In a few hours you are going to see why I think the media is so dangerous

[Thrill]

And why I think its going to be so damn hard for a Democrat to ever win a Presidential Election again.

Now the Ayers ad is only set to run in two states. But now watch the media play that shit over and over for McCain. OVER AND OVER. To nation wide audiences. And there is nothing we can do about it. They pay for a 2.8 mill spot. And 12 mill coverage.

And people want to blame Obama for the lead being cut?? Its not him. I watch his events everyday online and have seen his ads on McCain. He is already hitting back harder than Kerry or Gore ever did. But the media doesn't play his ads over and over and they certainly don't replay his sound bytes.

We're fucked. Because the media is killing our side. And there is nothing we can do.

[AlinPA]

1. Yep, and the only way we can win is on the ground.

[Supersedeas]

16. it will have to be done on the ground--corp advertisers/marketeers control television news coverage

[TwilightGardener]

2. No, they only play the outrageous and debatable ads--which is why

McShame makes them as sensationalist as possible. Now we can spend days talking about whatever the McLoon camp wants the media to talk about.

[Ichingcarpenter]

6. No one is watching the election process where I live right now

Some Schools are starting up, shopping for clothes and supplies for their kids, watching the olympics, late summer vacations, and people are talking pre-season football


These people did pay attention during the primaries and the debates but not not much after
McCain and Obama won. Although many did watch pay attention during Obama's oversea trip in July.

The conventions will start people paying attention again.

[d_b]

3. been saying this for years

to the "no no, it's this, that, and the other thing". No, it's the corporate media. And I got news for you good folks...they ain't liberals.

[annabanana]

4. I'm hoping that, with more and more access to the internet,

more and more people are becoming aware of the discrepancy between what happens and what we are shown.

Corpomedia is useless for anything except weather reports...

[Arugula Latte]

12. I had that hope too, but

I must say, one thing that is depressing the living hell out of me is the way the dumbasses are able to spread their "Obama is a Muslim" and "Obama hates the flag" crap far and wide ... and plenty of people seem to believe it. The Internet is a great tool for spreading information, but it's also a great tool for spreading disinformation to the ignoramuses across this nation who eat that crap up with a spoon.

[blm]

30. IN my town, the newsmedia usually gets the weather wrong, too.

Honestly, people would be sick to their cores if they knew how much news gets actively suppressed in the newsrooms by the powerful owners who have the editors and reporters working in fear of losing their paychecks.

[Spazito]

5. Obama is running key ads in key states, bypassing the talking head media....

Most Americans have busy lives and catch their local news, very few actually watch CNN, MSNBC, Fox, etc. relative to watching their own local news and programs.

He is paying for ads that will actually reach more average Americans, McCain has to depend on the free coverage from the 24/7 talking heads to get his out.

[high density]

7. It'll run over and over just like the Swiftboat ad

and the "Celebrity" ad. That's just how it works. Now is the time when Obama's handlers will either earn their money or give us a repeat of Kerry/Edwards 04.

[blm]

24. I wish he WOULD hit back as hard as Kerry did but somehow force corpmedia to air his counterattacks

Would corporate media refuse to air major speech from a Dem nominee, then claim it never happened?


Edited on Tue Aug-19-08 04:52 PM by blm

Well, this day four years ago....August 19, 2004, that exact thing happened. Kerry was speaking to the Firefighters Convention, a friendly and fired up crowd whose union had endorsed Kerry early in the primaries and whose opinion carried a lot of weight post 9-11 as they were more engaged than ever in this nation's policies. Made for TV moments, until the press caught wind that Kerry would be attacking the swifts and accusing Bush of hiding behind them, and Kerry would be challenging Bush to debate their services during Vietnam instead of letting the swifts do his dirty work.

Then something strange happened. After receiving Kerry's prepared remarks, not one news network aired the speech. And few reported it during their daily coverage, and the clips of that speech never made into regular rotation for that day's news coverage or the next. Yet, for the last few years we have heard from too many media folks that "Kerry never responded to the swifts." Yet, no one can provide ONE INSTANCE where a Dem nominee ever challenged a sitting president to debate the smears instead of hiding behind those doing the smearing. That was real hardball, but corporate media needed to pretend it didn't happen when it happened, and still need to keep up the ruse so they are not found complicit for the coverup.

It's up to us to watch out for Obama's back EVERY SINGLE DAY. The press is NOT here for the people, they are in service to the fascist agenda of those who sign their paychecks.


