Sweetness amidst the venom

I found the Drudge Report fascinating this morning. Mixed in with the usual vituperativeness from the Hollywood types (all of whom we know are incredibly astute, well-educated, well-informed, and open-minded), were some surprisingly hopeful headlines: Oil prices return to pre-Katrina levels... ("With New York markets closed for the Labor Day public holiday, dealers reported only thin trading across many commodities in London yesterday. Oil prices retreated to levels seen prior to the arrival of Hurricane Katrina as the release of emergency fuel stocks by industrialised nations soothed fears over a US energy crisis.") USA Appears to Have Avoided Massive Supply Problems... ("As Americans began heading home from the Labor Day weekend, gasoline stations today continued to report spot shortages, but the country appeared, at least as of this afternoon, to have avoided the massive supply problems that some had feared.") Half of Damaged Refineries Near Restarting... ("As half of the Gulf Coast refineries damaged by Hurricane Katrina begin to ramp up production this week, industry experts have this message: be patient.") In the same vein, the BBC, probably with teeth gritted, wrote "US refineries closed by the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina are trickling back on-stream, oil companies report. Two refineries are fully operational, while others are close to restarting." Utilities Making Progress Restoring Power... ("Three utility companies that experience widespread Hurricane Katrina power outages reported progress Monday in restoring service to customers. But more than 800,000 customers still were without power, one week after Hurricane Katrina struck.") As the opening quotations from each of these stories show, each is guardedly optimistic, while pointing to the enormous challenges still awaiting. Nevertheless, each indicates that the challenges were not as dramatic as originally envisaged by the MSM in its reporting about the Hurricane and its aftermath. Of course, this leaves me with a question: Why was the MSM so anxious to paint events in their worst possible terms, with utilities down for years, oil vanishing altogether, cities doomed to Atlantean fates? Two things occur to me immediately. First, it's just the usual media hype, aimed at selling papers or TV time. Second (which can coexist with the first), is that it's part of Bush derangement syndrome. Since the MSM has annointed a man they believe to be irredemably stupid with almost supernatural powers, it makes sense to show events in their worst possible light to highlight the evil he has wrought. Because his global warming policies created the Hurricane, because his slow response (powered by racism that even led to cannibalism) destroyed rescue efforts, it's important that the outcome of his omnipotence be presented as the equivalent of Armageddon. The other day, the BBC (in a burst of optimism, perhaps), posited that Hurricane Katrina was just what the MSM needed to turn itself around from the freefall that's been plaguing it. The excited reporter basically says that it's Watergate all over again because the media has finally figured out how to ask Pres. Bush the "tough questions." This being, of course, the same media, that hates the President with such passion that it had attacked him for exercising too much, and demanded that he meet with Sheehan, about whom I have nothing to say that you don't already know. My suspicion (hope) is that, when the waters recede and the dust settles, American people will see once again that the MSM has pulled a fast one. And, with that "fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me" feeling directing them, Americans will abandon the MSM in ever greater numbers.