Venezuelan TV Station Heads to Cable

[Flanker]

Source: Associated Press

An opposition-aligned TV station forced off the air by President Hugo Chavez will take its programming to cable television while it continues waging a legal battle to regain its broadcast license, the channel's top executive announced Wednesday.

Radio Caracas Television, or RCTV, which went off the air on May 27 after Chavez refused to renew its license, will reach viewers via cable beginning on July 16, station executive Marcel Granier said.



Read more: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/11/ap3903967.html

---

The article neglected to mention DirectTV as well, plans are dirt cheap too at around 10-20 bucks a month with prepaid cards.

[ProudDad]

1. Cool

They belong on the vast wasteland of cable blather tv...


This is a DAMN good trade: Coup plotters' license renewal denied so they're off the People's Broadcast Airwaves to be replaced by Venezuela's first PUBLIC TV station...

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=2254

"“With this we break the editorial line that exists in the TV business, where the owner of the medium is the owner of the message,” explained Chacón. Each producer would have their own editorial line that they are free to follow.

"Chacón invited all Venezuelans to actively participate in the discussion of exactly how this new channel should be organized, how citizens participate in it, and what its programming should be. “Hopefully the creation of this public service channel, starting on May 28, will mean the emergence of a television in Venezuela where Venezuelans recognize each other, where values are placed first, and where we truly feel that we can not only be consumers of the medium, but citizens who actively participate in the creation of the content.”"

How can we get this here?

Oh, yeah, I know -- Kucinich and a Truly Progressive Congress...

Oh, well, I guess we'll just have to envy the Venezuelan People.

[msongs]

2. dictator bush and dictator chavez would both like to get opposition off the air nt

[Flanker]

3. Thing is Bush has no opposition on the air

Or anywhere else on TV for that matter barring a few timeslots.

[IndianaGreen]

7. Chavez believes that the public airwaves belong to the public, not the corporations

while we in the United States have suffered since the Fairness Doctrine went out of the window.

Bush is a tyrant. Chavez is a democrat.

[Rage for Order]

70. Who does the internet belong to?

Does it belong to the people as well? I think it does, and by that standard the internet would also fall under the auspices of the Fairness Doctrine. That's not something I'd like to see happen. I don't think information or speech in any medium should be regulated by the government. The slope is entirely too slippery.

[EFerrari]

9. If Faux tried to get Junior kidnapped if not killed, I wonder how long

they'd stay on the air. :)

[Demeter]

31. I'd Root For Them, Regardless! IF: Such a Little Important Word

If wishes were horses, beggars would win at the track.

[jefferson_dem]

23. tweedle dee & tweedle dum.

Tweedle-dee Dum and Tweedle-dee Dee
They're throwing knives into the tree
Two big bags of dead man's bones
Got their noses to the grindstones

Living in the Land of Nod
Trustin' their fate to the Hands of God
They pass by so silently
Tweedle-dee Dum and Tweedle-dee Dee

Well, they're going to the country, they're gonna retire
They're taking a streetcar named Desire
Looking in the window at the pecan pie
Lot of things they'd like they would never buy

Neither one gonna turn and run
They're making a voyage to the sun
"His Master's voice is calling me,"
Says Tweedle-dee Dum to Tweedle-dee Dee

Tweedle-dee Dee and Tweedle-dee Dum
All that and more and then some
They walk among the stately trees
They know the secrets of the breeze

Tweedle-dee Dum said to Tweedle-dee Dee
"Your presence is obnoxious to me."
They're like babies sittin' on a woman's knee
Tweedle-dee Dum and Tweedle-dee Dee

Well, the rain beating down on my windowpane
I got love for you and it's all in vain
Brains in the pot, they're beginning to boil
They're dripping with garlic and olive oil

Tweedle-dee Dee - he's on his hands and his knees
Saying, "Throw me somethin', Mister, please."
"What's good for you is good for me,"
Says Tweedle-dee Dum to Tweedle-dee Dee

Well, they're living in a happy harmony
Tweedle-dee Dum and Tweedle-dee Dee
They're one day older and a dollar short
They've got a parade permit and a police escort

They're lying low and they're makin' hay
They seem determined to go all the way
They run a brick and tile company
Tweedle-dee Dum and Tweedle-dee Dee

Well a childish dream is a deathless need
And a noble truth is a sacred creed
My pretty baby, she's lookin' around
She's wearin' a multi-thousand dollar gown

Tweedle-dee Dee is a lowdown, sorry old man
Tweedle-dee Dum, he'll stab you where you stand
"I've had too much of your company,"
Says, Tweedle-dee Dum to Tweedle-dee Dee

Copyright © 2001 Special Rider Music

[ProudDad]

57. Ah, the Clinton/Obama song (n/t)

[jefferson_dem]

60. Really? Strikes me as more of a "ChimpyHugo" tome...

How 'bout this one?

