I was shocked to read that "Weblogs are doing all the work that the U.S. media did in the past," and in fact, doing most of the anti-war reporting in this country, as opposed to, say, the UK where major news outlets such as The Guardian are reporting both pro and con, or say, Le Monde, which doesn't seem (through automated translation, anyway) to be pandering to its country's leadership, but isn't engaging in the US-major-media brand of cowardly fear-mongering.

"(U.S. TV news) seems to be reporting about a different planet than the one covered by foreign media," said Paul Krugman of the Times (via Wired News).

Indeed, the Times has just today discovered that "Negative Views of U.S. Are Increasing in Europe", in a survey of a whopping nine countries. (Interestingly, according to the report, 3⁄4 of polled citizens of democratic France did not blame American citizens, but put the blame on our [megalomaniac] leader, while Russia and Turkey, newcomers to democracy, placed the blame on the citizenry.)

Friends:

A national defense program is perhaps an unfortunate necessity in a world with many contrary interests. Let us protect our way of life, by all means. Right now the military force supported by your taxes and mine is the strongest military force in the world—but it is not stronger than the rest of the world combined. To take aggressive action against another nation, without its posing a clear danger, and with little or no encouragement from any of 150 other countries (including some of the staunchest allies of the US), can only diminish respect for the US state apparatus and (more importantly) its citizens and its way of life—can only incite more terrorists (who shall always be legion) to fling more destruction on our cities.