Thought I'd catch the evening news and turned to CBS. Now I remember why I usually don't bother. They found time to do a report on Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker facing a recall election. It was incredibly superficial - if the Koch Brothers didn't write the script for CBS, you'd be hard put to tell. Here's the headline on the story at the CBS Evening News website: Unions an entitlement, not a right.
They let Walker sit right there and spew out his talking points. From the partial transcript:
Asked if he is a union buster, Walker replied "I know that collective bargaining is not a right; it's an expensive entitlement. It's about time somebody stood up for the hardworking taxpayers of our state."
Some say the vote in Wisconsin could be the most important non-presidential election of this decade.
"The larger philosophical issue is who controls things in government?" Walker said. "Do the taxpayers, or do the public employee union bosses?"
He said in the past the cycle has been that taxpayers' money goes to pay for legitimate wages and benefits but on top of that, to union dues. that "go in part for political activities that then support candidates who ultimately say we'll spend more money on more benefits and more employees and stick it to the taxpayers."
Walker said there's nobody in that cycle who stands up for the taxpayer.
emphasis added
You can watch the video at the link - if you have a strong stomach. It is perhaps telling that when I clicked to play it, there was a brief commercial first for Goldman-Sachs.
Walker gets face time; nobody from the other side does. I'm only surprised CBS didn't headline this as "Heroic Governor Takes On Evil Union Bosses to Defend Taxpayers".
There was so much that wasn't in that report that should have been. As in:
• The Koch brothers heavy financial investment in Walker and the Republicans in the legislature.
• The incredibly anti-democratic manner in which the GOP has used their control of the legislature.
• The role of ALEC in drafting bills for the GOP.
• The other recall elections also scheduled - it's not just about Walker.
• The broad base of support for the recall that goes way beyond unions.
• Polling data showing majority support for Walker's recall.
• The deterioration of Wisconsin's economy since the Republicans have been ramming through their extreme agenda.
• The unraveling of education and other services while the business community loots at the public trough.
• The anti-environmental deregulation craze.
• The growing number of Walker political associates facing subpoenas and possible indictments from a grand jury looking into his political career before becoming governor.
• The way this battle in Wisconsin can be taken as a paradigm for the battle for soul of the country this election cycle.
You may just want to drop by CBS to see this atrocity of news 'reporting' for yourself - and leave them a comment.