Medal of Freedom for Tennet, phone taps for IAEA chief.

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the implications of the Bush administration's actions regarding phone taps on IAEA chief Mohammed ElBaradei and the awarding of the Medal of Freedom to George Tenet. Participants explore themes of political vindictiveness, media influence, and the nature of democracy in relation to these events.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express concern over the Bush administration's phone tapping of ElBaradei, suggesting it reflects vindictive politics aimed at silencing dissent.
  • Others argue that such political maneuvering is not unique to the Bush administration and is a common aspect of political behavior.
  • There are claims that the media, particularly Fox News, plays a significant role in shaping public perception and may contribute to the labeling of dissenting views as conspiracy theories.
  • Some participants question the legitimacy and purpose of the Medal of Freedom, suggesting it has been politicized over time.
  • Concerns are raised about the broader implications of government surveillance and media control, with references to historical practices of phone tapping among international officials.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus; multiple competing views remain regarding the motivations behind the Bush administration's actions and the role of media in political discourse.

Contextual Notes

Participants express uncertainty about the extent of media influence and the implications of government surveillance practices, highlighting a lack of clarity on the motivations behind political actions.

wasteofo2
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Does this strike anyone else as horribly weird?

This Sunday, it was reported by the Washington Post, and picked up by every other major news organization (even Fox News), that the Bush administration had been recording phone conversations between the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohammed ElBaradei. ElBaradei contradicted the Bush Administration's assertation that Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction before the war began, and it turns out he was right. Now the Bush administration is spying on him, trying to find some damning evidence to kick him out of office, but none was found. The conclusion that all the news organizations came to was that the Bush administration was just playing vindictive politics.

This isn't some wild moveon.org conspiracy theory, this was the conclusion that Fox News echoed this Sunday for hours, as well as seemingly everyone else in the media.

Meanwhile, back in the States, Bush gives George Tennet the Medal of Freedom. :eek:

The guy who contradicted the Bush administration but was wrong is being spied on in an effort to be booted from his position. However, the guy from the Bush administration who supplied most of the faulty information that lead to this mess of a war gets the highest award a civilian can get.

Is there any explaining this?
 
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wasteofo2 said:
Is there any explaining this?
In a word: Democracy

This is by no means unique to Bush, or to any government anywhere that I can think of, and it certainly isn't the frist time they've (the bush admin that is) tried to kick out someone for not supporting a policy, that's how politics is, usually it works.
 
This is a new step, now they can do this kind of things and tell us in our faces... and we can't do anything about it... i wonder how many things fox news haven't say... it scare me...
and it's a shame... becouse if fox news or one of the 7 corporations that manage 90% of usa media (Ministery of truth) doesn't say it, then it's a conspiracy theory...
 
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wasteofo2 said:
Does this strike anyone else as horribly weird?
On another note I find it horribly weird that a "medal of freedom" even exists, what a soppy romantic-american name.
 
Burnsys said:
becouse if fox news or one of the 7 corporations that manage 90% of usa media (Ministery of truth) doesn't say it, then it's a conspiracy theory...
accually many times something FOX does say is regarded as a 'conspiracy theory' because of the whole 'liberal media' myth.
 
And the only people who care so far aren't even Americans...
 
...four...more...years...
 
Smurf said:
On another note I find it horribly weird that a "medal of freedom" even exists, what a soppy romantic-american name.

President Kennedy introduced the Medal of Freedom and he gave it to leading scholars, artists, and scientists. Subsequent presidents have debased it to the level of a Kentucky Colonelship for political cronies.
 
wasteofo2 said:
And the only people who care so far aren't even Americans...

becouse we are the ones who most sufer america's foreing policy
 
  • #10
Smurf said:
In a word: Democracy
... that's how politics is, usually it works.

Don't kick the baby out with the bathwater. Democracy has nothing to do with it, and even politics can be clean (in theory at least). Any government can be corrupt, regardless of how they were voted it.
 
  • #11
The phone taps are nothing new. It's quite well known that Britain and the US have been tapping phone lines of most top UN officials. Kofi Annan said in an interview, a couple of years ago, that he discusses sensitive stuff only in public places.
 

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