|
Proposition 16, which was sponsored by PG&E, and is designed to stifle competition, and Proposition 17, which was sponsored by Mercury Insurance, are leading in early returns. What does this mean? This is the first time that companies essentially drew up and spent millions of dollars to get a statewide proposition passed in California. It is a brand new day where Democracy is used to oppress the public, as only corporations that are unfettered as a result of the Citizens United decision, are able to use their direct advertising dollars and their influence over the corporate media to dictate our policy choices.
The corporate media drives the narrative and tells us what to think. Heck, on DU, I often posters repeating the corporate media narratives albeit with liberal sounding language. We blame Democrats. We blame Obama. We give Republicans a free pass, because it is okay for them to lie and be hypocritical.
The gulf oil disaster is the best example of this. Many DUers totally bought into the corporate media narrative painting Bobby Jindal as a hero. We bought into stories about "Build the Berms Now!" even though the local Audobon Society expressed concern about berm plans being rushed through. Likewise, Jindal's sponsorship of the Deep Ocean Energy Resources or DOER Act of 2006, which lifted the moratorium on deep water drilling, has been largely ignored as has the fact that the oil industry has directed over 70 percent of its contributions to the Republican party. We also ignore David Vitter, a Lousiana Senator, fighting mightily to oppose efforts to lift the cap on oil industry liability! We ignore Haley Barbour dismissing the oil spill as mere motorboat sheen!
So, will we be bamboozled? Will we buy into the corporate media narrative simply because it is repackaged in liberal sounding rhetoric? Will we continue to give Republicans an ongoing free pass?
It is fashionable to attack virtually any reform effort as not being progressive enough, and to mimimize and disparage the heroic efforts of Democrats to overcome Republican efforts to stall any action and bring the nation to its knees. The Republicans would rather see Obama fail, than for the U.S. to succeed.
The point of my post is to put our views and our criticisms in perspective. Sadly, not everyone is liberal. Most everyone buys into the corporate media narrative that censors out progressive viewpoints, and leads people to vote against their own economic interests as is the case with Proposition 16 and 17.
We need to stop hoping and praying for legislative Hail Mary's where Democrats will (hopefully) pass some bill that is sufficiently progressive while we oppose (along with right wingers) all efforts at reform because they are not sufficiently liberal enough. We need to focus on advocacy over opposition.
On DADT, we need to push for the repeal, rather than oppose congressional efforts to set in motion a process to repeal DADT on the ground that the repeal of DADT is not handling immediately.
On health care reform, we need to advocate for additional efforts to improve health care, rather than stand by and allow Republicans complaints about socialized medicine to go unchallenged.
On energy, we need to demand a comprehensive energy bill, and push for stronger efforts to transition to alternative energy sources, rather than sit by quietly as Republicans criticize the President publicly while quietly opposing efforts to lift the liability cap on oil companies.
We need to advocate with our fellow Americans for progressive ideas, rather than sit back and embrace apathy as means of protest. Inaction does not translate into victory. Inaction is just another word for irrelevance.
Meg Whitman, Carly Fiorina, Proposition 16 and 17 all herald a new era of corporate Democracy where wealthy individuals and corporations can buy ads and favorable coverage. We cannot wait to be saved. We need to organize and overcome.
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
