Category Archives: Media

Fast And Furious Lies.

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In 2010, Sen. John “McNasty” McCain, Gov. Janet “Finger Wagging” Brewer and many other Teapublican politicians vilified immigrants in order to be elected.  The only things that have changed for 2012 are the candidates and the scare tactic.  Since the Supreme Court gutted SB 1070, the focus has turned to Fast and Furious.

Fast and Furious, of course, is the name of the ATF program designed to stop the flow of guns into Mexico.  In case you don’t know, it’s illegal for anyone in Mexico outside of the military or police to own a gun.  So the drug cartels have made Arizona their personal gun store.  Arizona’s gun laws are so lax that anyone over 18 can buy as many guns as they can afford.  All they have to do is pass a quick background check.  And, if they want to avoid the background check, they can go to any of the state’s hundreds of gun shows and buy guns with no questions asked.

Is this a great state or what?

As a result of this lunacy, Mexican cartels have shipped drugs into the US in exchange for cash and guns.  This arrangement has been so successful, Mexico claims the resulting gun violence has resulted in the deaths of 47,000 Mexicans since 2006!  And that’s despite the fact that ATF has seized more than 68,000 guns over the same period.

How do you think Americans would react to the deaths of 47,000 of our citizens as the result of lax Mexican laws?  That’s more than double the number of deaths from 9/11 every year for 6 years!

But Teapublicans seem to not care about those deaths.  Instead, they have their teabags in knots over the death of a US Border Agent who was shot with a gun that was being tracked by the ATF.  Obviously, any such death is horrible. But it seems our Teapublicans also view it as an opportunity.  So based on the flimsiest of evidence, they have set about politicizing the ATF and the Department of Justice.  They have used it to attack Attorney General Eric Holder and President Obama.

Now Katherine Eban has exposed the truth about Fast and Furious in an investigative report for Fortune magazine.  In short, the article places the blame for the “failed” operation on a bureaucratic Assistant US Attorney and Arizona’s insane gun laws.  It also appears that the so-called “whistle-blower” was a recalcitrant and incompetent subordinate with a grudge against the ATF Division leader.

As for “gun-walking” and a supposed cover-up?  It appears those were merely the figments of Teapublican imaginations repeated by a lazy and biased media.  The entire controversy could have been avoided if either the press or the Congressional Oversight Committee had been more focused on finding the truth than scoring ratings or political points.

More Evidence That Mainstream Media Are Not Liberal (Or Fair).

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ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox’s Sunday morning “news” guests between June, 2011 and February, 2012 have been 70% Republican, 86% men and 92% white according to the monitoring agency, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting.  This is particularly revealing since Sunday morning programs are some of the most-watched programs for government and business leaders. 

These statistics are a reflection of those who are deemed to be most influential in our government.  And since they are given more access to promote their agenda on national television, they are allowed to gain even more influence.

So tell me again, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, et all.  Exactly where is this liberal “lamestream” media you constantly whine about?

The Freedom To Fail On Your Own.

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There’s a long-standing attitude of individualism in the US that causes people to inherently dislike any form of collectivism, such as collective bargaining through labor unions.  As I wrote in a previous post, we come from a long line of independent-minded people; people who were pushed out of Europe by dictators of all ilks, from royalty to the Roman Catholic Church.

Unfortunately, corporations and their lackeys on the right have been able to exploit this inborn streak of independence to extract money from us.  They have used a combination of lobbyists, campaign contributions, exportation of jobs, and right wing media megaphones to undermine labor unions and pit workers against one another in order to maximize profits while minimizing wages and benefits.

As a result of the propaganda, far too many Americans equate labor unions with socialism or communism.  Many poor and middle class workers vote for candidates that will continue the pattern of withdrawing employee benefits, eliminating pensions, depressing wages and foreclosing on homes.  Now they are turning their attention to the “entitlements” – Social Security and Medicare.

Yet many of us will continue to support corporations out of the fear of losing our jobs, misplaced loyalty, or the determination to “make it on our own.”  What these people don’t understand is that any individual’s disagreement with a large, heavily capitalized corporation is not a fair fight.  A retail clerk cannot fairly negotiate with a big box retailer.  An assembly line worker cannot win against a large manufacturer.  A maid cannot fight a large hotel chain.

The only chance they have to improve their position and their wages is to band together.  Individuals, no matter how hard they work, are far more likely to fail on their own than to make it on their own.

