Corporate Media Lies, 2010: If You Hated My Last Post, You Will Loathe This One

[McCamy Taylor]

This journal is for people who

1. thought that Clinton’s sex life was their business
2. said that “Gore and Bush are the same. And Gore is gonna win, so I will cast a protest vote for Nader.”
3. believe that Hillary Clinton is a bitch
4. call the Vietnam War “LBJ’s War”
5. blame Jimmy Carter and/or Ted Kennedy for the Reagan Administration
6. think that anything changed at all after Watergate
7. blame John Kerry for the stolen 2004 election
8. “What stolen election?”
9. think that Charles Rangel is an embarrassment to the Democratic Party
10. think that Maxine Waters is an embarrassment to the Democratic Party
11. think that gays are an embarrassment to the Democratic Party
12. think that Blacks are responsible for Proposition 8
13. think that Latino immigrants are the reason they can not get a decent paying job
14. think that women’s issues are more important than minority issues
15. think that minority issues are more important than women’s issues
16. thought that the Afghanistan War was a “good” war in 2008 but now think that it is a “bad” war
17. are more cautious around Muslims since 9/11
18. think Jewish people are responsible for Israel’s crimes
19. know that “blood diamonds” are bad but can not tell you where “blood diamonds” come from
20. think that “gut belief” is more valid than “reason”

If none of the above apply to you Stop Reading . Instead, spend the time you save writing a thoughtful letter to your local newspaper criticizing an instance of journalistic bias.

The rest of you, listen up. Please. The corporate media is up to its usual tricks this year, in advance of the 2010 midterm elections. Here are some recent examples of “Political Weapons of Mass Destruction” in action. In case you did not read the journal by that name, here is a link.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/McCamy%20Taylor/498

I. Divide and Conquer

The all time number one corporate fascist favorite tactic is number one again! Gays have been told that Obama loves Blacks more then them. Blacks have been told that if the midterms (and the 2012 election) are lost, it will be because of those whiney gays. And all those angry Hillary supporters. American workers are being told that their good jobs have been given to Latino immigrants. White homeowners have been told that their foreclosure is the fault of minority home owners. Private industry workers are being told that they are poor/sick/have no health insurance because greedy teachers and their unions have taken all the nation’s money----

Too smart to fall for any of these lies? Good for you. I guess that means you were too savvy to bite when the MSM dangled this “Divide and Conquer” morsel in front of you today. The one that goes something like this:

White House unloads anger over criticism from 'professional left’

Wow! Who knew that a building could talk? No, wait. Buildings don’t talk. Guess they mean “Obama” the most famous man in the White House unloaded his anger. Looks like the right wing was correct all along. That is one angry Black man!

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/113431-white-house-unloads-on-professional-left

If you did more than note in passing “The corporate media wants to divide and conquer us again ” you are still too gullible. By now every American should know that something does not becomes “news” because it is newsworthy. It becomes “news” because GE or Rupert Murdoch wants it to be news. Like this tidbit from this spring:

President Obama's oversight of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill may have been hampered by his relationship to BP, former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said Sunday in the opening salvo of a verbal cage match with White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.
Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," Palin suggested that the White House is too cozy with the oil industry because of contributions to candidate Obama during the 2008 presidential race.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/05/23/palin-links-bp-donations-obama-explain-gulf-spill-response/

According to Politico, Obama raked in a gazillion dollars from BP. Or rather, he got $77,051, which is a drop in the bucket compared to the millions the company (and the industry) donates. However, the amount was enough for Politico to declare (in monster sized headlines):

Obama Biggest Recipient of BP Cash

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/36783.html

And another wedge gets driven into the Democratic Party, this time between Democrats in Washington and Democrats in the Gulf.

You think you decided on your own that Obama is a big fat lying promise breaker? Even though he always said he was going to increase the military in Afghanistan and he was always against gay marriage and squeamish about abortion and defended the telecoms' right to wiretap us and rejected Rev. Wright for being too left wing ? Are you sure you did not have some help making up your mind on this one? The day after the 2008 November election, the right wing began to create lists of "Obama's broken promises". A bunch of corporate media outlets picked up on the theme. I think it is one of the registered trademarks of the 2010 RNC Congressional Election committee.



II. Apathy and Despair

Another all time favorite strategy. This one works by persuading Democrats that there is no way they can win. The system is stacked against them. The only meaningful vote is one cast in protest, for a third party candidate. Or better yet “stay home.”

If you want to get 15 minutes of fame this year from the mainstream media, tell some Democratic constituency that they will achieve their political goals by staying home .

From The Hill (which brought us today’s Divide and Conquer feature)

A congressman from the president’s home state is threatening that he will urge Latino voters to stay home this November if the Democratic Party does not make a concerted effort to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
Rep. Luis Gutierrez (Ill.) is arguably President Barack Obama’s biggest Democratic critic in Congress. And he’s not fond of Obama’s top advisers at the White House, either.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/93183-dem-to-obama-push-immigration-or-ill-tell-latino-voters-to-stay-home

Politico is carrying the “Stay home!” banner:

Labor groups are furious with the Democrats they helped put in office — and are threatening to stay home this fall when Democratic incumbents will need their help fending off Republican challengers

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/32781.html#ixzz0w9laZVJU


Ed Schulzt at MSNBC has even told us “stay home”

The best way for the 99ers to get the attention of the Congress is to form an unemplyed coalition and tell the Democrats “We are not voting in the midterm."

To the delight of readers at Breitbart:

Oooh Oooh, good - let's hope it spreads through Lib-land.

http://www.breitbart.tv/msnbc-host-boycotts-2010-elections/


I am sure that it will spread through Lib-land. There are probably an army of RNC trolls tying away at their computers at this very moment reminding those of us who read the Internet Stay home! Hard to tell which people advising Democrats to “stay home” are GOP moles and which are real honest to God Democrats riding the political wave. But here are some examples of things your impressionable 19 year old child may read:

If Democrats want to act like Republicans and keep in place the Bush tax cuts for the very top of the economic ladder, then they’ve given a great reason for core Democratic voters to skip the polling places on the first Tuesday in November. You’ll remember that before he was curtsying for the right-wing vote this year, even John McCain opposed these tax cuts because they were so skewed to the rich.

From “Time to Stay Home”

http://www.oliverwillis.com/2010/07/22/time-to-stay-home-dems-talk-up-extending-bush-tax-cuts-for-uber-rich/

The “Moderate Voice” says

But all of this boils down to this question: whether some Democrats will decide to stay home because they are not totally happy with their own party and/or want to “teach it” a lesson. As I noted in my Cagle.com column two weeks ago, there are already rumblings on the Internet and elsewhere by some Democrats that they’ll sit this one out to teach their own party that their own party and Obama in particular needs to be more progressive.

http://themoderatevoice.com/82408/gallup-democrats-better-brace-selves-for-big-congress-losses/

And, of course conservative propaganda outlets like the Washington Times are really promoting this story:

Few pieces of the mosaic that is the Democratic Party seem happy.
Labor and gays are restless. Blacks and Hispanics are grumbling. Liberals and moderates are battling. Even some in Hollywood are disappointed.
Mr. Obama must bring together - and fire up - the many Democratic coalitions if he hopes to minimize expected losses for his party this fall in his first midterm elections. The risk if he doesn't is that Democrats could become so disaffected that they stay home in November.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/mar/16/like-gop-democratic-party-has-rifts/

Looks like the hip, with it, “no man’s fool” Democrat in the know will be staying home this November---if the corporate media has anything to say about it.

Somewhere in Washington, scribbled on a cocktail napkin at a GOP strategy session, are the words stay home . Maybe the phrase was scrawled with the same pen that wrote Gore is a Liar . We are going to be hearing a lot more of this one before November. All they need is a few celebrities to make it hot, hot, hot.

For those that say But the system is stacked against us. Elections can not make a difference please look up the 1934 and 1964 elections. Through skillful campaigning, FDR and LBJ were able to get filibuster proof majorities in the Senate. The results---the New Deal and the Great Society crafted some of the most remarkable pieces of social legislation in US history including Medicare, Social Security and the Civil Rights Act. And they did it despite the presence of a bunch of Southern Conservative Democrats every bit as bad as the modern “Blue Dogs.”

Remember this one? The stakes are too high for you to stay home. Fear mongering? Maybe. Effective? You bet. And what were the stakes, after all? Equal voting rights for all Americans. Equal opportunity. Health care for the nation’s elderly. Those were pretty high stakes.

[scheming daemons]

1. A massive K&R! Best post on DU in the past 24 hours.

Thank you.

[Kalun D]

2. Big BS

the words came out of the Obama spokeperson's mouth, you can spin it all you want but this White House is right of center and disdains the left

bush = Obama and I wouldn't be happy with Kucinich and I'm on drugs.

