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 Distorting the Voice of the PeoplePosted on Sep 3, 2009By E.J. Dionne Health care reform is said to be in trouble partly because of those raucous August town hall meetings in which Democratic members of Congress were besieged by shouters opposed to change. But what if our media-created impression of the meetings is wrong? What if the highly publicized screamers represented only a fraction of public opinion? What if most of the town halls were populated by citizens who respectfully but firmly expressed a mixture of support, concern and doubt? There is an overwhelming case that the electronic media went out of their way to cover the noise and ignored the calmer (and from television’s point of view “boring”) encounters between elected representatives and their constituents. It’s also clear that the anger that got so much attention largely reflects a fringe right-wing view opposed to all sorts of government programs most Americans support. Much as the far left of the anti-war movement commanded wide coverage during the Vietnam years, so now are extremists on the right hogging the media stage—with the media’s complicity. Over the last week, I’ve spoken with Democratic House members, many from highly contested districts, about what happened in their town halls. None would deny polls showing that the health reform cause lost ground last month, but little of the probing civility that characterized so many of their forums was ever seen on television. Advertisement At her town halls, she said, “I got serious questions, I got hostile questions, I got questions about how this would work, I got questions about how much it will cost. I also got a lot of comments from people who said it’s important for their families and businesses to get health care reform.” Rep. Frank Kratovil hails from a very conservative district on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and says it didn’t bother him that he was hung in effigy in July by a right-wing group. “As a former prosecutor, I consider that to be mild,” he said with a chuckle. The episode, he added, was not at all typical of his town hall meetings where “most of the people were there to express legitimate concerns about the bill, wondering about how it was going to impact them” and also wanting “to know the truth about some of the things that were being said about the bill.” The most disturbing account came from Rep. David Price of North Carolina, who spoke with a stringer for one of the television networks at a large town hall meeting he held in Durham. The stringer said he was one of 10 people around the country assigned to watch such encounters. Price said he was told flatly: “Your meeting doesn’t get covered unless it blows up.” As it happens, the Durham audience was broadly sympathetic to reform efforts. No “news” there. Rep. Chet Edwards of Texas is one member who did attend gatherings dominated by boisterous opponents of health reform. At a meeting in Waco, a man asked him what constitutional authority the federal government had to get involved in health care. Edwards replied, “Article One, Section Eight,” which includes authority for Congress to provide for the “general welfare of the United States.” Then Edwards asked the man if he opposed “the federal government being involved in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and children’s health care.” The man said he was, and the room roared its approval. “I will wear it as a badge of honor that I was shouted at by people who oppose Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and children’s health,” Edwards said. The shouters, he added, did not speak for most of his constituents, but for “the Ron Paul libertarian position that represents 2 to 5 percent of the country.” When I reached Rep. Tom Perriello last week, he divided the crowds at the 17 town halls he had held to that point in his largely rural Virginia district into three groups: conservatives, for whom the health care battle is “about big government, socialism and all that”; the left, for whom “it’s about corporate accountability”; and a “middle” for whom “it’s about health care costs” and the problems with their coverage. But the only citizens who commanded widespread media coverage last month were the right-wingers. And I bet you thought the media were “liberal.” E.J. Dionne’s e-mail address is ejdionne(at)washpost.com. © 2009, Washington Post Writers Group Elsewhere: . CommentsAre you a Truthdig member yet? Login now, or register with Truthdig. Add Your Comment
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By MarthaA, September 7 at 9:17 pm #
Ralph Nader Post
(Page 1 of 2)
It is time to STOP Democratic Party cooperation with the Republicans against the best interest of the greater majority of the Democratic Party. Words matter as Republicans use words to form deceitful frames of understanding in their best interest and against the best interest of the liberal majority of the Democratic Party and the liberal majority population of the United States. Here is a post by Ralph Nader about the deceitfulness of words that the Republicans use to frame the context of understanding that the Democratic Party never seems to be able to get around, even though they could, if they would open their minds, but the DLC conservative Republican-Lites are too busy cooperating to see the need:
Words Matter
By Ralph Nader
September 07, 2009 “Information Clearing House” —Ever wonder what’s happening to words once they fall into the hands of corporate and government propagandists? Too often reporters and editors don’t wonder enough. They ditto the words even when the result is deception or doubletalk.
Here are some examples. Day in and day out we read about “detainees” imprisoned for months or years by the federal government in the U.S., Guantanamo Bay, Iraq and Afghanistan. Doesn’t the media know that the correct word is “prisoners,” regardless of what Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld disseminated?
The raging debate and controversy over health insurance and the $2.5 trillion spent this year on health care involves consumers and “providers.” How touching to describe sellers or vendors, often gouging, denying benefits, manipulating fine print contracts, cheating Medicare and Medicaid in the tens of billions as “providers.”
I always thought “providers” were persons taking care of their families or engaging in charitable service. Somehow, the dictionary definition does not fit the frequently avaricious profiles of Aetna, United Healthcare, Pfizer and Merck.
“Privatization” and the “private sector” are widespread euphemisms that the press falls for daily. Moving government owned assets or functions into corporate hands, as with Blackwater, Halliburton, and the conglomerates now controlling public highways, prisons, and drinking water systems is “corporatization,” not the soft imagery of going “private” or into the “private sector.” It is the corporate sector!
Report thisBy MarthaA, September 7 at 9:13 pm #
Ralph Nader Post (cont.)
(Page 2 of 2)
“Medical malpractice reform” is another misnomer. It used to mean restricting the legal rights of wrongfully injured people by hospitals and doctors, or limiting the liability of these corporate vendors when their negligence harms innocent patients. Well, to anybody interested in straight talk, “medical malpractice reform” or the “medical malpractice crisis” should apply to bad or negligent practices by medical professionals. After all, about 100,000 people die every year from physician/hospital malpractice, according to a Harvard School of Public Health report. Hundreds of thousands are rendered sick or injured, not to mention even larger tolls from hospital-induced infections. Proposed “reforms” are sticking it to the wrong people—the patients—not the sellers.
“Free trade” is a widely used euphemism. It is corporate managed trade as evidenced in hundreds of pages of rules favoring corporations in NAFTA and the World Trade Organization. “Free trade” lowers barriers between countries so that cartels, unjustified patent monopolies, counterfeiting, contraband, and other harmful practices and products can move around the world unhindered.
What is remarkable about the constant use of these words is that they permeate the language even if those who stand against the policies of those who first coin these euphemisms. You’ll read about “detainees” and “providers” and “privatization” and “private sector” and “free trade” in the pages of the Nation and Progressive magazines, at progressive conferences with progressive leaders, and during media interviews. After people point out these boomeranging words to them, still nothing changes. Their habit is chronic.
A lot of who we are, of what we do and think is expressed through the language we choose. The word tends to become the thing in our mind as Stuart Chase pointed out seventy years ago in his classic work The Tyranny of Words. Let us stop disrespecting the dictionary! Let’s stop succumbing to the propagandists and the public relations tricksters!
Frank Luntz—the word wizard for the Republicans who invented the term “death tax” to replace “estate tax” is so contemptuous of the Democratic Party’s verbal ineptitude (such as using “public option” instead of “public choice” and regularly using the above-noted misnomers) that he dares them by offering free advice to the Democrats. He suggests they could counteract his “death tax” with their own term “the billionaires’ tax.” There were no Democratic takers. Remember, words matter.
