[From the diaries by susanhu. A must-read.] While many progressives are predicting that the botched hurricane response will be the death knell of the “drown it in the bathtub” wing of the GOP (what I now think of as “tax a bit less and die anyway” conservatism), I’m not nearly so optimistic.
Here’s a prediction, however, I believe I can make with more certainty: We have seen our last on-the-scene, uncoordinated, unfiltered coverage of any natural or manmade disaster in America. The government simply cannot allow this fiasco of true coverage of an event to recur.
We cannot be allowed to see dead bodies floating in the nation’s waterways and shoved to the curbs in our metropolitan streets, or to see dehydrated and dying babies, or to have video coverage that starkly shows overwhelming numbers of blacks wallowing in human shit starving to death, or to have on-the-scene reports of snipers and looters vividly showing an elemental breakdown in law and order.
No, sirree. This is not the patriotic way in Bush’s America.
No more angry reporters on camera demanding answers, shaming the government’s incompetence or pointing out the flat-out lying of the happy talk spouted by the people supposedly in charge of coordinating disaster relief. No more angry Anderson Coopers, crying Geraldo Riveras, outraged Shep Smiths. No more pointed timelines from CNN ticking off the details of absolute bullshit coming from this nation’s leaders.
I predict that the first excuse for shutting out reporters will be that they need to be protected, that security can’t be guaranteed or that the public health risks are too great to allow them exposure to the scene. If media outlets insist their representatives will be willing to take that risk, they then will be told that they hamper relief efforts by getting in the way or by becoming potential victims themselves (thus using up precious government resources and attention). This will probably be enough to assure compliance by 90% of journalists.
Continued BELOW:
For the few insistent purists, however, who will not willingly give up raw, on-the-scene reportage without a squawk, the patriotism card will be pulled. They will be told how it empowers terrorists and “blame America firsters” to see first-hand scenes of chaos in American streets, that it enables our enemies to see any exploitable weakness, that it serves no purpose to undermine the will of the great, grand American people to cope with tragedy or to donate to worthy relief causes.
For those who disbelieve my scenario, please refer to the PR talking points used to shield the American public from the horrors of Abu Ghraib. There you have the basic outline.
I do predict there will be “embeds,” however. We will be able to see coverage by reporters (probably from Fox News, if they’re not forced to pay a price for Shep Smith) assigned to National Guard “handlers,” depicting grateful minorities receiving water with “God bless you” on their lips and “Jesus loves you!” ringing out loud and clear in deserted – but tidy – streets.. Lots of warm, fuzzy moments of sick people in wheelchairs hugging rescuers, lots of interviews with “folks” who praise the efforts and effectiveness of the government. Who knows? Maybe at long last camera shots of flowers strewn in the streets will make it to television screens nationwide. This administration does seem fond of that image.
So if you’re blaming yourselves for being glued to the TV, obsessed with this unfolding disaster, let yourself off the hook. Tell yourself you’re doing it as a witness to history. You’ll be telling your grandchildren some day … “Once upon a time, I actually saw real media coverage of human misery caused by government incompetence.” They’ll probably not believe there IS such a thing, being of a generation that will never have seen such a phenomenon. But you’ll know otherwise, and that’s no small thing, being able to testify to the truth of historical events – which is why the shutdown must eventually occur.
