Framing the Issue: The Spin Goes On

One of the pitfalls of an administration that exists to spin, is that they are always framing an issue. This often comes in the form of a question – the recent one being, “Why is the media only reporting the bad news from Iraq, and not the good news?” So for the ensuing days the media is caught up in the parameters of the question, and the new balance revolves around the unreported good news.
That is a victory for Karl Rove and company, because half of the real question has disappeared without a trace. That part of the question is, “Are things in Iraq even worse than what we are seeing in the media?” I am certain the answer to that is yes. We haven't seen this war. Not really. How many hundreds of ugly little scenes are occurring out of view? How many sectarian killings, death squads, and other mayhem go on without our knowledge? I saw one account that said the defense ministry had advised Iraqis not to obey any police or security forces, unless they are accompanied by American forces. Nobody can be trusted.
If the American public saw what was really going on in Iraq, public opinion would change in a day. Instead we’re getting a highly censored, clean war-lite. Even our own returning dead are hidden from view. And what are we seeing? Plenty of smoking cars, and pools of blood, but no half-dead children calling for help. The reality of Iraq is 10,000 times worse than anything we see on our TVs. And the shameless bastards at the White House have the nerve to ask for better coverage, so we can get a fuller picture of what is going on.