Using words that are accurate and at face value is one of the characteristics of a good book. Three new books stand out for their straight talk. In Grand Illusion: The Myth of Voter Choice in a Two-party Tyranny, Theresa Amato, my former campaign manager, exposes the obstructions that deny voter choice by the two major parties for third party and independent candidates. Just out is Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle by Pulitzer Prize winner, Chris Hedges. Lastly, the boisterous, mischievous short autobiography of that free spirit, Jerry Lee Wilson, The Soloflex Story: An American Parable.
Not withstanding their different styles, these authors exercise semantic discipline.
Report thisBy Volma, September 7 at 7:00 pm #
For a calm rational intelligent argument about or for the Public Option Health Care please read this article by Lawrence S Wittner called When “Public Options” Serve the Public - and When They Don’t, in Truthout…
Report thishttp://www.truthout.org/090309A
I am sorry if I have served to irritate anyone or put anyone down who has commented, but really some people are so caught up in the “Craziness” of this, it seems that they are just as manipulated emotionally as they claim the anti health care drones are….This craziness, paranoia, garbage needs to be brought into the light…It’s no win, it’s crazy, it makes no sense on either side to take such a hateful emotional us vs them view on the subject…Since the states in the US has cut back or cut out completely the local state ran (Public Health Option) health insurance coverage, it’s really bad on a personal level for the working poor…I know very well, from experience, what it means not to get the health care you need, not to have health insurance, and not being able to afford the high cost of doctor visits and medicine…Please read the article, it’s a logical reasonable argument for public health care…It may help you to communicate more effectively on the subject without the emotional craziness…But then again some people just like to hear themselves, have a need for attention, and it’s really all about their emotional needs and wants, not really about the subject at all…Like a cranky child having a temper tantrum and will not stop until he/she gets her wants met…
By MarthaA, September 7 at 3:03 pm #
“I Leefeller, am in a Right-Wing Boiler Room”
Report thisBy ardee, September 7 at 8:46 am #
MarthaA, September 6 at 8:56 pm #
Leefeller says I am in a Right-Wing Boiler Room. OK, that is good to know.
...................................
Errr no he did not…..read more carefully, or prejudge a lot less. Both actually would be a pleasant change.
Report thisBy MarthaA, September 6 at 8:56 pm #
Leefeller says I am in a Right-Wing Boiler Room. OK, that is good to know.
Report thisBy Leefeller, September 6 at 11:46 am #
Leefeller,
Are you a part of a Right-Wing Boiler Room? Yes or No.
Of course I can tell you, I am sitting in front of one computer in a room of many, with people all around me.
A large fat man sitting on my left who seems to talk very loudly into his computer, the only thing I can comprehend from his ramblings are the word socialism and Nazi.
On my left is a women who seems to be speaking in tongues, except for a brief moment when she talked about having a threesome in her living room with a stuffed bear and a King Crab. Though, I tried not to listen.
I Leefeller, am in a Right-Wing Boiler Room? Yes or No.
Report thisBy Jim Yell, September 6 at 9:56 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
A straight forward inclusive National Health Care Service is what we need and the majority should want. Health rationing is not an issue, because we all ready have it. If you aren’t wealthy and you don’t have a good inclusive health insurance you can either die or go bankrupt and become homeless. It happens all the time.
Unfortunately the “deck of cards” called change has been got at by the corporations and they don’t want to give up their right to be “blood suckers”. Why shouldn’t they be able to preempt huge amounts of money from health care delivery? Mostly we get slick ads telling us how great they are and then a notice that our insurance rates have been raised so high we can’t afford them or our insurance coverage became null and void because we had the bad judgement to expect it to cover the costs of our illness. There is only one answer a real National Health Service. The rest is just the greedy trying to screw the rest of us.
Report thisBy MarthaA, September 5 at 6:26 pm #
Leefeller,
Are you a part of a Right-Wing Boiler Room? Yes or No.
Report thisBy Leefeller, September 5 at 5:00 pm #
Fear is a most effective tool used in the grand illusions sponsored by support of status quo. All the right wing fluff’s are only added assurances for the small minds of mediocrity are already programed. Blind belief is a very common human quality.
Report thisBy mackTN, September 5 at 2:52 pm #
This is the same media that served as boosters for the Iraq war, right?
With a 24-hour competitive (money needed) media, it’s easy to manipulate it especially knowing its requirements for hot stories. Throw in an organized effort from insurance companies to thwart this legislation—big profits are at stake here.
Listen to the hired right-wing jocks while you drive to work. They are deft agents of misinformation. All this is framed in the Obama is socialist and reparation minded theme. They have people believing, people whose source of information and viewpoint comes from the radio, that they’ll be denied and murdered. People call up who have no health insurance and chronic illnesses who’ll say they’d rather die than agree to socialism. They have people agreeing that the way to go with health care is out of one’s own pocket! (I’m sure insurance bigwhigs would hate to see a self pay option since nobody could afford it!)
There’s a bigger agenda than health care driving these defenders of the status quo.
Report thisBy david m, September 5 at 12:50 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
I considered it a well-thought-out posting. And by odd coincidence many of the comments seem to be written by the same bunch that has destroyed the town hall meetings. What do incoherent rantings about Jews, Nazis, etc. have to do with a rational discussion of the healthcare reform debate? Perhaps the same bunch who poisoned the townhall meetings and the airwaves are now turning their attention to the blogs? I won’t play the game of name-calling, so don’t bother with a nasty reply to me because that sort of childishness doesn’t affect me at all and I won’t answer it.
Report thisBy altara, September 5 at 11:44 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
Many are misled.
The other day, a former neighbor came by to visit. At one point she complained that, having just signed up for Medicare, she feared the Medicare changes in health care reform plans. Well, the reform does not threaten Medicare. Medicare changes are not the thrust of these reforms. Medicare’s funding problems have to be addressed separate from current reform plans.
Putting aside drummed up fears like “death panels”. what’s not to like about health care reform? Certainly, there is the cost of insuring the uninsured, but most Americans are in favor of righting this wrong. (and we’re paying a lot for their health care as it is). President Obama wants to eliminate pre-existing conditions limitations, prevent denials when illness occurs, help preserve insurance when jobs are lost, and reduce costs for the benefit of businesses and individuals. It’s all good stuff.
Then there is the public option. This is not government take over or socialism; it is a public insurance option, to operate like Medicare. At the outset, this option is necessary because we will have to subsidize some of the currently uninsured; and so we want a lower cost alternative. Longer term this government insurance operation will help keep private insurers competitive and can better negotiate with providers to reduce the overall cost of health care.
Everyone agrees that our health care system is broken and presents an unsustainable burden on our society. Now is the time for President Obama and the Democrats to bring the change voted for last November.
homer http://www.altara.blogspot.com
Report thisBy Leefeller, September 5 at 10:09 am #
As the Lobbyist’s turn, every citizen should realize their is an us and them, but them is always hiding behind smoke and screens as Outrageous comments on. It has always been the special interests protecting their 75 percent of the pie, ownership is the name, power is the game. Uppity people are not allowed, unions are uppity, 16 percent unemployment is uppity.
