I absolutely was appalled when I saw Kyra's report on CNN. After she related Harry Reid's view about the state of the war, she snarkily said (I'm not quoting verbatim): "How would he know? When was he last here? I've been here and I see signs of progress." Give me a break, Kyra. How long have YOU been there? A couple of weeks? I'll take Michael Ware's word for how bad things are in Iraq, not yours, Kyra.

She's still peeved from when Nancy Pelosi took her to school in an interview and called her (rather delishly) "Keeeera" which ruffled Kyra's feathers.

Security Code: Keeeeera.

Hey Kyra--it is the chimperer who defined the terms. He is the one saying we can win and will win.
he is defining it in those terms.

Funny, I've never seen Kyra Phillips do anything more than personal interest stories since she's been there. SHe still pours the makeup on but at least she's not constantly giggling anymore.

Isn't Kyra the same person that was caught being catty because someone at CNN forgot to turn off her mike as she went to the bathroom?

Joe Klein's conscience, yes.

She bagged on her sister in-law.

Security Code: Turn off your mike when you take a leak.

Is anyone really suprised by this carp? Keeeeeeeera is a green zone shill, third tier intellect and administration apologist and always will be. Duh.

She says something like "An interesting comment came from the Iraqi defense minister who said we will be winning this war when the Iraqi Army is able to stand on its own." Other comments Ms. Phillips found "interesting": Water is wet. Fire burns. What goes up must come down. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. And so on. I don't mean to pick on what was a particularly stupid statement in an already stupid piece, but we've been hearing that stuff about "Standing down when the Iraqis stand up" for four years, and now it's "interesting"? To me, it indicates how mentally slovenly Ms. Phillips is.

Better discouraged and home safe than optimistic and home in a body bag.

It's definitely irresponsible. But more than that, it's talking airheads, which is why I don't watch TV news coverage anymore.

Joe Klein's conscience: Yup. She was being catty about her sister-in-law being a very controlling person. Looks like Kyra's brother (or husband?- don't know if sister-in-law is Kyra's brother's wife or her husband's sister) sent her to Iraq.

What's really sad is that while waiting for an appointment yesterday (Friday 4/20) I caught two full cycles of CNN Headline news. They did not at all mention Gonzales' hearing the prior day, much less his performance therein.

Despite twice seeing the Alec Baldwin phone message story, CNN HN did not cover the President's bizarre statement regarding Gonzales and his really bizarre performance at Tippecanoe High school in Ohio Thursday. I would think the troops should really be discouraged at what the President's been saying.

Personally, I think the fact that CNN is parroting GOP talking points is discouraging the troops.

Who hires these bubbleheads for CNN, aka Fox Lite?
I suspect these Keerah types have other talents beside reading what's written for them. She's definitely sitting on her greatest talent.

And, a friggin' PFC has a better understanding of the war in Iraq than this twit will ever have.

once a tool, always a tool.

"An interesting comment came from the Iraqi defense minister who said we will be winning this war when the Iraqi Army is able to stand on its own."

Oh really, Kyra?

Training Iraqi troops no longer driving force in U.S. policy
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/17104704.htm
By Nancy A. Youssef
McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON - Military planners have abandoned the idea that standing up Iraqi troops will enable American soldiers to start coming home soon and now believe that U.S. troops will have to defeat the insurgents and secure control of troubled provinces.

Training Iraqi troops, which had been the cornerstone of the Bush administration's Iraq policy since 2005, has dropped in priority, officials in Baghdad and Washington said.

No change has been announced, and a Pentagon spokesman, Col. Gary Keck, said training Iraqis remains important. "We are just adding another leg to our mission," Keck said, referring to the greater U.S. role in establishing security that new troops arriving in Iraq will undertake.

But evidence has been building for months that training Iraqi troops is no longer the focus of U.S. policy. Pentagon officials said they know of no new training resources that have been included in U.S. plans to dispatch 28,000 additional troops to Iraq. The officials spoke only on the condition of anonymity because they aren't authorized to discuss the policy shift publicly. Defense Secretary Robert Gates made no public mention of training Iraqi troops on Thursday during a visit to Iraq.

Kyra, thank you -- we so desperately need another media whore providing a pack of criminals with justification for their behavior in the public mind.

Code = expert

In case the snark wasn't clear, we need Kyra Phillips' Rethug-flavored "facts" like we need an invasion of yet another Middle Eastern country.

