Friday, February 5, 2010

New Media - Screw You Media

Just as the Tea Party itself is a faux populist movement, subsidized behind the scenes by a combination of hidden corporations, represented publicly by discredited figures like Dick Armey, or greedy bastards, represented by the organizers of many of their most highly touted events, so the news organizations now covering their first annual convention in Nashville, are combinations various bizarre business models that pretend to represent some new paradigm.

I call them the "screw you" media. Leading the pack is Fox News, other Newscorp products, Andrew Breitbart and Pajamas Media's PJTV.

PJTV is such a serious endeavor. Their lead correspondent in Israel last year during Operation Cast Lead was Joe the Plumber. If there was an Emmy for worst war correspondent ever, Joe would have gotten a lifetime achievement award for his foray into that one-sided conflict:


Here's an example of his reporting:


That's right - "media should be abolished from reporting."

Sort of like Sarah Palin's media philosophy, as exemplified in many of the Sarah-to-Todd emails released today by MSNBC.

Teabaggerfest 2010 begins today. Topping off the coverage is PJTV's wall-to-wall, over-the-top programming, closely followed by FOX News. Here's PJTV's opening segment:


I've never seen such a growing gulf between two sets of visions of a public person as is that in the case of Palin. Part of this is the general national malaise that almost unknowingly keeps on accepting the IOKIYAR blather we were subjected to during the Bush administrations. Part of it is the overall eclipse of the viability of the traditional media establishment, as cable TV creams the networks and Craig's List creams the newspapers.

I'm fascinated by how fixated the traditional media is on aspects of new media that support the far right, and how oblivious or neglectful they are of new media that has supported and is supporting the left.

This past week's development of the narrative around Rahm Emanuel's "fucking retarded" remark - made quite a while back - when his statement was finally picked up by Rebecca Mansour and turned into a Sarah Palin facebook entry is a good example. The media fixed on the use of the term "retarded" rather than upon those to whom Emanuel was directing his epithet.

The Democrats owe the size of the majority in the U.S. House and Senate to several factors, but right at the top of the list are Howard Dean's 50-state strategy, and the activist organizations Emanuel was dissing. Blue America/ActBlue, a funding tool used primarily to help progressive Democrats was key to the senate victory of Alaska Democrat Mark Begich. He barely beat longtime GOP crook Ted Stevens, even with Stevens having been recently - momentarily and erroneously - convicted of several felonies. ActBlue, created by Emanuel's "fucking retards," raised more money for Begich than did any other entity. He would have lost without the help of the "fucking retards."

The same goes for Sen. John Testor in 2006, and for several other freshmen. The very pragmatically progressive Rep. Donna Edwards, unlike the borderline Conservadem Begich, is probably the best investment organizations like ActBlue made in 2008.

Perhaps if more progressives were admitted to the upper ranks of the national Democratic Party and its established fundraising entities, the narrative on how 2010 and 2012 are shaping up might be different. And far more productive.

Meanwhile, the far right new media/screw you media is getting much more recognition than their attention to the truth deserves. The leading headline aggregator, memeorandum, almost looks like an egghead version of the Drudge Report some days. When is the last time, for instance, the national traditional media treated Crooks & Liars with the same respect they seem to be giving Andrew Breitbart?

The solution to this imbalance? Don’t ask me. I just keep on trying to write about the truth as I see or hear or read it. Watching Howard Dean bounce back from the many attempts to stifle him over the past six years is certainly a reminder, though, that we can make a huge difference, even if we only end up getting slammed after pulling off a magnificent achievement.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Just as the Tea Party itself is a faux populist movement, "

Whistling past the graveyard. The Tea Party Movement is the only true populist movement in America today. The laughable "progressive" movement has been exposed as a sham financed by Left-wing billionaires like Soros and by corrupt organizations funneling tax-payers' money to NGOs.
This blog's increasingly strident tone reflects a crisis of confidence in the extremist Left. The continual use of the puerile term "Teabaggers" to describe ordinary Americans sick of politics-as-usual, reveals the deep contempt the hard Left have for the citizens of this country. What is truly sad is to see presumably middle-class liberal bloggers slavishly repeating the insults dreamt up by the wealthy liberal elites who despise the American public.

