Just heard on NPR that the website glitches have destroyed Obama & Dems

[Triana]

And that Election 2014 is in the bag for Republicans - that all the negativity from the GOP's $24 billion shutdown recently has been literally reversed and erased. That Dems/Obama are destroyed, according to the talking heads there.

(I hope that DUers have the sense to change the station from NPR and cease or avoid donating to them - they've done nothing but the same faulty, inaccurate, GOP-water-carrying reporting that other corprat-owned outlets have been doing ie: CNN, etc.).

This is how propaganda works.

Personally, I'll have no part of it.

[Xipe Totec]

1. To be fair, they have a point. And it's right on top of their head nt

[tblue]

2. Stopped giving to them years ago.

Pacifica is a better investment for my little bit of money.

[Mister Ed]

49. But David Koch didn't...

David Koch & PBS self-censorship

This story is actually two stories. It’s the story of how one PBS film, critical of David Koch, got another PBS film, also critical of David Koch, cancelled. It’s also a story of how the rich control all corporate media (which now includes PBS) — through minions who “get it” and don’t have to be told what to do.

Story at:
http://americablog.com/2013/05/david-koch-self-censorship-at-pbs-we-have-to-be-aware-that-people-with-power-have-power.html

[BlueJazz]

3. WTF!!! George Bush screws the Country, Lies to everyone in the Country, Spends all the surplus..

...and countless other atrocities and gets away with only minor scratches.

WE have a buggy website and it's FUCK ALL DEMOCRATS ???

[TwilightGardener]

5. Bush sent thousands of American soldiers to their deaths...for absolutely nothing.

But, Obamacare has a rockier start than expected, so...yeah. DOOOOOOM!!

[Warpy]

4. National Propaganda Radio just seems to go on and on

I hope the wingnuts Stupid forced into their BOD have their terms run out soon. I haven't been able to listen to them since 2005, which is when it started getting really bad.

[enlightenment]

6. Could you share

the program you were listening to? I'd like to read the transcript.

[Triana]

8. It had to be All Things Considered or Marketplace given the timeframe

I can't find the transcript but maybe you can.

[enlightenment]

15. Thanks.

I'll take a look!

[Brother Buzz]

7. According to a talking head there, stated as fact, or....

A quote from some white-wing think tank dude with an agenda? Context is everything.

[Niceguy1]

29. could have been a caller too

since they rarely hang up on people.

[G_j]

9. no surprise

NPR's New Boss: Financial Industry Lobbyist, GOP Donor, Right-Wing Think Tank Booster

http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/09/17/nprs-new-boss-financial-industry-lobbyist-gop-donor-right-wing-think-tank-booster/

Posted by Peter Hart

Last month NPR CEO Gary Knell left to take a job at National Geographic, making him the latest in a string of CEOs who left after a short stint running the public radio outlet. On September 13, NPR named a new acting president and CEO: board member Paul G. Haaga.

The NPR press release (9/13/13) states that Haaga's "accomplished career" included a stint as "chairman of the Investment Company Institute"–the powerful lobbying group of the mutual fund industry. As the Los Angeles Times (11/29/03) once reported, "Mutual funds have been mostly shielded from the reforms forced on the financial world–thanks in large part to the efforts of the Investment Company Institute."

NPR also adds that Haaga has ties to right-wing think tanks–he is "a member of the National Council of the American Enterprise Institute" and he sits on "the Board of Overseers of Hoover Institution at Stanford University."

Haaga is also a fairly regular contributor to Republican politicians. According to OpenSecrets.org, this year he made a $32,400 donation to the Republican National Committee; in the previous two years, he made contributions of around $30,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee. He's also given four-figure checks to a large number of mostly Republican candidates, including Rep. Paul Ryan, George Allen and Mitch McConnell.

So the new boss–for now–at NPR is a former financial industry lobbyist who is a regular donor to Republican politicians, with ties to two prominent conservative think tanks. When NPR finds a new boss, he'll continue to be a member of NPR's board.

According to right-wing mythology, NPR is a decidedly left-wing media outlet, living off government subsidies and pushing a liberal agenda. That's not at all true when it comes to what's on the air–or who's on the board.

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. yay on you for this information!

I stopped listening to NPR a few years back, after noticiing the change in direction.

[City Lights]

13. Well isn't that a fine kick in the ass?

Don't ya just love the "liberal" media?

