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Two weeks ago we discussed former Marine and present-day author Josh Rushing, whose career path has taken him from press liaison in Iraq -- where he was featured in the documentary "Control Room" -- to correspondent for Al Jazeera’s English-language network. Today we continue with the second installment of Public Eye's conversation with him, where we talked about American media, Pat Tillman, Jon Stewart and how, when you really think about it, Qatar is a little like Delaware.

Matthew Felling: Have you been following the Pat Tillman story? What do you make of it, from a media standpoint as well as as a former Marine?

Josh Rushing: I’m actually fortunate enough to be invited back to the senior leadership of the military’s public affairs frequently. I bring up the story. I have some coverage that we did of the Senate hearing where Pat Tillman’s brother and Jessica Lynch testified. I show them that story to show them the effect, what happens when you lie. The truth always gets out; institutionally the military knows that. At the Defense Information School, where they train all their media liaison officers, the number one thing they teach them is “Maximum Information, Minimum Delay.” They’re there to do Public Affairs, not public relations. And the difference is, public affairs is meant to assist the media and get the information out because the American public has a right to know. As taxpayers, they have a right to know what’s going on within the ranks. And that’s what a public affairs officer does. He doesn’t spin or sell the message. He’s not PR; he’s not looking for good publicity. That’s not what his job is supposed to be.

So institutionally, they’re teaching the right thing. But the problem is your public affairs officer is generally the junior officer on the staff, and he doesn’t have a lot of sway. It’s the senior officers that get to make the final decision, and that’s what happened in the Pat Tillman case. It was just a bald-faced lie.

And it’s not just a little cover-up. They wrote him up for a silver star. That requires witnesses and an investigation. It’s a big deal and they awarded it to him. Which means this is beyond a small cover-up – it’s a huge fabrication.

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Two weeks ago we discussed former Marine and present-day author Josh Rushing, whose career path has taken him press liaison in Iraq -- where he was featured in the documentary "Control Room" -- to correspondent for Al Jazeera’s English-language network. I recently had a conversation with him where we talked about, among other things, American media, Pat Tillman, Jon Stewart and how, when you really think about it, Qatar is a little like Delaware.

Matthew Felling: You’re from Texas. What sort of a response has your family and community had to your career path?

Josh Rushing: My hometown doesn’t know much about me anymore. It used to be the first county town north of Dallas, but it was swallowed by a shopping mall about fifteen years ago. I can no longer go home again, but I can shop there. That’s a line from “Gross Point Blank;” I’m stealing from John Cusack. My parents moved out to an even smaller town, called Lone Star. I’ve faced a lot of grief for the decisions I’ve made, being a part of Al Jazeera, and that’s okay.

But I kind of feel bad about my parents, because they’re the ones in the small town—mom’s on city council, they go to a small church there—and everyone there knows that I work for Al Jazeera. And so poor mom and dad are left defending and explaining my decision in a much more difficult environment than I do, on a daily basis. So they carry the brunt for me there. But they soldier on, they defend me, they’re very proud of me and the decisions I’ve made. So I’m lucky in that regard. I’ve got a great family.

Matthew Felling: So did you have to give them a talking point or two to answer the questions back home?

Josh Rushing: Nah, they’ve been my number one fans throughout this entire journey. Every interview I’ve given, they’ve watched. They were there before [“Control Room”] was released, and watched this thing blow up on the web before it was released in the theaters. So having been there every step of the way, having read every single interview or watched every single interview, they know the story just as well as I do.

And the funny thing is, while my parents do travel – my dad worked for American Airlines – they’re not entirely keen on international issues. They’re the kind of people who wake up early, work outside, work hard all day long – kind of a Midwestern work ethic – so they’re not the people who sit around reading The New Republic or the New York Times, that sort of thing. And now they’re thrust into the center of this debate over Al Jazeera, and its importance as far as America’s strategic interests are concerned. So it’s sort of a curious thing to watch them defend the issue.

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When it comes to Al Jazeera and its approach to newsgathering, it’s tough to figure out where they’re coming from. You can listen to me. You can listen to Aaron Barnhart out in Kansas City. Or you can listen to Josh Rushing, a former Marine who was press liason in Iraq in the early days of the war in Iraq.

Rushing, who first caught my eye in the film “Control Room” – a documentary about how different media outlets were covering Iraq – was born in Texas. He moved up the ranks in Iraq to deal directly with the foreign press, ultimately accepting a position with Al Jazeera after he left the Armed Forces. It was clear in the film that he was committed to his stance that America was in Iraq to do good and liberate Iraqis from Saddam Hussein, but he was curious enough to ask why the Iraqi people didn’t see it the same way. As the Los Angeles Timesreported at the time:

Rushing, a Central Command spokesman assigned to escort the documentary makers during their time in Qatar, is among the film's most sympathetic characters, portrayed as a thoughtful young man moved over time by the grim reality of war.
At no point is he shown doubting the justness of the U.S. effort in Iraq, yet the film documents a budding friendship between Rushing and Al Jazeera reporter Hassan Ibrahim, and moments on camera when Rushing is wrestling with the film's central themes: war, bias and the Arab world's most powerful media outlet.

Talk about cred.

Rushing was on “The Daily Show” last night, where he discussed his military career, working for Al Jazeera, and the media.

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