Corporate owned government, medicine, and "news" media - who loses?

[AVID]

I am soooo glad that so many middle and low income families are putting their unfaltering faith in jesus, bush, faux news, pfizer, ge, abc, mtv, disney, etc. to look out for them and have one iota of interest for what might help them in time of despair, hunger, financial hardship, of need of assistance in getting a higher education.

They are being snookered at every turn - the pulpit, on primetime, and on primerate.

*shrub told them to go out and spend money to fight terrorism and boost the economy.
Well, they did - MBNA and Chase, GAP, and Home Depot got richer.

Who loses and is the grip of GE, pfizer, MBNA, TIME, and jesus too tight and powerful to ever let loose?

[Frances]

1. Bush told them to spend and they did

Now that they have huge credit card debt, Bush will sign a Republican sponsored law giving the credit card companies the power to ruin their lives.

(I know that some Dems voted for the bill, but it was Dems who sponsored amendments to protect ordinary folks. The Republicans wouldn't hear of it!)

[gizmo1979]

2. I can guarantee you

It was not I who have won!It's to the point that I'm so pissed off I can't sleep at night.Living in the U.S.A right now is not alot of fun.

[ultraist]

3. speaking of gov owned media

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/13/politics/13covert.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5094&en=c0b6bad84e5bf46a&hp&ex=1110776400&partner=homepage

Under Bush, a New Age of Prepackaged Television News
By DAVID BARSTOW and ROBIN STEIN

Published: March 13, 2005

Transportation Security Administration
FICTITIOUS REPORTER: A public relations person using a false name reported on airport security.

THE MESSAGE MACHINE
How the Government Makes News

Ready-Made 'News'
Government agencies have been producing prepacked TV broadcasts for local news stations.

Army and Air Force Hometown News Service
POSITIVE STANCE: A report produced by the Pentagon emphasized military humanitarian efforts.

Karen Ryan was the "reporter" in several government-produced segments.

It is the kind of TV news coverage every president covets.

"Thank you, Bush. Thank you, U.S.A.," a jubilant Iraqi-American told a camera crew in Kansas City for a segment about reaction to the fall of Baghdad. A second report told of "another success" in the Bush administration's "drive to strengthen aviation security"; the reporter called it "one of the most remarkable campaigns in aviation history." A third segment, broadcast in January, described the administration's determination to open markets for American farmers.

To a viewer, each report looked like any other 90-second segment on the local news. In fact, the federal government produced all three. The report from Kansas City was made by the State Department. The "reporter" covering airport safety was actually a public relations professional working under a false name for the Transportation Security Administration. The farming segment was done by the Agriculture Department's office of communications.

Under the Bush administration, the federal government has aggressively used a well-established tool of public relations: the prepackaged, ready-to-serve news report that major corporations have long distributed to TV stations to pitch everything from headache remedies to auto insurance. In all, at least 20 federal agencies, including the Defense Department and the Census Bureau, have made and distributed hundreds of television news segments in the past four years, records and interviews show. Many were subsequently broadcast on local stations across the country without any acknowledgement of the government's role in their production.


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Oh, how weird, just as I was posting this one the Bush's Social Security commercials came on! It did not say, paid for by Bush or any type of disclaimer, it looked like a regular ad. CREEPY!

[Ready4Change]

4. Look at the interactions between the 3 entities.

Each case sounds bad in isolation, but it gets far worse when one considers the interactions between the three.

For example, Corporations influence politics. They pay for the campaigns of politicians who support corporate interests. Thus, corporations have an interest in the MEDIA presenting their politicians in a favorable light. The 3 cases have an interest in genuinely supporting each other.

But all 3 have no interest in actually supporting the people, so long as the people can be convinced that all is well.

Thus the media tells us they are trustworthy. (Fair and Balanced, Most Trusted News Source.) Politicians proclaim the freedom granted us by our American Democracy. And we are told our medical care is the best and most generous in the world.

Meanwhile, Washington is awash in corruption, Corporations and CEOs are raking in money hand over fist while laying off thousands and filing for bankruptcy, Senior Citizens can't afford medicines, and it looks like no one except the rich are likely to be able to afford any health care in the future.

All is well, America. All is well.

All of this, and I mean ALL of this, will change should the people awaken to how hoodwinked we all are. The question is, how violent will that change be?

As JFK said: "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." The triad this thread is about are making peaceful revolution very difficult.

[AVID]

5. I fear the grip on the internet - as soon as the tool becomes

far too powerful for the regime to stand

[Karenina]

6. The house of *cards

WILL FALL. I just wish we could get it over with. Amis will continue to REFUSE to "get it" until the ceiling crashes down on their heads. HARD. Everyone else is just waiting to exhale...