Place a label on something, create a bigoted support group and call it socialism, ignorance loves to bark at the moon. Like land speculators years past taking prime ag land for development, Social Security and Medicare are prime targets for opportunists, for their is gold in them there hills.
Republican, Democrat, Left, Right, liberal or progressive all labels utilized to tie the hands of reality for ignorance is bliss.
Report thisBy Outraged, September 5 at 2:21 am #
I wonder…... would “I” fill up political blogs with NONSENSE if I were the scavenging faction of the insurance companies…, would I “grasp at straws”, so to speak? Sure (if I were a fuck), I’d do that AMONG other things. Look, anyone CAN play asshole, but only the WEAK position engages such TACTICS.
Think strategically…. if you had the upper hand, would “you” grovel to this extent…? I say NOT.
A partial repost:
“And what portion of that fraction(the screamers) are plausibly legit? This story @ Alternet sheds some light:
“UHC was exposed last month for creating a call center that directed employees to anti-health reform protests. More recently, Wellpoint launched a “grassroots Web site” urging employees to “make [their] voice heard” by contacting Congress in opposition to health reform. Now it appears that these tactics may have been a violation of California law. According to the watchdog organization’s letter, UnitedHealthCare’s anti-reform hotline and Wellpoint’s astroturf lobbying website may violate California laws meant to prevent employers from influencing the political activity of its employees…..
.... AHIP, the multimillion dollar lobbying juggernaut for the health insurance industry, has mobilized 50,000 of its employees to lobby Congress against the public option.”
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/142413/california_ag_called_to_investigate_insurance_companies’_anti-health_reform_advocacy/#more
The level of depravity of some people is immeasurable isn’t it? What… on the weekends do they double as “twisted tourists”? Unreal.”
If “I” were a propagandist, I might “identify” myself as “leftist” (that dirty word) or I might claim myself “an Obama hater” or I might invent “reasons” WHY single payer is evil. In fact, IF “I” were a real ass, I might even…DEGENERATELY run around the country, scaring the hell out of elderly American citizens.
What would “I” do, IF I were a death dealing business…? Absolutely, I’d lie… cheat…steal. “I’d” have too. Realistically, I would’ve envisioned this “problem” well before “this thing” we call the “healthcare debate ever ARRIVED.
Sure. I would know people have DIED as a direct result of my actions, but hey…. we “gotta watch the bottom line”.... And this is the conundrum. The Bottom Line
I say…. LET’S REINVENT THE BOTTOM LINE
Endorse SINGLE PAYER.
Report thisBy Volma, September 5 at 2:13 am #
You make one mistake, forget to unchecked the little box right above the Submit comment box and your in-box is absolutely full of comment notices….Ah somewhere along the line I think one program for comments only actually notifies you if the comment is directly for you…Feedback…So now I see, the big H has been brought out into this thread, always the Nazi’s and what are Nazi’s without bringing in the plight of the Jews….Don’t get me wrong it was the prime example of the evils that humans are willing and able to do to one another for power, and to feel good about themselves…LeeFeller, I love Monty Python, In Search of the Holy Grail is my favorite, and the Meaning of Life is a close second…Bad Bad Very Bad Zoot….
I like the scene of the princess/prince locked in the tower, looking for a prince to rescue her/him…Although if you have more than one separate personality, technically you are not a schizophrenic, this would fall under the ole “Multiple Personality disorder”, or what is I think now referred to as “Disassociative Personality Disorder” in any case it would be up to the separate personalities to answer these accusations of you being Ozark whoever, or whoever else the paranoid may call you….Night Hawk, Bring Out YOur Dead, was great, ya the black plague, and I am not sure how this is suppose to relate to health care reforms, except it does remind me of families putting their elderly in nursing homes, if I wanted to project social commentary of a serious kind into it…It’s real real heated intense war between the NightHawk and Martha….wow….too bad that in reality it is totally meaningless, as far as you two, hotly debating, even arguing until hell freezes over and the affect it will have on the actual health care thingy and it’s actual implementation or demise…Chill out, don’t take yourselves too seriously, life is way to short for that…You may pop a artery,or have a stroke man/woman have a glass of red wine or smoke a something, chilllll, you are getting sleepy…...
Report thisBy MarthaA, September 5 at 12:10 am #
Goebbles would be proud of you Nighthawk, OzarkMichael or whatever your name is.
NightHawk said: “Joe Kennedy as Ambassador to England. You know: The one that is on record sympathizing with the “Jew problem” in Germany.”
Are you talking about when all the Jewish people were being burned in those big ovens, are you proud of that? I am proud of anyone who stood against that atrocious crime against humanity. I doubt if Goebbels is proud, because he got killed as should anyone who does such crime. It amazes me that you have the colossal gall to purport that the death of so many people is something of which to be proud, talk about being a Hitler follower. Does this mean that you are of Aryan Gothic descent?
Report thisBy Nighthawk, September 4 at 10:28 pm #
We know that the war effort dragged America out of the depression.
Manufacturing jump started with Government contracts. Folks loaned money to the Government with war bonds.
Government used this infusion, not to redistribute wealth (that came with the Marshal plan) but to wage war.
Sure, he incurred a debt, but America went to work.
Seems to have worked in rather the opposite way that the Obama plan is.
‘Course, Germany, Britain, Japan, and even Canada, are in recovery that we are not. ‘Course, Obama castigated their leaders for not embarking on the “stimulus” as he advised.
What did FDR do right?
He took us to war (despite his vow) and sparked recovery.
His socialist policies merely took us deeper into depression.
What are they teaching about him in school?
Yep.
Goebbels would be proud.
You’re welcome, Martha.
Tell you what. I’ll throw you a bone.
GREED started the war that FDR manuevered us into.
Corporate greed?
Nah.
GOVERNMENT GREED.
The Treaty of Versailles.
Report thisBy Nighthawk, September 4 at 10:16 pm #
Let’s help you along here, Martha.
We know that FDR used the fledgeling FCC (Federal Radio Commission, actually) to deny his opponents and critics access to airwaves.
We know that he attempted to change the number of SCOTUS justices so he could pack the court.
We know that he installed Joe Kennedy as Ambassador to England. You know: The one that is on record sympathizing with the “Jew problem” in Germany. “Germany’s greatest friend in America.” at the time
We know that the Japanese were manuevered into war by the embargoes.
Of course (and this is not at all off topic), my kid’s textbook explained that the Japanese attacked Pearl because they knew Americans were racist.
We also know that the Japanese had orders to eat prisoners in Mainland China if supplies ran short.
Chinese, and Americans for that matter, were “Gaijin”.
Again: Goebbels would be proud.
Report this(you might pick up and read The Rape of Nanking)
A tough read, but still easier to take than one of Obama’s books.
By Leefeller, September 4 at 10:15 pm #
Please ask Ozark Michael if he is I? Having trouble finding my pink tights to go with my used to be red now pink cape?
Report thisBy Nighthawk, September 4 at 9:59 pm #
By MarthaA, September 4 at 9:02 pm #
“How many names are you using on this blog OzarkMichael?”
Ask Obama. Ozark aint the one invoking the Presidential records act to track what folks say on sited like Facebook and Myspace.
