We are being played like suckers

[kpete]

http://www.dailyinfographic.com/the-illusion-of-choice-infographic

[Scuba]

1. Ya think?

[saidsimplesimon]

45. Thanks Scuba, love the cartoon.

I am voting for the shepherd, Senator Sanders.

ps: As a dog person, and a caretaker by nature, I'm betting we can outsmart the big bad wolf and outnumber the lionesses of prey.

[underpants]

2. Coo coo ca choo

Hide it in a hiding place where no one ever goes
Put it in your pantry with your cupcakes
It's a little secret, just the Robinsons' affair
Most of all, you've got to hide it from the kids
Coo coo ca choo Mrs Robinson
--Simon & Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson"

[merrily]

12. Mrs. Robinson

TV 1968

Live in Central Park 1981

Live 2011

[Live and Learn]

3. K&R nt

[onehandle]

4. It's the Marvel/Pixar combo that scares me the most. nt

[Auggie]

18. Care to explain?

Just curious as to your take

[onehandle]

54. They could be working on a Thanos/Stinky Pete crossover story.

Horrible.

[Auggie]

67. ROFL

That made my morning

[WillyT]

5. K & R !!!

[davidpdx]

6. While I agree with the premise

Someone really ought to fix the information in that by contacting the person who made it. There are some notable errors.

[kpete]

7. the graph is from 2012

please update it for us
i love new info


peace,kp

[davidpdx]

9. That explains why the old info

Actually the author of the graph needs to do it.

[kpete]

20. a place to start:

http://www.cjr.org/resources/

[Marty McGraw]

70. and, of course

The ultimate insight link to have handy where all the players sit

http://theyrule.net/

(using my work computer I did notice that your browser needs to be flash capable. Mine was locked off for firefox so I had to use chrome to view it with)

Really handy tool once you get the hang of the tree sub-menus. Can see why they opted for flash for the method they chose to display.

[Journeyman]

76. Excellent resource. Thank you for posting . . .

[Marty McGraw]

80. Thank You

For Viewing. Direct others to it as you see fit.

Thom Hartmann on occasion has brought this site up on his show (is how I found out about it) and had the other day as well. I hadn't gone to it in a long while and the format of the site has changed some since I last went there. Takes a moment to get the hang of it.

Happy New Year!

[midnight]

103. There is alot of information at the link you provided.

I just typed in a bank and it's board members and then a connection to another company i.e.. Pfizer inc. was connected.

[snot]

90. Actually, I think it's from 2011 . . .

at least, I saved an extremely similar one in 2011.

And meanwhile, they've made great progress controlling the internet and our data in general.

[SammyWinstonJack]

8. When they own the information they can bend it all they want.

[onecaliberal]

51. I was going to say that. -John Mayer

[Enthusiast]

10. Kicked and recommended! This is no good! Democracy has been seriously compromised.

Look how the media has conspired to keep Bernie Sanders from receiving coverage. No one could consider this fair or unbiased.

[appalachiablue]

69. Consolidated corporate ownership, TV media the worst, radio & print not far behind. The Mirage.

[Enthusiast]

73. Media like this has caused the erosion of our freedom. It has been devastating to democracy.

We need to break up Big Media. There is only one viewpoint. We can't have democracy with only one point of view.

[appalachiablue]

88. Creating a fair media is at the top of the growing list including handling the superbanks,

environmental destruction, institutional racism and other scourges. We have no other choice I believe because of the dangerous time we live in. And I'm up for it, nothing matters more than the future of the younglings and this precious earth, our one and only home. Amen.

[Enthusiast]

89. I'm with you. nt

[Volaris]

91. We're not going to get any of it until we get publicly-funded elections first

THAT LAW is the one that constitutes the Keys to the Kingdom.

[appalachiablue]

93. A big one to reform, huge in fact. Just keep on fighting and pressuring for movement.

[sorechasm]

11. Funny thing about Giants

Concentrated Power = Concentrated Vulnerabilities


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Osmar_Schindler_David_und_Goliath.jpg

[SandersDem]

13. GE

No longer owns any media companies. They divested years ago, Comcast now stands alone.

