Embeds!? We don't need no stinkin' "Embeds" on U.S. soil!!

[Bonobo]

Here is a statement from a Lieutenant Commander, Rob Wyman of the US Coast Guard to the "hullabaloo" about CBS news being threatened with arrest for attempting to reach an oil-covered beach.
-------------------------

Tonight CBS Evening News reported they were denied access to oiled shoreline by a civilian vessel that had clean-up workers contracted by BP, as well as Coast Guard personnel on board. CBS News video taped the exchange during which time one of the contractors told them (on tape) that " ... this is BP's rules not ours."

Neither BP nor the U.S. Coast Guard, who are responding to the spill, have any rules in place that would prohibit media access to impacted areas and we were disappointed to hear of this incident. In fact, media has been actively embedded and allowed to cover response efforts since this response began, with more than 400 embeds aboard boats and aircraft to date. Just today 16 members of the press observed clean-up operations on a vessel out of Venice, La.

The only time anyone would be asked to move from an area would be if there were safety concerns, or they were interfering with response operations. This did occur off South Pass Monday which may have caused the confusion reported by CBS today.

The entities involved in the Deepwater Horizon/BP Response have already reiterated these media access guidelines to personnel involved in the response and hope it prevents any future confusion.

Rob Wyman
Lieutenant Commander, USCG
Deepwater Horizon Unified Command
Joint Information Center, Robert, LA

I strongly object to anyone daring to use the term "embeds" when referring to US soil! In fact, I object to the term and concept even in a war zone, but to take that term out of a war zone and bring it to domestic U.S. soil is a step that is too far in my book. It can not be allowed to go unnoticed and unchallenged.

Here is one of the comments on his statement from the below link:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8601-500251_162-6496749.html?assetTypeId=58&tag=videoInteract

by willcad May 19, 2010 9:00 AM EDT
Hoooooooold on there, Babbalooie.

BP is a private company, not a government agency.

Neither BP nor its contractors have any authority anywhere other than property owned by BP, such as BPs oil rigs, ships, boats, refineries, or other facilities. BP has no legal authority to prevent access to ANYPLACE that it doesn't own, no matter what the emergency situation.

US Coast Guard personnel have authority over civillians on the water and on Federally-owned property, but that authority is strictly limited and well-defined by law.

Neither BPs employees nor USCG personel have any legal right to prevent the free movement of press or any other civillian on public or private property, except in cases of safety concerns or national security, neither of which applies here - the crew was heading for a BEACH, to film some NEWS FOOTAGE, showing oil washing up on shore. No more dangerous than any other day at the beach or on the water, no extraordinary circumstances, and no need to limit their freedom of movement.

Exactly what safety concerns did the USCG personel on board the boat have when they threatened to arrest a news crew who were attempting to reach an oil-covered beach to film a segment? Was the beach on fire? Are there toxic chemicals mixed in with the oil?

And, for that matter, why were the BP employees taking the lead on that boat? If this is an emergency situation, and there are safety concerns for the news crew or other civillians inside the area affected by the oil spill, USCG personel have authority at all times. BP employees, while they may be working closely with the USCG, DOE, and EPA to clean up their mess, are at all times subject to the authority of those government agencies.

The USCG is not a bunch of hired hands, or merceneries, and are under NO legal obligation to enforce ANY of BPs rules, regs, or corporate policies, other than "no trespassing" on BP property.

There is no "confusion", Lcdr. Wyman. A civillian news crew attempted to cover a story, and they were threatened - illegally, in my opinion - with arrest by USCG personel for doing so. You say there were "safety concerns." Please elaborate - what safety concerns? And if the news crew HAD continued on to the beach, exactly WHAT would they have been charged with if arrested?

I challenge you to come back and answer these questions and address these concerns, Lcdr Wyman

[Echo In Light]

1. K/R

[conscious evolution]

2. The queens revenge

This pisses me off to no end.
WHO THE FUCK DO THET THINK THEY ARE?!?!

