The Truth Uncovered 

The Truth Uncovered

I just (finally) finished watching "Uncovered: the Whole Truth About the Iraq War," the documentary sponsored by moveon and The Center for American Progress about the march to war in Iraq. I have a number of thoughts about this film, few of them good. It is a sobering production, well-produced and documented, exposing the machinations and chicanery of those in the Bush administration and their allies outside who manipulated a gullible media, Congress, and American public into following them into war. I would hope that anybody who has placed their faith in this government who sees this film would at least begin to question that faith, would at least begin a journey of discovery that would lead them to investigate the claims made in this film. My greatest concern is that few such people will ever see this film; I believe that the vast majority who have seen or will see it are, like me, already believers. The challenge has been, since drumbeat of war picked up its pace in the fall of 2002, and remains today, to find a way to get at least a significant minority of Americans who supported the war, or at least were not opposed to it, to stare at the truth without blinking. To see Bush, Chaney, Rice, Wolfowitz, Powell, and the rest for the mendacious unprincipled prophets of a false new world order that they are. Sadly, I don't have an answer.

The other thing that struck me while watching this film was that if we truly were afflicted by a "Liberal Media" a film like this would not have to be produced and distributed by alternative sources. We would be seeing it on "60 Minutes" and "20/20." As it is, the mainstream media not only don't produce or show programs like this, they don't even cover the existence of this particular program. And although that no longer surprises me, it still maddens me. We in this country have more constitutionally guaranteed press freedom than any nation on earth, and yet the major news outlets, who could and should take advantage of that freedom, are run as business, with their eyes on the bottom line, and minimal, at best, commitment to the business of watching and reporting on the government, big business, and others who wield power. Those who own and run the major media companies are part of that club and know better than to rock the boat. The star newspaper and magazine writers and television and radio newsreaders are given enough access to that world that, starstruck, they believe they too belong and don't want to jeopardize their "access." And most people lack the time or the inclination to look beyond what they are fed by George and William and Maureen in the press and by Dan, Tom, and Peter on TV.

What a waste.