Thursday, October 06, 2005

Compare and Contrast

Listen to this hour long interview on Democracy Now! with former Capt. James Yee, chaplain in the U.S. Army, who was falsely accused of being a terrorist and collaborating with the enemy. It includes excerpts from Yee's book, For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire.

And then compare that interview with this one on NPR's "flagship" program, All Thing Considered. Notice how much shorter it is, and how Michele Norris focusses on motivations for Mr. Yee's book, without once ever broadcasting a question or an answer which might give him reason to be angry, or even vengeful. Ask yourself if you are hearing an interview with the same person, on the same subject. Ask yourself if you think Ms. Norris even read Capt. Yee's book? Notice that even the excerpt from the book on NPR's website stops short of the use of sensory deprivation equipment which Capt. Yee told Juan Gonzalez was used on prisoners brought from Afghanistan, and which were also used on him, making him fear for his life. Did Ms. Norris find nothing of interest in Capt. Yee's book about the condition of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay?

When I first heard the interview with Juan Gonzalez, Mr. Gonzalez was reading from Capt. Yee's book. Until I knew what he was reading, I refused to believe he was discussing the condition of prisoners being held by the U.S. government, even though I was sure that was what he was describing.

Seldom does one get the chance to see so much mendacity in action. NPR should be ashamed to call itself a "news organization." Obviously that term has no meaning, when they would rather be a soft propaganda arm for the Pentagon and this Administration.

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