Your premise is still on point, just replace the GE header with Comcast, they are the parent to all other holdings below them, not GE.

[cascadiance]

14. And for satellite radio, we used to have two companies. Now we have one (Sirius/XM)

[SoapBox]

15. We're played like a cheap banjo...

and I sure don't like the tune.

Of course there are SO many Pudding Brains out there...staring, mouth hanging open, texting or playing games on their "unlimited plan" so-called "smartphone" (don't forget their Noise-Cancelling headphones, so they can block out the World)...and when I ask people, "Did you hear or read about this, this or this?" I usually get, "No...I don't read or listen to ANY news...but I'm going shopping again at the new Nordstrom!"

We're doomed.

[McKim]

77. Amen

The troubles of the world are too much for some people. But if we all don't step up, man up and woman up, we are doomed. I worry so about our game and phone addicted youth. They are massively distracted and massively shopping or massively addicted to sports.
What will happen when my activist generation dies away?

[madokie]

16. I've been saying

since day one here if we want to keep our Democracy a democracy we have to get the Media right

[cascadiance]

17. BTW, Clear Channel mentioned here no longer exists... It's now "nicely named" IHeartRadio....

Much like Blackwater and Diebold no longer exist by those names either for the same f"ing reasons!!!

[Enthusiast]

96. They tarnish their name to the point they have to change it. Just like DLC.

[Stuart G]

19. k and r...nt

[weknowvino2]

21. That's why community radio is our best choice.

Try KZFR.org in Chico, CA. Live stream all over the world. Great programing, best music on the planet,
no commercials, Amy Goodman's Democracy Now!, kinda liberal (No, actually, very liberal)
It's the antidote to AM radio.

[Wounded Bear]

22. and remember...

GE (owner of MSNBC) is a huge MIC contractor and profits mightily from the eternal war footing we've been on.

[Blanks]

26. It was pointed out above...

That GE no longer owns NBC, but that used to be a big concern (to me at least) the 'press' was owned by the MIC and steered us toward war.

The other concern was that Clear Channel had so much control over the media that they played a huge role in getting Dubya elected, and then Bane Capital took it over.

When I watch television (which consists of Good Morning America and football) I try to guess where they are trying to guide me, what they're trying to convince me, what kind of BS they're trying to pass off as fact.

[rhett o rick]

23. Interesting that HRC supporters won't commit one way or another on this.

I am thinking that as long as the Big Money Corporations favor their candidate, they will let this slide.

[Hiraeth]

24. Has even *one* HRC supporter posted in this thread?

[Cary]

27. "HRC supporter..."

Such hostility.

I am not an "HRC supporter" per se. I am a Democrat. But since I don't have that hostility, I guess you lump me in with "HRC supporter?"

[Hiraeth]

28. omg. You think that is an insult?

Reminds me of the princess and the pea.

[Cary]

33. Can you reply to my comment instead of making some comment about me personally?

Apparently not.

I mean if you are to correct me then you say something like "no, I did not mean to lump you." There are ways of discussing someone without making it personal, like saying I am "the princess and the pea."

My perspective is just as valid as yours. That said I was commenting on the general attitude here at DU, which I deplore not because I support Hillary or Bernie. I deplore the attitude because I don't want to see Republicans win.

That should have been obvious, but it isn't. There is something very wrong about that.

[Hiraeth]

38. I don't understand what is wrong with the term HRC supporter. That is respectable terminiology.

Your perspective is that sucker does not equal stupid which is splitting a split end hair.

We are in a very hot, contested primary. I will worry about the General when primary is over and not a minute before.

One step at a time.

[Cary]

43. Nothing is wrong with it.

There is something very wrong with making it personal and nasty.

Do you see either Bernie or Hillary getting personal or nasty with each other? No. You don't.

At the end of the day there's really not a huge difference between them. I get the "corporatist" stuff and even agree with it, but at the end of the day the Republicans are going to remain a major roadblock for our agenda: the one you and I most definitely agree to. And we are not going to get 100%. We will be lucky if the next president, Hillary or Bernie, is as successful as President Obama has been.

I will admit to being totally intolerant of "conservatives." I truly despise this ideology and if you look at what Trump is doing I don't see how you can't see how truly dangerous that ideology is.

