I'm sitting here today listening to news of Valerie Plame's testimony regarding her being identified as a CIA agent for "payback" reasons because of an editorial her husband wrote speaking against presidential policy. Earlier today I picked up the recent copy of Vanity Fair magazine where the article "The Night of the Generals" dealt with the six retired generals who spoke out against the war in Iraq. These two instances speak loudly about goings-on behind the scenes in government and politics.
The book I'm currently reading, a biography, All Governments Lie! The Life and Times of Rebel Journalist I. F. Stone gives numerous instances of crap that would not be uncovered if it weren't for good investigative reporting. Here are a few examples Stone uncovered: a connection beween a U.S. company and Nazis to produce gas pellets used to exterminate Jews, profiteering oil companies were still selling oil to Hitler as late as November '41, the American Red Cross segregated blood supplies according to race. Stone was a busy man whose efforts did not earn many friends. He discovered for himself that dissent was equated with disloyalty, and a large file on him was collected by J. Edgar Hoover's FBI. I remember well how people were tagged as disloyal when they didn't support Bush, Jr.'s war venture. How many reporters dared write negative news in the early stages of that war? Finally, an outcry arises.
Bona fide military heroes are not immune from excoriation. The book reminded me of the example of Max Cleland, a Vietnam veteran who lost both legs and an arm in that war and who lost his U.S. Senate seat because his opponent branded him unpatriotic when he opposed the U.S. entry into this war. Maybe the journalists who exposed problems at Walter Reed Hospital are unpatriotic, too.
