Just before I stopped watching network and cable news I asked myself the question, "Can these people who are feeding us this crap in the most important and critical time in my life's history really be this stupid or should I be truly frightened by the fact that our the media, whom we depend on for vital information, is afraid to report what is really going on in this country? I answered my own question and realized that we should all be really afraid.
Many of the public's comments I encounter on problems in the media point to what is reported on in regards to the substance of the news we get, the repetitive, mind-numbing drivel and the relevance of who it is directed toward -- as though the problem is that the media is picking on one or the other party. That scares me even more than the news because that shows just to what degree this crap is working on keeping the population preoccupied with useless propaganda and totally unaware of exactly what the establishment wants. In the event you're not completely aware, you can spend some quality time here and here. My complaints aren't about what is said but what isn't said. No one asks why the media has turned their backs on their duties to inform and opted, instead, to take on the role of entertainment. They certainly aren't neglecting the biggest news stories of all time for the ratings. Would they deliberately neglect to report on a coup d'état in the United States Government and focus only on the tip of the iceberg, the counting of votes in one state? Would they forego the obvious inside involvement of government officials in the largest terrorist attack in the history of mankind only to focus on 19 people who were so amateurishly set up as the perpetrators of the deed because they're so inept? I don't think so.
I, like so many Americans am tired and pissed off. We're tired of being treated like a bunch of morons and we're pissed off at a media who has turned their backs on their job of reporting to us and have joined the ranks of the corporate establishment who would see the landscape of our nation torn apart and restructured as a third world nation.
So please, if there is someone out there who is a commercial media reporter or journalist, can you tell us why the media has become outright liars and talking heads at this time of great distress in our nation. Tell us why no one will interview an author, for instance, who will tell us why we shouldn't fixate on the problems such as the war, the economy, or illegal immigrants -- if we directed our energies on the big picture, the fact that all of those problems are just the beginning, a smokescreen, the results of a government gone out of control in order to achieve total control and that if we eliminate that government then those problems will inevitably become defused. Once I hear a member of the commercial media take a stand on the actual events surrounding the current administration I will know that we have taken the first major step in reclaiming our government without violence. In order for any society to prevail there must be a link to the people that provides the actual goings on of our government and our leaders.
If the population is only receiving what our leaders want us to hear, then it is a broken link. We may as well collectively have a water hose turned on us daily for all the good our news does if we don't hear the truth, no matter how bad, how unbelievable or disheartening it may be. The alternatives for society is to first, lose control of our elected officials, second, lose control of our electoral process and finally, lose all control of our government, our rights and our freedom. We are now at that final stage. We've waited far too long to wake up. Either out of laziness, ignorance, or fear we have ignored all of the obvious signs of a breakdown in our government. We trusted that the systems in place would do all the work for us, but too many of us neglected to work for the systems. Too many failed to take advantage of the tools of the system.
In 2004, approximately 64% of the voting-age population voted. Who is that 64%? Who have 36% of us sat back and let select our leaders? Obviously they don't represent the majority, since the majority doesn't like our current leaders. This means that more than half of those who voted represent the people who recognize power, what it means to have it and how to get it. That's how fragile our system is. The working class and unemployed (people who have jobs, have little or no authority in their jobs, or have no job but still receive benefits) constitute approximately 62% of the population. Bush won with 50.7% of the popular vote. Kerry had 48.3% and 1% went to other candidates. Just imagine if only a fraction of those 36% who neglected to vote had done so. Bush would not be president. We wouldn't be facing the dim prospects of a future we are now. And this brings me back to my original subject, the failed media.
Who knew? Who knew that our future would be decided by such miniscule points? Wouldn't this be considered a major news story in itself? If just a fraction of the 36% of the American voting public who did not vote had any idea they could have such an influence, would they have maybe been influenced to take action and thus, change the outcome? Ok, that could be a borderline cop-out but nonetheless, had the media focused on some valid journalism rather than the typical pre-election blather in which they engage, in other words, done their jobs, well, you get the picture.
