Media finally Busted! The Real Town Hall Story by E.J. Dionne

[FrenchieCat]

(bout time!)

The Real Town Hall Story

By E.J. Dionne Jr.
Thursday, September 3, 2009


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 antiwar movement commanded wide coverage during the Vietnam years, so now are extremists on the right hogging the media stage -- with the media's complicity.

snip

"I think the media coverage has done a disservice by falling for a trick that you'd think experienced media hands wouldn't fall for: of allowing loud voices to distort the debate," said Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy, whose district includes Columbus, Ohio.

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."

snip

(last sentence of the piece tells it all!)
But the only citizens who commanded widespread media coverage last month were the right-wingers. And I bet you thought the media were "liberal."



way more.... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/02/AR2009090202858.html?hpid=opinionsbox1



OUR MEDIA IS GOING TO BE THE DEATH OF US! First Clinton's penis, then the 2000 election theft, then Iraq, and now they don't want us to get no fucking health care reform. :puke:



Thanks Krispos42 for the below rendering the real America! :patriot:

[LooseWilly]

1. If the media portrayals are a matter of hype, and since hype sells, why doubt it...

then why is the Whitehouse not actively pushing a public option? Are they also being falsely convinced by the media? Or are you arguing that the whitehouse is not able to come up with some means to combat the media conspiracy, because they can't get any word past the media cabal?

The corporate owned media is out and out lying, and the whitehouse can't get any talking points past? The coverage of the lunatics at the townhalls is gagging the whitehouse?...

No doubt the circus of the RW PR firms is getting some media coverage... but why isn't the genius Obama administration coping with this better (doesn't Obama got this?)

Blaming the media for being sensationalist whores is like shooting fish in a barrel. They're such sensationalist whores though, that it seems obvious that they'd love to have a story of a fight between Obama and the Right... that's even better copy for moving paper/ads... so, why are they not trying to move that story? Is it because they're willing to sacrifice sales of paper/ads in order to further Right Wing policies? Or is it just a matter of the Obama administration failing to produce a counter story?

Why are the sensationalist whore media outlets suddenly being credited with un-whore-like unflinching loyalty suddenly? Does that not seem like an uncharacteristically out-of-character set of behaviors to attribute to them suddenly?

[FrenchieCat]

15. Could you clarify

This statement of yours?
"Why are the sensationalist whore media outlets suddenly being credited with un-whore-like unflinching loyalty suddenly?

[LooseWilly]

46. When a whore performs a service, it is for the money.

In as much as the media conglomerates are whore-like, they would perform their services for money. The media makes money from advertising, and the prices that they can charge for their advertising is related to the extent of their distribution. Thus, in order to charge top advertising rates, they need to move product, which also brings in sales revenues.

For most media conglomerates, the name of the game is distribution (the New York Post, San Francisco Examiner, Washington Times, and various other Moony media excepted). Thus... to assume that the Media would push a story simply because it is conducive to a Right Wing slant, no matter how much more distribution and money there might be from pushing another story, seems to me to be ascribing more Right Wing loyalty to the Media than I'm willing to accept.

And, except for obvious mouthpieces like FOX, I didn't see the Media portraying the town hall assholes as being anything other than people manipulated by Right Wing PR firm lies.

The Media may show loyalty to other "brands" within its own conglomerate, but they will turn on other conglomerates if it'll move product and up advertising rates. Whatever editorial manipulation occurs, I only see it in pursuit of money, rather than a political ideology (except when those two coincide).

Whores aren't Right Wing or Left Wing. And they're not loyal.

[sam sarrha]

43. the demonstrators were trained in disruption, they're a political Militia, and bussed there to

to perpetrate a fraud. the media also knowingly perpetrated a fraud reporting it as the truth.. can that be a violation of some sort of the contractual public air-wave contracts.

[LooseWilly]

49. I haven't seen any reputable media reporting the demonstrators as "truth".

The demonstrators bussed in were obviously there to perpetrate a fraud. Many others were apparently just gullible enough to fall for the confusion.

The Media has reported all of this. Pointing to sources of "news" such as FOX or the New York Post, and then extrapolating their abuses to apply to "the Media" is dishonest.

Trying to suggest that the entirety of the Media is engaged in pushing Right Wing PR lies is an over simplification.

[JAbuchan08]

52. THe problem with your logic is that the media can still further the right wing message

by repeating it without explicitly endorsing it.

In this they've framed the mobs as "concerned citizens" they've managed to portray the town-hall protestors as sympathetic without necessarily endorsing their preconceptions.

