Ideology and Chile...more or less unrelated comments

I've been reading assessments of the modern world's economic and social agendas from the perspectives of people who live outside the United States and whose perspectives I trust more than I trust this country's political leaders. The perspectives I have been reading are offered by people who seem very bright and whose arguments about globalization, imperialism, and the United States' real global agenda seem more and more believable to me. I have for too long not questioned the U.S. media as I believe I should; I have believed what it reports. In many cases, I think the media reports what it believes is accurate, but its portrayals of 'reality' are based on the media's perception of the world in which it lives. And that perception is based on the media's belief in some of the fundamental 'facts' presented by the government of this country...not just the current government, but the government of past administrations, Republican and Democratic alike. One piece I've read recently was eye-opening to me, though I will admit to an equal amount of skepticism about far-left-leaning positions as to far-right-leaning positions. The piece to which I refer was written by James Petras, (click here to open it). Another piece, also from Counterpunch, suggests another case of media myopia; Norman Solomon wrote today that the U.S. is working on drawing down troop strength in Iraq, while simultaneously planning a massively enhanced air war. Is the media simply blind, or is it complicit?

Now, on to Chile. In Chile, a Socialist (Ricardo Lagos) is president, leading the center-left Concertación coalition. His successor is very likely to be Michelle Bachelet, also of the Concertación coalition; according to English-language media from Santiago, there is likely to be a run-off, but Bachelet is highly favored to be elected. If so, she will be the first female president of a Latin American country, proving yet again that the United States lags behind its so-called 'third world' counterparts. I don't think anyone would argue that Chile is the model democracy, but it is improving the lot of its citizens. I like much of what I hear about Chile. But I don't like what I hear about the air pollution in Santiago...it's said to be horrible. But Michelle Bachelet apparently has in mind focusing attention on pollution issues early on, which is a good thing.