Just what obligation does the commercial media have to the American people? Is there a literal moral obligation? Is there any legality outside of their professional integrity for them to be concerned with or have they now, in this age of computer networking, blogs and other viable journalistic outlets just become another entertainment medium, not to be relied upon for actual reporting of facts and news but only for stimulating the voyeuristic nature of the masses whose sole purposes are pure entertainment and ratings?
Have we turned a corner where those of us who are truly concerned for our futures have to seek out what was the fringe journalists and news outlets as I have, completely turning our backs on the network and cable news for lack of trust and authenticity of news? Can the media ever regain our trust and return to the days when we could rely on them for factual, pertinent stories on which we can base our political posture and select our leaders? Do they even want to? I really don't believe they want the responsibility in this very dangerous political climate to stick their necks out and report on some very powerful and obviously ruthless people when their constitutional freedoms and literally their lives could very well be on the line. I think that they'd rather tell us what Britney is doing.
And this is where I say "be afraid." Not stick your head in the sand afraid. Not run and hide afraid. Be "get off your ass and vote" afraid. Be "find yourself a trusted media outlet and get educated" afraid. And "don't be afraid to be afraid" afraid. Do you get that? Sort of like, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." We now realize that we've been misled, misinformed and lied to by the media and the government -- both whom we trusted. It's now time to find a new media and elect a new government. Educate ourselves and vote. That's the intelligent and peaceful way.
There's been a series on network TV called "Jericho." I don't usually go for anything network, but my wife got me involved. For those who've not seen it, a short synopsis -- 26 major US cities find themselves annihilated by nuclear attack. The focus are two small Midwest towns and their survival tactics, which finds them at war between each other fighting for food, supplies and control. In the midst of this, a stranger, a covert agent who was involved in the attacks in an undercover capacity, has found refuge in Jericho along with his family and one remaining nuclear device which he plans to use as evidence of government involvement in the attacks. That's all I'll give away, but I think you get the gist. The show was pulled from the air for more than a year for some unsaid reason. I believe it was too close to home. Imagine my surprise when it appeared back on the air. My purpose for mentioning this show is that it could very well parallel our country's situation. It takes a scenario which, 25 years ago would have been dismissed as total fiction and makes it frightfully close to home. I can only hope that those who've seen this show make that distinction and react accordingly. We always believe it can't happen here but in our present environment I could picture this scenario clearly.
This means keep your eye on your government. If you don't feel your getting the truth from the network and cable media, then seek out alternatives. OpEdNews is an excellent alternative. Read it, participate in it. Finally, vote, get your family and friends to vote. If you don't want to leave your home you can register online and get an absentee ballot, which will be mailed to you. There will be no inclement weather, no one to harass you, no embarrassment because you're unfamiliar with procedure. There's no excuse not to vote, it couldn't be easier. Unless you want to vote Republican, then it's very, very difficult, confusing.
If you hadn't still been paying attention to the mainstream media years after people like myself have been totally boycotting it, you'd know that.
Recently an author asked for suggestions from election reform activists as to what people can do to "increase the likelihood that their votes will be counted."
Here are my suggestions:
10. Abolish the Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court intervenes to stop the votes from being counted, your vote will not be counted, as there is no appeal from the bunch of appointed partisan thugs that constitute highest law of the land.
9. Abolish the Electoral College. Although some people think they are voting for President and Vice-President because the candidates names are on the ballot, the Constitution does not allow us to vote directly for President and Vice-President. Only the Electoral College can do that, so only the Electoral College votes are really counted in the presidential race.
8. Get rid of the central tabulators that secretly count about 80% of U.S. votes, whether or not those votes are cast on paper. Nobody can see inside a central tabulator to know whether it is counting or altering the votes, and malware that alters an election can erase all traces of itself from audit logs and then erase itself.
7. Get a new Constitution so that the people, rather than Congress, will be the sole judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members.
6. Find a way to force Congress to actually investigate all Federal Election Contests instead of just summarily dismissing them.