[LooseWilly]

58. Ahh, that's not a problem with my logic, that's a problem with the public's critical thinking skills

I don't deny for a second that you are absolutely correct. The problem I see with the implicit argument of your statement, that the Media should somehow be barred from reporting on the chaos created by Right Wing misinformation and paid agent provocateurs, is that the moment the Media begins making those judgements, it becomes easier for the "body" within each organization that makes those judgements to themselves begin to censor/control the news.

In contrast, I believe that the more that this freakishness was covered, the more obvious it became to audiences that this was a product of various forms of PR neo-mind-control and misinformation. The more these fiascos were covered, the more likely audiences are to notice something "fishy" is going on.

Unfortunately, in an age of increasingly sophisticated PR techniques, it is up to each citizen to learn to think critically for him/herself.

[sam sarrha]

56. THEY ONLY COVERED THE DEMONSTRATORS, I NEVER SAW ANY HONEST COVERAGE OF THE PROGRAM

[LooseWilly]

59. Who are the THEY to whom you refer? And to what PROGRAM do you refer?

[Uncle Joe]

44. Media portrayals aren't just a matter of blind hype, they're a matter of hype that benefits

the corporate media and their corporate commercial buying clients.

They're not sensationalist for sensationalist selling purposes, they're sensationalist in that which furthers the underlying corporate supremacist message.

If you had a real fight between Obama and the Radical Republican Right, which side do you believe the corporate media as a massive institution of influence and propaganda would demonize?

The corporate media; as an institution are firmly in the corporate supremacist camp. This isn't a matter of who's in political power; which determines their whore-dom, it's a matter of "who their daddy is?" and papa isn't the government or the American People. Their daddies are the corporate owners of our so called "fourth estate" guardian watchdogs for democracy.

The corporate media; as an institution will only support a government willing to abandon or subjugate it's oath to defend and uphold the Constitution, converting the "quaint" Preamble of "We the People" to that of We the Corporations.

[LooseWilly]

51. I don't see a lot of contradiction with what I've said.

Except, perhaps, for your belief in "corporate supremacism" superceding considerations of revenue streams and the influence on Media revenue streams of distribution numbers.

If there were a real fight between Obama and the Radical Republican Right, I believe the Media would allow reporters to cover both sides. The Media would sell the story of the Right to Right-leaning customers, and the story of the Left to Left-leaning customers. It's just business.

Sure, if there's a bill like net neutrality, then the Media begins to "neglect" part of the story... or neglect the story entirely in hopes that the public won't notice bought politicians doing the bidding of the Media Conglomerates.

Health care is important to HMOs. Unless the Media outlet in question is part of a conglomerate that also has major stakes in the HMO field, however, there's no reason to skew coverage of a reform that could save the Conglomerate money on health care costs. (Cross board member conflicts of interest aside, of course... but it takes a while in a corporate structure for a board member's influence to reach down into the "trenches".)

In the end, their "daddy" is their revenue stream, and their stock prices... and that is what keeps any given corporation from being swallowed by some other corporation, or allows it to swallow others...

[Uncle Joe]

71. I don't believe the corporate media see the issue

of corporate supremacism in the light of superseding considerations of revenue streams; so much as insuring or enhancing them.

I also believe if there were a real fight between Obama and the Radical Republican Right, the majority of the corporate media would enthusiastically sell the story of the Right to their Right-leaning customers, the lion's share of the remaining corporate media would sell both sides in a shallow, obfuscating manner, allowing them to claim some form of mythical middle and a sliver of what's left would be crying out like voices in the wilderness to defend the Left point of view even though a majority of Americans agree with the Left on the issues.

Health care is even more important to the American People as apparently 18,000-22,000 are dying every year because they can't afford or lack health coverage, and they delay or ignore medical treatment until it's too late.

There is a motivating reason for the corporate media to skew coverage of health care reform even if they're not part of a conglomerate belonging to that industry, if universal single payer health coverage were the law of the land, those commercials; aka revenue streams from "health" insurance corporations would dry up, and most likely commercials pushing legal drugs during the network "news" hour would greatly diminish.

Of course health care is just one example of the corporate media taking or promoting corporate interests over those of the people, on the environmental front, they may have waited too long in reporting the truth; regarding global warming climate change, perhaps to the point of humanity not being able to avert the worst affects of this rapidly approaching global catastrophe in spite of overwhelming consensus from the world's scientists. Of course this was done because the interests of their commercial buying oil and coal mining clients carried more importance to our so called fourth estate than those of the American People.

Those major commercial buying corporations don't just purchase revenue streams, their wealth is used to lobby/bribe the American Peoples' Representatives to promote corporate interests over those of the people, whether it's corporate person hood, money = free speech, the insane "War Against Drugs" etc. etc. and the corporate media tow the line because they know much of that lobby money from the mega corporations will circle back to them in the form of campaign commercials during election seasons.

