Israeli Media Contradicts American Media on American News

We know American media kind of sucks. In fact, it tends to be so right wing biased that even lies from the Republicans are reported as truth and true statements by Democrats are reported as being controversial.

I prefer getting my news from various sources. NPR, Salon.com and CurrentTV are good American sources of news. But I also like getting foreign news. BBC is excellent most of the time. But I also get email updates from Guysen International News, an Israeli news source that actually seems pretty right wing. I do not always agree with their editorial slant, but I do find their news enlightening.

On July 29th they had a series of headlines that pretty much contradicts American media on American news. I think this serves as something of an indication of how bad American reporting is.

First, American media and the Republican Party are telling us, in the imortal words of the first President Bush, "Don't Worry, Be Happy" about the economy. Bush and McCain keep telling us things aren't so bad, we aren't in a recession and it's all in our minds. Well, it seems Israel sees it differently:

Israeli Finance Minister Ronnie Bar-On is very concerned about the consequences of the global financial crisis on the Israeli economy. ''I hope we can continue hanging on, as we read every day in the press about the US government rescuing banks and financial institutions,'' he said. (Guysen.International.News)

At the same time, the International Monetary Fund focused on the subprime crisis in a report on financial stability published Monday, stating that there is a risk that this crisis affects the world economy, with credit structures facing a general deterioration.

Seems Israel and the IMF are both worried about the economy, even though Bush and McCain tell us it's all in our heads and not to worry.

Next there is a bit on how McCain wants to completely go against American and international policy on Israel, proposing to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. I have not seen this reported in American news, but it would be a huge shift that would probably derail all current Middle East diplomacy and create a diplomatic crisis for both America and Israel...and would accomplish nothing.

Republican candidate John McCain has told CNN that he would move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem if he is elected president. No country in the world has its embassy in Jerusalem. El Salvador and Costa Rica moved their embassies from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv in 2006 (Guysen.International.News)

I have no particular stand on where we should have our embassy in Israel, but to essentially ruin all current diplomacy in the Middle East for no good reason sounds stupid to me. The choice isn't trivial when it comes to international opinion. And McCain shouldn't treat it as trivial.

And here's a little piece that also isn't being reported in American news media:

Pentagon director Robert Gates has told an American publication that a war with Iran would be disasterous for the United States. ''Another war in the Middle East is the last thing we need,'' he said. (Guysen.International.News)

Now keep in mind that Guysen News, leaning right wing, seems to favor the drumbeat to war with Iran...yet they still are willing to report a top Pentagon official declaring plans for such a war "disastrous." Someone should tell McCain that the Pentagon thinks we should NOT go to war with Iran.

Finally, while American media keeps telling us that McCain and Obama are tied, Israeli news seems to look at the same polls and see Obama "well ahead" of McCain:

USA: According to a Gallup poll, Democratic candidate for president Barak Obama is well ahead of his Republican rival John McCain. Obama is credited with 49% of intended votes against 40% for the senator from Arizona, only 100 days from election day. (Guysen.International.News)

So let me just say that you should never trust one source of news these days. I present the above Israeli news items for comparison to the US news you might be seeing.

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