I am so upset right now that I don't know what to do. What the hell is going on with the media in this country?!
I'm watching CNN Pipleline's coverage of the GOP Debate, and I'm asking myself, "Why are they so blatantly giving certain candidates preferential coverage on posed questions and answers?!?".
I know that people out there reading this are plenty smart enough to understand how amazingly ridiculous and unacceptable this is, as it has an immense effect on public discourse.
Guliana, Romney and McCain... they've already chosen the "real" candidates for the rest of the nation. It's unfair, it's wrong, and I know I'm not the only one that is upset.
You, know, they have some nerve picking and choosing who gets to say what, and framing certain viewpoints the way they do. My jaw dropped when they chose to cut to a close-up of a conservative guest attendee while Ron Paul spoke on religion and politics - as if the rest of the world feels (or should feel) the same.
The list goes on and on, but the point is that I am disappointed in the major media outlets as of late and think that it's time for myself and the rest of the intelligent citizens in this country. I've never been a political minded individual, but the recent happenings in our government and the failure of the news media (CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, NYTIMES, etc).
If I'm moved like this, I know there are others out there. If it takes anger to make us speak out and make a difference, I'm all for it. At minimum, there needs to be real open discussion and public discourse. In short, this shit needs to change:
1) News outlets, televised, networked, online, offline, etc should not be commercial entities. News Channels that have 'NEWS' in their name shouldn't be in the commercial realm, and should have disclaimers that identify them for what they really are - entertainment. If they want to be considered REAL, profits should be dropped and/or donated back to the people and give way to TRUE, unbiased media outlets (i.e. NPR, BBC, etc).
2) Fuck the electoral college - you know it is NOT necessary and/or conducive to our democracy any more.
3) Require the public to have a real demonstrable understanding of the system that serves us before voting or making decisions that affect the rest of us. This implies nationwide, fact-based education of the general population in public institutions and an open-source tool for demonstrating this education afterwards.
4) End corporate sponsorship and direct/indirect lobbying of issues and politicians by business or representatives of these businesses. Just end it all together.
5) 4 Speaks to 5 just the same - the excess pork that gets passed in legislation has got to go as well.
X) This is a side note... let's get rid of people like O'Reilly, Nancy Gracy, Lou Dobbs, and the rest of the sensationalistic opportunists from FOX, CNN, etc. They're killing our nation, one viewer at a time!
So I'm babbling now, but I just felt like I wanted to say this, get it out there in the public sphere. If this choice is not to create measurable change, then it's to inspire conversation out there and empower others like myself to do something about it - no matter how important or unimportant.
Talk about it. Help us decide what we can do. TAKE OUR COUNTRY (not back, because I doubt we ever had it to begin with).
Good luck, and if you've made it this far down my rant - thank you.