In short the belief in corporate supremacy over the best interests of the American People by the corporate owners of the corporate media is the goose that lays the golden "revenue stream" eggs.

[JDPriestly]

54. We don't know what the White House is really going to say.

When he held a teleconference a couple of weeks ago he said he backs a public option. My congressman is close to the top people in the House, and he said he would only vote for a bill with a robust public option. He hedged a tiny bit on that at one point, but I think a lot of members of the House will stand firm on the public option. As my congressman explained, it is the only way to provide the competition to keep costs as low as possible. He pointed out that the cost of Medicare health care has increased at a lower rate than the cost of the private plans of members of Congress. The difference between the two rates of increase was quite striking. Congress knows that. So does the president.

[JTFrog]

69. Rupert is that you?

:hi:

[LiberalAndProud]

2. Kik

[Mister Ed]

3. Kick, rec. n/t

[quaker bill]

4. As has been said,

confronting the screamers and debating them is like having an argument with your dining room table, pointless. Yes they were going to create a media sensation, this was their only purpose and intent. It is like hanging a ball of string in front of a cat. The more emotion a story can carry, the more likely it is headed for the front page, even if nuts, in fact a bit nuts works better.

The problem with protests like this is that they have a media shelf life, and it is fairly short. Once covered, there is little need to repeat the story. The first local town hall got a full story, the second got a little blurb, the third and fourth got a sentence or two, then the issue just dropped off the radar, but the townhalls continued. The bill is a good distance from being done and all this stuff will be distant political history before the votes are cast. There is no reason to believe that this sort of stuff will be more effective for the right than it ever was for the left.

A better bill will come out of conference than people expect and it will pass in the Senate on reconcilliation by one or two votes. It will not be everything we were looking for, but it was never going to be anyway. It will be effective reform, but will still need work. It is far easier to tweak an existing program than it is to create a new one.

[Peacetrain]

5. Oh but 5 years from now, they will have a 48 hour mea culpa...

(like they did with Iraq) and move on to the next thing they can hype for the big bucks..

[Jennicut]

9. Right. One day devoted to the failure of the media leading up to the Iraq War invasion.

They are sickening.

[FrenchieCat]

38. That's the sad part......

there is no accountability, which is what makes them dangerous!

[KelleyKramer]

6. k and r

Yes, the media is full of it

Canceled my cable tv acct years ago and havent missed it a bit

[Skidmore]

7. Follow. The. Money.......

If the insurance companies bite the dust, where will the media--corporate media--get its advertising revenues. They cannot broadcast advertisements from tobacco, alcohol, or targeting children. The media is saturated with ads from big pharma, insurance, and electronics. The only other types of ads I can think of are for from the food industry, banking/finance, fashion/cosmetic, and travel industries. However, we are largely inundundated by ads for drugs and insurance. The media is not the Fourth Estate as envisioned by the founders. It is a stakeholder in the health care debate. Especially since it becomes increasingly difficult for MSM to grab market share in the age of the internet. As long as the internet remains relatively inexpensive to use, people will rely on other sources of news. Witness the tabloidization of the news. They are going beyond this. National policy and the mechanisms of government are being shaped like reality shows.

In this time, the combined voices of the citizen becomes even more important in drowing out the megaphone the media holds up to corporate interests. We need to shout back. The media is neither conservative or liberal, it is corporate.

[BumRushDaShow]

55. You would still have car insurance

life insurance, home owner's insurance, etc. They will never really "go away" if they lose "health insurance".

[firedupdem]

8. K&R n/t

[bvar22]

10. "Much as the far left of the antiwar movement ....

...commanded wide coverage during the Vietnam years, so now are extremists on the right hogging the media stage"

This is a bogus comparison.
The "the antiwar movement" was huge, and did NOT get the media coverage that the size of the movement deserved.

To compare the very limited corporate sponsored anti-Health Care Town Hall screamers to the "far left of the antiwar movement" is contemptible.

The Corporate Owned Media has never forgotten that the grass roots of America (The People) rose up and stopped their oscene Money Machine in Viet Nam, and they are afraid that we will do it again for Health Care, and hopefully do it again for the obscene outrages in Afghanistan & Iraq.

IT is past time for the 70% of us who support REAL reform (minimum a STRONG Public Option open to ALL) to take to the fucking streets before the Democrats "compromise" it all away (maybe too late).

A great big FUCK YOU to the Washington Post from a member of the Anti-War Left.
I was there!


Some people have a very difficult time admitting that the Hippies were right (and still are).