Well, John the Baptist after torturing a thief
Looks up at his hero the Commander-in-Chief
Saying, "Tell me great hero, but please make it brief
Is there a hole for me to get sick in?"

The Commander-in-Chief answers him while chasing a fly
Saying, "Death to all those who would whimper and cry"
And dropping a bar bell he points to the sky
Saving, "The sun's not yellow it's chicken"

Does it remind you of anyone?

We could play with Dylan lyrics all day.

[ProudDad]

62. Sounds like bush

and most of the republicans and most of the Democrats in Congress...

Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

[jefferson_dem]

66. Good one...

Interesting, Dylan claims that is not an "anti-war" but rather a slam on the infamous "Military Industrial Complex" Ike warned us about. This would make sense given that he publised the song in 1963, only two years after Ike's speech.

By the way, one of finest...and nastiest performances of "Masters of War" was smack dab in the devil's lair -- West Point -- in October, 1990. This was during Dylan's "drunk years" but he really lets it rip. GE Smith on guitar too. Here's a youtube video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT6jSqQh7qo

Cheers! :toast:

[radicalcapitalist]

4. The fat little fascist from Caracas does not take criticism very well.

I wouldn't be surprised to see him attempt to nationalize the cable TV industry in an effort to suppress all descent.

[DumpDavisHogg]

6. Bush isn't from Caracas, and he's not really fat either (n/t)

[Bacchus39]

10. I knew who he was talking about

n/t

[EFerrari]

8. It's "dissent". n/t

[slipslidingaway]

19. :))) n/t

[EFerrari]

44. Recovering school marm. :-)

[IndianaGreen]

13. Chavez is not a fascist, he is a democratic socialist, and the word is "dissent" not "descent."

The same people that defended going to war against Iraq, opposed defunding the war, and recoil at the idea of getting Bush and Cheney impeached, are now parroting Faux News propaganda about Chavez and Venezuela. Why is that? Perhaps it is because the neoliberals at DLC/PPI share the same world view as the neocons at PNAC and AEI. Oh, they might disagree on tactics somewhat. The former may prefer to sugar coat their imperialist policies with a "progressive" label, while the latter prefer to screw people without lubrication, but to those at the receiving end of the oppressive policies they advocate, there is no difference between them.

Published on Friday, June 1, 2007 by CommonDreams.org

Venezuela and the Media: Fact and Fiction

by Robert W. McChesney & Mark Weisbrot

To read and view the U.S. news media over the past week, there is an episode of grand tyranny unfolding, one repugnant to all who cherish democratic freedoms. The Venezuelan government under “strongman” Hugo Chavez refused to renew the 20-year broadcast license for RCTV, because that medium had the temerity to be critical of his regime. It is a familiar story.

And in this case it is wrong.

Regrettably, the US media coverage of Venezuela’s RCTV controversy says more about the deficiencies of our own news media that it does about Venezuela. It demonstrates again, as with the invasion of Iraq, how our news media are far too willing to carry water for Washington than to ascertain and report the truth of the matter.

<snip>

If RCTV were broadcasting in the United States, its license would have been revoked years ago. In fact its owners would likely have been tried for criminal offenses, including treason.

RCTV’s broadcast frequency has been turned over to a new national public access channel that promises to provide programming from thousands of independent producers. It is an effort to let millions of Venezuelans who have never had a viable chance to participate in the media do so, without government censorship.

The Bush Administration opposes the Chavez government for reasons that have nothing to do with democracy, or else there would be a long list of governments for us to subvert or overthrow before it would get close to targeting Venezuela. Regrettably, our press coverage has done little to shed light on that subject.

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/06/01/1607/

[jefferson_dem]

24. Really? Amnesty International, HRW, and The Carter Center do all that you mention there?

Hmmmm.

:shrug:

[ProudDad]

47. Links?

Right-wing blather doesn't count...

[jefferson_dem]

49. The poster suggested that only those beholden to RW propaganda (or "blather")

are critical of Hugo. I was simply pointing out that very reputable non-RW sources, including AI, HRW, and The Carter Center, have also slammed Hugo's recent power-plays.

