10,000 Turn Out In DC To Attack Insurance Co. Profits; Network News Ignores Them
By Susie Madrak Wednesday Mar 10, 2010 10:00amIt got a brief mention on some of the cable channels, but the only major TV network that carried live coverage of this healthcare reform rally in D.C. yesterday was Fox - and then, only to ridicule it:
The reason? AHIP, the health insurance lobbying organization, was meeting in (where else?) the Ritz-Carlton. A coalition of groups led by unions including SEIU, AFSCME, UFCW and Health Care for American Now declared the meeting site a "corporate crime scene" and attempted to make a citizens' arrest:
In a reverse twist on the old protestors' tactic of getting arrested to make a point, union leaders and other backers of President Obama's healthcare plan issued "citizen's arrest" warrants for health insurance executives Tuesday – accusing them of exploiting consumers.
The "warrants," delivered to police during a demonstration outside an insurance industry meeting at a Washington hotel, were an attempt to dramatize protestors' call for insurance reform – and to build public support for the Democrats' healthcare legislation.
The demonstration, which drew several thousand protestors from as far away as Illinois and California, was organized by groups that for more than a year have pushed Congress to create a government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurers as part of national healthcare overhaul.
While that policy objective, known as the public option, is not part of the healthcare legislation pending in Congress, the groups are nonetheless mounting a multi-million dollar campaign to promote the bill. The effort will continue in coming weeks, with more demonstrations, paid advertising and other events, including a hearing to take place Wednesday on Capitol Hill.
Boy, there was a time when you couldn't turn on the TV without seeing someone about Tea Party rallies. I guess the only way you can get on TV these days is to be on the side of the insurance companies.
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Oooooh....10,000 people.
More people show up for the Super Bowl. Hell, more people show up for hockey games...and it's not even a major sport.
And people wonder why politicians don't pay any attention to average Americans.
The right wing gets attention simply because they're armed.
than 600 that showed up at the teaparty convention and the got wall to wall coverage 24/7. It;s a lot more than what showed up at the CPAC annual meeting and they got wall to wall coverage 24/7. When are you all going to get it, it's the MSM that spreads all of the propaganda.
It wouldn't have made a difference if it had been 100,000.
Do you remember the anti-war demos beforethe invasion of Iraq?
Millions of people participated, but it still got short shrift in the media, and Bush called them "a focus group".
The only thing Americans get 24/7 is advertizing and propaganda.
Agreed. The numbers don't matter one way or the other. A "Tea Bagger Party" of 200 people could make the airwaves in perpetuity while a million people march against Washington would sound like a church prayer if the message doesn't fit the narrative.
A microphone and poster on the lawn doesn't count for much anymore.
Tea Party Beard........have a few white people in the front of the group with some of those stupid misspelled signs, bellies hanging over the belt, handguns strapped to their thighs, yelling "Rush is Right...Mega Dittos" and THEN they'll get some notice.
> More people show up for the Super Bowl.
A Super Bowl or any event is considered an exchange of value - the attendee receives entertainment in exchange for their attendance, and for paying an entrance fee. People showing up to protest are not engaging in an exchange of value, they're sacrificing personal time and effort to make a political statement. Your comment does not apply.
> Hell, more people show up for hockey games...and it's not even a major sport.
Being from Minnesota, them's fightin' words!
> The right wing gets attention simply because they're armed.
No, that's not true. The Right Wing does not GET attention, the Right Wing OWNS THE MEDIA and the Right Wing CONTROLS attention.
Rather than being snotty about the efforts of ten thousand dedicated individuals, and rather than misrepresenting the entire situation, you might instead decide to be appalled that our democracy has died under corporate money and propaganda that overwhelms reality.
this was a great idea... yet, did they advertise this much? i didn't really hear about it until a couple of days ago (not that that, in itself, means anything... but if it wasn't advertised well they won't have as large of a turnout as they could have--captain obvious)
Seeing as the "Tea Farties" were organized and promoted by Fox, its understandable that even the tiniest (17 person) TPs were blared at us from National TV.
