Once again, dissent will not be tolerated.

I first read about this last night, and thought it was a little odd that an reporter for NBC and National Geographic was giving interviews to Iraqi state television, expressing opinions that were not very flattering to the US. You can argue as to whether or not this is appropriate, but in the end, reporters are (in theory) supposed to be objective, and that's exactly in line with what Arnett was doing - expressing his objective opinion on the war. Oh, and then there's the fact that NBC was initially OK with this - dismissing the interview as a 'professional courtesy'.

I awake this morning to find that NBC has severed ties with Arnett, and National Geographic (who he was on assignment for in Iraq) is less than pleased as well. Now this fucking pisses me off. The fact that NBC has fired (or whatever) Arnett isn't all that surprising (although that in and of itself is bullshit), the reversal of stance is what really irritates me. How much do you want to bet that NBC was receiving plenty of phone calls from government officials this morning? They caved to pressure, plain and simple. Dissenting opinion, or anything that reflects poorly on the Administration and the war effort, simply will not be tolerated. Look, I understand the need for things like keeping troop morale up, but nothing justifies the government burying of valid discussion. Furthermore, this incident just goes to show how the American media has become a pro-American propaganda machine. I'm not saying that the media should be anti-American, but they should do their job once in ahwile and pretend to be objective, even if it's unflattering to this country. Considering the fact that Bush and company have been getting cranky with the media and their second guessing in the past few days, I thought things were improving. It looks like NBC, at least, is back to playing ball.

While we're talking about CNN, why the hell do they suck so fucking much? From the beginning of that aritcle I just link to, they imply that National geographic fired Arnett as well, but then the article just says that they're unhappy with his actions. Did they can him as well, or not? This is the kind of incoherent shit I've come to expect from CNN. Oh, and don't start with me and how I link to CNN all the time yet continually bitch about them - they fucking suck, but they update more often than most. You're just going to have to deal with that disparity on your own.

Speaking of playing ball, today was opening day for many teams. And holy shit, Cubs win! Cubs win! I should probably enjoy that now, because I'm sure it won't last. I don't know if the Mets suck this year or what (which would be neat; fuck the Mets), but Jesus, 15-2?