Not long ago I read a list of beltway, administration and former appointees and media types who were married to each other I don't know where Kyra fits in, but if she is at CNN there has to be some association. Is CNN's Baghdad reporter Richard Engle? He is the one I would listen to when it comes to Baghdad reporting. They were all willing to report a lovely day for shopping in Baghdad until Engle(?) pissed in their Wheaties. It is a shame we can't get the truth when news readers are talking without personal or water carrying editorializing. Petraeus took this job knowing he was shoveling crap against the tide and said there were no guarantees. He is at the top and he only hears what the colonels tell hiim. The bad news never reaches the top until to late. It's that way in any managerial ladder. The top never wants to hear bad news. He'll get his star and step down or retire. Just like a dozen or more before him. I only wish they had spoken up when it would have carried more weight. Like Shinseki(?) the guy WOLFOWICZ fired because he told them their war plan was bogus. Who was right?

These are some of the people the neocons have freed from Saddam's dictatorship:

Syria: 1,200,000
Jordan: 750,000
Gulf states: 200,000
Egypt: 100,000
Iran: 54,000
Lebanon: 40,000
Turkey: 10,000
Internally displaced: 1,900,000
Source: UNHCR

How many Iraqi refugees has Bush brought to the USA, to Texas, to Crawford?

One person's thoughts:

Mr. Reid is wrong. The "war" in Iraq has met its avowed goals, therefore it has been won.

1. WMDs and the nuclear program have been destroyed. That was easy since they didn't exist.
2. Saddam has been overthrown and executed. The Baathist government has been destroyed.
3. A democratic government has been imposed upon the people of Iraq. It is not the fault of the USA if the Iraqi's can't make it work.

What is being lost is the ability of the occupation forces to control the actions of anti-occupation dissidents in Iraq. In the past, resistance to occupying forces has been seen as patriotic and heroic. What makes these efforts different now?

The war has been won. The occupation is of questionable legality. If we leave, then we are recognizing that our aims have been met, that our occupation is a driving force for patriotic action by resistance forces.

The only thing that will lost by removing "coalition" forces is the gift of Iraqi oil to certain BFF of the neo-cons.

According to IMDB, Kyra Phillips is married to John Assad, whoever that is.

The idea that the TV news outlets aren't properly doing their jobs, and that if we point out an error they are sure to be more careful next time, is a MYTH that we need to get past.

To inform CNN that they're toeing the GOP line is as useful as informing a prostitute that s/he has sex for money.

It. It. What. They. Do. It's their raison d'etre.

TeeVee talking heads keep progressives down at the behest of their corporate masters. No letter-writing campaign will ever change that basic fact.

.

The last third of the tape was Kyra NOT answering the question about whether or not Reid's statement was affecting the morale of the troops.

She didn't answer the question because:

A. she's never been able to get close enough to anyone who's actually been in the shit to ask them,

B. she hasn't liked the answers she's gotten from those she's asked,

C. the brass she schmoozes with asked her not to report on what she's heard, or

D. she hasn't a clue what real journalism is.

SECURITY CODE: screw - as in "Screw you!" - as in Duhhbya's attitude to those not pledged to his Crusade.

.

We now go to Kyra Phillips, live in the north Atlantic. Kyra?

'Where does Reid get off saying that the ship is sinking? I talked to the local representatives of the White Star line, and they assured me the ship is unsinkable. Not only that, but the string quartet is playing some quite lovely pieces. Also, the deck chairs have been arranged very well. You know, Don, it's interesting, you hear Reid making such a blanket statement, but where I'm standing there is no water, and I've been reliably informed that the people running for the life boats are very discouraging to the sailors and officers here on the Titanic.'

Earth to Kyra:
Reality Bites. Suck it up

Since when has CNN allowed Kyra Phillips to give editorials? I couldn't care less about what Ms. Phillips feels about this war. CNN fails to mention that the majority of US citizens want this war to end. I have watched CNN for several years. That has now come to an end. They are too "Bushie" for me now. And of course they get rid of their really good anchors. The new gal from Fox they have now can't even give a report without saying "uh" between each word. Enuff!

This woman and women like her are opportunistic.They will say what they think gives them the best chance of becoming cabal`s "Katie Couric."I wish her the best in her future career,but have no interest in participating in it.That`s why I canceled cabal,and that`s why it will stay canceled.

it's obvious why cnn would send this lightweight daytime anchorette to baghdad to spout ideas spoon-fed to her by the u.s. military. she has a history of cosiness with the brass. i recall not long ago seeing her do a story in which she suited up a la "mission accomplished" bush and rode in a military jet for a story, she was appropriately wowed by the jet fighter's tricks. now she is best buds in b-dad with gen. petraeus. her existence there is inside the green zone, and she ends up reporting GOP talking points. that made her well qualified to solve the unexpected problem that arose a month or so ago cnn's excellent war correspondent michael ware, the always unshaven australian who has been living in b-dad for a long while, was excoriated by the right wing noise machine for challenging john mccain's ridiculous assertions that things are just marvelous in iraq. the coordinated attack (with drudge's help) on ware preceded cnn's cynical move to "balance" its coverage with moronic Kyra pushing administration blather. it's all designed to keep conservatives on board, folks. and michael ware has been out of sight for awhile too. hmmmmmmm. ya think?