From the prepared remarks of the Dem nominee Aug.19, 2004:

"...And more than thirty years ago, I learned an important lesson—when you're under attack, the best thing to do is turn your boat into the attacker. That's what I intend to do today.

Over the last week or so, a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth has been attacking me. Of course, this group isn’t interested in the truth – and they're not telling the truth. They didn't even exist until I won the nomination for president.

But here's what you really need to know about them. They're funded by hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Republican contributor out of Texas. They're a front for the Bush campaign. And the fact that the President won't denounce what they’re up to tells you everything you need to know—he wants them to do his dirty work.

Thirty years ago, official Navy reports documented my service in Vietnam and awarded me the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts. Thirty years ago, this was the plain truth. It still is. And I still carry the shrapnel in my leg from a wound in Vietnam.

As firefighters you risk your lives everyday. You know what it’s like to see the truth in the moment. You're proud of what you’ve done—and so am I.

Of course, the President keeps telling people he would never question my service to our country. Instead, he watches as a Republican-funded attack group does just that. Well, if he wants to have a debate about our service in Vietnam, here is my answer: "Bring it on."

I'm not going to let anyone question my commitment to defending America—then, now, or ever. And I'm not going to let anyone attack the sacrifice and courage of the men who saw battle with me.

And let me make this commitment today: their lies about my record will not stop me from fighting for jobs, health care, and our security – the issues that really matter to the American people..."





May 4, 2004. The Kerry campaign held a press conference directly after the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" event. (Above are, r-l, Wade Sanders, Del Sandusky and Drew Whitlow). Senior Advisor Michael Meehan said, "The Nixon White House attempted to do this to Kerry, and the Bush folks are following the same plan."

The campaign provided an information package which raised significant questions about "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth." Spaeth Communications, which hosted the event, "is a Republican headed firm from Texas which has contributed to Bush's campaign and has very close ties to the Bush Administration." Lead organizer John O'Neill, a Republican from Texas, "was a pawn of the Nixon White House in 1971." Further some of the people now speaking against Kerry had praised him in their evaluation reports in Vietnam.

John Dibble, who served on a swift boat in 1970, after Kerry had left, was one of the veterans at the Kerry event. He said of Kerry's anti-war activities that at the time, "I didn't like what he was doing." In retrospect, however, Dibble said, "I probably should have been doing the same thing...probably more of us should have been doing that." He said that might have meant fewer names on the Vietnam Memorial and that Kerry's anti-war activities were "a very gutsy thing to do."
>>>>>>


Kerry campaign's quick response to Swift boat vets
By Marie Horrigan
UPI Deputy Americas Editor
Washington, DC, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- The campaign for Democratic Party presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts issued an exhaustively researched and extensively sourced 36-page refutation Thursday of allegations Kerry lied about events during his service in Vietnam, including how and why he received medals, and had fled the scene of a battle.
>>>>>>>

Kerry: Bush lets attack ads do 'dirty work'
McClellan points out criticism by anti-Bush group
Friday, August 20, 2004 Posted: 2:37 PM EDT (1837 GMT)
BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry accused President Bush on Thursday of letting front groups "do his dirty work" in questioning his military service during the Vietnam War.

"The president keeps telling people he would never question my service to our country. Instead, he watches as a Republican-funded attack group does just that," Kerry told a firefighters' union conference in his hometown of Boston.

"Well, if he wants to have a debate about our service in Vietnam, here is my answer: Bring it on."
>>>>>>>

Talking Points Memo noticed what Kerry did...must have been watching Cspan.
(August 19, 2004 -- 01:26 PM EDT)

WELL, IT SEEMS there wasn't something in the air.

I didn't know the Kerry campaign was finally going to return fire today over this Swift Boat nonsense. But this morning, in a speech to the International Association of Fire Fighters in Boston, he responded squarely to the attacks. You can see complete text of the speech and the new response-ad they're running. But the key point is that he aimed his remarks at precisely the right target ...

Over the last week or so, a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth has been attacking me. Of course, this group isn?t interested in the truth ? and they?re not telling the truth. They didn?t even exist until I won the nomination for president.
<...>


This is a good thing -- and not simply because Kerry has to respond to the president's surrogates who are trying (and, to an extent, succeeding) in damaging his candidacy with scurrilous and discredited attacks.

