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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
 Posted - 08/30/2004 : 02:30:19
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The TV news media have reached a new low. I watched CSPAN all morning with the little picture in a picture on the other news stations, flipping around to keep track of what was going on.
12:00EST, 09:00PST where I am I began to watch the incredible protest march in NYC. There were thousands and thousands of people. They filled the street. The march continued for hours with more people and more people. Clearly there were way more folks than are going to attend the convention.
So what was on the other news channels? Less than a minute or two, maybe once an hour at most. FOX had a little bit more than the other stations with comments like, "They expected 1/4 million marchers but it looks like they have way less than that".
Oh gee, they only had a hundred thousand people who came from all over the country just to protest against Bush. What an insignificant group of 'anarchists'. Of course FOX used that label a few times.
And just what else was being covered that was soooo important it preempted the news of the march? Well, lets see. There were so many interviews to cover amongst the backdrop of the empty convention center. There were all the preparations for the up coming festivities. We must show the balloons. After all, the balloons didn't all come down at the Democratic convention.
But wait, someone lit a cart on fire. Stop the presses, or I mean, get a shot of that. So while on CSPAN you could see what was on fire, you could see the crowd was 40 or 50 feet away and under control, on FOX, they were reporting they didn't know if anyone was hurt, they weren't sure what exactly was taking place. From the FOX camera angle you couldn't see that no one was near the cart. I guess it didn't dawn on them to check the other channels.
100,000 people rates a couple minutes of news! How many hours have we been subjected to of the Peterson trial now?
Even the news of the planning of the event was not mentioned. CSPAN interviewed lots of protesters. They talked with a woman who was putting 10 people up in her Brooklyn apartment. They toured the apartment with her and talked about the details of how the 10 strangers had contacted her and was she worried about having strangers there. The planning and preparations were all done via the internet. This alone should have been a major story.
I am just plain outraged.
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 08/30/2004 : 03:07:57 [Permalink]
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Pretty pathetic, ain't it? News on the tube isn't worth watching, except for local and even that is far less than excellent. I've read that there were more than 100,000 marching; one overly-excited observer claiming as many as four times that. And jack-shit from the 'liberal' press, eh?
I haven't read of any arrests as yet. If there are some, you can bet the blithering heads will slap on makeup like the cheap, street hookers they are, and be all over it.
But for now, the fans of cable news will have to be satisfied with buffoons balloons.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Cuneiformist
The Imperfectionist
USA
4955 Posts |
Posted - 08/30/2004 : 08:01:34 [Permalink]
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I dunno. I aviod the cable news channels, but I did read in today's New York Times about them. And they got front page press on the my local paper, the Baltimore Sun. I also recall hearing about them on today's Moring Edition on NPR.
Predicably, however, the utterly lame and hopelessly conservative Daily Oklahoman, representing my home state, said nothing. |
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
Posted - 08/30/2004 : 11:26:27 [Permalink]
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There was some coverage in the print media, but today in the usual headliners on the web there is very little:
quote:
Top Stories from Reuters Aug 30 2:09pm ET
Republicans Salute Bush in Convention Opener
Few Visit Ground Zero in N.Y. as Convention Begins
Iraqi Cleric Calls Cease-Fire After Bloody Uprising
World News from OneWorld.net Aug 27 6:38am ET
Advisory Warning Kashmir Dangerous for Israelis Fails to Deter Tourists
Starvation Deaths, Food Riots Follow Flood in Eastern India
Torture, Hunger Daily Fare In India's Juvenile Homes
Top Stories Audio/Video from NPR Aug 30 12:54pm ET
Bush's Response to Sept. 11 Key Theme for GOP
Kremlin's Pick Wins Chechen Election
Peaceful Protests Greet Start of GOP Convention
Top Stories from AP Aug 30 2:04pm ET
GOP Lauds Bush As Strong Wartime Leader
Bush Tempers Expectations on Terror War
Al-Sadr Calls on Militia to Stop Fighting
Europe News from AP Aug 30 1:41pm ET
New Chechen President Has Tough Task
Kremlin Choice Wins in Chechnya Election
Links Between Two Chechen Women Grows
World News from AP Africa Aug 30 1:52pm ET
Coup Trial in African State Mirrors Novel
South African Mercenary Suspects Charged
U.N.: N.Korea-Libya Nuclear Link Possible
Middle East News from AP Aug 30 2:04pm ET
Gaza Settlement Evacuation Plan Sped Up
U.S. Marine Fired at in Saudi Arabia
Al-Sadr Calls on Militia to Stop Fighting
World News from AP Latin America Aug 30 2:02pm ET
Colombians May Enter Prisoner-Swap Talks
Mexico City Mayor Leads Demonstrators
Fox's Achievments Met by Skepticism
Top Stories from washingtonpost.com Aug 30 11:56am ET
At GOP Convention, Echoes of Sept. 11
Proud Country Shows the World 'Great Things Greeks Can Do'
Afghan Office Of U.S. Firm Hit by Bomb
World News from AP Asia Aug 30 1:15pm ET
NATO Troops Detain Suspect at Airport
China Calls Barring of Lawmaker a Mistake
General Strike Cripples Bangladesh
