I had the rare opportunity to watch most of the two Democratic Presidential debates this week while on a business trip. After the second debate, I also had the opportunity to watch some of the cable news commentary at the vastly overrated among progressives' network, MSNBC, and was reminded of why I am so appalled at the corporate media propaganda system: First, how it trivializes running for president as if it was another episode of "The Voice." Second, how there is a diversion from issues and focus on the horse race aspect of any party's primary process. And third, how the corporate cable news commentators continue to use the words "far left" and "moderate" in a manner which obscures the true disconnect existing between the majority of American voters and those who hold power. See here for a summary of the issues I raised last November, after the Democratic Party gains in the mid-terms, where consistent polling data show a majority of Americans support Bernie Sanders' platform, which should make the "far left" mainstream in any honest definition of the word "moderate." Just imagine how you may feel about the candidates if you were told every single day that what Bernie Sanders proposes is the "moderate" or mainstream position. It would change perceptions to demand change and demand an end to the disconnect of politicians who are not responsive to what the majority of Americans believe. It would expose, though, who owns the nation when we say something is not "politically feasible."
The corporate owned media's use of the word "moderate" is designed to promote frustration, resignation, and despair so the true owners of our nation can continue to reap the profits from the economy, bomb other people around the world who do not bend to our owners' will, and continue to risk killing off a lot of humans and other life on the planet, like some comic book villain. The motto of the real owners of our nation is summarized in the 1980s vehicle bumper sticker, He who dies with the most toys wins. What corporate media commentators and the Republican Party political leadership feed people is hate and fear, which leads half the potential voters to despair and frustration, and ultimately resignation from voting, instead caring about nothing other than their own day-to-day survival.
The corporate owned media's use of the word "moderate" is designed to promote frustration, resignation, and despair so the true owners of our nation can continue to reap the profits from the economy, bomb other people around the world who do not bend to our owners' will, and continue to risk killing off a lot of humans and other life on the planet, like some comic book villain. The motto of the real owners of our nation is summarized in the 1980s vehicle bumper sticker, He who dies with the most toys wins. What corporate media commentators and the Republican Party political leadership feed people is hate and fear, which leads half the potential voters to despair and frustration, and ultimately resignation from voting, instead caring about nothing other than their own day-to-day survival.
Last fall, I talked about the Argument Among the Rational. That has begun in the Democratic Party presidential debates, though the argument, thus far, remains less clearly engaged, owing to the gross number of candidates, and, most frustratingly, the questions the MSNBC commentators were asking. Why, for example, did the MSNBC questioners not ask Bernie Sanders to comment on UBI and talk about the pros and cons of Andrew Yang's proposal? Where was a discussion of Marianne Williamson's idea for a Department of Peace, as it would have opened up the moral dimensions of foreign policy and most important, the operation of the American Empire in creating, not merely searching for, monsters abroad and within ourselves?* Why did the questions regarding Medicare for All stress the negatives, instead of a more objective form of questioning? There was no question regarding the $15 minimum wage nor any that focused people's attentions on inequality in any systemic sourcing. There was no question, and no discussion, of card check, the rights of people to form unions, and specific demands for where candidates stand on re-developing infrastructure.** There was one question about climate change that only allowed for a barely superficial discussion about the future of our planet, energy needs for humanity, and how to promote the economy while transitioning away from fossil fuels. And why not tell Cory Booker, Hey, your statement against BigPharma was nice, but Big Pharma has been a major booster of yours. And nobody said, Nice speech against VP Biden, Senator Harris, but how do you answer critics of your law enforcement record in the context of Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow?*** Then, to put a not-too-fine-a-point on your bonnet, at the end of the second debate, the elitist corporate liberal commentator, Rachel Maddow, castigated the largely well-behaved audience for showing emotion instead of sitting like good little children in church.