Liberal Media, Huh?

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If you’re a media observer, as I am, you may have noticed a change in the political coverage over the past several weeks.  The majority of stories are now about Mitt Romney’s rallies and statements.  The few stories about President Obama have been largely negative – showing his decline in the polls or supposed “gaffes” by his campaign.

Another more subtle trend is to refer to President Obama as Mr. Obama.

It seems that the narrative has become “Mr. Obama is a nice man, but he has failed to live up to his campaign promises.”  Never mind that he has faced the most obstructionist Congress in history.  Never mind that the right wing media has blathered endlessly about his “socialist” policies.  Never mind that the Teapublicans have rallied the nation’s racists into a hateful fever over the birther “controversy.”

The “liberal” media seems to have accepted the right wing propaganda that, since the economy has not rebounded quickly, we may as well let Mitt Romney have an opportunity to lead.  They don’t even discuss the fact that Romney’s policies are nearly identical to those of the presidential predecessor who drove our economy off a cliff.

The “lamestream” media seem too partisan, too lazy or too brainwashed to do their jobs.  Wouldn’t it be refreshing to see a network news reporter ask a question that’s as insightful and penetrating as Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert?

It’s a sad fact that our comedians are now better reporters than most of our journalists.

The Teapublican Book of Lies.

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You know those things Teapublicans present as facts that just never quite make sense?  The ones that are repeated day after day on Fox News Channel and right wing radio?  The conservative ideas that have been tried and failed, but keep coming back?

I’ve taken 50 of those so-called “facts,” researched them, and presented my findings in a new book:  The Teapublican Book of Lies.  It’s a sort of handbook for debates with your conservative friends and family members.

Pardon the shameless self-promotion, but you can buy the book from Amazon.

Where Fair And Balanced Still Mean Something.

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Although little more than an imaginary line separates us, Canada’s politics are light years away from those in the US.  Unlike our politicians, Canadians don’t have to consult a dictionary for the meaning of compromise.  And except for the vile rhetoric blasted across the border by US radio stations, the Canadian airwaves are void of hate-filled rants.

The reason?

Canada’s Radio Act requires that “a licenser may not broadcast….any false or misleading news.”  Broadcast news reporters and pundits tell the truth?  How positively pre-1987!  That was the year the FCC, pushed by President Ronald Reagan, repealed the Fairness Doctrine.  Ever since, conservative crackpots have been free to lie, mislead and spew any hateful ideas they want – the more the better.  In the US, we understand those are the things that build ratings.

But those darn, polite Canadians have yet to realize that ratings are more important than civility and fairness.  So they cling to the quaint belief that broadcasters and politicians should tell the truth.  Is it any wonder that Canadian conservatives are deprived of the likes of Fox News Channel?  And now that Canadian regulators have rejected Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s efforts to repeal the Radio Act, Canada’s conservatives will have to settle for the truth a while longer.

The Politics of “Oh Yeh?”

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Remember when you were a child?  Remember when somebody said something bad about you or someone you cared about?  Remember how you too often responded with something that started, “Oh yeh?  Well, you’re a…?”  Or maybe you repeated the ever popular, “I’m rubber and you’re glue.  Whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you.”

This childish behavior now extends to the highest levels of our government.  And nobody is better at it than Teapublicans.  It’s as if they’re forever adolescents mentally frozen in the fifth grade.  Witness the Teapublican response to Democrats’ call for freezing interest rates on student loans.  The House passed a student loan bill that was amended to take money from the budget intended for health care. Then, in the Senate, Teapublicans filibustered a student loan bill that didn’t include the budget trick.

“Oh yeh, Democrats, take that!”  No honest debate.  No compromise.  Just another gotcha.

And how about the Teapublican reaction to the anniversary of the attack on Osama bin Laden?  As soon as President Obama posted a commercial commemorating the event on the Internet, Mitt Romney tried to diminish the gravity of the event by saying, “Of course I would have made the same decision.  Even Jimmy Carter would have.”  And the Teapublican megaphone, aka Fox News Channel, was turned up to full volume with all the hosts reading the following Teapublican talking point from their teleprompters:  “It’s as if President Obama is spiking the football in the endzone.”

Really?  That’s the game you want to play?  Ignoring the fact that President Bush played the 9/11 card for almost every event, couldn’t you think of a more adult response to President Obama?  Wouldn’t a grown-up admit that the president made a good decision, congratulate him and simply move on to another issue? 