Do you really need links to support that? Have you not been paying attention?

[ProudDad]

52. I was asking for the benefit of others here

who haven't read your sources in context...

I seem to remember Carter saying that the Venezuelan elections were the fairest they'd ever seen, including (especially) compared to the U.S.

I found this at the Carter Center:

"Venezuela is well on its way to eliminating a debilitating form of preventable blindness called onchocerciasis."

http://www.cartercenter.org/countries/venezuela.html

and this:

"After the accord, the Center and the OAS were invited by the CNE to observe the entire recall effort. Along the way, the Center and the OAS worked with both sides and with the electoral authorities to get consensus on the "rules of the game" at each step of the process. After a long and contentious period of verifying signatures requesting a recall, frustration grew. The delay in announcing the number of validated signatures and the preliminary disqualification of many of the signatures led to massive protests in Caracas that turned violent in February 2004. Sufficient signatures were eventually verified in June 2004, triggering a recall vote on Aug. 15, 2004. President Chávez won almost 60 percent of the vote, so he will complete the remainder of his term, which ends in December 2006"




Amnesty International can find Human Rights Violations ANYWHERE, because they exist EVERYWHERE. That doesn't make Hugo Chavez a "dictator" any more than it makes Angela Merkle or Tony Blair or Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva a "dictator".

"Amnesty International believes that the Venezuela government had a clear duty to guarantee public order in the face of frequently violent protests - which included the use of firearms by some protestors. However, there is strong evidence that the use of rubber bullets, tear gas and batons was frequently indiscriminate and disproportionate and significantly contributed to a week of spiralling violence rather than preventing it."

Just like Oakland California, etc...

and for the U.S.A.; the Phony "War on Terror":

"Further evidence emerged of a systematic pattern of abuse by the USA and its allies in the context of the "war on terror", including secret detention, enforced disappearance, prolonged incommunicado and arbitrary detention, and torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. At the end of 2006, thousands of detainees continued to be held in US custody without charge or trial in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

"Despite several adverse judicial rulings, the US administration persisted in pursuing policies and practices inconsistent with human rights standards. The US Congress, despite some positive initiatives, gave its stamp of approval to human rights violations committed by the USA in the "war on terror" and turned bad executive policy into bad domestic law.

"In sharp contrast to positive developments in Latin America, there was a continued failure to hold senior US government officials accountable for torture and ill-treatment of "war on terror" detainees, despite evidence that abuses had been systematic."

IN SHARP CONTRAST TO POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS IN LATIN AMERICA....

http://thereport.amnesty.org/eng/Regions/Americas



As for Human Rights Watch, one hit piece from Jose Miquel Vivanco:

He TOTALLY ignored RCTV's complicity and support of the coup against the democratically elected President in '02 in his little hit piece. Mainly, he was appalled that the "process" that the Government of Venezuela used didn't meet his "standards";

"José Miguel Vivanco holds a Master's degree in Law (LLM) from Harvard Law School. He previously studied law at the University of Chile, and then at Salamanca Law School in Spain. During 1986 and 1987 he worked as an attorney at Human Rights Watch, then known as Americas Watch. From 1987 to 1989, Mr. Vivanco was an attorney for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States (OAS). In 1990 he founded the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) and functioned as its executive director until August 1994. In September 1994, José Miguel Vivanco became executive director of the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch.

"Mr. Vivanco has also been an Adjunct Professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center and at the School of Advanced International Studies of John Hopkins University. Mr. Vivanco has received several scholarships and fellowships in the field of human rights, and has authored numerous publications."

Hmmm, how much "law" concerning "what to do with coup plotters" did he study at Harvard???

--------

I don't accuse you of subscribing to right-wing blather, just center-right blather... :hi:

[Judi Lynn]

26. Great observations in that article. Isn't it a shame the truth usually has to get noted

well after the firestorm of viscious spin, and lies? The right-wing had itself a complete disinformation blow-out, made so much noise it crowded out everyone trying to get the facts before the public.

So ####ing typical.

We who laugh last WILL laugh best!

[GirlinContempt]

39. It always amazes me that people

scream and yell about how unbalanced and unfair the news is, and then eat part of it up without question.

[eridani]

27. Unlike in the US, anyone who wants to start a radio station in Venezuela is free to do so

No such thing as "pirate" radio there--low-powered community stations can be set up by anyone who wants to do it. And they can criticize Chavez to their heart's content.

[Forkboy]

37. "I hearby decree that there shall be no spelunking!"

