Friday, December 26, 2003

Six simple rules…   During the 2000 election, many journalists deluded themselves and their audience into believing that there weren't many policy differences between the major candidates, and focused on personalities (or, rather, perceptions of personalities) instead. This time there can be no illusions: President Bush has turned this country sharply to the right, and this election will determine whether the right's takeover is complete.   But will the coverage of the election reflect its seriousness? Toward that end, I hereby propose some rules for 2004 political reporting.   [Read the six rules here: be prepared to laugh… or cry.]   I don't really expect my journalistic colleagues to follow these rules. No doubt I myself, in moments of weakness, will break one or more of them. But history will not forgive us if we allow laziness and personal pettiness to shape this crucial election. 11:39:27 AM

Happy Holidays   Got a great gift from my wife for the holidays yesterday: The Sorrow and the Pity.   I had seen it before in a theater (and it is true, it is so gripping and riveting that at four hours it seemed far shorter than many a two hour “romantic comedy”) but seeing it again given the state of current politics (when the legacy of FDR is trashed as “treason” and those who had expressed open admiration for Hitler’s ability to manipulate the masses are fawned over by the press) made it all the more moving.   This is one of the 10 best films ever and quite possibly the best film ever made about politics and its impact on ordinary individuals, in this case during World War II. And unlike so many films that depart from the epic mythos of that war, this one is not depressing; indeed at times it is quite funny and charming, because it is about the people who survived that era, in all their complexity and various moods, and not simply about “politics” per se.   One of the key reasons the film is so good is the amazing way in which the story is told: everyone, and I mean everyone, tells their own story in their own words, including the use of propagandistic “news” reels of the period. There is no “filter,” no editorial overlay other than the asking of the questions and the juxtaposition of the stories that are told. So in some cases the viewer only slowly becomes aware of the sympathies of the individuals being interviewed.   Neither does the interviewer engage in the “gotcha” journalism that is so prevalent now that we mistake it for real journalism: asking either unfair or offensive questions merely in order to provoke an emotional response that can be captured on film. The interviewers aim is to explore the subject’s point of view and what shaped that point of view, not scoring a zinger for the viewing audience’s voyeuristic pleasure. It is because the interviewers are honestly engaged with their subjects that they are able to elicit such frank, honest and stunning admissions.   Yet the film is not merely of historical interest, since the themes it explores have today become universals: the manipulative relations between the press and governments that result in the former acting as propaganda agent for the latter, the impact of abstract policies on ordinary individuals, the reasons people find to either stand up for what they believe or meekly kow-tow to the “authorities,” and the ways people will continue, retrospectively, to cling to falsehoods even after the falsehoods have been thoroughly debunked (FoxNews anyone?).   I dare say no one could watch this film without finding themselves reflecting on current circumstances… particularly as it is revealed how a national tragedy (the fall of France) was manipulated for petty political gain… or when listening to the German soldiers describing how they came to France to “help” the French… and how fear and uncertainty was used to distract the populace from the weakening and reversal of democratic norms and responsibilities in order to secure a regime based upon popular acclamation… and finally, why some refused to swallow the lies whereas others continued, 25 years afterwards, to continue lie to themselves.   If you can find this film, rent it. If you rent it, you will want to buy it: it is that good.   Happy holidays! 11:23:57 AM

Tasty Turkey   Made a turkey for the holidays yesterday and was it ever mmm mmm good!   So much tastier that that plastic turkey pres Junior was prancing around for the benefit of his election campaign, I mean, the press with in Operation : Thief of Baghdad.   Talk about a Trojan horse… a fake turkey to convey fake sentiments from a fake pResident.   I’d love to see a campaign commercial where we see that plastic turkey “carved” open to expose the truth behind the mendacity of Bush’s new American empire:   billions for Halliburton etc (scroll the companies and their contracts over the TV screen), death and disability for thousands of US servicemen and women (scroll the names of those who made the ultimate sacrifice—and for what?), and big fat IOUs for the taxpayers, their children, and their grandchildren (scroll all the zeroes in the deficit Junior has rung up with his borrow and spend policies)… Come to think of it, it’s hard to decide which was more phony—the turkey or Junior—since at least the turkey looked the part… 10:32:48 AM