Thursday, July 29, 2004
Overmatched
201k watched the first two nights of the DNC here in Boston on C-Span -- which is broadcasting the entire convention without commentary -- and it was wonderful. Great speeches, great music, and a positive vibe that reached right through the television.
But last night we switched between C-Span, CNN and the local PBS affiliate, and frankly, our faith has been shaken.
And sadly, that's probably the point.
We have no doubt that John Kerry could beat George W. Bush hands-down. But we're not sure he can beat the combined weight of the media. We're not sure anyone could.
On PBS they took nothing any Democrat said at face value, opting instead to hammer relentlessly at GOP talking points. Kerry as "flip-flopper", Kerry as "liberal", Kerry's "use" of veterans (it's contrived -- get it?), whether the country will "buy" Kerry as commander-in-chief" (it's a "sell" -- get it?). They routinely let GOP partisans dominate the discussion, even when interrupting Dems. Local PBS commentator John Carroll's only response to Al Sharpton's stirring and brilliant speech -- in which Sharpton pointedly and personally rejected George Bush's overtures to black voters -- was that it was probably a good thing for Democrats Sharpton wasn't on in prime time.
Not once did they discuss the themes Democrats were laying out. No discussion of George's Bush's record, his credibility, or his plan for the future. No credit given to Kerry for keeping Dems positive despite the enormous antipathy most feel for Bush. Just nonstop, smirky incredulity.
And this was the Boston affiliate.
Meanwhile on CNN they wasted no time in following John Edward's excellent speech with an "opposing view" from former Christian-coalition honcho turned GOP lay activist Ralph Reed. After approximately 30 seconds of honest commentary from CNN's in-house analysts, Wolfe "the Mole" Blitzer turned the network over to Reed for what seemed like ten minutes. Reed used this very generous perch to take pre-existing GOP talking points and pretend that they were an analysis of the speech Edwards had just given.
You just can't buy that kind of exposure. Or maybe you can.
In fairness to CNN, John King, appearing later with Aaron Brown, did attribute those very same talking points to "a GOP email" as he read them (again) to viewers. We suppose that's something of an improvement over the usual modus operandi on cable.
We can only imagine what was going on over on Fox.
Look, it's possible the game here is to demoralize Democrats; perhaps those that would hate to see the country rescued from its current extremist handlers -- including, sadly, many who once formed the backbone of the Democratic party -- can so little bear the thought of the diverse crowd at the DNC -- you know, blacks, Latinos, women -- come into power that they're intent on sending the signal that they mean to gore Kerry as mercilessly as they did, well, Gore.
If that's what's going on, then it seems to us we have two choices: the first is to slink away cynical and defeated, sadly confident that the system is hopelessly gamed in favor of the powerful. The second is to go on the attack and fight this one to the very end, using email, faxes, and phone calls to call the media constantly on their sneaky attempts to bury the Democratic candidate in an avalanche of GOP talking points.
We're recommending option two.
Patriotic Americans who feel the next presidential election should be a fair comparison of the competence, courage, vision, and wisdom of John Kerry and George Bush, and not a pre-scripted event staged to draw the country to the conclusion favored by the multi-national corporations that control the American media, can do something about it even if they haven't got the means to donate directly to either campaign. They can try to keep the media honest.
This means you. It means getting up off the couch when you hear or see something outrageous, and getting a polite, cogent, but pointed email, fax, or phone call off to the offending media outlet. Every time.
201k has come to believe that this election, and perhaps our very democracy, depends on it.
But last night we switched between C-Span, CNN and the local PBS affiliate, and frankly, our faith has been shaken.
And sadly, that's probably the point.
We have no doubt that John Kerry could beat George W. Bush hands-down. But we're not sure he can beat the combined weight of the media. We're not sure anyone could.
On PBS they took nothing any Democrat said at face value, opting instead to hammer relentlessly at GOP talking points. Kerry as "flip-flopper", Kerry as "liberal", Kerry's "use" of veterans (it's contrived -- get it?), whether the country will "buy" Kerry as commander-in-chief" (it's a "sell" -- get it?). They routinely let GOP partisans dominate the discussion, even when interrupting Dems. Local PBS commentator John Carroll's only response to Al Sharpton's stirring and brilliant speech -- in which Sharpton pointedly and personally rejected George Bush's overtures to black voters -- was that it was probably a good thing for Democrats Sharpton wasn't on in prime time.
Not once did they discuss the themes Democrats were laying out. No discussion of George's Bush's record, his credibility, or his plan for the future. No credit given to Kerry for keeping Dems positive despite the enormous antipathy most feel for Bush. Just nonstop, smirky incredulity.
And this was the Boston affiliate.
Meanwhile on CNN they wasted no time in following John Edward's excellent speech with an "opposing view" from former Christian-coalition honcho turned GOP lay activist Ralph Reed. After approximately 30 seconds of honest commentary from CNN's in-house analysts, Wolfe "the Mole" Blitzer turned the network over to Reed for what seemed like ten minutes. Reed used this very generous perch to take pre-existing GOP talking points and pretend that they were an analysis of the speech Edwards had just given.
You just can't buy that kind of exposure. Or maybe you can.
In fairness to CNN, John King, appearing later with Aaron Brown, did attribute those very same talking points to "a GOP email" as he read them (again) to viewers. We suppose that's something of an improvement over the usual modus operandi on cable.
We can only imagine what was going on over on Fox.
Look, it's possible the game here is to demoralize Democrats; perhaps those that would hate to see the country rescued from its current extremist handlers -- including, sadly, many who once formed the backbone of the Democratic party -- can so little bear the thought of the diverse crowd at the DNC -- you know, blacks, Latinos, women -- come into power that they're intent on sending the signal that they mean to gore Kerry as mercilessly as they did, well, Gore.
If that's what's going on, then it seems to us we have two choices: the first is to slink away cynical and defeated, sadly confident that the system is hopelessly gamed in favor of the powerful. The second is to go on the attack and fight this one to the very end, using email, faxes, and phone calls to call the media constantly on their sneaky attempts to bury the Democratic candidate in an avalanche of GOP talking points.
We're recommending option two.
Patriotic Americans who feel the next presidential election should be a fair comparison of the competence, courage, vision, and wisdom of John Kerry and George Bush, and not a pre-scripted event staged to draw the country to the conclusion favored by the multi-national corporations that control the American media, can do something about it even if they haven't got the means to donate directly to either campaign. They can try to keep the media honest.
This means you. It means getting up off the couch when you hear or see something outrageous, and getting a polite, cogent, but pointed email, fax, or phone call off to the offending media outlet. Every time.
201k has come to believe that this election, and perhaps our very democracy, depends on it.
