September 13th, 2004
“Mr. president, Colin Powell told you about this war that ‘if you break it, you own it.’ And now you’re going around talking about an ‘ownership society.’ Well, Mr. President, let me tell you what you own. A million jobs lost. You own that. A thousand soldiers lost. You own that. 1.4 million new people living below the poverty line. You own that. 1.2 million less people covered by health insurance. You own that. A seventeen percent medicare increase. You own that. Health care costs skyrocketing. You own that. The tax burden increasing amongst the middle class. You own that. Mr. President, if you want to talk about an ownership society, let’s talk about what you own.”
Cheap shot advise from Zackpunk to Kerry, via DailyKos.com.
September 12th, 2004
Some snapshots from a pro-Kerry rally organized by L.A. area supporters. It was good to see so many people show up on a Sunday after-noon, even though no “big names” headlined the event.
Click on a thumbnail for a larger image:
September 10th, 2004
1. The so-called liberal media are just a bunch of fucking wimps that are just scared shitless about being labeled “liberal,” so they never expose the factual conservative dominance of our media industry.
2. Let me explain what I mean by “factual conservative dominance of our media industry.”
Basically, the conservative movement (through its various think-tanks, foundations, wealthy donors, etc.) learned to game the system/media some 30 years ago, when the conservative movement began its re-ascendance in our country (culminating in Mr. Reagan’s election and continuing to the present). (As reference, look up: The American Enterprise Institute, The Heritage Foundation and Cato Institute — there are others, but these are the principal ones, specially the American Enterprise Institute.)
Furthermore, conservatives of the 1950s and 1960s knew the following: A) They no longer belonged in the (Southern) Democratic party, as the party advocated Civil Rights and the enfranchisement of African Americans; B) They needed to jump ship, so they essentially hijacked the Republican party (note the lack of so-called Northern Rockefeller Republicans in today’s GOP); C) Conservatives of the period devised a strategy to flame the embers of White-male resentment against the politics of the late 1950s and 1960s, accordingly the Southern Strategy was born.
And this, essentially, is the genesis of the modern Republican party. Note how today’s Republican power base is contingent on these two factors: A) The South, and; B) Let’ say, the subtle, encouragement of White-male resentment against a popular culture that many of them feel rejects the White-male iconography.
Of course the preceding brushes over the past 40/50 years in very broad strokes, but I had to provide it as background to support how the “factual conservative dominance of our media industry” has occurred.
i. The conservative movement has laid down a well disciplined, and well funded, infrastructure that’s geared to challenge (and dismantle) the legitimacy of: academia, the news media and a certain brand of popular culture.
ii. To compete against academia, conservatives established think tanks and funded conservative intellectuals. Moreover, to challenge the news media conservative created what was, at the time, new media outlets: talk radio and direct mail (note that Republicans were the first to set up what still is the most extensive and sophisticated voter data-base in the country). Thirdly, popular culture is often used by conservatives to drive wedge issues among the electorate (i.e., homosexuality, feminism, guns, etc.).
iii. Its taken about three decades, but the combination of the factors I listed above have lead to what I referred to as Mr. Brock’s Republican Noise Machine model:
a. Talk radio is dominated by conservatives, which is where many of these stories originate. Accordingly, they give some buzz to whatever story they want to play up that day.
b. A network of quasi-news organizations (including right-wing blogs) provide some ink, to put some meat on the story and get things boiling.
c. Cable Network talking heads (i.e., Hardball, O’Rielly Factor, Sean Hannity, Scarborough, Miller, et al.) then pick up the story, once there’s enough of buzz behind it.
d. At this point the mainstream media is forced to run the story, since by now the item is “newsworthy.”
Now, the key part about the preceding model is this: After 30 years of a concerted and well organized effort to convince the public that the so-called liberal media cannot be trusted, journalists and the public have complete internalized this notion, and don’t even challenge the assumption. Furthermore, it is under these conditions that “Liberal” has become a “dirty word” and, conversely, “Conservative” has become the preferred ideological label for a significant segment of the public, specially White-males. So, finally, we have a system wherein American journalists are afraid to be perceived as having a liberal-bias, for fear of proving the myth true; and, the general public simply assumes that they know what they know, and simply assume that the so-called liberal media must have a liberal bias.
3. Because strong ideological conservatives in the media know that what I have described is true, they know that the wimpy mainstream media journalist will not mount a direct and frontal challenge on the conservative modus operandi. And, if such a challenge were to be raised, conservatives in the media (and the public) would simply charge such journalists as being liberals, thus proving the myth; and, unfortunately, a lot of members of the public would simply accept the charge without questioning it.
Now, here’s what I wrote in another post about the true media bias:
“[T]he media is driven by “commercial” and “sensationalistic” interests, and not by a so-called liberal bias. All of us — all U.S. citizens — have much to complain about regarding the media, and the terrible job they’re doing of covering substantive issues.”