And I take this very seriously. I don't want to fight with you. I want us to fight them, together.

[Hiraeth]

46. First off, I was not speaking to you which means I said nothing to you which means I was not

personal or nasty to you. You came in and chose to be offended. That was your decision not mine.

You are acting like I am debating Rs on here. I am not. I am debating HRC supporters.

This is a democratic website in the middle of a primary.

[Cary]

48. So I guess you can't help yourself...

" You came in and chose to be offended."

That is making it personal. You have no idea what I "came in and chose." Your comment isn't accurate and you are out of line in telling me what I "chose."

I am not personally offended, in the way you accuse me of being. I am disgusted by what I believe to be a small and ultimately inconsequential group of people here who seem to hold sway. My comment is a general comment on liberals.

It's ok. You don't have to comprehend.

[Hiraeth]

49. It is accurate. I don't know what else to say to you. If you disagree with how I see this

transaction and you feel so slighted and offended then alert on one of my posts to you and see what a jury decides.

You are right. I don't comprehend you at all.

I don't get it.

Looks to me like you are trying to bait me.

I do agree with this comment by you:

I am not personally offended, in the way you accuse me of being. I am disgusted by what I believe to be a small and ultimately inconsequential group of people here who seem to hold sway. My comment is a general comment on liberals.

[Cary]

52. If you agree with that comment then I don't see how you don't "get it."

Once again you try to tell me what I am thinking. "Looks to me like you are trying to bait me."

That isn't true. You started this by lamenting that fact, as you see it, that Clinton supporters aren't posting here. I complained about how I get lumped just because I am not a strident Bernie Sanders supporter. You made an us versus them comment. I object that characterization.

I did not accuse you, by the way. I made a comment objecting to the us versus them characterization, generally. And yes, I get lumped in with Hillary Clinton supporters, and I object to that. As I said, I am a Democrat. I will support the Democratic nominee. I don't see a huge difference between the two, personally. That is my opinion.

And then you say all kinds of unfounded things about me personally, and yet you claim to be able to discuss things rationally.

I see that as a problem here. Yes I do. You cannot rightfully claim to be discussing things in good faith when you resort to tactics like that. I was clear enough. I assume you're bright enough to understand plain English.

[Hiraeth]

60. good lord.

I did not lump you. I was not speaking to you.

I don't have time for this circular talk.

Off to lunch with friends irl. Still enjoying my holidays as I hope you are too.

Peace.

[Enthusiast]

98. The point is Hillary supporters don't seem to be concerned about media consolidation.

Bernie supporters, on the other hand, see it as a very critical issue. I guess maybe that's because our candidate has been the victim of a one sided unfair media.

[Cary]

99. Thank you for addressing an actual issue instead of making some comment about me

The media focuses on Donald Trump. I'm not sure that's a bad thing because Trump the demagogue has exposed a dangerous ideology.

I am not a Hillary supporter per se but in the scheme of things the media's treatment of Bernie Sanders is low on my list. And you would that against me, I guess.

[Enthusiast]

117. The media's treatment of Bernie Sanders is only an example.

The entire electorate, and especially Democrats, should be alarmed about the biased nature of the media. Read the OP again and give it some thought. Maybe you are too young to remember the days of a less biased media.

[rhett o rick]

79. "Such hostility", I dare say that is clearly projection. There is a reason that HRC supporters

don't engage in discussions like this thread. It's an important reason. They are ok with the status quo. I won't go as far as saying I am hostile but I do question the morality of accepting a system that has given us such misery like 16,000,000 children living in poverty. Essentially saying that corporate profits are more important than feeding hungry children.

I am interested in why a Democrat would accept the yoke of oligarchy.

[Cary]

83. If I told you my opinion, what would happen?

Come on. You don't believe that I have a right to have my own opinion, and you will attack me for having one regardless. You will make it personal. All you really want is to suck me into your silly ego game.

As I have said, I am a Democrat. I agree with you regarding policies. I am interested in the practical reality of implementing those policies, not some ideological horse crap or silly ego game.

