Corporate Media Uphold Tyranny

Via
Black Star News


Intellectuals like Chomsky are ignored
as media feed the masses poisonous nonsense
meant to dull the mind and promote docility


The reality is that corporate American media is just as responsible for the Iraq war, as the Bush White House or power-hungry politicians like Hillary Clinton, who voted for the war at a time when anyone opposing it would have been denounced as a traitor. That’s not leadership--that’s pandering, one of her trademarks.

By Colin Benjamin
April 6th, 2008


[Speaking Truth To Power]


Without a public enlightened by information, democracy can never flourish; ironically, America’s “democracy” is now being sabotaged by the very institution entrusted with nurturing it--the media.

Our so-called “Fourth Estate,” the press, continually sell-out the American public. In his 1841 book “On Heroes and Hero Worship” Thomas Carlyle, referring to Irish political theorist Edmond Burke, wrote: “Burke said there were three estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters’ Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more important far than they all…Whoever can speak, speaking now to the whole nation, becomes a power, a branch of government, with inalienable weight in law-making…
The requisite thing is, that they have a tongue that others will listen to; this and nothing more is requisite.”

Carlyle’s writings echoed Burke’s words articulating the press’ power which lies not only in its ability to compile facts and figures, but in its awesome influence in shaping and molding public opinion by the art of persuasion. However, America’s media is using persuasion as a perversion and misinforming the public to disastrous consequences.

Iraq is one example. Sure, the Bush White House lied to the American people, with the acquiescence of leaders like Hillary “I misspoke” Clinton. But this fraudulent episode was sold by media darlings like Tim Russert, Bill O’Reilly and Judith Miller; the latter functioned as a White House stenographer. Where was the independent reportage by the media?

This past week the nation commemorated the fifth year of this war-for-profit scheme. Where was the in-depth analysis of this criminal undertaking? We just reached the supposed 4,000 threshold of American soldiers killed in Iraq. In fact, there is evidence that the figure is higher, since apparently the government doesn’t count those soldiers who die in hospitals and the like after they have been rescued from the war zone.

Given all this, why won’t media report the death toll of the Iraqi people who we are supposedly “liberating?” I guess dead Iraqi boys and girls don’t compare to fatalities involving blond-hair, blue-eyed Americans. Is this how America ushers “democracy” and “freedom” to the rest of the world?

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