[Judi Lynn]

38. Also, no mining of any kind, and certainly no tunneling. n/t

[ProudDad]

46. Chavez is already suppressing descent...

He's halting the descent of the poor folks in Venezuela into deeper poverty.

That's why the oligarchy and their stooges at RCTV and their buddies, the bushies, perpetrated a coup against the democratically elected President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez.

The People rose up and defeated the coup plotters and Chavez was returned to stop the descent...

[Rage for Order]

5. DirecTV may not seem expensive...

Until you consider that the annual per capita income in Venezuela is reported as $3,490 to $4,740, depending on the method used. All of a sudden $10-$20 a month seems like a lot more money. It would be the equivalent of paying $100-$200 a month for cable in the US while making about $42,000 a year.

http://www.success-and-culture.net/articles/percapitaincome.shtml

Add to that the fact that (from the OP link) "Cable reaches fewer than 30 percent of Venezuelan households" and it appears that at least 70% will have little or no chance to watch RCTV even if they want to pay for it.

[Flanker]

11. Wow talk about fuzzy math

When do poor people earn 42 k a year? for your analogy to work it has to be comparing what THEY earn, not the biased average you get by lumping the upper classes.

For that matter not everybody has a TV set either, why didn't people whine about that?

[Rage for Order]

21. It's not fuzzy math

I agree with you. The poor in Venezuela probably make half of the reported per capita income, so $10-$20 a month is a lot of money. I used the per capita number to show that it would be pricey at even that level, and much more so for someone who is poor.

Those who don't have TVs might know someone who does, but, chances are, that person won't have much money either and consequently probably can't afford cable or DirecTV.

Because RCTV was forced to move to cable, the vast majority of citizens can't afford to watch the station even if they want to.

[Flanker]

33. Wrong your math is flawed

That per capita income is accurate due to the rich not really being that many to move the average, whereas in the US it is closer to reality, plus it is inaccurate even if it were similar, food is not ten times cheaper nor are beds, so the 10 x math is a lie of sorts.

"Those who don't have TVs might know someone who does, but, chances are, that person won't have much money either and consequently probably can't afford cable or DirecTV."

Those who don't have DirectTV might know someone who does.

[Rage for Order]

67. I'm not sure I understand what you're saying

I don't think the poor in Venezuela or the US make close to the per capita income that's reported. It's likely that they make half that amount or less in both countries, and probably most countries throughout the world. Are you saying that poor people in Venezuela make the per capita income but in the US they don't? Using the US per capita income of $37,500, a person would have to make roughly $18 an hour to meet this criteria.

[EFerrari]

12. Well, try to overthrow a duly elected government, take the consequences.

:shrug:

[Rage for Order]

22. Oh, please

If they truly "tried to overthrow the government", the government wouldn't just have kicked them off of broadcast airwaves, they'd have shut the station down altogether and/or arrested the people who were guilty of treason and put them on trial. The fact that the station is allowed to continue broadcasting the same material as before with the same owners and programming personnel speaks volumes. Why haven't they arrested and tried those who were responsible for the subversion if it was so bad?

[Greyhound]

25. You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.

Do a search on DU posts for Venezuela and read something besides Amerikan propaganda, then come on back and we'll discuss it.

:kick:

[Judi Lynn]

36. Good idea. The poster should consider it. Even lazy people could take the time

to take advantage of the information available to them on any of these threads, even if they are too damned slow and indifferent to keep up on their own initiative!

[NashVegas]

30. And Yet, That's Exactly What Happened

The situation you describe is what would have happened in the US.

[Flanker]

34. Mercy

Talk about the point sailing over your head.

[Judi Lynn]

35. How did you miss learning what the #### happened? Didn't you do any reading

that April, and all the time until now? My GOD.

Don't try to argue about something when you haven't even taken the time to get informed on the subject.

That just sucks, and it's no one's fault but your own that you are completely ignorant of any part of the story. It's something people can't do for you.

Do your part and get educated on subjects you hope to discuss so you're in touch with the facts first, just like DU'ers, before you attempt to offer a valid opinion. Speak in reference to the truth.

Don't begin to dare everyone to tell you where you are wrong, for your next step. You've got to go back and fill in the missing pieces for yourself. Invest your own time. Get busy.

[Rage for Order]

68. Then please tell me, enlightened one...

Are the owners of the station in prison for treason? Exactly how many owners of media outlets in Venezuela were tried or convicted of crimes committed during the coup attempt? If they are truly guilty of the crimes you accuse them of, why is RCTV still allowed to broadcast their propaganda, even if it is via cable or DirecTV?

