Saturday, February 25, 2006
Coverup and Whitewash
The Knight Ridder news daily Bellingham Herald continues to serve as a free public relations service for the Minuteman Militia, dutifully announcing their events and transmitting their propaganda. Last time the Herald performed this service (in the mid 1990s), seven militia members went to federal prison on explosives and firearms violations.
This time, despite readily available, easily readable reports and press releases by Washington Association of Churches and Northwest Immigrant Rights Project--not to mention denunciation of the Minuteman Militia by the Washington State Human Rights Commission director as a "precursor to domestic terrorism"--the Bellingham Herald has not once cited any of these sources. Rather, the Herald format has consistently been to provide several paragraphs of support for the vigilante militia and conclude with one sentence dismissing the concerns of their opponents.
One has to wonder at the motives of a mainstream newspaper supporting domestic terrorism in the US, as well as look at the connections between militias past and present and the Republican Party, before a pattern begins to emerge. Ten years ago, the Herald coverup was about concealing ties between militias and property-rights groups fronting for the GOP anti-environmental/anti-Indian agenda. Today, the Herald whitewash is about creating the illusion of a grassroots anti-immigration movement that is in fact--once again--a highly orchestrated public relations drama coordinated by and synchronized with a national Republican campaign.
So much for liberal media.
This time, despite readily available, easily readable reports and press releases by Washington Association of Churches and Northwest Immigrant Rights Project--not to mention denunciation of the Minuteman Militia by the Washington State Human Rights Commission director as a "precursor to domestic terrorism"--the Bellingham Herald has not once cited any of these sources. Rather, the Herald format has consistently been to provide several paragraphs of support for the vigilante militia and conclude with one sentence dismissing the concerns of their opponents.
One has to wonder at the motives of a mainstream newspaper supporting domestic terrorism in the US, as well as look at the connections between militias past and present and the Republican Party, before a pattern begins to emerge. Ten years ago, the Herald coverup was about concealing ties between militias and property-rights groups fronting for the GOP anti-environmental/anti-Indian agenda. Today, the Herald whitewash is about creating the illusion of a grassroots anti-immigration movement that is in fact--once again--a highly orchestrated public relations drama coordinated by and synchronized with a national Republican campaign.
So much for liberal media.