[rhett o rick]

86. This is a discussion board and I like to have discussions, especially with those that don't

agree with me. I am a Democrat and we like to debate and argue. I think it's the Conservatives that just like to follow in lock-step with no discussion allowed.

[Cary]

87. Oh no. They are not lock step.

They have the radical right. They invited them back into their party and now you see the problem they're having between their radical base and their establishment.

This is what radicals do. This is ideological purity.

I'm not looking for lock step rhett o rick. I'm not a radical. What I am looking for is practicality but that for some reason seems to get me in trouble here.

And then there is very odd habit of many posters to divert the subject from whatever it is to some kind issue about me, personally. If I call that out I'm told I'm crazy.

[rhett o rick]

104. Fuck "practicality". We have people dying because the Big Money is sucking up all our resources

leaving us with 16 million American children living in poverty. That number will continue to grow if we elect a politician that is beholden to those that are putting profits before the lives of those in the 99%. Maybe your "practicality" will justify the "enhancement" of Social Security to the point that our seniors will suffer more than they are today. It's past time to stand up to the wealthy Oligarchy.

It's time to choose, the 99% and Sen Sanders or the 1% and their HRC.

[Cary]

105. Right, because that works.

Lotsa luck chasing your windmill.

[rhett o rick]

108. Let's see if I can guess your point because you seem unable to articulate it.

We shouldn't fight to end poverty for the sake of 16,000,000 American children because it's too hard. We should wallow in the comfort of the promised security by the wealthy 1%.

I hate to break it to you, but the Oligarchy doesn't love you. Stand with the People and fight them.

[McCamy Taylor]

71. Wow. Took 23 posts before someone made it about Clinton.

[rhett o rick]

78. Maybe you haven't noticed but we have a very heated primary race. I want to point out that

one side avoids threads like this where we should all agree. So how do you feel about the corporate control of our country?

[Cary]

84. So what?

You don't have to behave this way.

Shame on you.

[rhett o rick]

106. Shame on those that bow down to the rich and wealthy 1% Oligarchy. 16,000,000 American

children need you to stand up against the Oligarchy. But I'm guessing you choose to side with the wealthy.

[Cary]

107. Yes, it's all about me.

[rhett o rick]

109. You have a choice. The 1% or the 99%. Sen Sanders represents the 99% and obviously

his major opponent doesn't. Which side do you choose?

[Cary]

110. Beelzibub.

[rhett o rick]

112. Really? That's what you've got? Go worship at the idol of wealth. nm

[LanternWaste]

75. I'd maintain that same inference too should my bias depend on it.

I'd maintain that same inference too should my bias depend on it.

[Cary]

25. It's not that we are being played for suckers...

It's that WE, THE PEOPLE don't find common ground and work for change.

I have a hard time feeling sorry for us, largely because of my experience here at DU. I come here, in good faith, with what is clearly a "progressive" mindset and I get attacked as brutally as I get attacked by the most strident and odious "conservatives." And then, too, I'm gaslighted when I suggest that it isn't really such a good idea to Balkanize.

If WE, THE PEOPLE worked hard, found our common ground, and fought together for our rightful say in things then things would change. You can see it in the Republican Party where all the money in the world isn't getting it done for the establishment. But, no. People here will not see that. I am the enemy in spite of my 99% agreement on the actual issues.

No, we are not being played for suckers. We are paying the price for our collective stupidity.

[Fumesucker]

29. Everyone feels like they get attacked on DU

There are so ~many~ land mines buried around here, eventually you are guaranteed to trip over one and probably sooner rather than later for a newbie.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023007056

When you post on DU this is what you are doing whether you know it or not.

[Cary]

36. The other side of this, Fumesucker, is that we know these people who do this are marginal

It isn't you. See, that's what gaslighting is about. Gaslighting is the main weapon of a sociopath and they play this stupid game with you because it works.

How do you deal with gaslighting? There is no cure for a sociopath. You have to keep that in mind. Treatment only makes them better sociopaths.

I understand why a large segment of the population is sociopathic. What I never quite understood was why this tactic is tolerated here. It didn't used to be this way, so it doesn't have to be.

Gaslighting: you know when you see it.