I also offered the following as sources for further reading, and to provide an alternative view-point on what we think we already know:
September 9th, 2004
And yet further proof that the Bush administration has completely bungled the Iraq war, another country has requested that the administration “formally” remove its name from the coalition of the un-willing list:
Costa Rica demands it be removed from a U.S. list of countries supporting Iraq. [ link ]
After looking at the current list of the coalition of the un-willing, it’s clear why US troops continue to bear the brunt of the burden in Iraq (i.e., 1,005 US fatalities).
…………………………………
P.S. I’ll be attending a candle light vigil for our troops tonight… after paying my respects for the fallen, I hope to have a chance to take some pics.
P.S.S. If you want to participate, please click on the link above. Note that you’ll have to agree to the following:
- Our vigils will be simple and dignified. We’ll gather at 8:00 P.M., and stand in a circle, silently, for 45 minutes or so, holding candles — safely away from anything that could catch fire.
- Together, we’ll acknowledge the sacrifice made by the 1,000 brave American men and women who have given their lives in Iraq. It is a time to silently honor our fallen soldiers, and to reflect on the situation in Iraq where 114,000 American troops are now serving, and the events and decisions that led to them being stationed there.
- This is not a rally. Although we may be moved emotionally by our shared reflection and acknowledgement, this is not the place for speeches or announcements.
- These ground rules are important. We ask that you only attend the event if you agree to abide by them.
September 9th, 2004
Oh man, this is just too easy — now let’s just see if the so-called liberal media exposes the blatant bias of the originating source behind the “forgery” story.
First, a little background on the Republican Noise Machine, here’s how it works:
1. Talk radio is dominated by conservatives, which is where many of these stories originate. Accordingly, they give some buzz to whatever story they want to play up that day.
2. A network of quasi-news organizations (including right-wing blogs) provide some ink, to put some meat on the story and get things boiling.
3. Cable Network talking heads (i.e., Hardball, O’Rielly Factor, Sean Hannity, Scarborough, Miller, et al.) then pick up the story, once there’s enough buzz behind the story.
4. At this point the mainstream media is forced to run the story, since by now the item is “newsworthy.”
Of course, the so-called liberal media are just a bunch of fucking wimps that are just scared shitless of being labeled “liberal,” so they never expose the tactical conservative dominance of our media industry. Anyhow, I seriously doubt that I can convince many of this (as you know what you know, and are not about to change your mind); however, I just wanted to offer this backgrounder before getting into the suspicious facts behind the source of this story.
1. CNSNews.com runs story [ link ]:
2. Matt Drudge posts a link to the story on his site (note that the DrudgeReport.com website is one of the most widely visited websites on the web):
3. I presume that this story has been getting a lot of airtime in the talking heads circuit (I’ve not tuned in to cable news today, but the model is pretty solid, so I assume that the talking heads have had a field day with this story).
4. At this point the mainstream media (a.k.a., the so-called liberal media) has to pick up the story, since it’s “newsworthy.”
Now, here’s some suspicious info on the source behind this story:
1. CNSNews.com is run and operated by the Media Research Center:
[ Who Is link may not work as its session specific. ]
2. The mission statement of the Media Research Center (MRC) reads:
“On October 1, 1987, a group of young determined conservatives set out to not only prove – through sound scientific research – that liberal bias in the media does exist and undermines traditional American values, but also to neutralize its impact on the American political scene. What they launched that fall is the now acclaimed — Media Research Center (MRC).”
And:
“That moved MRC founder and president, L. Brent Bozell III, to take the necessary steps to develop the MRC’s News Tracking System (NTS), a custom-designed computer database and archiving system that today provides the conservative movement’s now-thriving media personalities and the public alike, with the evidence necessary to confront the liberal media. This one-of-a-kind research operation combines analytical savvy with state-of-the-art computer technology, providing the means to scientifically track the short and long-range trends of any issue in the media. From a $339,000 initial annual budget, the MRC has grown to be the nation’s largest and most sophisticated television and monitoring operation, now employing 60 professional staff with a $6 million annual budget.” [ link ]
3. Moreover, the MRC offers the Drudge Report as one of their trusted sources for information [link]:
Now, many will simply say, Yeah, we gotta stick it to the liberal media, and that’s just what MRC is doing. Well, that rationalization may be sufficient for many, but to me it simply proves the validity of the Republican Noise Machine model and how, in fact, the media is dominated by a strong conservative tactical bias.
As David Brock, author of the Republican Noise Machine noted (and I paraphrase), It’s not important that Republicans get the facts right, it’s only important that they throw up enough mud to cloud the truth.
Now, let’s just see if the so-called liberal media covers this part of the story.