There is a meta-debate going on here, one that I'm not sure even the practitioners fully articulate to themselves and one that I'm painfully aware the victims don't fully understand.

Let's call it the Republicans' Bitch-Slap theory of electoral politics.

It goes something like this.

On one level, of course, the aim behind these attacks is to cast suspicion upon Kerry's military service record and label him a liar. But that's only part of what's going on.

Consider for a moment what the big game is here. This is a battle between two candidates to demonstrate toughness on national security. Toughness is a unitary quality, really -- a personal, characterological quality rather than one rooted in policy or divisible in any real way. So both sides are trying to prove to undecided voters either that they're tougher than the other guy or at least tough enough for the job.

<…>

This meta-message behind the president's attacks on Kerry's war record is more consequential than many believe. So hitting back hard was critical on many levels.
>>>>>


Yes...the corporate press corps knew EXACTLY how important this issue was and that is WHY they needed to downplay it and keep Bush protected from Kerry's challenge to debate their services during Vietnam. Who was the press corps serving?


Altercation Book Club: Lapdogs by Eric Boehlert
\
Relatively early on in the August coverage of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth story, ABC's Nightline devoted an entire episode to the allegations and reported, "The Kerry campaign calls the charges wrong, offensive and politically motivated. And points to Naval records that seemingly contradict the charges." (Emphasis added.) Seemingly? A more accurate phrasing would have been that Navy records "completely" or "thoroughly" contradicted the Swifty. In late August, CNN's scrawl across the bottom of the screen read, "Several Vietnam veterans are backing Kerry's version of events." Again, a more factual phrasing would have been "Crewmembers have always backed Kerry's version of events." But that would have meant not only having to stand up a well-funded Republican campaign attack machine, but also casting doubt on television news' hottest political story of the summer.

When the discussion did occasionally turn to the facts behind the Swift Boat allegations, reporters and pundits seemed too spooked to address the obvious—that the charges made no sense and there was little credible evidence to support them.. Substituting as host of "Meet the Press," Andrea Mitchell on Aug. 15 pressed Boston Globe reporter Anne Kornblut about the facts surrounding Kerry's combat service: "Well, Anne, you've covered him for many years, John Kerry. What is the truth of his record?" Instead of mentioning some of the glaring inconsistencies in the Swifties' allegation, such as George Elliott and Adrian Lonsdale 's embarrassing flip-flops, Kornblut ducked the question, suggesting the truth was "subjective": "The truth of his record, the criticism that's coming from the Swift Boat ads, is that he betrayed his fellow veterans. Well, that's a subjective question, that he came back from the war and then protested it. So, I mean, that is truly something that's subjective." Ten days later Kornblut scored a sit-down interview with O'Neill. In her 1,200-word story she politely declined to press O'Neill about a single factual inconsistency surrounding the Swifties' allegations, thereby keeping her Globe readers in the dark about the Swift Boat farce. (It was not until Bush was safely re-elected that that Kornblut, appearing on MSNBC, conceded the Swift Boast ads were clearly inaccurate.)

Hosting an Aug. 28 discussion on CNBC with Newsweek's Jon Meacham and Time's Jay Carney, NBC's Tim Russert finally, after weeks of overheated Swifty coverage, got around to asking the pertinent question: "Based on everything you have heard, seen, reported, in terms of the actual charges, the content of the book, is there any validity to any of it?" Carney conceded the charges did not have any validity, but did it oh, so gently: "I think it's hard to say that any one of them is by any standard that we measure these things has been substantiated." Apparently Carney forgot to pass the word along to editors at Time magazine, which is read by significantly more news consumers than Russert's weekly cable chat show on CNBC. Because it wasn't until its Sept. 20 2004 issue, well after the Swift Boat controversy had peaked, that the Time news team managed enough courage to tentatively announce the charges levied against Kerry and his combat service were "reckless and unfair." (Better late than never; Time's competitor Newsweek waited until after the election to report the Swift Boat charges were "misleading," but "very effective.") But even then, Time didn't hold the Swifties responsible for their "reckless and unfair" charges. Instead, Time celebrated them. Typing up an election postscript in November, Time toasted the Swift Boat's O'Neill as one of the campaign's "Winners," while remaining dutifully silent about the group's fraudulent charges.

