compare and contrast your news source

so we've been exposed to the machinations of the CBS evening news guru, in his attempts to skew the news to meet his own preconceived notions of what is what. a story that by forgery only has ever had any demonstrable credence. but if you watch the evening news for your dose of reality, you are sadly under-informed and mis-informed.

i was thinking about that today. a lot of the folks that i talk to that are vehemently against the war in iraq, or even more simply against the current administration typically parrot the big mainstream media's message. i hear it constantly from the folks in question, and it's like they are not using their time to actually investigate what information there is out there.

take the war in iraq. doom and gloom. doom and gloom. that's all we ever hear. doom and gloom. but not if you talk to (or email, or read the blogs of) most service members in iraq. there will always be a couple that are incredibly negative. we even had some like that on my boat when i was in the navy. the iraqi interim prime minister spoke to congress today, and the message he has is far different than the one you hear on most tv stations, or in the big 5 news papers. (i know, fox news...go ahead, roll your eyes. it was the first link on a google, and i'm getting to where i'm believing more and more of fox's actual news reports than any other broadcast ones. they are proving to be much more clear with their information.) but if all you do is listen to the candidates and their messages on tv, you get no coverage of the president's remarks, and an almost non-stop barrage of doom and gloom kerry's remarks.
so what i'm really saying is that a lot of opinions out there may simply be generated from tainted news. basic mind control, if you will. (hoo-whee, them there conspiracy boys are gunna trot out the white jackets again nook)

here is an exercise in comparison and contrast. the AP did a story on the ex-cat stephens. in this news story, he is a put upon messenger for peace, a humble, god fearing charitable servant of his religion, cast out by the malicious big bad american government invoking draconian security methods to persecute poor old al-islam, or whatever he goes by now. here is that story, as presented in the san francisco chronicle. if that was the only source of news, well boo-hoo, america is freaking paranoid, and this whole patriot act/homeland security thing is totally out of control.

then: enter the internet, and blogs, and the links bloggers post. i found this site by reading a hit piece in a left winger readers forum that i happened to wander into the other day. i've since seen her stuff linked in other places, but until i read her, i guess i just ignored the links. they must be all over the place. she's on the most hated list along with michelle malkin. that alone should make her of interest. anyway, Debbie Schlussel has written an examination of ol' cat's history of the last 20 or so years, and it is enlightening.

so, what does it mean? it means there are many more facts than those most folks follow to get their information, and subsequently form their opinions from. (sorry, that was a convoluted sentence. i'll try better next time)

this is not a political rant. it's a current affairs/ get your head out of the sand rant. become informed. read both sides. kill your television, and leave those damned newspapers alone, except for the advert circulars. never know when office depot will put 50 CD packs on sale for $5.00 again otherwise.