Uh, didn't Bush himself say that we couldn't win this war?

Matt Lauer: You said to me a second ago, one of the things you'll lay out in your vision for the next four years is how to go about winning the war on terror. That phrase strikes me a little bit. Do you really think we can win this war on terror in the next four years?

President Bush: I have never said we can win it in four years.

Lauer: So I’m just saying can we win it? Do you see that?

President Bush: I don’t think you can win it.

If Bush's comment didn't demoralize the troops, why should Reid's statement do so?

He's saying to them "you did your job, it's gotten us as far as it can get us, rather than keep you there until you've achieved the impossible, we're going to send you home and we're gonna get it done through non-military means."

Beats the heck out of Bush's plan, which seems to be "stay there and keep getting shot at & dying, until a miracle happens."

The whole Imus affair showed the way forward as far as making changes in big media: advertiser boycotts. Of course CNN would make a big show of, "We're not going to be pushed into not doing right-wing coverage by a bunch of radical leftists dumping our advertisers." But quietly, when you take away the money, the coverage gets better.

What, you think the 30% dead-enders are going to fight back economically? They're already supporting the Fox News economy; why the hell would they care what "liberal" CNN does or doesn't do?

"Anybody else find this coverage to be appallingly weak and irresponsible?"

No, it wasn't that good.

I quit watching commercial news for the reasons mentioned above. These overpaid haircuts/dos may as well phone in their so-called 'reports' since absolutely no empirical evidence is gathered from the news venue to support the blathering that takes place on the air.

It's all depressing since there is no end in sight for the liars and crooks in office and the so-called 'watchdogs of the media' who enable the charade to continue.

It never ceases to amaze me that the press and commenters fail to refer to the fact that Petraeus' first responsibility in Iraq was the training of the Iraqi troops. You know- the ones who will let the US stand down when the Iraqi's are ready to stand up.

wstander, I think it's just presumed that in a kakistocracy, Petraeus wouldn't have been promoted if he'd shown competence in the previous gig.

I wish there were a mirror image of the Peter Principle, whereby the incompetent would keep getting promoted until they found a job that magically constituted a good fit. But somehow I don't think it works like that.

I gave up Fox, Time, Newsweek, MSNBC long, long time ago for sucking up to the Busheviks and rethugs. They are essentially house organs for the GOP.
I think it's time to drop CNN, too, and use the net for my news.
When the history of our time is written, guys like Josh,kos and a few others will have a few pages all to themselves.

Why can't we just declare victory, and get the soldiers out of there? If the Iraqis ever sign the oil sharing agreement, which gives 80% of their oil to US companies, that's what the the conservatives will do. That was their plan, but the Iraqis are too smart to be snaked out of their oil. I knew when those legacies in the Bush Crime Family went up against the civilization that created math, algebra, etc. it wasn't going to be a fair fight.

People are saying Harry should have not used the word "lost".
I say the word he shouldn't have used is "war".

This is not a war, never has been.

War = a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation; warfare, as by land, sea, or air.

Who are we at war WITH? The army of Iraq? No.

We illegally invaded a country that had not attacked us, that had not threatened to attack us, had no WMD, had no connection to 9/11, had no connection to Osama bin Laden.

Since it was an ILLEGAL invasion and occupation, what Reid SHOULD have said was:

"There is no winning an illegal invasion and occupation. Talk of "losing" has no meaning if there is no possibility of winning. We need to END the occupation and support the troops by bring them home."

That's what he SHOULD have said.

You know, the funny thing about these morons is, I happen to know a fair number of guys who have been in Iraq/are in Iraq, and more of them are discouraged by George Bush and his gaggle of incompetents to put them there, than they are anyone trying to get the situation solved.

But then, CNN now stands for Cretin's News Network, so why would anyone be surprised by anything any of those droolers manage to say?

"Look, given CNN's abysmal coverage of the bogus Pelosi-to-Syria story, you'd think CNN would be trying a little harder this time to avoid complete capitulation to the White House/GOP spin on this story..."

You shouldn't be suprised. These words came out of the same mouth that used to have Rush Limbaugh's dick in it.

We all need to write short notes to these hacks everytime they broadcast LIES and/or omissions on OUR airwaves letting them know WE KNOW they're liars. In nice language, I guess...

