One major reason why the main-stream-media has been sub par for the past 6 years

The title of this post refers to this NYTimes article discussing how “independent” military analysts for the big news stations (NBC, CBS, ABC, etc.) are all in cahoots with the administration.  Even though the article spans a massive 11 pages,  it hammers home the point that these analysts have propagated the administration’s message across TV stations.  For free?  No, hardly.  These analysts also serve as CEO’s and lead consultants for defense contracting and lobbying firms, and by aiding in the dissemination of information for the executive branch, they are able to reel in the profits.

To me, this is outrageous and appalling if a branch of the American government is allowed to blatantly manipulate information in the aid of their oh-so-unpopular war.  But more telling is how the news channels didn’t bother to run rigorous background checks on their military analysts to check for conflicts of interest.

I don’t have cable, but I’m willing to bet that this story wasn’t covered on any news channel….

No one likes a smirker

The only reason I’m comfortable in front of a crowd today is due to forensics - no, not the CSI kind, but the art of speech. And one key success factor in forensics is an acute awareness of body position and outward appearance.

It’s no secret that Bush is an inept public speaker. But Bob Cesca suggests that it isn’t all a matter of words:

His uncomfortably ridiculous smirks and smiles illustrate his inadequacies as a leader: his fugacious attitude; his vacant stature; and, most strikingly, his apparent inability to grasp the reality of his decisions. It’s all right there on the screen — underlined by those tiny baby teeth.

See Bob’s analysis of the Most Inappropriate Bush War Smirk of 2007 here.

Image credit: The Huffington Post