[+/-] America burns as the media fiddles

If you looked at the RNC delegates closely last night you could see some of them wearing bandages with purple hearts drawn on them. This was an inexusable act of mockery to anyone that has ever been in uniform.

More than 3,700 purple hearts have been issued during the Iraq war so far, and of course none of us know how high that number will climb. What ever happened to "support our troops?"

This story is being reported on both CNN and MSNBC, and therein lies the problem: the media are reporting this like news, rather than condemning the spectacle as another Rovian political ploy. This is the same news media that has engaged in the Kerry mudfest. The same news media that refused, for more than three years, to report the documented absence of George Bush from National Guard duty.

In the likely case that you, like most Americans, were distracted by the "Swift Boats" crap last week, here's what you missed:

• Six American soldiers died within a 24 hour period in Iraq
• Nearly 100 prominent Muslims called on followers around the world to support resistance to American forces in Iraq and the government installed in June
• The secretary-general of al-Irshad and al-Fatwa Association in Iraq accused world media of colluding with US-led occupation forces in imposing a media blackout on Iraqi resistance operations
• The coach of the Iraqi Olympic Soccer team spoke out against the occupation of his country, and harshly criticized George Bush for using Iraq and Afghanistan in his election ads
• July job figures showed a drop in payroll jobs in 22 states
• George Bush refused to extend the ban on assault weapons, which will expire next month
• The three companies that certify the nation's voting technologies operated in secrecy, and refused to discuss flaws in the ATM-like machines to be used by nearly one in three voters in November
• At least $8.8 billion in Iraqi funds that was given to Iraqi ministries by the former U.S.-led authority there cannot be accounted for, according to a draft U.S. audit
• Pollution threatens life in southern Iraq - Puddles of sewage water, piles of garbage and contaminated water channels are seen all over the southern cities of Iraq
• The US was accused by Palestinian leaders of destroying hopes for peace in the Middle East by giving its covert support to Israel's expansion of controversial settlements in the West Bank
• American military doctors have been accused of condoning the torture of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib
• A UN human rights expert criticized U.S. military authorities in Afghanistan for barring him from visiting detention centers, and he described one Kabul prison he did visit as "inhuman."

Be sure to watch for more media shenanigans this week to cover up continued bad news on Iraq and the economy.