DCDL

Over the past week, I’ve slowly been building a circumstantial case that a propaganda shop may have been set up at the Pentagon. In this vein I wanted to mention one or two thoughts concerning the “America Supports You Freedom Walk” scheduled for Sunday, Sept 11.

First, on a lighter note, I was going through this article when the following paragraph leapt out at me from the page: (DefenseLINK News)
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Washington Post columnist Marc Fisher had a Live Online chat Thursday, and the conversation turned to the Post’s sponsorship of the Pentagon’s “Freedom Walk” September 11 propaganda event (see AltHippo’s post). Fisher first responded like this:

Well, first of all, it’s the Washington Post as a corporate entity in this community that’s sponsoring the march, not the news operation. Second, I don’t see where this is a pro-administration rally. From the web site, it looks like a non-partisan expression of support for the troops and for the memory of those who died on 9/11.

I grant you that anytime our company sponsors events that are remotely controversial, it causes grief in the newsroom because it does indeed raise questions among readers about our neutrality and fairness. So if I were running things, I’d steer clear of any sponsorship of potentially divisive events. But in fairness, this seems to be more along the lines of a Veterans Day commemoration than a pro-war rally.

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In case you don’t already have plans for Sunday Sept 11 at 10:00 am, walk do not run to your local pentagon website: (DoD News)

As part of the Department of Defense effort to commemorate Sept. 11, 2001, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld today announced the first-ever “America Supports You Freedom Walk” to remember the victims of Sept. 11, 2001, to honor U.S. troops and veterans, and to highlight the value of freedom.

The “America Supports You Freedom Walk” will begin at 10 a.m., EDT, Sunday, Sept. 11, and follow a two-mile route from the Pentagon to Arlington National Cemetery, across Memorial Bridge, passing several national memorials and ending on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. At the conclusion of the walk, participants will be invited to a concert by country music singer and songwriter Clint Black. [ed: Wayne Newton must have been booked already]

The “America Supports You Freedom Walk” is free and open to the public. Individuals interested in walking must register to participate at www.americasupportsyou.mil . Registration closes at 10 a.m. EDT on Friday, Sept. 9, 2005.

So you vund to visit der Mall, Herr Hippo. May I requezt your papers, please?