I realize TV news is pitiful. They didn't cover the 500,000+ women who marched at the Capitol this year either. But this is really shameful. |
| Edited by - beskeptigal on 08/30/2004 11:29:12 |
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dominic_dice
Skeptic Friend
United Kingdom
53 Posts |
Posted - 08/30/2004 : 12:01:31 [Permalink]
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| Terrible. Though considering it is American news, the BBC did pretty well. It was covered for about the equivilent of 2-3 'normal' news item slots. |
"Are you THE dominic_dice"
"No, a dominic_dice. I come in six packs now" |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
Posted - 08/30/2004 : 12:37:29 [Permalink]
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| Today, The Los Angeles Times lead story is the protest. There is a big picture of lots of people in the street as well. Since I am not on my computer and I don't have much time, you will have to seek out the link to it yourself. Anyhow, at least print media here has taken notice... |
Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard
3192 Posts |
Posted - 08/30/2004 : 12:56:05 [Permalink]
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| The net coverage was decent enough. Really I dont care about protesters, their everywhere for every reason. |
"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History
"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini |
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Wendy
SFN Regular
USA
614 Posts |
Posted - 08/30/2004 : 13:25:07 [Permalink]
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I am a volunteer for the Kerry/Edwards campaign. Last Saturday some other volunteers and I manned a booth at a local classic car show. We invited people to register to vote (regardless of their party of choice AND we turned ALL forms in) and to learn about where John Kerry stands on the ISSUES. It was discouraging to say the least. One woman actually said she couldn't vote for Kerry because her husband was a Vietnam Veteran. I thought my head would explode.
The protesters will not be heard this week. Not really. Hopefully they will be loud but peaceful and not do more harm than good. There is certainly a very real potential for them to harm the campaign, though I believe most are savvy enough to know that and be careful.
Please, PLEASE vote and encourage everyone you know to do the same. We simply cannot tolerate four more years of Bush.
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Millions long for immortality who don't know what to do on a rainy afternoon.
-- Susan Ertz
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@tomic
Administrator
USA
4607 Posts |
Posted - 08/30/2004 : 13:32:18 [Permalink]
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quote:
Please, PLEASE vote and encourage everyone you know to do the same.
This is really all it would take to get rid of Bush since he represents about 1% of the population. Some of his supporters have just been fooled into thinking he supports them but that's another story. Most Americans are of average income. Hard working people that need a government that will not allow big business to take advantage of them. This describes almost every American. If they would just hussle their asses to the polling booth on election day the GOP wouldn't be much of a force in American politics.
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Gravity, not just a good idea...it's the law!
Sportsbettingacumen.com: The science of sports betting |
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Cuneiformist
The Imperfectionist
USA
4955 Posts |
Posted - 08/30/2004 : 18:14:34 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by @tomic
quote:
Please, PLEASE vote and encourage everyone you know to do the same.
This is really all it would take to get rid of Bush since he represents about 1% of the population. Some of his supporters have just been fooled into thinking he supports them but that's another story. Most Americans are of average income. Hard working people that need a government that will not allow big business to take advantage of them. This describes almost every American. If they would just hussle their asses to the polling booth on election day the GOP wouldn't be much of a force in American politics.
But that's the trick, isn't it? Some very smart, very shrewd people figured out not too long ago that for the very reasons you note above, they will forever have trouble getting more political power in this country. However, by co-opting a variety of views-- mostly fundamentalist Christian ones-- they could bring many many more to the fold (so to speak). The other large group duped by this gang is the small government crowd. These neo-cons talk about tax cuts to "starve" the government, but that obviously isn't happening. Instead, they've given themselves tax cuts (in the form of massive cuts to capital gains, upper income tax brackets, and estate taxes) and then shifted government money from social spending to big-time energy and defense spending. Think Haliburton.
The dupe comes in when ordinary people fail to understand (in part because if a hapless/stupid media/press corps) is that their taxes come mostly in the form of payroll taxes. These are the things you and I pay because we have wage-paying jobs. These have not been cut, nor would they be. After all, if you make millions of dollars a year, it likely comes mostly in the form of stock options, real estate, and other means of compensation that the payroll tax doesn't touch.
In the end, these ultra-elites stay wealthy. Worse, because they can easily afford insurance, schools for their kids, etc., the massive cuts the government has to make for socal services don't matter to them, and they can keep preaching tax cuts to tens of millions of Limbaugh-listening dolts who don't know any better.
