheering Cable News\u2019 Parade of Hawks and Liars?"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the \u201cWar on Terror\u201d was launched in 2001, mainstream media\u2014especially cable TV news\u2014started a parade. It was a narrow parade of hawkish retired military and intelligence brass promoting war as the response to the crime of 9\/11, predicting success and identifying foreign enemies to attack.<\/p>\n

We can look back at this parade and laugh at the total nonsense dispensed. But the more human response is to cry\u2014over the toll, still mounting, of hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths, from Afghanistan to Iraq and beyond, and violent instability across the region, including countries that were relatively stable and prosperous on September 10, 2001. (Not to mention militarization and loss of civil liberties at home.)<\/p>\n

\"NYT<\/p>\n

The New York Times<\/strong> (4\/20\/08<\/a>) exposed the practice of retired military pundits taking money from the arms makers whose weapons they tout.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

I witnessed the parade of disinformation from inside cable news, where I worked as an on-air contributor at Fox News<\/strong> and MSNBC<\/strong> at the beginning of the War on Terror. In fact, this parade eventually knocked me off the air<\/a>\u2014and out of my job<\/a> at MSNBC<\/strong>, three weeks before the US invasion of Iraq.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s now the 15th anniversary of the tragic invasion of Iraq. The huge mainstream media failure in the run-up to the invasion is taught in college journalism courses, including mine.<\/p>\n

Who can forget CNN<\/strong>\u2019s chief news executive boasting<\/a> that, before the Iraq invasion, he\u2019d sought prior approval and received \u201ca big thumbs up\u201d from the Pentagon on the ex-generals that CNN<\/strong> featured as allegedly independent analysts?<\/p>\n

Who can forget David Barstow\u2019s 2008 Pulitzer Prize\u2013winning expose for the New York Times<\/strong> (4\/20\/08<\/a>)\u2014based on 8,000 pages of internal Pentagon emails and transcripts\u2014showing that network TV\u2019s\u00a0 hawkish retired generals were not only being paid by big military contractors, but were being spoon-fed talking points and spin by the Pentagon, month after month as they paraded on TV?<\/p>\n

\"Chris<\/p>\n

MSNBC<\/strong>‘s Chris Hayes (3\/21\/18<\/a>) interviews Barry McCaffrey 15 years after the Iraq invasion–without bringing up the Iraq invasion.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Who can forget that NBC<\/strong>\/MSNBC<\/strong>\u2019s top military analyst, ex-Gen. Barry McCaffrey, relentlessly pushed for war<\/a> based on falsehoods\u2014like warning of \u201cthousands of gallons of mustard agents, sarin, nerve agent VX still in Iraq\u201d; offered continuously ridiculous punditry (like praising Defense Secretary Rumsfeld\u2019s advance planning of the Iraq occupation); and famously crowed<\/a> on MSNBC<\/strong>, \u201cThank God for the Abrams tank and the Bradley fighting vehicle\u201d\u2014without mentioning his role at military contractor IDT that made millions for doing God\u2019s work on the Abrams and Bradley?<\/p>\n

Who can forget all these things?<\/p>\n

MSNBC<\/strong>, apparently.<\/p>\n

I turned on the \u201cprogressive\u201d news channel a few nights ago to see Chris Hayes politely interviewing General McCaffrey. Did Hayes\u2014during the week marking the 15th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq\u2014press McCaffrey on his role in that disaster? Perhaps demand an explanation or an apology? No. The topic was Trump\u2019s weird attraction to Putin. That\u2019s a worthy topic. But Barry McCaffrey as expert and arbiter! Still?<\/p>\n

Just as they did in the lead-up to the Iraq invasion, MSNBC<\/strong> and CNN<\/strong> now serve up a steady parade of war-hawks, spies and liars, presenting them as credible and almost heroic as long as they criticize the despicable man in the White House.<\/p>\n

\"Anderson<\/p>\n

CNN<\/strong>‘s Anderson Cooper (3\/21\/18<\/a>)\u00a0 interviews perjurer James Clapper about the Trump administration’s dishonesty.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

I\u2019d turned to MSNBC<\/strong> that night after disgustedly turning off Anderson Cooper softly interviewing a CNN<\/strong> contributor who seems to appear every hour: ex-National Intelligence Director James Clapper. You remember Clapper? Five years ago this month, Clapper infamously perjured<\/a> himself before the US Senate by denying NSA bulk surveillance. His perjury<\/a> is not a topic that CNN<\/strong> asks Clapper about\u2014while he discusses the lack of ethics and honesty in Team Trump.<\/p>\n

When it comes to Trump critics, CNN<\/strong> and MSNBC<\/strong> regularly serve up a basket of elite deplorables from the military\/intelligence establishment\u2014for example, the appalling<\/a> ex-CIA Director John Brennan and horrific<\/a> former acting CIA Director John McLaughlin. The hollowness of their Trump critique on \u201cliberal cable news\u201d was on display last week when both men endorsed Trump\u2019s choice for CIA chief, torture-overseer Gina Haspel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m worried about anti-Trump activists, even some quite progressive, who\u2019ve come to see corporate news channels like CNN<\/strong> and MSNBC<\/strong> as their saviors. It\u2019s a dangerous illusion.<\/p>\n

A few points to consider:<\/p>\n