In the wake of the recent publication of Scott McClellan’s memoirs I was inspired to revisit a recent interview I had with Phil Donahue. He had just finished an early screening of his new documentary Body of War. The film follows the story of injured soldier, Tomas Young, who returned home, paralyzed, after five days in Iraq. He enlisted three days after September 11, 2001–believing he would deploy to Afghanistan. I couldn’t get the back story of Donahue’s film out of my mind as I listen to McClellan repeatedly question the passivity of the press during a time he, admittedly, promoted the agenda to engage militarily with Iraq.

Donahue’s backstory involves personal and professional loss due the fact he was just the sort of journalist that McClellan now inquires of his whereabouts. He was fired. MSNBC, in the weeks leading up to the invasion of Iraq, famously, released Mr. Donahue from his prime time talk show for voicing criticisms about what was becoming an inevitable war with Iraq. He also invited guests, who were not in favor of the war, to speak on his show. The tone was being set, very publicly, that if you (as a journalist or someone with access to an audience and a microphone) had questions or a dissenting perspective-there were plenty of things to fear.

To read more about Donahue’s film Body of War check out John Nichols’ article which explores the film and its makers in great depth.

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