The Left lets RW radio beat them, then blame Obama. Pitiful.

[certainot]

There is NO organized opposition to the right wing radio monopoly, the best weapon in the corporate assault on democracy.

1000 coordinated radio stations get daily instruction from the best corporate-funded think tanks in the country. They dominate media and politics and have been beating the crap out of democracy for 20 years. Rush Limbaugh and spawn made it impossible for Rep Boehner to give Obama the date he wants. It would have been the end for him. It was the same team Limbaugh that made it treasonous for Republican representatives to raise the debt ceiling. The same talk radio monopoly and its unchallenged repetition that defeated Clinton health care reform, impeached Clinton, got Clarence Thomas in, lied us into Iraq, and made torture acceptable, selling Club Gitmo t-shirts from the local RW station.

This is really idiotic. Our major Universities endorse these grand sacks of shit by broadcasting sports on their stations. Why would any progressive, liberal, or Democrat allow their university to endorse that racism and sexism and global warming denial that so blatantly contradicts the 'mission statement' of any 'institution of higher learning'? Why would alumni send in donations?

And are you going to whine about Obama's inability to march into the White House and kick ass while you let your local RW radio station scream all day long, without complaint and sponsored by the businesses that you patronize, that liberals and environmentalists and teachers and public employees and union workers are "parasites" and "bottom feeders" and traitors and thieves?

This has been happening for 20 years, but even worse now. And still the left has NO organized opposition to the Right's best weapon while they whine and complain about Obama.

Pitiful.

[yurbud]

1. so we should have jumped on Bill Clinton and held him down so he wouldn't sign the telecom

bill that made it possible for a handful of companies to own all media, and only one political opinion to be heard even in markets where the vast majority disagree with it?

[certainot]

3. clinton was one of the first trophies for RW radio- would he have allowed media consolidation w/out

the constant swiftboating? we don't know because there is no written record of that coordinated unchallenged repetition that permeates every inch of the country.

[Vinnie From Indy]

2. Couldn't agree more!

Rush and his thousands of clones have real political impact. Many either do not see or accept or understand the scale of the right wing assault on America that takes place each and every day. There is hardly an inch of American soil that does not receive some version of Rush Limbaugh at some point during a 24 hr day.

I actually believe this issue is one of the the top five things progressives, liberals and Democrats should focus on in the next decade. It is that important.

[Tarheel_Dem]

4. If you've noticed, Congress tends to do the same thing. They have absolutely...

no influence over the legislative body they inhabit, so they scapegoat the White House. CONTINUALLY! :thumbsup:

[certainot]

5. one of the functions of rw radio sis to create constituencies

and they can create them in days, to enable whatever the think tanks and lobbyists want for that week or month.

and if they don't go along they are named as traitors by the biggest PC cops and censors-by-threat in the country. they can't think and speak for themselves and it makes national rational discourse impossible.

[Cosmocat]

33. Yep

it is nearly a losing battle. Until the people in this country as a whole evolve past the core thinking that they are able to tap into, it is nearly impossible to break through.

[BlueCaliDem]

7. I wish I could K&R your post. You are SPOT ON.

I'm tired of the "Democratic" Party in Congress remaining silent and allowing President Obama to take hit after hit after hit, relying on the ignorance of the American people on how our government is supposed to work in order to hide from THEIR failings.

Lookie there! There's an incompetent black man in the White House who's in over his head!

[Tarheel_Dem]

15. Agreed. They are powerless against the teabagger controlled House,

so instead of aiming their fire at the teanutters, out of frustration, they turn on Obama? WTF sense does that make? I expect no less from Dennis Kucinich, but where are the others? :shrug:

[certainot]

31. a big part of that is that they are constantly attacked on the local level by local RW radio

and like on the national level since it is completely ignored by the left they may not even know that the hate and pressure that comes their way if they defend obama may be largely manufactured by the local blowhards reading scripts determined by national think tanks.

those giant megaphones function to facilitate criticism of obama and vilify his defense. and the left has no fucking clue where the main part of that pressure is manufactured out of thin air with coordinated unchallenged repetition that cannot be matched with any other medium.

[FrenchieCat]

6. You said it very well,

and many of us are being played, and as ordered by monied manipulation,
end up barking at the same tree.

Day in, day out, everything is Barack Obama's fault, they say....
and unfortunately, many on the Left play the exact same blame game,
blaming the same exact person as the right does, like it was written out as a script.

There are different herds of sheep, but they are all being led in the
very same direction....and have no clue as they step off the cliff,
where they are going.....down, all of them, and they are taking us
with them.

[jaysunb]

8. K & R ! n/t

[K8-EEE]

9. "the left" is the wingnuts best friend

They are counting on The Left to beat Obama into a bloody pulp so we can have President Perry or President Romney can do 100% corporate agenda while throwing a few Freedom Bones to the religious right every now in then to keep them in power.

Excellent, Left! But of course they "know" that Obama is the same as Perry or Romney or Palin. Just like Gore was exactly the same as Bush! BULLSHIT!

[tblue]

10. If someone said you are "whining," how would it make you feel?

You might say. "I am not whining!" Okay so what do you want to do? What is the solution??? Tell me and I will help you. If you're just getting this off your chest, ok. But if you really want to change it, who is the "Left" who is "whining"? What are they "whining" about? How do you define "whining" anyway? And how do you stop it? Just sayin', do you want to really address this or do you just want to vent? I would think you wouldn't want anyone to say you are whining. So let's talk solutions instead. One person's "whine" is another person's grave concern. Dismissing people never wins hearts and minds. It only drives them further away.