Silly girl.
Report thisBy Nighthawk, September 4 at 9:57 pm #
“RIGHT-WING CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN FREE MARKET GREED got the country into”
By MarthaA, September 4 at 3:00 pm
Uh huh.
Not excessive regulation and isolationism?
Poor girl.
“because most likely you would have strangled yourselves in your own greed.”
Have you ever considered therapy?
What would make Goebbels proud?
YOU.
Any observer of Democrat politics understands the Big Lie.
By Volma, September 4 at 4:20 pm #
All of this health care “reform” talk reminds me of a different scene: “BRING OUT YOUR DEAD!”
Report thisBy MarthaA, September 4 at 9:02 pm #
How many names are you using on this blog OzarkMichael?
Report thisBy OzarkMichael, September 4 at 6:51 pm #
MarthaA talks to tropicgirl: You have made subjective statements and accusations, but could you be objectively specific as to just what it is that would make Goebbels proud?
Why does MarthaA want to make Goebbels proud?
The way she threatens to exterminate opposition has a very Nazi ring to it. Its all coming together now.
MarthaA! Answer me honestly just for once: Have you been reading Mien Kampf?
YES or NO.
Report thisBy ardee, September 4 at 5:33 pm #
OzarkMichael, September 4 at 8:36 am
Please dont attempt to imitate a stupid person, you aint one.
When Sheehan first appeared on the scene it was as the mother of a dead soldier. Prurient interest, heartbreak and motherly love made a great story. Now she is just another war protester relegated to the back pages. if even there.
This is still, in the minds of many, Bush’s war, one that Obama was “stuck” with. I disagree and loudly but you know this to be true. All your protestations of such lack of balance in the news is correct, it is your conclusions that are wrong. The Press is not protecting Obama and to conclude such is amazing…..
Report thisBy Leefeller, September 4 at 5:10 pm #
Volma,
I love Monty Python and of course the Holy grail, I even have the Monty Python Holy grail computer game, to bad it does not work on Vista, my favorite section in the game, is spanking the Virgins.
Must watch the movie again, I had forgotten about the pheasants in the mud, I do remember the French castle guards with the bad french accents, very, very funny.
Martha, I am schizophrenic and prefer it that way, so I do not really know who I am at any given moment in time. Ask Ozark Michael if he has a pink cape and matching KKK outfit.
Report thisBy MarthaA, September 4 at 4:41 pm #
Leefeller,
Are you OzarkMichael? Yes or No.
Report thisBy Leefeller, September 4 at 4:31 pm #
Ozark Michael and I, far as I know are not the same person, though he knows of my red cape which most unfortunately got mixed up in the wash with my KKK outfit, now everything seems to be in the pink. Think, people will notice?
Report thisBy Volma, September 4 at 4:20 pm #
In the movie, Monty Python, “In Search of the Holy Grail” there is a scene that reminds me of the dialog on this, and most of the comment threads where people are championing their cause and themes by which they base their lives…King Arthur and his men come upon a group of peasants farming mud in the fields…The peasants are filthy dirty and dressed in rags, using only their hands to move mud from one spot to the next..King Arthur rides up to one peasant and announces that he is their king, and he is in search of the holy grail, the peasant, then disagrees/argues with the king, tells him that he is not their king, that they live in a socialist democratic, commune, co-op, (not exact words but simular) The king argues with them, the man argues back, another peasant joins in the conversation, and they are discussing and arguing/discussing the topic in highly intellectual dialog…The peasants are scholars the intellectual elite, obviously above the king in their ability to memorize, analyze their theories, and use big words, that sound very very smart indeed… The king looks at them as if they are crazy, knows that any further dialog with them is absolutely useless, will get him no where on his quest and leaves them to their intellectual, church lady, right wrong black white good evil, I am better than you, know more bickering..In the end, (of this excerpt) the King is still the king and the peasants regardless of who they consider themselves to be in their own little reality bubble, are still doing nothing more than mud farming, living in dire poverty, and all the good things that result in it…I never really connected the deeper meaning of this part of the movie until the past of year reading comment sections and the interactions in them…The intellectuals have been some of the first people to be easily to quell, destroy, jailed, controlled when fascist government’s control a country…They have only their words, and argue among themselves so much that they really never do much more than that…They seem to be under the delusion that their never ending banter, actually accomplishes something…They miss the “BIG PICTURE” their values are skewed on minor side issues, pet theories, projects..Never addressing the core issues, ever, and even if they did they are so caught up in their ego’s nothing would ever get organized or accomplished that would actually make a difference…Doesn’t matter who the alpha dogs of the club are, or the theme, it’s a club that I personally am very content not to join…I would rather do something more constructive with my life, this is a useless, meaningless, futile waste of my fingers and information highway chain crashed, thread crashed brain…
Report thisBy MarthaA, September 4 at 3:00 pm #
Nighthawk,
REPUBLICAN Herbert Hoover’s prosperity being just around the corner and a chicken in every pot being just around the corner with prosperity didn’t solve the dilemma of the depression that the RIGHT-WING CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN FREE MARKET GREED got the country into, but Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt got creative and solved the problems that the RIGHT WINGERS brought down on the country, and because of it, all of YOU PEOPLE have a life to complain about, that you wouldn’t have had otherwise, because most likely you would have strangled yourselves in your own greed.
You have made subjective statements and accusations, but could you be objectively specific as to just what it is that would make Goebbels proud?
Report thisBy MarthaA, September 4 at 2:33 pm #
So, Leefeller is OzarkMichael, as well.
Report thisBy Leefeller, September 4 at 1:58 pm #
“using different names to obfuscate liberal dialog in true Hitler “Mein Kampf” fashion”.
Always wondered about Martha being the one and the same person, I ask that question whenever I meet someone in town. “Do you know if Martha is the same person?”
Report thisBy MarthaA, September 4 at 1:43 pm #
tropicgirl,
Subjective accusatory assertions to distort the peoples voice is the RIGHT-WING CONSERVATIVE EXTREMIST SOPHIST PROPAGANDISTS PAID task on this blog, and you are following your Right-Wing EXTREME mandate along with other RIGHT-WING HITLERESQUE CONSERVATIVE EXTREMIST SOPHIST PROPAGANDISTS on TD Blog, which causes me to wonder if there are actually that many on the blog, or only a few using different names to obfuscate liberal dialog in true Hitler “Mein Kampf” fashion.
Report thisBy tropicgirl, September 4 at 12:13 pm #
E.J.—
I believe here are the main points that have happened with the protests…
1. THIS IS THE COLLAPSE OF THE CENTRIST DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM
2. AMERICANS HAVE PROVEN THAT THEY HAVE THE POWER TO STOP THINGS
IN WASHINGTON ON A DIME (just about). This is the secret success of the right
and left grassroots (forget about Rush, he is a sideline, believe me, you guys
are too myopic about the power of yourselves).
3. AMERICANS RIGHT AND LEFT ARE INTELLIGENT AND THEY KNOW A SUCKER
JOB FROM OBAMA AND CONGRESS WHEN THEY SEE ONE. THEY WERE RIGHT
ABOUT THE BAILOUTS. THEY WERE RIGHT ABOUT THE PORKULUS, AND THEY
ARE RIGHT TO QUESTION THIS DISHONEST HEALTH CARE BILL.
