The American Media is a Disgrace"With One Notable Exception
by Becky Burgwin
Last night Lou Dobbs told a republican congressman to stop talking as he was going on and on about how honest the 2000 elections were and that it's ridiculous to think that anyone was disenfranchised, so he doesn't know what all the fuss is about and why we're acting like a third world country that can't be trusted to carry out a legal, honest election without being monitored by some goons. Mr. Dobbs didn't say, "Shut up and get out of my studio," like Bill O'Reilly said to Jeremy Glick, whose father was killed in the WTC, he said, "Congressman Buyer, I'm going to ask that you stop talking right now (after trying to interrupt him about 5 times) so we can hear from (African American) Congresswoman Johnson on why her constituents feel that they were disenfranchised in the 2000 election." God, I wanted to jump into the TV and kiss him right on the mouth.
It is about time that someone, ANYONE, any member of the inept, deranged, ignorant, pea-brained, lazy, witless, ill-prepared, gullible, inane, asinine, ridiculous (that should do it, but I could go on) bunch of ninnies that we ignobly call the American media, put a gag on these republicans who drone on and on about stuff that we already know is complete horse-pucky. How, in the name of everything sacred, could they possibly not realize (or care) that, for starters, we know that there was a list of supposed felons in Florida that included thousands of names of folks who have never been convicted of a felony and yet were still turned away at the polls because they happen to have a similar name or social security number as someone who did? WE KNOW THIS. IT IS A FACT.
Unlike the American media, the American people actually have intellects and are capable of grasping and remembering information of this nature. Jeez, meneez. I'm tellin' ya, we are in serious trouble because we pretty much know that a lot of Americans are getting snippets of news in between soap operas, idiotic reality shows and twisted crime dramas and there isn't one single TV commentator, besides my hero Lou, who can be trusted to educate a goddam bunch of hamsters about what's going on in this country and the world at large.
The first 2 days of the Democratic Convention were taken up by repeatedly showing Teresa Heinz-Kerry telling the opinion editor of the ultra right-wing Pittsburgh Tribune Review to "shove it." The Trib, as we fondly?? call it in Pittsburgh, is owned by maniacal billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife. In case anyone forgets, Mr. Scaife bankrolled the 8-year smear campaign against the Clintons. The only thing millions and millions of dollars and his nefarious henchmen were able to turn up that was actually true, was that Bill got a blow job, which is something that Dickie Scaife, himself, needs about 1000 times more than Clinton does. This is a very dangerous man and he's had it out for Teresa for decades.
And then, after her warm and intelligent speech at the convention, we got to hear this little tidbit of unbiased journalism from MSNBC's Joe Scarborough. "IT'S OBVIOUS THAT SHE'S NOT OVER THE DEATH OF HER HUSBAND YET." Oh-my-god. She's not over the death of her husband yet!!! She's not over the death of her husband who was killed in the prime of his life in a freak helicopter accident that also severely burned a child on the ground"who might have been one of the last really decent republicans in this country's history"who left her with 3 small boys to raise who all look EXACTLY LIKE HIM. Let me ask you this. Is Paul McCartney over Linda? Is Yoko over John? Is Nancy over Ronald? Is Ted Olson over Barbara? Will they ever be?
Who are these mental midgets we've entrusted with the job of disseminating important knowledge to our people? Why are we allowing them so much power over us that the outcome of who's going to win and who's going to lose is left up to whatever unresearched piece of gossip happens to be currently making the rounds? Who's going to be responsible for making sure the American people have the facts not the latest rumors?
And, apparently, not one single member of our journalistic giants listens when Kerry tells reporters for the gazillionth time (and, keep in mind, a gazillion is 1,000 more that a zillion,) that he voted to give the president the power to consider war, ONLY AFTER ALL THE OTHER OPTIONS WERE EXHAUSTED AND ONLY IF ALL OF OUR ALLIES AND THE UNITED NATIONS WERE ONBOARD. Did I dream this or has every candidate since the primaries explained that this is why they voted for the war?
And then, just like every other candidate who has been asked this question, Mr. Kerry explained that he voted against the additional 87 billion because there was no clear plan of where the money was supposed to go. Basically it was a blank check and a lot of members of Congress said, "Gee. You know, we know it's a bit of a hassle for you and that your busy fund-raising schedule has probably kept you a little bit out of the loop on this but the way we like to do things around here, and it's probably our fault if you didn't know this, but if it's not too much trouble, it would be very helpful to us if you would tell us WHERE YOU'RE GOING TO SPEND IT, you know, if that's not asking too much."
Why on earth does our media seem incapable of remembering things correctly, researching things properly and reporting the real news? Are they too busy, lazy, stupid to be bothered with trying to report accurate, unbiased, factual information? Didn't it used to be the job of reporters to find out all they can about a subject and report on that?
I invite you all to watch Lou Dobbs as he boldly goes where no American journalist has gone before searching for truth, justice and the American way. He has a brain AND the ability to actually perceive both sides of an issue and (oh no, say it ain't so) the chutzpa to say something a teeny bit critical of our current president. My favorite question of his (and I forget who he was asking,) is, "Why would our allies want to come on board now when we've failed so miserably in Iraq that we're being forced to come crawling back, after our president basically told them all to SHOVE IT?" Priceless!
He wasn't even talking about Enron tonight but he had a chart at the end of the show that showed"how many people lost their jobs"how much money was lost"how many people have been arrested"and how many have been convicted. Also, you can go on his website www.loudobbs.com and find a list of all of the American companies that are outsourcing their jobs.
And, hitting another one of his hot button issues, tonight, he climbed all over the fellow who tried to say that there is no way our government can stop the flow of illegals across our borders. Lou basically said"that's a load of bull"it's putting us in more danger"where the hell is the Department of Homeland Security"and you're an idiot. I was jumping up and down. It was GREAT.
Let's watch Lou at 6:00 on CNN (right after Wolf-I'm-still-resting-on-my-laurels-from-the-first-Gulf-War-Blitzer) and if we like what we see, let's tell him about it at lou@cnn.com. Maybe CNN will get the hint that we like our TV commentators to treat us like grown-ups and give us something to think about that's not the latest totally insignificant verbal faux pas by a democratic candidate or spouse, more lies and drivel from some right wing moron or the latest scoop from the Scott Peterson trial.
Ms. Burgwin's writings have appeared in Time, Newsweek, New York Magazine, Counterpunch, Alternet and OpEdNews as well as several other online Op Ed sites. She is on the Board of Aid Afghanistan and one of the contributors to the Peace Project in Assisi, Italy. Send questions, comments, and critiques to rburgwin@aol.com.
