When the GOP wins, the media calls it a mandate for change.

[guillaumeb]

When the Democrats win, the media counsels bi-partisanship.

And that is the essence of how the US conservative media handles politics.


When Bush Jr. stole the 2000 election, all we read in the corporate media was talk of his mandate, and how much the GOP could do.

When Obama actually won his election, twice in fact, all we read in the corporate media was advice that Obama and the Democrats should reach out to the GOP and move to the center.


And this center that the media refers to is actually moving steadily rightward, even as the US population moves in a progressive direction.


It is this steady progressive movement of the electorate that compels the GOP to cheat, to suppress votes, and to do everything that they can to limit voting to racists and billionaires.

[dalton99a]

1. It is so damn obvious

Liberal media, my ass

[Tom Rivers]

2. Also known as Chuck Toadies daily script

[yonder]

3. K&R

[secondwind]

4. Very well said, my friend.

[Caliman73]

5. Which is why right wing violence is tolerated or ignored and unity on the left is always sabotaged.

Even extreme right wing ideology, you know, that which most Republicans endorsed quietly but would run away from publicly has been given a pass in recent years. It is why David Duke's or Alex Jones' endorsement is no longer the kiss of death for a candidate. Any right wing action is done in defense of the status quo, the concentration of wealth and power into the hands of wealthy, White, Christian (if only in name) men. That is it. That is why it is tolerated now.

Anything progressive or further left is a threat to the standing social and economic order. Even though progressives tend to work from within the existing framework, the end goal is to open up the system to the experience of people who have been historically under represented in society and/or actively suppressed. That scares the shit out of the powers that be. Which is why Neo-nazis are just "uncomfortable" with the way things are going but not really racists, while a center left person is considered a flaming Bolshevik who is going to burn down the world.

[guillaumeb]

9. You should make your response a separate post. It is excellent.

In my area outside of Chicago, an actual Nazi received over 56,000 GOP votes as he ran against Dan Lipinski for the 3rd District.

Think about that. Over 56,000 GOP voters cast their ballots for an actual Nazi.


Over 56,000 GOP voters were comfortable voting for a Nazi.


If 56,000 Democratic voters had voted for a Communist the local and national media would be covering this non-stop.

[malaise]

6. MSGreedis speaks for its corporate owners

most of the time.

[guillaumeb]

10. There is no doubt of this.

Leslie Moonves, the disgraced former head of a major network, said that Trump may be bad for America, but he is great for CBS.

[Baitball Blogger]

7. Time to let them know we're not falling for it this time.

Maybe someone should revisit video archives to help the media see their own hypocrisy?

[guillaumeb]

11. The corporate media faithfully broadcasts all of Trump's lies.

What is needed is another Fairness Doctrine.

[ProudLib72]

8. So why do you think Rs are seen as the responsible ones?

I know this is part of the narrative that the media spews, but where the hell do they get this? They are NOT fiscally responsible. They are NOT environmentally responsible. They are NOT morally responsible in any way. When will the media hold them accountable for their actions? My guess is never. We need to find a better alternative to the media we have now.

[guillaumeb]

13. You know the answer. We both know the answer.

It is in your second sentence.

The conservative, corporate controlled media serves the rich 1% by deceiving the rest of us in the 99%. Or trying to.



DU is one small part of the answer, but the rich have a money advantage.


One part of the solution is returning the top marginal tax rate to around 90%. That would be a huge step.

[ProudLib72]

31. I know we all know. It's the solution that bugs me

Dems get blamed for poor messaging, but that simply isn't true. We need to figure out a way of wresting narrative control from the right... permanently.

It seems strange to me that only center to far right media has a voice. I listen to NPR thinking it will be more liberal, but they pride themselves on providing information "from both sides". There are the rare interviewers who prod conservatives, but mostly they let their respondents give "information".

[guillaumeb]

33. Agreed.

And often that "information" from the GOP is false. Framing a lie as simply another opinion is mis-framing.

[Tom Rivers]

17. Because it's all about telling a narrative that benefits them.

They don't care about "fiscal responsibility" as long as they get theirs. They're getting the payoff to spew the BS, so it's okay.

They don't care about "environmental responsibility" because that hurts their corporate overlords in Big Oil and Big Agra who are all about abusing natural resources to the betterment of their bottom line, not seriously looking for alternatives for the betterment of society.

They don't care about "moral responsibility" because the rubes already believe that conservative = moral, and the only "moral" issues rural voters have been conditioned to care about are pre-marital sex (ONLY when it applies to liberals), choice and birth control (again, ONLY when it applies to liberals), and LGBTQ (ONLY when it applies to liberals, but any conservative gay must remain in the closet and advocate against them like good little foot soldier Little Lindsey). Lying, cheating, stealing, inciting hatred and violence? Perfectly fine to rural evangelicals, and media toadies are okay with that because they know they'll vote to keep their cash cows in power.

[guillaumeb]

18. Another great response.

Follow the money.

[Fullduplexxx]

12. Like when dems would filibuster a bill the media would say dems filibuster but

When cons filibustered, the media would say dems failed to reach the 60 vote minimum

[guillaumeb]

14. Perfectly said.

And when the GOP claims to be a values party, the unspoken corollary is that the Democratic Party is not a values party.

[unitedwethrive]

15. Totally agree, so it's up to us to keep using the term "mandate" in conjunction with the blue wave

whenever we call into talk radio, write to our representatives or speak to other citizens. It needs to become a battle cry.

[guillaumeb]

20. Indeed.

we must reframe the narrative, and we must, as you say, remind our Representatives of this. We do not need cautious centrism.

[Initech]

16. Yup.

The media is owned by republicans who then turn around and convince other republicans that the media is against their best interests, and then we get Donald Trump, who has all but declared war on the press. Funny how that works!

[guillaumeb]

21. 90% of the media is owned by 5 large corporations.

And zero percent of the mass media will talk about that.

[rainy]

19. This says it all so well! It's why we keep moving to the right.

[guillaumeb]

22. All while polling suggests that the eelctorate is moving to the left.

And that is why the GOP must suppress the vote.

[rainy]

25. And why new campaign finance rules

Need to be written. It’s insane how much money is spent on elections. It’s corrupting our government to the core.

[Wellstone ruled]

23. Bottom Line,

Comcast Media(NBC MSNBC) as well as Disney ABC and Viacom(CBS)are fostering the narratives of,Pelosi is the Dems Enemy and needs to go,next is this bullcrap about bi-partisanship. And it went viral as soon as the Dems secured the House Tuesday Evening. Before then,you could here the test messaging being used by Media Management .

Chuckie Toad is the Canary in the Coal Mine for Media test messaging. Remember,each time you click on a TV channel,someone is keeping track and it is Monetized .

[guillaumeb]

24. Indeed.

If the GOP had kept the House, the media narrative would have been that the Democrats moved too far to the left.

[underpants]

26. When Obama won we also got daily coverage of Teabaggers

Wall to wall leads on newscasts and morning shows. Some old white person standing up and screaming the same corporate penned nonsense (and racist) crap the old white person yesterday said and another would the next day.

A major news network actually hosted events across the country for these people.

The line between what W did and Obama was effectively blurred. The GOP/RNC was dead after 2006. Massive flips all over the country and Pelosi became Speaker. 2006 is rarely mentioned because people might remember how horrific W was.

[guillaumeb]

27. An excellent reminder.

But white racists are considered to be "authentic Americans". And many of these Tea Party protests were violent.

[Jake Stern]

28. "And this center that the media refers to is actually moving steadily rightward"

Exactly.

What is classified "Centrist Dem" today was pretty much the mainstream (aka Rockerfeller) GOP platform up 'til the 70's.

Even a centrist like John Kennedy looks far left when compared to the current political spectrum.

[lancelyons]

29. Complain to the media outlets. Do something

[guillaumeb]

34. I do, and we all should do it.

I write regular letters to local media outlets, and they are regularly published, but my reach is tiny compared to the conservative media.

[workinclasszero]

30. You nailed the so-called liberal media

Their conservative GOP bent is so damn obvious!

Trump commits outrage after outrage. Crime after crime. Lie after lie and 90% of the time they don’t even mention it!

[Scubamatt]

32. Truer words

have rarely been spoken. IMHO, our priority should be upon reestablishment of the anchors of our democracy, which include: oversight and checks and balances; election integrity (combat voter suppression, gerrymandering and dark money/Citizens United) and, to the OP’s main point, resestablishment of a FAIR PRESS. While Trump’s excesses have awakened some slumbering sense of journalis, all it takes is a breath of life from our side, and the media resorts to its old canard of how we have to compromise, etc. No matter what substantive policies we are ever able to enact, they pale in importance to re-establishing the fair, level playing field that is essential to democracy. Start by bringing back the Fairness Doctrine, reestablishing Net Neutrality, investigate why 90% of our news comes from 6-7 corporations, and find some way to marginalize Faux news.

[guillaumeb]

35. Welcome to DU. And I agree with your framing of the issues.

The billionaires control the media, and the schools, and therefor, the framing of the debate.

[spanone]

36. All we need to know is 'Caravan'

the media grabbed that and ran with it like an Olympic Miler

[guillaumeb]

38. And when the lie was no longer needed, it was discarded.

And the media, with the attention span of a Mayfly, moved on to the next scary object.

[spanone]

40. trump also floods us with so much crap day in day out...he knows media can't keep up or follow thru

Nobody can

[budkin]

37. We live in a society controlled by corporations and capitalism

The fact that we continue to make progressive advances, albeit slowly over time, is amazing to me.

[guillaumeb]

39. I feel that it is inevitable.

But the capitalists are doing their best to turn back the clock and the calendar.