Media Matters has plenty of information on this to point out their omission of Senator Reid's full statement.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200704200012

~~~~~

kyra.phillips@turner.com

Be sure to CC:

Rick David
Title: Executive Vice President - CNN News Standards, Practices
Department: Headquarters
E-mail: rick.davis@turner.com

Eason Jordan -- CNN News Group
Title: Executive Vice President; Chief News Executive
Department: Headquarters
E-mail: cnnfutures@cnn.com

~ OR ~

Use their webform:

http://www.cnn.com/feedback/cnntv/

Before the Iraq invasion even began, and Scott Ritter, one of the weapons inspectors in Iraq, was trying desparately to convince people that there were no WMD in Iraq, Keeeeeera was interviewing about those views on CNN. She treated him as if he were the village dunce and she was the school marm. Her total lack of respect for him and what he had been doing was the first time I realized that Keeeeeeera was primarily a GOP shill. Nothing has changed for the better since then. As far as CNN goes, it is a good place to go to admire some really fine looking women news anchors. (Best done, of course, with the sound turned off.)

Oh good. I always enjoy confirmation that canceling Dish Network a year ago and hardly ever turning my TV on is a good move. CNN is what broke my back. The blogosphere is what opened my eyes. I was a tv addict since the very beginning; all the original fare as I grew up in the 50's and 60's. TV was my religion and I'd never believe anyone who told me I'd relinquish it entirely. Much easier to do than I thought. I've been down to just Letterman recently and his monologues have so much Karl spin lately that I even find myself turning off Dave.

Just Operation Mockingbird in action once again . . . FOX may =FAUX but CNN=CIA just like the rest of the phoney US mainstream media, bought and paid for by corporate america and its supporting "intelligence" agencies . . .

Sadly, Ted Turner must cringe with each day that the engine he created for free speach has been overtaken by neo-cons . . . we cringe . . . Colin Powell cringes that his spawn did this (as a part of the neo-con consolidation of speach). . . with you.

Media consolidation, or the desire for it, directly attributes to the media silence on the War against Terror. Media mogals, so fearful that their consolidation ambitions would be thwarted, silenced their critics . . . journalists, who should have quit. Enough shame to go around.

We must remember that one of the first scandals of BushCo. was the revelation that they were paying journalists/commentators for their support.
How'd that turn out anyway? Did they find out how many depts. were paying for positive press?
Anyone get arrested?
Indicted?
Convicted?
Hmmm

I posted that yesterday on TPM Cafe:

http://electioncentral.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral/2007/apr/20/flashback_joint_chiefs_member_during_gulf_war_agrees_with_reid_said_iraq_wars_lost#comment-236723

On April 20, 2007 - 2:02pm NJ Lawyer said:

According to Kyra Phillips, Reid's words aren't helping the morale of our troops. How does she know that? She didn't say.

As long as people respond to the media quacks, whether positively or negatively, their ratings keep them in position.

There is only one way to silence these clowns, do not respond to them, and pretend you do not know who they are when they are cited. Bring down their popular capital that keeps them in position.

It's as simple as that. Nothing useful is accomplished in trying to "reform" the media providers. The only thing they understand as detrimental to their advertising capital is silence.

This Kyra person has no credentials that would entice me to believe her capable of rendering anything useful in the way of assessments of the war.

That was Daryn Kagan, another former CNN four star clown, who was Limbaugh's girlfriend for a while. Not to be confused with the three star buffoon Kyra Phillips.

I saw this when it was live

Of course, Keeeeera was standing on top of that hotel building in the green zone that most of the journalists use. Probably didn't want to wake up the 100 soldiers and five gunshipos necessary for her to to take us out there in the city.

And when her stand-up was done, the stateside CNN anchor thanked her profusely for risking her life to cover Iraq, and prayed that she would return safe.

I quit getting any of my news from CNN about a month ago after spending a few minutes listening to their clown Glen Beck go on and on about how the Dems are wasting precious time and attention pursuing the fired USA scandal while the country is a war. Giving the doltish Beck so much airtime for disinformation and being serious about the news business are antithetical.

Kyra has been on board from the beginning. Remember when she was reporting from the deck of the aircraft carrier as the shock and awe began? She was very cute and got a lot of attention from the pilots.

Nothing has changed that I can tell.

The Pentagon hired a PR firm this year. Why the hell would a government agency need a PR firm? Clearly, the spin they muster doesn't pass.

Question, why should tax dollars be spent spinning the relevance of 3K+ (forgive me) American lives?

I worry about Harry Reid's morale when such twits as whoever she is try to bean him for speaking the truth.
The soldier has a lot more to look out for than his morale. He has to look out for his arse and those of his comrades. The Bravest Morale can go to hell real quick when an IED hits.

Who can be surprised that the mouthpieces of the corporate media do their jobs faithfully?