:hippie:

[defendandprotect]

23. AGREE . . . and I've just responded to that point as well .. . and it's

Much as the far left of the antiwar movement commanded wide coverage during the Vietnam years

As long as the anti-war movement could be portrayed by "media" as "far left" those supporting the
war had a chance. As the anti-war movement grew -- at the last probably about to bring everyone
out -- they struck back with the Kent State shootings. After that, everyone was frightened of
participating in demonstrations -- especially parents of youth. Nixon used fake telegrams, fake
telephone calls, fake letters -- and even fake "construction workers" -- he had troops holed up
in the White House basement ready to put them out on the White House lawn!
All is not what it seems!

The anti-war movement/sentiment was huge and growing steadily over time.


AND . . . just adding this PS re all of the entertainers killed over the years -- people we
would expect to carry forth the anti-war messages -- and who had the POWER to bring the message
forward.

That was the scariest thing I've heard on all of the political violence/assassinations in
someone saying to me that "No one has the power to get the information out."
And, I had to agree -- this has been true for a very long time.
They've not only killed leaders, but those with the potential to rise to leadership.

[Clio the Leo]

11. Good! I was about to post this in the hopes you'd see it! NT

[CrispyQ]

12. OUR MEDIA IS GOING TO BE THE DEATH OF US!

On Sunday's, John King (CNN) visits various communities around the country. He sits down with three local indivuduals at some restaurant & they discuss health care. Amazingly, King always finds three locals who fear "government run health care." Then he sums it all up by saying that people just don't trust the government on something so important as healthcare. :eyes:

[FrenchieCat]

14. I can't stand that arrogant asshole,

him and his rehearsed newsreader style.....he gives opinion as though it is an actual news report.

[byebyegop]

18. Same here and you described him perfectly! n/t

[defendandprotect]

26. WHY are you watching this stuff--???????

Turn the TV off -- put it in the closet -- !!!

[CrispyQ]

30. I don't tell you what to do, so mind your own life & I'll mind mine.

:P

[defendandprotect]

35. As long as you keep watching it, it won't change . . . you're helping them stay on the air....

:eyes:

[oasis]

13. kick

[byebyegop]

16. Seems the media has duped many here.

All I see is whining about how Obama isn't stepping up to fight this yada yada blah blah when in fact the town hall coverage was just a side show to what is REALLY GOING ON!

Then I read on AP which then get's picked up by Politico which then get's picked up by Huffingtonpost about how "Obama healthcare reform and Democrats had a BRUTAL August". That is just complete horseshit! In fact it was the GOP that came out looking bad in August because everyone sees them as angry old mis-informed stupid white people!

[FrenchieCat]

20. True!

[treestar]

25. Good point. They shouldn't assume Obama isn't doing anything

Maybe it is just not being covered.

[byebyegop]

29. People have short term memories.

Unless the media is constantly pounding in the message. Obama has said over and over and over again that healthcare is his #1 priority and he will fight for it as hard as he can even if it means he only get's a single term. I don't know what else he could possibly say or do any better. Sure everyone is Monday morning quarterbacking and it isn't even Monday morning yet. Sheezus! People just amaze me in.

[defendandprotect]

31. RW porpaganda works . . . and it is intended to be repeated constantly . . .

whereas truth is barely acknowledged, if even once . . .

What I don't get is why anyone is still watching or reading this propaganda -- !!???

[cheapdate]

48. Public opinion influences public policy...

and public opinion is informed by the media for large numbers of Americans. The media arena is an important battleground in the battle of ideas (apologies for the hostile metaphor.) By monitoring the media, activist seeking to influence public policy hope to gain an advantage through awareness of their adversary’s arguments and strategies, because through such awareness appropriate counter-arguments and counter-strategies can be planned and used. Unpalatable as it may be, the present reality in America is that, to some extent, the media is the message and policy is sometimes driven by polls.

I’m not saying everyone has to monitor the media, but to make an analogy, in war it would be insane not monitor enemy communication if you had the ability to do so (Again, my deepest apology for another hostile analogy. It’s not a war, it’s a political debate which is frequently adversarial, but it’s NOT A WAR and I’m not suggesting it is.)

I'm just puzzled by your insistence that it's not ever helpful to monitor the media.

[defendandprotect]

67. If public opinion influenced public policy we'd have MEDICARE FOR ALL --

and what we call "media" is a corporate monopoly press, heavily infiltrated by CIA
journalists.

Even given the recent changes with Schultz, Olberman, Jon Stewart, Rachel
Maddow, we are a long way from a free press. Many ideas are still largely taboo --
pot, hemp, drug war, sex education, abortion -- and the little matter of who controls
the wealth and resources of the nation!