4. OBAMAS PR MACHINE IS TOTALLY BROKEN AND CAN NEVER BE
RECONSTRUCTED. He’s too worried about the PR machine of the neocons and
runs from it. Plus, no one believes anything he says anyway.
5. ALTHOUGH THE NEO-CON PRESS (Rush and Beck and the like) ARE
CLAIMING TO BE DRIVING THE PROTESTS, THEY ARE NOT. THE GRASSROOTS IS
USING THEM JUST LIKE THEY ARE USING THE PRESS. What about that for a
change? No problem. This gives people MORE power and will help the right and
left. The people are learning how to play the protest game to stop Washington.
6. About the guns… I think it is a symbol that people are just about totally fed
up with our crooked government on both sides. If you listen to them carefully,
and are able to separate the trolls, you will hear the frustration on both sides
equally and similarly expressed.
7. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RIGHT AND LEFT (NON-NEOCONS AND NON-
NEOLIBS) IS DISAPPEARING. The politicians will no longer be able to play that
game. A Democrat is not necessarily a liberal and a Republican is not
necessarily a true conservative. Mark my words, this is the next thing. The
grassroots will unite against the Washington machine. Most of my republican
friends are for the environment, against meaningless war, fiscally responsible
and for heath care reform, even single payer for some.
Something is a-brewen’. It would be nice if our leaders in the press would, for
Report thisa change, catch on to what is actually happening at the time, when it could
actually be helpful, instead of re-hashing last month’s news over and over.
By DHFabian, September 4 at 11:43 am #
Cindy Sheehan caught the media’s attention because, in contrast to their view of the stereotypical protester, she was something of a novelty. A quick human interest story, something that could be reported without any actual investigative (or contemplative) work.
What hasn’t been reported in mainstream media has been her long-term work toward peace and justice. Ms. Sheehan just isn’t the sort to sit back and bask in her 60 seconds in the spotlight, then “go back to normal life.” She remains involved, not for attention, but for the sake of something in which she strongly believes, continuing with the rather tedious work toward real change.
The tremendous value of Ms. Sheehan’s publicly-notable activism is the the fact that she became the symbol representing We the Ordinary, the parents of sons and daughters subject to being used as tools in a war for… for what? It made ordinary, working class people stop to think hard about what was going on, and Ms. Sheehan’s efforts played an important role in moving the tide of widespread public opinion against the war.
Report thisBy Ouroborus, September 4 at 11:38 am #
Shenonymous; sorry, you’re right, this is definitely an
Report thisexorcise in futility. My god, it’s beyond
comphrehension. We be fooked, for sure!
By Ouroborus, September 4 at 9:21 am #
Shenonymous; oh how you prattle on. Why do you take
Report thisthis popularity contest so seriously? As a long term
poster yourownself; you must gain something from the
give and take; insult and praise; attack and defend
that goes on here, yes? This is merely a microcosm of
the world out there. Anything change recently there?
No? Gee, big surprise, huh? Relax and enjoy…or not.
By OzarkMichael, September 4 at 8:39 am #
Shenonymous says: I bet myself that if I visited at random any other TD forum the script and cast of characters would be exactly the same. So I did and I won!
Double or nothing that wet will be saying different things next time. And that the debate will rise to a higher level too.
On second thought….
Report thisBy OzarkMichael, September 4 at 8:36 am #
ardees opinion: The reason Sheehan labors in silence now is because to report this peaceful protest sells not one single paper, no blood, no sex, no gore.
Oh thats right. I forgot. During the Bush administration Cindy ran around topless with a hatchet in her hand. THATS why it was reported back then. It was the sex and gore that got her on the front page
... all of which is ardee’s opinion, not mine.
Report thisBy Shenonymous, September 4 at 7:58 am #
The ‘voice of the people.” How hysterical! Browsing the headlines that came with the newest TD Daily and running across this forum, why wasn’t I surprised to see the same old same old cronies swimming in their same old same old swill? Anyone with even half a brain can see and hear that the ALL of the news media is void of anything that helps a crippled mankind out of its mental diseases. As if their uncountable trite and petty commentaries ever has a shred of perception in them.
Guess it is too much to expect anyone here to elevate the discussion to one that actually has any brilliance. The concert of cacophony is astounding. It is a mixture of sadism, masochism, and masturbation (both mental and physical) shouted into brown paper bags. The racket is the same as ever. I bet myself that if I visited at random any other TD forum the script and cast of characters would be exactly the same. So I did and I won! No progression of thought, all spinning their same wheels. Now that is both funny and not funny. You may continue with your peculiar form of opinion eroticism. No wonder the world crawls at slug pace.
You might just take a second to wonder if any knowledge is ever furthered on these forums and if you want to spend your life traipsing in this revolving drivel. Not me, so I’m out of here. Real life beckons.
Report thisBy ardee, September 4 at 7:56 am #
OzarkMichael, September 4 at 7:42 am #
Your attempts at propagandizing are descending to the level of MarthaA, sad to note. You are , in your own mind at least, a master at slipsliding away from issue and facts that refute your absurd notion that the left runs this nations governance and media.
You are kin to those like Marshall, smart but unbalanced, politically at least. Your absurd attempt to prove that the coverage, or lack thereof, of the Sheehan protest proves anything at all is about as low as you have yet gone.
As you have “conveniently” forgotten to address any of the points I made I repost them for your edification and response:
The Press , according to Garp, errr Ozark, loved to bash Bush and ‘used’ Ms. Sheehan to accomplish that task. Further he surmises that they do not wish to bash Obama so they ignore her now.
I guess Mikey was in a coma for the eight year disaster that was Bush, when criticisms were scarce as hell in the mainstream media, when right wing media grew by leaps and bounds and not a voice in protest was seen or heard. When one hundred thousand marchers were characterized in the press as a few thousand, and the message was disguised pretty damn well.
The reason Sheehan labors in silence now is because to report this peaceful protest sells not one single paper, no blood, no sex, no gore. Yet Mikey blissfully ignores the way a few nutjobs in Town Hall meetings are heard throughout the land and those many who spoke in support of reform are nonexistent.
and, as your methodolgy richly deserves, I repeat my opinion:
Bah Michael, your ideology is frantic and sad.
Report thisBy OzarkMichael, September 4 at 7:42 am #
ardee says: Michael conveniently fogets to add the words, in my opinion to his screed.
and then ardee finishes with: Bah Michael, your ideology is frantic and sad.
Bah ardee, you forgot to add the the words in my opinion.
Once again, you want one set of rules for me and no rules for yourself. Thats what I call…. bias! Which just happens to be what we are discussing.
Priceless.
Report thisBy ardee, September 4 at 6:43 am #
The media is silent about poor Cindy Sheehan, who they were happy to use against Bush. They are silent now about Cindy’s protests because they dont want to hurt Barack Obama.
Michael conveniently fogets to add the words, in my opinion to his screed.
The Press , according to Garp, errr Ozark, loved to bash Bush and ‘used’ Ms. Sheehan to accomplish that task. Further he surmises that they do not wish to bash Obama so they ignore her now.