[nadinbrzezinski]

61. Oh for fucks sake, they tolerate bullying, is is a method of control

and this place, leave that fantasy behind, is not a progressive site.

It never has, never will... it is a honey trap that makes a lot of money while at it.

[Cary]

63. ok

I can't argue with that.

But I have learned some things here.

[rhett o rick]

111. Those that side with the wealthy to the detriment of the 99% are sociopathic. nm

[Facility Inspector]

31. Most people willingly submit

and pay monthly bills to be duped.

[Cary]

41. It isn't easy to get the herd to change directions

When you are the Koch brothers and you have excessive wealth, and when a billion dollars is an acceptable budget for moving the herd in your direction, that's that. You buy a fair amount of influence with a billion dollars and however many shell organizations they have.

When you're trying to get people to move on principal, alone, you are likely to get smeared.

[Faux pas]

30. KNR

[fredamae]

32. Who was it again that signed

the Telecommunications Act in 1996?

And:
http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/mediatimeline.html

[Hiraeth]

47. But, that is not who is running this time. still *ouch*

[fredamae]

53. A Establishment Dem is running, however

It's where Democrats Are and have been for decades-Not who's running - not who they're related to- even If they are related.
Last I checked, Both Clintons are declared and very "established" Democrats as are many, many-Far too many incumbent US Senators and Congresscritters.

[Hiraeth]

58. IKR. I was just saying what HRC supporters would say if they woud be in this thread.

They seem to like the establishment just the way it is. It is working for them.

[fredamae]

62. No worries

I gathered that...

[Scalded Nun]

34. Absolutely

We are reaping what we have sown. We, the people can do something about this, but we must work together before it is too late. The longer we delay the more we lose. Eventually the water in the pot will boil.

[Duval]

35. Been knowing this. We keep being fed the same

BS for years. We do not have Freedom of the Press except for Free Speech TV. And we wonder why so many are misinformed and have been for years!

[bobthedrummer]

37. Yep. K&R#75 n/t

[brooklynite]

39. But you've got BERNIE2016TV and Facebook...

Nobody's making you watch or read anything you don't want to.

[99th_Monkey]

50. Ahh.. So i guess we shouldn't care that 98% of all media is pablum & propaganda?

not to mention Trump 24/7.

A rather haughty & callous thing to say IMO.

[daleanime]

55. Is BERNIE2016TV still alive?

I lost track of them after repeated corporate assassination attempts.

[nadinbrzezinski]

59. Actually brook, big media, and I have heard this from producers

do not like small time local independent media... and as more and more of that is starting to emerge, they are STARTING every so lovingly slowly, to disrupt things. Some people, I suspect a lot more aware than you, are comparing this to the very early days of Radio, that disrupted the big paper monopolies, such as Hearst, remember him. I know way before your time.

Why they actually are trying their level best to close down equal access to the internets. They know what happened with early radio. They don't want to repeat that experience.

So your dig at Bernie actually has a modicum of truth, just a far, far, and I mean this, FAR LARGER meta picture than you actually intended as you took your dig.

[brooklynite]

65. I think the big issue is the dream of an objective media in the first place...

...those newspapers the died out with the advent of radio and TV were highly biased, and didn't attempt to hide it.

The Plattsburgh Press-Republican

The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Media is provided by those who choose to produce it, to those who choose to consume it. Pick the outlets you like, or create your own.

[nadinbrzezinski]

66. And MSNBC is not biased

mkay.

Let's not start with Fox, or CNN, or my local KUSI... hey at least my local paper of record can pretend now to be more neutral now that the Trib bought them.

And I am one of those who are starting to disrupt. Alas I respect my reader, why I do not write material at 4th grade level, HULLO NYT, and I try to do this the way it was one in Mexico when I was growing up. I give you the data, you make your own decision. It is not my job to tell you how to think.

MSNBC is highly partisan, so is Fox, so is CNN, and most of them trend RIGHTWARD and conservative, or rather corporate. Congrats, Mussolini would be envious of our current media environment, so would Goebbels, ALL THAT CHOICE, that turns to no choice in the final picture.

