Comments on: Toothless: The Watchdog Press that Became the Government’s Lapdog http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/02/toothless-the-watchdog-press-that-became-the-governments-lapdog/ a radical newsletter in the struggle for peace and social justice Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:07:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: mcthorogood http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/02/toothless-the-watchdog-press-that-became-the-governments-lapdog/#comment-39437 mcthorogood Tue, 24 Feb 2009 04:40:49 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=6848#comment-39437 To quote RFK Jr., "We’re the most entertained and least informed people on the planet.” To quote RFK Jr., “We’re the most entertained and least informed people on the planet.”

]]> By: Ramsefall http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/02/toothless-the-watchdog-press-that-became-the-governments-lapdog/#comment-39328 Ramsefall Sun, 22 Feb 2009 16:01:59 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=6848#comment-39328 All that's really needed to further dupe the kool-aid consumers is that the media confess their sins for inappropriate and complacent behavior during Bush/Cheney, even though their irresponsibility goes back decades further, then all the sheep go back to their grazing. Evidence of this behavior -- the Obama Bandwagon that adheres to the dysfunctional proposal of nothing more than Band-aid therapy and more of the same disguised as historic change under the premise of a black/white man being elected as Commander in Chief (Thief). For anyone interested in indigenous perspectives, according to the Mayan coalition, the window for great, and truly real change which will likely be devastating according to most standards, opened in June 2008. They claim that the next seven years will bring about undeniable change that neither the media nor irrational Westerners will be able to obscure. I, for one (call me crazy if you choose), tend to put more faith in the ancients who actually knew how to construct structures built to stand the testing elements of time, than anything spewing forth from the so called and self-proclaimed contemporary saviors. The Elder Brothers, otherwise known as the Kogi of the Colombian Sierra Nevada, have been criticizing the reckless and unsustainable behavior of Little Brother (those of us humans who indiscriminately pollute and rape the Earth) for decades. Now that the tallest, coastal peak on the planet at 5,775 meters is undergoing an unprecedented withdraw of the lower sierra's fresh water supply via melting ice, the entire sierra's ecosystem is in jeopardy, as well as one of the world's most isolated groups of people who have lived in harmony with their environment for centuries. Who knows better, we who generally have no historical sense of reality, or those who walk the walk and maintain their heritage sustainably? Best to all. All that’s really needed to further dupe the kool-aid consumers is that the media confess their sins for inappropriate and complacent behavior during Bush/Cheney, even though their irresponsibility goes back decades further, then all the sheep go back to their grazing. Evidence of this behavior — the Obama Bandwagon that adheres to the dysfunctional proposal of nothing more than Band-aid therapy and more of the same disguised as historic change under the premise of a black/white man being elected as Commander in Chief (Thief).

For anyone interested in indigenous perspectives, according to the Mayan coalition, the window for great, and truly real change which will likely be devastating according to most standards, opened in June 2008. They claim that the next seven years will bring about undeniable change that neither the media nor irrational Westerners will be able to obscure.

I, for one (call me crazy if you choose), tend to put more faith in the ancients who actually knew how to construct structures built to stand the testing elements of time, than anything spewing forth from the so called and self-proclaimed contemporary saviors.

The Elder Brothers, otherwise known as the Kogi of the Colombian Sierra Nevada, have been criticizing the reckless and unsustainable behavior of Little Brother (those of us humans who indiscriminately pollute and rape the Earth) for decades. Now that the tallest, coastal peak on the planet at 5,775 meters is undergoing an unprecedented withdraw of the lower sierra’s fresh water supply via melting ice, the entire sierra’s ecosystem is in jeopardy, as well as one of the world’s most isolated groups of people who have lived in harmony with their environment for centuries. Who knows better, we who generally have no historical sense of reality, or those who walk the walk and maintain their heritage sustainably?

Best to all.

