If you can actually believe it, there are those that still cling to the belief that the regime of Saddam Hussein had ties to al-Qaeda and was complicit in the attacks of September 11th. That should come as no surprise given how forcefully the Bush administration, with the help of much of the American media, promoted that falsehood. And even though a Pentagon sponsored study that reviewed more than 600,000 documents captured after the 2003 invasion has found absolutely no link, not a single realistic measure has been taken to hold the administration accountable for repeatedly promoting that entirely baseless connection in the run up to the invasion of Iraq.

While sitting in the airport in San Francisco yesterday, I sat and watched CNN’s coverage of the democratic primary. There were televisions throughout the terminal, and most waiting for the flight to board were watching them. At one point in the broadcast, even though Wolf Blitzer was talking about something completely different, the bottom of the screen was suddenly filled with - Terrorists Support Obama Campaign, or something to that effect. And you know, in today’s split-second world of information, that’s all it takes - one simple little blurb at the bottom of a television screen.

I sat in my seat in that terminal in utter amazement, looking around in an attempt to gauge the reaction of those close to me. All of them were passive, as if they were being presented hard, cold fact. And then, probably out of frustration, I blurted out – “where’s Edward Murrow when you need him?”. A few people turned and looked at me. Most didn’t.

Every time I’m down here the detritus that is American mainstream media always astounds me. The fact that individuals such as Glen Beck and Sean Hannity are actually taken seriously, that any of them are actually considered journalists, completely shocks me.

At the end of the day, no matter how free you believe a society to be, propaganda is propaganda. And in a country in which journalism has, in many ways, been transformed into something akin to the Jerry Springer show, it’s not difficult to see how, in the quest for ratings, the fourth estate can be so utterly abused to the point that it is no longer serves its base purpose, but rather a purpose that is wholly dedicated to protecting its own interests by placating government and corporate entities to ensure financial growth.

Don’t get me wrong; there are a lot of journalists in the United States, primarily in print media, that still believe in the unspotted purpose of the fourth estate. But over the last seven years their voices have been pushed to the periphery of the medium, making it more difficult for average Americans to access information and views that aren’t restricted by corporate media interests. And that is a very dangerous reality to confront, especially in a nation at war, especially in post 9/11 America.

I have said it before and I will say it again. On that September morning in 2001 the gravity of history, its complexities, and the importance of questioning the motives of government were rendered moot in many ways. And even though conservative voices in American media still defer to it as an example of why, for example, it’s acceptable for the administration to abuse the Constitution, or for the United States to employ torture or hold individuals in legal limbo, it shouldn’t be overlooked that what happened that day was responsible for spring boarding many of their careers.

Drive

Some hold that the best way to affect change, to confront an injustice, is to employ force. Of course, I disagree with that entirely. As Wajeha Huwaider has demonstrated in a video posted to YouTube, sometimes the first step is as simple as getting behind the wheel of a car…

“Saudi women’s rights activists have posted on the web a video of a woman at the wheel of her car, in protest at the ban on female drivers in the kingdom.
Wajeha Huwaider talks of the injustice of the ban and calls for its abolition as she drives calmly along a highway.

She says the film was posted to mark International Women’s Day. Thousands have viewed it on the YouTube website.

The last such public show of dissent was in 1990 when dozens of women were arrested for circling Riyadh in cars.

Last year, Ms Huwaider and other activists circulated a petition which was sent to King Abdullah urging him to lift the ban.

In the three-minute clip, she at first drives around a residential compound where she notes that women are allowed to drive because it is not a public road.

But about halfway through, without comment, she executes a left turn onto the main highway and proceeds to drive along it in defiance of Saudi law.

“Many women in this society are able to drive cars, and many of our male relatives don’t mind us driving,” she says in Arabic.

“I hope that by next year’s International Woman’s Day, this ban on us will be lifted,” she concludes.

In February, two leading Islamic scholars said there was no reason to continue the ban.”