[certainot]

12. picket the stations (they are GOP/teabag HQ), shame local sponsors, demand our universities stop en

endorsing RW radio stations by broadcasting sports on them ( WIS badger stations sell walker's agenda and get his back while their students protest the capitol- it doesn't make sennse the uni doesn't face pressure to find alts)- those would be a start.

the dem party or an org need to provide a searchable transcript database of the main national and local talkers so the patterns can be monitored and the talking heads can be shamed for dutifully repeating the same material.

rewards need to be offered for the paid callers to step forward.

and the left needs to start giving full credit to limbaugh as point man for the propaganda op that has made so much difference the last 20 years. he needs to be named as main GOP /teabagger boss and spokesman.

shaming local sponsors is especially easy and fun- just listen a few minutes here and there, get local biz phone numbers (whether they are on during the RW talker or not- most of those stations are RW 24/7), and talk to the owners and managers and ask them if they agree with the racism and global warming denial those stations broadcast. few will defend limbaugh and some will think about and seek alternatives.

as far as whining goes, it really seems that way to me sometimes when i read harsh obama criticism from people who sound like obama was their first vote whether because of age or former laziness in politics ("they're all the same" is whining), have no clue how far the republicans and corporations have gone and will go to 'kill' american democracy, thought obama could just walk into the white house and kick ass, and allow their reps and candidates and liberals in general to be attacked all day from their local RW radio stations without a whimper of protest or challenge.

[slay]

11. Unlike right wing loons, we don't have to be told what to think every hour of every day

that's the problem - liberals are independent thinkers while those who support republicans have a very drone-ish, hive like mentality where they do as they are told without question. it's pretty sick - also i don't get off on fear and hate the way foxnews viewers do - another sick quality of those people.

*on edit: we tried with Air America and it worked out ok - we ended up with Rachel doing a great 9pm national show on m$nbc, and Al Franken got elected senator.. eventually. liberals just don't need 24/7 political shit - we like to go out and enjoy the world, go hiking, hang out with friends, not be scared to death by talking heads like Limbaugh, Beck and the like. i get what you're saying though - they have a HUGE right-wing propaganda thing going on between all those tons of radio stations carrying right wing hate talk and the just as bad, if not worse, fox"news". ugh.

[certainot]

13. i understand that the 'left' would like to ignore RW radio - it gives thinking people headaches an

but i think of it like this: for 20 years paid jerks have been standing on every stump and corner in the country have been reading think tank scripts attacking liberals, teachers, unions, public workers, protestors, etc., as traitors, thieves, and baby killers, and most of those people being attacked are just walking by with their iPods in their ears.

it becomes acceptable, and that is what has happened.

and that is why a searchable transcript database of the main national and local talkers should be a priority for dems and the left- so people can read and react to what's being pounded into the earholes of 50 mil a week BEFORE it ends up in print and on TV.

[Bluenorthwest]

14. The sports fans need to reject the stations and boycott the

right wing radio outlets. I do not listen to sports, as I see it as a right wing, violent, anti-intellectual culture. But many DUers do not agree with me, they love sports. It was here that I learned that Sports fans listen to those stations and rationalize it with sports fan dogmas.
You lay blame on the Universities but have you, ever boycotted those stations, and told that University? Or do you just say 'I have to hear the game' as if it was not, you know, a game. A distraction. An entertainment.
To me, sports fans are not much different from soap opera or talent show fans, they have a contrived entertainment and set of celebrities they MUST follow. I am not impressed with folks who support right wing stations because they 'have to' see their celebrity heroes.
Sports fans should do something about it. But they won't. Because they 'have to' hear the game!

[certainot]

16. students and faculty of those inis need to demand their unis stop endoersing

RW radio - few uni mission statements are consistent with it.

[GOTV]

17. I had no idea RW Radio could sign legislation over Obama's objection.

[certainot]

25. when does politics and power and media not play a part in politics?

[Marrah_G]

18. The spin today is pretty amusing!

[certainot]

26. not sure i understand....

[yurbud]

19. could you lay out how PR and media strategy for the benighted progressives?

also, it's hard for the left to get behind Obama when he's entertaining the tar sands pipeline and still has an education secretary right wingers love for trying to break unions and privatize schools.

[certainot]

27. you're right, and i have no clue except that obama is only as strong as his base, and it is pitiful

....voting, blogging, and whining is not enough if the right has billionaires funding smart people figuring out how to destroy democracy, nothing new there, except now they have the biggest megaphone in the country and the left puts its fingers in its ears and goes toodleoodleoooooo.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

20. Well, gee, if I were a billionaire, I'd start a media empire, but

in the meantime, I would have hoped that the Dems would have started one of their own (with their own billionaires, of which they do have some) as early as the 1990s, when Fox News came on the air.

[certainot]

28. bullshit. democracy is supposed to take care of that - waiting for billionaires is for serfs

it is a monopoly serving plutocrats and corporations and it is undemocratic and considering the effect it has had destroying democracy the last 20 years it is the biggest blunder in our history to merely ignore it and wait for a 'free market solution'.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

32. It does take money to start a TV network

and the Democrats do have billionaires who could have been persuaded to contribute.

[MaeScott]

21. K and R. nt

[BumRushDaShow]

22. K&R. Not enough of the left would even support Air America. n/t

[GoCubsGo]

23. Air America's problems were not due to lack of support from the left.

They were due to ineptness and corruption by some of the various owners of the network.

[certainot]

29. and it was set up= i heard one of the main funders is a con artist on the lam in the philipines or

or something- like another CIA operation

[Drix]

24. Bring back a new and improved Fairness Doctrine.

Public access for public airwaves.

[certainot]

30. but the radio monopoly has now made that impossible until the left challenges it and gets democracy

back