Great SNL animated cartoon. (shown in 1998, then censored)

[Eric J in MN]

To watch the animation discussed in this article, click below. I recommend right-clicking to save the file to your machine, then navigating to where you saved the file locally and starting it from there.

http://www.moveleft.com/moveleft/video/snl_tv_funhouse_conspiracy_theory_rock_1998_03_14.mpg
'Conspiracy Theory Rock' by Robert Smigel, from a March 14, 1998 broadcast of Saturday Night Live

Conservative commentator Armstrong Williams is in the news recently.

He accepted $240,000 to promote Bush's education bill "No Child No Left Behind." The money went from the federal Education Dept. to public relations firm Ketchum to Armstrong Williams, under the condition of promoting NCLB in his columns, tv show, and radio show.

The money of taxpayers should NOT go to P.R. firms to secretly-pay commentators. There should be an investigation and people held accountable.

HOWEVER

No one died because of the "No Child Left Behind" education bill.

Thousands died because of the Iraq War. The Lancet estimates 100,000 more people have died in Iraq because of the US invasion than would have died otherwise.

That is why the issue of media ownership, addressed in the animation linked at the top of this article, is more important than the Armstrong Williams case.

General Electric makes money through contracts with the US military, and has made massive profits from the Iraq War.

General Electric partly owns the cable news channel MSNBC.

Before the Iraq War, MSNBC ran a program each weeknight titled "Countdown: Iraq" which gave the impression that the war was inevitable, and so we might as well "countdown" to it instead of asking:

Is the war moral? Is the war in the best interest of average Americans? Average Iraqis? When would the US leave Iraq?

The conflict-of-interest of corporations-which-profit-from-war owning news-organizations is more significant than the conflict-of-interest of a commentator secretly-paid to promote an education bill.

I would support a law barring any corporation from owning a news-organization if the corporation gets more than a quarter of its revenue from non-media sources.

MORE AT:
http://www.moveleft.com/moveleft_essay_2005_01_14_friday_fun_great_animation_from_saturday_night_live_re_media_ownership_conspiracy_theory_rock.asp

[CoffeeCat]

1. Why was the cartoon censored?

I'm downloading the cartoon now.

How was it successfully censored?

Did someone say, "Don't ever show that again!" and SNL complied?

SNL showcases so much anti-Bush comedy. I'm wondering how this particular animation was nixed.

[Eric J in MN]

2. It's not in re-runs of that show.

SNL producer Lorne Michaels claims he took it out because it's not funny.

I think it's funny.

There is the sound of the audience laughing at one point.

[dave123williams]

4. Right; the point at which it got yanked off the air.

[dave123williams]

3. Well, you have Clinton and a Republican Congress to thank for it.

Clinton signed the TCA (Telecommunications Act) deregulating the media. Whenever the Republicans and Democrats all get together in the Rose Garden to celebrate on an agreement, you can be sure of one thing; we all just got fucked.

[Eric J in MN]

5. If Bill Clinton refused to compromise with the Republican

Congress, they might have passed an even worse bill, doing to tv what they did to radio, over a veto.

[theboss]

6. They never had the numbers to override a veto

They weren't going to get 16 Dems on their side.

[Eric J in MN]

7. OKI didn't follow the issue at the time.

nt

[Al-CIAda]

8. This...and NAFTA....and....

the Clinton legacy.

What a joke.