I want to see the new generation of pundits getting air time-- people who understand the big picture, who aren't afraid to talk truth to power. There are plenty of them out there-- The challenge is how do we convince the networks to stop putting on hacks like Carville, Begala, Donna Brazile, Centrist legislators, DLC saboteurs? We need to make it clear to the networks that these people just won't do, that they are bogus representatives of the left, and that we will change the channel when they put them on.
We have to tell the corporate sponsors that we are insulted by the pathetic job these talking heads are doing and that we will not buy their products if they sponsor shows that feature these weak shills who take a fall for the right just about every time they go on TV.
Who should we be seeing? Arianna Huffington, Thom Hartmann, Al Franken, David Sirota, William Rivers Pitt, Randy Rhodes, David Swanson, Robert Parry, Greg Palast, Jim Lobe, Frank Rich, John Nichols, Molly Ivins, Paul Krugman, Bob Herbert, Maureen DOwd, Katrina Vandenheuvel, Stephanie Miller, Paul Rogat Loeb, Wayne Madsen, Jeff Cohen, Marc Crispin Miller, Bargara Ehrenreich, Mark Fiore, Ellen Goodman, Jim Hightower, Robert Jensen, Micahel Lerner, Marc Morford, Ted Rall, Bernie Sanders, Danny Schecter, Robert Scheer, Helen Thomas, Bob Fitrakis, Harvey Wasserman, Howard Zinn.John Stewart. for starters.
Part of the challenge is access to the proper technology. The right wing think tanks and right wing centers of power own and maintaing media studios with sattelite uplinks so they can provide talking heads from all over the place. Each state shouldhave its own media resources. Each major metropolitan media area should source facilities-- either owning or leasing them, so the networks can be offered a bigger, more effective list of progressive talking heads.
Some media, probably FOX news in particular, don't want real brains connected to the talking heads they use. But I think a lot of the other shows would rather have smart, tough liberals who can spout facts and dispute right wingers. This makes for better TV, better entertainment-- much better than the smarmy vs. smarmy plastic vomit that we used to see with smarmy Tucker Carlson going up against, ineffective Carville, Begala or Brazile.
I'm glad CNN's Crossfire was cancelled. I was chronically disgusted and disappointed watching these supposed Democrats fail to come up with the tough answers and facts that should have been at their fingertips.
ONe thing you can do is send an email to the network or show when you observe a smarmy, weak pundit faking being a democrat. Complain that they are substituting bad ingredients for the real thing. Contact the advertisers on the show. Complain that the show is bogus. Strategically, it would be even more effective if a few particularly onerous shows were targetted in some organized way by larger progressive organizations and websites. This worked with Sinclair media when they were threatening to run an anti Kerry documentary. We can do this. We just have to get past the challenge that Al Sharpton described, that organizing Democrats is like herding cats. The progressive organizations and media do not coordinate nearly as well as the right wing echo chamber does.
But that's changing. And the result can be seen-- the accelerating downfall of the Right wing Republican extremists.
Do you have contact info for any shows, networks, key people in the media or info on where to find it already assembled? Help us assemble a data-base and action page that enables people to easily contact the media. send it to rob@opednews.com and put the words MEDIA CONTACT INFO in the subject heading.
