Say Goodbye Dan

It was only a matter of time until Dan Rather called it quits after going up against the Bush administration by interrogating the checkered history of George W. Bush's service as a National Guard.

The 73 year-old veteran CBS anchor announced that he will be stepping down from the league of the noteables on March 9--the 24th anniversary of his starting as the CBS Evening News anchor.

I think this story is huge because of its implications for journalist and the limitations of free speech. Yes, Rather was lacking when it came to checking his resources and is accountable for his credibility as a journalist. But we should also, consider how Rather's resignation will influence future watchdog reporting in the mainstream media--especially stories that oppose the conservation right-wing agenda.

It's already a pandemic that is being taken way to lightly be captive audiences who too often swallow the bitter pill of pre-digested current events.

Back From The War and Buying A Ford!

At the risk of promoting NBC on this forum, I must mention the shameless war-time propaganda campaign skillfully executed in NBC's prime time slot last Sunday night (11/21/04).

Ford motor company poured millions of advertising dollars to peddle their vehicles to--yes, our American war heros. The thickness with which they poured their syrupy advertising, you'd think they were giving away the damn cars or offering them at a reduced price to "our troops."

Last night's special commercial-free episode of American Dreams was sponsored by Ford.
In it, JJ Pryor, a US Marine fighting in Vietnam had been missing in action and finally comes home for Christmas.

The timely episode strategically conforms to current events and the predominant American social discourse where the war protestors in that episode were criminalized as they set fire to a military recruiting center, critically injuring an unsuspecting maintanence worker in the process.
Just as the Pryor family (a white middle-class family living in a picturesque suburb in Philadelpha, PA) gets out of midnight Christmas mass, they get word of JJ's miraculous return.
Upon his injured son's arrival, JJ's proud father rewards him with a brand new Ford.

Of course the cost of the viewers' commercial-free, special Christmas miracle episode geared for the upright Christian right citizens brigade, was a three-minute Ford commerical following the same theme of Sunday night's family episode. A white middle-class serviceman comes back from the service to his picturesque suburban American home, to be greeted by his dad with brand new Ford.

While this is all very gripping stuff, I appeal to critical thinkers out there to pluck this television propaganda event apart and recognize it for what it is--not an altruistic effort by the Ford motor company to "honor our American troops," but a calculated marketing strategy to get viewers to associate nationalism with a Ford motor vehicle purchase.
As if somehow by purchasing a Ford motor, the viewer would be fulfilling their patriotic duty.

I'll venture to submit that a more substantial way to honor our troops is to see to it that our current administration has sufficient healthcare in place for surviving US troops who will be needing costly physical and psychological therapy from this war.