Crossposted with permission from Meema Sue Updated 3-14-16
On the morning of Friday, March 11 an extraordinary thing happened. CNN televised a panel that condemned the violent incidents at Drumpf rallies. (For the purpose of this article, we will use the original German name).
While there has been much written about the assaults on freedom of expression and increasing violence at Drumpf rallies, the abject failure of corporate TV to condemn and hold Donald Drumpf responsible has been a true dereliction of duty.
When I “Googled” the phrase "TV shows condemning violence at Donald Drumpf rallies," the first 25 results-year-old yield only two from TV, # 7 is a clip of Donald Drumpf bragging that he WOULD "like to punch a protester in the face!" # 9, not surprisingly was a segment on Rachel Maddow's program on MSNBC.
Further down the search, I found one more. On December 11, 2015 WBAL-TV had one short clip talking about Drumpf's plan of deporting Muslims and his provocation of racial bias and fear.
Freedom of the Press was so important to our Founding Fathers it is in The First Amendment of the US Constitution.
From the time of Thomas Paine and Benjamin Franklin until about 25 years ago, those guarantees allowed journalists unfettered access and rights to investigate and inform the citizens of the facts, the truth regardless of consequences.
What happened? As the Fairness Doctrine died and Infotainment became a substitute for actual factual news, when TV anchors and reporters seriously and without reservation, held all- the powerless AND the powerful accountable, just SIX Corporations own and control of over 90% of all media on television and in print.
- Comcast
- Walt Disney Co.
- Viacom
- Time Warner
- CBS Corp.
- (and of course) The GOP's very own 24/7 Propaganda arm, News Corp-Fox "News."
It should have come to no one's surprise when asked to comment, CBS News President, Les Moonves on 2/29/16 crowed, "Drumpf may not be good for America but it's damn good for CBS! Sorry, it's a terrible thing to say but bring it on Donald Drumpf! Keep Going!"
We have seen increasing incidence of violence and the abetting of that violence by the Drumpf himself, his staff and even Security police in some cases yet Corporate TV maintained silence. What finally prompted CNN's panel on March 11?
On March 8, Drumpf's Campaign Manager and Chief Thug, Corey Lewandowski allegedly grabbed reporter Michelle Field's arm very roughly and almost threw her to the ground for attempting to ask questions.
Aha! A direct assault on one of their own finally provoked a response on National TV.
The craven pandering and special treatments and rationalizations by way too many in Corporate Media has finally given rise to citizen actions. As tens of thousands of peaceful protesters banded together in Chicago to tell Donald Drumpf and his fellow racists that their hate was not welcome in their city, Drumpf showed himself for the sniveling coward all bullies truly are, he canceled the rally, then ran to his sychophantic allies on Corporate TV to LIE and WHINE! (Blaming the whole episode on Bernie Sanders supporters no less!)
As Bill Maher stated, " Drumpf loves the that no one is fact checking him!"
Maher is correct. Our comedians have become the trusted journalists of the 21st century. In a terrific segment on The Daily Show, "reporter" Jordan Klepper exposed every lie Drumpf spewed at his press conference on Tuesday March 7.
There finally appears to be some glimmers of accountability:
The last true conscience of TV Journalism Rachel Maddow did an incredible Timeline of Trump’s escalation of violent rhetoric:
On Sunday Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday also challenged Trump
As a chronic liar and narcissist, the always thin-skinned Trump immediately blamed others, refused to take any responsibility and rejected all criticisms. Alas, then Wallace moves on.
Where are the Walter Cronkites, David Brinkleys or Edward R. Murrows? They are long gone, replaced by pathetic panderers like Joe Scarborough who all but gets on his knees in supplication blessing Donald Drumpf, or Chris Matthews and his false equivalencies of "both sides do it" shriekings. We have witnessed the almost total destruction of MSNBC as being one of the few channels where alternative points of view were aired.
We compare the hateful ravings of Drumpf by mocking and calling him DrumpFuhrer or Il Douche but the complicity of Corporate Media in aiding and abetting the increasing violence by his supporters is no laughing matter.
My parents were Holocaust survivors. My father served in the Lodz Ghetto underground by monitoring radio broadcasts on very illegal hidden radio sets. The prisoners of the ghetto were forbidden to listen to any news. My dad would monitor them all night, mostly the BBC, then share updates on the course of the war with trusted members in his group.
The information he learned proved vital to their survival and my father never stopped listening to the radio and news for the rest of his life. He died in 2003 just as the Bush/Cheney cabal began manipulating and pressuring all Corporate Media to conform or be called traitors!
There was a time when News divisions were not expected to turn profits. Many corporations had "skin in the game" and it was a healthy competition to uncover corruption scandals and holding the powerful accountable.
Too many good people and especially children have become visibly frightened by what they are seeing and the lack of action and condemnation on TV. What can we do?
These failures by corporate media especially on TV will take time to fix and improve. Until then we all have to become Citizen Journalists. We can do this by doing our own research, our own fact checking and looking at sources that have credibility. Social media gives us platforms to spread the truth.
Until people like Rupert Murdoch, Les Moonves are either gone or change the culture of corporate TV, I will continue to SPREAD THEIR SHAME AND TURN THEM ALL OFF!
Ask them, as Joseph N. Welch finally asked of Sen. Joe McCarthy:
"At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"
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P.S.
As I am working on this post, the crew at Morning Joe is griping about how ANGRY people are. Why are they angry; who made them so angry? It couldn't possibly be the likes of those very same blabbermouths at the MoJo table who are so quick to blame the first Black president and other Democrats for all the havoc the GOP has wrought upon this country, could it? The only justified anger that these Mainstream Media cohorts seem to feature is that of the disaffected White voter who once identified with the Koch-tastic Tea Party. Now that the 'establishment' has been demonized, Teabaggers have morphed into the overtly racist Trump rally-goers, and racism is a badge they wear with honor.
Where's the justified anger of those Flint, Michigan residents (to name one of many marginalized American communities)? Thousands are suffering because of fatal, cost-cutting efforts by Teabag Governor Snyder's government, and yet... silence. If the media decides to cover any protests by the Black community, you can bet that the word "thug" will be used to describe the protesters.
Slate's Jamelle Bouie penned an insightful article that ties this economically-driven anger to the elephant in the room: racism. The frustration caused by years of horrific GOP trickle down stupidity can be redirected to the racial hierarchy upended by the election of President Obama. Donald Drumpf is the 'angry' voter's symbol of salvation, the one who will restore the glory days of the Confederacy.
Race plays a part in each of these analyses, but its role has not yet been central enough to our understanding of Trump’s rise. Not only does he lead a movement of almost exclusively disaffected whites, but he wins his strongest support in states and counties with the greatest amounts of racial polarization. Among white voters, higher levels of racial resentment have been shown to be associated with greater support for Trump.
To prove they are an ethnically diverse media outlet, MoJo featured Trump endorser, Dr. Ben Carson, who just wants everyone to get along, because there is no racism. The myopia is staggering. --LeftofCenter