That kind of Beltway media group self-censorship was evident throughout the Swift Boat story, as the perimeters of acceptable reporting were quickly established. Witness the MSM reaction to Wayne Langhofer, Jim Russell and Robert Lambert. All three men served with Kerry in Vietnam and all three men were witnesses to the disputed March 13, 1969 event in which Kerry rescued Green Beret Jim Rassmann, winning a Bronze Star and his third Purple Heart. The Swifties, after 35 years of silence, insisted Kerry did nothing special that day, and that he certainly did not come under enemy fire when he plucked Rassmann out of the drink. Therefore, Kerry did not deserve his honors.

It's true every person on Kerry's boat, along with the thankful Rassmann, insisted they were under fire, and so did the official Navy citation for Kerry's Bronze Star. Still, Swifties held to their unlikely story, and the press pretended to be confused about the stand-off. Then during the last week in August three more eyewitnesses, all backing the Navy's version of events that there had been hostile gun fire, stepped forward. They were Langhofer, Russell and Lambert.

Russell wrote an indignant letter to his local Telluride Daily Planet to dispute the Swifties' claim: "Forever pictured in my mind since that day over 30 years ago John Kerry bending over his boat picking up one of the rangers that we were ferrying from out of the water. All the time we were taking small arms fire from the beach; although because of our fusillade into the jungle, I don't think it was very accurate, thank God. Anyone who doesn't think that we were being fired upon must have been on a different river."

The number of times Russell was subsequently mentioned on CNN: 1. On Fox News: 1. MSNBC: 0. ABC: 1. On CBS: 0. On NBC: 0.

Like Russell, Langhofer also remembered strong enemy gunfire that day. An Aug. 22 article in the Washington Post laid out the details: "Until now, eyewitness evidence supporting Kerry's version had come only from his own crewmen. But yesterday, The Post independently contacted a participant who has not spoken out so far in favor of either camp who remembers coming under enemy fire. “There was a lot of firing going on, and it came from both sides of the river,” said Wayne D. Langhofer, who manned a machine gun aboard PCF-43, the boat that was directly behind Kerry’s. Langhofer said he distinctly remembered the “clack, clack, clack” of enemy AK-47s, as well as muzzle flashes from the riverbanks." (For some strange reason the Post buried its Langhofer scoop in the 50th paragraph of the story.)

The number of times Langhofer was subsequently mentioned on CNN: 0. On Fox News: 0. On MSNBC: 0. On ABC: 0. CBS: 0. NBC: 0.

As for Lambert, The Nation magazine uncovered the official citation for the Bronze Medal he won that same day and it too reported the flotilla of five U.S. boats "came under small-arms and automatic weapons fire from the river banks."

The number of times Lambert was mentioned on. On Fox News: 1. On CNN: 0. On MSNBC: 0. ABC: 1 On CBS: 0. On NBC: 0.

Additionally, the Washington Post's Michael Dobbs, who served as the paper's point person on the Swifty scandal, was asked during an Aug. 30, 2004, online chat with readers why the paper hadn't reported more aggressively on the public statements of Langhofer, Russell and Lambert. Dobbs insisted, "I hope to return to this subject at some point to update readers." But he never did. Post readers, who were deluged with Swifty reporting, received just the sketchiest of facts about Langhofer, Russell and Lambert.

If that doesn't represent a concerted effort by the press to look the other way, then what does?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12799378/#060518

Note: Yes, msnbc is the source for this last part, but it ONLY appeared on their website long after the election when Boehlert's book came out and wasNOT on any of their broadcast news segments. This article was NEVER up for discussion and Boehlert was NOT invited on to any of the daily shows to discuss his book.....unlike those who lie for a living like Jerome Corsi..

[Jackpine Radical]

27. As ever, thank you, blm.

[butterfly77]

8. Why is it when it is shown that Mccain has done something..

that the public knows is criminal for a fact it is downplayed but when it comes to Obama and we know it is not criminal it is overplayed.. can someone give me the real answer to this question?

I don't think that he will lose over this if some are too stupid or racist to open their eyes to what is really going on a lot of these people who believe this shit are old as dirt and will not even be here to face what we can all see happening everyday right before our eyes and it is spreading,foreclosures,homelessness,joblessness,the draft and war after war after war.

They main claim is they care about life but it is mighty funny how they don't give a damn about innocent life when they were yahooing about shock and awe.These people come up with the same garbage about he will take away their guns they no damn well no one will ever take their guns and if they tried they couldn't. I guess they will start paying attention when they start freezing their asses off this winter..Didn't the republicons vote against help for heating this winter?

Some of these stupid people are claiming they care about taxes when they don't even have a damn job, these people are full of shit...

[Jackpine Radical]

28. Goddam Mooooslim Democrats won't let us drill offshore and in ANWR,

that's why we're gonna freeze our asses off this winter.

In good news, however, the chocolate ration has been increased to 20 grams.

[blm]

29. The fascists didn't buy control of broadcast media in the 80s and 90s to tell the public the truth

about their agenda and their opponents, did they?

[bcoylepa]

9. I agree

waiting to see if they give McCain's housing crisis ad free play tonight
the corporate media is despicable!

[my2sense]

10. Hopefully his upcoming VP announcement will derail some of the

Ayers ad coverage so it won't be in the news cycle too long. Hopefully he will also put out a hard hitting counter ad noting his age (6 I think) when the Ayer's incident occurred.

[nc4bo]

11. There was a great ad by a Dem - the setting was an airport hangar

and I remember there being a brief case on the table, loaded with illegal money.

The ad was fantastic but I didn't save it and can't remember the Dem. Very realistic, hardhitting and believeable.

Something like that would be an interesting approach for Oteam.

[ProSense]

13. Is everyone missing the purpose of these ads?

McCain is actively inoculating himself from questions about his patriotism because he's a POW. In steps his flunkies to tear down Obama's. Ayers ("unrepentant terrorists") is about calling Obama's patriotism into question.



Just in time for this.

[andym]

14. The media has rules, if you play by them, you get their attention

The media has rules, if you play by them, you get their attention whenever you want.

Media Rule #1: Increase our ratings
Media Rule #2: See #1

To use rule #1 you need either regular old controversy (esp scandal) or amazing positive news. The latter is hard to come by, so controversy gets it done every time. Underhanded attacks= guaranteed controversy.

If Democratic 527's want to play, they know the rules.
Republicans have been using this for quite some time.

[pot luck]

15. Well, this just shows how desperate the Repugs are.

They are releasing a swiftboating ad during the Olympics and right before the conventions. I just don't see how this ad will get much play when all the attention will be focused elsewhere for the next two weeks. In any case, the Obama campaign should have an ad linking McCain to the swiftboating just in case this does blow up.

[Tesibria]

17. watching factcheck.org for the analysis

... suspect it'll be good.

I watched the ad ... it really does seem rather desperate - and can be "discounted" as too hysterical, I think.

we'll see.

And -- we absolutely CAN do something - we can fight back, doing something every day on the ground.

[Barack_America]

18. Lol. Turn on CNN now. Full Ayers assault.

No wait, don't turn on CNN.

It's not the ad though, just bullshit conspiracy theories.

[margotb822]

25. And just a brief mention of the

McCain-Abramoff ad. It's the same with the celebrity ads. It's so unreasonable.

[LaurenG]

19. Just so you know we are not "F-ed" Do not lose heart or

despair. Courage and determination and perseverance will see us through.

If it doesn't, we all call friends and relatives overseas and start over in another more enlightened country. (I feel very strongly that Obama will win in spite of the MSM or anything else the GOP manipulates to try and cheat with).

This is our LAST chance to change and move forward for many years and I do not intend to pay the consequences for the idiocy of the MSM or the failed thought processes of racists.

In the words of an unnamed reference we have to win or:
"We will be forced to account to ourselves and to all the world for our cherished lies and deceptions. And if we don’t, those lies and deceptions will rebound... America is turning against itself and its own People, it has become a spiritless Corporate War Machine running in overdrive, a runaway car without breaks careening recklessly in the wrong direction down a freeway flattening everything in its path. We the People, through our collective apathy and frustrated fears are fueling and driving this Killer Machine called America and if it ends up creating mass destruction around the Globe and slaughtering millions of creatures WE will be among those creatures."

We have to change.

[Skwmom]

20. Excuse me but we've already seen why the corporate media is so dangerous.

The fourth estate no longer exists, it's just one big infomercial for the corporate candidate.

[blm]

21. Actually, NO Dem ever hit back harder than Kerry's challenge to Bush to DEBATE their services

during Vietnam publicly instead of hiding behind the lies of the swifts.

But, the corporate media did NOT want you to hear that. They will do to Obama's campaign what they did to Gore and Kerry, but you step on your point when you BUY INTO the idea that Kerry's hardball response never happened.

[asdjrocky]

22. The biggest lie conservatives tell:

"The liberal media." There isn't one, and there's never been one.

[Naturyl]

26. That's why they tell it.

The myth of a liberal media hides the reality of a conservative one.

[Edgewater_Joe]

23. Not With This Ad They Won't

And the reason is, McSame's been flailing like a fish on a boat since Team Obama's been hammering him with the house gaffe.

That ad is crappy -- and McSame is going to muddy the waters further by also releasing, any moment now, a Tony Rezko ad.

They're going to muddy their own message and they'll all get lost amidst the gaffe and the VP pick and the end of the Olympics and the convention. By the time McSame gets back to these charges their shock value will be past and they'll be old news. McSame forgot that the BBQ Media needs fresh meat every day to repeat something over and over; they smeared their own smears and now neither one will likely have that kind of impact.

This is quickly becoming Obama's best day on the campaign and may in fact be the 'tipping point' that buries McSame under the avalanche he so richly deserves to be buried in.

[sourmilk]

31. Originally, the McOld campaign didn't even HAVE an ad about Rezko.

But I heard CNN (Blitzen) read the McOld campaign's "Rezko-convicted felon" response THREE TIMES in one hour.

Obama's going to hve to "kitchen sink" the old bastard regarding corruption. Keating5, Abramoff connection, Saakashvili-Scheunemann, etc. If he were smarter, he'd give some Vietnam Vets a little face time to explain to an uninformed USA just what kind of a "war hero" McTreason really was. Compare his intelligence, his mental lapses and gaffes in speech to GWB's...

Where is YOUR full military record, McTraitor? You and your Repiglicon murderers demanded to see Kerry's in 2004.

Why have the 32 speeches you gave as a VietCong apologist been "classified?" Why are we NOT ALLOWED to read them?

[Skwmom]

32. Not if Obama picks a corporate sell-out as VP b/c that will be a signal to the

corporations that it's business as usual in DC.

[joshcryer]

33. The media is always this brutal because they want to have a horse race.

The democrats always have it by the numbers, but the media affects it so much that it becomes down to a few thousand people by and large.

It's all about getting ad revenue. Where would their money come from if it was a landslide?

[blm]

35. That's not what Dan Rather said. He admitted corporate media NEEDED Bush protected in 2004

for the favorable FCC rulings they expected from a Bush second term. And they GOT it, didn't they?

They definitely had reason to work actively against Kerry.

June 2, 2003
Kerry Seeks to Reverse FCC's "Wrongheaded Vote"

Commission Decision May Violate Laws Protecting Small Businesses; Kerry to File Resolution of Disapproval

WASHINGTON - Senator John Kerry today announced plans to file a "Resolution of Disapproval" as a means to overturn today's decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to raise media ownership caps and loosen various media cross-ownership rules. Kerry will soon introduce the resolution seeking to reverse this action under the Congressional Review Act and Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act on the grounds that the decision may violate the laws intended to protect America's small businesses and allow them an opportunity to compete. As Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Kerry expressed concern that the FCC's decision will hurt localism, reduce diversity, and will allow media monopolies to flourish. This raises significant concerns about the potential negative impacts the decision will have on small businesses and their ability to compete in today's media marketplace. In a statement released earlier today regarding the FCC's decision, Kerry said: "Nothing is more important in a democracy than public access to debates and information, which lift up our discourse and give Americans an opportunity to make honest informed choices. Today's wrongheaded vote by the Republican members of the FCC to loosen media ownership rules shows a dangerous indifference to the consolidation of power in the hands of a few large entities rather than promoting diversity and independence at the local level. The FCC should do more than rubber stamp the business plans of narrow economic interests. "Today's vote is a complete dereliction of duty. The Commissioners are well aware that these rules greatly influence the competitive structure of the industry and protect the public's access to multiple sources of information and media. It is the Commission's responsibility to ensure that the rules serve our national goals of diversity, competition, and localism in media. With today's vote, they shirked that responsibility and have dismissed any serious discussion about the impact of media consolidation on our own democracy."

[bunnies]

34. What Ayers ad?

:shrug: geez. I take a couple of days away and miss everything!

[wvbygod]

36. No problem. Multi home owners are the target now

Americans will not stand for it and this minor weather underground bomber crap will fade.

[WinkyDink]

37. It's the Willie Horton School of Winning Strategy.

[Roxy66]

38. Rachel will help...the more liberals hammering McCain ...the better.