]]> By: Michael Kenny http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/02/toothless-the-watchdog-press-that-became-the-governments-lapdog/#comment-39270 Michael Kenny Sat, 21 Feb 2009 20:53:36 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=6848#comment-39270 The only thing that would be surprising about this is that anyone might be surprised. Press ethics died some quite a while ago. The present generation of journalists are either shills for whoever pays them or mere gratuitous mischief-makers. Or both! On the other hand, once you bear that in mind and always ask yourself "why would this person want me to swallow this story", then you can spot all kinds of interesting things in the cracks between the lines! The only thing that would be surprising about this is that anyone might be surprised. Press ethics died some quite a while ago. The present generation of journalists are either shills for whoever pays them or mere gratuitous mischief-makers. Or both! On the other hand, once you bear that in mind and always ask yourself “why would this person want me to swallow this story”, then you can spot all kinds of interesting things in the cracks between the lines!

]]> By: Moonrider http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/02/toothless-the-watchdog-press-that-became-the-governments-lapdog/#comment-39255 Moonrider Sat, 21 Feb 2009 19:17:26 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=6848#comment-39255 Mainstream media is wholly corporate owned, the only stories they will give the populace are those their corporate masters want them to cover, everything else will be quashed and ignored. Their corporate owners pretty much control who gets on our ballot, especially in the presidential race, they tell the people who is or is not "electeable" long before the public has even had a chance to do an research into the candidates. If they'd just stay off the subject of who is electable until after the primaries and conventions, we might actually get a couple, or even a few candidates who are truly worth voting FOR! Most people nowdays, vote against, as in "choosing the lesser of two evils". Why do we let the media place before us as the only two "viable" candidates, two candidates whom at least half the voters believe are evil? Don't we as individual voters get a chance to say who is viable and who is not? Mainstream media is wholly corporate owned, the only stories they will give the populace are those their corporate masters want them to cover, everything else will be quashed and ignored. Their corporate owners pretty much control who gets on our ballot, especially in the presidential race, they tell the people who is or is not “electeable” long before the public has even had a chance to do an research into the candidates. If they’d just stay off the subject of who is electable until after the primaries and conventions, we might actually get a couple, or even a few candidates who are truly worth voting FOR! Most people nowdays, vote against, as in “choosing the lesser of two evils”. Why do we let the media place before us as the only two “viable” candidates, two candidates whom at least half the voters believe are evil? Don’t we as individual voters get a chance to say who is viable and who is not?

