WIKILEAKS FAILS "DUE DILIGENCE" REVIEW

Subject: Re: Secrecy News--06/28/10, WIKILEAKS FAILS "DUE DILIGENCE" REVIEW

Dick,

Wow!  To my way of thinking you make a real stretch, comparing WikiLeaks to Hearst. 

I might have drawn a similarity to Northern Neighbors, or The Daily Worker, but Hearst?  Now that was Yellow Journalism at its worst. 

Why do I say this?  Because Hearst "reported" on the "news" that he knew would sell papers.  Murders, rapes, scandalous behavior of celebrities, rumors and outright fabricated stories about those politicians Hearst opposed.  Hearst papers were the forerunner to Fox News. 

This is quite different from reporting on governments lying to their people in order to maintain control over certain situations.  Certainly, some people eagerly read WikiLeak for the shock effect, but these are the same folks who read the National Inquirer to brighten up their day. 

However, in any case, thinking people do not simply gobble up what is set before them, whether in print, on the news or on the computer. 

We, as responsible citizens, gather all of the information that we are able to gather in our mushy brains, and from it we draw our conclusions.  Maybe we are misled at times and draw wrong conclusions.  But that is the way it's always been.  We have to keep on peeking behind the words in order to try to get to the real story and meaning. 

How well I remember Hearst's hatred for FDR.  Through his lackey Westbrook Pegler, he kept up a constant attack long after FDR was dead.  Pegler never missed a beat, turning on Eleanor Roosevelt and even the Roosevelt children.  Remember the report of Roosevelt commenting that they even attacked his dog Falla? 

But back to what I was trying to say.  We are wading through a field of land mines, trying to pick our way to Truth and Reason.  Probably none of us will get there unscathed. 

 

Curious Carl