I guess Mikey was in a coma for the eight year disaster that was Bush, when criticisms were scarce as hell in the mainstream media, when right wing media grew by leaps and bounds and not a voice in protest was seen or heard. When one hundred thousand marchers were characterized in the press as a few thousand, and the message was disguised pretty damn well.
The reason Sheehan labors in silence now is because to report this peaceful protest sells not one single paper, no blood, no sex, no gore. Yet Mikey blissfully ignores the way a few nutjobs in Town Hall meetings are heard throughout the land and those many who spoke in support of reform are nonexistent.
Bah Michael, your ideology is frantic and sad.
Report thisBy Fat Freddy, September 4 at 6:42 am #
Distorting the Voice of the PeopleI think you mean:
Using Fraud and Deception to Increase Ratings, Sell Newspapers, and Boost “AdSense” Revenues
don’t you?
Report thisBy Outraged, September 4 at 3:07 am #
“What if the highly publicized screamers represented only a fraction of public opinion? What if most of the town halls were populated by citizens who respectfully but firmly expressed a mixture of support, concern and doubt?”
And what portion of that fraction are plausibly legit? This story @ Alternet sheds some light:
“UHC was exposed last month for creating a call center that directed employees to anti-health reform protests. More recently, Wellpoint launched a “grassroots Web site” urging employees to “make [their] voice heard” by contacting Congress in opposition to health reform. Now it appears that these tactics may have been a violation of California law. According to the watchdog organization’s letter, UnitedHealthCare’s anti-reform hotline and Wellpoint’s astroturf lobbying website may violate California laws meant to prevent employers from influencing the political activity of its employees…..
.... AHIP, the multimillion dollar lobbying juggernaut for the health insurance industry, has mobilized 50,000 of its employees to lobby Congress against the public option.”
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/142413/california_ag_called_to_investigate_insurance_companies’_anti-health_reform_advocacy/#more
The level of dravity of some people is immeasurable isn’t it? What… on the weekends do they double as “twisted tourists”? Unreal. There was this @ rollcall:
“Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), chairman of that panel’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, on Monday asked the companies to turn over information about what they call their practice of “purging” small businesses from their rolls when covered employees get sick.
“We need to better understand how widespread this harmful and destructive practice has become, and how it is impacting small businesses and their employees across the country,” Waxman said in a statement.
The letters went to insurers Aetna, Humana, Medica, UnitedHealth Group, Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, and WellPoint.”
http://www.rollcall.com/news/38058-1.html
Again, such familiar names….
Report thisBy rollzone, September 3 at 11:51 pm #
hello. MarthaA, that was a nice speech; but i differ that our prez is not facing them down: but promoting them. the media is a corporate interest, liberal based propaganda machine- but that is their right in our country. just like we have the right to look elsewhere. i have an opinion that we have no business in Afghanistan, and i do not expect to be interviewed by the media; unless my conviction is so strongly opposed to senseless slaughter: that i myself am willing to participate in something radically extremely newsworthy- such as a hunger strike-to my own death if necessary- in full view of the White House. even then i would not expect coverage for the first few days…even from a liberally biased media. i would only sell copy after i started losing weight and began showing bones. it would be a better world for me to not be required to act so extremely unsociable to be heard, but the media is more about profit than mind control. they do not bite the hand that feeds them. there was an interesting thought about breaking the monopolies. if you want to really be heard, open your own newspaper; start your own tube feed. the amazing attribute of the Internet is that global hits compound exponentially with sharing when someone has something worthy to say. this may be the final gasp of media; as we have known it. i hope it does not come to me going on a water diet.
Report thisBy MarthaA, September 3 at 10:55 pm #
More RIGHT-WING CONSERVATIVE EXTREMIST REPUBLICAN SOPHISM by OzarkMichael.
Report thisBy OzarkMichael, September 3 at 10:40 pm #
ever?
not even once?
not even when I quote you?
like this which MarthaA says about Republicans: “take them out and shoot them till they no longer wiggle.”
Isnt that a fact that you said it?
Report thisBy MarthaA, September 3 at 9:53 pm #
More subjective assertions from OzarkMichael, a sophist propagandist for the RIGHT-WING EXTREMIST CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN PARTY. NO FACTS, whatsoever—- EVER.
Report thisBy Volma, September 3 at 9:29 pm #
I think that the humans who consider themselves to be liberal and the human who identify with being conservative, need to wake up…We are all being played, have been for decades, but it’s right in your face at the moment and some just refuse to believe it…This isn’t about health care, I doubt that this plan whatever it really is, was created to actually exist. Is there any real data that can tell us who really is for or against, and who really knows the details of this health care program??Propaganda, manipulation, emotional to continue the divide of the Us against Them mentality…Recently I watched a video where a man compared the republicans and democrats as a mafia gang, the Luciano’s against the Bombino’s (whatever) but that the real rulers behind the curtain are in the shadows and do not want to be seen…The Ultra rich corporate owners of the New World Order…Yes under Bush the propaganda was biased against the liberal, anti war movement, now you hear nothing about it really, why? you take a guess…All the while, American’s are being put on lists, no fly lists, potential terrorist lists, and I mean all Americans…From the radicals on all spectrum to concerned citizens…The military has infiltrated the American public, has hired provocateurs, to create chaos, controversy, to create a threat, then to have the excuse to extinguish the threat…The threat is freedom civil liberties and democracy… The techniques are typical social engineering techs used by the Nazi’s and since used by all fascist ran governments to control, take over…Some links to examples are the articles on Army undercover spy, who posed as a anarchist in WA state, and this system is all over the US, used on conservatives too…It’s evil and devious..This is not the time to be in denial and naive about the situation, it’s dire..We need to stick to the basics, unite with all American’s it may already be too late…If this makes me a conspiracy nut, oh well, guess I am, but the facts are there, all around you if you want to face it…
http://www.unitedliberty.org/articles/ron-paul-supporters-terrorists
http://seattle.indymedia.org/en/2007/11/262688.shtml Olympia port protests
http://seattle.indymedia.org/en/2009/07/273478.shtml Olympia spy military network
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXSQ6UQkyYA miac report
http://www.scribd.com/doc/13290698/The-Modern-Militia-MovementMissouri-MIAC-Strategic-Report
-20Feb09-
http://www.unitedliberty.org/articles/ron-paul-supporters-terrorists miac report article on
libertarian site…
Report thisBy Nighthawk, September 3 at 9:11 pm #
“President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Madison Square Garden Speech on October 31, 1936: “
MarthaA,
A very apt analogy.
Of course, the depression got worse due to Roosevelt’s policies. The war effort ended it, with some debt incurred and huge sacrifice by many. Not merely the sacrifice of the soldiers, but also the daily sacrifices of the folks that did not go to war.
This was the war that Roosevelt had vowed to stay out of. That our entry into it was orchestrated by his embargoes and other plans is a question that is sadly not asked much anymore. Decades of worshipful coverage have had an effect.
Goebbels would be proud
Report thisBy OzarkMichael, September 3 at 9:06 pm #
Follow the MONEY! That’s where the money is!
Technically, if you are following the money, you will only be where the money WAS.
For example, if you follow the big money that big Pharma has pumped into the Obama Whitehouse, you will follow it to David Axelrod’s advertising firm for multi multi million dollar advertising and lobbying for Obamacare.