I guess the Pro Health Care folk need to dress in ridiculous costumes and carry mis-spelled signs with insulting photos (Stupac as the "Joker", Newt as ... a newt!).
And don't forget, everyone must carry firearmss! That'll get the Media's fleeting attention!
and the msm is loathe to give them any free airtime. but, even on the lefty blogs, i didn't see much mention (if any) about this rally.
carrying signs, marching in line, wearing matching t-shirts, etc. is not enough. without resorting to violence, the pressure on the govt-corp needs to be cranked to 11.
..they will be arrested, declared unlawful enemy combatants and driven insane through the same sensory deprivation they used on Jose Padilla.
What did you think; that the justice system applies the same criteria to everyone?
promoted with big bucks, buses, etc.,by insurance companies as well. Just like the "astroturf" groups last summer.
Yup!
Make a difference on March 20th. Travel to your nearest big city and demonstrate your opposition to the wars. Time to get up from the keyboards. It won't take much. Just go.
during their "opinion" programming? Which is pretty much between the hours of 5 AM and 4 AM, daily.
did they advertise this much?
They should have said that Lindsay Lohan was going to show up to talk about her lawsuit.
They would have gotten a crowd of 200,000 people and 10,000 media persons.
That's because they weren't waving their teabags at your auntie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V7zbWNznbs
The difference in coverage is because the tea party protests were organized by PR firms. It isn't about the protest, it is about how well you organize all of the media outlets before the protest. I am sure that the vile rhetoric of the tea party protests helped them get attention (like a freak show does), but they had Fox news, advertising, and talk radio getting out people and creating the echo chamber to get national attention.
The media which is owned by corporations, which is to say, health insurance companies.
Yet, I still think, as this story evidences, that protest is not enough. Liberals need to cease participating in American commerce and/or they need to gather in one region and remove themselves from the infection until there is change or, perhaps, live by ourselves. Even if you think I'm dreaming, I still argue this is our only out at this point.
seems to equal "We decide what (and how) we will report"
"....We report... you decide how much crap you're willing to swallow..."
of damn commies to me,
somebody should do something about that,
like maybe give them what they want.
some of Miss Spelt's signs, AND GET A NETWORK SPONSOR, MORANS!
we have the real thing. By Fake News only cares about the stories THEY create.
I stand ready to receive some evidence of it.
not media outlets
or anyplace else, apparently.
we have the real thing.
And the lord is on our side too...and apple pie...and think of the children!!
The Lord is serving Apple Pie to the Children? I want a slice of that pie.
No pie for you. The lord only gives pie to real Christian 'muricans.
Taarak? Hmmmm....don't sound too 'murican to me. Where's your birth certificate?
Just as well. Buddha is having a bake-sale down the street and he usually gives away what he doesn't sell before tearing down the tables. I hope he lets me eat cake...
It's very simple why the right ignores it when it's the left that protests. They simply don't view anything liberal-related as a valid point of view, so they feel the same rules of respect and consideration and whatnot don't apply. If you watched the Daily Show last night with that clown Thiesen, he even proved it by saying he didn't consider what Jon was talking about a valid view.
I almost have to respect that attitude. The Right says all kind of bat-s**t crazy garbage all the time, yet we engage them in debate as if they are proposing a valid counterpoint. You can't argue/discuss rationally or logically with a bunch of made-up BS, yet the Left engages in debate with the Right's half-witted points of view constantly. If the Right thinks we aren't making sense to them, they're probably right: truth, facts, logic, and reason DO tend to confuse them to no end. They're better off ignoring us.
"You can't argue/discuss rationally or logically with a bunch of made-up BS, yet the Left engages in debate with the Right's half-witted points of view constantly."
Until the media learns what "lies" are and can report with that knowledge, we'll always be at a disadvantage.
"If the Right thinks we aren't making sense to them, they're probably right: truth, facts, logic, and reason DO tend to confuse them to no end. They're better off ignoring us."
