COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Cultural Hegemons and Tin Foil Hatters

The Cultural Hegemons and the Tin Foil Hat Hatters

Barack Obama is now the third Democratic candidate to announce that he or she will not be participating in the Fox News/Congressional Black Caucus Presidential Debate. John Edwards showing bold leadership, was the first to announce that "no way" would he be participating. Then Mrs. Bill Clinton declined and Mr. Obama sent "regrets."

This issue of the Fox News/CBC Presidential debate leaves no doubt that the far left is in charge of the Democratic agenda. It will be interesting to see how the MSM reports this campaign if it begins to look as though Obama is a serious challenge to Hillary.

In regard to the Fox News dustup, The AP reported:
A spokesman for Obama, who is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, made it clear that Obama intended to participate in a debate co-sponsored by the CBC Institute and CNN.

"CNN seemed like a more appropriate host," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said.

The Clinton campaign announced its intentions Monday after Obama had let it be known he would not be attending the Fox debate.

"Were going to participate in the DNC-sanctioned debates only," Clinton spokesman Phil Singer said. He added that Clinton already had commitments to participate in an upcoming debate in South Carolina and one hosted by Tavis Smiley, the PBS late-night talk show host.

Democrats have been under pressure from liberal activists to avoid Fox-hosted debates. Last month, the Nevada Democratic Party canceled a debate that Fox was to co-sponsor in August.
A March 29 AP article said:
Democrats, under pressure from liberal activists, this month canceled a Nevada debate that Fox was to co-sponsor in August. Democratic critics complained that the network displays a conservative bias in its news broadcasts.
The Edwards campaign admitted in a March 8 CBS/AP article that Fox New's involvement was a "factor" in their decision to skip the Fox News/CBC debate.

I was beginning to think that the "liberal activists" cited in the articles would never be identified but then I read this exchange of words:
MoveOn.org Civic Action says it has collected more than 260,000 signatures on a petition that calls the cable network a "mouthpiece for the Republican Party, not a legitimate news channel."
And found this:
MoveOn.org Civic Action, a network of liberal activists, had called on the state Democratic Party to drop partnership with Fox, which the group calls "a mouthpiece for the Republican Party."

Fox News Vice President David Rhodes said the party's decision Friday showed that the online group owned the Democratic Party in Nevada.

"News organizations will want to think twice before getting involved in the Nevada Democratic caucus which appears to be controlled by radical, fringe, out-of-state interest groups, not the Nevada Democratic Party," Rhodes said in a statement.

MoveOn.org quickly declared victory.

"We hope this sets a precedent for all Democrats, that Fox should be treated as a right-wing misinformation network, not legitimized as a neutral source of news," Eli Pariser, executive director of MoveOn.org Civic Action, said in a statement.

The cultural hegemons of the left are not satisfied with their existing broadcast propaganda outlets CBS, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, NPR. They must have complete hegemony and neither Fox News or talk radio comport with their idea of fair and balanced. Its amazing how the left promoted multi-culti diversity and tolerance when they held the short side of the "power stick." Now that the old leftists of the 1960's have landed positions of power and authority, the old notions of "tolerance" like just about everything else in today's culture, have been turned upside down.

I am going to start this project very soon. I think I could sell a ton of them to Dems.

11 comments:

  1. Given how blatantly partisan FoxNews is why would a Democratic candidate bother helping them out by participating?

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  2. p.s.

    To respond to your 'tin foil hat' meme: It is primarily the hard 'right-wingers' who qualify for the tin foil hat given their bitchin' about a press biased against them. Ironically, the hard lefties also moan on, and on, and on, about a right leaning press. Their rationale being that big corporations own the press, and corporaten business dudes are almost invariably conservative.

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  3. CBS President and Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves released a statement saying,

    "From the outset, I believe all of us have been deeply upset and revulsed by the statements that were made on our air about the young women who represented Rutgers University in the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship with such class, energy and talent.... Those who have spoken with us the last few days represent people of goodwill from all segments of our society – all races, economic groups, men and women alike. In our meetings with concerned groups, there has been much discussion of the effect language like this has on our young people, particularly young women of color trying to make their way in this society. That consideration has weighed most heavily on our minds as we made our decision."


    Don Imus

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  4. Right, Ash,
    Like Bill Gates,
    the Google Bros,
    Ford Foundation,
    and etc.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Imus still has a lot of support among radio managers across the country, many of whom grew up listening to him, said Tom Taylor, editor of the trade publication Inside Radio.

    Rutgers' team, meanwhile, appeared Thursday on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" with their coach, C. Vivian Stringer.

    At the end of their appearance, Winfrey said: "I want to borrow a line from Maya Angelou, who is a personal mentor of mine and I know you all also feel the same way about her. And she has said this many times, and I say this to you, on behalf of myself and every woman that I know, you make me proud to spell my name W-O-M-A-N."


    Radio Job

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  6. Given how blatantly partisan CBS News is why would a President Bush bother helping them out by participating?
    ---
    Ans:
    To avoid Impeachment.

    ReplyDelete
  7. All of you esteemed commentarians are living proof of why news bias is less of a factor than it was a decade ago:

    the internet (blogs in particular) and the democratization/proliferation of media are the great equalizers. People on the left/right cannot dam up the truth behind a wall of bias/hypocrisy and the like; info leaks through.


    And the fact that there are SO MANY news outlets today as opposed to say a quarter century ago, is a good thing; it is harder now for an "info broker" so to speak, to craft a self-serving narrative and pawn it off.

    You don' like Fox News? big deal, turn on CNN, MSNBC, or listen to NPR, or read the Wall Street Journal, or hit up the Drudge Report real quick.

    Most informed people hit up multiple sources, too.


    And of course, "the word" gets out in places like this, and it resonates across the internet, and ultimately, other forms of media are compelled to address the issues at hand.

    I like it!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Amazing, simply amazing!

    And I see FOX NEWS as LIBERAL, unwilling to follow a story through, unwilling to be completely truthful when needed (was that murderer an illegal, etc.)!

    As for CNN, ABC, CBS, PBS, NPR, NBC, MSNBC, BBC, CBC, al Jezeera, and all State Department spokesmen; I haven't trusted a word from them for about 20 years!

    BTW, I'm receiving the signals loud and clear - no tin foil protection here!

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  9. I'm with ya Bob W., loads of sources, loads of biases, lots of choice and different perspectives help one become informed.

    On the Imus firing - hey CBS has the right to hire/fire who they like (free speech in a way). Maybe another network should pick up Imus and his show if they are keen to support his right to 'free speech'.

    ReplyDelete