But thats NOT where the money is! thats where the money WAS.
Because a cool 2 million bucks will be in Axelrod’s wallet now.
There is no way to know what Obama’s cut was. But that is where the money IS.
Report thisBy MarthaA, September 3 at 8:40 pm #
A little taste as to what President Obama is trying to face down from a past president:
President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Madison Square Garden Speech on October 31, 1936:
“We have not come this far without a struggle and I assure you we cannot go further without a struggle.
“For twelve years this Nation was afflicted with hear-nothing, see-nothing, do-nothing Government. The Nation looked to Government but the Government looked away. Nine mocking years with the golden calf and three long years of the scourge! Nine crazy years at the ticker and three long years in the breadlines! Nine mad years of mirage and three long years of despair! Powerful influences strive today to restore that kind of government with its doctrine that that Government is best which is most indifferent.
“For nearly four years you have had an Administration which instead of twirling its thumbs has rolled up its sleeves. We will keep our sleeves rolled up.
“We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace - business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering.
“They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs. We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob.
“Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me and I welcome their hatred.
“I should like to have it said of my first Administration that in it the forces of selfishness and of lust for power met their match. I should like to have it said of my second Administration that in it these forces met their master.”
Report thisBy Nighthawk, September 3 at 8:34 pm #
Foolish indeed to get your information from the MSM. Even more foolish to get fully sucked in while attempting to critique it.
Of course the media covered what the author calls “Right wingers”, though he is broadly mistaken in that belief. “Right wingers” actually make up a minority of the folks that show up for these town halls and tea parties. A large percentage are “independents”, with some left leaning folks as well. This is one of the things that has Obama so spooked.
True, the MSM is falsely reporting on these phenomena. They are reporting about unruly racist mobs. Nothing could be further from the truth. The MSM is merely attempting to discredit The People. Slander.
To be fair, the MSM is to a certain extent reporting what they see. They reported angry foul mouthed screamers with swastikas at a town hall at which John Dingell was supposed to answer questions. Of course, it’s been proven that the angry swastika wielders were in fact, Dingell staffers. And the “answer” from Dingell? : “I don’t know what’s in the bill.”
The fact is that The People have come to recognize that Government has greatly abused the powers that it is allowed by the constitution.
“Article One, Section Eight,” ?
“To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States.”
This clause is not a grant of power to Congress. It is a limit to a power given to Congress. It limits the purpose for which Congress can lay and collect taxes.
Perhaps Edwards and Dionne are confused by the use of the word “welfare”. At the time of the writing of the Constitution, the term “welfare” was just as different from its modern day usage as “well regulated” is.
“….general welfare of the United States.” “United States”, not “The People”
Sure, I understand that NeoComms are confused by this. To NeoComms, the phrase “The People” means one thing in the First Amendment and something completely different in the Second Amendment.
At best, the author is taking the clause out of context and citing (false) Liberal talking points. At worst he is an outright liar.
Follow the money? Good idea. Now let’s actually put some thought into it.
Where’s the money?
The pharmaceutical lobby? The trial lawyers? The AMA? AARP? Nope. These lobby groups are all in full support.
Health insurance companies? Again: Nope.
The only evidence of big money being used is in the form of busloads of union folks with professionally made signs being ushered in the back door of the venues, while the average Joe is told that there is no room.
How about an example? Let’s pick the newest and most outrageous one. At an event sponsored by (follow the money) MOVEON.ORG, a pro-nationalization of healthcare person walks through a crowd of anti-nationalization interlopers and is “attacked” by a 65 year old man. So naturally he bit off the old man’s pinky.
Report thisBy OzarkMichael, September 3 at 8:21 pm #
ardee says: That Mr. Dionne makes a great case for the sensationalism that the media thinks is news reporting does not mean left wing bias in that media…
did I say it did? ardee, why do you run two propositions together like that? you know it muddies both issues and makes it harder to have clear judgement about both.
...it means we have a terrible media with incompetent and sensationalism seeking journalists who miss the real story
true. But the statement about the media taking up for one side over another is a completely different proposition. And someone else brought that proposition up.
It needed to be corrected. No one else will do it so I did. I will summarize it in case you misunderstood:
The media is silent about poor Cindy Sheehan, who they were happy to use against Bush. They are silent now about Cindy’s protests because they dont want to hurt Barack Obama.
Report thisBy Leefeller, September 3 at 5:14 pm #
Capitalism always puts it own interests over society, this is nothing new, now the media though buy outs, is mostly controlled by these same few interests, why would one expect different?
Society is not even an option unless as a consumer, it seems more so now then in the past. Joe public has been turned into Joe the Plumber, if people expect equity and integrity from the Media they are most naive.
Don’t get to uppity people, for ignorance will smack you down.
Report thisBy ardee, September 3 at 3:58 pm #
OzarkMichael, September 3 at 1:53 pm #
The moment I saw the title of this article I sought out your comment. I do understand the difficulty in what you are trying to sell, but I fear this reeks of desperation and flop sweat dear boy.
That Mr. Dionne makes a great case for the sensationalism that the media thinks is news reporting does not mean left wing bias in that media, it means we have a terrible media with incompetent and sensationalism seeking journalists who miss the real story.
Of course Bush was hurt by the Sheehan campout in Crawford, as he certainly should have been. He should have been impeached in fact. But then was then and now it seems people are not outraged by our perpetual war position, sad to say. The ennui of the people is spun by you to show a left wing bias that doesnt exist outside the minds of the terminal right wingers.
Most of your efforts are much more subtle than this, Michael. But I do sympathize with the difficulty you face trying to turn water into whine.
Report thisBy tropicgirl, September 3 at 3:17 pm #
And to the writer of this article, how many times do YOU mention the
Report thisboogeymen? Palin, Rush, Beck.
By WriterOnTheStorm, September 3 at 2:29 pm #
I don’t know which is worse, the fact that the media puts it own interests over that of society, or
the fact that so much of society can’t understand that it does so.
Considering the state of our media today, it’s a minor wonder that any sane person pays any
serious attention at all. But it’s always the same - political observers and critics still regard the
media as some kind of voice of the people, thereby bestowing it with a far greater authority than it
merits.
The media has always had a bias: drama and entertainment. But in the golden age of news, the
Edward R Murrow days, news agencies would stop short of risking their credibility for the sake of
ratings. That Rubicon has long been crossed. Yet media critics insist on behaving as though we
had a responsible 4th estate answering the call to civic duty. It’s a case of wishful thinking.
Today we have a reckless, proactive media intent on stirring it up. It’s just another manifestation
Report thisof predatory capitalism. The news execs answer to the bottom line. They can not be trusted. We
are all of us left to walk the information mine field alone. If we can’t begin to understand that, we
are going to continue to be at the mercy of the shrillest voices in our midst.
By OzarkMichael, September 3 at 1:53 pm #
Does anyone know that Cindy Sheehann and others are camping out at Martha’s Vineyard, like they did at Crawford? It’s easy to see which side the media’s bread is buttered on….
Very insightful.
Coverage of Ms Sheehan in Crawford hurt the political power of the conservative president Bush.
