Pity the Fearful Fools
Thirty percent of Americans think the government is secretly targeting them for death panels, wants to turn America into a Communist country, and the President wants to apologize for America rather than extoll her virtues.
That 30% exist because they see things on TV and hear them on the radio ... lies and innuendo and inflammatory rhetoric, and no one is rushing to grab the microphone or turn away the TV camera. No one is saying "those are all lies and innuendo" you hear on Hannity and Limbaugh, and most of all the producers and advertisers of those shows remain silent. Thus, that 30% say "I saw it on the TV and heard it on the radio, so it must be true: Obama is a secret Muslim and Census workers are sizing us up for their detainment camps and Democrats want to give each and every last cent in the treasury to blacks and hispanics."
What needs to happen, though, is that Corporate money needs to be removed from political campaigning and "news" programming. You can't change 30% of the country by crushing them ... you just need to put professional pride back into the journalists they listen to, and teeth in regulations about crying "Fire!"in a crowded theater.
Also, the Media creates the Republican/Democrat controversy and keeps breathing new life into it. The Media, if it were honest, would be airing the true battle: Americans vs Corporate CEOs.
Right Wing media always leaves out a big piece of the puzzle, so their solutions, or the ones that they lead their viewers/listeners/readers to conclude, make that 30% feel like they're the smartest people in the world. "Of COURSE Mexicans will stream over the border if we give away health care. It just makes sense! Why the Dems can't see it is beyond us!" But the Hannitys and Limbaughs don't take it to its logical conclusion: "But Canada has single-payer health insurance, where nobody is charged. You would think Americans would just stream over the border into Canada with Mexicans on their heels. Plus, there are hundreds of miles of desert for the Mexicans to cross. It doesn't make sense that someone would cross a desert to get a cavity filled."
But these pieces of the puzzle are left out, and the other "Mainstream Media" outlets do not complete the puzzle. They just say "there's passion on both sides." Well the passion on the Right is the Corporate CEOs trying to hang onto their tax cuts, and the passion on the Left is the indignation of knowing that you've got the truth on your side but everyone is just calling it "the opinion of those on the Left".
That 30% exist because they see things on TV and hear them on the radio ... lies and innuendo and inflammatory rhetoric, and no one is rushing to grab the microphone or turn away the TV camera. No one is saying "those are all lies and innuendo" you hear on Hannity and Limbaugh, and most of all the producers and advertisers of those shows remain silent. Thus, that 30% say "I saw it on the TV and heard it on the radio, so it must be true: Obama is a secret Muslim and Census workers are sizing us up for their detainment camps and Democrats want to give each and every last cent in the treasury to blacks and hispanics."
What needs to happen, though, is that Corporate money needs to be removed from political campaigning and "news" programming. You can't change 30% of the country by crushing them ... you just need to put professional pride back into the journalists they listen to, and teeth in regulations about crying "Fire!"in a crowded theater.
Also, the Media creates the Republican/Democrat controversy and keeps breathing new life into it. The Media, if it were honest, would be airing the true battle: Americans vs Corporate CEOs.
Right Wing media always leaves out a big piece of the puzzle, so their solutions, or the ones that they lead their viewers/listeners/readers to conclude, make that 30% feel like they're the smartest people in the world. "Of COURSE Mexicans will stream over the border if we give away health care. It just makes sense! Why the Dems can't see it is beyond us!" But the Hannitys and Limbaughs don't take it to its logical conclusion: "But Canada has single-payer health insurance, where nobody is charged. You would think Americans would just stream over the border into Canada with Mexicans on their heels. Plus, there are hundreds of miles of desert for the Mexicans to cross. It doesn't make sense that someone would cross a desert to get a cavity filled."
But these pieces of the puzzle are left out, and the other "Mainstream Media" outlets do not complete the puzzle. They just say "there's passion on both sides." Well the passion on the Right is the Corporate CEOs trying to hang onto their tax cuts, and the passion on the Left is the indignation of knowing that you've got the truth on your side but everyone is just calling it "the opinion of those on the Left".
posted by batguano at 8:17 PM
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