"Journalists" parroting the "Fiscal Cliff" meme: ENABLERS of the disaster capitalism propaganda mill

[Faryn Balyncd]

"One of the fundamental findings of cognitive science is that people think in terms of frames and metaphors. . . When the facts don’t fit the frames, the frames are kept and the facts ignored."

- George Lakoff, in Don't Think of an Elephant!



Not only is the so-called "fiscal cliff" an artificial, political crisis created by the right wing specifically for precipitating textbook "disaster capitalism", it is yet another sickening example of corporate "journalism" echoing the loaded frames of those who wish to manipulate public opinion to the dark side.

The Fox "News"/Clear Channel Wurlitzer can only succeed by expanding their influence beyond their base, the most effective weapon being using the phoney charge of "liberal bias" to browbeat corporate media into accepting their loaded metaphors and frames.

That the great majority of corporate "journalists" have neither the discernment nor the integrity of a Lawrence O'Donnell or a Thom Hartman to recognize this manufactured crisis for the "fiscal curb" or "fiscal speed bump" that it more realistically is, should be a source of embarrassment for the profession. (Most corporate talking heads could take a schooling in ethics from a couple of folks in Maine.)



But we can be thankful that we have some true leadership emerging in the Senate.

Maybe what we can be most truly thankful for is that Americans are sick of being hoodwinked by the Fox "News" dark-siders and their corporate media enablers, and "aren't going to take it any more!"



I think our president holds the cards, knows he holds the cards, and that we will win this thing!



But it won't be without bumps.

[msongs]

1. democrats have bought into "fiscal cliff", from the top dem on down nt

[Faryn Balyncd]

2. That makes the voices of Krugman, Howard Dean, Grayson, and US essential.

[cprise]

3. Threaten them with media reform

Is that too strident an undertaking for Democrats?

[ljm2002]

4. I am appalled that everyone has adopted the term...

..."fiscal cliff" to describe what was a bipartisan agreement made months ago and signed off by members of both parties.

Now the Republicans are panicking because keeping the agreement will mean (a) taxes going up on their wealthy patrons; and (b) cuts to military spending (gasp! no!! this cannot be!!!).

What a huge unadulterated crock of sh*t.

First: as many have noted, it is NOT a "cliff" by any stretch of the imagination. Second: they all agreed to it and anyone who voted for the agreement needs to just STFU. Third: the Democrats need to find another name for it and use that. Of course, that is wishful thinking: they are so bad, in general, at the framing wars. In fact you can hardly call it a framing war, since one side does framing and the other side then obligingly plays within the confines of the frames thought up by the rabid right. You can't really blame the media, IMO, because our Dems never come up with a different way of talking about it. Oh sure, someone now and then will say "It's not really a 'fiscal cliff', it's more of a 'fiscal slope'"... but that is still using the framing from the right.

I would simply say we are sticking to the agreement made months ago by both parties and leave it at that. Keeping the agreement will mean a big dent in the deficit so what's the problem? (note: I do understand there are issues, particularly with higher tax rates on all of us -- but that can be addressed in January, after we allow the previously-made agreement to be kept -- then we introduce a bill to lower taxes on the 98% and dare the Republicans to vote against it).

Anyway the whole thing is, as usual, infuriating, in that there seems to be no one who can present our side with some nice phrase. Instead we are now all inculcated with the idea that there is some big emergency. There is NO emergency! These people drafted this agreement a year ago, they knew exactly what they were doing, they thought they could bully and badger their way to a "better" deal and now they do not want to live up to their agreement, it's as simple as that.

[butterfly77]

5. K&R..

since the election all of the snake oil salesmen and women have been showing up all over the tv trying to sell us their garbage plans. My ear is trained for the countdown to see how long before I hear entitlements.

If listening to rightwingers this is usually the first thing out of their mouths within the first five or ten seconds.