[Triana]

18. Thanks. Just tweeted that. The more who shut off this garbage or change the channel

and the fewer who donate, the better.

Seriously.

WHO NEEDS yet another RWNJ-controlled GOP propaganda-spewing station? They're a dime a dozen these days.

Worthless.

[Curmudgeoness]

40. Makes me wonder about their reasoning on this move.

NPR listeners have always been liberals. Liberals were the donors. And Conservatives just hate NPR and want to defund it.

So.....piss off the liberals and you have nothing. Odd choice.

[quakerboy]

48. Theres no way they lose on the deal. Not odd at all

Liberals mostly dont know about the alteration from neutral to republican control of the NPR, so end up eating propaganda from a trusted source, not realizing. Point to the R's.

Far rightwing sources can point to what everyone believes is neutral NPR to confirm their BS stories, and thus justify moving even further to the right. Point to the R's.

Liberals find out and become frustrated, potentially ceasing to support NPR. With hyper hatred from the right and growing apathy from the left, theres actually a chance to shut NPR down. Point to the R's.

An older generation listen and trust NPR, because they know it. People like my father, who was a wacky conflicted libertarian who believed we needed universal health care, get sucked to the right and end up believing the president is coming for their guns. Point for the R's.

That last one is very important. How else can they hang on to older voters as they try to cut Social Security? Cutting out NPR as an effective voice for informing the people is a huge step.

[Curmudgeoness]

65. All good points.

It is really depressing.

[Faryn Balyncd]

41. RW propaganda is MOST EFFECTIVELY peddler by a phony "liberal" behemoth.

NPR has become worse than Fox (and more valuable to the Republicans).

[Drahthaardogs]

10. I wouldn't say it is all over, but this does make Democrats look inept.

Sorry but this was the President's signature legislation. This is his legacy. To NOT ensure that the website worked is inexcusable and it makes him look ridiculous. In my opinion, he dropped the ball on this one and I see it as his "Mission Accomplished" moment.

Hopefully people start signing up and this glitch is forgotten when the benefits of the program are realised.

[RBInMaine]

14. Mistakes were made, but to compare this to Iraq War is insane. The website is being fixed. Chill out

[Drahthaardogs]

16. Of course it is not "the same" as a war, but in the fact that it is HIS SIGNATURE LEGISLATION

it is the same. Just as Iraq is/was Bush's legacy. Sorry, but if Obama would have put some good Feds on the website design instead of contracting it out it would have worked just fine. This is what happens when you let contractors do work federal employees should be doing.

[winter is coming]

12. Every day, I hear on NPR that Obamacare is a huge failure that's dooming us all.

And then I go out in the real world and most of what I hear being said about Obamacare is that they're sick of the media talking about it all the time.

[Triana]

19. That's what I heard tonight. Said several different ways..

...over and over again.

I mean they're pushing this meme HARD.

[winter is coming]

20. They were pushing it hard last week, too.

I was driving somewhere during the evening news and stopped for gas. At the time, NPR was doing yet another "Obamacare sux" story. The pay-at-the-pump feature was broken, so I went inside and stood in line to pay. By the time I got back in the car, at least ten minutes had passed, and they were still dissing Obamacare. The harder they try, the more I realize Obamacare isn't failing.

[Triana]

21. Damn....

...this is how they do it. They latch onto a meme and repeat it over and over and over and over and over ad nauseum until people believe it. No matter if it's not true. Goebbels would be delighted as Hell at the state of media in the U.S. today if he could see it.

[winter is coming]

22. I'm not hearing people believing it, though, apart from the Fox News crowd.

What I'm noticing is a lot of eye-rolling at the media's fixation with flogging a dead horse.

[Triana]

25. GOOD.

That was my reaction - besides shutting that shit OFF.

[winter is coming]

27. "Can't they find something else to talk about?" is something I've heard, more than once. n/t

[Triana]

28. My sentiments exactly...posted this on my blog last week...

...saying essentially the same thing:

ABSOLUTELY VITAL Issues U.S. Media Should be Covering, But Isn't . . .
http://www.sevenbowie.com/2013/11/absolutely-vital-issues-that-our-media-should-be-covering-but-isnt/

[Chathamization]

56. Yep...looks like the media is taking orders from the Right

The narrative for the first three weeks after the launch was that the website was glitchy but overall there was a ton of interest. Three weeks later when the shutdown ended the Right started pushing the idea that the site was a disaster, and everyone in the media (and many Democrats!) decided to follow suit - even though by then the site was better then the initially reported "glitchy, but OK" rollout. Eh.

