I'm beginning to wonder if our modern media will be the ruin of this nation. It's more than obvious that the media's job is no longer to inform citizens of this country, no rather its to create controversies where no controversy exists, and if need be, to create a false controversy. It's a place where disproven talking points and falsehoods are given equal weight in a debate against the truth and facts. Where outright lies are not called bold faced lies. It gives equal creedence to paid shills as it does experts. The results of this over the decades has been to not only replace progress with inertia, but at it's worst to further agendas that have actually hurt this country. Sorry Murrow and Cronkite, but your reporting and facts have been replaced with taking heads yelling over each other and Jerry Springer townhalls.
For me, this BS about Obama's speech to school kids, was a tipping point. An innocuous speech about doing your homework, respecting teachers and parents, washing your hands to limit the spread of flu, etc, was built up by the media for a week as a possible controversy. This leads to school boards to seek permission slips from parents to opt in or out, or worse to not even show the speech to avoid controvery. Sorry but the message from every responsible person in the media should of been your crazy if you think President Obama is trying to indoctrinate your kids into some communist, socialist, nazi agenda. Should be end of story right? No, the message of the media is that there is a "controversy".
Lets look at the healthcare debate going on. Shills and hucksters are allowed to rant about non-existant death panels that will kill your grandma. Astro-turf, screaming, armed townhalls, created specifically for the media, become the message; controversy. Its where a Candy Crowley, can say matter of factly, that despite every poll indicating a majority of Americans support a public option, that well in her mind, they dont. Personally I find it more than ironic that media whose job it is to INFORM the public, reports that people just dont understand this public option, its just so darn complicated. Sorry but if I was in the reporting business I'd take this as a sign were not doing our job very well, because it isnt a hard concept to explain. The second message, in the milquetoast middle of the road inertia media is that well, we just cant do healthcare reform, its just too darn hard for the supposed greatest country on earth. Think Peggy Noonan and all the media print space and air time she gets.
Other recent faux reporting by the media, how about czars, Obama has all these czars. Sure they arent czars but deputy secretaries or bureau directors assigned tasks. Sure others were created by republican presidents, but for the media its much more fun to make something out of nothing than report simple facts. How about teleprompters? Stupid yes, possible controversy, you betcha! Not even an organic garden on the whitehouse grounds, could not escape being another target. Honestly, I never thought I would live in a country where something as baseless as the birthers would be given a platform to support and outright lie, Im looking at you Lou Dobbs and CNN, self-billed as the most trusted name in news.
Its a media where Dick Cheney can spoon feed Judy Miller and the New York Times(supposed liberal paper), a completely bogus story of WMD's. Judy doesnt want to fact check, just knows she wants access. Then Dick Cheney goes on Meet The Press and uses the bogus story to say this WMD story is pretty well confirmed obviously by the NY Times story he plants with Judy Miller. So the media was nothing more than propaganda tool. Its a David Gregory, its not our job to fact check, media who sees its only role to just give equal air time to both partys, to not call a lie a lie. Its media that willingly changes the word torture to "enhanced interrogation." That lets an administration say we didnt torture when clearly we did. Sure the truth may come out years later, but the damage has been done. Its now time for the inertia, middle of the roaders like a David Broder, to say we shouldnt look back, its just too darn hard.
When I spoke of inertia at the beginning I was thinking what great things has this country accomplished the past few decades?? I thought about prior decades and FDR and others pulling this country out of a depression. Starting social security, winning WW2, Brown V Board of Education, DDE and the interstate highway system, ending jim crow segregation, starting medicaid and medicare. Hell even Nixon started the EPA and OSHA. What have the past 3 decades seen? Exploding deficits, out-sourcing of our manufacturing base sold as good old american free trade, to the point where Wal-Mart is the nations largest employer. Hey Joe Lunchbucket, you dont need to make anything in a factory, now you can stock or ring up a product made in China for 10 bucks and hour plus crappy benefits. Income disparity at the highest levels since the 1920's, pensions replaced with 401ks(you can never lose money in the stock market it never goes down!!). Destroying economic safegaurds sold as banking "reform", hello bailouts!!! Old laws limiting credit card interest rates struck down so that now you can pay over 30%!!!. See how great that is America!!! Laws from the 30's limiting media ownership repealed to the point that most major media is controlled by a few corporations. So what are we gonna hang our hat on? Liberating Kuwait? A few years of budget surpluses?
If we had the modern corporate media a lot of the truly great things that happened in those prior decades may never have happened. Reagan could of organzied astroturf movements to turn medicare and medicaid into a socialist program where the government will control every medical decision, which he did wrongfully predict. The highway system would of been labeled too costly and more washington pork. The EPA and OSHA would be more big government. The middle of the roaders would have argued against pushing too hard to end segregation, its just too controversial and best left alone, plus blue dogs would never go for it. Sorry but with todays media and the dumbing down of the American citizenry, I dont hold a lot of hope for any meaning full climate change legislation, any real meaningfull healthcare reform, EFCA, you name it. Getting off foreign oil, been trying to solve that since the 70's with about zilch progress.
It isnt just FOX news and right wing radio creating controversies that lead us to to not only solve problems but when we do act to actually make problems worse, such as banking reform. Sure Keith and Rachel may talk truth to power. Frank Rich is the best op-ed writer in the country bar none. Hell Chris Matthews has had some good moments over the past year(define appeasement and his evisceration of Bachman). But as I mentioned above Cheney used the NY Times, not the Washington Times, MSNBC, gives Scarborough 2 hours of crucial morning news, before him it was Imus, regularly has Hitler apologist Buchanan, and regularly has every politico and rightwing hack that take their cues from the Drudge Report to feed the controversy beast, not to inform. CNN has the aforementioned Dobbs as its biggest star and Wolf Blitzer who could turn a is the earth flat question into a debate with no clear answer. This week on ABC has outright liars like Malkin, Will and Noonan on where Stephanopoulos's only job is to give equal time to everyone, and even that they do poorly, usually letting the conservative dominate the conversation. David Gregory same thing. Go ahead Senator, lie to the American people because Im not going to call you on it, thats just not my job as a reporter, my job is to balance the truth with lies.
Thank god this media wasnt around in 1776 because this country would never have gotten off the ground. King George could of just hired a couple of Heritage/CATO/AEI shills to convince the populace that the status quo was just fine and dandy. Promised Thomas Paine access for favorable reporting. Talking head hacks could of taken apart the declaration of independence as convoluted and the effort for independence just too darned hard, the people just arent ready for bold change. The constitution would hae been debated to death as just too hard to understand. Jefferson may have believed in the value of a free press as vital to an informed citizenry, I dont think he would of been too impressed with todays corporate media.