The "man" behind the curtain

Those of us blues in red country struggle with the fact that, despite looking like intelligent people (mostly), so many of our neighbors and co-workers in Idaho are still blindly supporting the administration. (As of 2/13/06, 55% of Idahoans still approve the job Bush is doing as President.)

Why can't they see what we see? We joke about the "Kool Aid" but what is it really that prevents them from waking up out of their coma? This administration has led us into disaster after disaster, fumbled the ball time over time, lied to us repeatedly... and some people still unblinkly repeat the mantra of "God bless Bush! Hallelujah! He will save us!"

Well, thanks to 43rd State Blues and ianstenseng for directing me to an article from Mother Jones (originally published in the Seattle Times).

"Why Media Ownership Matters" points out that "56 percent of Americans still think Iraq had weapons of mass destruction before the start of the war" and "six in 10 said they believe Iraq provided direct support to the al-Qaida terrorist network". Haven't we all realized that these excuses for war have "been thoroughly debunked by everyone from the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee to both of Bush's handpicked weapons inspectors"?

The article continues by stating that:
"Americans believe these lies not because they are stupid, but because they are good media consumers. Our media have become an echo chamber for those in power. Rather than challenge the fraudulent claims of the Bush administration, we've had a media acting as a conveyor belt for the government's lies."

So how did that happen in America, where we believe in freedom of the press and freedom of speech? (At least, last time I checked!)

Read "Why Media Ownership Matters" to find out:

• which nuclear weapons manufacturers own which major networks...
• the relationship between the chair of FCC and the top general in the war on Iraq (hint: their last name starts with "P", ends with "l", and contains the vowels "o" and "e")
• and more about the incestuous relationship between the leaders in our government, the multi-billion dollar corporations, and the media conglomerate.

It makes it a little bit easier to understand why it feels as if I'm living in the world of moonies. Not any more acceptable, but a little more understandable.

I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that out of SEVEN attempts to have media coverage for "Gooding Drinking Liberally", only ONE had a result (and even that was altered with negative results):

• PSA regarding "new club" sent to the Gooding County Leader two weeks in a row... zero publication.
• PSA regarding "new club" sent to the Times-News twice... printed after second request, the week after first meeting. Altered with focus on "drinking" rather than on organization.
• PSA regarding congressional candidates as "special guests" sent to both papers... zero publication.
• Request for coverage from KMVT for the meeting with the "special guests"... no official response, no coverage.

Again, perhaps I'm just being paranoid. They have to have room for all of the human interest stories from across the USA, so maybe there wasn't room for us...??