Tuesday 25 April 2017

would you like freedom-fries with that?

We appreciated this essay from Gizmodo correspondent Matt Novak on how the media is subtly and not so subtly preparing American (and world) audiences for a hot war with North Korea, marching lock-step with the war drums of Dear Leader.
Though ostensibly elected for his pledge to end America’s role as the global police force and with assurances that his competitor would surely lurch the country into conflict, the change in narrative and the language that it’s couched in renders (so far as sophistry is an effective tool) anyone who might question why the Hermit Kingdom is suddenly an existential threat to the US and its NATO allies or even point out how this back-peddles campaign promises a condemned traitor, whose credibility and geopolitical grasp is forever more suspect. We were eager to catch Curveball lobbed to the intelligence community and no one spoke of the aftermath. Indeed, as with the hearts-and-minds drive of Iraq Attacky II that had its share of cheerleaders in the press to silent the contrarian cads, we ought to be critical of the profusion of coverage of North Korea and ask ourselves if we’re being informed or re-educated.