[Judi Lynn]

71. Start at the first of the current RCTV dust-up. RCTV's license was not renewed.

Period.

That's what the noise is about.

Peru's President Alan Garcia did not renew licenses for 2 radio stations, and 3 television stations in April, 2007.

The American right-wing a-holes apparently feel that's fine, since your pResident likes Alan Garcia, and didn't pitch fits about it. It doesn't seem important enough to stir themselves to discuss.

As for drawing me into a time-consuming rehash of the Venezuelan media's active participation in the coup, nice try.

People here have spent huge chunks of their lives discussing this already, the last round only a couple of weeks ago, when we had ENORMOUS conversations. Use the opportunity to do a search, and start catching up on what you haven't bothered to learn already.

Spend additional time to find out why people in Latin America want American right-wing idiot, power-mad, crude Presidents to stop butting into their affairs.

[Rage for Order]

75. So the answer, then, is "none"?

Nobody has been tried or convicted of treason or subversion for trying to overthrow a democratically elected government? That's all I needed to know. Thank you. Chavez and Venezuelan law must be extremely lenient and forgiving if the only punishment for treason or subversion is not having your broadcast license renewed. In every other country in the world treason will get you a minimum of a lengthy jail term, a maximum of death. Unless, of course, there was no treason or subversion.

[Judi Lynn]

76. No prosecution for treason means it didn't happen? Every crime is prosecuted, or it didn't happen?

There's absolutely no doubt what happened in anyone's mind who bothered to look into it, even idiot right-wingers'.

We've seen all your comments here tons of times already, scribbled by a steady stream of visitors. Your line of attack won't get you anywhere.

Chavez and RCTV: Treason Theirs and Ours

What if NBC cheered on a military coup against Bush?
by William Blum

During the Cold War, if an American journalist or visitor to the Soviet Union reported seeing churches full of people, this was taken as a sign that the people were rejecting and escaping from communism. If the churches were empty, this clearly was proof of the suppression of religion. If consumer goods were scarce, this was seen as a failure of the communist system. If consumer goods appeared to be more plentiful, this gave rise to speculation about was happening in the Soviet Union that was prompting the authorities to try to buy off the citizenry.

I'm reminded of this kind of thinking concerning Venezuela. The conservative anti-communist American mind sees things pertaining to Washington's newest bête noir in the worst possible light (to the extent they're even being sincere and not simply ideological).
(snip)

If there was a successful military coup in the United States and a particular TV station applauded the overthrow of the president (and the dissolving of Congress and the Supreme Court, as well as the suspension of the Constitution), and if then the coup was reversed by other military forces accompanied by mass demonstrations, and the same TV station did not report any of this while it was happening to avoid giving support to the counter-coup, and instead kept reporting that the president had voluntarily resigned ... how long would it be before the US government, back in power, shut down the station, arrested its executives, charging them under half a dozen terrorist laws, and throwing them into shackles and orange jumpsuits never to be seen again?

How long? Five minutes?

The Venezuelan government waited five years, until the station's license was due for renewal. And none of the executives have been arrested. And RCTV is still free to broadcast via cable and satellite. Is there a country in the entire world that would be as lenient?<2>

It can be said that the media in Venezuela is a lot more free than in the United States. Can anyone name a single daily newspaper in the United States that is unequivocally opposed to US foreign policy? Can anyone name a single television network in the United States that is unequivocally opposed to US foreign policy? Is there a single daily newspaper or TV network in the entire United States that has earned the label "opposition media"? Venezuela has lots of opposition media.
(snip/...)

http://www.pacificfreepress.com/content/view/1301/81/

[EFerrari]

41. It's on tape. Go watch it. n/t

[ProudDad]

63. You can watch it here

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5832390545689805144

[IndianaGreen]

14. Venezuela and the Media: Fact and Fiction (CommonDreams)

Published on Friday, June 1, 2007 by CommonDreams.org

Venezuela and the Media: Fact and Fiction

by Robert W. McChesney & Mark Weisbrot

To read and view the U.S. news media over the past week, there is an episode of grand tyranny unfolding, one repugnant to all who cherish democratic freedoms. The Venezuelan government under “strongman” Hugo Chavez refused to renew the 20-year broadcast license for RCTV, because that medium had the temerity to be critical of his regime. It is a familiar story.

And in this case it is wrong.

