Calling All Conservatives! Protest Tax Dollars For Fake News

[Itsthetruth]

Calling all conservatives
Why don't right-wingers protest tax dollars going toward fake news?
by Molly Ivins

Creators Syndicate
03.15.05


AUSTIN, Texas -- Calling all conservatives. Yo, libertarians. Also, wing-nuts, believers in black-helicopter conspiracies and mouth-foaming denouncers of government and all its works -- yoo-hoo. Where are these people when you need them?

No joke, this is seriously creepy: The U.S. government is in the covert propaganda business, and it's not aiming this stuff at potential terrorists, it's aiming it right square at your forehead.

The New York Times did a huge Sunday take-out on the practice of "pre-packaged news" by government agencies. "The government's news-making apparatus has produced a quiet drumbeat of broadcasts describing a vigilant and compassionate administration."

The Clinton administration started this vile practice, and the Bush administration has doubled it, spending $254 million on public relations contracts in its first term, twice what the last Clinton administration spent. I suspect it is part and parcel of Karl Rove's mania for "message control."

The only patsy in the set-up is you, sitting there thinking you're seeing something real AND paying for the fake news with your taxes.

If I were a hawk-eyed conservative looking for waste, fraud and abuse in government spending, I'd go after this one faster than small-town gossip.


http://www.workingforchange.com/art...fm?itemid=18720

 

[manu1959]

"It was just a matter of learning," she said. "We just really talked about what was going on, what the president was proposing and what did we think about it. . . . They didn't prompt me what to say or how to say it."

:scratch: ..... from the same article

 

[Itsthetruth]

"It was just a matter of learning," she said. "We just really talked about what was going on, what the president was proposing and what did we think about it. . . . They didn't prompt me what to say or how to say it."

:scratch: ..... from the same article

She either didn't attend the same rehearsal as Mr. Darr or wasn't paying attention!

"The night before the event, the chosen participants gathered for a rehearsal in the hall in which the president would appear the next day. An official dispatched by the White House played the president and asked questions. 'We ran through it five times before the president got there,' Darr said."

[I don't know how or why this and several of the following posts were moved here. It has absolutely nothing to do with the caption on the thread nor the lead news story. Must be a software problem.]

 

[no1tovote4]

She either didn't attend the same rehearsal as Mr. Darr or wasn't paying attention!

"The night before the event, the chosen participants gathered for a rehearsal in the hall in which the president would appear the next day. An official dispatched by the White House played the president and asked questions. 'We ran through it five times before the president got there,' Darr said."

That the group is selected is unimportant, in almost every single "town hall" style meeting with somebody above Congressmen level they would do that. That they held a practice so the show would go smoothly is also unsurprising.

That you can't get it through your head that while it was practiced so that they knew which order and were able to do it with minimal interruption is also not surprising. Nor is it surprising that you cannot see that it does not mean that they were given the questions that they would ask or a script.

If you would read your own article it says that they were specifically not given any script and were allowed to ask any questions that they wished. It seems the practice was to make sure that time was not wasted on figuring out who goes next, etc. Not a conspiracy, or even an attempt at silencing anyone. It seems you posted an article with little or no meaning in the real world.

 

[Itsthetruth]

That you can't get it through your head that while it was practiced so that they knew which order and were able to do it with minimal interruption is also not surprising. It seems the practice was to make sure that time was not wasted on figuring out who goes next, etc. Not a conspiracy, or even an attempt at silencing anyone.

Oh? It seems they did a great deal more than simply "rehearse" the order of speakers.

According to the same article, which you conveniently ignore: "After the governor's office called, Darr said, he began receiving one call after another from the White House, quizzing him on his thoughts on Social Security and his family history, just as they did all the other candidates. 'I'm sure they wanted to . . . make sure they weren't going to embarrass the president,' Darr said."

Sure. All they did was rehearse their speaking rotation. Do you really expect anyone to believe that?

And there was not "even an attempt at silencing anyone" at the town hall meeting????!!!! I guess you also just conveniently missed this information in the article: "The few dissenting voices in the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts were quickly silenced or escorted out by security. One woman with a soft voice but firm opposition to Bush was asked to leave, even though her protests were barely audible beyond her section in the back corner of the auditorium."

Come now. You can do better than that!

 

[no1tovote4]

Oh? It seems they did a great deal more than simply "rehearse" the order of speakers.

According to the same article, which you conveniently ignore: "After the governor's office called, Darr said, he began receiving one call after another from the White House, quizzing him on his thoughts on Social Security and his family history, just as they did all the other candidates. 'I'm sure they wanted to . . . make sure they weren't going to embarrass the president,' Darr said."

Sure. All they did was rehearse their speaking rotation. Do you really expect anyone to believe that?

And there was not "even an attempt at silencing anyone" at the town hall meeting????!!!! I guess you also just conveniently missed this information in the article: "The few dissenting voices in the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts were quickly silenced or escorted out by security. One woman with a soft voice but firm opposition to Bush was asked to leave, even though her protests were barely audible beyond her section in the back corner of the auditorium."

Come now. You can do better than that!

You took only a tiny part of my post, ignored the rest and then attributed things to me that I didn't say. This is a fallacious argument and you can certainly do better than that.

