Seeing the forest through the thuggery... trees

From K9, about 2 months ago.
"i just saw "rise" and i loved it. great footage. matches up with the soundtrack very well. youre getting better. #7 is compelling evidence. and the shut up by networks -but look those are the very guys who would love to prove you right. why dont they? i dont think a gig this big can be contained. but i am going over to the site rise said to look at. i will at least take it in rev."

I meant to respond to this a long time ago, because it brings up some serious questions with obvious logical conclusions. You just have to unfocus your eyes sometimes to see the damn sailboat.

The shut up by the Networks... By itself it is unfathomable why the entire industry collectively known as the MSM would simply surrender their objectivity and curiosity and become nothing more than White House stenographers with editors (On an eerily connected point; I have followed more than enough stories in the past year, from beginning to end, to know for certain that the White House transcripts have multiple revision editors.). As Colbert defined it, Decider->Spokesman->Writers->Print. That is journalism. There is no investigation, question, analysis to be had anywhere in the Free Press. As a blogger I hear about the "threat" of misinformation that the Blogosphere inherently poses, but I still have not seen a single retraction from the NY Times for any of their "Front Page WMD Facts" articles written by Judith Miller during the lead up to our invasion of Iraq. Those have been proven to not only be complete misinformation, but also to be intentional piles of Bullshit. So how did a "Kill your Mother for a scoop" mercenary industry go from cutthroat to print rote? Hold that thought.

The Standdown of the Hill. Remember back when Congress was willing to stop all Congressional activity for weeks at a time just to hear about Blow Jobs, Personal Gifts and Cigar Tubes? Back in the day when they'd haul Rock Stars into their Clubhouse, then force the nervous stoners to explain every syllabic detail of their lyrics just on the off chance that Satan might have gotten a few props in reverse on some b side tracks? Hell, there were times when I watched C-Span just for laughs. They'd swear anyone they could then just grill em about stuff for days, hoping and waiting for some idiot to listen to his lawyers advice and plead the 5th. It was like hitting bingo in a bordello. They'd speechify the evils and virtues of shit that had nothing to do with Satan, dope, or rock n roll.
"Bing-the 5th!! Now I get to rant righteously!! I win! I win!"

There are two anomalous behavior changes that transpired in the wake of 9-11. One in the 4th Estate and one in the Legislative Branch. What do these two groups have in common? Well, their main hobbies are dishing dirt on the President and patting themselves on the back for it. Actually there is a third anomaly that had its genesis at the same time, but we didn't find out about it for a few years. The White House, whilst thoroughly taxed in personnel, resources and attention due to its zealous yet unsuccessful pursuit of anyone or anything in any way connected to 9-11, takes an unbelievable amount of its personnel, resources and attention and diverts them into data collection and phone tapping every NONSUSPECT in the country. This is done secretly and without even a shred of legality or legitimacy. Every single tap that is in any way, shape or form even remotely, speculatively connected to Al Qaida, Arabs, or anyone sporting a tan, was given instant warrant approval from the FISA Court. So why such an unprecedented effort to collect information and phone conversations of NONSUSPECTS at the direct expense of our ability to find things like... uh, maybe a 6'6" Mujahadeen leader with bad kidneys and a penchant for cave living? Come on... 2+2=?
Who do you think the first people under the NSA's microscope were? Members of Congress, maybe? Or Journalists and media owners? I'd put my money on Congress first, but you know the Media Boards weren't more than a day or two later. Sure this is speculative. Sure, Ad Hoc Im Prompter Hoc is a fallacy in debate, but in reality profiling is a government policy. Why else would Arlen Specter summon the AG before the Committee then at the last second make the whole affair moot by not swearing him in. Could extortion maybe be a possibility up for debate here? Can we at least look into it? Even if it's for no other reason than to rule it out? Wait did I say "look into it to rule it out"? Yeah, I did. When was the last time Congress did that? Oh yeah, back in the Pre 911 years. Anyone following me or am I way off on this one?