What's going on with NPR and the BBC?
Believe it or not, there is some political talk radio for adults in this country, which I occasionally listen to when there is no good music on the other stations.
I know NPR has slid Foxward over the last decade, but the BBC, which I would have thought had no skin in this game, was doing the same thing. They are making an effort to report this as a "budget impasse" and a bipartisan failure.
They played a longish soundbite of Boehner blaming the Democrats for not compromising, and played nothing from Obama, just briefly mentioned that they objected to the "tactics" of congressional Republicans, (no explanation of what those tactics were or what was objectionable about them) and moving on to the next story.
WTF was that?
In less time than it took for the discount mattress commerical to end on the classic rock station, I answered my own question.
It's because they don't want to say what this really is, (a hijacking, a subversion of the democratic process, an attempt at congressional coup, legislative extortion...) because they believe there is a good chance that Obama will fold before Boehner does; because come on, we've all seen this movie before...
But if they make what Republicans are doing out to be as bad they know it really is, and it works, that's going to have to be the central story on the MSM for a long time- "So, looks like the bad guys won. Stick a fork in representative democracy." But that can't happen. Therefore, the false moral equivalency is maintained while the outcome is still uncertain.
If Boehner either gives up or Obama puts on his big president pants and shuts him down,
[Nash Equilibrium intensifies]
The Republicans will take all the blame and their whole platform will be torn to shreds.
However, if they do win concessions just by standing by their ransom demands until debt default doomsday, and nothing is done to prevent this from ever happening again, the dittoheads will declare victory and rejoice.
And the MSM will instantly throw our entire side under the bus.
It can be reported in the right 50% of the media as "the Democrats finally putting the interests of the nation's economy over partisan stubbornness, coming to their senses and working together with the Republicans to negotiate a sensible compromise" and in the left 50%, as "the spineless Democrats yet again giving in to the Republicans' dirty tricks"
So that whichever you listen to, it will not seem like a glaring continuity error.
Crisis averted, business as usual can resume.
= new reply since forum marked as read
NPR Sold Out to their Corporate Masters in the 90s.
There is virtually NO Broadcast Media in the US that carries a Liberal Viewpoint anymore, unless you count RT, Current, LINK, and FSTV.
MSNBC is mostly dominated by "Centrists", but appears "Liberal" when placed alongside FOX.
