This morning's show on "off-shore oil drilling and the Gulf disaster"amply demonstrateswhy C-Span's 'Washington Journal' needs to carefully review, bolster,and insure that its admirable attempts at rational public dialog, discourse, and debate does not fall into the contrived rat-hole exemplified by FOX news' "fair and balanced" lose/lose strategy for the public. [NOTE: This advise applies not only to C-Span but to the NYTimes and others who think they are trying their best to inform public discussion].
Greta Brawner had the good sense and journalistic instincts to ask the lifetime high-income and 'gamer' for the oil industry, Jack Coleman, whether he represented any of the interests involved in the recent Gulf oil-spill crisis. But he lied --- that he did not. Whereas, the truth is that his entire life and company is dedicated to nothing but shilling for the oil industry. Greta tried, but Jack lied.
Jack then did what all 'private interest' and 'empire-thinking' sociopaths do (and are paid to do) in 'discussions' on public interests --- he lied with guileful and predictable 'private interest' intention, about the 'public interest' being discussed on your show. In other words, he 'gamed' Washington Journal's serious attempt to rationally and openly dialog, discuss, and debate the issue. This type of 'gaming' of the system is exactly what perversely incented 'private interest' predators will always do. [Which is why this advice applies not only to C-Span, PBS, NYTimes, but to any and all news and discussion, which genuine public interest journalism and debate media attempts to support. All are being 'gamed'.]
The mega 'gaming' of the system in this case is based on the logical fallacy of FOX News' perverted concept of being "fair and balanced" --- which effectively allows equal treatment of all sides and viewpoints in the same sure to be unfair method as laws which "allow both the poor and the rich to sleep under bridges".
This is akin to allowing "lions and lambs" not to
merely "sleep together" but to 'fight it out' in the media (and
Congress0 with the insane presumption that it will lead to the best 'fair and
balanced' conclusion for public interests. Whereas, in FACT, it will lead
to slaughter --- exemplified by the recent unSupreme Court's decision to "allow
both the poor and rich to use their wealth for free speech" ---- in what is
still euphemistically called a
democracy.
The particular Washington Journal interchange this morning which best provides an analogy to what this distorted strategy of 'fair and balanced' discussionproduces is exemplified by a comment that Jack made about the Gulf ecological disaster --- a comment which is exactly parallel to the institutionalized insanity of private power and 'empire-thinking' (rather than 'democracy-thinking').
Jack said, "We've drilled tens of thousands of off-shore continental shelf well's and it not right to cancel the system just based on one mistake".
This comports exactly with the following scene from "Dr. Strangelove":
Air Force General and SAC commander 'Bucky'Turgidson:
The duty officer asked General (Jack) Ripper to confirm the fact the he had issued the go code and he said, "Yes gentlemen, they are on their way in and no one can bring them back. For the sake of our country and our way of life, I suggest you get the rest of SAC in after them, otherwise we will be totally destroyed by red retaliation. My boys will give you the best kind of start, fourteen hundred megatons worth, and you sure as hell won't stop them now. So let's get going. There's no other choice. God willing, we will prevail in peace and freedom from fear and in true health through the purity and essence of our natural fluids. God bless you all." Then he hung up. We're still trying to figure out the meaning of that last phrase, sir.
President Muffley:
There's nothing to figure out General Turgidson. This man is obviously a psychotic.
Turgidson:
Well, I'd like to hold off judgment on a thing like that, sir, until all the facts are in.
Muffley:
[anger rising] General Turgidson, when you instituted the human reliability tests, you assured me there was no possibility of such a thing ever occurring.
Turgidson:
Well I don't think it's quite fair to condemn a whole program because of a single slip up sir."
What this fictional exchange makes clear, far more than the non-fictional 'gamed' system of current American media and complicit government, is that insane and perverse incentives, which clearly do not comport with any possible meaning of a 'public interest' can so distort and destroy public systems (whether national defense, economic strategy, financial policy, or ecological decisions about the future of 'our' planet) that debates of such existential matters of public life and death can not be allowed on any basis other than one of 'public interest' --- and that pretending to have 'fair and balanced' debate between parties who represent 'private interest' predators and 'public interest' humanists will PREDICTABLY lead to a facade or charade of public democracy overpowered by predatory (and guileful) "private interests'.
In the "Dr. Strangelove" scene, "General Jack Ripper was obviously a single delusional "psychotic" driven by a total lack of concern for society and any real "public interest'.
But in off-shore oil drilling, as well as financial regulation, foreign policies of launching oil wars, and numerous other "public interest' concerns in a functioning democracy, allowing a pack of many "private interest' "sociopaths" with overwhelming predatory powers of wealth and influence to enter into any supposed "fair and balanced' discussions will only lead to the PREDICTABLE results intentionally sought by FOX News.
Any organization that portends to represent the "public interest', but which allows itself to be drawn into such a "most dangerous game" between private interest "predators' (lions) and public interest "progressive humanist' (lambs) will INEVITABLY be facilitating the lambs being led to slaughter --- either by their naivety or complicity in this "game'.
In summary, the "gaming' of the American system of government and media by infinitely more powerful and guileful private interest predatory forces of "Empire-thinkers" is fast destroying any dreams or hopes of functional democracy held by the vastly weakened "public interests' of genuinely progressive "democracy-thinkers' (or lambs).
It is very discouraging to see such a public interest media organization as C-Span (or PBS, NYT, etc.) "buying into' the "game' of this guileful "fair and balanced' con-game on the false premise that it represents a balance between "left and right', "Republican and Democrat', "liberal and conservative', etc. etc. --- when in fact it is a premeditated slaughter between private interest predatory lions of wealth and power against public interest humanist lambs who do not "game' the economic system by dumping negative externality costs to have "fair and balanced' wealth and resources for the debate/fight.
C-Span, of all organizations --- because of its Lamb heredity ---- should not be conned into allowing the predatory lions of "private interest' looting and killing into this contested debate under the guise of being "fair and balanced'.
Sincerely,
Alan MacDonald
Sanford, Maine
