{"article":{"id":267331,"heading":"Presstitute Pro-War Chorus","author":"Stephen Lendman","created":"2015-02-11 19:48:55","modified":"2015-02-11 19:48:55","last_modified":"Thu, 12 Feb 2015 02:48:55","article":"<p>Presstitute Pro-War Chorus <br><br> by Stephen Lendman <br><br> Presstitution in America is longstanding. The Brian Williams saga says less about him and more about a corrupted institution proliferating Big Lies on issues mattering most.  <br><br> Famed journalist George Seldes (1890 - 1995) railed against against \"prostitution of the press\" in the 1920s and 30s. <br><br> He called fourth estate presstitutes \"the most powerful force against the general welfare of the majority of the people.\" <br><br> When America goes to war or plans one, media scoundrels march in lockstep. MSM pseudo-journalists operate as \"shills, sellouts and media whores,\" says Gerald Celente. <br><br> Managed news misinformation, willful deception, and Big Lies substitute for hard truths and full disclosure on issues mattering most. <br><br> Aggressive wars are called liberating ones. Mass slaughter and destruction are called humanitarian intervention.  <br><br> Carving up continents for profit is called economic development. Turning workers into serfs is called jobs creation. <br><br> MSM reports substitute propaganda for honest journalism. Perhaps more than ever in reporting on Ukraine. It's hard stomaching how low MSM sunk. <br><br> Hard truths are systematically buried. News reports are little more than administration, congressional and Pentagon press release handouts. <br><br> Guests interviewed on television reflect a Noah's arc of scam artists. Reporting on Ukraine gives disinformation, deception and Big Lies new meaning. <br><br> A daily propaganda drumbeat heads inexorably toward open confrontation with Russia. What responsible government officials and legitimate journalists would go all out to avoid. <br><br> Instead they promote war. Mindless of enormous risks. Ignoring the possibility of life on earth ending nuclear confrontation. <br><br> Madness if launched. Daily headlines should denounce war. Promote peace. Explain Washington's full responsibility for Ukrainian crisis conditions.  <br><br> Russia's all-out efforts to resolve things diplomatically. Demand all US-led NATO military aid to Ukraine stop.  <br><br> Expose its illegitimate putschist regime run by neo-Nazi thugs. Praise Putin for acting responsibly. Denounce Obama and likeminded lunatics in Washington running things. <br><br> That's what a free press is all about. America's government\/corporate controlled version mocks the real thing.  <br><br> Reports like The New York Times headlining \"European Leaders Debate Aid to Ukraine, but Not Russia's Transgression\" turn truth on its head. <br><br> It discussed the myth of Washington only \"currently committed to provid(ing Kiev with) training and nonlethal equipment.\" <br><br> Mindless of US heavy weapons supplied throughout months of conflict. Washington directly involved in what's ongoing. Big Lies about \"Putin and his aggressive policies&hellip;\" <br><br> The New York Times sounds like Fox News. Fairness &amp; Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) once called its operation \"the most biased name in news.\" <br><br> All Western major media today share the dishonor. Especially on Ukraine reporting. In lockstep against truth. Supporting what demands denunciation. <br><br> Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthmmer makes most right-wing ideologues look almost tame by comparison. <br><br> On Fox News he repeated the Big Lie about \"Russian aggression.\" Absurdly claimed \"the one thing Putin worries about is the morale of a people losing soldiers, having to bury Russians in a war that his own propaganda says doesn't exist.\" <br><br> No one doubts war remains ongoing. Daily headlines scream it. Key is who bears responsibility. Who wants it continued. Who wants it resolved diplomatically. MSM explanations turn truth on it head. <br><br> Even so-called liberals like Professor Emeritus Stephen Cohen stop short of explaining Ukrainian crisis conditions accurately. <br><br> Days earlier, he said \"(a) political dispute in Ukraine became a Ukrainian civil war. Russia backed one side. The United States and NATO the other.\" <br><br> \"We're arming Kiev. Russians are arming the eastern fighters. (T)his has the potential to become a new Cuban missile-style confrontation with the risk of war.\"  <br><br> Cohen said nothing about last February's US-planned and implemented coup. Nothing about neo-Nazi thugs in Kiev running things. <br><br> Nothing about Obama using its military as a proxy force against Donbas freedom fighters and civilians against fascist rule. <br><br> Practically nothing about Washington supplying Kiev with heavy weapons throughout months of conflict. <br><br> Ukraine's conflict is far more serious than October 1962 Cuban missiles. Kennedy was president. He later admitted he had no intention of going to war. <br><br> Things got resolved quickly. Today they're escalating toward possible US-instigated nuclear confrontation. Cohen knows history and today's reality. Why he didn't explain he'll have to say. <br><br> Instead he accused Russia of arming rebels despite no evidence proving it. He claimed \"a dispute\" over which side escalated conflict. \"(W)e're in a fog of war,\" he said. <br><br> There's no \"dispute\" over who bears full responsibility for conflict. Load of evidence leaves no doubt whatever. The only \"fog\" are Big Lies suppressing hard truths. <br><br> Yet Cohen claims it's \"almost impossible\" to say \"who threw the first punch.