7 Responses to “Two presidents — two very different press corps”

1. Larkrise Says:
   August 28th, 2006 at 12:59 am

   I think even in the Clinton years, we still deluded ourselves into thinking that the MSM could be unbiased and objective. Those of us who remember Watergate, wanted to hold onto the belief that the Fourth Estate would investigate injustice and corruption at all levels of government. However, as the insanity of the Whitewater Investigation wore on and on, and the Monica Lewinsky Affair dominated the MSM 24/7, it became rather apparent that most serious, investigative journalism had departed the planet. It was all about personalities and sensationalism. You could just see the Media licking their chops over “The Dress.” It sold magazines and newspapers. The public ate it up and wanted more. The big corporations, who own the airwaves, don’t get to feed quite as heavily at the trough under Democrats, so they were more than happy to lay it on thick and throw it at Bill. Meanwhile, the two-faced nature of the American public really popped out. Much tsk-tsking was done about Clinton’s adulterous nature, but R-rated movies, raunchy language on TV, and lots of “jiggly” drew big audiences. The Religious Right was so happy, they thought they had died and gone to Heaven. Here was the PERFECT issue to skewer the libertineliberals, make the Moral Majority a major political force, and fill the coffers of the churches. With so many groups making so much profit one way or another off of Bill and Monica, the tsunami of media coverage swamped us all.
   This country is not a Democracy. It is an Oligarchy-by, of and for the wealthy. Since they control the MSM, they arent going to shoot themselves in the foot. Thus, they downplay much of the corruption and arrogance of the Bush Administration. Government contracts (eg.GE owns NBC), corporate welfare, huge tax breaks, and off shore tax shelters all benefit the corporate owners of the MSM. They have been giving their Poster Boy a break from the day he stole the 2000 Election.

2. Sir Loin of Beef Says:
   August 28th, 2006 at 6:46 am

   Yeah, the Mainstream Media are enemies of the People. They are the propagandists in the class war that the majority of Americans are loosing badly.

   Any drop in Bush’s poll numbers and the reporters all wring their hands: “what will it take to get them back up?”. If Bush gets through a press conferrence without mispronouncing a word or freezing at the podium in the rictus of the stupid, then he’s given ovations in the press for statesmanship - even though everything he’s said is part of his banal, unrealistic, and redundant script. Ommissions in MSM news reports of basically all of Bush’s lies, stupidity, and crimes allow his cabal to do their venal will without worry or even any particular attention to secrecy.

   Its corporatism, folks. Giant corporations own our Fourth Estate, and make sure that its minions do their bidding - and giant corporations love Bush.

3. iowametal76 Says:
   August 28th, 2006 at 6:55 am

   “Why is it that incidents like this, which were always THE BIG STORY in Clinton’s day, are never much more than a passing human interest story where Bush is concerned?”

   That’s easy.

   Because the media is to Bush today what Monica Lewinsky was to Clinton back then.

4. Argon Says:
   August 28th, 2006 at 7:20 pm

   We live in a convergence of trends; “interesting times”. After The Actor with Alzheimer’s did away with restraints on monopolies formed by vertical and horizontal mergers, deregulated pesky government regulations (like for S&L’s), strangled pesky Labor Unions (like flight controllers), destroyed the sense that as a country “we are all in this together”, and expired The Fairness Doctrine, incubated and birthed the 4th estate whores that populate the media today.

   Newt and his Revolution began a calculated and consciences “framing” of the word “liberal” and “Left” with negative adjectives, adverbs and pronouns such as “dangerous”, “reckless”, “weak”, or “Ivory tower”. Anyone that asked “why” or questioned Corporations were; then as now, immediately branded “anti-business” (never mind that many times the questions were between a major corporate interest and countless effected small businesses.

   But even before “the Great Communicator” (he read his scripts with the conviction of his craft) the media clearly favored the Republicans over Carter. DAY #378: Iranian Hostage Crises! Failure in the desert. (Why wasn’t anyone court-martialed for leaving the sand baffles off the helicopters going into the desert?) At least Carter stood up and took responsibility (unlike the Alfred E Neuman Clone). When Ronny Raygun answered the debate question about inflation with “Its time for America to feel good about itself” None of the moderators or mainstream commentators went wtf does that have to do with how you will address the currant inflation index? Morning in America indeed! Cheap Trick.

