{"id":592,"date":"2007-09-06T20:01:00","date_gmt":"2007-09-07T03:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=592"},"modified":"2007-09-06T20:01:00","modified_gmt":"2007-09-07T03:01:00","slug":"the-art-of-misdirection-osama-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=592","title":{"rendered":"The Art Of Misdirection: Osama Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

I recently wrote about how the press has been diverted<\/a> by the White House from newsworthy events that the President might not really want covered. That story described how the White House Press Office sent the Washington press corps off to far flung locales while the President went somewhere else entirely. But sending reporters on wild goose chases is not the only way to distract them from doing their jobs.<\/p>\n

Today it was announced that Osama Bin Laden is expected to release the latest video in his “Death To America”<\/em> serial. This episode is debuting the same week as the report from General Petraeus on the status of the “Surge”<\/em> in Iraq. That’s awfully convenient timing for the war propagandists who would like nothing better than to stir the nation into a fear-drenched frenzy at the same time they are making the case to extend their engagement in Baghdad. Never mind the fact that Iraq and Bin Laden have nothing whatsoever to do with one another, the connection is (again) subtly reinforced.<\/p>\n

I hope that when the Bin Laden video airs on TV people will remember that our preoccupation with Iraq is part of the reason that he is still out there making videos. And I hope that when people watch Gen. Petraeus advance his theory that the war is progressing swimmingly, they will ask themselves why we are there at all when Bin Laden is still loose planning new productions of terror. Finally, I hope that people pay attention to the way the media tries to juxtapose these otherwise unrelated events and don’t allow themselves to be blinded by the shiny objects radiating from their TV screens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently wrote about how the press has been diverted by the White House from newsworthy events that the President might not really want covered. That story described how the White House Press Office sent the Washington press corps off to far flung locales while the President went somewhere else entirely. But sending reporters on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-9y","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33971,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=33971","url_meta":{"origin":592,"position":0},"title":"Bin Laden Ops Chief Calls Trump ‘The Greatest Threat To Democracy In My Lifetime’","author":"Mark NC","date":"2\/23\/2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week Donald Trump outdid himself on Twitter. For someone who has a record of repulsive and ignorant outbursts, Trump achieved a new low when he tweeted that the media \"is the enemy of the American People.\" It was reflective of his authoritarian attitude and disrespect for American principles. Ever\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"McRaven","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/mcraven-binladen.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/mcraven-binladen.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/mcraven-binladen.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":255,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=255","url_meta":{"origin":592,"position":1},"title":"The President’s Advisors Revealed","author":"Mark NC","date":"10\/11\/2006","format":false,"excerpt":"In case anyone is wondering who the President turns to when forming policy, he revealed some of the inner workings of his braintrust today at a press conference. In answering a question about Iraq's future, the President said: \"How do I know that would happen? Because that's what the enemy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4374,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=4374","url_meta":{"origin":592,"position":2},"title":"Judge Dreadful: Andrew Napolitano Mourns Osama Bin Laden","author":"Mark NC","date":"5\/2\/2011","format":false,"excerpt":"It looks like Fox News may be able to call off their search for Glenn Beck's replacement. If drooling delirium and glassy-eyed insanity is the criteria, then Judge Andrew Napolitano has the role sewn up. Today he opened his program on Fox Business Network, Freedom Watch, saying... \"Osama Bin Laden\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4371,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=4371","url_meta":{"origin":592,"position":3},"title":"Osama Bin Laden’s Death Certificate","author":"Mark NC","date":"5\/2\/2011","format":false,"excerpt":"For the non-believers who watch way too much Fox News: This may seem unnecessary, but I have already seen comments at Fox Nation by \"morans\" who doubt that Osama Bin Laden is dead. They argue that since Obama has already released phony copies of his birth certificate, why wouldn't he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20283,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=20283","url_meta":{"origin":592,"position":4},"title":"STFU About Obama’s Vacations Already And Remember Where Obama Was May 1, 2011","author":"Mark NC","date":"8\/21\/2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The incessant and ignorant fixation on when, where, and how often President Obama takes vacations is becoming surreal in its frequency and fervor. The President's critics seem to be obsessed with the issue. Never mind that Obama has taken far fewer vacation days than his predecessors, or that there has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"Obama WHCD","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/obama-binladen-whcd.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/obama-binladen-whcd.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/obama-binladen-whcd.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":65993,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=65993","url_meta":{"origin":592,"position":5},"title":"Trump DHS Official on Fox News Likens Wrongly Deported Migrant, Abrego Garcia, to Osama Bin Laden","author":"Mark NC","date":"4\/15\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Last month the Donald Trump Immigration Squad captured and deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadorian national married to a U.S. citizen, with no criminal record, and deported him to El Salvador on the basis of wholly unfounded charges of criminal and gang activities. They later admitted that the deportation was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Crime"","block_context":{"text":"Crime","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1475"},"img":{"alt_text":"Donald Trump, Immigrant, Child","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-child-immigrant.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-child-immigrant.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-child-immigrant.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=592"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}