Review of the War Coverage (funny)

We get it. You're ****ing evil.In summary, the conversation discusses the current state of network news coverage of the Iraq War, with a humorous and critical perspective. The conversation highlights the different biases and flaws of each network, and points out how information is being withheld from viewers. The conversation also brings up current events and political issues, such as the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and the role of religion in political decision making. Overall, the conversation is critical of the media's coverage of the war and highlights the need for unbiased and thorough reporting.
  • #1
damgo
This seems a common topic lately... Mr. Cranky (of movie review infamy) has a hilarious review. The full thing is at http://www.mrcranky.com/movies/iraqwarcoverage.html [Broken] : (lots of profanity there, caveat lector.)

Seriously though, what do you guys think of the network news coverage, two weeks in? Better or worse than you expected?
Since this is what most people are watching these days anyway, let's catch up on how the television news networks are faring in week one of Gulf War II.

CNN:
CNN has probably done the best job of exposing the more tragic aspects of this war -- namely the fact that its reporting crew got kicked out of Baghdad over the weekend. The resulting 72 hours of nonstop coverage of the crew's tearful group hugs at the Jordanian border and ceaseless "how did you feel?" line of questioning from Atlanta made me think I had stumbled on an episode of Oprah...

This Baghdad eviction has left the network in such a state that all it can do when the ratings-boosting pyrotechnics light up the Baghdad skyline is have sexy Wolf Blitzer narrate it from his suite at the Kuwait City Hilton, where the thundering in the background is just room service bringing up some fresh shrimp cocktail.

MSNBC:
What could be freakier than Lester Holt's botox permagrin as he recites the growing body count from the commander in chief's latest wacky misadventure? Maybe it wasn't botox -- maybe he was born with his mouth frozen like that. Regardless, it's trademark of MSNBC's robotic news delivery, which drones on for long sing-songy stretches only to be eventually shattered by Chris Matthews's hyperactive barking as he gnashes and hurls himself like a crazed Lhasa Apso at the heels of some unsuspecting liberal peacenik lured into the studio with the promise of some free government cheese.

One interesting feature of MSNBC's coverage is the huge map of Iraq laid down on the studio floor like a supermarket advertisement for Empire Flakes. All that's missing is the little toy tanks and planes being pushed around by generals on their hands and knees making zoom-zoom noises. MSNBC does claim frequent contact with an actual Baghdad correspondent, CNN refugee Peter Arnett, but Pete is suspiciously quick to note that he's actually a National Geographic correspondent, ostensibly left behind on a Mesopotamian excursion gone horribly awry.

FOX NEWS:
Like an Iraqi soldier dressed in civilian clothes, Fox News has crept in under the false cover of objectivity to unleash a blitzkrieg of bias so right wing that channel-surfers often mistake it for a eugenics infomercial... On Fox News, it's not "Attack on Iraq," it's not "Gulf War II," no, it's "Operation Iraqi Freedom, ANY QUESTIONS, *****ES?"

If you work at Fox News, this isn't Gulf War II -- it's Christmas.

AL-JAZEERA:
It's so obviously the Jews. While the Bush administration swims in hypocrisy with virtually every statement it makes, are there any Arabs who recognize that if they just had a news service that countered this with anything approaching objectivity, somebody might take them seriously? After all, this is a television station that still insists all the Jews got out of the World Trade Center before the planes hit despite the fact that this rumor was proven to be your basic email hoax. If email is Al-Jazeera's source du jour, why haven't they reported on the ease with which any man can lengthen his penis two inches? They would surely rule the world within days! Here's the truth: Until the Arab world gets a mouthpiece that generates information that doesn't read like headlines out of the Weekly World News Paranoid Edition, nobody will take their concerns seriously.

ABC, CBS, NBC:
Who gets home in time to watch the news at 5pm every day? The elderly and the unemployed, that's who. The traditional network news operations are so irrelevant it's a wonder the U.S. military still bothers to send them press releases.

THAT SAID, a lot of the failings of the war coverage are shared ones. Whether you're a war supporter or a war protester, there's a lot of information that's been withheld from you like you're a five-year-old, because American news coverage has self-censored itself to the point of irrelevance. We see when the pyrotechnics light up Baghdad, but we haven't seen the POWs, the civilian casualties, or the details of Halliburton's brazen and immediate lunge at the profit piñata. We haven't explored the curious absence of any evidence of weapons of mass destruction despite the fact that coalition troops now control large swaths of the country. We haven't explored the increasingly disturbing evidence that George W. Bush has turned over the day to day decision making to a little voice in his head he calls "God." No one asks the hard questions, which is why Donald Rumsfeld can wave the Geneva Conventions in the air with one hand while the other pushes the button to send electricity into the genitals of some innocent Afghani taxi driver rotting away at Guantanamo Bay, and not worry about being challenged by assembled reporters shaking in front of him like raw meat in front of a hungry lion.
 
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  • #2
good stuff, i don't watch television much at all but from what i have seen his assessment is right on, and with quite the whit to boot.


here is some more funny, and somewhat vulgar, stuff that i just came across:

http://www.mnftiu.cc/mnftiu.cc/war22.html [Broken]
 
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  • #3
MY NEW FIGHTING STYLE IS UNSTOPPABLE!

I've been reading them for a year or so, they are ****ing fanstastic!
-- Cmon, North Korea! Can't you just ****ing relax and be in the Axis of Evil in a more subdued way?
>> Yeah, you don't need to ****ing prove it!
 

1. What is the purpose of this review?

The purpose of this review is to provide a humorous take on the coverage of war events, highlighting the ridiculous and absurd aspects of how the media portrays war.

2. Who is the intended audience for this review?

The intended audience for this review is anyone who enjoys satirical and comedic content, particularly regarding current events and media coverage.

3. Are there any serious points being made in this review?

While the overall tone of the review is humorous, there may be some underlying commentary on the sensationalism and bias in war coverage by the media.

4. Is this review meant to trivialize the seriousness of war?

No, the review is not meant to trivialize the seriousness of war. Instead, it aims to critique the way war is often portrayed and sensationalized by the media.

5. Can this review be considered a reliable source of information on war events?

No, this review should not be considered a reliable source of information on war events. It should be viewed as entertainment and not a credible source for factual information.

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