Not to mention that the polls are fixable and are often rigged.

I will agree that the "media" does control -- most notably control over elections steals
and cover ups of political violence and corruption.

In 20-25 years, criticism of the media hasn't done anything but make it more comfortable
in ignoring the public. But, I do agree that the organizations now monitor media are
necessary and effective.

I'm just puzzled by your insistence that it's not ever helpful to monitor the media.

I've never said that . . . What I'm asking often is why so many people still watch TV
"news" -- Sunday Morning shows! -- Wolf Blitzer! IMO, you're only helping the ratings of
the show/network. Are you suggesting that everyone who watches this stuff is "monitoring" it?

And beyond what the public recognizes right now as right wing propaganda coming from the
corporate press, I think they are still a long way from grasping the overall complicity of
"media" in stolen elections and cover ups of government corruption - from Iran-Contra to
political assassinations - to 9/11.

Just take the last 50 years of political violence -- assassinations -- how often do you hear
that mentioned on TV? It isn't until we have a topic pointed out as missing that we begin
to give some thought to it. People don't think that way when reading a newspaper or watching
TV, in general --

When was the last time you heard a conversation about our Reagan homeless/Bush homeless -
our impoverished children on TV?

How often do you hear a conversation about unions on TV? Or in your newspaper?

We're all after the same thing -- true freedom and democracy -- it's just a question of
how controlled the MSM is -- IMO, it is pretty much totally controlled by TPB.


:)

[cheapdate]

73. Your challenge to the widely held notion that we have a “free press” in America

deserves to be taken seriously.

[defendandprotect]

27. Agree . . . I think Americans discovered a whole lot about health care and each other . . .

in August -- including single payer and MEDICARE FOR ALL --

and, about the limited and very aggressive right wing-sponsored anti-health

care demonstrators.

Keep in mind that our news gathering sources such as AP also changed hands over

the past decades and are as complicit as the rest of media.

[byebyegop]

17. duplicate post. n/t

[Mithreal]

19. K&R nt

[defendandprotect]

21. Americans haven't completely woken up to the overall complicity of "media" ---

from health care to war to stolen elections -- and to cover ups of corruption,
including political violence/assassinations --

Americans did, of course, see the 2000 STEAL right before their eyes, compliments
of Jon Ellis/Fox News -- GOP-sponsored fascist rally to stop the vote counting in
Miami-Dade county which was mandated by the Florida State Supreme Court -- and the
right-wing Supreme Court putting George W into the Oval Office. All unchallenged
by our "media."

How long has this been going on? The large computers used by "media" began coming
in during the mid-1960's. Previously, they were limited to simply reporting the
vote totals. Computers gave them the ability to PREDICT votes, PREDICT counties,
PREDICT total votes, PREDICT winners. And the power to CALL elections, CALL winners,
CALL states for candidates, CALL electoral college votes. ALL in one night!

The computers used by voters began coming in during the late 1960's - coincidentally,
just about the time we were passing The Voting Rights Act!

In the 1970's, Carl Bernstein began to write about CIA journalists and follow up
reports indicated the numbers had increased from dozens at the time of Church Hearings
to 400 at time of Bernstein's article -- later, as I recall it was over 1,000.
Right now, I can't find an estimate of what the numbers might be at present.

In other words, the public still hasn't fully awakened to the full betrayal of our
"free press" by CIA and corporate power.



The committee staff was shocked at the extent of the CIA's activity in this area, and felt that they still didn't have the story. But they were running out of time, and expected that the Senate's new permanent oversight committee would continue their work. The Church committee's final report contained only a handful of vague and misleading pages on the CIA and the media. "It hardly reflects what was found," stated Senator Gary Hart. "There was a prolonged and elaborate negotiation over what would be said."<5>

The House investigation of the CIA, under Otis Pike, had more problems than the Senate investigation. The full House voted to suppress its committee's final report under pressure from the executive branch, at which point Daniel Schorr of CBS leaked a copy to the Village Voice. This report contained just twelve paragraphs on the topic of the CIA and the media, including the tidbit about the CIA's "frequent manipulation of Reuters wire service dispatches."<6> Another paragraph gave some idea of the scope of the CIA's efforts in this area:

Some 29 percent of Forty Committee-approved covert actions were for media and propaganda projects. This number is probably not representative. Staff has determined the existence of a large number of CIA internally-approved operations of this type, apparently deemed not politically sensitive. It is believed that if the correct number of all media and propaganda projects could be determined, it would exceed Election Support as the largest single category of covert action projects undertaken by the CIA.<7>

One enterprising researcher took this 29 percent figure, and extrapolating from figures on CIA expenditures for covert operations, found that the cost of propaganda in 1978 was around $265 million and involved 2,000 personnel. Comparing this to figures for other news agencies, he concluded that the CIA "uses far more resources in its propaganda operations than any single news agency.... In fact, the CIA propaganda budget is as large as the combined budgets of Reuters, United Press International and the Associated Press."<8>



Here's some stuff on CIA journalists if you want to quickly scan it --

http://www.namebase.org/news17.html

http://www.geocities.com/cpa_blacktown/20000318mediaoverb.htm

Carl Bernstein article ...
http://www.carlbernstein.com/magazine_cia_and_media.php



Just want to add a PS on this . . .