The so-called "journalists" that we see on the airwaves are almost entirely the dumbest, most vain and the biggest climbers of the J-school students in the past generation. The love their celebrity and their paycheck and their fabulous worlds in DC and New York. It is much easier to start repeating that 2 plus 2 equals five than it is to insist on the truth in the face of relentless lies. Has anyone seen the Matrix? Well Missy Khyra is just like that turncoat rebel who decides he would rather enjoy the fantasy steak the Matrix gives him than to be real and conscious and alive. The only answer to this kind of journalism by and for the powerful is to break up the media giants forever, reinstate the fairness doctrine and support truth in journalism such at TPM.

Clearly, Kyra's putting together an audition reel for Fox News.

Her nasty bathroom comments caught on the air were a nice insight into the kind of woman we're dealing with here.

Well said Cleeb

Consolidation of the media is a good topic of discussion . . . hopefully, someone rather than me will take on. Michael Powell did a really effective job of breaking barriers to consolidation. Because it was such a lucrative course of action, all medoa owners got on boatd. Anyone who doesn't believe media mogels didn't get on board and silende opposition to the Bush "vision" is blind, couldn't give a damn about the Coostitution and has no business in the business of free speech, otherwise known as journalism.

FYI, Briton has a law that the media must be truthful - report the facts - umder Bush pressure, Tony Blair has tried to have that law amended.

Go Dubya!

Kyra, rememeber, is the same bint who wanted to ask the little guy who got his arms and legs blown off if he understood the importance of Operation Iraqi Freedom. So maybe if she gets her own arms and legs blown off someone can ask her the same quesiton.

let's not forget that cnn is the home of michael ware, an aggressive, confrontational journalist whose reports have been very blunt, dour and reality-based. kyra's role, i think, is not to turn cnn into fox but rather to provide a semblance of "balance."

what's telling is that such "balance" can only be achieved by using reports assembled by an unqualified news reader instead of a real reporter. if cnn wanted to achieve "balance" through legitimate, well-sourced and documented reporting, that would be completely different. kyra provides unsubstantiated assertion, much like our government and fox, and that is a shame.

Interesting...She said the Iraq Defense Minister say winning is when the Iraqi Defense Minister can stand up on there own. Too bad we have decided to throw in the towel and stop training them.

Do these reporters even listen to themselves?

This 2 step is really getting old...

Regardless of what Bush says or Reid says or some damned ass kissing general, the troops know what the truth is and how the war is going. And I'd bet if you asked them privately, Bush would be a liar.

You don't have to be a blind conservative not to see it, just an ignorant one to deny it.

Correction: Only the BBC must report the truth

It's a public entity (supported by tax payors). Still, "Why?" Why has Bush pussured a foreign goov't to promote his agenda, and why should journalists be mandated to lie?

(By the way, you journalists, what else aren't you reporting? The curtain's about to tall. Do you really want to be exposed as Oz?)

Let's export that. Good job dubya.

WTH? Why are so-called journalist telling Americans this lying shit?

Murdock sez, trash Dems with full out lies. NOT facts required.

And then insist that CNN is liberal - It's NOT a liberal not any more that FOX (FAUX) news.
Why is CNN lying?

Ouch. I type horribly Sorry.

I find it more than weak. Appallingly irresponsible is also an understatement. The MSM are the enemies of the progressive left and of American democracy. The coverage has been too far wrong and too far biased against us and our presidential candidates to come to any other conclusion.

Kyra Philips is cute but dumb. What the hell is she doing in Iraq, anyway? She should stick to giggly, flirtatious interviews of popular movie stars, she's better at that.

George,

Remember that night when you were hitting on me at the Anatole? Me in black dress, you just looking blue? You were right, poor Laura. (failed to realize, black & blue) Christianity
is a wonderful thing.

I should have saved it. Apparently, you can't get impeached for less.

When do you ever recall hearing a CNN reporter go to such great lengths to defend a Democrat who was under attack and to go on at length trying to put their statements in a strained context all for the purpose of crediting one side in a political debate over the other?

Phillips' argument is like saying you can't tell whether someone is winning or losing a presidential election because there are some states where they're winning and some where thet're losing. Ok Kyra, but when you add it all up how does it look, you stupid fucking media whore?

Its also incredible that she thinks she know more about what's going on than the Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate because she's toured a few neighborhoods with the Pentagon PR Department. Kyra, you street smart journalist you, you don't know jack shit from being in Iraq. Given how stupid and credulous you media whores have been for the last 6 years (at least) the odds are much better that you have been hoodwinked by image conscious Pentagon PR flaks. But we wouldn't expect a news bimbo to figure that out or to have learned from past mistakes.

