Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

After the shock and awe air assault and ground troop occupation began in Iraq, Fox sent Oliver North there to make the case that all was well and the flowery scent of democracy was in the air.  While North high-fived with American troops he interviewed, singing the praises of the Cheney-Bush "liberation," it was significant to note that no footage was shown of the aerial destruction unleashed on Baghdad.

One network, Al-Jazeera, covered the war in the manner that CBS did in Vietnam.  It showed the destruction reeked by the "smart bombs" that Donald Rumsfeld assured Americans would fall only on Saddam Hussein's ranks and bypass Baghdad's citizenry.

Al-Jazeera's stark on the scene footage told a different story.  Some of Al-Jazeera's most gripping scenes showed doctors and paramedics rushing to treat men, women and children, the citizens of Baghdad, whose charred bodies were carried into badly overcrowded hospitals.

So what did the neoconservative regime in Washington do?  Al-Jazeera was promptly booted out of its Baghdad station.  The reason?  It was spouting propaganda.  The way was paved for more unchallenged "fair and balanced" objectivity from Fox News.  

While America continues to be bogged down in the Iraq quagmire and American forces lose their lives in a war launched on spurious propaganda and outright lies, Fox has jumped to the fore and aimed its war proactive spears at Iran.  

Who could be better served to make the case for war in Iran than reliable Rush Limbaugh protégé Sean Hannity?

Hannity is a member of the swollen ranks of neocons who never fought in a war but exhibit a type of steroid-pumped anxiety to send others into battle.  When I turned on my radio the other day I heard Hannity in sober tones warning of Iran's aggressive intentions, with driving Israel off the face of the earth as one of them, as he introduced neocon spokesperson Michael Ledeen.

Ledeen shared Hannity's concern over Iran.  It is interesting to note that Ledeen is a figure with links to the Iran-Contra scandal, giving him a natural connection to that nation.  He is also an admirer of Italian philosopher and political thinker Nicolo Machiavelli, whose prevailing philosophy boiled down to do whatever it takes to achieve and maintain power.

A more significant interview took place on Hannity's television show after former Tennessee U.S. Senator Fred Thompson announced his candidacy for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination on the Jay Leno Show, the same forum that fellow actor Arnold Schwarzenegger used before securing California's governorship in the successful recall of then Governor Gray Davis.

Hannity began focusing on Iran and its aggressive intentions as he led Thompson into the topic at hand.  Thompson began making the case that Iran was "killing Americans" in Iran.  He never mentioned that Iranians along with scores of angry young men from Arab nations were coalescing and risking their lives over what they believe to be an American effort to occupy the entire Middle East.

There were warnings of such a dedicated and unrelenting insurgency by none other than General Norman Schwarzkopf, the commander of Desert Storm in the 1991 Gulf War.  While veteran Middle East hands concurred their voices were ignored as the march to war in Iraq continued unabated.

One of the figures urgently urging conflict in Iraq was Fred Thompson, who made his case on Meet the Press while actor Mike Farrell urged caution and advocated allowing Hans Blix and his UN inspection team to finish its report on the critical issue of whether or not there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Thompson scoffed at such notions as actually waiting for the report of a UN inspection team when the moment of decision was at hand and America was imperiled by Saddam Hussein.  Toward the interview, when Farrell was making an impassioned plea for restraint before rushing into a war that would cost many lives on all sides, Thompson passionately interrupted.

Thompson soberly noted that France had recognized that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.  What he had not said was that France's concern was stated more in the form of a dangerous possibility and belief that Iraq possessed such a dangerous arsenal.  

Thompson also left unsaid the important fact that the French warning was issued years earlier when the claim was more plausible since Saddam Hussein's military capability had not been sharply reduced, as it ultimately would be, by international sanctions.

It would be truly informative to take footage and/or a transcript from Thompson's Fox appearance last week with Sean Hannity and compare it alongside the comparable footage and transcript from the Tennessean's earlier appearance with Tim Russert on Meet the Press not long before the first attack was launched on Baghdad by U.S. aerial forces.

Thompson's Hannity appearance and vigilant anti-Iran comments are no surprise.  Readers of this column will note that a short time back I predicted that Thompson would formally announce for the presidency and become the neocon favorite.  As the latest in the series of Republican actors he will be heralded as a "just plain folks citizen politician."

Fred Thompson stands in the pantheon of former actors who knew how to follow a script and were embraced by the Republican high command as a result.  His predecessors both served as California governors and one became a two term president.  They are, of course, Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger.