This isn't a controversy - It's a Full Scale Attack by the Media

[Bigleaf]

This is a great diary entry found on Kos:

But make no mistake, and don't ever forget: this is not a real controversy. It is an illusion created by the media. Guilt by association is not entirely new. Bill Clinton's brother, Hillary Clinton's brother, Jimmy Carter's brother - all cases of the same theme. But going after someone's preacher is new as far as I can tell.

And repeatedly playing video, in a continuous loop, is nothing less than another Swiftboat attack which, if you will recall, was as much an attack by the television media as it was by a small band of raving lunatics. As David Gergen pointed out, these liars spent 500k on an ad buy and got 30m in airtime.

This is how the media manipulates American democracy. Gotta always keep the races tied. And always keep the topic of conversation on anything but what matters. Have you ever wondered what the probability is, or I should say, impossibility is of the country being so evenly 50/50 divided for so long? How is that possible to have election after election where the vote is withing 3% points. It's called divide and conquer.

Remember the Dean scream? That was called eliminate the threat. Just in case there's still a few people who don't know how that worked, the news networks distorted reality by taking a mic feed and soloing it up. There's a tape floating around where someone did that to Linda McCartney. It wasn't good.


http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/18/135212/346/809/479225

[rurallib]

1. Obama called them out today - expect major retalliation

Fux especially and the radio hate shows. Pimple butt and flintstone head especially.

[dchill]

2. Media lend false equivalency to any political race.

It's their stock in trade - it's all about the bottom line. Why else would it be called "corporate media?" They tell us what to think about what we think. And they have the nerve to moralize about honest prostitutes.

[Bigleaf]

5. It's especially prevalent here in the US. I'm a dual-citizen, born and raised

in Canada and I can honestly say that I never experienced the media manipulation in Canada growing up that I do since moving here. It's like night and day. Having said that, I think there are other things which come into play and are contributors. Two, off the top of my head are the length of the campaigns and the $$ spent on these campaigns. Not a healthy way of doing things in my opinion.

[Why Syzygy]

3. Right. The Dean thing was unbelievable.

But that's what they do. The story isn't about the people or issues, it's about the STORY. Very self serving on the part of MSM. To say the least....

[cbayer]

4. AND they are using it to help us shoot each other in the back.

Probably loving every minute of it. And we just play along. It's sickening.

[Deep13]

6. I'm not surprised.

It's too sensational not to splash it all over the ratings-hungry TV networks.

[Texas Hill Country]

7. ummm.... you dont choose relatives is the answer to those quips.

i do think that it will be a huge issue in the GE tho, even though it should not be.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

8. First they got rid of Edwards, etc,n then Clinton and now Obama....

the media does truly pick our presidents for us.

[NMMatt]

9. I agree to some extent

However, the only close presidential elections in modern times have been the previous two. That doesn't make a trend, especially when considering that the media have had an interest in and have promoted tight races for quite some time. You give them too much credit here.

I would also add that Obama has addressed this "swift-boating" in a way Kerry never did. Imagine if Kerry had made a major speech about Vietnam, unequivocally demonstrating his patriotism and heroism for everyone to see (perhaps surrounded by fellow swift boat vets), and then honestly explaining his disillusion that led him to become a vocal critic of the war therby calling on America to turn the page on this divisiveness and focus on the issues at hand. What he did, was try to ignore it completely, which made it a one-sided argument.

[zulchzulu]

10. I call it a Swift Horton

It's the combination of repeating the same videos over again and even tampering with the timing and special effects to make Wright appear VERY SCARY combined with the same tactics of racism dealt by the Willie Horton ads.

Do we want these crazy ni&&ers in our suburblican great rooms? RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!! Or into the arms of the Grandpa McCain't Palace of Clueless, Endless Wars and retreaded Bushbot policies.