Reply #3: Thank you for this! DUers need to understand what a job is being done on us

[Peace Patriot]

by our war profiteering corporate news monopolies, about Hugo Chavez, Venezuela and the highly successful democratic left in South America.

For a counter-balance to our corporate media propaganda, I suggest: www.venezuelanalysis.com. Also, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" is available as a DVD at AxisOfLogic.com.

My analogy, re RCTV is this: What if Faux News called for the kidnapping of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and the shutdown of Congress and the courts, and actively aided the coup plotters, and used the PUBLIC airwaves to promote their coup? Would we not have the right to deny them a license to use the PUBLIC airwaves? All sovereign people have that right--and the laws about it are similar in Venezuela to our own.

Chavez and his government has shown exceeding restraint, it seems to me. They have only denied a license renewal to the very worst of the TV stations that supported the coup attempt, and they did not storm their studios after the coup, to shut them down, and did not arrest anybody; they waited until their license was up for renewal, and took the logical, legal and rightful step of not renewing it.

Rightwing corporations own most of the news media in Venezuela, as they do here. I think that MUCH MORE can and should be required of these corporations, as to using the public airwaves fairly and in the public interest. We have a right to require POSITIVE action, not just NOT participating in a fascist coup (which, arguably, our corporate news monopolies actually did, on Nov. 2, 2004, when they DOCTORED their exit polls to cover up a Kerry victory, and also by blackholing the news about "trade secret," proprietary vote counting by rightwing electronic voting corporations).

Just think of having a government elected by over 60% of the voters, in highly monitored, and highly transparent, elections, acting in our interest, with regard to the corporate news monopolies!

THAT is why Chavez is being vilified over this--not because what his government did was wrong, illegal or undemocratic--but because it is a PRECEDENT that they DON'T WANT US TO UNDERSTAND. God help them if we should ever get any ideas about corporate responsibility to the public in the United States!