Nasty Little Man

Operation Misinform America, Part III

I just sent the letter below to Time magazine in response to this column by Joe Klein.

Editor,
Like much of the mainstream media, it seems that Joe Klein is partaking in Operation Deflect Attention with his column chastising Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for her "concern" over an NSA data-mining program. At a time when the Republicans are in great turmoil for committing far worse acts than Bill Clinton ever did, Klein and his media pals are sniffing for ways to go after the Democrats. This is a statement on the state of the media, which has been cowed into not criticizing the Republicans.

Klein called those who suggested impeachment "the wilder donkeys", but it was Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) who said that impeachment would be a logical consequence for a president who breaks the law. Klein states that those who stopped the Patriot Act renewal were "a stampede of Senate Democrats", but the worst portions of the Patriot Act are opposed by conservatives like David Keene of the American Conservative Union, former Congressman Bob Barr, Senator Larry Craig, and Senator John Sununu.

Klein has taken a page out of the Republican playbook: Misinform whenever possible.

The original draft included the point that Klein's column is about an NSA program but not the NSA program that everyone is talking about. By including reference to the NSA and a New York Times story, it misdirects the reader (at least, the less perceptive reader) into thinking that this is the same story that is making news.

posted by Kinder Gentler Little Man @ 10:47 PM