Philip Munger said...

awesome! I don't think I've ever been described as using "puerile" terms before. ever.

When you use teabags as props, you run the risk of being called "teabaggers."

Anonymous said...

I'm actually fascinated by how much the liberal traditional media has been exposed as part of the Democrat's propaganda machine over the last couple of years. We're sick of the slanted anti-conservative crap that we've had from CNN, MSNBC, NBC, AP, REUTERS, ABC, NYT, LAT, WaPo, NPR et al over the last twenty years. So instead we've turned to FOX and radio talk shows and blogs to redress the balance and guess what ...people like what they're hearing and seeing. The more the liberal media sucks up to The One , the more we're switching off their lies and turning to other outlets for the facts. The collapse of the alphabet networks ratings shows that the public have woken up to the bias the old media force-fed us for so long.
What is truly hilarious is the whining from liberals that the right-side of the New Media is getting too much attention. Well, tough ! People have a choice now and they're finished with the liberal elites and their anti-American bias. Air America couldn't make it in the real world and the leftist hacks at NPR only survive by leeching off the taxpayers. It's a new dawn and the liberal media dinosaurs are limping into the sunset. Plenty of State-run media jobs for them in North Korea. Rock on !!

Anonymous said...

"When you use teabags as props, you run the risk of being called "teabaggers."

No, when you know what the term means and you use it to describe American men, women and children who are sick of both political parties you are deliberately smearing them. Grow up.

Philip Munger said...

some words have more than one definition. some people are bright enough to realize that.

If you're the same person who dribbles every time this blog uses the term "teabagger," may I suggest that the problem might be somewhere other than this blog.

eliminatehypocrisy said...

Umm, excuse me, but the Teabagger Movement has been hijacked by the likes of grifters like Sarah Palin, her ultra-rich backers, as well as the Republican Party. You've all been astroturfed, my friends. It's a shame. Take the party back from the frauds and the establishment!

Anonymous said...

"some words have more than one definition. some people are bright enough to realize that."

That's a pathetic excuse...at least have the guts to admit that you know exactly what you mean when you use the term "teabagger" to describe millions of decent, ordinary Americans.

As the one who keeps spewing this insulting bile against those you can't understand then it's pretty obvious that the problem lies within you and nowhere else.

Anonymous said...

Nice try, bosshog. The Tea Party Movement took Kennedy's seat and we're taking over the Republican party....not the other way round. Now, run along and get your next talking point from the Daily Kos or whatever Soros-funded "news source" you get your worldview from.

eliminatehypocrisy said...

Anonymous said...
Nice try, bosshog. The Tea Party Movement took Kennedy's seat and we're taking over the Republican party....not the other way round. Now, run along and get your next talking point from the Daily Kos or whatever Soros-funded "news source" you get your worldview from.

February 5, 2010 8:52 PM

----------
Denial is not a river in Egypt...get over your delusion...if you really believe in your cause, then take it back from the grifters who have astroturfed it. While some "ordinary Americans" may be involved in this movement, it's certainly not taking care of them. The grifters are out in force and if the "ordinary folks" don't do something about it, then you will get exactly what you deserve for allowing the hijacking to happen.

So how do you think $P is going to use that easy $115,000 she scammed from the convention? I'd say another Escalade, Hawaiian vacation, expand the family's compound(s), more toys for Todd, etc. Just examine her PAC expenses and follow your nose. Her bed will be nicely feathered while the real working folks do without and support it. And there are plenty more where $P came from. Wake up!!!

eliminatehypocrisy said...

P.S. I do not belong to any political party...they are all corrupt, including the Teabaggers. I vote my mostly moderate conscience, and that has included voting for candidates from a variety of parties over the past 30 years.

Makabit Bat Guriel said...

Sounds like an old story from this "young turks" crowd. Maybe you should update your thinking a little bit Gusty.
Nothing worse then an old fool obsessed with a good looking woman to the point he can't even find so called news stories that are over a year old.