Mythology in the news

Yesterday's link to the NYT/CBS poll on Iraq missed one sentence in the story that was noticed by Dan Gillmor and illustrates the mythology that builds up in the populace and the media during a time of crisis: Journalists Failure to Dispel Saddam-9/11 Myth is Media Scandal.

Yes, according to this poll, a third of the populace in this country still believe Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11. Shocking.

Six in 10 Americans said in the poll that administration officials deliberately misled the public in making a case for the war; 33 percent of all Americans, including 40 percent of Republicans and 27 percent of Democrats, say Saddam Hussein was personally involved in the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

says Gillmor:

The continuing scandal is that media organizations are doing so little to correct the record. Because it is not enough to run an occasional story debunking the lie.

(Added later): For a chilling deja vu, check out the pictures that BAG News Notes found of presidents and their generals in a war zone: From The "While Petraeus Testifies" Department: Been There, Done That. This gives me chills.