if it isn't hard enough to be a midnight poster where all is quiet in the middle of the night - to then lose one's mojo due to being unable to post two months is like salt in the wound to a frustrated blogger!
when i logged back in after being offline for two months - i couldn't read the hidden comments - i am once again relegated to the world of the uninformed! i feel like i'm watching cnn all over again!
the reason for this diary (other than to shamelessly grovel for mojo restoration) is to bring to the foreground the current media manipulation by the white house in its run-up to war with syria.
following the jordanian bombing, i was struck by the continuing use of the phrase "Al Qaeda in Iraq" by the cnn skeletors. the "TERROR IN JORDAN" screen logo was glaring in prominent display - all strikingly convenient after the thrashing of republican candidates in tuesday's election.
the drumbeat has continued non-stop - with cnn blasting through the airways that "al qaeda in iraq" was behind the attacks - as though "al qaeda" had ALWAYS been in iraq.
at a point where the american people are finally beginning to awaken to the idea that al qaeda was NOT in iraq prior to the run-up of the war - the white house again is attempting to somehow link the "war on terrorism" and iraq [the "big lie"] to lend credence to the flimsy excuses they used to invade a sovereign nation.
and, once again, the "media" is being a complicit partner. when cnn and other stations rush to be the "first" to "break" news that is conveniently regurgitated without vetting that "news" first, those stations are destroying all credibility and trashing the "free press" that was once great in this country.
the first breaking cnn stories stated that the bombers were iraqi (correct) and had "entered the nation of jordan through syria" (incorrect but convenient speculation from an administration eager to engage in another war to perpetuate the PNAC strategies - not to mention raise the popularity rating of a failed presidency). once again, the media is quick to repeat the white house "talking points" without verifying their accuracy. how do you spell "g.u.l.l.i.b.l.e"
when we, as the audience, do nothing to challenge the weak and inaccurate portrayal of so-called "facts" in our media, we, too, are complicit.
while i realize that this cabal in washington has taxed to the limits our ability to respond to ALL the fires being ignited, if we slacken our immediate and overwhelming response to demand accuracy in media and reporting, we may have nothing left to criticize.
i am dismayed by the disintegration and deteriorization of what was once the "news" in this country. i am weary and discouraged to the point of turning from visual news media and watching re-runs of "home alone" - i caught myself throwing in the towel and turning away.
have you? do you challenge the corporate pablum thrown your way? do you complain of the regurgitation of "human interest stories" on cnn that run for days of repeats when the world is exploding quite literally around us? IF we demand that the news agencies change, will they?
if we don't try, then we can be sure nothing will change. we cannot accept being lulled into a stupor while our world is destroyed around us.
what should we do? call the media, write letters, email, respond to EVERY poll - write and call corporate advertisers, organize boycotts, fight back!
i am reminded that we are not without power when i answer yet another harris interactive poll that asks me "have you boycotted a store or product due to political ideals?" [or something similar]
we DO have power - but only if we use it! here at kos, we have become complacent - where are the diaries directing us to polls, boycotts, lte's, etc. when do we get up and fight back? how about a "talking points" update on the latest neospin? if we all put our collective research together, maybe we can recoup that power of the masses that has made this site so awesome! the time to fight back is now - it is a new news cycle and a new election news cycle - as liberals and democrats, we cannot afford to be caught lagging again!
