CNN Is Terrible, And Here's The Proof (It's Worse Than You Think)

[ihavenobias]

I just watched something incredibly stupid from CNN. In fact, it was incredibly stupid and incredibly misleading.

According to CNN, withdrawing from Iraq will not only not save us any money, but it will actually cost MORE money
( and a BIG thanks to SaveOurSovereignty for posting it).

Notice the indirect (but obvious) dig at Obama and the Democrats at the end by the anchor?

Let's say I'm spending $3,000,000,000 a month with my credit cards (yeah I know, I've got great credit).

While it's technically true that I won't have any more money if I abruptly stop charging things, it's also true that I'm no longer adding to my huge pot of interest laden debt.

Even more ridiculous is the way they frame Iraq withdrawal as something that would cost us even MORE money. Again, yes, that's technically true but my God, it's also technically insanely misleading. I cringe at the thought of low-info voters passively absorbing and repeating this crap.

I mean really, instead of that (terrible) anchor at the end taking a jab and asking sarcastically "So you mean we shouldn't take at face value what politicians tell us(?)" why didn't she ask seriously "Well, obviously we're going to withdraw at some point, so isn't saying that it's going to cost more money to withdraw now misleading?"

It seems like they're more interested in having a controversial, ratings grabbing headline than they are in framing the issues in the most honest, accurate way (that may be obvious but it bears repeating).

PS---It cracks me up that there are still a good amount of people that think CNN is "liberal". Yeah, as you can see here they're crazy liberal, and shills for Obama. ;)

Oh well, we just have to keep doing what we can to and make sure they win out.

And we we need more SMART people on CNN, .

[World Citizen]

1. was there any mention of...

saving money is an immoral reason for killing people?

[Faygo Kid]

2. The Glenn Beck Network. 'Nuff said.

Corporatist and Inside-the-Beltway suckups down to their toenails.

[ihavenobias]

20. I can't stand Glenn Beck

He has a horrible combination of not only being uninformed/misinformed, but also incredibly sarcastic and mock incredulous all the time.

Plus .

[Radio_Lady]

44. Agree and thank you. I was astonished to hear his chatter on the radio. When he moved to TV,

I decided not to watch his show.

Too bad the Grim Reaper didn't choose him instead of Tim Russert.

[Enthusiast]

59. I simply don't like fascists. nt

[Plucketeer]

78. Beck...

Is he human?

[spanone]

73. they also employ the gambling pork-boy bill bennett

[rebel with a cause]

75. glenn beck and lou dobbs

two reasons never to watch CNN. Add all the other idiots they have anchoring and reporting and it becomes clear they are not a friend to the ordinary citizen but play to the right wing part of the country.

Ooops, just noticed that I had accidently left the tv on CNN when I was channel surfing and stopped in mid surf to answer to this post. :rofl:

[mucifer]

3. I'm really starting to believe our media is like totalitarian propaganda.

It is so damn scary. I don't know if we can beat this crap that is spewed into everyone's homes.

[jgraz]

5. It isn't like totalitarian propaganda

It IS totalitarian propaganda.

[yardwork]

9. That is correct. The corporations have taken over.

Why is this so difficult for so many Democrats to see?

[mucifer]

10. How can we win the election? I'm really scared.

[jgraz]

18. Depends what you mean by "we", kimosabe.

If by "we" you mean the Democrats and their chosen candidate, I think there's an incredibly good chance that "we" will win the election.

On the other hand, if by "we" you mean the middle class, environmentalists, civil libertarians, social reformers, anti-corporate activists, and promoters of peace, justice and the American way... not so much.

[tavalon]

32. Wow, that was really well put

Are we for the corporaticans or the corporaticrats. It's like the sneetches, only real life and even more dangerous.

[midnight]

52. It is in the hands of those who count the votes. IE.-Diebold.

[truedelphi]

66. Hey there, Tonto, I am in full agreement n/t

[Lorien]

74. Well put. n/t

[leftchick]

85. A

MEN to that!

[baby_mouse]

45. By shifting all of our policies towards things that corporations like.

[tridim]

26. Yep, they are there for one reason, to squelch the truth.

Just imagine if we didn't have the Internet.