Media consolidation is truly the issue here. In an informal, but rigorous study, in 1997, there were more than 150 program providers; in 2003, less than five.

If anyone wants to get their message out, they have five or less outlets. If one of those five doesn't like your message, you've got four. Chances are if one doesn't the rest won't.

We need the "Fairness Doctrine" legislated.

We need to hear all voices. Recognize that like water and air, communications systems are public domain. PUBLIC DOMAIN . . .

And now "Reporting" live from the Green Zone...Kyra (I got an opinion) Phillips! My Kyra you are looking feshley washed.

Keeeraah Billips is just a WH mouthpiece who works for a GOP tabloid (CNN) so why should we care. I mean we never bother with FNN (Facist News Network "Fox New Network") so why care what these guys have to say. I watch CNN for shits and giggles because watching them is like reading People magazine or for that matter like eating salad. Makes crap a little more compact and easier to pass. Our mind needs salad too : ))

This Ms Keeeera on camera looks like she just had a good screw...straggly hair and no makeup, but wearing no flak gear so she must be in the green zone. Obviously, she's not cruising any markets.

In Vietnam 40 years ago I distinctly remember that we knew we weren't winning and the situation today is little differnt. I can't say I knew anyone at the time that was delusional about the problems we faced. At least not among the enlisted (draftees) like myself. The similarities to today are inescapable. Our troops in Iraq clean up one location where things have gotten out of control only to find themselves back in the same place again a few months later. It's like going back in time those 40 years and reliving the same thing all over again. Right down to the generals painting a false picture of things with the U.S. civilian leadership believing it. This in spite of the escalation in attacks etc. Vietnam was a fuck up and Iraq is a fuck up. Problem is Bush and others at the top are more concerned about their sorry asses and keeping power than they are with Americans dying. SSDD.

This is what Rep. Patrick Murphy, Iraq war vet, had to say on the floor of the House yesterday:

P.S. to my previous comment. These are the words of Rep. Patrick Murphy, Iraq war vet, from the floor of the House yesterday. I believe he knows more facts that you do:
Rep. Patrick Murphy:
“At 6:12 AM this morning I got an email from Iraq, it was from a former cadet that I got to know, who lost his brother on 9/11. And he said to me, he said, ’sir, this is the first time I’ve ever written ya, but I want you to know there are legions, legions of junior officers, company commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan and all over this country that are watching you, that are watching this 110th Congress and that are saying thank God somebody is standing up and speaking truth to power.’”

reinstate the fairness doctrine

I'm tempted to go find an ObWi post on why that's a horrid, horrid idea, but it boils down to this: Who's to determine which two "sides" of an issue are the legitimate ones?

As I said above, consumer discipline through boycotts (not to mention - gasp! -- educating people to turn the damn channel or turn the TV off) is a far better solution.

My son is in the Army, currently deployed in Iraq and serving in Ramadi. I would be very surprised if he even knows who Harry Reid is, let alone has heard of his remarks. I have asked him before if anti-war sentiments at home influence their moral and he says no. According to him they are concerned that no one cares about them or what they are doing, as long as it is respected differences of opinion about the war are irrelevent. He also says that they are mostly worried about surviving each mission with no deaths or injuries and trying just to come home alive. I do know what is bad for moral, though. The news that his deployment has beene extended and he will come home in November, instead of August.

I'm not surprised by Kyra Phillips' behavior anymore. In 2005 she interviewed then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who became so exasperated with Phillips' thinly-veiled political insinuations that she turned on her interviewer, telling her in no uncertain terms -- but very politely, as is Pelosi's style -- to apply for a job in the White House, if all she was going to do was mindlessly recite the GOP's talking points du jour.

CNN, to its credit, aired that unflattering footage of Phillips. Perhaps her own producer covertly finds her as shallow and vacuous as the rest of us.

But personally, I think Kyra Phillips' most memorable on-air moment came when she thought she was off the air, forgetting to turn off her mic while visiting the loo; CNN viewers were treated to the Live sounds of her sitting on the throne, peeing, while simultaneously dishing the dirt on her own sister-in-law to a co-worker.

This dispute is remarkably easy to resolve. Just take a poll of the troops and ask them which they would find more discouraging: a decision to end the war next year or a decision to surge until Iraq has a stable democracy.

Please permit me to make a correction to my comment previously, I named Richard Engle as the CNN Iraq Correspondent when I wanted to name Michael Ware. Engle is NBC.

Want to hear the Princess and the Pee(ing) for yourself? Here's the link:

http://hotair.com/archives/2006/08/29/potty-break-mic-snafu-cnns-phillips-chats-in-the-loo-during-bush-speech/

SC: basin. I swear that I am **not** making that up.

Carol H

God bless you, your son and his bunker buds. This is aweful. We prey that they be safe.