\" Donbas rebels didn't initiate conflict. They're victims, not perpetrators. <br><br> They reject fascist rule. So should everyone. They're risking their lives fighting for freedom. They deserve universal praise. <br><br> Cohen claims he's not \"smart enough\" to know what drives US policy. It's been clear throughout the post-WW II period. <br><br> Especially post-9\/11. Waging permanent direct and proxy wars for unchallenged global dominance. Killing millions to achieve imperial aims. <br><br> Waging proxy war in Ukraine. Using it as a pretext to target Russia. Risking potential nuclear war on the process. <br><br> Instead of saying \"I don't know,\" Cohen should forthrightly denounce Washington's agenda heading toward possible armageddon. <br><br> Stopping this monster matters most. Humanity's survival hangs in the balance. Appalling one-sided MSM propaganda makes the unthinkable more possible. <br><br> Wall Street Journal deputy editorial page editor Bret Stephens lied claiming \"Russian officials (in Munich) did their best Gromyko impressions by denying there were any Russian troops in Ukraine.\" <br><br> Whenever accusers like Stephens are asked for proof, silence follows. There is none. Russia didn't invade Ukraine. Its forces aren't involved. <br><br> Stephens absurdly called Joe Biden's litany of Big Lies address in Munich \"probably the best speech of his long career.\" <br><br> He called Senator Lindsey Graham's (R. SC) war-mongering diatribe \"the most impressive performance of the conference.\" <br><br> Graham may enter the 2016 presidential sweepstakes, said Stephens. Whoever succeeds Obama, war will continue seamlessly.  <br><br> At risk is Washington targeting Russia. The possibility should scare everyone. <br><br> Hawkish editorials and commentaries persist daily. USA Today headlined \"Arm Ukraine to deter Putin.\" <br><br> Outrageously saying his \"nuclear arms and&hellip;czarist ambitions&hellip;poses the greatest threat, and it is becoming glaringly obvious that that the West's strategy of deterring (him) with economic sanctions is failing.\" <br><br> \"Left undeterred, (he'll) extend Russia's reach&hellip;He has already menaced Latvia and Estonia&hellip;\"  <br><br> USA editors have things upside down. Their prescription for extinguishing Ukraine's fire is throwing more fuel on it. <br><br> Bloomberg editors say \"Putin Can't Have the Last Laugh in Ukraine.\" They mocked Sergey Lavrov's forthright Munich Security Conference address. The most important one delivered. <br><br> They called his hard truths \"absurd&hellip;delusion(al)&hellip;warped.\" They urged a \"stronger commitment\" to do whatever it takes against Russia. Otherwise, \"Putin will get the last laugh.\" <br><br> The Chicago Tribune's editorial page sounds like Col. Robert McCormich's flag-pumping jingoism still controls things. <br><br> Headlining \"Stop stalling. Arm Ukraine,\" it ignored US-led NATO supplying heavy weapons throughout months of conflict. <br><br> Like other media scoundrels, it blamed rebels for US\/Kiev high crimes. It ludicrously claimed Putin \"seeks to recapture Soviet glory.\" <br><br> Calls illegitimate Kiev putschists \"democrat(s).\" Says \"(h)e'll stop meddling in Ukraine only when the cost exceeds his ability to pay.\" <br><br> \"Strength is a currency (he) respects. The West has to arm Ukraine to punch back.\" Tribune editors want more war than already. Maybe nothing short of WW III will satisfy them.\" <br><br> Similar commentaries repeat daily. Readers, listeners and viewers are systematically betrayed. Big Lies substitute for hard truths. <br><br> It matters most when things head perilously toward East\/West confrontation. Ukraine is a potential WW III-igniting flashpoint. <br><br> The gravest crisis since Hitler invaded Poland. Appalling one-sided MSM propaganda creates polar opposite truth groupthink.  <br><br> Big Lies repeated enough get most people to believe US\/Kiev naked aggression is self-defense. <br><br> America's MSM is a lying machine. An instrument of state propaganda. Spreading Big Lies. Suppressing hard truths.  <br><br> Supporting Kiev fascists waging war on their own people. Bashing Russia irresponsibly.  <br><br> Endorsing policies heading things recklessly toward possible global war. Risking humanity's demise. <br><br> Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at <a href=\"mailto:lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net\" rel=\"nofollow\">lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net<\/a>.  <br><br> His new book as editor and contributor is titled \"Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.\" <br><br> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.claritypress.com\/LendmanIII.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http:\/\/www.claritypress.com\/LendmanIII.html<\/a> <br><br> Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.  <br><br> Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. <br><br> It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs. <\/p>\n","contact":"lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net","link":"Syria","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"Ukraine","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2015\/02\/267331.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}