Is the media fixin' to take down Bush?

[bain_sidhe]

I posted this in the Editorials forum in response to yet another unflattering article about Bush... but I'd like to see a wider discussion than just that article (which is at http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A54446-2004Mar12?language=printer if you want to read it)

From the article "Missteps on Economy Worry Bush Supporters"

Republicans on Capitol Hill and in the lobbying world of K Street say that the incidents may be minor, but they are many, each amplified by the last. And they are supplying a steady, nourishing diet for Sen. John F. Kerry...

What they don't mention (and won't) is that these incidents have ALWAYS been there... they just never got reported. Read Alterman & Green's "The Book On Bush" if you don't believe it - it's ALWAYS been just one damn thing after another with these guys. What's different now is that the press is covering them. Are we seeing the "Gore-ing" of Bush? Finally??

If you'll recall, once the media decided on the "narrative" with Gore, virtually every story about him hewed pretty close to that narrative - he was a "serial exaggerator," he was "stiff and wooden," he was "reinventing himself" etc... Now, many many articles are carrying the line that the chimp has "stumbled" in one way or another... Are we seeing a "Bush is incompetent" or "a bumbler" or "Bush is out of touch" narrative developing here?

So, what do you think... Is the media fixin' to take down chimpy? Sweet if they are, but scary that they have the power to do it.

[boobooday]

1. You can only say "up is down" for so long

Before people catch on. The damage is done, the spigot has been opened and the money is pouring into the military-industrial complex, just as planned.

Now they take him down, after it is too late. Coincidence? I think not.

http://www.wgoeshome.com

[Kurovski]

4. Yes

And how do we get out of Iraq? How do we get other nations on board after the attack on Spain?

The time for the press to question the war was long ago. In a very real way, the press turning on Bush is worthless unless they frame it in the context that Republicans (most clearly of all) are no longer trustworthy or any good at defense or the economy.

Unless they drive the party into the desert-based on the facts- to wander and wonder on how to gain the trust and votes of Americans again, then really, why give a shit about any sudden urge to bring George down?

It must be made clear the self-interests and conflicts of interest, the scandals and lies, that brought us to where we are today.

[Wickerman]

2. What would give the media that idea?

Are we seeing a "Bush is incompetent" or "a bumbler" or "Bush is out of touch" narrative developing here?


Its possible the powers that be have decided they have struck enough gold for the top 1% and that Bush* is played out. Get a Dem in to clean things up and turn the economy around for another 8 years - spend that time attacking him and get the liberal hate mantra good and strong, then repeat.

[moosedog]

3. I agree...

I have been smelling a rat all along. The blame game and they are still ahead if they get the right ones to be against. This is all a game. Haves against the have-nots. I'm so glad that someone else can smell it.

[bain_sidhe]

5. Not just "struck enough gold" I think...

I think they're really beginning to worry that Bush is on track to kill the goose that lays those golden eggs - at least, for them. If the economy - for average Americans - continues to tank, people won't be buying the consumer goods that companies advertise with all that lovely money, so in turn, those companies will not be advertising as much...

On the other hand, could be they're just trying to make the race "competitive" to get all those lovely, profitable political ads over a longer period of time...

Dunno. Just wondering.

[DemBones DemBones]

9. Yes, I think that's it -- he's gone farther in three years than

his daddy and Reagan did in twelve. The fat cats are fattened beyong belief, and people are thinking of more than one way to skin a cat, studying their copies of "30 Uses for a Dead Cat." The media don't want to be perceived as supporting the rich or their enablers at such times

Time for a Democrat ic administration to clean things up. Lather, rinse, repeat.

[bain_sidhe]

13. Not just clean things up

but restore the sheep to their fully-woolled condition so they'll be ready for fleecing again in a few years...

Sorry, feeling awfully negative these days.

[mistertrickster]

6. I think they have to take Bush on--he lies, they repeat the lies, pretty

soon the public is going to start shooting the messanger along with the message.

The Russians stopped believing Pravda after awhile . . .

[NNadir]

10. Eggggg......zacketldy. N/T.

[kaitykaity]

7. The herding/flocking instinct is strong in the media whores.

As is the cowardice and fear of loss access. If the whores smell real blood in the water, they'll join in the feeding frenzy with wild abandon. But not a single one of them will step out on his or her own and say that the emperor has no clothes.

[elfin]

8. No - they just want to manipulate things enough

to make it a close race to guarantee ratings. They hope they don't miscalculate (again) - but don't really care all that much.

Right now, they are boosting Kerry to flush W out for more stories. then they will fawn over him until the ratings begin to go the other way.

[bain_sidhe]

11. "to make it a close race"

I confess, that's my greatest worry. It's what allows me - forces me, really - to contain my glee over all the (for now) negative coverage of the chimp. Are we being played, or is the media really turning? That's the question. I wish I knew the answer, but I have to admit that the media's performance in the last three years (and the selection that caused them) gives me no comfort that the answer is one I'll like.

