Beware the spin!

                                                                                                                                                            By Kathie MM
In 1961, Dwight D. Eisenhower warned the nation about the threat of the military-industrial complex (MIC) to national security, social justice, and peace. Not only has the MIC become gargantuan since his warning, it has also swallowed up institutions that should be alerting citizens to the persisting dangers identified by Eisenhower.

In 2005, Norman Solomon* warned the nation about the entanglement of the corporate media in an expanded military-industrial-media complex. He provided frightening examples of members of the media cozying up to the military and assuring the public that each new war is good, valiant, necessary, and desirable when pursued by the U.S. government (which, after all, must struggle to line all those pockets that bring it to power).

To Norman Solomon, I sing, in the music and words (with a little editing), of Don McLean:

“Now, I understand, what you tried to say to me

How you suffered world insanity

And how you tried to set them free

They would not listen, they did not know how

Perhaps they’ll listen now.”

Sadly, war drums are once again drowning out voices of reason and ethical reflection. The enthusiastic rush of the corporate media to anoint Donald Trump as miraculously “presidential” because he ordered the launching of those “beautiful” missiles towards a site in Syria is a scene right out of 1984.

The day after the first strikes, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) revealed that the corporate media were singing the same old song: Rah, rah for the red, white, and blue.

If you must read the establishment newspapers and watch hyped-up television programs glorifying Trump’s attacks, at least balance out your exposure to the military-industrial-media complex by diving into alternative media:

Read War is the ultimate distraction by Mark Summer.

See what Former Chief of Staff to Colin Powell, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, tells Paul Jay on Real News  .

Learn more about #HandsoffSyria demonstrations .

Listen to the first song (Nasty Man )  Joan Baez has written and recorded in 25 years:

And see what the Friend’s Committee on National Legislation recommends .

*Solomon’s War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death (John Wiley & Sons, 2005). The first chapter of the book can be found at WarMadeEasy.com.