5. Bar all candidates from being sworn into office until after all votes have been counted and all election disputes have been settled. At things stand now, once they are sworn in, they cannot be removed just because subsequent evidence proves that they weren't actually elected.
4. Bar anyone connected with any political campaign from being a Secretary of State, elections official, or having any oversight of the elections process.
3. Establish and enforce a transparent and citizen-overseen chain-of-custody for all ballots from the moment they are cast (or received at election headquarters if they are mailed) until after all election disputes have been investigated and settled. At no point should be ballots be allowed to be left in the custody of elections officials, some of whom have been known to mark the voting record to indicate that the person voted and then put the ballot through a shredder and into the trash instead of counting it, or to manipulate the ballots so that a subsequent audit or tally will match a machine count.
2. Require that all votes be counted publicly, at the precincts, with full citizen oversight, so that no votes can be lost, added, or substituted during transit, and that no vote counting takes place secretly behind closed doors or inside easily-hacked voting machines, optical scanners, or central tabulators.
1. And the number one thing people can do to increase the likelihood that votes cast in faith-based elections will be counted: SAY YOUR PRAYERS!
Now some may believe that voting in faith-based elections is better than not voting at all. These are people who would believe that playing for real money in a rigged card game with a marked deck is better than not playing at all. I have a standing offer for them to come over to my house for a little friendly game.
There are also those who beieve that voting for a narrow range of candidates, all committed to continuing the crimes against humanity in Afghanistan and Iraq, or voting for a third party of independent candidate with no chance of winning, is better than not voting at all. These are people who believe that if given the option of a punch in the mouth or a punch in the nose, would be grateful that they were given a choice. They view those of us who reject both options and insist on being treated with respect, as radical extremists unwilling to compromise.
I'm proud to be a radical extremist. I don't watch TV, read magazines or newspapers, or listen to anything but pirate radio. I get my news online from many sources. At least a hundred activists and organizers depend on me for their daily U.S. and world news, so I don't consider myself uninformed. And until we get a democratic system with proportional representation, honest elections, and a full range of candidates with equal chances of winning, I will no longer vote.
Now how about that card game, Peter?
by
Mark E. Smith (21 articles, 30 quicklinks, 97 diaries, 1300 comments)
on Friday, March 28, 2008 at 7:22:54 PM
What would I know, Mark? You started off with a question of sorts except what is it that I would I know?
Where did I say or give you the impression that I pay attention to the mainstream media? When I asked myself that question it was 1967 but that's alright, you've made my point for me very well. People these days don't pay attention to what they read. They just read and come away with what they've been conditioned to. Plus, it seems everyone is on the defense. For instance, I read your comment and I agree with most of what you said although it had nothing to do with what I said. And why all of the ambivalence, did I say something that pissed you off?
My point was that it would take solving one problem in order to resolve all of the other issues which are destroying our society. That problem is that people believe the government. They believe it without thought or common sense and they believe it without question. Now I'm not saying that everything that the government says are lies but they definitely aren't committed to telling the truth, especially when it's in the best interest of the people to hear the truth. One of the reasons that people believe what is told them is because they hear it through the media, private enterprise whose function it is to make money and stay in business. In order to do that they must do several things. One is to entertain the masses. Keep peoples attention, keep them curious, amused and trustful. The other is to keep the reigning government appeased. Especially when that particular government shows a total disregard and outright disdain for the Constitution of the United States. I'm sure that you can figure out why that is. This is the problem we have to confront before we can fix all of the others like "how we can make our votes count", because if we aren't educated about the real issues and we don't vote nothing else will matter. No matter how hard or who you pray to. Get smart about who recognizes that problem and vote for him.
Not to stray from the point but you left off one very important thing to do to make your vote count. End lobbyism.
Now, some people shoot cheaters, Mark
by
PeterJ (11 articles, 2 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 126 comments)
on Saturday, March 29, 2008 at 12:08:30 PM
2 comments
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