“Transparency” is tossed around Washington like the solution to all our problems. But what good is a window if nobody is looking through it? Citizens today are inundated by so much information that we must rely on others to sort and interpret the news that is actually relevant to us. And in our politicized country, most of us receive governmental news from outlets at least slightly skewed towards our preexisting views.
I’m a liberal. When a Republican says something outrageous, I know about it immediately thanks to Media Matters and the rest of the liberal blogosphere. But when a Democrat makes an equivalent mistake, I may not even find out. The big slips make national news, covered by the “balanced” mainstream media, but the more mundane mistruths fly under the radar. The little lies about a particular bill. The deliberately distorted talking points that obstruct well-intentioned legislation. The average person does not hear about the everyday dishonesty that has crippled our democracy today.
Here are some thoughts I’ve had about media bias. I use the word "media" as a plural. When I refer to a "medium," I mean a TV show, radio show, a newspaper, a magazine, a website, etc.
If you get tired of reading the beginning part, skip down to the last section (Hostile Media Bias, which is the most interesting).
The obvious, or the 'should be obvious' This is not really all about the Arab Muslim world, who's anti Israel feeling and action is motivated (not by any feeling to help fellow Arab Muslims, fact is, the Arab "Palestinians" are persecuted all throughout the Arab world) by Arab racism (just as the Kurds, Maronites, Sudanese and other non Arabs suffer from the global Arabization) & Islamofascism or Islamic-Fascism, the evil ideology as Tony Blair calls it (just as non Muslims in general, dhimmi or kuffars, non-believers suffer, global wide, take it straight from the horse's mouth, the Iranian fanatical Islamic leader Ahmadinejad's call for genocide & ethnic cleansing on Israel that though has no regional or territorial disputes with Iran of course, "doesn't belong on 'Muslim land', in the all Muslim middle east", this anti-Israel facsism still infects most moderate Muslim countries that blindly refuse entry to anyone with an Israeli passport). Nor is it about the few neo/old Nazis that hate all Jews (even those that tell you they hate "only Zionists"). But this is about the bigotry of anti-Israel infected in the mainstream.
If you are sick of the status quo say so in a email to the President.
I told him how I felt about his continually trying to include Republicans
who dont want to be included.
He is willing to wait for Scott Brown. I asked why when Scott Brown has
not intention of doing anything but be in lockstep with the Republicans
to stop his agenda.
I told him to let the Republicans tote their own water. I asked him to
tell the House & Senate to move on Health Reform NOW. That we Democrats
are waiting right NOW and have been for the last year.
This story is a couple of days old, but I saw that University of Florida Quarterback Tim Tebow is set to appear in a Focus on the Family Ad set to air during the Superbowl that will apparently tell the story of his mother's decision to forgo an abortion when in a high-risk pregnancy.
The CNN Political Ticker, which seems bent to give uncritical exposure to every inane utterance of Sarah Palin and whichever fringe Teabagger element can contact a producer, has done it again. But this time, they've exposed themselves. Kinda.
In the story, however, ONE LONE TEABAGGER tells a CNN website producer that the Teabaggers are going to "strike" against corporate donors who support Obama and his "radical agenda."
As every pundit knows, Dick Cheney is a "serious man" who "deserves to be heard" on every topic all the time regardless of which end the grumbling comes from. Count on the stenographers who catch the pearls of wisdom that fall from his lips to follow his lead and pin the blame for all our problems on the president. Not the guy who was president when the jokers who planned the recent bombing attempt were released back into the wild, the current president. You know what that means...
They tell us MSNBC is the "liberal" cable network. Perhaps so, compared to Fox - but that's not saying much. I just observed an interesting inconsistency in reporting connected to yesterday's Franken-Lieberman "incident."
Pretty much since Obama came in, and even before, Republicans have been squeezing every possible delay they can. Not just on legislation they're opposed to, but wholesale holds on almost everything - appointments, bills in subcommittee, &c. And "unanimous consent" has become increasingly scarce as well.
Simply jaw dropping.
This morning I was reading Media Matters and they had a short article about the Time Magazine story on how the media is polarized and has a moderate bias.
So, I followed the link and read the article.
It is must reading and explains much in our frustration with the traditional media
In the last week or so the World has almost literally shifted upside down...
In Afghanistan, Hamid Karzi has agreed to a Run-Off Election, which will significant help legitimize the government after the UN report of ballot stuffing in the election.
Corporate Fat Cat CEO's and Execs who have been growing even Fatter with Record Bonuses out of the Pockets of the American Public have just received a massive Smack-Down.
"News"papers would have you believe they are meaningfully distinguished from blogs, due to their "journalistic" standards and "accountability." The FTC has even weighed in on this, requiring disclosures of bloggers it does not require of newspaper reporters.
Case in point: today's front-page story by Diane Smith in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, concerning a low quantitiy of H1N1 vaccine being shipped to Texas:
By now, everyone knows about the two fake quotes that have been attributed to Rush Limbaugh. What's being lost in Limbaugh's cries of victimhood over "my high-tech lynching" is the fact that he's made numerous racist statements throughout his career, as Media Matters documents and I write about in my forthcoming book about Limbaugh. The man who called Barack Obama "the little black man-child" cannot persuasively claim to be "color-blind."
What may be the most interesting part of the "fake quotes" story is that Limbaugh himself routinely fakes quotes and is never called to account by the mainstream media. Far from being the victim of false charges about what he's said, Limbaugh is, on almost a daily basis, the perpetrator of the fake quote.
I worked my left arm off to get the President elected, I voted for him, I have given money and I have blogged and worked for healthcare reform. Every time a right wing nut job or even a right wing pundit goes over the top I feel like they are spitting on my personal decision. It is over the top and unfair. I will never have to feel ashamed of this President the way I did of Bush. He has not been another Bush and I am not going to be insulted for it anymore. From work to TV I am sick of the mean jokes and the over the top rhetoric. Okay, he's not perfect, he first picked people to save the economy who worked for Clinton, but that was like making a decision just after being hit by lightening. And that can change, it's only been eight months. Plus he listens, he really listens to us. And the pressure must be unbearable right now.
I had an experience at work that maybe makes me more empathetic to what he is going through. Actually that's a laugh... I never had anything close to being President, but I did get some unfair treatment and it affected my mood, my ability to face a tough day and sometimes it made me downright sad. I feel like the President is going through what I did times the Presidency. Yikes!
You'd think American media outlets would be proud that our President has won the the world's most prestigious international prize. Instead of celebrating, they are denigrating the President, the Nobel Committee, and the prize itself. Follow me below the fold for details, if you dare...
Sick of the media attacks on this organization committed to helping the working class and impoverished peoples of America, then join the fight against the smear campaign.
