Cross posted at Passive Ranting.
There comes a time when the systems in place are no longer functioning properly. When that time finally arrives, there is a choice to be made.
Do we ignore it and pray for the best?
Do we slap some caulk on it and watch it sluggishly chug along for another few years before we need to slap more caulk on it?
Or do we tear it down and build a better one?
The choice has arrived, and there's only one real choice.
It's time to tear the system down.
Not the legal system. Not how we run elections. Not the Judicial system, not the Legislative branch, not even the Executive branch.
Our media is broken, and it's time to tear it down.
Glenn Greenwald has always been a critic of the part our media plays in allowing, condoning and even helping Bushco do whatever they please with zero oversight. Today's article is no different.
The only crime recognized by official Washington is using impetuous or excessively irreverent language to object to the lawbreaking and radicalism of the Leader, or acting too aggressively to investigate it. That is the only crime that triggers their outrage.
As usual, spot on. The media is the champion of Bush and his hubris. Nothing he does is too outrageous, too power-hungry, too asinine to support. They print the talking points, lace articles with support, and do whatever they can to distract us from our country rotting from within.
This quote from that article (read it all) is really the saddest part, and the part which makes our choice clear:
Over the last six years, our media has directed their hostility only towards those who investigate or attempt to hold accountable the most powerful members of our political system -- hence their attacks on the GOP prosecutor investigating the Bush administration's crimes, their anger towards the very few investigative reporters trying to uncover Washington's secrets, and their righteous condemnation towards each of the handful of attempts by Congress to exercise investigative oversight of the administration.
The media--who is supposed to be helping us, keeping tabs on the government, and exercising investigative skills--has instead focused on keeping their respective seats at the Tables of Power. Nearly every single one of them all eagerly trying to out-sycophant each other, trying to get approval from a corrupt Beltway and never lose a spot on the guest list.
Arguably the common man's strongest check on governmental power should be the media. We all have a seat in that room, we all have an ear and an eye because the media is watching and then broadcasting through various means. But now, the media has abdicated it's duty, it's responsibility, in favor of being part of the In Crowd.
We have a voice. We have cell phones, internet access, emails, pens and paper. We have addresses of all major media, we have contacts for those in charge. We have the names of the columnists and journalists who have been helping Bushco rob our country of freedom and dignity.
Our system is broken.
We have to make a choice.
Do we shrug, hope it gets better?
Or do we tear that fucker down?