Breaking news! Usama bin Laden is dead!

Only, he has been dead for one year today.

So why is it BREAKING NEWS?

All the mainstream news networks today are having special reports on this day. They are reporting that President Obama is making a "surprise visit" to commemorate this day and to announce that a new agreement has been reached with Afghan leaders about what happens after 2014, when US combat troops leave. That announcement will be on live TV tonight at 7:30 pm.

And it will state that we will actually stay in the country longer. Even though we've already been there 10 years.

Why one in five Americans is a blathering idiot

About 20% of Americans do not believe Usama bin Laden (UBL) is dead.

In spite of the President's announcement.

In spite of the fact that other political leaders--including Senators from the other political party--say they have seen the pictures and they have literally no doubt UBL is dead.

In spite of the fact the UBL's wives--yes, WIVES--confirm his death.

In spite of the DNA evidence that proves by a 99.9% certainty that UBL is dead.

And even though al-Qaeda itself--the group UBL formed more than a decade ago--has confirmed UBL's death.

Why? According to the LA Times, it's because political leaders often lie (think Bill Clinton saying "I did not have sexual relations with that woman" or basically everything George W. Bush said about Iraq).

And also because of the media.

From the LA Times:

"The widespread arrival of television some 60 years ago and more recently online video has trained people to expect some kind of visual confirmation of virtually any news, either live or shortly after. Its absence almost surely spawns doubts."

Think about it. On the local news, every day and every night, we see reporters standing at the scenes of car wrecks and crimes even though literally nothing is going on behind them. Even though it adds nothing to a story about a car crash of a murder to have a reporter standing live at the scene where something may have happened hours ago, news stations still send reporters to those scenes presumably because viewers need to "see it to believe it."

The result is a doubting public, unable to accept all the above evidence that one of our most hated enemies is dead.

As for those who celebrated in the streets immediately after hearing about UBL's death? Well, that's another story!


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2011/05/osama-bin-laden-lives-no-death-photo.html

A look at coverage between CNN and Fox

It is probably not surprising that this is still in the news.

And it probably will be for some time, as we continue to learn more in the wake of bin Laden's death.



This is from CNN:

Al Qaeda, in Web message, confirms bin Laden's death

Al Qaeda released a statement on jihadist forums Friday confirming the death of Osama bin Laden, according to SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors Islamist websites. FULL STORY

• 'Deathers' take over for 'birthers'
• Source: Al Qaeda mulled derailing trains
• Roots of terror untouched by U.S. raid
• Obama honors victims at ground zero
• iReport: World reacts | Secret copter

And this is from Fox News:

• AP
• URGENT: AL QAEDA WEBSITE CONFIRMS BIN LADEN'S DEATH, VOWS TO CONTINUE ATTACK AGAINST U.S. AND ITS ALLIES
• Al Qaeda Eyed Attack on U.S. Trains | Obama Rejects Plea to End CIA Probe | Bin Laden Wife in Compound for 6 Years
• U.N. Questions Legality of Bin Laden Raid | Pakistan to Cut U.S. Military Presence
• Obama to Thank Navy SEALs | EXCLUSIVE: Bin Laden 'Scared' Before His Death, Sources Say
• PHOTOS: Inside Bin Laden's Hideout (WARNING: GRAPHIC) | FULL COVERAGE: Usama Bin Laden

Notice the major difference in the coverage of the story.

CNN leads with confirmation of bin Laden's death from al-Qaeda.

Fox leads with a story critical of the Obama White House releasing details of the death.

A lot has been written about Fox being an arm of the Republican Party. This is yet another example of how Fox operates. Even with the death of a man who declared war on the US in the 1990s, who was hunted by three presidents and ultimately killed (as promised) by President Obama, the lead story is not his death but instead how the Democrat who ordered bin Laden's death has mishandled the release of information about the action that killed him.

Jon Stewart takes on PRIME TIME TV

Jon Stewart show clips of people in the news clamoring for proof that Osama bin Laden is dead, including the release of pictures showing his dead body.

Government officials respond saying the photos--including one with a gaping head wound above his left eye-- are too gory to release.

Jon Stewart replies:

"Too gory? Too gory? Yeah, have you met us? From 8 pm on, every show on television we watch begins with an internal tracking shot of a gaping wound above someone's left eye, pulling out only to reveal half a hooker in a dumpster discovered by a child on a bicycle. You know, you know what we call it? PRIME TIME!"

Just as showed in the book, murder and gory murder now make up a majority of crimes depicted on prime time TV.

So the picture is not too gory to show.

But the decision is still the right one because the image would serve as a tool to be used by enemies against the US. Further, we have DNA evidence and the word of bin Laden's wife that he is dead, along with all the government officials who have now seen the pictures and who confirm his death.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-may-4-2011/face-off?xrs=playershare_fb

Closed for grading

So I am STILL in grading hell.

Thus the blog is temporarily shut down. Don't worry, it will be up and running again soon.

Besides, nothing BIG has happened in the news lately, right?

Ha ha.