Much as the far left of the antiwar movement commanded wide coverage during the Vietnam year

As long as the anti-war movement could be portrayed by "media" as "far left" those supporting the
war had a chance. As the anti-war movement grew -- at the last probably about to bring everyone
out -- they struck back with the Kent State shootings. After that, everyone was frightened of
participating in demonstrations -- especially parents of youth. Nixon used fake telegrams, fake
telephone calls, fake letters -- and even fake "construction workers" -- he had troops holed up
in the White House basement ready to put them out on the White House lawn!
All is not what it seems!

[FrenchieCat]

22. I agree with much of what you wrote.....

In particular, the part about the anti-war movement.

E.J. Dionne could have used the example in where the media
really didn't show the anti-war movement of the most current Iraq war.
That would have been a much more apt point that the media shows what it wants and when it wants;
which is exactly the case.

[defendandprotect]

24. Thank you . . . and it's obvious the attempt to propagandize the public is on-going . . .

in ways such as this!


And, btw, in the cover ups and complicity, I did intend to include 9/11 . . . MIHOP.

[LiberalLovinLug]

34. Yes the Largest Anti-war Protest in US History

New York city. February 15th 2003. 400,000 protesting against the Iraq invasion. And that is a very conservative estimate.

All the world protested. Rome held the largest anti-war protest in the history of world that day with 3 million people.
Between 6 and 10 million in major cities all over the planet took part.

http://people.howstuffworks.com/largest-protest1.htm

You'd think that would be the lead story that day. Especially since it took place right at ground zero. It barely got a mention, and when it did the clips they showed were "scary" punks with purple hair and pierced lips.

[FrenchieCat]

45. Here's the proof!

US....



THEM.....

[pundaint]

65. So we should march on the studios

If we surrounded Fox Propaganda's studios, and CNN's, filled their garages and parking lots with protesters they would notice.

[FrenchieCat]

66. They'd try not to.......

It would take an awful lot of us...
but yeah....I'm thinking that the corporate media is the true enemy round here,
and something has to happen, because they are dangerous.

[Senator]

33. +1 The Euphemedia promoting "a fringe right-wing view"? I'm shocked.

Shocked I tell you.

---

[defendandprotect]

28. k i c k

[myrna minx]

32. K&R n/t

[Phx_Dem]

36. I remember watching CNN about 2-3 weeks ago, and the female

anchor said, "We're keeping an eye on this town hall meeting and if anything happens, will bring it to you live." In other words, right now people are acting civil so no need to show you, but if they start a raucus, we'll bring it to you live.

Solid proof of the accuracy of Dionne's claim.

[BlueIdaho]

37. K & R

The day radio and TV news became a profit center for the networks - America lost that free and vocal press imagined by our founding fathers.

[hay rick]

39. K&R

[FrenchieCat]

40. More on this.....

News coverage focused more on protest noise than on substance of health care issue.- interview on
PBS newshour with Jim Lehrer.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=103&topic_id=477410&mesg_id=477410

[sasquatch]

41. Yep, w/an assist from the DLC and baby boomers in their deregulation worship

If you don't believe me, look up some poll numbers from the 1990's and Clinton's voting record.

[JohnWxy]

42. great article, great post. recommended. bookmarked.

[zanne]

47. I went to a vigil last night....

There were at least a hundred of us and only four or five of the teabaggers. We held our candles and listened to healthcare stories being recounted by people who've been through way too much in this life. They screamed and waved their signs. The result? Our local TV station showed equal coverage of the hundred of us and the five of them. This is a tactic that is going to repeat itself throughout Obama's administration. Any suggestions on how to keep our voice strong when just a few can seem just as plentiful?

[ms liberty]

50. K&R. EJ tellin' it like it is, again. n/t

[mashimaro]

53. most people have the smallest Dish package available....

that means they only get in depth news from Faux. The only other channel offered is CNN headline news. Is this a Murdoch owned?

[MetaTrope]

57. "Dean scream" redux

Overplaying a microphone feed of one man making himself heard in a noisy room.