My favorite is that after weeks of pounding Obama over this, the media is now reporting shocking news that his poll numbers have dropped. Surprise, a nation-wide hit campaign can make your poll numbers go down.

As for NPR, they seem to go from bad for worse. Lately I've noticed that they'll have guests on from Heritage or the Heartland Institute.

[Cha]

17. Won't they be shocked like romney.

[Warren DeMontague]

23. Yeah, the word must have come down to change the narrative quick.

...what shutdown?

[Rex]

26. At one time NPR was pretty good about unbiased reporting.

Now, like CBS, all they know how to do is pass on a political agenda paid for by their paymasters. Pathetic, but not to be unexpected imo.

[KoKo]

30. It's Disgusting from what I read here. I'm Left of Obama..but this CRAP

is just more RW SPIN to hit a person when they are down. They LOVE BLOOD IN WATER ...except when it Bleeds to the Right/Red.

I don't pay mind to it and don't watch it. I'd rather hear VALID Criticism...that I can read and then "counter read" in these trying times for all of us.

WE KNOW the MSM in USA is BIASED...so we seek OTHER SOURCES that might also be biased ...but AT LEAST...the smartist "Media Maven's" of us can parse the difference to figure out for our own sensibilities. imho.......

[valerief]

31. That crazy liberl npra. nt

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

32. NPR is a national embarassment

Stick to talking about critiques of "urban music" (of which you can tell the hosts HAVE NO FUCKING CLUE ABOUT) and interviews about knitting, NPR....your political commentary and desperate attempts to appease the teabag critics has made you as useless as CNN.

[BlueJazz]

46. At one time, I used to give 100 bucks a year. Now 0000

...and that's more than they deserve.

[Jamaal510]

52. "Urban music"...

these people must not get out a lot.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

33. The Right Wing drama queen outrage was already tired when they railed about Heinz ketchup.

[rickford66]

34. I'm pretty sure I heard the same broadcast today.

All horror stories. One guy even said "Why should I pay for sick people or old people?". Like he may never need his insurance? Only one woman, at the very end said something positive. She was upset about losing her plan she loved ..... until she read the fine print and found out things like an emergency room visit is only covered in case of an accident. So she said if she showed up on a Sunday night with appendicitis she'd have to foot the whole bill. I think the vast majority of people losing their plans will be happy when they finally in a year or two get real insurance. I doubt if many have even read their present plan.

[silvershadow]

35. They wish that would be the narrative now until election day. Truth is, they can try

but the narrative is quickly going to change to the positive for a ton of reasons. A website failure does not equal a program failure. It does muddy the waters, and has done some short-term damage, but it will in no way equate the kind of nonsense they are espousing. The numbers are ramping up tremendously in some states, and the program will work. The tweaks now will go on forever and ever, just as they do with Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid. It will not have the political fallout they hope/wish for, no matter how much nonsense they spout. I am saddened though at the direction they have apparently taken over the last few years. I used to listen to them all the time, not so much any more.

[ybbor]

36. I never listen to NPR

Haven't listened to NPR in over 10 years. The only show I slightly miss is Car Talk and I believe it ended years ago. Juan Williams, enuf said.

[crim son]

37. I stopped donating when they became the shrub's advocate

during the build-up to the invasion of Iraq. I listen to some of their entertainment programs but not their "news".

[madrchsod]

38. my radio listening day ....

my npr station bbc overnight from 12 till 6,then bill,momma,big ed,norm.

i listen to my npr station during the weekends because there`s no political bullshit.

[IDemo]

39. If it's the same report I heard..

they made a point of equating the Obamacare rollout troubles with Bush's Katrina.

[Triana]

43. Yep. I heard that.

Probably the same one.

[NJCher]

42. Started listening to books on tape instead

I'd rather get into a good mystery than be brainwashed. It's a lot more pleasant, too.

As far as news goes, I'll read DU and The Guardian.

Eff NPR. If this is what they have to offer as a president, then they'll hold no place in my life.

Thanks to the poster upthread with the story about their new leader. The story is dated 9/17, so it makes sense we'd be hearing his POV about now.

Must make the real reporters there sick.