Regrettably, the US media coverage of Venezuela’s RCTV controversy says more about the deficiencies of our own news media that it does about Venezuela. It demonstrates again, as with the invasion of Iraq, how our news media are far too willing to carry water for Washington than to ascertain and report the truth of the matter.

<snip>

If RCTV were broadcasting in the United States, its license would have been revoked years ago. In fact its owners would likely have been tried for criminal offenses, including treason.

RCTV’s broadcast frequency has been turned over to a new national public access channel that promises to provide programming from thousands of independent producers. It is an effort to let millions of Venezuelans who have never had a viable chance to participate in the media do so, without government censorship.

The Bush Administration opposes the Chavez government for reasons that have nothing to do with democracy, or else there would be a long list of governments for us to subvert or overthrow before it would get close to targeting Venezuela. Regrettably, our press coverage has done little to shed light on that subject.

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/06/01/1607/

[David__77]

15. There is complete freedom of speech in Venezuela.

More than in the US even.

[alcibiades_mystery]

17. It's funny that the same people screaming for the "Fairness Doctrine"

are the ones calling Chavez a dictator over this. Exactly what do these people expect the penalty to be if the "Fairness Doctrine" is reinstated and a network consistently and flagrantly violates it?

:shrug:

[David__77]

18. Good point. Fairness doctrine isn't "free speech" according to them.

It's a social obligation in exchange for using public airwaves. Chavez also imposed an obligation in networks not to promote fascist coups and encourage treason, a far less stringent requirement than "fairness."

[alcibiades_mystery]

20. That little requirement about not

constantly promoting the overthrow of the state through violence on the public airwaves? Aw shucks...

;-)

[NashVegas]

32. I Beg Your Pardon?

From what I've seen it's the people who rail against the Fairness Doctrine who call Chavez a dictator. But maybe that's just outside of DU?

Who are these DUers who want the FD back and call Chavez a dictator for revoking the TV license?

[alcibiades_mystery]

16. You mean its leaders haven't been shot execution style

and their families sent to labor camps?

Not much of a brutal totalitarian dictator, this Chavez, if you ask me...

:rofl:

[Peace Patriot]

28. WE have a dictator. The Venezuelans have a democratically elected president

who has broken no laws, and, in fact, has scrupulously adhered to the law. It's the hallmark of the Chavez administration--belief in Constitutional government and the rule of law; also maximum citizen participation in government. Imagine a government INVITING the people of the country to shape a new people-friendly TV station! OUR government, on the other hand, just hands our public airwaves over to 5 fascist billionaire CEOs and war profiteers who are as deaf to the interests and views of the American people as our government is.

But here is the critical, strategic difference between Venezuelan democracy and our fascist/corporate coup. In Venezuela, they use electronic voting, but it is open source source programming--anyone may review the programming code by which votes are tabulated, and they ADDITIONALLY handcount FIFTY-FIVE PERCENT of the ballots, as a check on machine fraud. Here, the Bush Junta in collusion with the Democratic Party leadership fast-tracked electronic voting systems across the country, run on 'TRADE SECRET' PROPRIETARY programming code, owned and controlled by rightwing Bushite corporations, with ZERO handcounts in many states, as a check on machine fraud, and totally inadequate 1% auditing in only the best of states.

Thus, in Venezuela, they have an advocate of the poor as president, and a believer in the rule of law, and here we have this murderous, lawless, stupid little rich shit who treats U.S. soldiers like cannon fodder for his oil puppetmasters' corporate resource war, and robs us blind in order to pay out multiple tax cuts to the super rich. In Venezuela they have an activist progressive National Assembly (Congress) that is actually implementing significant programs to help the vast poor population, to reform the government after decades and centuries of corruption by the rich and brutal elite, and to use Venezuela's oil revenues to create an equitable, creative society that has a future. And here we have a Congress that will do NOTHING about the longest and most serious list of "high crimes and misdemeanors" ever committed by the President and Vice President of the United States, and that can't even bring itself to give US soldiers a decent rest from the Iraq war zone.

They say "elections have consequences." But election SYSTEMS also have consequences. We're looking at some really serious consequences of "TRADE SECRET"vote counting by Bushite corporations. And one of the consequences of THIS election system is that elections apparently DON'T have consequences. We vote, and nothing changes. The reforms that are so desperately needed here will never come--as they are in Venezuela--until we demand that our local and state governments restore transparent vote counting. Local/state government, where ordinary people still have some influence, is the best venue for this fight. And we'd better get on it, if we want our country back.

