All Posts Tagged With: "Media"

Fifty-five percent (55%) believe media bias is more of a problem than big campaign contributions. Thirty-six percent (36%) disagree and think that campaign cash is a bigger problem.

People believe media bias is a bigger problem even though 63% believe most politicians will break the rules to help campaign contributors. Just 14% believe most politicians would refrain from breaking the rules for a donor. Forty-four percent (44%) say that lobbyists and campaign contributors have too much influence on John McCain’s positions. Forty percent (40%) say the same about Barack Obama.

Just 22% believe it would be a good idea to ban all campaign commercials so that voters could receive information on the campaign only from the news media and the internet. Sixty-six percent (66%) disagree and think that, despite the annoyance factor, it’s better to put up with an election-year barrage of advertising rather than rely on the news media.

An earlier survey found that 49% believe most reporters are trying to help Barack Obama win the election this year. Just 14% believe they’re trying to help McCain.

It’s like an exclusive mutual admiration society between John McCain and the mainstream media. This weeks’ stream-of-unconsciousness entry comes from a McCain interview on CNN last Friday where he stated that, if elected, Osama bin Forgotten may face Nuremberg-like justice. McCain doesn’t think he’ll have a hard time gaining worldwide support for that. I think he’s drinking some kind of government-issued Kool-Aid. The Bush administration has squandered so much good will since 9-11 that I find worldwide support for anything we do as a nation difficult to believe. Does anyone even talk about bin Laden anymore?

Of course, Wolf Blitzer failed to remind Senator McCain that the United States has to find bin Laden and arrest him first. That’s something we’ve been unable to do for seven years. At this point, I think you’d have to question whether our government even wants to find bin Laden. For the record, the bin Laden topic was the headline used to grab readers, but it actually occupied only a couple of paragraphs before the subject was changed to moving the location of the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and McCain’s well-known position on winning (at all costs, of course) the Iraq war.

Mr. Blitzer failed to ask McCain the hard questions after the topic of bin Laden was raised. Are there really still ongoing efforts to find him? Has there been any progress in locating bin Laden? Is there any kind of strategy being employed? Does the military have any idea where he might be? What is your plan, Senator McCain, to find bin Laden? Here’s a thought: The present administration has no plan and neither does McCain. Failure to pursue this issue has again confirmed that the mainstream media is too wrapped up building McCain’s justice-crusading, straight-talk express image. Nobody wants to find bin Laden because there are too many questions surrounding and too many holes in the government’s official 9-11 story.

In another wartime sham, the Bush administration invaded Afghanistan telling the people it was being done to bring bin Laden to justice. Nobody questioned George Bush on that one (yes, not even me). There was an overflow of support for Bush’s intention to apprehend bin Laden from all political persuasions both from within the United States and from around the globe. It was a golden opportunity. Yet, a mere six months after the terrorist attacks when he was asked if any progress was being made, George W. Bush flippantly stated to the media that he doesn’t spend much time thinking about bin Laden because he’s not that important. I think putting this in perspective is critical: Within six months of the 9-11 attacks, the most deadly terrorist event in our history and the only one that has ever happened here, Osama bin Laden went from being Public Enemy No. 1 (you will recall Bush vowing to get him dead or alive) to being “not that important.” That’s when I woke up from my shock-induced patriotic trance and started seeing the Bush administration for what it is.

Nearly eight years later, many (including myself) mistrust anyone who wants to continue Bush’s ill-advised policies and McCain has put himself squarely in that camp. It is apparent that there is a mainstream media blackout on reality. The conversation about bin Laden was absurd. Even more absurd is that a supposedly seasoned journalist like Wolf Blitzer would just let it slide by. It is difficult to take McCain seriously since he offered nothing more than a suggestion for prosecuting bin Laden and absolutely no plan for apprehending him. You can’t have one without the other.

I’ve recently been accused of speaking with venom about certain issues. I freely admit to that. This is, after all, America and every citizen is allowed that under the Constitution regardless of political affiliation. I have a ‘Question Authority’ bumper sticker on my car. I’ve tried to find the origin of the phrase, but can’t seem to pin it down. Some attribute it to Timothy Leary. Others credit Mother Jones. Regardless of who coined it, it’s underlying message of ‘think for yourself’ is good advice. It’s also what our forefathers intended. Not so long ago, questioning authority was the role of the media. However, with the advent of media ‘corporatization’ (for lack of a better word), the role of the media has switched to image building. So much for yet another critical cog in the wheel of checks and balances on our government (and those who aspire to run it).