Dem Congress needs to pass fairness law. Make the likes of Conservative News Network pay heafty fines for not giving true Democratic points of view along with right wing wack view.

code "bent" as, until Dems get bent and call Republicon's liars AND more importantly be able to explain clearly on air nothing will change.

If things were going well in Iraq, the troops would say things like "WTF does he know?" and "Thenn he'll be real surprised when we win!" and they'd have a good laugh.

If things were a disaster, they'd say things like "Maybe if they impeach the brush-clearing [nincompoop] we might be getting out of here and "Somebody gets it."

The only way Kyra's theory works is if they're crouched over a little light and crying "Tinkerba'al is dying! Clsp Louder, Senator Reid! Oh please, clap louder!"

We must have the strangest army in the world: the best armed, best supplied, most highly trained professional armed force in the Solar System--and they proceed to lose a war because everybody's not cheering loudly enough.

It's about as insulting a picture of our troops as it's possible to make.

After reading all the comments, I watched the piece thinking I was going to see Kyra's head do a 360--turned out to not be that bad a piece actually, though she is getting a surprisingly long editorial leash.

I would suspect she is falling into the same trap that most all of the journalists fall into when they go into a war zone--they are dazzled by rank and end up talking almost exclusively to the Generals. She should talk off the record to folk several levels down.

-Archie

Jason,

The Fairness Doctrine was fairly written into law by the SCOTUS until the Bushies decided that it didn't support their agenda. What their agenga was/is is still up for debate; the Fairness Doctrine is not. Through out history, as new tech has emerged, the SOCTUS as well as adms have viewed the public's right to free speech, & transpatency with fear. . . . the lcak thereof is apparently/obviously Bush's Goal.

Recall: The only thing we have to fear is fear its self - Bush being the poster-child for fear.

The buck stops here: I can't recall

and . . Ben Franklin: (paraphrased) what we aim to create is not a monarchy, but a republic, if such a form of government can endure.

With regard to the latter, that's my take, correct me. Nonetheless, per wit of an idiot, the republic seems in jeapordy.

Maybe CNN should adopt that as its tagline: "CNN: Weak and Irresponsible."

Carol H made the most germane comment so far. It also helped bring home to me just how much of this "discouraging the troops" noise is not about the actual troops at all.

"weak and irresponsible"? No. It's powerful and deliberate. For the most part, the press functions as the party organ for the mainstream political class. Pick any subject where the interests of that class diverge from the general public; you will find the press functioning that way, defining the terms of discussion, what's acceptable, etc....

More media consolidation, anyone?

She's channeling George Bush...a George Bush who can speak in whole, coherent sentences. But nonetheless, wrong, dead wrong.
Her reference to hopes for the Iraqi Army? My God, even our own commanders are now quoted as having officialy given up on the idea of training an Iraqi Army. These attractive CNN women with the good hand movements (note all the female anchors now incorporate hand chops and movements in their stories..WTHF?) signify the complete end of any form of journalism at CNN...arguably they are worse than Fox News now. My advice: do not watch CNN anymore, tune them out before the next killer of JonBenet is trailed 24/7 by their cameras.

hmmm...CNN -

Covering No News??

Covering Nearly Nothing??

Clearly Not Necessary - yeah, that's it!

This manic bitch has RW LOON written all over her. As if she knew what was going on in Iraq just by camping out in the green zone and parroting the administration's talking points. Why doesn't she just go out (without a heavy military escort) and show us first-hand all these areas she's talking about, where all this real progress is being made, and where the war is being won? Isn't that her job? These cowardly bitch reporters who aren't afraid to waste other people's blood, really hand me a laugh.

from a stateside reporter's perspective, there were so many things wrong with KP's performance it hurt. just one obvious trapdoor she fell through involved the Iraqi military official who she said told her that "we" would be winning the war once (and I'm paraphrasing from memory) the Iraqi army was able to take over. Did she ask him how close a prospect he thought that was? If it's not happening now -- does that then mean "we're" losing the war still. etc. etc. why bother watching -- except to understand what people who believe that crap are basing their opinions on? jesus, how dismal can it get.

It's really goofy watching Kyra sooooo animated, excited as a kid on his 1st trip to Disneyland.
She's just so happy being there(you know Iraq), hanging out with Bush's boy Peteras and talking to the "troops". I mean was she trained as a journalist, does she question the made-for-TV optimism or the troops being "discouraged" talking points? I guess what I'm trying not to say, is she really that stupid? It's a SNL skit trying to be taken seriously.

She doesn't try in the slightest to hide how enamored she is with the Baghdad pep squad. I'm surprised she wasn't waving pom-poms in the air.

Fox Lite, anyone? CNN is totally suck now.