]]> By: Terry Grinnalds http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/02/toothless-the-watchdog-press-that-became-the-governments-lapdog/#comment-39252 Terry Grinnalds Sat, 21 Feb 2009 19:07:17 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=6848#comment-39252 The traditional press was blindsided by the emergence of the conservative media. For years, news figures of prominence attempted to maintain some semblance of impartiality. Their education, and long experience with the workings of politics, with the powerful and with the regular citizen, tended to give them a distrust of the entrenched and powerful and a willingness to listen to the disenfrachised that made them seem "liberal" to conservatives. While conservatives were disorganized, and their complaints likewise, news broadcasters and reporters did not feel particularly threatened. Then, suddenly, Ross Murcock and Rev. Moon began buying major newpapers and establishing television news programs with a far-right agenda. Part of that agenda was to say with conviction, over and over, that the traditional press was profoundly liberal and biased, and that conservatives were the real Americans. The traditional press found itself in a philosophical bind. To counter the new one-note conservative press, they would have had to actually move further left and themselves become biased on the left end of the spectrum. Not surprisingly, they were unwilling to do this, and the situation did not self-correct because the hatred, anger and selfishness turned out to play better than reason and balance, which don't lend themselves to dramatic presentation.The problem was compounded by some misplaced guilt on the part of some press that perhaps they actually had had some liberal bias, failing to recognize that making judgment calls on some political positions and some politicians (e.g. Murrow and McCarthy; Woodward, Bernstein, Hersch and Nixon) was not the same as bias, and they have failed, and continue to fail, to confront and denounce the far-right mouthpieces. Consequently, through the Reagan years and two Busch administrations, we have had a news spectrum that runs from the middle to the right only. The problem remains. Traditional press have, in the past year, been foolish enough to actually apologize for being more interested and more enthusiastic, in the last presidential campaign, about Obama and his appeal to our better instincts as opposed to McCain and his defense of the status-quo. Unless and until the non- conservative press finds the courage to recognize the validity of their own values and to stand up for them professionally, this imbalance will continue to the detriment of the best instincts of our nation. The traditional press was blindsided by the emergence of the conservative media. For years, news figures of prominence attempted to maintain some semblance of impartiality. Their education, and long experience with the workings of politics, with the powerful and with the regular citizen, tended to give them a distrust of the entrenched and powerful and a willingness to listen to the disenfrachised that made them seem “liberal” to conservatives. While conservatives were disorganized, and their complaints likewise, news broadcasters and reporters did not feel particularly threatened. Then, suddenly, Ross Murcock and Rev. Moon began buying major newpapers and establishing television news programs with a far-right agenda. Part of that agenda was to say with conviction, over and over, that the traditional press was profoundly liberal and biased, and that conservatives were the real Americans. The traditional press found itself in a philosophical bind. To counter the new one-note conservative press, they would have had to actually move further left and themselves become biased on the left end of the spectrum. Not surprisingly, they were unwilling to do this, and the situation did not self-correct because the hatred, anger and selfishness turned out to play better than reason and balance, which don’t lend themselves to dramatic presentation.The problem was compounded by some misplaced guilt on the part of some press that perhaps they actually had had some liberal bias, failing to recognize that making judgment calls on some political positions and some politicians (e.g. Murrow and McCarthy; Woodward, Bernstein, Hersch and Nixon) was not the same as bias, and they have failed, and continue to fail, to confront and denounce the far-right mouthpieces. Consequently, through the Reagan years and two Busch administrations, we have had a news spectrum that runs from the middle to the right only. The problem remains. Traditional press have, in the past year, been foolish enough to actually apologize for being more interested and more enthusiastic, in the last presidential campaign, about Obama and his appeal to our better instincts as opposed to McCain and his defense of the status-quo. Unless and until the non- conservative press finds the courage to recognize the validity of their own values and to stand up for them professionally, this imbalance will continue to the detriment of the best instincts of our nation.

]]> By: Beverly http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/02/toothless-the-watchdog-press-that-became-the-governments-lapdog/#comment-39216 Beverly Sat, 21 Feb 2009 14:26:25 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=6848#comment-39216 The "watchdog" press hasn't watched anything for years. Review the past few decades and one finds a crapload of stories ignored by the press or publicized long after the damage was done. Even when publicized, the corporment (govt + corporation) spin usually got prime coverage over dissenting opinions and facts. The lapdog press continues licking the butts of govt during the Obama reign with the usual mix of misinformation, disinformation, and infotainment. Check out the Bush III, er, Obama's first press conference and get all the evidence needed to know the more things "change," the more the remain the same old shit. P.S. Anyone heard of Alex Jones' 3/15 DVD release of The Obama Deception? Anyone heard of Alex Jones? The YouTube promo for the DVD sounds intriguing and sounds like required viewing for your kool-aid drinking neighbors and friends. The “watchdog” press hasn’t watched anything for years. Review the past few decades and one finds a crapload of stories ignored by the press or publicized long after the damage was done. Even when publicized, the corporment (govt + corporation) spin usually got prime coverage over dissenting opinions and facts.

The lapdog press continues licking the butts of govt during the Obama reign with the usual mix of misinformation, disinformation, and infotainment. Check out the Bush III, er, Obama’s first press conference and get all the evidence needed to know the more things “change,” the more the remain the same old shit.

P.S. Anyone heard of Alex Jones’ 3/15 DVD release of The Obama Deception? Anyone heard of Alex Jones? The YouTube promo for the DVD sounds intriguing and sounds like required viewing for your kool-aid drinking neighbors and friends.

