Yes, Americans chose a Grade B actor in 1980. But he played a pretty
convincing president. During his 8 years in office, Ronald Reagan
squelched any hope for democracy.
In 1952 Americans voted our final General into the White House. Ike
set a tone as president that would be patterned by George Bush I, Bill
Clinton and Barack Obama, outwardly a compromiser but inwardly not
much backbone.
Carl Jarvis
On 6/5/21, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
The American people also voted for a movie actor to become President in the
1980's. And as far as the separation of the military from the civilian,
they voted for a former army general back in the 1950's. I've been slowly
reading a very long book about Ted Kennedy called Chasing The Wind. So far,
it provides me with the back story to all of the news stories of which I was
aware back in the 60's. What is most interesting is to see how politics
really works, how the decisions are made. It all has to do with human
motivation, personality, career possibilities. The welfare of the people is
secondary. I suspect that is true, regardless of the political system.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Saturday, June 5, 2021 2:05 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Matt Taibbi's article
Miriam,
Shame on me. I added Amy Goodman because you've made it very clear that you
have become disillusioned in her. But I did not use the word "Trust". My
dad used to say, "I trust him about as far as I can thrrow him". But
Democracy Now is one of many sources that I listen to.
As I look back over the years, I see a huge change in our American Society.
Our attitudes have changed dramatically. Because, in part, to the constant
barrage by the Establishment's propaganda. Along with becoming less
thoughtful toward others, we have become far more self focused, as well as
more violent. Not that we were ever a non violent society, but as pressure
is turned up to keep us at odds with those people and groups we disagree
with, our anger becomes more volatile.
Anyway back to the subject of reporting the news. In the 40's, which is as
far back as my own memories go, the news was presented in print and on the
air, as if it were handed down from some great neutral source. And of
course it was presented along with commercials. We received the news along
with the hucksters enticing us to want stuff we couldn't afford, let alone
that we really needed. We accepted this as the normal way of life in our
advanced civilization. This changed when the Ruling Class became ever more
greed driven. News, it seemed, was a loser, financially speaking. For a
period of time news rooms were reduced in staffing, and experiments were
tested to find the times most people watched the news.
But it was entertainment that "saved" newscasting. Actors, both gorgeous
hunks and delicious bimbos oohed and awed and giggled their way through the
days happenings. Today we are entertained, seldom challenged. We have been
so infected that we even voted a Television Celebrity into the top
government job. A Presidential Huckster!
Is Donald Trump really the face we want to place in front of the nations of
the world? The Ruling Class of the American Corporate Empire(ACE)doesn't
care so long as the dollars roll in and so long as they remain in control.
The deck is slightly stacked. They have the current control, they have the
money, they have the Judicial System, they have the military and the tools
of war, and all we have are the people. The question is, who has the
People's minds?
Carl Jarvis
On 6/4/21, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Carl,
CBS did once deliver very good news casts. The basic model for
delivering news was different in the 40's and 50's than it is now. But
nevertheless, news delivery was influenced by government power. The
real reason for dropping those atom bombs on Japanese cities wasn't
reported, nor was the actual damage reported at the time. But the
whole system began changing in the 70's when the news departments were
no longer separated from entertainment on the networks. That was the
big change that is written about and acknowledged. The other changes
aren't publicly acknowledged. If you look at Seymour Hersh's career,
you can see some of it. He wrote a book about it a few years ago which
actually got to BARD. He was a respected journalist. He's broken some
of the most important stories in modern history. But as truth became
less acceptable, he was frozen out of the mass media. He was still
writing articles for The New Yorker in 2006. By 2013, you could only
find his articles in the London Review of Books. I think that
2013 may have been the last time he was on Democracy Now. There are
hundreds of examples. I noticed that you listed Amy Goodman among the
people whom you still trust. I can't imagine how you can still trust
her when she's sold out on so many fronts: Julian Assange, Syria, Hong
Kong, Nicaragua, Venezuela, the Uyghurs in China, Glenn Greenwald,
Daniel Hale, Reality Wynner. These are some of the issues she's either
broadcast lies about or ignored altogether.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Friday, June 4, 2021 9:09 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Matt Taibbi's article
Miriam,
That's a troubling thought, that you can't rely on people you once did.
I'll need to think about that. As I've said before, I listen to a
large number of people whose opinions, I believe, are based on sound
thinking.
But I don't take them without question. I use Thom Hartmann as an
example, but I could as easily use Chris Hedges or Richard Wolff or Amy
Goodman.
These thoughtful people are among a long list of reliable sources.
But your remarks also remind me of how different we are today, as
opposed to
50 years ago. And my memories also reach back to the WW II days. I
was just listening to a newscast from the 1940's, John Daily was the
main newscaster based in New York with CBS. John and others delivered
the news with such authority that I find it hard even today to
question their validity. I wonder how much of my world inside my head
was shaped by the voices of John Daily and others? The major
difference between then and now is that I was a small boy and I was
deeply impressed by people who delivered the news with authority.
I do think that the cumulation of Establishment Propaganda has shaped
American's behavior. I think, for example that we are much more self
serving today, much more selfish, greedy and less kind to our neighbors.
But I am getting too long winded, so I'll close for now by reminding
myself that changing my mind is like changing my underware, it makes
me much more pleasant to be around.
Carl Jarvis
On 6/3/21, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I'm about to post an opinion piece by Matt Taibbi. What he writes
about, touches on what I was trying to say earlier when I wrote about
media coverage and how distorted it has become. The people whose
reportage and judgements I could once depend on, are no longer
trustworthy.
Miriam