[Marxism] CNN Necro-Porn

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

Counterpunch Weekend Edition
June 10 / 11, 2006
Necro-Porn, Live on CNN
Death is Patriotic

By DENNIS PERRIN

TV talking heads aren't terribly bright, however smooth their on-air 
delivery. During the first Gulf War, I did a lot of shows, both national 
and local, and I was mildly astonished by just how stupid many of those 
hosts were. Of course, they were conditioned to be that way, 'else they 
wouldn't have been given access to whatever level of mass communication 
they occupied.

I once did a morning show in Connecticut, double-teamed by a 
flesh-and-blood Ken and Barbie, and tried to explain to them and their 
viewers why the corporate media acts as a state press during wartime (or 
anytime, for that matter). Glass eyes. Blank stares. I believe a tumbleweed 
blew across the faux living room set. They simply didn't understand what I 
was talking about, even though I spoke in English, and refrained from any 
high falutin' pomo rad-speak.

When I went back to the Green Room to collect my coat and satchel, their 
next guest, Vincent Bugliosi, author of "Helter Skelter" and the man who 
claims he would've gotten O.J. Simpson convicted, shook my hand, patted me 
on the back, and said, "Boy, what a couple of dopes. Wish me luck." And off 
he went, game face on, to engage that dim, but finely manicured, duo.

To be honest, I don't mind that TV hosts are largely empty vessels through 
which conventional wisdom and related clichés flow. The uncurious and 
gullible must earn a buck like the rest of us. But when hosts get 
aggressive or try to show that they know What's Going On, that's when you 
hit back and push them against the wall to remind them that their main 
purpose is to fill airtime between commercials. Chances are you'll be cut 
off by the producer or director, but that's okay. If you're gonna get the 
TV ax, do it on your terms. If nothing else, it gives the folks at home 
something interesting, perhaps even educational, to watch.

Michael Berg, father of Nicholas Berg, who was butchered, allegedly, by 
Musab al-Zarqawi, employed this tactic on CNN the other day; and it 
prompted host Soledad O'Brien to reveal her inner-jihadist as she prodded 
and pushed Berg to take some kind of pleasure in Zarqawi's death. 
(http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/06/08/berg.interview/index.html) It 
was one of the more despicable public displays I've seen of late, 
necro-porn and tribal hatred passing as "journalism." Of course, O'Brien, 
being a pro, tried to shade her rancid opinions by pretending she was 
playing devil's advocate. But it was clear that O'Brien was expressing her 
personal feelings, and Berg, to his credit, forcefully but diplomatically 
shoved O'Brien's bile back down her throat. He was a lot more patient than 
I would've been, that's for sure.

While it's easy to mock O'Brien for her public embrace of death, she 
certainly didn't set the prevailing mood. When the US Government is waving 
graphic pix of a dead Zarqawi in front of any available camera, what a 
dopey TV host does is of no serious importance -- it's mere ideological 
backwash. Still, it does help to remind us that American elites, and some 
not so elite, are as barbarous and vengeful as those they say are 
uncivilized. I'm somewhat surprised that US military officials didn't sever 
Zarqawi's head, pack it in ice, ship it overnight to DC and have Rumsfeld 
or Tony Snow or some other administration figure hold it up by the hair and 
encourage the Beltway press corps to file by and spit on it. God knows 
Soledad O'Brien would've been first in line, just to prove her patriotism 
if nothing else. Hey, there's still time. Think of the ratings!

Zarqawi was a thug and a murderer, and if there's any awareness after 
death, he's probably chuckling to himself about how the infidels are 
stealing his act.

Dennis Perrin lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and can be reached through 
http://redstateson.blogspot.com



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