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In reply to the discussion: Regarding MSNBC [View all]

Moral Compass

(1,477 posts)
99. Bread and Circus
Fri Dec 6, 2013, 12:29 PM
Dec 2013

I've never forgotten. What so many fail to see is that MSNBC adroitly straddles the fence, but if you distill it all down they always adhere to the corporate/security state narrative. One has to travel out of the country and just pick up a few publications to realize that everything we hear and read has a slant. At that time, the slant was that we were going into Iraq because, by God!, we were going into Iraq. Hans Blix couldn't be given time to show the world that those chemical weapons (which even if Sadam had had he couldn't have delivered to the U.S.) didn't exist because we were going to go in.Period. End of sentence. The U.S. had decided to wage unprovoked war. Again. We were going to go in with all guns blazing because we were going to go in, dammit! It was an elegant tautology.

The MSM, as we now call them, willingly and enthusiastically beat the drums of war. MSNBC was no exception. Chris Matthews, a supposed liberal Democrat, was the loudest and the most enthusiastic proponent of the Iraq war. At times, he made Fox seem measured and moderate.

These are the United States we live in. The press is no longer the 4th Estate, but is part of the apparatus of the national security state. They know very well what side their bread is buttered on.

What doesn't fit the narrative of the moment is disappeared. Anyone that has done any writing and taken a basic writing class knows that the narrative is crafted as much by what is left out as by what is left in.

Martin Bashir had to go because he said something true (albeit very offensive) about someone the power elite finds very useful--Sarah Palin. She distracts with a potent concoction of nativist, populist nonsense.

The whole show--whether Fox, NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC...is to distract us from what is really going on. The U.S., at some point during the Cheney administration (I do not say that with tongue in cheek) became a rogue nation. The blatant, deliberate amorality of our national policy and the easily discerned continuity of our brutal realpolitik reveals that our votes ceased counting some time ago.

We, the masses, are to be entertained while we are being robbed of our rights, our wealth, and our souls. A few of us, impotent Cassandras, try to point out what seems to us so very, very obvious...to no avail.

The truth is that you and me and everyone that posts here and on any site has to continue to live and we cannot muck with the power any more than any mere laborer can afford to buck the master.

We should all go back and read the powerful writings of the late, and very lamented Joe Baegant who spoke eloquently about how we're all caught in the hologram and cannot escape. At the end of his days, I believe he had lost all hope because we are as a people glued to our electronic input devices like fetal marsupials riding in their mother's warm pouch with their mouths glued to her life giving teat.

The elite fear us because we so many, but as long they provide us with bread and circus and the illusion that there are two sides to every issue (when, in actuality, there is always only one consensus) then all remains the same. We are not privy to the workings of power. We are just to go to work and then go home and play with our phones, wield electronic weapons on electronic battlefields against electronic enemies, and watch whatever pap is spewing from our screens. As long as that continues we are safely inert.

Move along, move along...nothing to see here. As long as we are just subsisting we are their pawns and slaves. All the rest, on MSNBC or Fox, is just part of the show. Sit back and enjoy.

