Just how much does Bush hate the media?

Did Bush seriously consider bombing al-Jazeera? - CNN

At least one british newspaper seems to think so, and the rest of the international news agencies are starting to wonder as well.

A six page internal memo leaked to the press describes British Prime Minister Tony Blair having to talk George W. Bush out of bombing al-Jazeera, the Saudi based news agency equivicable to CNN.

There is no way of knowing whether or not the memo is factual, but there are some startling facts that suggest that it is. The primary indicator is the British government threatening British news agencies with prosecution for violating national security press laws if they report on the memo any farther.

Bush has never had anyhting nice to say about al-Jazeera because they show the things that American news agencies won't, such as the videos of Osama bin Laden and Omar al-Zarqari as well as becoming infamous worldwide for airing some of the beheading videos uncensored.

But Bush's main problem with al-Jazeera is that they don't have to toe the lines he has placed on American and British journalists because they are welcomed into the countries they report in, including Iraq. They can show whatever they want, and they are the only news agency that regularly shows how unpopular the war is over there. They have also used their editorial time to regularly lambast his administration and his war. I applaud them for that, but he derides them for the same reason, and has gone on record as such, calling them "terrorists without guns."

There is no way to know if this story is true. Even if it is, there's no way of telling whether or not this statement might have been in the context of a joke. But if it is a joke, it is a tastless one.

Both field headquarters of al-Jazeera in Afganistan and Iraq were bombed by American air strikes, supposedly by accident, though the Bush administration has patently refused to initiate an investigation on either incident. But more importantly is the fact that journalists, i.e. civilians, are being targeted across the middle east by terrorists simply because of their jobs, especially in Iraq.

Now, I don't kid myself into thinking I'm a journalist. I've never taken a journalism course, and I tried my hand at newswriting only to find it incredibly taxing and bitter tasting in my mouth. Those that can do it with ease have my respect simply because I cannot do it. I'm a columnist, an opinion and rhtetoric writer for a university newspaper, and occasionally I write an essay or speak for some smaller groups on issues of politics and society. But I can't help but feel a sense of kinship with the people that go out there into the crossfire risking career, health, and even their lives to bring the truth to light. I would be nothing without the information they provide, because all I do is comment on it. They bring it to us.

Journalists are people, not statistics. They are mothers, fathers, brothers, daughters, and cousins performing a job as essiential to modern society as teachers, custodians, and computer programmers. They give to charity. They believe in God. They are just like you and I, Mr. Bush.
They are not the butt-ends of very bad jokes.

And God help you if you were serious. Because that makes you more of a terrorist than they ever could be.