[tavalon]

30. Like?

[ihavenobias]

37. Like I said at the bottom of my original post

Try to pump the facts into everyone's homes via email and conversation. It's the best hope we have.

[rucognizant]

70. Yeh BUT

We're NOT pundits or journalists; so our "OPINION" doesn't weight any more than the person we're trying to inform.
You know those spiffy journalists look good and make a lot of money so they must be better informed than we are........:sarcasm:
"Everybody is entitled to their opinion." ( I hear that a lot)

[bulloney]

77. Everybody's entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts.

[ihavenobias]

79. Amen n/t

[rucky]

60. Ain't that the pravda. n/t

[CherylK]

4. K & R, thanks for giving me some ammo to use if my conservative friends try to argue this point!

[Cleita]

6. I stopped watching them five years ago

for the reasons you have stated and more. It's the neo-con shrills, like Ann Coulter, who keep saying that the MSM is liberal and the "sponge for brains" people accept this pronouncement as fact. Most of them don't know what liberal means anyway, except is has something to do with being an elitist, hippie.

[NYC_SKP]

13. While it's commendable that you stopped watching, I hope you realize that

it really doesn't matter unless you're convincing large numbers of other viewers to follow your lead.

[Cleita]

25. I can't convince anybody because I don't have that kind of power, but

I think if many others do the same as me, it becomes a movement. There are still ways to become informed, in spite of them, if people take the trouble. It really only takes the same amount of time on the internet that it used to take to read a daily newspaper.

[file83]

61. Don't say it doesn't matter if someone stops watching them - it DOES MATTER.

How are you going to convince people to stop watching CNN if you go around saying "it doesn't really matter if you stop watching them"?

Horse pucky.

[ihavenobias]

39. Ann Coulter?

I thought she was moderate?

;)

[yardwork]

7. It can't be worse than I think.

[Swamp Rat]

8. 99.99% of CNN is 'stupid'

[ihavenobias]

47. What's the other 0.01%, Juicy Juice?

;)

[JBoris]

11. It really is sad, their new slogan should be "CNN: slightly less sleazy than foxnews".

[piesRsquare]

16. CNN: Certainly Not News n/t

[truedelphi]

17. Love it. And it's sad that the only bright spot of the day

IS making fun of the All Goebels, all the time, Propaganda

[tavalon]

33. Slightly less sleazy on a good day.

[pleah]

12. K&R It is all about ratings.

I am really surprised that no one calls them on the things that they obviously get wrong.

[movonne]

14. I don't watch anything but KO and Rachael for news....the rest are

all repugs just in different degrees...

[tavalon]

34. You can add the Daily Show to that

I know, it sounds weird, but they have solid information, told in a way that makes you want to laugh instead of cry.

[papapi]

15. CNN: Concocted News Notions

[EFerrari]

21. Cr@p Not News. n/t

[Better Believe It]

19. So In Order to "Save" Money More Troops Should Be Sent to Iraq!

According to CNN's logic.

[tavalon]

35. Well, War is Freedom, you know

:sarcasm:

[file83]

62. And Debt is Income!!!

[Chisox08]

71. I thought it was war is peace

I'm going to have to report you to the party for not get the slogans right!
War is Peace!
Slavery is Freedom!
Ignorance is strength!
USA!USA!USA!
:sarcasm:

[Joe Chi Minh]

72. I wonder what they pay Halliburton, Bechtel, etc, with? And the billions that went AWOL?

Was it all, is it all, Monopoly money? We know everyone's money is going to be Monopoly money, if they keep printing dollars to finance the war. The aforesaid corporate behemoths will surely find a way of being paid in Swiss francs or euros, when that comes to pass.

[salin]

22. um - I don't get it.

How does one owe more when one stops living on credit (which is owed money)? I don't get the underlying premise, and can't even see the logic they are tryong to spin.

[gateley]

23. That's the most inane reasoning ever --

So what do we do? Keep the war going ad infinitum at $3,000,000,000 a month? It just doesn't make any sense.

[ColbertWatcher]

24. You're right, that is stupid.

That's why the FCC should be restaffed; CNN should lose their license over this.

After FOX of course.

[AZBlue]

27. The media is out of control.

They are more powerful than the government - they are actually still trusted by the average American.
K&R

[pleah]

28. It really is sad what they passes off as news these days.

spelling correction. ooops.

[underpants]

29. First of all CNN is now citing its own report as a reference (think Cheney-NYT-MTP prewar)

you create your our information or our hypothesis and then cite it as proof when you repeat the claim.

Secondly-okay so over 10 years it will add $214 Million to the debt okay what would keeping a troop level of 130,000 ADD to the debt? Is that mentioned in the CBO report? Is it more than having 75,000 there?

Complete bullshit.

[defendandprotect]

31. Glenn Beck is spitting in the eye of illusions of a "free press" . . .

Who is watching this garbage . . . ???

When Turner had CNN they had 13 MILLION international viewers--

Last I heard CNN was down to 3 million . . .

Anyone checking these broadcast figurds --- I haven't seen any articles on them

anywhere in ages!!!

[mdmc]

36. The hard truth that the left needs to accept

There are no good solutions in Iraq. It was stupid and poorly thought out, and now we must suffer.
The thing is most folk that oppose the war supported the invasion. Idiots.
In for a penny, in for a pound. We broke, then bought Iraq.

I'm all for cutting and running, but it would really make America less safe. You can ask Scott Ritter why. He knows.

Idiots thought it would be easy, painfree. It was not.
There is no easy, painfree solution now.
The only way out is to win.
No one know how to win.
So perhaps we lose forever.
Or for a long time.

I doubt Obama will admit defeat, admit that the lives lost were in vain, and order a retreat. Nader, McKinney, Barr, Ron Paul might. But not Obama. Not McCain.

There is no easy answer. The only easy answer is to vote for Obama, cause he will be better then McCain. Honest to God.

[Wednesdays]

46. Oh.

[mdmc]

83. gObama!

:eyes:

[OhioChick]

38. K&R

Thanks for posting. :)

[underpants]

40. Here is the actual CBO report (18 pages) Summary: More troops = more money

http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/84xx/doc8497/07-30-WarCosts_Testimony.pdf

[ihavenobias]

41. Thanks for the link n/t

[annabanana]

42. This is right up there with the "The Surge Is Working" crap.

It is a massive piece of misdirection and misinformation. Don't even pretend that CNN doesn't know EXACTLY the bait & switch job they're doing here.

[Maggie_May]

43. WTF what about the lives of our men and women!

I don't care how much it costs us to get the hell out. We should not lose one more life over there for Bush's oil war.

[autorank]

48. I agree with Robert Parry. Some of the reporting on Iraq

constitutes War crimes.

How can it cost us more to leave Iraq?

They are pathetic.

[Jim Lane]

49. Maybe we should invade Iran, too, so we can save even more money (n/t)

[dave123williams]

50. Interesting that they're finding their distrust of politicians now, instead of before the invasion.

It's funny how the MSM act like they have credibility.

I'm voting Obama, and I don't care if CNN tells me that will result in a pink jackalope attack.

[dave123williams]

51. CNN 'Liberal'? That's funny. You know, Blitzer used to work for Pat Robertson over at CBN.

Shocker. He frames stuff pro-religious-nutjob.

It’s scary to hear someone carry-on like Pat. But it’s sort of strange to realize that Pat and Wolf Blitzer go way back together. Yep! Wolf used to work for Pat Robertson's CBN way back when Pat was setting up his news bureau and Wolf was the 700 Club’s reporter from the Middle East. He was a lot younger in those days, but in those beginning days Pat exposed Wolf Blitzer to a viewing audience that topped the Nielsen ratings at 28.7 million monthly viewers! That’s a great way to launch one’s career. But Wolf Blitzer likes to keep that part of his career kind of quiet. He doesn’t list the 700 Club’s news bureau in his biography. He doesn’t tell CNN’s audience that Pat was like an angel to him when he was just an independent reporter starting out. But those of us who watched Pat’s show could never forget Wolf Blitzer’s reports. He was presented to us as such an expert—we were just so proud of him! And look how high he’s gone. You’d think he’d give Pat a little credit. No doubt he says “Thanks” by inviting him on CNN! After all, Pat started a J-School (Journalism School) and Bob Slosser, who had worked for the New York Times became the President of CBN University and Bob Slosser shared Pat’s vision of a new America. Slosser was at the graduation of the first graduate from the Institute of Journalism, it was a young lady named Eliza Wright. And the Governor of Missouri, a fellow named John Ashcroft gave the graduation speech on May 20, 1985! (My how these folks go way back together—and it shows what loyalty can do!) Bob Slosser told the 700 Club audience that day:

