Media's Engagement in a War Of Words Showed Their Bias

0 Comments | Insight on the News, May 27, 2003

Byline: INSIGHT

Media's Engagement in a War Of Words Showed Their Bias

Congratulations on J. Michael Waller's cover story, "Out of the 'Quagmire'" [April 29-May 12], which detailed purposeful negative media reporting on the war with Iraq. His article cited many of the "usual suspects," including R.W. Apple (New York Times), Peter Jennings and Diane Sawyer (ABC News), Lesley Stahl (CBS News/60 Minutes), investigative journalist Seymour Hersh (New Yorker), et al.

In my opinion, "quagmire" is the perfect example of what I call a "slogan term" clever, catchy, supersimplistic and deceitful propaganda tools that eagerly are seized on and abused by the mainstream media, whose chattering too often is mere juggling of such slogans. Other examples of this sloganeering are "bully," "bogged down," "isolated," "cowboy," "unilateralism" and "exceptionalism."

Keep up the good work!

John McVickar

Richmond, Va.

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Democrats Need a Refresher Course in Economic History

Once again we hear screaming about the Bush economic plan that would cut taxes as the Democrats claim "for the rich" ["Vets Say Tax Cuts Spur War Economy," April 29-May 12].

They are ignoring the fact that when the Democrat-controlled Congress cut taxes during the Reagan administration in an effort to bring on a deficit and make Ronald Reagan look bad businesses used the freed money to expand and hire more workers. As a result the economy improved so much, and the new workers paid so much in total taxes, that the line on the graph showing the increase in income to the U.S. Treasury almost stood on end.

Now, in an attempt to discredit President George W. Bush and his desire to improve the economy again, the Democrats are fighting the tax cuts. They probably are doing this to try to saddle Bush with blame for the sluggish economy that actually started with the Clinton administration. Those who fail to learn from the lessons of history, such as the Democrats, are doomed to repeat those mistakes ad infinitum.

Francis F. Webster

Detroit

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Are Hippies in Charge of the Mental-Health Community?

I recently read Kelly Patricia O'Meara's article about legislation that would let parents decide whether their children need to be medicated to attend school ["Putting Power Back in Parental Hands," May 13-26]. It fit my experience. While at a friend's wedding, I met an 11-year-old who was quite outgoing and lively. It seemed to me, however, that there was something not quite right with this boy. He would fixate his attention at the drop of a pin!

It was an odd thing to observe. One easily could direct his attention and he would become so engrossed that all else in his environment seemed to disappear. It reminded me of the early 1970s hippie scene. With the street drugs of the time, one's attention would be absorbed for hours over the most incidental of things, finding tremendous significance and meaning in something as trivial as a psychedelic poster.

Then someone informed me that the boy was on Ritalin. Suddenly his condition became very clear: This poor boy was under the influence of a cocainelike substance 24 hours a day, seven days a week. But what hit me even harder was the fact that I knew why they were using the narcotic on this child. I have had experience with what they are calling helpful antidepressant and attention-deficit-disorder drugs. The hippies sold them on the street corners in the 1970s.

Yeah, we got high and enjoyed it for a few years. But the burnout was irreversible in most cases. Boy, could we concentrate for a while! But it wasn't very long until we couldn't think a thought through to its end. It's evident that the prescription-drug companies and the mental-health people could care less about that little boy, because the money from the sale of those drugs is lining their pockets.

My guess is that this boy started out about three years ago by fraudulently being diagnosed with attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder. He probably was prescribed 10 milligrams of Ritalin at the beginning and now is up to several 100-milligram doses just to maintain his high. I can just hear the mental-health "professional" telling the boy's parents that his condition is worsening and that those mind chemicals are getting more and more out of balance.

My deep thanks to O'Meara for writing this story, as it so relevantly fit with my observation of the boy. I am sure that his loving parents trusted fully the advice of the "professional" recommendation. The passage of the bill mentioned in the article is a good first step. It's treasonous for a state to force children onto these legal street drugs.

The next step should be to require full disclosure by the drug companies of the real effects of these drugs and their developmental histories. They also should admit that these drugs would have the identical effects on all of us, not just the "mentally ill." It's time to do away with the idea that drugs are okay provided that you buy them from the right drug dealers.

Thurston Lamberson

Palmetto, Fla.

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Reader Thinks Coverage of War Failed on Several Fronts