   Meanwhile, back in the bowels of Washington, from the dark visions of conspiracy buffs, a truly mythical shadow government indeed formed with weapons deals to Iran for holding the hostages thru the presidential election, the funds funneled to School of the America’s trained San Salvador and Nicaraguan Death Squads. Government is the problem.

   Bill was a Moderate Republican. (NAFTA, GATT, “welfare reform”, dropping the Glass Stegle Act (Banks selling financial instruments), “Telecommunications Act”. By the time Clinton got office General Electric already owned NBC, Cartoons like Pinkey & the Brain and Animaniacs regularly made fun of Bill. What regular daily cartoon has anything but flattering depictions of heir Bush? Simpsons? Family Guy? SouthPark? Boonedocks?

   And then the office of Special Prosecutor expired after Ken Starrs $330,000,000 tax paid witch hunt over the alleged $260,000 Whitewater ill-gotten gains. Orwell warned us, he was just off around 20 years. The lessons these guys learned from Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr, and Clinton was don’t leave any records, don’t ask - just do: apologize later, Congress is for sale to the highest bidder, silence critics, destroy competators, you can fool some of the people all of the time, the big thieves hang the little ones.

5. Chuck Says:
   August 28th, 2006 at 9:25 pm

   Gee Argon, you sound bitter and disgruntled.

6. alwayshope Says:
   August 28th, 2006 at 9:29 pm

   It is just a fact that if Clinton had done ANY (including 9/11 happening on his watch) of the things Bush has done, he would be history now. The investigations would be just short of recommending a public hanging.
   Everyone here knows why.
   How they find anchors, who call themselves newspeople is the real mystery to me. I often wonder if men like Russert are uninformed, misinformed, cowardly or in on the lie. Thre are no other motives for the propaganda they spew or the excuses they make for their moron leader. They will be seen by future generations as the lackies and manipulators for the most corrupt administration and congress in our history. It should bother them that they will forever be seen slobering over “the dress” and then protecting the criminals in the Bush white house. Why doesn’t it? They must think they will win the fight against America and against freedom and write the history books themselves. Sad, because they may write all the lies and fantasies they want, but history has a way of revealing the truths that are more easily seen when the passion has waned.
   The corporations love that 50% of us are stupid, ill-informed, selfish and incurious. We are dumb and getting dumber, we are afraid and willing to sell our souls for freedom FROM freedom. We are so ripe for manipulation. Their tool, the MSM does their bidding . These are such dark times for informed, compassionate people. The problem I see for the media and their owners is that the other 50% of us will NEVER buy into their lies, will never drink that poison. What will they do about us? Surely they can’t allow the netroots to expand and begin the get the truth out there where even Joe Republican may get a whiff of that sweet smell. What will they do? And, what if……..just what if the truthtellers became as popular as the American Idol, if truth was the new black? Would they jump on board and begin to skewer ol’ Bushie?
   Remember these guy have allegiance to money, therefore Republicans and the moron-in-chief, but first money. They will bail on him as soon as it is not profitable to abet him. His office can claim the economy is just great all they want but when the people get hungry and cold and angry, the corporate vampires will save themselves. I’m not going to pretend that there is an Edward R. Murrow out there to speak up for America. That kind of media does not exist anymore. But I do believe that they have no loyalty to anyone or anything but money. When his policies take that away, they will be the first rats off the rotting ship of state.

7. Again Says:
   August 29th, 2006 at 4:06 am

   iowa

   Because the media is to Bush today what Monica Lewinsky was to Clinton back then.

   lol - how true

   Chuck

   Gee Argon, you sound bitter and disgruntled

   but you don’t contradict

   problem is, if Argon tries to sell the truth as candy, no one cares: Remember “Karl who?”? …about 40% of Americans “either don’t know who Rove is, or don’t know enough about him to have an opinion.”

   sometimes medicine must be taken without sugar…

   alwayshope

   What will they do about us?

   maybe “make arrests without warrant for any offense against the United States committed in their presence, or for any felony cognizable under the laws of the United States if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing such felony”? (Sec. 3056A. Powers, authorities, and duties of United States Secret Service Uniformed Division, USA PATRIOT IMPROVEMENT AND REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2005)

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