Daivid Brock On Today Show

[liberalnurse]

I just saw author, David Brock on Today with Katie Curric. He is a champion of the truth.... He has a new book out, "The Republican Noise Machine". I can't wait to get this!

He apparently has extensively He researched Sean Hannity wherein he exposes how he got to the top through gay bashing and lies etc..... He made an excellent point; people believe these right-wing pundants as being newsmen..... but concider this....what if Dan Rather was to report the "news" like Rush and Sean do....he would be run out of the business!

Here is the link from the "Today Show" web site......

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5000518/


<snip>

After a presidential election decided by the Supreme Court, the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, and the war with Iraq, politics has moved to a different place.

Nowadays, when I talk about Blinded by the Right, people want to know not how I was blinded by the Right, but how so much of the country seems to be in that position. For the first time since 1929, the Republican Party controls all three branches of government. Fewer people identify with the Democratic Party today than at any time since the New Deal. Conservatism seems the prevailing political and intellectual current, while liberalism seems a fringe dispensation of a few aging professors and Hollywood celebrities. People ask me, a former insider, how the Republican Right has won political and ideological power with such seeming ease and why Democrats, despite winning the most votes in the last three presidential elections, seem to be caught in a downward spiral, still able to win at the ballot box but steadily losing the battle for hearts and minds.

While it is not the only answer, my answer is: It’s the media, stupid.

When I say this, in a more respectful way, to folks outside the right wing, I usually get either of two responses. Those who receive their news from the New York Times and National Public Radio give me blank stares. They are living in a rarefied media culture — one that prizes accuracy, fairness, and civility — that is no longer representative of the media as a whole. Those who have heard snippets of Rush Limbaugh’s radio show, have caught a glimpse of Bill O’Reilly’s temper tantrums on the FOX News Channel, or occasionally peruse the editorials in the Wall Street Journal think I’m a Cassandra. They view this media as self-discrediting and therefore irrelevant. They are living in a vacuum of denial.

Those who understand what I mean are either members of the media itself, have read media-criticism books or Internet sites devoted to the subject, or are in the political trenches every day dealing with the media. The gap between those who recognize right-wing media power for what it is and those who don’t is wide and deep, as if they inhabit parallel universes. The gap is dangerous to democracy and needs to be closed.



This is a MUST GET BOOK.....Education of the masses will be our most valuable too.

[blm]

1. bump

.

[Killarney]

2. Does anyone know WHY he switched from right to left?

I'm always curious to hear the specific reasons why someone switches sides (Huffington, Jeffords, etc). Warms my heart. :)

[Az]

3. Buy his book, he tells the story more effectively than we could n/t

[liberalnurse]

4. He explains it briefly in the intro of

the excert.....I love his message and don't care if he is a convert. He is a million times more credible than Dickie Morris....another convert to the dark side.

[zbdent]

5. Comical - when he was lying for the Right, they said he was "speaking

the Truth".

When he decided to tell the truth, they point to the works he did for them and say "Look how he lies!"

The willful ignorance runs rampant.

[qanda]

6. Wow! I just read the excerpt...

It's very good. I may have to get this book.

[napi21]

7. Geesh, I can't afford all these books! I did listen to him in a few

interviews. He's very good. The problem is that we laid back too long. WE let the media grab happen. It's going to be VERY difficult to change now. The only thing I can think might work is for more proof of the media not doing it's job. Like the excuse the DOD is using for people not knowing the severity of the abuse of prisoners. Remember, they said it was announced in Feb. (I think) and CNN, MSNBC, FOX were all there at the briefing.

After the photos, the media can't ignore it anymore. I doubt I'm the only one who wondered why there wasn't more of a probe back then. If enought of these things force the media to report "later", I hope there will be a public demand to break up the conglomerates.

[StayOutTheBushes]

8. One thing is for sure...

David Brock is a lier.

[underpants]

9. Is or was?

or both? Care to elaborate?

[thebigidea]

10. and StayOutTheBushes can't spell.

[oasis]

13. "lier, lier pants on fier"

:evilgrin:

[robbedvoter]

14. Me thinks you don't speak our secret language - here's a tip:

[wicket]

11. Brock's website

Check out his website - http://mediamatters.org/

[Sophree]

12. This quote is critical:

"The gap between those who recognize right-wing media power for what it is and those who don’t is wide and deep, as if they inhabit parallel universes. The gap is dangerous to democracy and needs to be closed."

Go David Brock!!

(BTW- Blinded By the Right is a MUST-READ, DUers.)

[robbedvoter]

15. I highly recommend the book. I admire Brock - he is one of the few

with a clear understanding of both sides and the difference between them.
I remember his essay on This American Life on the coup 2000. He finished hacks like tapper by saying: "A lot of people were equating what Gore and W did. In reality, they couldn't be further apart. Gore called all his people off protests. GOP staged protests and underhanded actions all financed by RNC.
Eversince I pay attention to everything he says and am highly suspicious of his critics.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

16. Oops...sounds like hes talking about me...

Those who receive their news from the New York Times and National Public Radio give me blank stares. They are living in a rarefied media culture — one that prizes accuracy, fairness, and civility.... Those who have heard snippets of Rush Limbaugh’s radio show, have caught a glimpse of Bill O’Reilly’s temper tantrums on the FOX News Channel, or occasionally peruse .... They view this media as self-discrediting and therefore irrelevant.

Well, maybe not so much the NYT (tho I do read it sometimes), but I do listen to the Newshour, and on occasion NPR, and get my online sources from the BBC and Gaurdian.


And, yes, I do wonder how anyone can take Rush or O'Rielly or Hannity seriously as news sources. Opinions sources, yes. But not news sources.

[VolcanoJen]

17. How frikken cool is it that DAVID BROCK appeared on the "Today Show?"

Rockin' hard, David!!! WTG!!!

The more major national appearances by Brock, the better... Brock showed me the light... and I was already a Dem!!!