Apparently, that’s not an option for Teapublicans. 

It seems that as soon as you register as a Teapublican, the Party bosses automatically rewind the way back clock…in your mind.

What’s Your Definition Of Freedom?

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If you listen to conservative talk radio, you’d think conservatives are the only ones who care about freedom.  They call themselves “patriots” and wrap themselves in the flag in a show of false superiority.  But, truth is, moderates and liberals want freedom, too.  The difference is in the way we define it.

For example, conservatives seem to believe freedom means being able to do whatever they want without restriction.  They seem to equate freedom with money…the more money the more freedom.  And some seem to believe the color of their skin gives them more freedom than others.

Some believe corporations should be free to exploit natural resources without regard to the quality of our air and water.  They believe corporations should be free to sell foods that slowly poison their customers.  They believe corporations should be free to sell any product no matter how flawed or dangerous.  And they believe corporations should be free to use their money and influence to control our government.

Moderates and liberals, on the other hand, believe corporations should be regulated to protect our families and our environment.

Many “conservatives” believe that they should be free to impose their religious and moral beliefs on others.  To tell others who to marry and who to love, and what they can do with their bodies.  Some believe they should be able to control who votes.

Some believe they should have the freedom to speed, to tailgate and to run red lights.  Some believe they have the right to ridicule and intimidate others.  Some believe they should be free to cheat, lie and steal.  Some believe freedom is tied to the barrel of a gun.

Others, like me, consider such people to be bullies and cowards.

That’s the difficult thing about freedom.  Everyone has a different definition.  With more than 300 million sharing this land, freedom requires compromise and we should never allow any ideology to co-opt it.  In fact, the only thing standing between your freedom and mine is government; the system of representation and laws our Founding Fathers had the wisdom to create.  We can’t permit conservatives to claim ownership of it.

Whatever Happened to The “Liberal” Media?

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Oh, that’s right! The “liberal” media was never more than a figment of Teapublican imaginations and conservative radio nutjobs!

As I pointed out in a previous post, following the demise of the Fairness Doctrine, conservative talk radio has overwhelmed progressive and moderate talk radio. And the wackos on Fox News Channel have dominated cable news with Teapublican talking points. Those who rely on these stations for news are, instead, given an earful of conservative opinions, half-truths and outright falsehoods…all presented as absolute facts.

Moreover, the effect of the attacks on mainstream media has been to cause them to dance around the truth in order to avoid even more attacks from the right. As a result, the mainstream media tend to downplay or overlook stories that contrast with the conservative narrative.

But you don’t have to take my word for it. A recent examination of Sunday morning TV news programs by Think Progress found that, between June of 2011 and February of this year, 70 percent of the guests were Republican. And the latest survey from the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism (www.journalism.org) found that news coverage has been slanted against President Obama. The study states, “Of all the presidential candidates studied in this report, only one figure did not have a single week in 2012 when positive coverage exceeded negative coverage—the incumbent, Democrat Barack Obama.”

No matter. As long as legitimate news services refuse to pass along conservative crackpot theories as “news,” conservatives will continue to rant about bias. And conservative writers and media hosts will continue to claim that they alone are presenting the truth that the mainstream news media won’t.

The Legacy of Trayvon Martin.

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Following his tragic murder, the circumstances of Trayvon Martin’s death have focused national attention on Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law authored by ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council).  It’s not as if the law is unique to Florida.  Like most of the thousands of bills ALEC has authored over the past 30 years, it was peddled to conservative legislators all over the country.  More than two dozen states have some version of the law.

Now that the publicity generated by Martin’s death has shone a bright light on ALEC, a growing number of the organization’s sponsors have severed ties with the group.  Coca-Cola, the Gates Foundation, Kraft Foods, McDonald’s, Pepsico, Wendy’s and Yum! Brands (A&W, KFC, Long John Silver’s and Taco Bell) have all announced they will no longer donate money to ALEC.

But we need to starve ALEC of all the funds it needs to control our legislatures.  We must keep writing ALEC sponsors. We must tell them that we will not support them as long as they support ALEC.  Ending ALEC, the Goldwater Institute and dozens of other such undemocratic organizations would be a great first step in taking back our government. 

And it would be a fitting tribute to the young man who was the victim of a senseless killing.