… Or, American Media Held Hostage
by Tamara Marston
So... Bernie Sanders wins Wisconsin decisively, with a larger margin than was anticipated (and after recently surging past the lead Clinton held in polling for months). In other words, Bernie Sanders just won his sixth substantial win in the last seven states, and is quite clearly still building momentum... his numbers are rising across most demographics,* where Clinton's are commensurately dropping.
And yet...
As I type this at 10pm in Oregon, hours after the election results were published... HERE, my friends — I kid you not — are the only headlines on the front pages that mention Sanders, on the websites of the two biggest cable news networks in America.
First, from MSNBC, which proudly proclaims itself to be a "Progressive Community" And whose slogan is "Lean Forward!":
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”SANDERS GRABS MOMENTUM, BUT GAINS FEW DELEGATES” (Oh… well, then… never mind.)
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“SANDERS TRIUMPHS DUE TO YOUNG VOTERS, MEN” (in fact, he won the women’s vote, {say what??} not to mention 69 of 71 counties.)
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“ANOTHER SANDERS SURROGATE VEERS OFF-MESSAGE” (Yes, by all means, let’s talk about Tim Robbins instead of the Democratic candidate for President himself, who just won yet another state against the “front-runner.”)
And here’s what CNN offers on the front page of their Politics page — the last two were the only ones to mention Sanders at all.
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“WITH CRUZ WIN, GOP CLOSER TO CONTESTED CONVENTION" (This was in REAL BIG LETTERS, at the top, with REAL BIG PHOTOS of Trump and Cruz.)
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“SANDY HOOK FAMILY MEMBER TO SANDERS: ‘SHAME ON YOU’ FOR GUN STANCE”
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“SANDERS FEELING MEDIA HEAT AFTER NEW INTERVIEW” (Both of these last two in small text in listed mid-page news items, no pic)
Let this soak in for a few seconds.
Anybody see anything, oh... I don’t know… perhaps… a little not quite right? How about deplorable? Would heinous or evil cover it better?
A DEMOCRATIC STATE PRIMARY RESULT was not even worth a mention on the CNN Politics Page. Does anyone reading this honestly believe this would have happened if Clinton had won??
Any human that would still have the sheer balls to tell any Sanders supporter to "stop with the media conspiracy stuff already," as I have been told a few dozen times in the past weeks…
SHAME ON YOU.
and
WAKE THE HELL UP!!!
This should be of dire concern for all Americans, not just those whose political candidate is being so hugely affected -- because it most emphatically affects everyone, in ways they will remain largely ignorant of but profoundly impacted by. We are a nation being groomed to be irresponsible voters and ignorant citizens, by having all information filtered through lenses installed by corporate ownership and interests, who hold virtually all mainstream media — even our once-beloved NPR, no less — in their bloated fist. And these entities care exactly NOTHING about the wellbeing of any of us or our families or our health or our education, least of all being informed citizens — only about how they can make our various demographics serve their purpose.
Yeah, to my family and many friends -- and no doubt to some reading this — I sound like a radical ranting on a streetcorner. But for godssakes, let us look around, open our ears, and listen to the chorus of MANY, MANY MILLIONS of Americans shouting these things in gloriously furious harmony from virtually every internet streetcorner, social media outlet, political forum, blog post, alternative (unbought) news source. These radical shouters are the only ones that that are going to propel our country forward in an ethical direction, because we sure as hell can't count on our elected leaders or anyone else whose entire power base is dependent on corporate backing, lobbying, bundling, offshore accounts, etc etc.
I'll stop here, though my disgust and daily-growing outrage and shame for the state of our country's "democracy" could carry me for many more paragraphs.
Join me on my streetcorner. Sing loud. And follow leaders who sing with you.
Wednesday, Apr 6, 2016 · 9:38:22 PM +00:00 · Magma99
Day-After-Wisconsin update
2:00pm PST, and here’s CNN’s Political page today (three consecutive screenshots from the top of their page). Please note the tone in all mentions of Clinton versus those of Sanders (who, just as a reminder, won his sixth out of the last seven states last night… something they pretty clearly would rather we forget — along with such things as Clinton’s polls slipping across just about every demographic, her loss of the women’s vote last night, etc — though they SURE as heck wanna keep reminding us of Angry Sandy Hook Mom and the Shocking NYDN Interview).
Back to my streetcorner.