The Cowardice of the American Media

In the most profound show of lilly-livered, wimpy and cowardly display of journalistic ethos, the American media brazenly towed the official line of right-wing ideologues in suppressing the most powerful aspect of General Colin Powell’s endorsement of Senator Barack Obama’s candidacy for the U.S presidency this past week. In the course of the most eloquent, well thought-out explanation of why he thought Obama deserved his endorsement, General Powell asked the question, in response to the charge that Obama may be a Muslim, “What if he is?”. Powell then went on to tell  the story of a courageous American Muslim who joined the army after the attacks of September 11, 2001 in order to fight the extremists who were responsible for that dastardly act. While the media jumped all over  the endorsement, there has been a frightening silence in picking up the story of Kareem Khan. This is disquieting in a country that claims to be the land of the free and the home of the brave. We have gone to wars in order to “spread freedom”. We have sponsored “regime changes” in order to remove leaders we thought were brutal to their own people. Yet, in the most powerful country in the world, we can not openly talk about people who are Muslims? In an era of ratings and competition, there could be the fear that if they (the media) ran an extended story on Khan, there was a possibility that their viewership would be affected. It is really a shame.