Why? Facts confuse THEM to no end, but they still win in the end. They're better off using a medium that lets them lie with impunity and having their arguments broadcast and echoed in cable and local/national network news.
There is no hope unless we tear down all the networks and have something with a modicum of respect. Not even NPR is safe from these lizard-scum, MSNBC has their own issues, we need something that actually reports without blowhards like Olbermann and useless punditry.
Define "win" and then consider the years 2000-2010 when the word "fact" has nearly lost all meaning.
telling us that America is a "center-right" country. What they really mean is that the media is center right.
This demonstration is hardly news worthy , some Moose hunting bimbo from Alaska , a blithering idiot giving speeches all over the country to people even dumber than she is , now that is important stuff /headline news ! It's that damned liberal media again !
Splitting the Sky: Bush is a war criminal
I love his T-shirt--"Tyranny Response Team."
submitted by Rep. Alan Grayson.
Let's get behind this folks, I'll be POUNDING my Rep today, and everyday, until he signs on.
Let's get behind this folks, I'll be POUNDING my Rep today , and everyday
Aren't you glad that your health insurance covers Viagra.
Pfizer is performaing a public service!
after HR 676
The protesters (at least a percentage of them) must come wearing sidearms, like the nutsos at TeaBagger rallys. They could also garner some attention if they showed up with real pitchforks and ropes tied into hangman's knots.
Simply chanting and holding signs is so last decade. The protesters in the know pack (openly) heat and make real threats.
Agreed, if you want the media to cover a protest, you have to promise to bring the crazy and then deliver it.
Without rage, racism, ignorance and hate...well, it just isn't news. In fact it might as well not have happened at all. It's got to bleed or at least create the fear and tension of possible blood letting if it is going to lead. That's American journalism!
all these ADULTS are not as much fun as the teabaggers. So the "News" stays home.
This is why people are dropping the talking heads on Cable and finding things out for themselves.
Perhaps the Cable TV News Spell will soon be broken and we can go back to reality.
...that the media is owned and controlled by the 1% ruling class, this lack of news coverage (versus the Tea Party coverage) shows that the U.S. is no better than North Korea.
There will be no real news in the U.S. until the 1% ruling class wakes to find our bayonets at their throats.
The only purpose of the insurance companies is to make money. If you die in the process that is just fine with them. We need single payer under medicare. Anything that includes insurance companies cannot work and worse it is a sin to make money from someone's misery.
we have 40 million people in America that do not have the morals or the intelligence to make sound rational decisions and should not be allowed to make decisions that effect others.
republicanism/conservatism is a mental illness it has killed the economy, almost the country and ruined millions of lives!
I will be there. In the mean time each and every one of you can write the MSM and tell them how disappointed you are that they aren't doing their job. ABC News, which does a pretty decent news cast, is laying off 20% of their staff at a time when we need them most. Disney makes hundreds of millions of dollars. They can pay for the privilege by giving us some f!@#ing public service.
The media only gives air time to crazies that wear 3 cornered hats and carry misspelled signs.
is enough to make me want to puke my guts up all over the decision makers at the major networks who make the decisions to cover fluff and to give all sorts of air time to the special interests and then go ahead and cut off any exposure of any opposing views and actions. It is significant that this many people organized this large of a protest only to have it completely discounted and basically ignored by the owners of the television networks. This case shows how much of an enemy to basic democracy the networks really are. One of zillions of instances when the networks give lots of time to special interests and none to people who have opposing viewpoints, which, in many cases, represent a large majority of the american population.
is enough to make me want to puke my guts up all over the decision makers at the major networks who make the decisions to cover fluff and to give all sorts of air time to the special interests and then go ahead and cut off any exposure of any opposing views and actions. It is significant that this many people organized this large of a protest only to have it completely discounted and basically ignored by the owners of the television networks. This case shows how much of an enemy to basic democracy the networks really are. One of zillions of instances when the networks give lots of time to special interests and none to people who have opposing viewpoints, which, in many cases, represent a large majority of the american population.
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