Cher

[Rozlee]

44. They can't talk about a computer glitch for a whole year.

Americans don't have that kind of attention span. And the ACA is something that will affect many positively, but on the flip side, I sincerely doubt anyone will be losing their home or dying in the streets because of it, so efforts to keep it alive as Obama's Waterloo won't go anywhere. Witness their obsession with Benghazi. Their own base is the only one that doesn't roll their eyes when it's mentioned. It also depends on who they've got running. Obama won an election he should have lost this past year. Historically, an incumbent running during low employment numbers and with his popularity barely scrapping 50% shouldn't have won, especially by the respectable margin Obama did. But, the other side ran candidates that were so fundamentally flawed and out-of-touch with the electorate that there was no way Romney could have eked out a victory. I suspect that if they run the same misogynist teabagger extremists that they ran a couple of weeks ago like Cucinnelli, and the rape-is-a-blessing misogynists like Akins and Mourdock, they'll still have trouble with mainstream voters. I know those idiots. They won't be able to resurrect the race and gender wars.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

45. propaganda, all right. Fuck NPR

Last edited Tue Nov 19, 2013, 11:17 PM - Edit history (1)

I heard some awful shit on there years ago and thought....WTF??? Really really upsetting when I heard it. Some fundy preacher black guy--sounded like he was baptist--was spouting some really crazy crap. And Tavis Smiley wasn't refuting him just letting the crazy spew forth!

That was a really long time ago .....
But anyway, it didn't fit with what I thought NPR was supposed to be about.

This is flat out indoctrination. That plus the consumption driven slave state which is replacing the culture of self-respect. Self respect because you could take care of yourself.

In the present, however, there are too many people vying for a halfway decent survival in an artificially tilted consumer world.

It IS true that the sheer numbers of us needing resources, food, land--in short, the space to live in--is past the overcrowded level. Way way past.

Anyway.....back to the short term....

If some oversight ISN'T passed and > ENFORCED< soon..... the zombies will get us.

Why do you think the zombie genre and memes are so popular now? Years ago it was the pod people.... and the Thing

They walk among us!








(I'm talking about teabaggies, in case it's not obvious enough.)

[hunter]

47. NPR "news and analysis" is Fox News for people who think they are too smart for Fox News.

Actual journalism is pretty much dead in "mainstream" U.S.A..

[tiredtoo]

50. This can be fought

The BS being broadcast about the affordable care act. by sharing success stories. I am on Medicare and do not qualify but others do and should share their success's.
Here is an example and there are others on facebook.
http://www.eclectablog.com/2013/11/im-the-story-obamacares-opponents-dont-want-you-to-hear.html
Search for them and share them with all.

[Cleita]

51. NPR has as much credibility as Lara Logan and probably

the same puppet masters.

[Half-Century Man]

53. Nitwit Propaganda Radio

It is too bad, but not unexpected that money destroyed something else of value (NPR). The Koch brothers taint everything they touch don't they?

[Rosa Luxemburg]

54. I think that the GOP organized a hit on the websites

seems very orchestrated

[Blue Owl]

55. A Kochie Roberts Special

n/t

[Triana]

58. Perfect spelling of her first name...

KOCHie Roberts. Ha!

[JoePhilly]

57. GOAL: Create a belief that the 2014 elections are already over, hoping Dems will give up and

stay home.

That's the plan.

[fadedrose]

59. President Obama seems to always land okay

He seems to have a parachute he has used many times. I can't believe the Congressional ratings which are lower than his will climb in time. His decisions on TPP might hurt more than the ACA because the ACA can and will be fixed.

[Enthusiast]

60. NPR is worse than useless.

I will not turn it on. Period. I am down to very few TV channels and radio stations because they are all promoting right wing bullshit now.

[Omnith]

61. I didn't hear NPR's report, however, the polls show

things are back to how they were before the shutdown as far as the generic congressional ballot.

[MinM]

62. Mara Liasson and a GOPollster

If it's the same one I heard.

Why doesn't NPR just save the money, and drop the pretense, by simulcasting Foxnews?

[intheflow]

63. And this is why the CORPORATION for Public Broadcasting doesn't get any money from me any more.

[jmondine]

64. Was it followed by Ted Cruz singing "When You Wish Upon a Star"?

[freeplessinseattle]

66. I heard that, too! I had to double check the radio station

It was almost satirical the way they were gleefully hyping how disastrous it is, and I had to change the station before I gave myself heartburn while eating lunch!