]]> By: Tennessee-Chavizta http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/02/toothless-the-watchdog-press-that-became-the-governments-lapdog/#comment-39202 Tennessee-Chavizta Sat, 21 Feb 2009 03:13:11 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=6848#comment-39202 THE RAPE AND VIOLATION OF THE U.S.A. CONSTITUTION BY BOTH THE DEMOCRAT CAPITALIST PARTY AND THE REPUBLICAN CAPITALIST PARTY !! From One Assault on the Constitution to Another Bill of Rights Under Fire By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS http://counterpunch.org/roberts02202009.html The US Constitution has few friends on the right or the left. During the first eight years of the 21st century, the Republicans mercilessly assaulted civil liberties. The brownshirt Bush regime ignored the protections provided by habeas corpus. They spied on American citizens without warrants. They violated the First Amendment. They elevated decisions of the president above US statutory law and international law. They claimed the power to withhold information from the people’s representatives in Congress, and they asserted, and behaved as if, they were unaccountable to the people, Congress, and the federal courts. The executive branch claimed the power to ignore congressional subpoenas. Republicans regarded Bush as a Stuart king unaccountable to law. The Bush brownshirt regime revealed itself as lawless, the worst criminal organization in American history. ... “Gun violence” is not something committed by the vast majority of gun owners. “Gun violence” is the preserve of the criminal elements, such as gangs fighting over drug turf. Criminals are already prohibited from owning guns, but criminals pay no more attention to this law than they do to laws against robbery, rape, and murder. Why do Democrats think that disarming law-abiding citizens will disarm outlaws? For how many decades have drugs been banned? Does any Democrat think that the ban on drugs has succeeded? All the ban on drugs has done is to make the drug trade profitable. Now people fight over it. How can guns be successfully banned when the war on drugs is a failure? All a gun ban would do is to create a new criminal activity. ... Many progressives oppose gun ownership because they have sympathy for animals and oppose hunting. However, most gun owners are not hunters. Most members of gun clubs are content to shoot holes in paper targets or at clay pigeons. They enjoy hand-eye coordination, the study of ballistics, and reloading for antique rifles. An outing is really just a chance to get together, to talk about history and the load they are working up for their 1873 Winchester, and to enjoy each other’s company. ... The progressive canard is that the Second Amendment, unlike the rest of the amendments to the Constitution, is not a constitutional right for citizens. Rather it is a right for a defunct organization known as the militia. Why in the world would the Founding Fathers, when laying out the rights of individuals, confound the point by sticking in among individual rights a right for a military organization? ... Americans have exercised Second Amendment rights for 234 years. Regardless of the meaning of the Second Amendment, the right of adverse possession makes gun rights final. To assault such a well grounded right is an act of tyranny. THE RAPE AND VIOLATION OF THE U.S.A. CONSTITUTION BY BOTH THE DEMOCRAT CAPITALIST PARTY AND THE REPUBLICAN CAPITALIST PARTY !!

From One Assault on the Constitution to Another
Bill of Rights Under Fire
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

http://counterpunch.org/roberts02202009.html

The US Constitution has few friends on the right or the left.

During the first eight years of the 21st century, the Republicans mercilessly assaulted civil liberties. The brownshirt Bush regime ignored the protections provided by habeas corpus. They spied on American citizens without warrants. They violated the First Amendment. They elevated decisions of the president above US statutory law and international law. They claimed the power to withhold information from the people’s representatives in Congress, and they asserted, and behaved as if, they were unaccountable to the people, Congress, and the federal courts. The executive branch claimed the power to ignore congressional subpoenas. Republicans regarded Bush as a Stuart king unaccountable to law.

The Bush brownshirt regime revealed itself as lawless, the worst criminal organization in American history.

…

“Gun violence” is not something committed by the vast majority of gun owners. “Gun violence” is the preserve of the criminal elements, such as gangs fighting over drug turf. Criminals are already prohibited from owning guns, but criminals pay no more attention to this law than they do to laws against robbery, rape, and murder. Why do Democrats think that disarming law-abiding citizens will disarm outlaws? For how many decades have drugs been banned? Does any Democrat think that the ban on drugs has succeeded?

All the ban on drugs has done is to make the drug trade profitable. Now people fight over it. How can guns be successfully banned when the war on drugs is a failure? All a gun ban would do is to create a new criminal activity.

…

Many progressives oppose gun ownership because they have sympathy for animals and oppose hunting. However, most gun owners are not hunters. Most members of gun clubs are content to shoot holes in paper targets or at clay pigeons. They enjoy hand-eye coordination, the study of ballistics, and reloading for antique rifles. An outing is really just a chance to get together, to talk about history and the load they are working up for their 1873 Winchester, and to enjoy each other’s company.