[ProudDad]

58. Tha'ts a Slander

:sarcasm:

We have a duly selected pResident:

William Renquist
Antonin Scalia
Clarence Thomas
Anthony Kennedy
Sandra Day O'Conner

5 votes for...4 votes against...

[Judi Lynn]

29. Where are they now, the little very white darlin's from the RCTV protest?

Published: Monday, June 18, 2007
Bylined to: Oil Wars Blogspot

When things gets tough, Venezuelan opposition students go to the mall

Oil Wars Blogspot writes: Just when you thought the opposition students couldn’t make themselves look any more ridiculous than they already did by walking out of a televised debate in front of the whole country, they did.

Since the National Assembly debate fiasco the opposition student protests have been watching wind go out of their sails.

So with their little rock throwing, street blocking protest movement fizzling what do they do? They take their protests to the upscale eastern Caracas shopping mall called the Sambil. That’s right, they took their signs, painted hands, and duck tape covered mouths to the glittering escalators of the Sambil.











I suppose this does have its virtues. After a hard day of protesting in front of Banana Republic, Kenneth Cole, and Tommy Hilfger to demand their rights they could go right up to the fourth floor food court and relax as they munched on some sushi.

Anyways, leave it to the Venezuelan opposition to come up with innovative protest venues.

If only Cindy Sheehan had thought of this -- instead of getting all hot and sweaty protesting in front of Bush’s ranch maybe she should have camped out in the local Neiman-Marcus store.
(snip/)

http://vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=72614

[ret5hd]

40. What would happen in the U.S. if that number of youths...

went to an upscale mall and protested the war?

I think tear gas and mass arrests would be involved.

Dictatorship my ass.

[ProudDad]

48. You've got that right!!!

Who's living in the fascist police state?

[rinsd]

45. I love it when a so-called dissident fellates a government, while making fun of peaceful protesters

[EFerrari]

50. I myself get off on staged protests where the elites don't know enough

not to wear spikes. lol

[roody]

42. Always glad not to have cable.

[Judi Lynn]

43. Another reason to be glad is that Venezuela's largest media owner, and Bush friend,

Gustavo Cisneros, not only owns Venezuelan media, but is also the largest stock holder in the American Spanish-speaking cable tv station, Univisión. Creepy, isn't it?

That means his slimey, corporate, right-wing paws are all over the content of that network, too.



Gustavo Cisneros and his fishing buddy.
They coulda used some Depends!

[Peace Patriot]

73. Thanks, Judi Lynn, once again, for a picture worth a thousand words! nt

[Judi Lynn]

74. Creepy bit of reality, isn't it? Especially knowing Cisneros was a coup plotter against Chavez. n/t

[Socal31]

51. Just another dictator

Sorry, I dont have to like him just because I dont like bush. They are both shit.

[ProudDad]

54. Do you have any facts

to back up your opinion?


Even that right-wing rag, PARADE magazine didn't have him in their top 20...

http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2006/edition_01-22-2006/Dictators

[killbotfactory]

53. Classic dictator move

Forcing tv stations who try to overthrow the government off the public airwaves and onto cable.

Are you people serious?

[ProudDad]

55. I get your point

For the FACT challenged...

RCTV supported the coup. Years later, RCTV's BROADCAST license renewal was denied because they did not use the PEOPLE'S airwaves to serve the public's interest.

They moved their programming over to Cable/Satellite...


For you knee-jerk Chavez haters, what do you think bush OR Clinton would do if a broadcast TV network called for the violent overthrow of the U.S. Government???

[killbotfactory]

56. I agree with you, forgot the sarcasm tag

I just can't believe people are crying dictator over this.

[ProudDad]

59. Got it

Here's an extra one, just in case... :sarcasm:

:hi: :bounce:

[EFerrari]

69. Lol!

[Louie the XIV]

61. Is $10-20 a month really "dirt cheap" in a country where the GDP per capita is only $8900?

[ProudDad]

64. Most of the people of Venezuela

don't really want to watch the "coup channel"...

I'm sure they feel they're much better off with their own Public TV channel...

[1932]

65. I think that's pretty cheap compared to US. What's ratio of avg. inc to cable bill in US

I know people who spend 60 to 80 per month on cable, and I doub the avg. income in the US is 54K to 80K. Isn't the average HOUSEHOLD inc. in the US about 65K?

[obxhead]

77. well said

[killbotfactory]

78. Maybe if the previous administration

wasn't hellbent on keeping poor people poor (policies which RCTV supported, even going so far as to use public airwaves actively and openly support a coup) more of them could afford cable?

