Recently the media and liberals have gone from “What did Bush know and when did he know it?” to “That nasty rascal is ‘spying on U.S. citizens’ trying to prevent another 9/11.” They seem to be saying, “Stop him! He might be successful and claim credit for it. If that happens more Republicans might be elected. That would be terrible! He must be stopped even if it means we help those who would destroy western civilization.”

When debating whether to authorize the Iraq war, Senate Democrats insisted that Central Intelligence Agency director George Tenet provide them with the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. When questioned about it, Senators Kerry, Clinton, Schumer and House minority leader Reid admitted they never read the report. Now they have the gall to accuse Bush of misleading or not informing them. On the “Fox News Sunday” program of Nov. 15, 2005, Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) told Chris Wallace, “There were only six people in the senate who did (read the NIE), I was one of them.”

They were misled? How can something you never bothered to read mislead you? Speaking of misleading, isn’t it misleading when the icons of the media lead the public right around in the same verbal circle over the same lies they told the day before, and the day before that, ad infinitum? The old trick of repeating a lie until it is believed has worked. Bush’s approval rating was at a historic low.

Joe Wilson said he was sent to Niger by Dick Cheney to check on Saddam’s reported attempt to buy yellow cake uranium; instead, he was sent by his wife. This was a lie, as were some of his follow up statements, but through weeks of repeating his side of the viewpoint he is made to sound heroic and the administration is made to seem dishonest for not agreeing with him. How could anyone imagine there is bias in our main stream press? These people claim the administration “outed” a CIA agent to ‘get even’ with her husband. Meanwhile, they are actually the ones trying to out, or sabotage, CIA operations worldwide when they broadcast where and when our CIA planes land and make unproven accusations about our so-called secret bases where, they say, the U.S. tortures prisoners.

Beat over the headEvery day we are beat over the head with the numbers of the dead from this war. Of course every death is important, but no effort is made to put things in perspective. Who knows – the same people might have been killed if they had been in the U.S. For example, the total dead from this war so far is about two-thirds of the number killed in one month of an average year on the nation’s highways and yet there is no outcry in the media or from the public to cause manufacturers to build a safe auto instead of just installing more restraints and air bags.

Regularly, articles and letters say the U.S. does not treat its prisoners according to the Geneva Convention. Perhaps I missed it – when did Osama, his followers or their representatives ever sign the Geneva convention, or even obliquely treat anyone in accordance with such an agreement?

Another favorite report is that civilians were reported to have been killed in an American attack. Imagine that. We are fighting an army of people who wear no uniform, whose ranks are comprised of both men and women, with a few children thrown in to hide behind, and they “appear to be civilians.” How dare our people attack them, even if they appear threatening? Why don’t they just wait until these “civilians” fire upon them or send a suicide bomber in among them? They then will be listed among tomorrow’s casualties, and the anti-Bush brigade can happily bang the public in the head with more numbers. Casualty numbers are a big favorite with these folks. If a few days pass without an American casualty the previous numbers are repeated again and again until new casualties are reported. This way they can make it seem to the American public that we are losing more than 2,000 troops every day.

Next is the daily reference to Haliburton, or Bush’s so-called cronies in the oil business. Of course we know that Jay Rockefeller and others in the Democratic party have no connection to big oil – the names Rockefeller and Standard Oil were synonymous for years. Until the media can show that there is a company qualified to do what Haliburton does, to whom we could give the bids, it would be in the interest of truth to have them lay off of the Haliburton innuendo. It is my understanding that the only other company that is even close to being qualified is French and I doubt the American public would be thrilled to have the contracts given to them. After all, aren’t the liberals supposed to be against outsourcing? On the other hand, how can China send campaign money to people like Clinton and Gore if they don’t have those outsourced jobs in China?

Parroting the party lineIn their monthly repeat of Democratic Party talking points, our dismal approval rating among other nations is lamented. The rest of the world has heard our propaganda ministers, aka the news media, blame the U.S. over and over for everything wrong with the world from the destruction of the dinosaurs up to and including global warming, so I wonder why anyone would think ill of us? Quite a mystery isn’t it?

Regardless of who was president, the media has trashed the U.S. to the rest of the world for years and now blame George Bush for our nation’s disapproval rating. They have called Bush a liar and published forged reports blackening his name. With press agents such as these, I wonder, why aren’t we, and our president, loved and trusted universally? They claim to want us to work for diplomatic solutions where possible and yet they besmirch both our country and our leadership in such a way as to make others mistrust us. Successful diplomacy requires a certain amount of trust between the parties involved so diplomacy with the kind of help given by what passes for Democrats these days, and the press, ranges somewhere between difficult and impossible.

Editor’s Note – Gary Poole is a resident of Wallowa. If you have an idea for a Community Commentary, contact the editor at 426-4567 or via e-mail at

(editor@wallowa.com) for information on how to get started. No unsolicited manuscripts, please.