…

The progressive canard is that the Second Amendment, unlike the rest of the amendments to the Constitution, is not a constitutional right for citizens. Rather it is a right for a defunct organization known as the militia. Why in the world would the Founding Fathers, when laying out the rights of individuals, confound the point by sticking in among individual rights a right for a military organization?

…

Americans have exercised Second Amendment rights for 234 years. Regardless of the meaning of the Second Amendment, the right of adverse possession makes gun rights final. To assault such a well grounded right is an act of tyranny.

]]> By: Hue Longer http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/02/toothless-the-watchdog-press-that-became-the-governments-lapdog/#comment-39194 Hue Longer Fri, 20 Feb 2009 23:55:38 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=6848#comment-39194 I echo Bozh on this one...it's all in the framing. You can prevent a pot from exploding by letting steam out through a valve on the top. I wouldn't say these people took the lid off anything, they are the lids and get used appropriately. As an example, how many libs ran around talking about Walter Reed after the story made it to 60 minutes? 60 minutes effectively contained the broader story of apathy in Empire, credit was give to the folks at the Post who "broke" it, and the controlled viewer emotion was administered. How the fuck could a story like that NOT get broken and why was that the only place it was? How many patients are in there complaining to whom? If it's not in the Post it's not happening? I echo Bozh on this one…it’s all in the framing. You can prevent a pot from exploding by letting steam out through a valve on the top. I wouldn’t say these people took the lid off anything, they are the lids and get used appropriately. As an example, how many libs ran around talking about Walter Reed after the story made it to 60 minutes? 60 minutes effectively contained the broader story of apathy in Empire, credit was give to the folks at the Post who “broke” it, and the controlled viewer emotion was administered. How the fuck could a story like that NOT get broken and why was that the only place it was? How many patients are in there complaining to whom? If it’s not in the Post it’s not happening?

]]> By: Don Hawkins http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/02/toothless-the-watchdog-press-that-became-the-governments-lapdog/#comment-39178 Don Hawkins Fri, 20 Feb 2009 21:40:19 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=6848#comment-39178 The watchdog press, hello. It has become a sideshow in many way's and propaganda in others. It's a joke a sad joke but a joke. The watchdog press, hello. It has become a sideshow in many way’s and propaganda in others. It’s a joke a sad joke but a joke.

]]> By: bozh http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/02/toothless-the-watchdog-press-that-became-the-governments-lapdog/#comment-39162 bozh Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:10:05 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/?p=6848#comment-39162 however, even the dissident (corporate) media objects to invasion of iraq because the stated reasons (causes?) for the invasion "made no sense". but have not espied the fact that stated goals, reasons, or causes may or may not be even similar to actual reasons (rationalization) let alone the same. this begs the question, in what schools have these dissenters been educated? and to make matters even worse, the MSM dissenters or 'truth seekers' do not object to the invasion on any panhuman principle but on expedience, perceptions, fears, etc. whether invasion of iraq made sense or no sense ought to have never been an issue even for a second; that no country has the right to attack another under no known circumstance is one of our dearest desireable principles and shld have been brought to the attention of the world. which, of course, also obviates collective punishment. and dissenters in the corporate media don't know this? i think they do.thnx however, even the dissident (corporate) media objects to invasion of iraq because the stated reasons (causes?) for the invasion “made no sense”.
but have not espied the fact that stated goals, reasons, or causes may or may not be even similar to actual reasons (rationalization) let alone the same.

this begs the question, in what schools have these dissenters been educated?
and to make matters even worse, the MSM dissenters or ‘truth seekers’ do not object to the invasion on any panhuman principle but on expedience, perceptions, fears, etc.
whether invasion of iraq made sense or no sense ought to have never been an issue even for a second; that no country has the right to attack another under no known circumstance is one of our dearest desireable principles and shld have been brought to the attention of the world.
which, of course, also obviates collective punishment.
and dissenters in the corporate media don’t know this? i think they do.thnx

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