Wet Paint
Like everyone is saying, there's not much to say. Watching CNN is like watching water evaporate. The blather of news network talking heads evokes the meandering inanity of a PBS pledge drive: "...to show your support for the fine programming, as I think it is, and I assume you do as well, otherwise you would probably be switching the channel now, which I really hope you're not doing, especially now that we so desperately need your support, because I'm sure you agree we perform a valuable service to the community, keeping you informed, enlightened, and, yes, entertained, though entertainment, important as that is to you and me and our families and friends after a long day, is only a small fraction of what we do here, bringing you Miss Marple, who is just amazing, how she always manages to figure out who the murderer is..."
The Saddam video was so fake-looking it had to be real, right? I thought it was obviously a fake when it came on; but I thought that "press conference" of generals looked pretty fake, too. I've seen samples of Iraqi TV before, and it all looks phony. It's like an SCTV sketch ("shiekhs and shiekettes, it's time for Good Morning Baghdad," says a turbaned Joe Flaherty, dropping his sword and stage-whispering to John Candy-as-script-boy to get out, get out, out of the frame, out of the frame...) The audio track rarely seems completely synched up with the video. If they were going to fake a triumphant Osama-esque "I'm still alive suckers" video in advance, you'd think, as Andrew Sullivan does, they could have done a more convincing job.
Maybe not, though. You'd think CNN could do a better job, too: talk about phony...
I've got no answers, but one recommendation: go over and read Ken Layne, who manages to cover the dearth of material amusingly.
Posted by Dr. Frank at March 20, 2003 07:11 AM | TrackBack