"jingo jingo propagando," or how the government manipulates public opinion via the media

the starbats are having a field day with the recent news about a direct hussein-bin laden link. however, now that the story's made the front page of virtually every newspaper in america, there's just an teensy-weensy problem: the memo is bullshit.

according to the DoD: "News reports that the Defense Department recently confirmed new information with respect to contacts between al Qaeda and Iraq in a letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee are inaccurate. [...] The classified annex was not an analysis of the substantive issue of the relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda, and it drew no conclusions."

the DoD's statement goes on to say that, "Individuals who leak or purport to leak classified information are doing serious harm to national security; such activity is deplorable and may be illegal."

gee, i wonder who's behind it. with the bush administration's popularity slipping, particularly on the iraq war, reconfirming the existence of an already disproven saddam/9-11 connection could save 'em a few points in the polls. is it just some coincidence then that the leading neoconservative and jingoistic magazine, the weekly standard (operated by neocon ideologue william kristol), was leaked this story? once fox got a hold of it, it was over. shit made the morning headlines, and boom, the link between saddam and osama was reestablished, even though it wasn't true. and now that we know conclusively that it's not... do you think you're going to see a frontpage retraction?

hah. not quite. they win again. millions of meatheads still think it's true. and the band played on.