[lit-ideas] Re: Taliban! The Musical
- From: "Andreas Ramos" <andreas@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 22 Oct 2006 11:44:03 -0700
Thanks for posting this, Andreas. Eric will say I know more than everybody
else, but this was known in 2003. It's now making the pages of the NYT.
Where was the NYT in 2003? And all the other media? That's what's
irritating when they say only the bad news about Iraq was covered, not the
good news. If the media had done their job and covered what was really
going on and spurred the people to spur the do-nothings, things might be
different. Or at least Bush wouldn't have been reelected, let alone on
security. The media is pro-administration, no two ways about it, even the
so called "left" media like CNN.
All of this has been known for many years. But the mainstream media ignored it, because they
lick up to the power centers in Washington, who ignore the rest of the planet. Thus someone
like Fukuyama can make utterly absurd statements in his books and none of them will
challenge it.
I really like the idea of globalization and the web. It dilutes power. Washington is under
barrage now from everyone, and every mistake is instantly broadcast and known to everyone
else. The media has been left behind.
Here's a great example: Stephen Colbert was invited by a flunky to speak at the White House
Press Corps dinner earlier this year. Colbert plays a parody of a right-wing "news" person,
so the White House figured he'd be safe in front of Bush. Instead, Colbert launched a
24-minute vicious satire of the White House, Bush, and the press.
One of the best lines: "Now, I know there are some polls out there saying this man has a 32
percent approval rating. But guys like us, we don't pay attention to the polls. We know that
polls are just a collection of statistics that reflect what people are thinking in
'reality'. And reality has a well-known liberal bias."
The reaction? Zero. The three network news covered the dinner, but did not mention Colbert
once. The print press ignored it. "It wasn't funny."
Until the video popped up on the web. Colbert's audience shot up 40% in one week. The video
became the #1 download on iTunes. It was viewed some 3 million times in two days. Millions
of people passed it around via email. C-SPAN forced YouTube to remove the video, but that
hardly stopped it being passed around.
The press simply couldn't see what was in front of them because they only see the Washington
version of reality.
We all knew what was going to happen in Iraq. We know what is happening there. And we know
what will happen. But the White House, the NYT, the Washington Post, and all the people who
admire them have been ideologically blinded. Thus we now get people writing in contrition
that "based on the intelligence at the time, I supported the invasion, but now I realize it
was a mistake". Yeah, right. Based on willfully ignoring reality and willfully not reading
any books, they supported the invasion.
Watch the Colbert video at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-869183917758574879 Watch
him ridicule the press and watch their stony reaction.
yrs,
andreas
www.andreas.com
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
