wikistan

I would LOVE for you to show me show instances where the MSM presents some issue favorably to the right. I’m assuming you mean favorable to YOUR right.

I agree with the laziness/incompetence thing.

You’re so far to the left that you’re considering even a moderate-left bias in the news conservative bias! Journo schools and news organizations aren’t exactly flooded with conservatives, so “assure” me by showing me where a conservative news cabal tried to directly influence the outcome of a presidential election with forged documents, allowed another presidential candidate to avoid having to disclose the exact nature of his military discharge, or flooded popular media with a phony global warming “consensus”?

Blackwater has unquestionably been involved in some incidents that warrant further investigation and maybe even repercussions. That said. . .

In the last three months we’ve seen attacks on our troops and civilian casualties trending downward, a total collapse of withdrawal legislation in Congress, and a major policy flip flop by Dem frontrunners on troop drawdowns. With the anti-war movement being a little deflated and the MSM left with more good news than is good for ratings, what could pump it back up? Oh yeah, Blackwater.

The article I linked to refers to an incident that happened on November 27, 2004. The federal investigation wrapped up in November 2006, yet Henry Waxman, sensing the lost anti-war inertia in Congress, does his part to stoke the flames once more in the hope that some drive-by will hook into a meat here or there. Hence, the spontaneous October stories about reckless (and drunk!) cowboy contractors.

Although the Iraqi security guard you mentioned was killed more than 10 months ago, the NYT archive and Google Archive search show no articles mentioning the incident until late September 2007. No outrage until this year? Oh, right. The Republican Noise Machine prohibited this information from leaking out.

The main media narrative has shifted off Iraq and onto more scandalous affairs.

p.s. As a point of accuracy, Blackwater is countersuing the attorney for the estates, not the estates themselves, and there’s probably some merit on both sides that will be argued in court. (The deceased had previously signed legal docs releasing Blackwater from indemnity)

You don’t think there’s a newfound focus by news orgs on Blackwater?

For example, in the NYT archive, between March 1, 2003 and July 11, 2007, there were a total of 49 total search results for “blackwater and iraq”, whereas in the same search over the last 90 days, there are 63 total. Did Blackwater suddenly become more newsworthy in the last three months, even though they’ve allegedly been shootin’ up Iraq real good since the early part of the war?

No worries though. Blackwater is safe for the time being, until the SCHIP debate leaves the building.