Now take the next step and you will realize where the mainstream media’s butters their bread. Fill in the blanks:
Coverage of Ms Sheehan in Martha’s Vinyard would hurt the political power of the ________ President Obama. So it aint gonna happen.
Hint- starts with “L” ,ends with “iberal”
Report thisBy Howie Bledsoe, September 3 at 1:23 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
I say tax the weapons contractors in the middle east,
Report thismoney for health care problem solved. Hell, if we are going into endless battle, we might as well get something out of it other that a 21 gun salute for our dead soldier boys.
By MThomasNC, September 3 at 12:28 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Mr. Dionne, finally a news person speaking truth to the power of MSM. We know the money grabbers are fueling the town hallers. We know the MSM goes where there is fire. We know that since the 1980s there has been a well planned strategy to dumb down the american people so the looting of our treasure can take place while we fight over ‘wedge issues’.
Report thisThe HCR is just another example. C-SpanWJ has become an extension of Fox News where most of the guests are right-wing. And the callers speak so forcefully of not wanting to have HC coverage for all, that we are turning into a socialist country, that there will be high inflation, that there will be high taxes to come, that Obama has communist working in his admin. The nonsense goes on and on from one republican caller to the next. They repeat the same thing like wing up toy robots. It’s like there are two realties out there.
My one question is ‘who let these kooks out’. They are showing their ugly underbelly doing the dirty work of the corporate money grabbers.
By rfidler, September 3 at 11:59 am #
LostHills: That’s the point. Cindy who?? The war is over isn’t it? Thousands of people in Martha’s Vinyard? Tough duty, Cindy!
Report thisBy LostHills, September 3 at 11:47 am #
It’s amazing how much coverage these “tea parties” and town hall crazies get, but when thousands of people come out to protest the war it hardly gets mentioned. Does anyone know that Cindy Sheehann and others are camping out at Martha’s Vineyard, like they did at Crawford? It’s easy to see which side the media’s bread is buttered on….
Report thisBy rfidler, September 3 at 11:43 am #
Dionne asks, “But what if our media-created impression of the meetings is wrong? What if the highly publicized screamers represented only a fraction of public opinion?”
I can’t wait for the coverage of the G20 meetings from Pittsburgh in a few weeks.
Do you think for a minute that Chris Matthews, or EJ Dionne for that matter, will wonder aloud what fraction of public opinion the anti-everything puppet show screamers and the ACORN and moveon.org robots represent?
I’m pretty confident that the “media-created impression of the [G20] meetings” will also be wrong.
Report thisBy photoshock, September 3 at 11:22 am #
The very idea that the majority of Americans are against ‘health care reform’ is ludicrous. Many American households are now on the verge of bankruptcy because the insurance companies run health care.
Report thisWe are the only industrialized nation in the world without full medical coverage for all its citizens.
How can the media misrepresent this fact? Because they are owned and operated by some of the very same people who sit on the boards of directors of the insurance
companies.
Follow the MONEY! That’s where the money is! No doubt about it, the media companies in collusion with the insurance companies are trumping up a movement that is nowhere near the amount of people that they claim are against health care reform.
Truth be told, it does not sell, to have people acting civilly in town hall meetings. If there is not a raucous and downright ‘media circus,’ then the television and newspapers, will not sell advertising.
The media companies make millions and millions of dollars from the advertising of health insurance.
Do the same thing to health insurance as they did to tobacco advertising on the public airwaves, ban the advertising of the product and you would see the media companies reporting the real facts about health care reform. But this is ‘pie in the sky’ thinking. No one among the advertising professionals, media companies and especially the health insurance companies would dare allow the public to know the truth about their product.
Farcical and fancy free, the insurance companies go about the business of hoodwinking the public into believing the government-run health care system is going bankrupt and will not last. Medicare and Medicaid are among the best run and best managed programs in the nation. They would not have survived this long if they were not.
Please support those Congress-people that are working their damndest to pass health care legislation that meets the needs of all Americans.
By Hulk2008, September 3 at 10:48 am #
Dear EJ:
Report thisI am afraid that you are wrong this time. The American populace now really is as extreme and raucous as the town halls appear. Most people turn into rabid beasts at the mere mention of politics or government. They reject all rational discourse and appear to be as ravenous as those virus-ridden zombies Will Smith did battle with in “I Am Legend”.
Those of us in the population not currently “infected” have to hole up and pray we can survive the madness. Rapacious capitalism takes over everything from health care to education eventually - greed and fear are much more powerful than reason and charity. That’s where the concept of “original sin” came in - Adam was doomed to failure from the start ..... and so are we.
By Kesey Seven, September 3 at 10:06 am #
Break up the corporations that own national television stations.
Make it a law: A company can own only a single national television station.
And that’s all it can own.
You own ABC, that’s all you own.
You own NBC, that’s all you own.
You own CNN, that’s all you own.
And so forth.
Break the company television.
Pass it on.
Kesey Seven
Report thisBy Martiallawiscoming, September 3 at 9:58 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
I have to agree with Ouroborus. If it is not plainly
obvious by now that the media are in bed with health
care, military industrial complex, the financial
oligarchs (private bankers), oil companies,
agribusiness, etc. then I guess it will never be
obvious. The mainstream media willfully report this
way on healthcare because they want to see the single
payer option fail and only want to see the option of
the health care lobbyists succeed.
It is beyond me how the conservatives can still claim
to oppose government regulation when they are being
fleeced time and time again by privatization,
deregulation, and laissez-faire capitalism. Their
standards of life are decreasing, the income gap is
growing greater by the day, and still they oppose a
public option or any kind of reform to improve their
quality of life.
Wake up people. It’s time to restore your republic,
Report thisdemocracy, and constitutional rights.
By Tom Joad, September 3 at 8:38 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
Ouroborus, you hit the nail on the head, but didn’t finish the thought. People ARE silly, and get their “news” from the MSM. Our government are stewards, or executors of our resources. The FCC at one time, and the actual news desks, did report more balanced, less sensational. FCC regulated, and it was with the idea that “we the people” allow them to use thoroughfares, airwaves, etc. but in return they have a duty to “inform the public” (i.e. NOT spin).
Report thisWe do have a number of silly people, but they VOTE!
The duty is to some degree, to educate the public by giving them facts, (and NOT also weighing them…as if everyhing was 50-50 when it is sometimes 90-10..for example pretending “evolution” and “intelligent design” have the same standing)and keeping the sensationalism out of it.
When we lost that, we lost it all. Many americans don’t even know the principles on which this country was founded.
By DHFabian, September 3 at 8:14 am #
This has been the problem with US mainstream media at least since the early 1980s. It is amazing how much news ISN’T reported on TV or in the daily newspapers today. Commercially-driven news simply doesn’t work anymore.
Report thisBy Ouroborus, September 3 at 6:09 am #
The media hyped hysteria is all so much theatre. If one
Report thiswere silly enough to only get the news from MSM then
one would be foolish indeed. Why is there so much
(apparent) resistance to a national healthcare system
in the U.S.? First off: there isn’t; and common sense
would say to follow the money. In fact any time there
is a trumped up broughhaha, the answer should be to
follow the money. The lobbyists are scared whitless
they’ll lose their golden goose. Us taxpayers are just
about played out, but as long as there’s one more
dollar to be skimmed; by god they’ll be there for it.