The Media War

James Pinkerton, writing at Tech Central Station, examines how an ethically agnostic and anti-American news media assist the enemies of civilization. An excerpt:

But wait, there's more! Now we see that the mediafield just got deadlier. We might have thought that the principal source of enemy propaganda came from the Middle East, but now we learn that a new and noxious spigot has opened up in our back yard, in Great Britain. If you believe that the Great Satan of the current mediafield is George W. Bush, then you're going to love a new made-for-TV movie, "Death of a President", which premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival this Sunday, the day before the fifth anniversary of 9-11. No doubt there will be some cheers, or at least smiles, in the audience as a CGI-ed President Bush is shot and killed.

For the record, Peter Dale, chief of the UK's More4 TV, denies that his film is advocating any such thing, or even that he is putting assassinationist thoughts into the international meme-stream. As he puts it, the film "raises questions about the effects of American foreign policy, and particularly the war on terror." That is, Dale would have us believe that he is just asking innocent questions -- you know, as Rush Limbaugh might ask aloud about the killing of, say, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Just asking!

Dale's obvious false-frontery led Alex Massie, writing in The Scotsman, to observe: "I think we know what those 'questions' are: would America have brought this upon itself? Isn't a bully with a bloody nose still a bully? Wouldn't the killing be justified or, failing that, wouldn't it be understandable?" Massie puts his finger on it: "Death of a President" is, at minimum, an indictment, and, at maximum, an enticement: C'mon, somebody, be a hero for the anti-American team. Hurry up and rid us of this troublesome president.