MEDIA MANIPULATION

It’s still going on.

The real political news gets lost or never reported in most major news outlets because either they are controlled by owners with mostly rightwing agendas (e.g. Fox and the NY Post by Rupert Murdoch) or are easily misdirected (because corporate owners don’t want to offend rightwing forces or powers that be in the administration and elsewhere).

Thus, all the good this congress has done under the historical precedent of a woman leader is either not noted or dismissed or discussed in terms of personal and/or presidential politics, while constantly repeating the administration’s mantra that anything attempted or accomplished against their agenda is “playing politics”!

AS IF THAT ISN’T WHAT THE REPUBLICANS WHO HAVE CONTROLLED EVERY ASPECT OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FOR YEARS AND YEARS HAVEN’T BEEN DOING!

And with much worse results, if you are anything other than part of the top tier of wealthy citizens.

The fact is, Nancy Pelosi has accomplished many of the goals she set for herself and her fellow members of Congress when she took over as Speaker of the House. Something that should be newsworthy in any case, but particularly since this is the first woman to do so.

But that ain’t the news. The news is that Democrats are “playing politics” and Republicans are just the poor losers who messed up by following Bush down a dead end and are now trying to find a way out.

The news is also always bad, when it comes to politics, unless it’s some artificial situation manufactured by the Republican propagandists to make them seem sympathetic (though this no longer works so well for Bush as he speaks before handpicked crowds of the military, but may for his wife as she flies off to the Twin Cities to offer symbolic solace to the families of the victims of that bridge collapse, which could easily have been avoided if instead of tax cuts for the rich and tax dollars wasted on pork and perks for local projects for elected officials (Democrats equally guilty of the latter) money was spent on the basics necessary to keep people safe and healthy and well fed and housed (i.e. infrastructure, a national health plan, elimination of poverty and affordable housing, etc.).

As I said back when the presidential campaigns were still in the speculative stage, the very fact that so many precedents are being set in this campaign, at least so far, is great political news.

No matter what you think of them, the reality that if any of the frontrunners were to be elected president, it would be a precedent—our first woman president, or African-American, or Italian-American or Mormon (or the long shot Richardson, Latino). All the usual white Anglo-Saxon Protestant male politicians in the race are lagging way behind, even the once popular John McCain, whose Bush ass kissing only hurt him in the long run. (I don't consider the Mormon religion part of the Protestant category, though Mormons might.)

Of course, there's that actor from Tennessee, who fits the WASP male description. He might get into the race sometime in the coming weeks and win the Republican nomination and then win the general election, just because he is none of the precedent setting labels mentioned above, which would be a set back to the historical aspect of any of the current frontrunners getting elected.

But still, just the fact they are seriously in the running should make all of us happy, to see that finally, if not a voting majority, at least a sizable minority (and probably an actual majority) have no qualms about electing someone who only ten years ago would have been seen as an impossible contender.

Anyway, for a really well argued take on one specific case of media manipulation and misdirection, (i.e. the Tilliman cover up) check out this nightlight post.