Media Censorship of the Presidential Campaign
by Daniel G. Jennings
Jdangjenn@aol.com

Credit The Libertarian Enterprise

The most infuriating aspect of the current Presidential campaign is the sneaky way in which the media's talking heads tell the candidates what to talk about.

A prime example of this was the July 8, 2006, edition of ABC's Sunday morning coffee clutch "This Week With George Stephanopoulos" in which two dark horse presidential candidates Texas Congressman Ron Paul and former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel who are doing well in the primaries were interviewed. Now Paul and Gravel are two thoughtful and intelligent men who are trying to give primary voters a real alternative to the empty suits pushed by the media. The two are doing unexpectedly well thanks to strong debate performances and the Internet a medium that gives consumers choice.

The political powers that be are worried about this because Ron and Mike might ruin the presidential chances of their pets like Mitch Romney and Barrack Obama so Georgey Boy has his marching orders: make Ron and Mike look bad. This is done by controlling the debate the only issue discussed is the war in Iraq to which Gravel and Paul are both passionately opposed. This gets both men worked up and makes them look like single issue cranks. The real purpose of these interviews is to make the alternative candidates look like extremist cranks.

Mike Gravel and Ron Paul have lots of interesting ideas but those ideas are not discussed. Instead the only issue discussed is the war, one on a short list of approved issues the media talks to political candidates about. Georgie boy asked Mike Gravel about Iraq and his opposition to the Vietnam War which ended over thirty years ago. He didn't ask Gravel about some of his proposals such as nationwide ballot initiatives similar to those in many states and replacing the income tax with national sales tax eliminating the IRS and tax exemptions (which would eliminate a lot of opportunities for politicians to shake down business for bribe money). A couple of ideas that would appeal strongly to average voters.

George spent a little more time on Gravel because Gravel is a Democrat who thinks for himself and refuses to go along with the media. Democratic voters must not be given a real alternative to Clinton II and Uncle Tom Obama because they might take it so any Democrat who leaves the reservation will be destroyed.

The treatment of Ron Paul was a little more polite, but again Georgie was under orders to keep Paul's libertarian philosophy off of nationwide TV lest it appeal to voters. So after a few comments about the war Paul was let go. No effort was made to ask Paul about his stands on things like gun control, drugs and abortion which might appeal to voters. Instead he too was dismissed as a shallow one issue candidate. Note: Georgie being a Democratic operative might have been trying to hurt mainstream Republican candidates by making Paul look good here.

"This Week With Propagandist George" is a perfect example of the presidential campaign the media wants to create. All issues but the war are to be excluded there will be discussion of healthcare, the military industrial complex, Global Warming, Transportation, Energy Policy, taxes, immigration and trade are off the agenda. Only the war and meaningless issues related to it such as the Scooter Libby affair are to be discussed. We get the special interests' dream election, nothing that might offend the corporate money men or spinmeisters who run the parties is to be mentioned.

Unfortunately Ron Paul (who is raising more money than John McCain) and Mike Gravel are upsetting the applecart. By taking advantage of alternative media where voters get a real choice they are attracting attention and votes.

They are also exposing the weakness of the media/political elite, increasingly there is no difference between the media and politicians witness Georgie boy who used to be Bill Clinton's chief eunuch (excuse me chief of staff) now masquerading as a journalist on TV. The media/political elite is scared to death of Paul and Gravel because they expose the impotence of its pet candidates and their refusal to deal with the nation's problems. Not to mention the weakness of the media's tools of oppression and deception such as daily newspapers and the network news.

Almost nobody is watching network news or paying much attention to the Sunday morning propaganda outlets and newspaper circulation is falling faster than TV news ratings. People are getting their news from the Internet and Cable TV which give them a real choice and ignoring the talking heads. The talking heads such as Georgie Boy are trying to justify their existence to their corporate masters so they're becoming increasingly partisan and nastier.

What comes next? My guess is that alternative candidates powered by the internet will do better and better and the media/political elite will take more active efforts to destroy them.

So here's a prediction, if the talking heads' censorship of Free Speech in the presidential campaign fails which looks like it will, our self proclaimed leaders will get really nasty. If Ron Paul, Mike Gravel and other alternative candidates do well the media will start calling them names like child molester, racist, rapist, terrorist sympathizer (already being deployed against Paul), fascist, Nazi, Communist, drug dealer, gay and worse. Ugly and nasty smears will be spread against these men all over the internet to destroy them and make an example of them as a lesson to any other American who dares try and exert his or her rights in an attempt to give voters a real choice. If Ron Paul does really well in the Republican primary (which he might) don't be at all surprised if his face shows up on the cover of The National Enquirer next to a headline that says, "Congressman exposed as Child Molester." (Remember you heard it here first)

What are average voters to do? Keep doing what we are already doing, ignore the media and start using our minds. Especially when we walk into the voting booth.

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