Hypocrites At New York Times Reject McCain OpEd About His Iraq Views Because It Did not Include a Timeline

Forty-nine percent of voters believe most reporters try to help Obama with their coverage, up from 44% a month ago according to a nationwide survey released Monday by Rasmussen Reports. Just 14% believe most reporters will try to help John McCain win, little changed from 13% a month ago. Just one voter in four (24%) believes that most reporters will try to offer unbiased coverage. A plurality of Democrats-37%– say most reporters try to offer unbiased coverage of the campaign. Twenty-seven percent (27%) believe most reporters are trying to help Obama and 21% in Obama’s party think reporters are trying to help McCain.

Among Republicans, 78% believe reporters are trying to help Obama and 10% see most offering unbiased coverage.

As for unaffiliated voters, 50% see a pro-Obama bias and 21% see unbiased coverage. Just 12% of those not affiliated with either major party believe the reporters are trying to help McCain.

In a more general sense, 45% say that most reporters would hide information if it hurt the candidate they wanted to win. Just 30% disagree and 25% are not sure. Democrats are evenly divided as to whether a reporter would release such information while Republicans and unaffiliated voters have less confidence in the reporters.

Fifty percent of voters believe most reporters want to make the economy seem worse than it is. A plurality believes that the media has also tried to make the war in Iraq appear worse that it really is.

$350,000,000 Boondoogle- Do You Know About Smith-Mundt Act?

Al-Hurra — “The Free One” in Arabic — is the centerpiece of a U.S. government media campaign to spread democracy in 22 countries in the Middle East. U. S. Taxpayers have spent $350 million so far on the alternative to pan-Arab news stations like Qatar-based Al-Jazeera and Dubai-based Al-Arabia. Al-Hurra was launched in 2004 and Paul Cochrane Worldpress.org contributing editor questioned then whether it was a good idea or one destined to fail. A big issue was that its top editor did not speak Arabic. The project is the brain child of Norman Joel Pattiz then a member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors that oversees Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia.

But now less than five years after its launch it is being called an abject flop; failing to attract significant viewers and suspect by many as an American propaganda tool and likened to the pro-communist Soviet-era Pravda (Truth).

According to an article in Monday’s Washington Post it is now impossible for Al-Hurra to broadcast live, and staffers have to use a studio controlled by the Egyptian secret police, who have warned guests not to say anything controversial on the air.

Cochrane’s report in 2004 was foreboding, “Can they expect the Arabs to watch them if they don’t show Palestinians being killed, and don’t portray Israelis as oppressors?” said Nabil Dajani, professor of communications at the American University of Beirut. “The U.S. has a lost cause here in the Middle East unless they change their policy on Palestine. I think Al-Hurra is doomed,” and it now turns out he was right.

The website for the Springfield, Virginia based Al-Hurra TV network was still up Monday morning with schedules posted through June 29^th. In 2007 Al-Hurra was accused by American lawmakers on broadcasting terrorist messages including airing a lengthy live broadcast of Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hasan Nasrallah, a live interview with Hamas leader Ismail Haniya and yet another with an al-Qaida operative.

Radio Sawa is an Arabic language radio station, also funded by the United States government. Neither Al-Hurra or Sawa can be broadcast in the U. S. The US Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 (Public Law 402), popularly referred to as the Smith-Mundt Act, specifies the terms in which the United States government can engage in ‘public diplomacy‘, also known as propaganda. The act was passed by Congress and signed into law by president Harry S. Truman on January 27, 1948. Also covered under the Smith-Mundt Act are: Voice of America, a radio and TV network broadcasting worldwide, outside of the US; Radio Farda, a radio station targeted at Iran; Radio Free Asia, a radio network broadcasting in Asia; Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a radio network based in Europe and the Middle East; Radio Martí and TV Martí, a radio and TV network broadcasting in Cuba Voice of America transcripts can not be released under Freedom of Information Act request because of the prohibition of distributing government sponsored information inside the United States

John McCain recently slithered down to the lower 9th Ward in New Orleans just to walk a few blocks and tell the American public how appalled he is by the Bush administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina. To the area hardest hit by Katrina, he vowed, “never again will a disaster of this nature be handled in the terrible and disgraceful way it was handled.” This is classic political posturing to help McCain look like somebody who might actually have an ounce of empathy for the downtrodden. John McCain was an active member of the Senate throughout the entire Katrina ordeal. To suggest that he was surprised about the Bush administration’s botched response to Hurricane Katrina is hypocrisy at its best. In fact, he helped to shape that response by voting down several measures that would have helped the Katrina victims.

McCain voted against the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Bill of 2006, which would have provided, among other funding, $28 billion for hurricane relief. He also voted against a measure to provide emergency health care and other types of much-needed relief to Katrina survivors, such as access to Medicaid, $800 million in compensation to those providing care to Katrina evacuees, and access to the TANF (Temporary Aid to Needy Families) Contingency Fund for the states affected by Katrina and those taking in Katrina evacuees. If John McCain truly cares about ensuring a more appropriate response to the next natural disaster, then why did he vote – not once but twice – against establishing a commission to provide a “post mortem” review of the response to Katrina? The final insult came in 2005 when McCain voted against extending up to 52 weeks of unemployment benefits to those affected by Hurricane Katrina. These are not the votes of a compassionate conservative.