If the topic were sports, Kyra would be called a jockstrap sniffer. She's imfatuated with all things military. Yesterday when the Blue Angel went down they put Kyra on with totally pointless comments about her ride in an F-18. Guess she's a combat boot sniffer.

I suppose I could easily criticize Kyra Phillips for her obviously sloppy, slanted and opinionated reporting but—instead—I'll just let her words speak for themselves:

“You have to be calm, think about everything you say, have that attention to detail and watch your questions carefully,” she says. “You really have to think before you speak.”

Those words were attributed to Kyra Phillips in an interview with Atlanta Constitutional Journal reporter Michelle Hiskey, in an article which is no longer available on line.

Uh, huh. Whatever you say, Kyra.

And, as a Vietnam-era Army veteran with five years of active service and ten more in the active reserve components, with assignments to the Military Police, Military Intelligence and Civil Affairs branches, let me simply say this about the underlying argument:

We are engaged in an occupation. One does not 'win' an occupation, one disengages from it. The invasion and occupation of Iraq was poorly planned and foolhardy at best, and quite clearly based upon twisted, unfounded claims, if not outright lies.

Unfortunately, Senator Reid is quite correct: this 'war' was 'lost' before it was even started, and the sooner we come to terms with that and disengage, the better off we—and, likely the Iraqi nation—will be. The US Senate and US House of Representatives should fund only an organized withdrawal and disengagement from Iraq, before what little is left of the US Army and the US Marine Corps are destroyed.

So what did happen to Michael Ware? Was it his honest challenge to Macho McCain's contention that he could easily enjoy a carefree stroll through the quiet streets of Bagdad? He's the only reporter CNN has(had?)over there who spoke the truth. Is this snarky 'bubblehead' his replacement? I have noticed that we're seeing less and less of Mr. Ware since he infuriated 'Bomb, Bomb' John, who promtly had to show America that even though he's a 'Bush-hugger'he still has a pair.

I am another ex Cnn watcher. It became so stressful to watch as I counted the Republican talking points on any given day that I thought I'd give my health a break. I read conservative sources just to see what they are up to and for occasional good points (not on social conservatism or ethics, though). The majority of my time is spend winding through many moderate and liberal sources, hopefully coming to a sort of a true version of truth....hopefully.

This is what comes from using the Republican talking points - "We are at war in Iraq."

The war was won when George Bush claimed "Mission Accomplished" after he landed on that aircraft carrier.

What the USA has in Iraq is an occupation. If it would be referred to as an occupation, this argument would take on a completely different tone.

We need to respond with similar media. Here is a brief video commenting on K Phillips' unfortunate emissions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOUsew68w04

Apparently, ratings go down when you report the truth, namely that the war most certainly IS lost if we continue to do what Bush is doing and wants to continue doing.

It's also rather confusing to some of our nation's more telegenic reporters and hard for them to understand the many reasons why that is true and why reporting that truth is factual rather than partisan (Colbert: facts and their liberal bias!).

It's very easy to get comments and report that the GOP will say mean things about Harry Reid, regardless of the truth of what he has said or the lack of coherence of the GOP position.

For my money, Reid has been a very effective leader for the Dems.

While IMing one of my military friends last week, practically the first thing he asked me was: "Will you or one of your friends give the prez a blow job so he can be impeached?" I would gladly sacrifice, take one for the team, be a martyr for the cause, if I thought the ploy would succeed. The troops are already demoralized knowing that their CoC is a delusional, drunk, drugged-out, dumb nitwit! By the way, my friend will be leaving stateside to go back to Iraq for his 3rd tour of duty there. He has wife and children, siblings and cousins, and many cherished friends, all of whom support him 100%!

CNN is a joke, as inadequate as a news source as FOX news. Lou Dobbs is an annoying reactionary, gleeful to jump on anything he personally has an opinion on, and of course he has an opinion on everything. CNN surprises me because they are always biased and manipulative, but slide left and right as the situation suits them.

never were there 2 more brain-dead tv blowdries, a babe and a hunk, barbie and her new aussie surfer boy toy blaine, so made to be led around by a nosering as they kiss US military butt to get access to great combat images. they are hopelessly "imbed" (pardon pun) with the Bush War, while the war grinds on endlessly, their on-screen careers skyrocket.

god save anyone who take advice from these fools. they spend on their hair what i spend to keep my truck on the road, including insurance.

Thought it was just me~Kyra is hot for Mick Ware, and possibly he for she!? He is an Alpha Male for sure,and a talented writer/journalist. Bet Kyra asked to be paired with Ware in Iraqi!! Hope Ware gets his head on straight, and gets back to reporting in his usual fashion!!
CNN evidently doesn't care, or doesn't realise how much their watchers are aware of this crap and what a turn-off it is! Kyra is sure an embarrassment to the females in this profession!