Regarding MSNBC [View all] WilliamPitt Dec 2013 OP
as all television, the news departments are expected to make money, not just report news. spanone Dec 2013 #1
And some would call it collusion. Baitball Blogger Dec 2013 #4
the worse kind. spanone Dec 2013 #5
Free press is something you have to work to find tblue Dec 2013 #45
The USG did have a mole in Al Jazeera at one point. Allegedly. merrily Dec 2013 #82
'a phone call I got from an MSNBC producer in February of 2003' elleng Dec 2013 #2
? WilliamPitt Dec 2013 #6
Was a while ago. Wondering elleng Dec 2013 #10
A network is a network is a network. WilliamPitt Dec 2013 #12
I remember those days very well PatSeg Dec 2013 #14
It's a known fact that Matthews wouldn't go on unless Donahue was released .. guess what. YOHABLO Dec 2013 #74
"Least awful" still qualifies as "awful" hatrack Dec 2013 #127
I was going to ask if that producer is still there. pacalo Dec 2013 #19
They've had three changes of owners in the last ten years. But whatever. MADem Dec 2013 #56
Yeah, that's the point. WilliamPitt Dec 2013 #57
Oh please, ease back on the drama. I like the Rachel Maddow MSNBC better than the MADem Dec 2013 #60
Take it easy... Hillary. go west young man Dec 2013 #93
Speaking of Hillary... maddiemom Dec 2013 #94
The righties "nothing there" scandals go west young man Dec 2013 #95
Way to completely miss the point I was advancing. MADem Dec 2013 #96
And you think you'll have the last laugh as Wall Street reigns supreme and the rhett o rick Dec 2013 #119
From what nether orifice you pulled that complete invention, I've no idea. It's not true. MADem Dec 2013 #123
Kick for you MADem! sheshe2 Dec 2013 #126
Careful, you're making too much sense! 7962 Dec 2013 #103
Agreed. stopbush Dec 2013 #105
They bought the whole, "This is a center-right country" lie.... Spitfire of ATJ Dec 2013 #75
You're kidding. zentrum Dec 2013 #35
Tim Russert had a direct line to the White House. Baitball Blogger Dec 2013 #3
Thank you mstinamotorcity2 Dec 2013 #7
K&R. You forgot to mention their termination of Phil Donahue in the Iraq bullwinkle428 Dec 2013 #8
Did . you read Will's whole piece at the link? Because the Phil Donahue firing is included. hedda_foil Dec 2013 #23
I apologize - I clicked on the link and skimmed the full piece, bullwinkle428 Dec 2013 #73
Their "liberalism" is simply market segmentation BlueStreak Dec 2013 #9
The 3-day weekend airing of the prison programs is a slap in the face to their viewers. pacalo Dec 2013 #25
Money. That's the bottom line. progressoid Dec 2013 #29
The problem is that liberals generally don't sit around needing to be spoonfed propaganda 24x7 BlueStreak Dec 2013 #32
True. progressoid Dec 2013 #42
If they did that, they could just run from 6:30 - 6:40 each night BlueStreak Dec 2013 #52
Ha! Good point - and funny. stopbush Dec 2013 #106
Perhaps Rachel was thinking the same thing. pacalo Dec 2013 #33
I admit I watch LockUp Jamaal510 Dec 2013 #62
I have my own guilty pleasure... pacalo Dec 2013 #63
I like that idea, Jamaal510 Dec 2013 #70
It's cheap to do it that way. I guess liberals do shit on weekends, and conservatives sit MADem Dec 2013 #64
I think the "lick the anus of Comcast/GE crowd" .... MindMover Dec 2013 #77
Honestly? I think if they could make "LOCKUP" money with live shows, they'd do it. MADem Dec 2013 #79
They can't jeff47 Dec 2013 #115
Many of us Old Timers here remember that. Thanks for reposting. eom KoKo Dec 2013 #11
I rarely watch MSNBC now riverbendviewgal Dec 2013 #13
Ditto SoapBox Dec 2013 #21
Yep, us too,,,, we just slowly stopped. KarenS Dec 2013 #86
Question everything. I know, I know "the choir". mahannah Dec 2013 #15
wow. if something like that happened to me, BlancheSplanchnik Dec 2013 #16
Look at how Phil Donahue and Ashleigh Banfield were gone from the MSNBC landscape Roland99 Dec 2013 #17
Well here's what I think ginnyinWI Dec 2013 #18
I don't watch tv news, either, & I can relate to the benefits you described. pacalo Dec 2013 #27
I appreciate the post. Hulk Dec 2013 #112
Yes. We are only told what they think we should hear. ginnyinWI Dec 2013 #130
Love the savings! Hulk Dec 2013 #131
I'm with you, Will. Demoiselle Dec 2013 #20
such a great line, gonna try and remember it.. ;) eom 2banon Dec 2013 #113
Why hasn't the press or at least members of the press apologized loud and clear for the JDPriestly Dec 2013 #22
There is no remaining unbiased media, period. Enthusiast Dec 2013 #24
I don't think there ever was. Bohunk68 Dec 2013 #40
I guess the lesson here is to always be critical of what you're hearing. herding cats Dec 2013 #26
Well, at the end of the day, GE owns them and war is good for the pockets of GE. glowing Dec 2013 #28
Ao of March 19, 2013, GE no longer held any interst in NBC Universal. Fla Dem Dec 2013 #39