I'd say it's their fault, but since I'm affected by all this I can't help but be enraged. We can only hope that enough people open their eyes (and that Kerry-Edwards does a good enough job of revealing the truth, and that our media do a good enough job of reporting it) to change things.
I'm not optimistic. |
| Edited by - Cuneiformist on 08/30/2004 18:17:41 |
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Paladin
Skeptic Friend
USA
100 Posts |
Posted - 08/30/2004 : 18:17:23 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigal
...I realize TV news is pitiful. They didn't cover the 500,000+ women who marched at the Capitol this year either. But this is really shameful.
Actually, it was 500,000+ women AND MEN who marched in Washington. In fact, I'd estimate that as much as 25% of those attending were fellas. We couldn't let the ladies carry the load all by themselves.  |
Paladin |
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@tomic
Administrator
USA
4607 Posts |
Posted - 08/30/2004 : 18:44:46 [Permalink]
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quote:
But that's the trick, isn't it? Some very smart, very shrewd people figured out not too long ago that for the very reasons you note above, they will forever have trouble getting more political power in this country. However, by co-opting a variety of views-- mostly fundamentalist Christian ones-- they could bring many many more to the fold (so to speak). The other large group duped by this gang is the small government crowd. These neo-cons talk about tax cuts to "starve" the government, but that obviously isn't happening. Instead, they've given themselves tax cuts (in the form of massive cuts to capital gains, upper income tax brackets, and estate taxes) and then shifted government money from social spending to big-time energy and defense spending. Think Haliburton.
 Ted Rall has written a great book called Wake Up, You're Liberal!: How We Can Take America Back from the Right which addresses this and other issues in a style I really enjoyed.
quote:
What I found was startling. On most issues, Americans--even Republicans--tend to favor values that could be best described as liberal. They fail to support candidates that agree with them on these issues, however, when they perceive hypocrisy or inconsistency in those men and women
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Gravity, not just a good idea...it's the law!
Sportsbettingacumen.com: The science of sports betting |
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Renae
SFN Regular
543 Posts |
Posted - 08/30/2004 : 20:37:30 [Permalink]
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The protest was on the front page of The Seattle Times this morning. I love this town. 
When I logged onto msnbcnews, I couldn't find the story. Maybe I overlooked it, but I swear, NBC is becoming Fox-er every day.
Why don't the neo-cons get why people hate them so much? Are we really that "divided" in this country? |
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
Posted - 08/31/2004 : 01:11:36 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Paladin
quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigal
...I realize TV news is pitiful. They didn't cover the 500,000+ women who marched at the Capitol this year either. But this is really shameful.
Actually, it was 500,000+ women AND MEN who marched in Washington. In fact, I'd estimate that as much as 25% of those attending were fellas. We couldn't let the ladies carry the load all by themselves.
Thank you for that correction. How dumb of me not to include the guys.
According to Democracy Now's Amy Goodman, the NYC march had closer to 400,000 people. The march lasted over 5 hours and the lead folks got to the convention center before all the end folks had even left the starting place.
It seems so odd that the polls keep showing Bush and Kerry about even. This march was not the result of a slow build up of discontented protesters like in the 60s. There was an historical number of people there. They were ignored by many of the news media sites. It seems you have to riot to get attention.
The 4 persons who hung the giant banner with <-Bush Truth-> off the hotel high rise have been charged with 2 felonies despite it being a misdemeanor offense. Some cop cut his foot when he stepped in a skylight so they tacked it on the offense.
So let's see, 400,000 march peacefully and they can't get their message out through the corporate owned news media broadcasting on monopoly controlled public airwaves. But if they try the most benign civil disobedience to get attention they are threatened with 10 to 20 years in jail.
On the brighter side, the group has great organization, excellent ability to communicate via the internet, and an increasing number of independent news sources. It gives me some confidence we are not doomed to slide into a passive or over controlled society. |
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard
USA
3834 Posts |
Posted - 08/31/2004 : 01:22:10 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by BigPapaSmurf
The net coverage was decent enough. Really I dont care about protesters, their everywhere for every reason.
Everywhere for every reason? Really? All 400,000 of them?
You don't have to care, nor agree with them. But how can you equate this march with the little groups of banner wavers that appear from time to time at the local city hall or wherever?
See, that's exactly what I am concerned about. Why would anyone think this was just a little insignificant peace rally? |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 08/31/2004 : 02:32:03 [Permalink]
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It was one hell of a scene, I'm reading. My son-in-law, who actually watchs cable news including Fox and in spite of the risk of brain damage, says he's still seen little on it.
My ulcer and ill temper won't let me watch the convention, but I've also read that inside the convention Bush is being compared to Churchill back in the Hitler days. Who sez the Republicans lack imagination and a sense of humor?
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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