[syberlion]

60. The "liberal" media, um - where?

When over 90% of the media is owned by only 5 major companies, you have a singular voice showing you what they want you to see and hear. What that means is no airing of multiple views. There were thousands that marched against the war in Iraq, you didn’t see the marches because they didn’t want you to know there was a strong opposition to war.

Think about this, if the anti-health care group we’ve seen plastered nightly on our televisions and radios are truly representative of a “majority” it would stand to reason we would have a different President right now.

You have 90% of the media showing you the less-than-20-per-centers (remember, less than 20% are currently identifying themselves as republicans) as “the majority.” You can show the 20-per-centers 100% of the time, that still doesn’t make them a majority. Meanwhile, those with opposing views are being shouted down, oh that’s real American, instead of having a real discussion about issues. Heaven forbid each side gets a chance and learn something.

Which brings me to one of the latest issues being discussed, the President speaking to the kids. Those advocating for a “boycott” of the speech are probably - no, firmly in the birther camp, “he’s not really our President, so my kid’s not really missing nothing.”

Fortunately, I am old enough to remember things like civics and government classes in high school. I remember when listening to a Presidential speech was something we did as a way to learn and discuss what was said. That's the thing, there was discussion, questions, reading assignments and basic information about all three branches of our government. Now, you have "taking heads" telling you what you heard even if it isn't what you heard.

We are slowly recovering from the 8 years in which this country was plunged into the "dark side" if you will. While operating in the shadows, there was a great media consolidation which is self-evident to anyone with a brain, sorry Sarah the picture book will be out in two months. We the people own the air waves, that's right, we do and it is about time we actually get a chance to use the "public" airwaves. Although I respectfully request any airwaves used by faux news be completely sterilized. Talk about Swine Flu...

Fear is the main diet of those opposed to this administration and real media freedom. Fear is the diet we were fed for 8 long years, oh and secrecy, don’t ask because we won’t tell, anything, period. That racist like Glen Beck are free to soil this country with his deranged tin-foil-hat, paranoid ramblings just proves that news corp is owned and run by anti-Americans ruled by fear. It’s time to climb out of those make-shift bunkers and back into the light, despite what those fear-mongers are screaming. Better yet, time to break up the media monopolies. Diversify media now.

[PinkyisBlue]

62. You make an interesting point.

"Fortunately, I am old enough to remember things like civics and government classes in high school. I remember when listening to a Presidential speech was something we did as a way to learn and discuss what was said. That's the thing, there was discussion, questions, reading assignments and basic information about all three branches of our government. Now, you have "taking heads" telling you what you heard even if it isn't what you heard."

I wonder if the overhaul of our educational system, the whole "no child left behind" fiasco, isn't, in part, to discourage a kid's desire to think on his/her own. I don't think it's a coincidence that kids aren't taught how to think critically anymore; they're spoon-fed information in schools which they need to regurgitate back in order to pass a test. Many school districts are forced to do so much testing that they have to "teach to the test" and don't have time for outside topics, like analyzing political speeches. In one of my classes in junior high school many years ago, we reviewed magazine advertisements for content, accuracy and effectiveness; it was very helpful in making students aware of how their purchasing decisions can be manipulated by printed ads.

The media should be more diversified, though I don't know how this would be accomplished.

[ProudDad]

61. I've got some good news and some bad news...

My blue-dog CongressCritter threw another health care "town hall" here in town on Tuesday night...

The majority of the 1200 people in the hall were tea-baggers. It was a very scary denial and hate fest since the tea-baggers were completely occupied with venting their spleen and shouting or booing down anyone who dared speak the truth. At times it reminded me of the grainy black-and-white photos of brown shirts in the streets on Kristallnacht or the Nuremberg rallies...

They allowed people to speak if they won the lottery -- raffle tickets handed out when you came into the hall picked from a fish tank -- most of those who spoke were tea-baggers.

Interesting vignette. The "key note speaker" was Dr. Carmona -- former Surgeon General of the United States. When Dr. Carmona was announced as having been appointed by george w bush (the lesser), the place erupted; the tea baggers wildly ecstatic about their erstwhile "hero", the shrub. A deafening, standing-O.

Then when Dr. Carmona started talking about the Surgeon General having to base his/her advice on Science and started telling the audience some facts about the broken USAmerican sick-care system and how it needed major reform, their standing ovation turned into loud choruses (chorusi?) of boos and screams. Stabbed in the back again!

The majority of the 1000 people outside the hall watching on closed circuit TVs (I'm told) were not tea-baggers.

