Do you remember George Orwell’s book, 1984? In it, he mentions that the media controls the message and people only know what the media tell them. Well, it is happening now.
In a recent speech, McCain blasted the Democrats for the current messed-up economy.
In their “original story” on the subject, the LA Times did not quote that part of McCain’s speech. But they then quoted Obama in saying that McCain was afraid to talk about the economy. I highlighted “original story” because after this disconnect was pointed out, the LA Times removed the original story and replaced it with a different version that phrases things slightly differently.
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Saturday Night Live had a skit that skewered the politicians about this situation and indicated that George Soros is a bad person. That skit has been removed from the NBC online version.
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Palin did interviews with Katie Couric a few weeks ago. The differences between the transcripts of what Palin said and what was broadcast are significantly different. Many of her answers have been chopped – not just truncated at the end, but items removed from the middle of the reply. Those changes significantly altered the impact and meaning of her message.
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Obama has not been asked about his associations with Ayers (a domestic terrorist) who helped launch Obama’s Senate Campaign, why he dropped Reverend Wright (”God Damn America!”), nor the support he has received from Soros, nor his time on the Joyce Foundation (which funds anti-gun legislation).
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Biden has not been called to the carpet on his lies during the VP debate. Nor his inaccurate citing of the Constitution – the VP is president of the Senate at all times, not just during a tie vote. He has also not been questioned about his flip-flopping on many items since he has been selected as a VP. He was against Obama on many topics during the primaries.
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Going back a few years, when the Clinton administration mis-used a system called “Carnivore” to track phone calls and meetings of corporate leaders to determine their political support, the New York Times called this “necessary”. Now they call the Patriot “too much”. Their support for programs depends upon the politicians in office. They have no loyalty to this country – a lot of the media in the US isn’t even owned by Americans.
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Whether you support one party / candidate or another, or even if you want a president / party that isn’t viable, this type of “changing history” is really disturbing. Think about it on a bigger picture – how much of this “financial crisis” is real? And how much of it is a matter of the media getting hyper excited about someone’s perspective and goals? Is what the media is telling us about the looming health care “crisis” real?
When hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, how many murders, rapes, and suicides actually happened versus how many did the media report? They contributed greatly to the hysteria of the situation.
My point in all of this is that we really cannot trust the message we are getting from the media. They are leaving items out – not even investigating facets of the candidates they support – and are overhyping things that will make us scared, insecure, and more likely to want more government control. The media knows that if they can manipulate us, they can manipulate the government. And down the road, I’d bet they intend to try and use federal law to restore their dominant position as being ‘the only source for news’.
If their goal is to mis-inform you and tell you only about things they want you to know and react in a way they want you to react, then I hope your goal will be to find alternate sources of information. Branch out from TV and radio and find sites on the web you agree with – use them as a springboard to find other sites.
We need to branch out and learn more on our own. Most of us know people who have fought for these freedoms with a rifle. The time has come for us to return the favor by fighting for freedom with a keyboard. All I ask is that you skip one TV show, one video game session, even one sporting event, and do some reading on the net. Then go down to your next city council meeting and watch.
If you don’t have a place in mind, start where I start my day: Instapundit. He has links to just about everything. Go from there. Go anywhere. But go somewhere and bypass the media. You really do owe it to that person in your life who has worn fatigues at some point in theirs.
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(This post was inspired by this post by Rachel.)