Paying homage to the Saviour-General

Europa and the [White] Bull - Gustave Moreau, 1869)

It really is remarkable how dysfunctional our Establishment media have become. Glenn Greenwald in Limitless wrongness Salon 09/18/07 chronicles some of the press atrocities surrounding the long-awaited testimony of our Saviour-General David Petraeus before Congress.

There is, of course, David Broder, The Dean Of All The Pundits, who is no doubt looking for a new outburst of moderation. Greenwald cites his column Bush Regains His Footing of February 15 of this year in the Washington Post as an example of the basic Big Pundit script:

Like President Bill Clinton after the Democrats lost control of Congress in 1994, Bush has gone through a period of wrenching adjustment to his reduced status. But just as Clinton did in the winter of 1995, Bush now shows signs of renewed energy and is regaining the initiative on several fronts.

More important, he is demonstrating political smarts that even his critics have to acknowledge. ...

With the public eager for some bipartisan progress on all these fronts, Bush is signaling that he, at least, is ready to try.

More evidence than Broder snoozes through most of the actual news.

Dean Broder doesn't seem to be bothered by the fact that the Republicans in Congress stubbornly refuse to put any limits at all on Bush's Iraq War. But in the Church of High Broderism, "moderation" is the highest virtue. And in that denomination's version, "moderation" means that Democrats go along with Bush's most fool ideas and attack other Democrats who are opposed to doing so.

Greenwald treats us some classic moments from the Chris Matthews show of guys drooling over our Saviour-General Peraeus' manly uniform. Here's advertising executive Jerry Della Femina:

Well, they're doing a good job of it this week. Let me tell you, they couldn't find anyone better than Petraeus. I mean, you just can't beat a man in full uniform speaking to - well, I'll give you Ollie North facing the Congress. You know, you stand up there, and he's wearing a uniform. And boy, you can't take a guy in uniform versus six overweight senators. ...

And Dana Milbank of the Washington Post (not to be confused with Dana Priest, who generally does more solid reporting):

MILBANK: Bush had a terrible August down on the ranch and then has explosive Septembers. And I think he's won this battle already.

MATTHEWS: How so?

MILBANK: Petraeus - it's no accident he had a Latin name. It looked like he was the Roman general returning to the republic in his gold and purple toga, and they were celebrating him and slaying white bulls. They could not get enough of this man. And anybody's who's even critical of the war wouldn't dare criticize...

MATTHEWS: Right.

MILBANK: ... except in the most polite way, General Petraeus because then you appear to be criticizing the troops. I think it's game, set and match here.

Celebrating him and slaying white bulls? You stand up there - and our Saviour-General is wearing an uniform!!

It reads like a comedy routine. That's because our mainstream press is to a shocking extent a sad joke.

Greenwald observes that according to the poll results, our Saviour-General Petreaus had virtually no effect on public opinion on the war, slain white bulls notwithstanding. David Kurtz has more polling results along the same lines in Petraeus Barely Registers TPM 09/18/07.

Greenwald argues:

Most of the media still believes - based in part on how they have been trained and in part on their hopes - that the Bush movement, any day now, will re-discover its glory and magic and get the country back on its side with regard to the war. It took them a long time to accept the reality that the country had abandoned the Leader and the War, and ever since then, they have continuously been predicting a reversal. ...

In their world, the Republicans are always ascendent [sic], Bush is always the Strong Leader, Democrats are always the sorry losers captive to their destructive Leftist extremists, and Americans are aching to support the War. They have been predicting endlessly that, any day now, all of this will be true again.

It's not that the Establishment media are being intentionally so crassly partisan; it's a more deep-seated and disturbing phenemenon than that, it appears.

And I would find it hard to argue with this conclusion of Greenwald's:

They haven't been this in awe of anyone as they are of Gen. Petraeus since Oliver North proudly justified his lawbreaking, nor as outraged as they are over the MoveOn ad since Bill Clinton had oral sex.

If only they had managed to muster even a small fraction of the outrage and offense over the war itself, or the radicalism and lawlessness of this administration. But that would have proven how Unserious they are. It is much more rewarding to show that they are the Serious, Responsible establishment members who lavish the General with the honor and reverence he deserves while scorning the insufficiently respectful leftist radicals.

"Leftist radicals" in this case being the majority of the country who want the United States out of this war sooner rather than later.

Tags: dana milbank, david broder, glenn greenwald, iraq war, jerry della femina, petraeus