I'm worried. Page 95 of "A Nation of Sheep" reads...

[Viva_La_Revolution]

Douglass Cater, Washington newsman, in his excellent book, "The Fourth Branch of Government", brilliantly shows how many Congressional investigations simply are a technique for making and controlling news. Investigations, then, often are entertainment spectaculars created to attract public attention. They are a means of molding national opinion or creating fame for the investigators.

Cater wrote, "The most notable committee investigations are seldom point of fact 'investigations.' They are planned deliberately to move from a preconceived idea to a predetermined conclusion. The skill and resourcefulness of the chairman and sizable staff are pitted against any effort to alter its destined course. Whatever investigating is done takes place well in advance of the public hearing. The hearing is the final act in the drama. Its intent, by the staging of an arresting spectacle, is to attract public attention, to alarm or to allay, to enlighten, or yes, sometimes to obscure."


I read this a few weeks ago, and it has been playing in my head every time I think about the NSA hearings.

I'm scared it's true. :scared:

Edit: Copyright 1961

[phoebe]

1. and the 9/11 commission..

n/t

[rfranklin]

2. Of course, it is true...

The Republicans need cover for the fall elections. But they will not allow these hearings to blossom into anything that will really hurt them or their party on a large scale. There may be some sacrificial sheep but that's about it.

[Journeyman]

3. It certainly seems a good assessment for how many hearings work. . .

take back the House or Senate and we can have a shot at determining an investigation's course. . .

[Viva_La_Revolution]

4. it was written 45 years ago

and it seems it still applies. :mad:


BTW - William J. Lederer , also the author of "The Ugly American".

[Journeyman]

5. It doesn't surprise me it was written a while back. . .

I imagine it was old news then for those in the know -- the failings of our system are not new and certainly haven't sprung up full-blown even in our lifetimes. . .

[BrotherBuzz]

6. Kicked because I read this on Sunday and it's still playing in my head

Thank you, Viva_La_Revolution

[Greyhound]

7. They all play the same tune while we dance ourselves to death. n/t

[Just Me]

8. Aren't you sick to death of "being scared"?

These are a few fucker muthers messing with people's lives.

They don't give a shit about you,...exploit you at every moment,...emotionally.

Doesn't that piss you off.

Personally, I am hurt that they would do that. I seek justice against those assholes who have exploited me. ASSHOLES.