Look again at my post, I said that people were chosen for the "meetings" and that any politician above Congressman did this. The only thing I scorned is that you act like you are surpised and that this is the first time something like this happened. It is a tour to get Bush's particular message about this out, not to provide a platform for the opposition, to say that you are surprised that he selected people and that they practiced for it is simply a foolish attempt to get others in an uproar over expected actions of a politician.

The whole point of my post was that this is exactly what I expected, that I was not surprised nor outraged, and your pretense at being surprised is humorous and disingenuous.

 

[no1tovote4]

And there was not "even an attempt at silencing anyone" at the town hall meeting????!!!! I guess you also just conveniently missed this information in the article: "The few dissenting voices in the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts were quickly silenced or escorted out by security. One woman with a soft voice but firm opposition to Bush was asked to leave, even though her protests were barely audible beyond her section in the back corner of the auditorium."

I still remember getting moved from a Clinton meeting in Denver and taken to the "protest area" that was more than a mile from the site.

As I said, this is status quo and not surprising, it is done by both sides. It would do better to think of the "town hall meetings" as commercials, that is what they really are. They are an attempt by Bush to make his SS reform more popular among the masses, not to give the opposition a voice. They will have to make their own platforms where they will shout down opposition and kick them out. That I am not surprised and you are is where I think you are being disingenuous. I think you are not surprised, you are just attempting to make a story from what is not a story in order to get reaction from the left. It is silly.

 

[Itsthetruth]

The only thing I scorned is that you act like you are surpised and that this is the first time something like this happened.

I wasn't surprised at all. This is standard operating procedure for Bush's "town hall" meetings and "open" discussions. They are all carefully managed and rehearsed events that prohibit any real discussion of his proposals.

And your point is?

 

[no1tovote4]

I wasn't surprised at all. This is standard operating procedure for Bush's "town hall" meetings and "open" discussions. They are all carefully managed and rehearsed events that prohibit any real discussion of his proposals.

And your point is?

My point is it is standard practice with all politicians in the major parties.

You posted this thinking you would get a different reaction than simple apathy from the board. However people here know that this is what to expect from both sides of the equation and are not going to be baited by this silly attempt at making the norm into somethings that is supposed to be "shocking" and make somebody upset over the status quo.

This would be like saying that Bush made a speech in support of his SS program but didn't mention that there is opposition to it. To that we all say Duh! or so what?

 

[OCA]

I wasn't surprised at all. This is standard operating procedure for Bush's "town hall" meetings and "open" discussions. They are all carefully managed and rehearsed events that prohibit any real discussion of his proposals.

And your point is?

The same happened under Clinton, and your point is troll?

 

[Itsthetruth]

your point is troll?

My point is not troll. My point is that people should not trust the real nature of so-called public town hall discussions and meetings be they organized by George W. Bush or William Clinton.

It's not my fault if you or anyone else has confidence in and/or defends such practices. You can claim that all politicians do that (they don't but many do from both major corporate sponsored political parties) but that's hardly an effective defense of such deceptive practices.

 

[rtwngAvngr]

My point is not troll. My point is that people should not trust the real nature of so-called public town hall discussions and meetings be they organized by George W. Bush or William Clinton.

It's not my fault if you or anyone else has confidence in and/or defends such practices. You can claim that all politicians do that (they don't but many do from both major corporate sponsored political parties) but that's hardly an effective defense of such deceptive practices.

Libs don't discuss. They shout, harrass, and otherwise act a fool.

 

[no1tovote4]

My point is not troll. My point is that people should not trust the real nature of so-called public town hall discussions and meetings be they organized by George W. Bush or William Clinton.

It's not my fault if you or anyone else has confidence in and/or defends such practices. You can claim that all politicians do that (they don't but many do from both major corporate sponsored political parties) but that's hardly an effective defense of such deceptive practices.

Clearly you are unreachable. The point we are making is you should realize that they are promoting an agenda and not expect otherwise. It is only your silly expectations that have been shattered, there is nothing shocking in a politician promoting his agenda. It isn't deceptive at all, GW Bush and his team have stated that he is traveling the country promoting his SS plan. Somehow you read into that they were giving the other side a chance to promote their agenda on this tour, they said nothing of the sort.

 

[musicman]

You took only a tiny part of my post, ignored the rest and then attributed things to me that I didn't say. This is a fallacious argument and you can certainly do better than that.

.

He won't, though. The man is lazy.

 

[musicman]

Can you believe that Bush - trying to present his policies in a favorable light???!!!

That BASTARD!

 

[Bullypulpit]

Actually, I think Leni Riefenstahl would have been more than a little envious of how well executed the Bush propaganda campaign is.

 

[rtwngAvngr]

Actually, I think Leni Riefenstahl would have been more than a little envious of how well executed the Bush propaganda campaign is.

she's dead, nitwit.

 

[Bullypulpit]

she's dead, nitwit.

That's why I used the PAST TENSE.

 

[no1tovote4]

Actually, I think Leni Riefenstahl would have been more than a little envious of how well executed the Bush propaganda campaign is.

So would Stephanopolous.

 

[Itsthetruth]

That's why I used the PAST TENSE.

Careful. You can easily confuse some right-wingers with those highfalutin terms like past tense.

I once told a right-winger that the Bush government was guilty of spreading a lot of disinformation. He asked me: "So who heads up dis Information Department?"

Yikes!