Ides Of March (Guest Post)

Kathleen Parker's column "Caesar's Belated Epiphany" is a call for a nation-wide demonstration by the print media. Parker hopes that her colleagues can recognize and take a stand against the organized assault on free speech by jihadists world-wide.

I endorse her proposal to the utmost but I think the idea is going to be lost on the people that need to take it to heart the most - the liberal elements of the MSM that hold so much sway in their profession.

For five years America has been joined in conflict against jihadists that have been attempting (and all too often suceeding) to kill our citizens abroad for nearly 30 years and registered their first onshore kills during the 1993 bombing of the WTC. Our media elite are aware of this but regard conservative political leaders as a greater danger to their agendas. For that we all must contend with a hostile press that readily hands propaganda victories to Al Qaeda and its followers.

With even their professional existence threatened, MSM outlets like CNN and the NYT refuse to accept the threat we all face. Instead they aid and abet the jihadists by working diligently to undercut the Bush administration efforts. A prime example is the NYT lawsuit against the NSA to gain access to classified materials - after they've already compromised an ongoing operation! I am an intelligence professional and currently serve in our armed forces and I can say straight up that if this continues, we will lose much more than Iraq.

I don't know if Parker has enough clout in the MSM to get the ball rolling on her own and considering who she is up against, she is going to need the help of a group she has frequently criticized: bloggers. It would be ironic if the blogs actually helped revitalize our sickly print media and set it on the road to recovery but we'd all be better off for it.

-David