Comcast is a rightwing toolbagging co. glowing Dec 2013 #44
It's all an illusion... think Dec 2013 #30
I quit their station and pretty much all tv news after bbgrunt Dec 2013 #31
Gees.Trayvon's defense, K streets exposure,the pullout of troops from Iraq-live, election coverage The Wielding Truth Dec 2013 #51
I totally agree. I feel safer watching MSNBC than any other news channel. juajen Dec 2013 #78
I will take MSNBC seriously when... kentuck Dec 2013 #34
It does not matter if they do, watoos Dec 2013 #47
Thank you, William Richard D Dec 2013 #36
Appreciate your opinion. But I for one am glad there is SOME progressive voices heard on the MSM Fla Dem Dec 2013 #37
"and I'm glad they're on our side" WilliamPitt Dec 2013 #38
But they're not on the side of conservatives, either. stopbush Dec 2013 #107
Balderdash! Making money had nothing to do with their decision to fire Donahue. rhett o rick Dec 2013 #121
I see four lights. rosesaylavee Dec 2013 #41
the corporate media played cheerleaders for the war. wilsonbooks Dec 2013 #43
Seems that most if not all debunkthis Dec 2013 #46
I could just tblue Dec 2013 #48
The issue is NOT the media. It's to consumer AceWheeler Dec 2013 #49
"It's still fucking corporate television news." Cleita Dec 2013 #50
The way they always defend the establishment Mosaic Dec 2013 #53
THANK YOU Skittles Dec 2013 #54
GE owned most of that joint in 2003. They weren't at all "liberal." MADem Dec 2013 #55
Mark Zucker and Olbermann made MSNBC profitable once again. go west young man Dec 2013 #58
Understanding their logic Mosaic Dec 2013 #61
Interesting theory. go west young man Dec 2013 #91
"Never forget that." ~~ I never do. Going "progressive" was a corporate decision... Hekate Dec 2013 #59
Follow the money. Corporate broadcasting gets its money from conservative advertisers. JEFF9K Dec 2013 #65
Was the show going to be live? Release The Hounds Dec 2013 #66
MSNBC was one of the biggest promoters of the Iraq invasion. blkmusclmachine Dec 2013 #67
MSNBC has several right wingers to every left winger on their daily lineup. Hubert Flottz Dec 2013 #68
I'm always surprised when people suggest that MSNBC is left-wing. bloom Dec 2013 #69
HUGE K & R !!! - Thank You !!! WillyT Dec 2013 #71
I'll never forget that lovely Chris Matthews abomination - "we're all neocons now." calimary Dec 2013 #72
OMG, I Won't Forget Tweety Drooling Over Dubya Either colsohlibgal Dec 2013 #76
They got rid of Phil Donahue. That pretty much sums it up. But yeah, they have moved silvershadow Dec 2013 #80
Correct. MSNBC began switching when Bush's poll numbers tanked. merrily Dec 2013 #81
I should add: most of the msm has that same blood on its hands. merrily Dec 2013 #83
They have the same blood on their hands. Sky Masterson Dec 2013 #84
I see a lot of talk about Donahue and Olbermann watoos Dec 2013 #85
Yes he did. Thanks for reminding us. eom KoKo Dec 2013 #111
ratigan was great questionseverything Dec 2013 #120
Thank you. H2O Man Dec 2013 #87
Agree..K&R....raised fist.... BrainDrain Dec 2013 #88
K & R ctsnowman Dec 2013 #89
I always felt MSNBC's "progressivism" was more about marketing than politics deutsey Dec 2013 #90
One thing you can say about MSNBC wyldwolf Dec 2013 #92
Stewart and Colbert keep you better informed. Seriously. HomerRamone Dec 2013 #97
How can y'all forget about Tweety creaming his pants over Trent Lott after what he said about Liberal_Stalwart71 Dec 2013 #98
Bread and Circus Moral Compass Dec 2013 #99
Your writing is wonderfully insightful, nails our collective situation on it's head. 2banon Dec 2013 #117
Thank you so much Moral Compass Dec 2013 #122
It takes time I think.. there are other decent writers here that would appreciate your insights 2banon Dec 2013 #128
I forgot to say hope you're staying warm and the power is still on! 2banon Dec 2013 #129
Seems like everything on the TV is selling a fantasy. JEB Dec 2013 #100
corporate television is all about behavior control.... mike_c Dec 2013 #101
Precisely on point.. which is why it's important for everyone to turn it off. eom 2banon Dec 2013 #114
Indeed, JimboBillyBubbaBob Dec 2013 #102
IMO it matters more who the content is coming from than what network it airs on. D23MIURG23 Dec 2013 #104
Well said malaise Dec 2013 #108
Exactly - That's essentially why I will never ever pay a dime to subscribe to Cable or Dish Sat 2banon Dec 2013 #109
It's the Dead Intern and Mrs. Greenspan channel. nt valerief Dec 2013 #110
All cable "news" is a niche market DaveT Dec 2013 #116
MSNBC went to the left only to create a false equivalency athenasatanjesus Dec 2013 #118
I find it hilarious how some pundits lump MSNBC in with Fox (not-news) Proud Liberal Dem Dec 2013 #124
Kicked and recommended. Uncle Joe Dec 2013 #125
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