God save the KOS!
Not having contributed many "diaries" yet, I still don't think I would be jumping the gun in my exclamation of enthusiasm for this site. One might think that the Internet would have tilted the world much more than it has in the way of converting the "one-to-many" media model of broadcast, film and print prior to its 1995 "browser birth", to much more of a "some to some" or "bottom to top" civilization changer by now. But a decade and a half later, the media is mostly unchanged at its core. It is very much one-to-many and still by elites about elites. The on-screen "comment box" has just reshaped the "send your letters to.." facility to give the "many" some place more immediate to dump their brain-wads on a published subject where it probably does less there than when media actually staffed a "consumer response" mechanism of some sort to read letters and comments. The DailyKOS however seems to have gotten the tilt. And no special pedigree, bloodline, sponsorship by famous mentor or other such credential is necessary to ascend to "one to some". And among the "some" may be a some "one" who you can influence and who might even spread that influence to quarters where it may matter. That is a wonderful thing.
Day in an day out I avail myself of media content--mostly my favorite MSNBC hosts--Martin Bashir, Ed Schultz, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, and Karen Finney now on the weekends, to let me know what kind of disgrace is going on on that other network which dares to call itself "news". But often they cover much else than what the crazies are saying and interview guests regarding issues of paramount interest to me. And although they encourage we "viewers" that they want to hear from us and they refer us to FaceBook and Twitter, there have been questions and issues they have covered for which there ARE answers--though they often couch the questions with the same popular facade language which seems to have no basis in anything but what the first person who put a name to it called it. Nobody in World War I called it World War I. And was World War II really World War II or just a continuation of one contiguous Industrial Age conflagration? "Media speak" tends to camouflage real history.
I have written hundreds of comments to MSNBC on it's own "comments" facility to Chris Matthews, to Al Sharpton etc before MSNBC started steering folks to FaceBook and Twitter. Ad I've moved with their wishes. Not once did I ever get even a predictable automated response (like the White House sends basically assuring you no one of any power or insight has read or considered what you've said but here's a load of statistical crap why you should just shut up and have faith that the administration has it covered). But with all this technology and its potential, I've never gotten a single acknowledgement of receipt of a comment or idea or suggestion or complaint from MSNBC or their hosts (or even their contributing experts before they got promoted to show host). Now that I am writing about it here, it's an unacceptable disgrace and I'll figure a way to shame them into at least an automated thank you. But at least here on DailyKOS, I found eight comments the morning after my last diary--all positive and encouraging and some very engaging. And I was concerned that I wouldn't be read again because when I read my previous diary, it had run-ons which should have been edited and polished. So, "they" even forgive you here too. wink
I wanted so much to write Martin Bashir yesterday about his interview of republican strategist Hogan Gidley. But I know the utter uselessness of it. Maybe one or two of you nice folk will consider if this is something someone who asks guests questions with passionate emphasis as if he really cares and wants an answer that makes sense would want to hear--from anyone if not his guest--and let me know.
Mr. Bashir asked Mr. Gidley why the republican party has no leader. And Gidley admitted it doesn't have a leader and no one has an answer as to why not. The people we call republicans do have a leader. But to the media and much of the public who will not count obnoxious talk radio jocks there is no appearance of a leader because the current gang of "stand-ins" stopped being the republican party that used to observe American democratic traditions, like abiding by the outcomes of elections even when you lose, starting in the mid 1990s with a string of events that over time has Americans living two different realities and practice two different politics. And it's a critical and historical identity crisis we can't afford to keep ignoring.
Republican Congress-persons have mostly been replaced over the last decade and a half by a non-elected opportunist who in fact is the most powerful man in America today who is not elected. This person can not steer the military on a moment's notice like the President but he has steered the economy more forcefully than the President and almost took it off a cliff once. There is talk of it happening now again too.
Yet this figure remains remains unknown to most Americans even though without him there would be no choking sequester. Indeed, if there were no so much negativity because of this man's influence, America could very well be in the middle of a boom and be the renewed economic envy of the world. But these low intelligence and/or low scruple political hacks this man has managed to pack Congress with have all wittingly or unwittingly committed at least one criminal act--the crime of perjury of lying under oath i.e the oath of office sworn with hand on the Bible.
All the while this oath was being sworn before Congress and assumedly before God, thus the Bible, the intent remained to obtain office and keep the anti-tax pledge higher. The popular belief is that the contrarianism shown President Obama has to do with hatred of Obama perhaps because of race--how is it so blatantly missed that the consequences for cooperation with anyone but the gang who shares the secret of having committed the same crime are abandonment, the immediate verbal dismemberment by Rush Limbaugh and other talk radio parasites, the trickle down vilification through the penetrating partisan media that reaches deep into that person's red state, and the primarying at the next opportunity to get this "traitor" to the gang out of the way. And who gets to challenge in the primary? Only another low scruple hack who will sign on to the same gang's hush-hush rules, and oh yeah, that blind, all-encompassing anti-tax totality.
Will anyone even on MSNBC dare use the language that applies and stop asking the polite questions which couch things in political camouflage like "tea party caucus"? Turn the camera around at one of these "tea party" events and you won't see many real people--just a handful of paid con artists to keep alive this myth that lets blame land where it can't matter. Mr. Bashir the reason they will let grandma starve and give the rich a tax break is because CRIMINALS are heartless. Gangsters can't betray the gang. The boss can't wear "Dapper Don" suits and party at NY's latest dance club in a stretch Hummer and still remain "da boss". I've said it before and I'll keep saying it, we need "government" but what we have is "groverment".
The republican party has been body-snatched over 15 years by Grover Norquist. And the "pods" or body-snatcher stand-ins don't have a visible leader--they just know who it is automatically. Maybe some day they'll squeal if you pinch one, but be assured, they are there now and are a quiet tyranny that must be put down before they finish off drowning government of the people, by the people and for the people in Norquist's otherwise probably unused bathtub.
God save the KOS!