Rathergate vs. Saddam's WMD - A Quantitative Comparison

Rathergate vs. Saddam's WMD - A Quantitative Comparison



I'm a couple days behind the curve on this but maybe I still have something to add.



Number of Iraqi civilians killed as a result

Rathergate:0

Saddam's WMD: 10,000-100,000+



The lack of WMDs speaks for itself, of course, and in the big picture is far more important.



But as one who is obsessed with politics and the media, I must marvel at how the Bushies have spun the Rathergate issue.



Central claims disproven?

Rathergate: No

Saddam's WMD: Yes



They have turned the sloppy journalism, rather than Bush's questionable Guard service, into the scandal.



The best case picture is: "The guy used his political connections to get into cushy, safe Guard duty, with time off for business school and political campaigns, and can't prove he showed up." But they turned "The guy used his political connections to get into cushy, safe Guard duty, with time off for business school and political campaigns, but CBS can't prove he DIDN'T show up" into vindication and victory. Shameless and brilliant. I must salute the chutzpah, even in my disgust.



UPDATE: Pandagon has a couple interesting asides here:

The reason Rathergate went forward is because attacking the Killian memos didn't threaten future stories. If you repeated what Ahmed Chalabi said, you got great cover images and embedded reporters and Donald Rumsfeld treated you like the shit that wasn't on the bottom of his shoe. The journalistic reaction to Rathergate and Iraq coverage both stemmed from the same journalistic impulse - you help the White House, and they help you do your job. You don't help the White House, and it's a sin like no other.

Important as far as the substantive issues go. But as for the ephemeral media issues, The Talking Dog notes in the comments that this is a Politics of Fame thing:

Rather was a juicy target for a media feeding frenzy that wasn't really about the authenticity of memos, or the great ascendance of bloggers, or use of political favoritism to evade dangerous military service or prosecution for desertion, but fundamentally was about celebrity dirt.