Ah, the tea-baggers (patent pending) (see below **). Their entire universe has just been turned upside-down. They were brought up to believe the old saying that "You may be white trash and we, your betters, are screwing the hell out of you but at least you ain't black!" And now they turn on the TV and, even on faux-noise, they see a half-black (see "One-drop-rule"), Harvard educated Black man in the White House. The horror!

"But what about the good news?", I hear you say...

Ok.

First piece of good news...even though this is Tucson (they call it the People's Republic of Tucson), it's still in the heart of bat-shit crazy Arizona. This state is an outlier. We are the new Mississippi or Alabama -- new home of racism, mindless gun-ism and right-wing bat-shit crazy legislature. Our repuke legislature makes the Texas Leg. look like a deliberative body driven by compassion and reason.

And Gabby Giffords' district 8 is rated R+1 -- slightly weighted republican (at least it was a couple years ago).

So, in the real U.S.A., out where you folks live, it's not quite this bad...

2nd piece. Giffords is the ONLY "blue dog" who has come out for a strong "public option" (I know, "whatever that means".) When asked, she got SOUNDLY booed for that statement the other night. She generally came across as someone who was working hard to understand the facts, consider the FACTS and do whatever was possible to help the people harmed by the current for-profit sick care system. I believe her (to a point -- the point being her capitalist, corporate frame - but that's another critique).

3rd piece. I think the tea-baggers and haters think they won. Just because they were loud, obnoxious and scared a lot of the folks who are pro-health-care-reform into leaving early, they think they won. The funny thing is they didn't even win the night since...

4th piece of good news. The lunatic haters just made our blue-dog more radical the other night. They gave her more resolve to do something substantive and positive about the situation since they're going to hate her anyway and many of the tea-baggers at the town hall were obviously not even in her district nor would they EVER vote for her.

It probably ain't gonna happen this time. Obama fucked up from the beginning.

First he filled the White House with Clintonites from the last time they tried this and they learned the "wrong lesson". The lesson from '94 (so goes the Clintonites haunting the halls of the W.H.) is that Billary wrote the bill and Congress (A Dem Congress) said, "Who the f*ck are you, some pipsqueek governor from a pissant state to tell the might Congress what to pass."

So, they thought (and I use the term 'thought' loosely) "Well, this time, we'll just suggest some outlines and let Congress write the bill!"

Genius, I tells ya', Genius!

So the even MORE corporate-funded Congress did the billing of their corporate capitalist masters in the drug business (Obama's WAY dirty on that one -- directly made the "deal" with Billy Tauzan :puke: czar of PhRMA) and the "health" insurance business and wrote a piece of shit bill that costs too much, won't insure everyone and would shovel another trillion into the coffers of the evil capitalist leeches of the health-industrial-complex...with a weak, weak so-called "public option" which is nothing more than another insurance company to add to the 300 that are already killing over 20,000 people a year...

Way to go Obama-Rahm-a...in Baucus-land

Way to freakin' go...


(**Warning: graphic sexual content -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teabagging)

[AntiFascist]

63. What is even worse...

liberal commentators portray the right wingnuts as being a sizeable portion of the American populace, thereby diminishing the perceived aptitude of the American public. Therefore, most of America is stupid and informed democracy just can't work!

[FrenchieCat]

64. When they aren't busy calling our President weak, you mean.....

cause they certainly could talk about the media distortion too much....
better to ballihoo about Glenn Beck everynight and consider it a job well done!

[Hubert Flottz]

68. Sick poor and middle class people live shorter lives.

It's part of the Reich wingers depopulation plan...the law of the fang and claw.

[The Wizard]

70. The free press has transformed

from a Fourth Estate into a Fifth Column serving up propaganda disguised as news. The loud mouth morans disrupting the town halls are unwitting dupes who stare at Pox News images and take the propaganda as God's voice.
We have loud stupid people dominating the news because the media is bought and paid for by corporate masters more concerned with the bottom line than keeping the citizenry well informed.
The public option or single payer will impinge on the corporate masters' ability to hold sway over employees who are staying in low paying jobs just to keep health care benefits.
Employer based health care is a tool abused by many employers that allows them to overwork and underpay the working class.
Fear based governance was rejected last November and the reich wing cannot accept the election results. Their response, as it was during the Clinton Administration, is to throw a tantrum.
I attended a town hall yesterday and the opponents of health care reform were the ones who appeared to be needing health care intervention in the form of anti depressant psychotropic medication.
Most of them were unattractive and couldn't get laid in a whore house with a pocket full of fifty dollar bills.

[jillan]

72. It reminds me of the 2004 election - the media gave the swiftboat liars a voice.

And they are doing it now with these idiots.

[TomCADem]

74. K & R