The goal of corporate media is to herd people into accepting narrow choices. They will use words like "moderate" in a way to tell you can't have nice things other nations have, starting with Medicare for All, free public college tuition, and will rarely, if ever, disclose how military spending is nearly 60% of federal government discretionary spending, after Social Security, Medicare, and interest on the debt (See this clever, yet compelling, visual of US military spending over the past five or more decades; and here for how we spend more than the next seven nations on the planet combined.).
I regret to say, if you wish to avoid corporate media manipulation, one should first turn off corporate media cable news. Turn it off. If we watch a debate on television, turn it off after the debate and don't listen to the vacuous, trivializing, manipulative commentaries. These people are shills, hacks, and purveyors of propaganda. They are right out of They Live. They have no interest in informing people about issues as they do not believe the average American citizens are capable of deciding issues. This Argument Among the Rational, however, is proceeding apace, largely through social media, which provides a wider variety of voices, good and bad, of course
If I am to offer my own "spin," it is this: Stand for and with your children. Stand for and with the planet. If there is to be sacrifices made, let the economic sacrifices begin with those who have the most money and most power to withstand the sacrifice being called upon. If there are sacrifices to be made, then we should be doing so with an idea of protecting our children's future and the future of life on the planet. If there are positive goals to achieve, starting with ensuring everyone has full and complete access to health care, full and complete public college attendance without paying tuition, taking part in rebuilding our nation's infrastructure, erasing student debt to increase economic activity and power for those who have graduated from college, then let's elect people who truly stand for those things, not uttering vague, rhetorical noise or literally saying, "I'm for Medicare for All, but..." We have an opportunity this time to vote for presidential candidates and those running for other offices who enunciate and articulate what the majority of American support. Corporate media commentators do not want you to believe that, and, those who profess to be "liberals" or even "progressive" in the corporate cable news media, invoke Trump to scare people away from voting for what they want.
If I am to offer my own "spin," it is this: Stand for and with your children. Stand for and with the planet. If there is to be sacrifices made, let the economic sacrifices begin with those who have the most money and most power to withstand the sacrifice being called upon. If there are sacrifices to be made, then we should be doing so with an idea of protecting our children's future and the future of life on the planet. If there are positive goals to achieve, starting with ensuring everyone has full and complete access to health care, full and complete public college attendance without paying tuition, taking part in rebuilding our nation's infrastructure, erasing student debt to increase economic activity and power for those who have graduated from college, then let's elect people who truly stand for those things, not uttering vague, rhetorical noise or literally saying, "I'm for Medicare for All, but..." We have an opportunity this time to vote for presidential candidates and those running for other offices who enunciate and articulate what the majority of American support. Corporate media commentators do not want you to believe that, and, those who profess to be "liberals" or even "progressive" in the corporate cable news media, invoke Trump to scare people away from voting for what they want.
The high tide of The Argument Among the Rational is coming. Let's be prepared. Let's keep the argument going. And if we have the opportunity to call out corporate media for its coverage and questions posed, then let's do that, too, especially when speaking with those who have questioned their fealty to Trump, for his broken promises apart from promoting white racism. Those are the swing voters of 2020. And for God's sake, keep supporting voter registration efforts among The Young. For our sake, too.
* The reference to monsters is from John Quincy Adams' Fourth of July speech in 1821, when he was President James Monroe's Secretary of State. The more complete context is where he stated: "Wherever the standard of freedom and independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her heart, her benedictions and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own. She will recommend the general cause, by the countenance of her voice, and the benignant sympathy of her example." This is what Bernie Sanders means when he said the other night, in the ten second and other limits set on candidates, he wants a foreign policy where diplomacy, not war, is the cornerstone.
** This is consistent with the way broadcast cable news has all day to talk about things, and literally almost never discusses workers striking across the land, or how it is only, and I mean only, Bernie Sanders who shows up in city after city to support labor rights.
*** And the day after the debate, she attended a fancy fundraiser for her campaign, where a former Wells Fargo executive was host. Senator Harris is proud she was bussed away from her family and community so she could personally enter the Big Club Where You and I Ain't In It.
