The vast majority of us agree that Bush's escalation is a bad idea, that the troops should be brought home and that the Bush Administration is untrustworthy and incompetent. Even the military's general attitude--so far as they feel free to express themselves--has turned against them. But if you look at media coverage, you'd get the sense we're a much more divided country than we are
Op/Ed News: (h/t Kevin2)
The news media is in trouble now. After weeks of destructive accounts of a "deeply divided" majority party, Democrats are threatening to hold a vote on Bush's proposed troop surge that could signal strong Democratic unity and call into question the agendas or at least accuracy of major news organizations.
Just Tuesday, the New York Times wrote a feature story that declared in big font headlines: "Democrats Split Over Iraq Approach." While the article allowed that Democrats are "unusually united in their resistance to a troop increase," it emphasized a party discord owing to personal ambition.
[..]This article came hot on the heels of a Times "Week in Review" feature headlined "The Invasion of the Alpha Male Democrat."
Far from hurting the Democrats, the Iraq War is decimating the Republican Party. In one of the most underreported stories of the month, support for the Republican Party has fallen to 46 percent among the US military.
At the end of 2005, a Military Times poll found that 56 percent of the military supported the GOP. At the end of 2006, that number had fallen ten percent.
In addition, only 50 percent of the US military think that success is likely in Iraq. That number is down from 83 percent in 2004. Only 41 percent believe we should have gone to Iraq in the first place.
It's also hurting right wing talk show personalities. Bill O'Reilly admitted yesterday on his radio program that "every time I talk about [the Iraq War] my ratings go down." Rush Limbaugh, perhaps feeling the same sting, told listeners the other day that he had other things to talk about besides the Iraq War. "You people keep calling in to talk about it," Limbaugh complained.
Moreover, the Washington Post reported yesterday that Republicans are falling apart.
