For those of us who tuned in to the first Republican Presidential 'Debate' on Fox, a glimpse of what debate will look like in the future if democracy ever truly falls in America and we are in the grips of an Orwellian society.
Now, the purpose of debate in the Pre-Fox era was to hold our politicians feet to fire. To give them a relatively civilized environment where they can go at each other and expose each other's strengths and weaknesses.
To call this a debate is to spit on the metaphorical graves of Kennedy-Nixon, Lincoln-Douglas, heck, even Quayle-Bentson.
It was, a trio of right-wing extremists, serving up right-wing extremist applause lines to ten right-wing extremists, to the delight and wonder of a (rather sparse) crowd of right-wing extremists.
There was absolutely NO discussion of any topics of substance. Nothing that addresses the problems of middle-class Americans. Rather it was a check list of what each candidate will destroy once he has the White House in his control. Planned Parenthood? Defund it. Obamacare? Dismantle it. Iran Nuclear Proliferation Treaty? Undo it. Iran? Destroy it. Social Security? "Work 'til yer 70, peasants!" Military spending? Oh no, wait a second. 600 billion a year is not enough!!! Obama and Hillary suck? Of COURSE THEY DO!!!
(And the CROWD GOES WILD!!!) YAY!!! HIP HIP HORRAY!!!!
The only candidate who wasn't marching to the preordained script wasn't Donald Trump, even though he was singled out for abuse and made it quite clear if peoples don' treat hims nice, hims going to go Ross Perot, it was Ohio Gov. Jim Kasich. He actually said he accepted the Supreme Court decision on gay marriage.
Oh, boo. Free thought. Unacceptable.
Nothing said about the fact that a CEO today makes 800 times the amount of a worker for the same company. No mention of the term 'oligarchy', whatsoever. Nothing said about the fact that the USA now has a poverty rate of 22%. Nothing on Student Loan relief. Women's rights were discussed. They thought it was a bad idea. Nothing about how the American middle-class now ranks 27th in the world in terms of quality of life. No discussion of how to achieve free community college for all. No infrastructure plans to put Americans to work and rebuild our crumbling roads. No programs to help our veterans. Definitely no discussion of EXPANSION of Medicare and Social Security. Nothing on Climate Change, holding Wall Street accountable, getting rid of Citizen's United and getting legalized bribery out of our political system.
Medicare For All? Forget about it.
Bernie Sanders watched the Feel Good Event while he tweeted. Some have named him the unofficial winner:
http://www.commondreams.org/...
This 'debate' is a perfect example of the stagnation of thought that happens with a controlled media, creating a controlled environment for their controlled political operatives to spout their controlled message for the populace they have under their control.
Was it as bad as all that? You can judge for yourself. That's what people in a free and (relatively) uncontrolled society do:
https://www.youtube.com/...
If you think the media should hold our politicians feet to the fire please click the link to sign the petition below.
Re-institute the Fairness Doctrine and Require Strict Adherence to Fairness and Accuracy in Broadcast Media. (Edit. Petition to be delivered to the FCC w/cc The President of the United States, Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader)
Petition Text with Background:
Thomas Wheeler FCC Chairperson
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street Southwest,
Washington, DC 20536
We request the FCC re-institute the Fairness Doctrine and institute rules that require reporting and commentary be held to the highest journalistic standard of fairness and accuracy in broadcast media. We also request strict adherence to the 'equal time rule' devoid of a requirement for financial remuneration to the broadcasting networks.
The 'Fairness Doctrine' is necessary to encourage unbiased information and diversity of editorial comment and to identify editorial comment as such as opposed to news. Recent studies have shown an unacceptably large percentage of inaccurate and misleading content in news/editorial broadcasting. Though there are alternative means of getting the news and commentary, none are as powerful as television and radio which are, for all intents and purposes, the sole domain of corporate owned entities. Corporate consolidation of media is having a chilling effect on diversity of opinions represented and the selection of news stories covered. Last but not least, these airwaves belong to the people of the United States and should be the most inclusive in diversity of viewpoints and free of bias in any news coverage.
Background:
The Fairness Doctrine was a policy of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), introduced in 1949, that required the holders of broadcast licenses to both present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was, in the Commission's view, honest, equitable and balanced. It was ruled constitutional by the Supreme Court in 1969 and deregulated during the Reagan era.
Respectfully yours, The Undersigned.
http://www.dailykos.com/...