*** Remind us again how the media is biased…: Finally, here’s one more thought about the entire controversy over Obama’s education speech on Tuesday: Since the White House has said the text of the speech will be available for 24 hours before he delivers it and since they altered the lesson plan language, why is this still a controversy? The ability of the conservative media machine to generate a controversy for this White House is amazing. In fact, this is an example of a story that percolates where it becomes harder and harder for some to claim there's some knee-jerk liberal media bias. (Does anyone remember these kinds of controversies in the summer of 2001?) The ability of some conservatives to create media firestorms is still much greater than liberals these days. How effective is the conservative media machine? Just ask Van Jones…The reporters at MSNBC are not stupid. They know that the speech was controversial precisely because of the accompanying materials for use in the classroom, which were creepy in asking school children to serve and help Obama. Telling school children to work hard and stay off drugs is one thing, pulling them into a cult of personality is another. The fact that the White House changed the script after the controversy proves the protests were legitimate, not the other way around.
And Van Jones being the victim of a faux conservative media storm? Is it not worthy of controversy that a White House adviser signed a 9/11 Truther petition, and had other ties to Truther organizations? And called Congressmen "assholes." And called George Bush a "crackhead."
Had this been a Republican administration and the roles reversed, we all would have been treated to a Keith Olbermann "how dare you, sir" speech, and NBC news would have run the story every day for a week in its nightly news. As to Van Jones, however, not a peep from any of the GE news entities. In fact, MSNBC felt the need in its post to link to a Politico article about Jones; that says it all.
MSNBC is so ideologically corrupt, that it's news reporters and news staff not only cannot recognize their own biases, they feel the need to make excuses for their own failure to cover issues by falling back on the "vast right wing conspiracy" meme.
I can picture Chris Matthew's report on Obama's speech to school children now:
"Listening to the speech sent a thrill up my leg. Now to Van Jones, to keep the feeling going."
(Go to 6:45 for Matthew's comment that Truthers are the "erogenous zone of insanity")
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I agree that the real problem with the Obama/ school outreach ordeal is in the *materials* that were sent out to prepare the kids:
ReplyDeletehttp://syd4.blogspot.com/2009/09/problem-with-these-books-kids-are.html
There is something strange about the Obama administration... what is it? They don't seem to understand what it means to "cross the line."
I like your analysis here as usual... I watched MSNBC just because I felt like being masochistic a week or two ago - and the disconnect between the stuff they say and reality is so stark, it makes my head hurt to watch it without acknowledging to myself that it's basically fiction.
ReplyDeleteFox News might present a spin to the right..but these guys make stuff up to support their way of thinking...
Wait a minute. The conservatives are missing the real point. Van Jones is an open communist giving advice to the President. Now maybe this isn't news anymore but for my generation growing up with the Soviet threat and the cold war. This is the story. How can our president have communist advisors? Did we lose the Cold War?
ReplyDeleteI could care less if Van Jones is a truther. That just shows he is a nutcase. the fact that he is a communist sends a clear signal to America of what type fo people Obama has around him
Gee, I don't know. Communism is a philosophy. And he didn't join the communist party, he just said that he had thought about some of the philosophy of communists. I lived in a former Soviet Republic after independence. Many of my friends and colleagues there always pointed out that there was good and bad in the system.
ReplyDeleteBut I guess having someone who can see some merit in a philosophy in an administration is MUCH worse that having convicted felons working for an administration.
Your priorities seem to be quite skewed.
mich,
ReplyDeleteCommunism is a FAILED philosophy that has FAILED every time it has been attempted. It is a philosophy that has led directly to the deaths of millions upon millions of humans at the hands of communist leaders. It is a philosophy that has led to the enslavement of 100's of millions, and to bonebreaking poverty.
There is no "good" in communism.
As far as Jones admitted communist party memberships: he was a member of STORM ( Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement) SOUL (Marxist training organisation-School of Unity and Liberation), among others
One of Jones hero's is the Communist leader Amilcar Cabral. In fact he worships the man so much he NAMED HIS SON after him.
Now a true believer in the communist "philosophy" a "philosophy that led to 60-70 MILLION deaths in CHINA, 10's of MILLIONS of deaths in the SOVIET UNION just to name two of the worse cases. (This is not even mentioning Cambodia, Veitnam etc), has the ear of the President of the United States. A postion that is suppose to be the LEADER of the FREE World. Communism is the enemy of freedom. So square that circle. This explains Obama's action IRT to Honduras, to Cuba etc. If Obama wishes to surround himself with known communists then he opens himself to those beliefs and to charges of he, himself being a communist. Now you may not see the evil in communism butI will bet you the majority of Americans do.
And you say my "priorities are skewed?"
What "merit" is there in th communist "philosophy" again? It is an evil that has no place in America,the land of the free. and certainly not with the ear of the president.
Yes, your priorities are skewed because you were ok with convicted felons being in the administration and getting taxpayer dollars.
ReplyDeleteYou can rant on about communism, but the people who actually lived it (not you) saw some merit in it. I know them. I worked with them for years. They told me what they think. You are just going on what you heard. There's a difference.
Women didn't get randomly punched on the street, nor did the white supremasist groups exist that are there now.
Cold warriors are just that. The Soviet Union is gone and we are in debt to the Chinese. Those Chinese are comming here and learning English. Why? They are taking over Africa -- a continent that we have belittled.
As I said before, it's your opinion that a convicted felon gets taxpayer dollars rather than a person who reasons that some philosophy has some merit.
Okey dokey.
mich,
ReplyDeleteenlighten me which convicted felonies are you talking about? You seem to suggest I am ok with convicted felons in the Whitehouse. That is the second time you stated that. I would like you to point out where I was for a convicted felony being in the whitehouse. Please share this insight with us.
You did not live under communism either Mich. You state you "talked and knew some people that did". I also knew people that lived and FLED from communism. My roomate in college was from taiwan and he told how his relatives in China were treated, how they managed to get to taiwan and from there to the USA, about living in fear, of not being allowed to speak your mind. Another roommate was from Russia. His family was one of the lucky ones they got out. He would not talk much about the experience. all he would say was he and his family were very happy to be in the USA. So you can moan about white gangs and old women being punched in the streets. freedom is messy at times. to me the deaths of 100's of million far outweigh some woman getting punched in the face. Or some white gangs. there is no merit in communism. It failed because it was a barbaric governing philosophy that traped the human soul in endless poverty (both material and spiritual)
the historical record is plan communism is a great stain on the human experiment of civilazation. Lenin, stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Castro Chevez are all mass murderers. Evil man that wanted power for the state above all. where the ends justified the means.
It was not until china turned away from hardcore communism and gave its people economic freedom that China's economy took off. And that did not happen until the USA defeated the Soviet Union and ushered in freedom in all of europe. If not for the USa leading the cause of freedom billions of people would still live under the yoke of enslavement to the state. In europe and in Asia. And you have no problem with someone that thinks this system of government is a good thing being an advisor to the president and you have the stones to say my prioities are "skewed"
good grief.