Left I on the News

A few days ago I wrote "I think American corporate coverage of the Israeli assault on Lebanon has been far more balanced than could possibly have been expected based on the overwhelming imbalance of support for Israel in the U.S." Well, maybe so, but "far more balanced" is still so far from actually "balanced" that I can't take it any more. If I hear one more reference to the grotesquely named "Israeli Defense Forces" I think I'm going to throw up. Or one more reference to the "war between Israel and Hezbollah" when anyone with two eyes can see that the war Israel is waging is against Lebanon, not against Hizballah.

Tonight I heard several channels talking about the one Israeli girl killed in a missile strike today, and then immediately follow that with a mention that Israel had destroyed ten buildings in Beirut. And...? Was anyone killed there? I have no idea. Even suggesting so apparently doesn't fit with the idea that Hizballah is killing people, while Israel is just "hitting" inanimate objects (or, at worst, those non-persons known as "Hezbollah"). Is it even remotely credible that ten buildings in downtown Beirut were destroyed and not a single person was killed? Of course not, but you'd never know it listening to the corporate media.

Tonight I also heard a report about the 4 UN observers killed. CNN immediately rushed on their "military analyst," who explained how disgusting it was. Not that they had been killed, but that Kofi Annan had condemned it "without knowing all the facts." Apparently the analyst did, since he then proceeded to report on how the UN station had been "colocated" with Hizballah positions, which evidently justifies the killing.

Last night I heard a report about how Israel has been destroying banks where Hizballah has its money, complete with pornographic gun sight videos, and again without the slightest indication that any actual people had been killed in those attacks. It was just Hizballah's bank accounts, don't you know. The report ended with the fact that in addition to the banks, Israel had dropped a bomb on the house of the bank manager, a deed which the Israeli "counter-terrorism" chief interviewed described as "intended to send a message." Was the bank manager killed? His (or her) family? Perhaps a small child or two? The question wasn't even asked. Nor were the words "war crime" mentioned, as if you didn't know.

I simply can't take it any more.