Hey, I got a few things to do though that our loving media, at any level, spends much time on... ah mass incarceration for example... and how BOTH PARTIES gave rise to it, for different ideological reasons mind you.

[Bluenorthwest]

64. This is not about primary politics, this is one of our major industries and also a vital public

service. The consolidation of media companies has been hampering the health of the industry since the Telecommunications Act. It's not good for the country nor for the business as a whole.
Your perspective on this seems extremely simplistic and reductive. Maybe your wife would have a better idea of why those who oppose such consolidations do oppose them and why those who support them support them. It is not about Bernie Sanders. It's about differing views of what best serves both the American public and an industry many of us make our livings in. I oppose over consolidation. After someone explains the issue to you, come back and we can talk about why I'm correct even when it comes down to just the dollars.

[treestar]

97. That's what I think every time they bring this up

the problem is that the networks do what sells and a lot of people allow themselves to be influenced by that. We have many other sources of information we can use. Anyone has access to it; it's what people choose that is the issue. We could try to convince other voters of that. It's pointless to simply rage against the networks, etc.

[tiptonic]

40. Sad thing

The really sad thing is, we pay them for the honor, of watching their propaganda and commercials.

[spanone]

42. this is why we have trump 24/7. fascists are winning

[ngGale]

44. K&R

Totally true...

[nadinbrzezinski]

56. But, but, but they are not all the same!!!!!!

By the way, this is why small independent media needs YOUR SUPPORT.

Find who is doing this locally and support them. Part of the hope is that like the age of radio when papers were like king, and owned by two or three families, that we can break this though internet media.

[Hekate]

57. Kick and Wrecked

[cantbeserious]

68. Know Thy Enemy - Oligarchs, Corporations, Banks And Their Media Minions And MIC Henchmen

eom

[Rex]

72. Well it is now a very large idiot box.

The WWW is getting just as bad.

[LanternWaste]

74. Accurately predicated by Ben Bagdikian thirty years ago

Accurately predicated by Ben Bagdikian thirty years ago in his 1983 book, The Media Monopoly. Anyone who wants to see, can; and from that perspective, infer the validity and efficacy of any major media news broadcast.

I see it less as having the wool pulled over anyone's eyes, and more a simple sense of collective apathy coupled with salad-bar news watching and the repeal of Fairness Doctrine.

[ashling]

81. I've used this graphic

in my government classes in the unit that covers media

[Uncle Joe]

82. And some people wonder why we refer to them as the corporate media.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.

[Babel_17]

85. Worth keeping in mind (nt)

[Pryderi]

92. Explains #BernieBlackout. n/t

[mgmaggiemg]

94. we already know we are being spoonfed

by sleazy car salesmen also known as lobbyists, pollsters and news networks....etc etc....
I am not voting for Bernie because I can't stand the misogynist demographic attracted to his campaign.

[Enthusiast]

95. Hey, kpete! What do they always say? What do the cheerleaders for deregulation always say?

They say there will be more competition ( ) and lower prices. Those lying fuckers! They have used that lie dozens of times

Now, when it comes to the TPP they can't even use their favorite lie. They have used up their favorite lie.

[rurallib]

100. mark to return to

[randys1]

101. And since Howard Dean's proclamation that he would break them up, and his subsequent

destruction by MSM, nothing now can fix this short of a revolution.

[truedelphi]

102. Thank you Kpete. I was in a local cafe, and someone was asking others at his

Table why we had the electoral college.

And folks were trying to explain it, with me from the adjacent table joining in, of course.

But the logic behind the electoral college is non-existent, so we really couldn't explain it.

That got us off on the topic of "Well, the Powers that Be control the whole caboodle. And they probably already know who will win in 2016."

People in my small, fire-ravaged, and economically straddled county get that the rug has been pulled out from under the middle class.

[vaberella]

113. This makes me want to watch The Network.

We're a world of Oligarchies.

[niyad]

114. k and r with thanks for the great graphics

[gregcrawford]

115. And yet...

... a frightening number of people support candidates who openly defend - and court contributions from - the very companies lying to us every day, and fucking us to death in the process. Go figure.

Those assholes deserve whatever fate befalls them. The rest of us do not.

[classykaren]

116. Thank you for posting this