[Canuckistanian]

3. Yeah, I noticed that earlier

As far as I'm concerned the concept of "embeds" means "managed information".

[Echo In Light]

4. Embedded = public relations

[suffragette]

17. +1

Management & control.
Absolutely disgusting.

[tavalon]

26. And you would be right

That's how Bush (and Obama is continuing it) controlled the information coming out of Iraq and therefore kept it from becoming unpopular with the masses the way the non imbedded reporters made Vietnam unpopular to the point that we had to declare victory and get the fuck out. Imbedding is an ingenious structure for keeping information from the public and I don't support it abroad or here in the US.

[redqueen]

5. Is it Fascism yet?

"Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of State and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini

"Fascism will come to America in the name of anti-fascism. I'm afraid, based on my own long experience, that fascism will come to America in the name of national security." - Sen. Huey Long

[Echo In Light]

6. It's not. Why? The guilty say so...so we'd BETTER believe it, eh?

What a country ...

[redqueen]

8. When "Embeds" are there to protect BP...

I just don't know how it can get any clearer. The writing's not just on the wall anymore, it's carved in the stone.

[Echo In Light]

9. To be fair, I suspect a majority of americans realize it, but feel helpless to confront it

No one had a high school class, Overthrowing Tyrannical Govt 101, apparently

[redqueen]

12. I don't know why... it's not new.

Throughout this country's history there have been periods like this. The only difference now is the M$M is so powerful and so homogenous.

People seem to be finally shaking off the blinders though.

[Echo In Light]

15. What's considered the 'mainstream' of the corp/consumer culture doesn't include this discourse

Such observations and ideas have been relegated to academia and the stuff of political 'junkies' and conspiracy theorists for decades...the idea being, if one cares (pays attention) at all, one cares to a fault.

The directive being, only pay attention to your career, your social status, your own 'game,' and never mind all of that wacky, complicated Political Stuff that's best handled by The Experts. In that light, it's easy to see how americans got to this grim point...

[area51]

11. +1 (n/t)

[nashville_brook]

7. holy f'n k n r

[intheflow]

10. That's what jumped out at me, too, when I read this last night.

And I said as much here. Embed = official story, but not necessarily reality.

[leftstreet]

13. K&R

[Rex]

14. Wow, this country is sinking lower and lower with each passing day.

We've made a joke out of two wars started by a warmonger and his idiot leader.

[doublethink]

16. Why does Frank Zappa come to my mind after reading this post?

“The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way, and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theatre.” end quote, Frank Zappa .....

hmmmmmmmmmmm :shrug:

[Echo In Light]

18. Indeed

[suffragette]

19. Link to the comment page on which Rob Wyman

posted the Coast Guard statement.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8601-500251_162-6496749-1.html?assetTypeId=58&tag=contentMain;contentBody


Hmm, another aspect is who are the 400 "embeds" and how is their reporting being affected under such tightly controlled access?

This is atrocious.

[NNN0LHI]

20. We should have probably complained harder when they did it in Iraq

But we didn't.

So this is SOP now.

Don

[redqueen]

22. Complaining does no good. Stop watching/subscribing, that's the key.

Just be aware of the games they play, and form *and support* our own media.

That's a large part of what the Netroots is, it seems to me.

And we really should have declared war against the M$M after that 'throwing babies out of incubators' crap in 1990. Now that we have the net it's a lot easier, though, for sure.

[ljm2002]

21. Based on this response...

...and on that of the Coast Guard admiral who initially parrotted all of BP's misinformation on the lack of any spill, then later misunderestimating the size of the spill, I'd say that the Coast Guard at least in that area is truly "embedded" with BP.

Get out the broom, time for some housecleaning.

[Hannah Bell]

23. +100. nor on foreign soil, either. "embeds" = propagandists.

[robertpaulsen]

24. Seems like the Coast Guard is already "embed" with BP. n/t

[nashville_brook]

25. damn -- good one.