Media Didn’t Do It’s Job
May 29th, 2008
Anyone surprised by this must have been born after about 2005. Before August 28, 2005, just about the only place you could find actual criticism of the White House was on late night cable and (ahem) the comics page.
The run up to the war is a great illustration of the power of a good public relations strategy. The White House and their allies did a good job of intimidating opponents by casting anyone who doubted their approach as unpatriotic. They pressed this attack relentlessly from every angle and represented the culmination of years of work to gain control over what is reported.
We can blame the media but the public played its role by falling in line and showed little interest in asking questions. Too much fear, too little rationality.