The ultimate indignity for the people of New Orleans is John McCain using their city as a political prop, painting himself as the ‘kinder, gentler’ GOP candidate and vowing that such a disgraceful response will not happen if he’s elected. That’s great John, but the people of New Orleans are probably wondering just exactly what you’re going to do to help them out of the mess they are in right now. When asked about rebuilding the lower 9^th Ward, he fumbled around for an answer that ended up being clear in the end: He didn’t know if he would rebuild it or tear it down if he is elected president. I’m sure it’s a comfort to those who live there that McCain can authorize a $12 billion-a-month war but he cannot commit to providing affordable housing in an area devastated by natural disaster. There’s something wrong about that.

McCain’s PR handlers and the mainstream media can spin him any way they want, but his actions are at direct odds with what they want us to believe. In 2001, after being defeated by Bush, he voted against the administration’s tax cuts. From the Senate floor he stated that he could not “in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us, at the expense of the middle class Americans who most need tax relief.” That was six years ago when he had lost his bid for the presidency and was, by several accounts, disgusted with the way the Bush campaign was waged.

It’s 2008 and John McCain is fighting for his political life. Do not ever misjudge his drive to become president. Bush’s tax cuts will expire in 2010 and now Mr. McCain is in favor of making the majority of those cuts permanent (the one exception being the inheritance tax). Nothing has changed about them. The cuts are still weighted to the wealthiest people in America. What has changed is McCain’s situation and whom he must assuage to reach what he no doubt feels is his destiny. It gets even more ugly when McCain is left to think for himself. He also has his own plan to eliminate the alternative minimum tax (originally created to prevent the wealthy from exploiting tax loopholes) and reduce the tax rate on corporate profits. The middle class may not be the only victim of McCain’s tax plan. Some experts are concerned about the nation’s solvency should this plan go into effect.

One other connection here that is rarely made by the mainstream media is the fact that John McCain’s net worth is in the $40 million dollar range. His wife is the chairwoman of the third-largest Anheuser-Busch beer distributorship in the nation. They also have impressive real estate holdings. It is said that McCain and his wife own eight homes. Seems that the McCain family is in a perfect position to reap the benefits of those tax breaks. The media attention McCain receives for his position of wealth is minimal compared to the scrutiny given to John Kerry and John Edwards. McCain’s supporters, of course, point out that it’s really not his wealth. It’s his wife’s. So was John Kerry’s, but that didn’t stop the media from having a field day with it.

Throwing the public a bone

McCain’s extraordinary compassion has inspired him to suggest rescinding the 18-cent gas tax through the summer. It saves the public about sixty cents a day (or $4.20 per week; just about where gas will be per gallon this summer). McCain went on to place his foot in his mouth by acknowledging it’s not much money, but it will provide the American people with a “little psychological boost.” This is absolutely useless to the people suffering sticker shock at the food stores and getting gouged for profits at the gas pumps. By the way, the money for this idea would be taken from funds used to build and maintain our roads and bridges. This money actually does create jobs and stimulate the economy.

While he’s throwing the public a bone with the gas tax, he’s collecting $58,358 a year in tax-free disability benefits for his war injuries. Disability payments suggest that he can no longer perform certain duties. In fact, McCain came back from Viet Nam in 1973 and proceeded to undergo extensive physical therapy to work his way back to fighter pilot status. He then became the commanding officer of the VA-174 “Hellrazors,” the Navy’s largest attack squadron. He did not retire from the Navy until 1981. When his advanced age is mentioned, McCain insists he has the stamina to out-campaign his younger foes. He recently boasted about how he hiked the Grand Canyon with one of his sons, so it’s not clear what disability he is being compensated for. One staffer suggested he’s being compensated for the torture he endured while a POW in Viet Nam. Without belittling Mr. McCain’s ordeal, the question remains what is a millionaire U.S. Senator with no overtly apparent disability doing collecting a stipend funded by the taxpayers?

Things are not as they seem

A good hard look will show that John McCain has degenerated into the political double speak that characterizes the present administration. There is not much difference between his projected policies and the ones Bush has in place now. If anything, he holds even more ‘hawkish’ views than Bush, which ensures the long-term occupation of Iraq and the increased potential of an attack on Iran. His voting record suggests he is anything but compassionate, nor is he an ally of the middle class. When people ask why he is so well perceived by the American people, the standard response is that its because the Democrats are still fighting it out among themselves rather than focusing on McCain. This is a convenient answer, but not the only one. The reality is that the mainstream media is still the primary carrier of information to the general public, and remains committed to the image that they have created for McCain even when the facts dispute its veracity.