Like in the old days of FDR and Truman, most modern media is owned by large corporations or, in a few cases, wealthy families. So, it continues to make sense that these outlets would share the prejudices and interests of the rich. Indeed, CNBC, the cable network that has prompted the recent right-wing ire, is famously pro-business and anti-government.
CNBC is dedicated to the proposition that "the market" knows all, except when there is an urgent need for the U.S. government to bail out the major investment banks after they tanked the economy in 2008 and crashed Wall Street stock values. Then, the government's trillions of dollars were deemed essential, though the bank executives still bristled at any political criticism or suggestions that their compensation should be restrained.
The Tea Party Rise
In the first month of Barack Obama's presidency, CNBC was on the front lines of promoting this arrogance of the super rich, attacking the new president even as he was confronting the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, with millions of Americans losing their jobs and millions more losing their homes.
Yet, while the huge Wall Street bank bail-out under President George W. Bush was popular with the CNBC crowd -- all the better to reverse the plunge in stock prices -- there was a fury against Obama's plans to restrict executive compensation and help stanch the surge in joblessness and home foreclosures.
On Feb. 19, 2009, CNBC reporter Rick Santelli took to the trading floor of the Chicago commodities exchange and fumed about Obama's plan to help up to nine million Americans avoid foreclosure. Santelli suggested that Obama set up a Web site to get public feedback on whether "we really want to subsidize the losers' mortgages."
Then, gesturing to the wealthy traders in the pit, Santelli declared, "this is America" and asked "how many of you people want to pay for your neighbor's mortgage that has an extra bathroom and can't pay their bills, raise their hand." Amid a cacophony of boos aimed at Obama's housing plan, Santelli turned back to the camera and said, "President Obama, are you listening?"
Though Santelli's behavior in a different context -- say, a denunciation of George W. Bush near the start of his presidency -- would surely have resulted in a suspension or firing, Santelli's anti-Obama rant was hailed as "the Chicago tea party," made Santelli an instant hero across right-wing talk radio, and was featured proudly on NBC's Nightly News.
Santelli's rant against helping "losers" inspired the Tea Party movement, which tapped into the populist frustrations of many alienated whites but was largely funded by rich right-wingers, including the Koch Brothers, who viewed it as a way to advance their own anti-regulatory agenda and promote more tax cuts for the rich.
That CNBC would now be attacked as a bastion of the "liberal media" shows how far this myth has slid from reality. CNBC is part of NBCUniversal, which is co-owned by Comcast (51 percent), a major international media conglomerate, and General Electric (49 percent), a founding member of what President Dwight Eisenhower called the Military-Industrial Complex.
So, the notion that CNBC is a hotbed of leftist journalism is delusional. But that is what the Republican Party and many of its top candidates are selling to their "base."
"Gotcha" Complaints
The complaints from last Wednesday's debate have focused on alleged "gotcha" questions, such as challenges to Dr. Ben Carson, one of the GOP frontrunners, about whether his budget proposals add up and what was his relationship to a shady nutritional supplement company called Mannatech.
While such queries would seem relevant to business reporters, the questions became the target of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and other candidates who won the audience's cheers for lambasting the "liberal media."
The "liberal media" accusations prompted the Republican National Committee to suspend its relationship with NBC regarding future debates. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, even added a button at his Internet site for his supporters to "stand against the liberal left media."
That CNBC would become the new faux standard bearer for the "liberal left media" might be considered comical, but the furor is indicative of how millions of Americans have accepted the Right's decoupling from the real world and have surrendered their political judgment to demagogues like Rush Limbaugh and corporate masters of the universe like Rupert Murdoch.
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