This shouldn’t be a surprise for anyone who watches the propaganda-fest that is cable news even occasionally. But it sure is refreshing to find such a stinging, comprehensive indictment of the Pentagon’s propaganda machine in the mainstream media.

The effort, which began with the buildup to the Iraq war and continues to this day, has sought to exploit ideological and military allegiances, and also a powerful financial dynamic: Most of the analysts have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess on air…

Records and interviews show how the Bush administration has used its control over access and information in an effort to transform the analysts into a kind of media Trojan horse — an instrument intended to shape terrorism coverage from inside the major TV and radio networks. (source)

J-E-S-U-S. Again, not surprising at all. But does this government have no shame? Is there anyone on TV we can trust to be unbiased, unbought, and intellectually honest? And beyond the aforementioned issues with military analysts, how many Republican and Democratic “strategists” will the American people listen to before they realize that these people can’t possibly give us the information we need to make informed choices about the future of this country and the planet?

UPDATE: If you haven’t seen Why We Fight, well, first of all stop reading and go watch the whole thing. It may be the most important documentary ever made. Here are a couple particularly relevant clips for your viewing pleasure. (clip 2 after the jump)