“We’re going to change the way the country thinks, we’ve bought into this secularism thing and that’s taken us right down the wrong path. I believe that this institution and those like this…will change the way this country thinks!”

http://www.yuricareport.com/Media/OnPatRobertsonWolfeBlitzerAndDavidCorn.html

[WilliamPitt]

53. It will cost more

The economy needs war. No war, and the economy will eat itself, and you, me, the tree in your yard, etc...and they'll start another war to make up the difference that'll be 10x as pricey. Lather rinse repeat.

You think Iraq was an accident? Nah, this is all because of Warren Christopher and people like him, who stopped more wars than he started and cut into the bottom line with that "Cold War Over Now Peace Divident" hippie-ass bullshit. So they had to kick-start the fucker. Twice.

You think we're losing in Iraq and Afganistan? "We"? Pfff...every bullet, uniform, body bag, truck, chopper, mine, bomb, C-Rat that gets used is money in the bank for a few folks neither of us know. That's "winning" as defined by the people running this shit. Payday, every day, since 2002-2003.

"The Economy" is secret code for "Someone Who Is Not You Getting Paid."

Sucks. Truth.

[ihavenobias]

54. What a terrible financial investment

What is our return? Reduced national and international credibility, increased terrorist recruitment and?

If we had invested that money in infrastructure and alternative energy we could have had returns on our investment for several decades or more.

[WilliamPitt]

55. What do you mean by "our"?

Economy = "People who are not you getting paid."

"Our" has a totally different meaning for those folks. "Not you" pretty much sums it up.

[ihavenobias]

56. I get your point

I'm just making the point that war (unless it's a just war that actually protects us) gives only a short term economic boost that drops off almost immediately when it ends.

And with this war in particular (as you agree) it's only a select handful of corporations raking in the dough (Iraq For Sale is a great movie BTW).

[file83]

64. Amen to that!!

It's hard to sell war supplies to the taxpayer when there is no war going on.

[ihavenobias]

81. Exactly n/t

[L0oniX]

57. All they are interested in doing is creating controversy and playing one side against the other.

[Phred42]

58. The Reich is DESPERATE to cover it's ass

[Enthusiast]

63. I was always critical of 1930's German citizens,

No longer. I now what complete media control looks like. I now understand how the fascists led the German people around by the nose. Just like here, now, on CNN.

[Phred42]

65. Agree.

It worked before - it's working now and it will work in the Future

Unless we finally put REAL safeguards in place - The 4th estate is special and should have special penalties for screwing with it

[RubyDuby in GA]

67. No, they are only interested in reading what they've been given to read and trying to look like

Barbie dolls in the process. Then go home and collect their mega fat rich checks so they can have their perfect teeth bleached again.

At least that's what I gather when I am forced to watch Clearly Not News by my husband.

[hfojvt]

68. so you mean highly paid talking heads can't be trusted?

How can that be true, since Timmeh and the Snowy Tiger are both saints?

[ihavenobias]

82. Good play off the video n/t

[AntiFascist]

69. CNN longs for the days of Gulf War I...

that's when the network really took off. Do you think its a coincidence that they used Darth Vader as the voice for their promos?

[bulloney]

76. Wanna hear something else out of the same page?

GMA this morning found some "economic psychologist" this morning (I didn't know such a beast existed) who tried to come to the rescue of poor old Phil Gramm and the beating he's been taking this past week.

Honey, anybody will agree there's a degree of psychology to recessions and other economic activity. But banks are collapsing. Energy costs are at record prices and show no signs of letting up. Homes are being foreclosed at a record pace. Food prices are increasing faster than at any time in 30 years. Jobs are leaving the country. The national debt is going through the roof. That's reality! Psychology didn't start those things up. It comes down to abuse of power and money. And that's why people are expressing concern over the economy.

Another example of the media gerbils covering their own asses and their allies' asses.

[CherylK]

80. Bump!

[KoKo]

84. Kick