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Edited on Mon Aug-17-09 07:45 AM by berni_mccoy
"Media mavens mount surgical strikes from trapper keeper collages and online magazine racks Cover girl cutouts throw up pop-up ads Infecting victims with silicone shrapnel Worldwide passenger pigeons deploy paratroopers Now it's raining pornography Lovers take shelter ...
There's a war going on for your mind
Industry insiders slang test tube babies to corporate crack heads They flash logos and blast ghettos Their embroidered neckties say "Stop Stitching" Conscious rappers and whistle blowers get stitches made of acupuncture needles and marionette strings
There is a war going on for your mind " -- Flobots
I was surprised to find DU all in disarray yesterday and it seems because the media has mounted a surgical strike. They've taken these words from President Obama:
"The Public Option, whether we have it or we don't have it, is not the entirety of healthcare reform, this is just one sliver of it, one aspect of it"
And without any confirmation from the White House or journalistic confirmation, they've turned this statement into a signal. That signal, they say, is that Obama is willing to drop the Public Option as a requirement. After they reported this, they then asked about this comment directly, Secretary Sebelius answered that the Public Option isn't the essential element, that cost control and competition are the goal, and the Public Option was the current means to get that. This comment was taken further to mean that the Administration doesn't believe a Public Option is required.
But you have to look before this, where Republican Senators, over the weekend were saying there weren't the votes in the Senate for a Public Option and that they would be stripping key elements from the bill. Of course, they have no leg to stand on making comments like this, but this was their signal for the media to pick up the message and turn it on the administration.
Within hours of Sec. Sebelius making this comment, Secretary Gibbs spoke out that the President will not support the bill without a Public Option. Later, the White House corrected Sec. Sebelius's statement, saying she misspoke. Many at DU here fell victim and it was even plastered on the headline of DU for a very long time. The media wins this battle for your mind.
And that's exactly what has happened here. Returning to reality, we know that there will be no bill without a Public Option. The Republicans and Media can say all they want. But besides a single payer system, there is no other way to provide healthcare to those who can't afford it and no way to control costs. A bill without a Public Option will never get Democratic support in Congress. And right now the Democrats are the majority. Despite this reality, you've allowed the media to influence you.
Remember, there is a war going on for your mind. Stay vigilant.
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