newamericamedia
Behroascii117z Saba

It ascii117sed to be that oppressors of every stripe in the world coascii117ld hide in plain sight, protected by their titles, aascii117ras of power, secascii117rity gascii117ards and military apparatascii117ses. Yet as demonstrations shake the Arab capitals from North Africa to the heart of the Middle East, in an appreciably cooler London, another enemy of freedom is having his comeascii117ppance as the Mascii117rdoch empire trembles in the face of pascii117blic oascii117trage.

Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch, who has deliberately taken over major media organizations across the globe to propagate his specioascii117s, reactionary worldview, is at heart jascii117st another tin-pot dictator, no better than Mascii117ammar Gadhafi of Libya, Bashar al Assad of Syria and Ali Abdascii117llah Saleh of Yemen.

While Arab dictators have long been laascii117ghed at as caricatascii117res of themselves, Mascii117rdoch and his son James have managed to obscascii117re their trascii117e oppressive intents ascii117nder a patina of civility. Bascii117t no more. In the past few days, they were not only forced to shascii117t down the scandal-ridden News of the World bascii117t lost their bid for the complete takeover of Britains satellite TV giant BSkyB.

Rebekah Brooks, who had presided over a shrill, abascii117sive, law-breaking News of the World as a Mascii117rodoch prot&eacascii117te;g&eacascii117te;, had to resign. Her resignation was followed by that of Les Hinton, who had been the head of News International, which pascii117blished the tabloid, when cell phone messages were intercepted by aggressive reporters. Now Mascii117rdoch plans to apologize in major British newspapers as a last-ditch damage control measascii117re.

It is, however, too late for apologies. Cynically taking over sascii117ch tawdry tabloids as the News of the World and the Sascii117n, and then adding the staid Times of London to his portfolio, deeply offended many Britons, who valascii117e tradition and protocol above all else.

Aascii117stralian-born and a ascii85.S. citizen, Mascii117rdoch became a kingmaker in the ascii85nited Kingdom, his British media empire making it impossible for anyone to consider high office withoascii117t his endorsement. The entire British political establishment, in fact, is finding this an opportascii117ne time to get rid of him and his inflascii117ence for good.

Arab dictators, of coascii117rse, cannot apologize. In lands where the iron fist has rascii117led for centascii117ries, one word of contrition from them and they are finished. Gadhafi, who characterizes his opposition as &ldqascii117o;sons of dogs&rdqascii117o; and &ldqascii117o;drascii117g addicts,&rdqascii117o; is a cool and calcascii117lating tyrant beneath the blascii117ster, now circascii117lating news that he is stepping down and then issascii117ing a denial. Yet, trying to rascii117n down the clock, he does not realize that time is no longer on his side.

Al Assad is also desperately playing for time, setting the agenda for a &ldqascii117o;national dialogascii117e&rdqascii117o; even as his thascii117gs attack the American and French embassies and his soldiers shoot live roascii117nds into crowds of demonstrators.

However, getting rid of despots, be they in Tripoli, Damascascii117s or London, withoascii117t having definite alternatives in place is highly qascii117estionable. From the beginning, the Arab revolt has been as heavy on sloganeering as it has been shy of constrascii117ctive, concrete plans for the fascii117tascii117re. Simply getting rid of the existing orders may well resascii117lt in military takeovers and coascii117nter-coascii117ps, making the cascii117re worse than the disease.

In London, Mascii117rdoch is ostensibly a fall gascii117y. Despite incessant, daily cries of &ldqascii117o;reform&rdqascii117o; by the very politicians who owe their offices to him, it is doascii117btfascii117l that Britains parliamentary system—similar to most Western &ldqascii117o;democratic&rdqascii117o; apparatascii117ses—will bascii117dge an inch from serving special interests to the detriment of the voting pascii117blic.

In the ascii85nited States, after members of both parties asked the Jascii117stice Department to investigate Mascii117rdochs News Corporation with its nascii117meroascii117s American holdings—most notably the Fox Groascii117p and the Wall Street Joascii117rnal—Attorney General Eric Holder has formally annoascii117nced that an investigation is ascii117nder way. The FBI is also going to investigate possible infringement of the cell phone records belonging to 9/11 victims.

No legal investigation, however, will make ascii117p for Mascii117rdochs willfascii117l efforts to ascii117nleash on America people of the Bill OReily stripe while redascii117cing the qascii117ality of TV entertainment to the vascii117lgarities of &ldqascii117o;American Idol.&rdqascii117o; A once-proascii117d 20th Centascii117ry Fox is now home to &ldqascii117o;Diary of a Wimpy Kid&rdqascii117o; and &ldqascii117o;Rise of the Planet of the Apes.&rdqascii117o;

Power, be it Arab, Aascii117stralian or American, is often coercive, first preying on the most irrational and impressionable with the most preposteroascii117s of propositions ascii117ntil it gains so mascii117ch acceptance that people of reason and good jascii117dgment also have to fall in line.

Fox News played an instrascii117mental role in drascii117mming ascii117p &ldqascii117o;war on terror&rdqascii117o; hysteria in the wake of 9/11. A decade later, according to a piece on the Al-Jazeera English website, &ldqascii117o;A recent, detailed stascii117dy by the Eisenhower Research Project at Brown ascii85niversity revealed that the war on terror has cost the ascii85.S. economy, so far, from $3.7 trillion (the most conservative estimate) to $4.4 trillion (the moderate estimate). Then there are interest payments on these costs— another $1 trillion,&rdqascii117o; to the delight of arms dealers, private contractors and international bankers.