[Judi Lynn]

72. Ecuadorian President would act with iron fist in any case similar to RCTV

Caracas, Wednesday July 11 , 2007

Ecuadorian President would act with iron fist in any case similar to RCTV

"There is the need to tell all the truth" in the case of private TV channel Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV), said Wednesday in Madrid Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa.

The ruler maintained that in the face of a similar occurrence in his country, he would have cancelled the broadcasting license immediately.

"Let us tell all the truth. RCTV was the channel that backed, prompted and disseminated the coup attempt in Venezuela. If a channel were to act likewise in Ecuador, I would not wait for the broadcasting license to expire, but make it null and void right away," said Correa at the Hispanic American Tribune sponsored by the House of the Americas in Madrid and Efe news agency.

"If I were the president of Venezuela, I would take the frequency out of them. In Ecuador, this is a ground to remove frequency from any channel endangering democracy," Correa said and noted that President Hugo Chávez waited for the broadcasting license to expire.

http://english.eluniversal.com/2007/07/11/en_pol_art_ecuadorian-president_11A898123.shtml
(Opposition newspaper)

[Judi Lynn]

79. Reporters Without Borders and RCTV: Disinformation and Lies

Reporters Without Borders and RCTV
Disinformation and Lies
by Salim Lamrani
July 05, 2007

The rejection to renew the 20-year-old concession license of the private Venezuelan television channel RCTV that expired May 27, 2007, set off extraordinary media hysteria worldwide. For several weeks, press from all over the globe focused on a banal event that goes totally unnoticed when it occurs in any other country. The media converted the completely normal and legitimate administrative decision into an attack on press freedoms. Reporters Without Borders (RSF), naturally, participated in the international disinformation campaign publishing an extremely bias report about RCTV on June 5, 2007. (1)
(snip)

The second fallacy is found in the expression “media hegemony.” With this title, RSF expects the reader to believe that the Venezuelan authorities control the media and hold a virtual monopoly over this sector. In order to win over public opinion, Robert Ménard, general secretary of the organization, incessantly repeats the same maxim to the press: “Chávez has hegemonic control over the media.”(3) However, the truth is quite different. In Venezuela, 80% of current TV channels and radio stations are privately owned. In terms of cable and satellite TV, private companies control nearly all channels. Moreover, the 118 national and regional periodicals distributed in the country are controlled by the private sector. “Media hegemony” exists, all right. But private financial groups and corporations are the ones in control. (4)
(snip)

However RSF alleges that RCTV is only “accused” of participating in the coup, while evidence and testimonies abound. Le Figaro, a very conservative French newspaper recalled that “for years the channel conspired openly against the president broadcasting calls to over through the regime.” Le Figaro emphasized that during the coup, the channel “announced that Hugo Chávez had resigned,” in keeping with the coup plotters’ plan, and even recognized Pedro Carmona as interim president. (7)

After the return of President Chávez, RCVT prohibited its journalists from reporting any related information and restricted broadcasting to cartoons. Andrés Izarra, the production manager at the time and who was opposed to the coup, resigned immediately to avoid becoming an accomplice. During his testimony before the National Assembly, Izarra stated that on the day of the coup and those following he received the formal order from Marcel Granier (the head of the conglomerate that owns RCTV) to “not transmit any information about Chávez, his followers, ministers or any other individual that could be connected to him.” (8)

The conservative Los Angeles Times also published RCTV’s intention to “oust a democratically elected leader from office” ever since Hugo Chávez was elected president in 1998. According to the daily, after the coup RCTV “edged fully into sedition ran manipulated video blaming Chavez supporters for scores of deaths and injuries.” It article recalled that Granier went to the Presidential Palace to swear his loyalty to “dictator Pedro Carmona who had eliminated the Supreme Court, the National Assembly and the Constitution.” The LA Times concluded: “Granier and others should not be seen as free-speech martyrs,” but instead as coup plotters. (9) In another instance, Granier made an eloquent declaration to RSF regarding the coup “I confess that I was not unhappy to see Hugo Chávez go.” (10) How could he be “unhappy” if he actively participated in his overthrow?

It is evident, by RCTV’s open support and participation in the rupture of constitutional order in April 2002 that it is not concerned with public interest. Moreover it goes without saying that if a French TV channel, or that of any other country in the world, dared to behave similarly it would not even last 24 hours and its directors would immediately be thrown in prison. The Houston Chronicle doubted that RCTV’s “actions would last more than a few minutes” in the United States. (11)

More:
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=15&ItemID=13229