Hi Emily;
I think the main issue is that most Americans were unaware that they did NOT have a free press, until we finally got one.
What I mean is that prior to the Internet revolutionizing access to information in the early 90's, most Americans believed that the crap broadcast by the Networks and published in the papers was the actual news. It wasn't until the networks were repeatedly exposed as frauds that the majority of Americans began to understand that what they were fed as news was nothing more than propaganda, centrally managed to tell the story that the democratic party wanted told.
We currently have the freedom to obtain information, but this could be fleeting. The powers that be are none too pleased that a fraud by Dan Rather can be exposed in hours. Prior to the internet, the fraud by Rather would have never been exposed and CBS would have maneuvered the party they serve to a presidential win.
This angers the democrats, who for a generation managed the news to their own advantage. This is the reason for the irrational hatred of Fox, and Drudge, and other sources not controlled by the party.
WOW Totally agree. You sound like my bf, he was just saying the same thing about Dan Rather and exposing the media bias once the news cycle expanded to 24 hours; I wish you would call into his radio show, let him know he's not the only one saying this who gets it.
He got the wrong impression of USMB by looking at some replies attacking Allen West skewing his history. I recommended linking USMB forum to his radio website, but he got the wrong impression from msgs on here he saw spouting things to be mean. I will let him know you pointed out the same thing, that's funny!
Note about the democratizing of the media: I still think this is in the early stages of learning there is a bias and how to overcome it. Just reacting and going to the other extreme isn't enough. There is still double division going on, and people still can't see it.
For media bias, there is just as BIG a gap where the far left is misrepresented by the political sell outs hijacking the party. The real solutions of the far left (microlending and fair trade based on free enterprise, local currency and labor coops, and other sustainable means that AREN'T about imposing through govt but teaching independence) are completely silenced because they don't empower election campaigns through the media.
Because of the corruption and abuse in the fight for power, the opponents of Democrat corruption coming from the left are just as "demonized" as the Tea Party is on the right.
People don't see this yet. they either see the political left bias is against the rightwing;
or they see the rightwing media as against the left. They don't get that both sides are still misrepresented, and the mainstream media does them equal disservice this way.
Very few people recognize both sides.
So we have only just begun the media revolution.
Until we see both sides in equal perspective, we don't realize we are not each other's enemies, but the segregation of information and contact that divides us in different realities and prevents us from getting information directly from the sources. (the only group I saw actively exposing the media bias as EQUALLY demonizing and pitting left against right to control public perception was the OCCUPY/Green movement; and they got crushed and demonized even worse than the media trashed the Tea Party as a threat.)
the mixed reporting and skewing of both sides in the Martin-Zimmerman case was another wakeup call for me. People weren't getting the same information, and were equally OUTRAGED why the other side was making accusations and had a totally different perception. So sad. Tragedy on top of tragedy and I believe the media owes the Martin family as much reparations as they owe to Zimmerman for inciting angry protests and death threats when the fear and the fight was at least mutual.
As for ACA, as long as the left and right demonize each other, this actually benefits the corrupt Democrats hijacking the liberal votes for power while silencing dissenters within their own party. the leftwing opposition to ACA is silenced, and we only hear about rightwing opposition, so politico's in the middle PLAY on fear of rightwing to get elected, benefiting when these two sides cannot align and throw out the middle man playing both sides against the other. Ted Cruz and the Tea Party sought to unite the people sold out in both parties, but they got demonized as rightwing racists. Maybe the Greens can step in, or the Libertarians and bridge those gaps. I have more hope the Tea Party and Republicans can root out problems on their side by uniting around the Constitution. The Democrats and liberals aren't used to uniting based on that, so it takes more education to build to that level. I've had to explain DUE PROCESS before taking away people's liberties, which apparently is a new concept to liberals who just want to use political power to pass laws.
I ran into so many walls with that, I am now trying to focus on prison reform, and see if that can be a unifying base to create sustainable health care by choice, not by force of law.
the educational process was a real eye opener for me, and a heartbreaker. I thought it was just a matter of teaching the Constitutional laws; then I realized these were religious differences that would not change between party camps. so then I thought if people FORGAVE each other, they could deal with each other's beliefs, right? no there was more.
Only lately I came to accept that people's natural psychology of perception and relations is different; too many liberals don't believe or connect with using the Constitution to invoke or govern any authority, but only use political party which is run by majority rule. I thought it was a matter of forgiveness and overcoming fear of oppression by others, but it was more than that.
It's not even in their brain chemistry or spirit to empower themselves to govern directly by "invoking the law", so they have no concept of this or what other people are trying to do.
they depend on OTHER people who can "invoke the law' but they can't do this themselves.
I thought it could be taught. I thought people coudl be empowered by forgiveness and overcoming fear. but if their minds are wired differently, people cannot help that.
that was the last straw for me. that's why I am pushing to separate parties as religions, because not only will their beliefs not change, but their minds are not even designed to approach government using the same process. the concept isn't there.
it's not a matter of choice, or fault in being ignorant or emotionally biased or uneducated. the psychology is just plain different where groups cannot impose on each other because some people do not have equal capacity to govern directly by law. Others can bully them.
they might be able to be taught to understand the other group has a different psychology as well as different beliefs. but they may never be able to understand by experiencing it themselves. so that was when I realized how deep this goes and why we need to separate.
it broke my heart to understand this. and to see other people don't get it at all and blame each other for differences and imposing while trying to defend themselves from each other.
