Another round of weapons of mass distraction

[hyphenate]

Anyone notice how the Abramoff bribery news has been eclipsed by the Duke purported rapes? Has anyone noticed that almost anything to do with current administration news has gone to the back page? Anyone feel the continual pull of the right wing on their shirt collar to debate anything OTHER than Abramoff, Plamegate, Duke Cunningham (NOT Duke Univ), wiretapping, and anything and everything that has surfaced in the past few months?

I'm for hearing the news and debating it, but not at the expense of some of the most important news of the day--that which deals with our corrupt government. We are given the chum of news distraction, and like sharks, we go into a frenzy. I would prefer to push aside the news of everyday existence and stories worthy of the National Enquirer and Star, in order to go determinedly at those which should be loudly blaring from every journalist's pen. If we take the bait offered to us, how can we continue to think ourselves above the average person in America whose attention span is so short that they can't remember what they ate for breakfast the day before?

I know there are things that people want to discuss, simply because some things are of interest, but I find sometimes that these distractive threads are among the largest, and that the attention is focused on the same topics that are discussed at the watercooler, the gym or the hairdressers. Instead of wondering what sex Angelina's and Brad's baby is, or how many times Brittney Spears has nearly dropped her baby son, we need to focus more on congress members--their votes, their lobbyist friends, what PACs are trying to get their votes, whether a congress person is straight with his/her constituents, or if they've been involved with bribery charges.

I'm not saying we shouldn't spend some time on pop news and culture--we DO need to relax at times, but let's face it--if we can not be the reporters and journalists we know the MSM pretends to be, we are not helping our cause in the slightest.

It doesn't take a lot of effort to spend an hour or two a day researching different people in government. A google search can yield surprising results--relevant results--that can be used in arguments against the GOP and against people who are too ignorant to know the difference between a right winger and a liberal. We also have a Research forum for which many more people should try to contribute information, and it would certainly be in our best interests to compile as much data and evidence as possible for future ammunition.

We can see with clarity that the MSM is trying to turn our attention away from some of the most relevant information and news out there, like they are able to do with many who blindly follow the right wing. If we allow ourselves to be drawn away, we are only lessening our impact when we could be blasting the real news from the rooftops.

It's become increasingly clear that distraction has been, from the very beginning, the rignt wing's weapon of choice, and many of us have fallen into that trap as much as most of America. If we had been better prepared before the 2004 election--if we had been able to tear people away from the Bennifers, the Brittneys, the many and repeated propagandistic and salacious mainstream news, even tear ourselves in some respect away, we might have carried more truth and more proof of the contempibility of this administration to more people. Most people have been shown to only give a shit for things in the Entertainment world and overall Pop culture--if we had been able--and if we can in the future--to show that what happens nationally in politics affects every one of us in a deep and meaningful way, we might be able to sway people to learning more and caring more about politics.

It's not easy. We all have our pet topics, and our own likes and dislikes, and to some of us, some things which are being set out as pop culture are still deeply important to us, in addition to the level of politics which many of us discuss. We don't want to ignore it, and I'm not saying we should. What I'm saying is that we need to pull back sometimes and look at a topic of interest to see if it's being used to deter us from following something else. If the answer is that we spend too much time on that peripheral topic, we know that we've been had. Better to see the fraud and the con game at the beginning than be drawn in with the rest of the world to the exclusion of other things. And, as I said, it's not gonna be easy--ever.

[Pierre.Suave]

1. It is

All part of their control of the media.

[otherlander]

2. But they DON'T control the media.

The media CHOSES to report only on the latest 'shiny objects'. They were not coerced. They have willfully failed us.:nopity:

[hyphenate]

3. There are many media

outlets that are controlled by the right, but there are just as many that are supposedly neutral and some that are actually liberal. But it doesn't matter--the news that is important to them is what sells magazines, newspapers, and gets high TV ratings. The fact is, following some of the more scummy and smutty stories sells--fact based objectivity does not.

[hyphenate]

4. Just a gentle little kick

:)