If that's what you really think I think. Then FU*K OFF YOU CORPORATE AS*HOLES.

""Equal voting rights for all Americans.""

that's a laugh, Dems are in control and exactly ZERO has been done to reverse the rip-off computer machines, it's business as usual and Blanche Lincoln, the corporate dem just felt the benefit of the crooked machines, so don't expect the corporate dems to do jack crap about the vote problems.

[elocs]

3. Incredibly, somehow, someway I missed your last post. I cannot fathom how it happened.

I missed most of this one, too. At this time of the morning I appreciate those who can say more with fewer words.

Actually, I appreciate pithiness anytime.

[McCamy Taylor]

4. My favorite author is William Faulkner. Why say it in 10 words when you can use 100?

[blm]

17. heheh

.

[D-Lee]

22. Thank you for another perfectly wonderful pithy post!

I thought you were extremely pithy.

Some stuff needs to be spelled out -- and I loved your list and your reasoning.

[nightrain]

5. how about just saying--"I'm terrified that the Republicans will gain the majority" rather

than bully and harass Democrats who differ (are considering not voting).

Remember the adage--"You catch more flies with honey than vinegar".

The power of attraction is greater than that of disparaging people.

[Hissyspit]

6. delete

[lillypaddle]

7. Great post

K&R

[pnorman]

8. " 2. said that “Gore and Bush are the same. And Gore is gonna win, so...

... I will cast a protest vote for Nader.” Ya nailed me plumb dead center on that one, podner! As`for the others? I'm probably "clean", but I'll go through them carefully.

[sinkingfeeling]

9. Ah, I've finally found somebody on DU that thinks and sees things the same as me! Will you be my

friend?

[HEyHEY]

10. ANyone can find bias if they're looking for it.

I have no doubt that some stories are spun, but either from a dodgy reporter or from poor reporting. Has nothing to do with some evil force controlling everything.

[lunatica]

11. Sarah Palin saying the White House is too cozy with the oil companies

is hysterical!

[RockaFowler]

12. I Love This

And I'm not staying home come November. I live in Florida. I'm not about to let either Rick Scott or Marco Rubio represent this great state. Go Alex Sink!! Go Kendrick Meek!!!

[malaise]

13. K & R

Good post

[MilesColtrane]

14. K & R

[DevonRex]

15. This was really good. K&R.

Your last post was great, too. Thank you.

[MsPithy]

16. The republicans fear their base, the democrats hate theirs.

David Frum said that. That is why republicans are pulled farther and farther to the right.

As a liberal, I'm for saving human civilization by passing some tough legislation to control climate change. Huge corporations with unlimited cash to buy politicians are against it. Please tell me, what do I have, besides my threat to not vote for democrats, to try to save humanity?

[MsPithy]

18. crickets

That's what I thought.

[Itchinjim]

19. David Frum is a douchebag.

That's what I think.

[MsPithy]

21. He's worse than a douche-bag, he's a republican,

which it why it is so infuriating that he is correct!!!!

[McCamy Taylor]

20. Update. New GOP talking point "60 doesn't matter!" here at DU

I have been reading some of the "Apathy and Despair" and "Divide and Conquer" threads at DU today. From just 2 threads, I located 17 different posters who are dishing out some variety of stay home . That is not counting all the deleted posts.

DU is under attack, folks. Can we please respond to these "Obama's broken promises", "Stay Home" and "60 Doesn't matter" comments by reminding people that they are counterproductive?

"60 Doesn't Matter" goes something like "The GOP did not need 60 to pass legislation, so why do we?" This is not true. History shows that when Dems gets a filibuster proof Senate, they start doing it their way.

[TheKentuckian]

23. History is a small sample and the latest example is discouraging

[sulphurdunn]

24. No Sale

The Democrats are no more the victims of divide an conquer tactics than I am. They are victims of their own policy failures. They pounded corporate media and the Republicans like drums during the last election. Now I'm to believe they can't slap their own asses with both hands, can't do anything without Republican permission or even enforce party discipline? I could have held my nose over this, and over the calculated insults, but their brass knuckle mugging of public education is too much for me. I have been a member of and supporter of the Democratic Party for 40 years. That support has ended, not because I am credulous but because they've sold me out and have the nerve to suggest I just fuck off if I don't like it. Well, I don't like it and they can fuck off.

[kimmerspixelated]

25. Dang! I like your anger! Please explode more often! We need posts

just like this to remember ourselves, to remember what we need to do! Thanks!