[calimary]

15. Here's what to do: REALLY.

Okay, here's situation: bush has been getting some bad press for awhile now, ever since the beginning of the year, really, and the Paul O'Neill book, and the David Kay disappointment (uh, gee, er, I guess there never were WMDS...), and the flaccid State of the Union Address. Then, the AWOL scandal broke, and didn't quickly go away. And meantime, the disruption and carnage and death in Iraq continued, and the Democrats were speaking out and exercising their spines, the primary voter turnouts were STELLAR - RECORD-BREAKING, and believe me, EVERY reporter and pundit and spinner and anchor and talking head knew it - EVERY one of them, and even as Howard Dean went down, Kerry seemed to be ready to step in, and has stayed in ever since. And more and more and more and more. Newsweek magazine keeps showing bush with either down arrows or so-so arrows, and the Oscars take lots of potshots at him, too. And bush's campaign commercials come out and he stumbles badly with his first steps and the 9-11 references that the 9-11 families vocally object to (reminding at least some people out there that bush has yet to answer THEIR questions or those of the 9-11 panel), And the economy sucks and all the wierdo numbers and "Household Surveys" and other cockamamie research and think-tank crap the republi-CONS are throwing at us don't change a single thing about the unemployment crisis. SOOOOOO...

All that has swirled together in the national, what, zeitgeist? And we have reached a kind of critical mass. The media cannot help noticing. Look how fast that Kerry-has-an-affair-with-an-intern story went flat. While Limbaugh gets his own nose bloodied, and Howard Stern does his thing and everyone's reminded of the prissy bedroom-busybodies running our country. The press cannot help but notice this. Nor can they avoid the increasingly vocal Democrats and liberals and progressives like the many mayors who've now come out against the damned Marriage DISCRIMINATION amendment and publicly call it a distraction. And the press cannot help but notice this. ALL OF THIS. It is now unavoidable, as in - TOO MANY FIRES breaking out. TOO MANY HOLES IN THE DIKE NOW, that can't be ignored. And soldiers are still getting killed in Iraq, including two more just today. And here at home, NOBODY has jobs. And Lou Dobbs is now as hot as Hades on this, and HE won't shut up, either.

The press CANNOT avoid this any longer. They know something's up, and it's news, so they can't avoid it. There's just too much.

WHICH IS WHY, guys, it is now more vital and critical THAN EVER - not only to call your congresscritter about any/all of this, BUT: ANY TIME, I repeat, ANY TIME you see a CNN poll, or a CNN talkback, or "here's how to write to Joe Scarborough" or "ask Wolf Blitzer" or "we welcome your feedback" to ANY OF THESE SHOWS, DO IT! Send an email. Don't think for a second that it's just one email and it won't make a difference. If you and several hundred others - just on this board alone - send ONE of those "won't make a difference" emails, there'll be A WHOLE LOT of emails that WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Again, they will not be possible to ignore.

In addition, ANY TIME, and I repeat, ANY TIME you read an article in a link here or elsewhere, and it has the email contact info for the columnist/reporter/investigator/author, USE IT! Write to them! LET THEM KNOW HOW YOU FEEL, AND HOW YOU ARE ONTO THESE AWFUL PEOPLE!!!!! DO IT!!!!! EVERY letter, email and phone call makes a difference, and adds another drop of water to the pail. It only takes ONE drop of water to bring the rest of the water up to the spilling point, at which moment, it overflows. JUST ONE. THAT'S ALL IT TAKES!!!

My husband, last week, wrote to Feinstein, Boxer, and Waxman, about the Diebold crisis and BBV. He is amazed to see, now, that the issue is getting lots more press and attention on Capitol Hill and there are bills and discussions and research and other stuff coming out, and it's making LOTS of noise. He seriously believes he had a hand in helping. I agree. Perhaps his letter was the one to tip the balance. Perhaps not. But don't you want YOUR letter or email or phone call to MAYBE, just MAYBE be the one that helps tip the scale? You don't reach critical mass without a lot of little things adding up.

PLEASE!!! I know I nag insufferably about this. But I cannot stress the critical, urgent importance of this enough! We're maneuvering the bad guys into a corner, and onto the ropes. Now is NOT THE TIME TO START GETTING COMPLACENT, or to sit back and figure somebody else is gonna do the leg work. WE HAVE TO KEEP DOING IT, OURSELVES. EVERYTHING is at stake in November.

[DeepModem Mom]

22. You're right on, calimary --

I've called, and emailed, since December, 2000, just so it would be known that opposition to Bush was out there, even if they heard it from one lonely voice -- and you're right, we can't stop now. I think it's important, too, to write or call to reinforce positive, or even fair, news coverage, and to show appreciation for courageous votes in Congress.

