Thursday, July 21, 2011

Media Malpractice



Rachel Maddow is one of the most important anchors in the news business. Her show is essentially insightful painstakingly investigative and does a great service to the American people. She is a watch dog and one of the nation’s greatest champions raking up the muck scattered throughout Washington and the GOP, but her latest commercial points to a dangerous precedence in news media today. Standing before the Hoover Dam Maddow says the fight we are having is between austerity and stimulus. This is exactly what the Fed and Wall Street want us all to debate. The issue has been stolen. Even stalwart liberals continue to stake their ground pushing for a return to reasonable tax rates and further stimulus, as the politically motivated budget battle continues and the focus remains on taxes verses austerity. The truth is the wealthy aren’t worried about higher taxes or even closing loop holes. It’s a distraction. A smoke screen for what they are actually worried about and that’s structural change.

The greatest failure of the news media even among those that are talking about structural change like Dylan Ratigan, Cornel West, Matt Taibbi, James Lieber, Mike Malloy, John Tolbott and, truthdig.org, just to name a few, is the lack of legislative simplification. It is abundantly clear that the driving factor of recession is based entirely on two fundamental laws that completely changed our economic structure. Make no mistake these laws changed our ideology with a drastic oligarchical revolution. That fact that most of you reading this cannot name these laws proves my point about the failure of news to inform us of their consequence. Even the very meek slight regulatory gains made by our bought and sold president acts as a damping of the pertinent task at hand; namely to reinstate Glass Steagall and to repeal the CFMA of 2000 (the commodities futures modernization Act). The reversals of these two drastic criminal changes are the main actions required to place our economic structure in order again, to in effect reestablish capitalism in the world. What we have now is a new world order based on a corporate communist structure controlled by the Fed and Wall Street.

Thinking back on what I have seen on the air since the awakening of 2008 three striking moments come to mind; one is the emergence of the Dylan Ratigan Show. He and West are our only big media saviors who day in and out repeat the need for structural change. Another was a day I happen to catch Morning Joe, when Ratigan was on and Eugene Robinson responded saying that the Obama administration had no interest in structural change with regard to Wall Street. And third, was on the day Chris Matthews asked a guest, I fail to remember who, if credit derivatives and or naked credit swaps should be banned. I was stunned he had asked the question finally and I waited with bated breath. The answer, “It is pivotal”. No follow up, no explanation, just, “it, is pivotal”. Meaning what? Too many people are going to lose money watching their hedge funds disappear? Or is it the Democratic Party that would disappear without the backing of the financial district?

Too many people don’t know that the Bill of Rights were not in the original constitution and in fact were added later as the first ten amendments because of an outcry from the people! It is this outcry that is once again needed to restore our capitalist structure. And it must be simplified into two clear demands. Banks can no longer be allowed to be investment firms ( as established in Glass Steagall) and credit derivatives can no longer be used to manufacture profit ( as created by the CFMA of 2000). As Maddow says, we must invest in America again. It’s a zero sum game and the very few are cashing in. We can’t afford to wait for another meltdown. So get out the big inserts and fly by nights bugs, with catchy tunes and for God sake get angry. I can’t wait to see Ratigan’s Lean Forward commercial calling on Americans to sign a petition.