The changes that have occurred at CNN in just the past few months is alarming. We all know that Faux News, The Republican Leaning Channel, has constantly bent, spun, and distorted the truth since Bush came into power; ABC wasn’t much better, but CNN used to be the one channel where an individual could actually find some news minus all of the government spin and propaganda. Then they hired Glenn Beck, a right-wing Rethuglican who is attempting to catch-up with the likes of Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, and the crowd at Faux News, headquarters for fascist USA’s propaganda system.

This evening, I glanced at CNN’s Political Ticker and read an article in regard Mitt Romney and his unbridled disgust that Vladimir Putin had been chosen as Time Magazine’s Man of the Year. Reading the article and knowing what’s happening to our own country was what was really disgusting, especially these quotes by Mitt Romney and John McCain that CNN doesn’t discuss or offer commentary to the otherwise:

Romney: Man of Year choice ‘disgusting’

Excerpts:

“You know, he imprisoned his political opponents. There have been a number of highly suspicious murders,” Romney said on Beck’s radio show. “He has squelched public dissent and free press.” And to suggest that someone like that is the Man of the Year is really disgusting. I’m just appalled.”

“Clearly General Petraeus is the person, or one of a few people, who would certainly merit that designation,” the former Massachusetts governor added.

“I noticed that Time Magazine made President Putin the Time Magazine ‘Man of the Year,’” McCain said, according to NBC. “I understand that probably, but my man of the year is one Gen. David Petraeus, our general who has brought success in Iraq.” (Items in green are those I added emphasis to.) MORE

If only Vladimir Putin was the only one one that “squelched public dissent and free press” we would be OK, but anyone that gets their news from the Internet knows that George W. Bush has done the same thing, yet Romney criticizes Putin on the matter and doesn’t say a word about our own cowardly press, or the many times that peaceful protesters have been arrested, and others added to a “terrorist watch list” just because they disagreed with the government. You will also note that CNN also remains silent wile Romney makes quips that equally apply to the United States.

To add insult to injury, John McCain goes on to say that General Petraeus should be man of the year because he “brought success in Iraq.” Oh, so Iraq in now a “success”; by what parameters does Mitt Romney or John McCain decide that our mission in Iraq has been successful? According to icasualties.org, fourteen (14) U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq so far this month – and it isn’t over yet. How many U.S. lives per month add-up to a “success in Iraq?”

What about Basra? Based on what I’ve read, Basra is no more of a success than anywhere else, except US troops aren’t there, and now the British are also gone. This is an excerpt from Time Magazine online:

What the British Left Behind in Basra

SIIC and the Sadrists are major players in the national government, and earlier this month a senior U.S. official laid the blame for the “mess” in Basra at their feet. “This government, the Shi’a parties, have failed to act responsibly,” the official told reporters. And while he pointed to signs that the various factions were trying to bring the situation under control — borne out to some extent by a recent announcement of a truce in the city — it is unlikely that those factions are ready to lay down their arms and cooperate. Basra Province contains the lion’s share of Iraq’s oil and its only port. It’s a tempting prize for groups that have shown more enthusiasm for fighting than for compromise.

So Basra will continue to be a high-stakes front in the intra-Shi’a fight for control of southern Iraq. That fight has largely escaped the notice of Americans — both because U.S. troops are not on the front lines and because the violence has not reached the appalling levels seen in other parts of the country.

But the violence in southern Iraq gives the lie to the idea that simply relinquishing control of a province constitutes progress. The local governments and security forces in these provinces do not represent some ideal of unified Iraqi control so much as they represent control by one faction or another. Assassinations of provincial governors and battles involving the Iraqi police are manifestations of militia violence, not evidence that the Iraqi government is facing down terrorists or militants. MUCH MORE

Iraqis are still dying from the sectarian violence LINK and the Turkish Army just finished an incursion into Northern Iraq, preceded with air trikes and artillery bombardments that have killed civilians, including women and children, in their attempts to quell the Kurdish rebellion and cross-border attacks from Iraq:

The Kurdish regional government has condemned the incursion.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Iraq for a surprise visit as news of the incursion was breaking.

However, she was snubbed by Kurdish officials who are angry that the US is backing Turkey’s use of force. MORE

The House of Representatives issued a report in regard S 1959 because of the uproar caused by people on the Internet, yet I still haven’t seen a word about it on the MSM; has anyone else? Is there still a press blackout in regard S 1959 – and if so, I still haven’t heard a legitimate reason from anyone – except that the Bush administration and a complicit MSM are attempting to keep this odious Bill from becoming public knowledge on a national basis, other than the Internet – which this Bill is custom-made to silence all of us that commit “Thought Crimes.”

After reading just six paragraphs of CNN’s News Ticker, I’ve completely given-up on the MSM, although it is interesting to see that the Republicans now believe Iraq is a success… I’m guessing the parents of those that continue to witness their sons and daughters paying the ultimate price for an illegal war might think otherwise – and so do millions of other Americans, the ones that CNN, ABC, and Fox News forget when they speak of winning and success; on the other hand, executives from Halliburton, KBR and the oil industry believe it is a success, but their idea of a success is profit – and there’s no doubt the killing fields of Iraq are profitable for corporate America.

William Cormier

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