[moosedog]

24. I don't think so....

I don't know, but would you talk more about what you think about the media being owned by the corporations ? Thanks.

[Warren Stuart]

12. The discipline is breaking down

Leaks are sprouting, this would have been unheard of 2 years ago:

These Republicans refused to speak on the record because they said that if they did, they could not be candid about the problems without infuriating Bush and his most powerful aides.


Imagine that, candid assessments about the problems facing the administration. Can honest elections be far behind?

Another telling item according to this, is that apparently Bush has anger management issues. Maybe Laura should give him one of her prozaks.

[bain_sidhe]

16. That's part of it, of course

I mean, who woulda thunk Paul O'Neill would become a "hero" to the left by speaking out on "the price of loyalty" in the Bush regime... and we all know how reporters love a "scoop." But I think there's more to it than that. A lot of these stories are about common knowledge stuff... and they're about the same kinds of things that happened last year, and the year before, and the year before that. Things that DIDN'T get reported then.

[rocktivity]

14. They may have to, as their own survival is on the line

The "narrative" was going well until the Dean Scream. The media was successfully portraying the Dems as a minscule, disorganized fringe group right into the primaries. But the Dean Scream blew up in their faces--people complained the media deliberately overplayed it to discredit him. It worked in that it pushed Kerry out front, which is what the Bush Regime wanted. But now the media has two things to worry about--their credibility, and any "revenge" a triumphant Kerry could take in terms of "media reform."

The next chapter of the narrative was to market the Bush campaign strategy. But not even Chris Matthews could avoid pointing out that a filthy rich New England-born Ivy League-schooled flip-flopper calling somone a filthy rich New England-born Ivy League-schooled flip-flopper just didn't compute. If they keep spinning, people are going to start tuning them out--and Bush, too!

:headbang:
rocknation

[Media_Lies_Daily]

17. Operation Mockingbird and the CIA's anger toward Junior...

<http://www.prisonplanet.com/analysis_louise_01_03_03_mockingbird.html>

I'm pretty sure that the original CIA operatives chosen in the late 1940s for this program have long since retired, but this is an ongoing operation designed to mold and influence American public opinion. Ever since the Plame incident the CIA has been leaking information on a daily basis designed to be damaging to Junior and the NeoCons.

Additionally, has anyone noticed how CNN's Lou Dobbs has been going after "outsourcing" and the other hair-brained economic schemes put into operation by the NeoCon Junta? This is a very strong signal that the major conservative corporations that have backed Junior in the past are beginning to back away. IMHO, Dobbs is a creature of corporate America, and is their primary spokesman.

[Q]

18. Nah...they just don't want to seem to obvious about their support...

...for the Corporate President. The media knows that Bush's* only chance to win (besides vote rigging) is the 'war' on (some) terrorism. That's where they'll support him to the very end.

[Jane Austin]

19. Hmmmm

I think they see him as vulnerable and don't want to be the
only ones left behind who didn't tell us he was a screw up.

[Malva Zebrina]

20. I am a firm believer that the photo editors are forging the way

and lately all photos of the idiot are depicting him as exactly that--an idiot. And, that is including Laura also, since she has been trotted out by the Bush handlers as a political analyst extrordinaire.

Some examples

Please tell me how these photos get past the Rove machine--they are unflattering and comical

Joker smiling political pundit, Laura do nothing did nothing Bush and the very bad actor about to go on stage



Presidunce stupid bloated and waving over the car door at no one.




One stupid looking at another stupid--"Dear stupid, I love you cause you are a stupid lump in the bed" -- eewww disgusting. How can she stand it? He looks like he smells and needs a shower.

[Shopaholic]

23. Absolutely let the media know how you feel. . .

I agree with the other poster---every single time you read a newspaper story or see a television piece let them know how much you appreciate the coverage on anything that is critical of Bush. We truly do have the power to change the media coverage but we've got to let them know how many of us are deeply unhappy and disappointed in the free pass that Shrub & co. have gotten for the past four years. If you have the stomach, take a look at Free Republic--every single time someone does a negative piece on Shrubbie, they proudly post that they've written the network and demanded that the person be fired! We'll seem a whole lot more reasonable if we write in with praise and will be far more likely to get their attention than the freepers and their ridiculous requests to get someone fired because of the way they covered a story. The point is, we've got to be pro-active on this! So get to writing--now!

[seabeyond]

21. first the demo story

so then i saw a good week or two of exclusive bush pumping, like to bring him back up for a competitive race and keep ratings up, but bush keeps doing stupid things and more people are saying it out loud. a big one was kerry saying liar out loud and now the press is hearing the lies and they cannot be denied. but i dont expect they are going after bush, i see it is the way the stories are falling against the man. i think if they could and as soon as they can, they are going to push bush up on the horse again to get it tight