Cú Chulainn

Yeah--I pity the guy, actually, b/c I really think he wants to be an effective investigative journalist a la Sy Hersh. He's in a rock-and-a-hard place. I don't think there's a "conspiracy," just a bit too much Am. Excep'sm & not enough work to get outside the AIPAC/CFR/...

Sy Hersh? please. has been working for CIA all his life, since My Lai limited hangout covering for Phoenix Program. never revealed name of a CIA officer, appears critical of power while maintaining access to treasure trove of “insider” information which keeps him monetized & safe

I think you have a peculiarly idealized vision of how "investigative journalism" works, Cú Chulainn (@Cukullen). ^_^ One must cultivate sources, and one only gets to publish what they can give you, & which can be verified. Ya: I have no doubt Hersh has "worked for the CIA"...

...but he's also done some great work as a mouthpiece for people in the US Mil. who absolutely despise the CIA (or at least big parts of it ). It's a balancing act, and yeah: I'm sure he knows he gets used. So it goes, tho. Hersh's facts are always reliable, and trustworthy.

1) Hersh has the journalistic style--academic, prosaic--which monotonously strings together "facts" spewed by anonymous sources that share one voice. This gives the impression of truth, but it's a stylistic trick. Does he have all the facts?

2) If, as you admit, he cultivated CIA sources and is used by CIA, then what facts doesn't Hersh have? Facts are useful and critically important but a journalist like Hersh uses facts to construct merely the appearance of truth.

3) Do you know all the facts? That would be implied in your assertion that Hersh is always factually reliable. What is important is to see how facts are used to deceive.

A) No, I don't know all the facts. B) What I have read of Hersh, and read of the many, many corroborating accounts of what he has published in the past has demonstrated to me that he reports in as neutrally objective a manner as possible.