pkpatriotic
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When senior Democrats, such as House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, explain why impeachment of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney is off the table, they cite their fears of hostility from the American news media.
On Amy Goodmans Democracy Now on Dec. 20, Conyers said the U.S. news media has become such a problem that any Democratic attempt to hold the President and Vice President accountable might end up achieving the opposite result.
There is a very stark reality that with the corporatization of the media, we could end up with turning people, who should be documented in history as making many profound errors and violating the Constitution, from villains into victims, the Michigan Democrat said.
In Conyerss view, its kind of Watergate in reverse. Instead of the old Washington press corps holding President Richard Nixons feet to the fire for his Watergate abuses, todays careerist news media would treat the idea of accountability for Bush and Cheney like some kooky conspiracy theory.
While one can dismiss Conyerss explanation as just another lame excuse from the timid Democratic leadership, there is an underlying reality here.
Hes probably right that the Washington press corps would hoot any serious impeachment drive against Bush and Cheney off the political stage.
The current right-tilted asymmetry of the American news media has made it difficult if not impossible to achieve any sustained accountability for any of the Bush-Cheney offenses. For instance, the Washington Post, which led the charge on Watergate, now leads the defense of Bush/Cheney for their role in exposing CIA officer Valerie Plame.
Getting Worse
Another hard truth is that this U.S. media imbalance continues to worsen.
Day in/day out, year in/year out, the American Right pours billions and billions of dollars into its media apparatus, with Fox (American-Geo) News starting a second network and Rupert Murdoch adding the Wall Street Journal to his empire, not to mention an endless array of well-financed outlets in radio, magazines, newspapers and the Internet.
Meanwhile, many American progressives and liberal foundations remain locked in a dogmatic resistance to investing seriously in media.
When I talk with wealthy progressives, they act as if building honest media is someone elses responsibility.
They tell me that they want to put their money into either direct-action projects (like feeding the poor or buying up endangered wetlands) or into supporting regulatory efforts (like restricting money in politics or trying to reestablish government rules about media size and content).
While those endeavors might have some merit, the tragedy is that the progressives are passing up a great opportunity to use new openings created by the Internet to build powerful media institutions that can generate truthful information and establish some balance in the information reaching the public
On Amy Goodmans Democracy Now on Dec. 20, Conyers said the U.S. news media has become such a problem that any Democratic attempt to hold the President and Vice President accountable might end up achieving the opposite result.
There is a very stark reality that with the corporatization of the media, we could end up with turning people, who should be documented in history as making many profound errors and violating the Constitution, from villains into victims, the Michigan Democrat said.
In Conyerss view, its kind of Watergate in reverse. Instead of the old Washington press corps holding President Richard Nixons feet to the fire for his Watergate abuses, todays careerist news media would treat the idea of accountability for Bush and Cheney like some kooky conspiracy theory.
While one can dismiss Conyerss explanation as just another lame excuse from the timid Democratic leadership, there is an underlying reality here.
Hes probably right that the Washington press corps would hoot any serious impeachment drive against Bush and Cheney off the political stage.
The current right-tilted asymmetry of the American news media has made it difficult if not impossible to achieve any sustained accountability for any of the Bush-Cheney offenses. For instance, the Washington Post, which led the charge on Watergate, now leads the defense of Bush/Cheney for their role in exposing CIA officer Valerie Plame.
Getting Worse
Another hard truth is that this U.S. media imbalance continues to worsen.
Day in/day out, year in/year out, the American Right pours billions and billions of dollars into its media apparatus, with Fox (American-Geo) News starting a second network and Rupert Murdoch adding the Wall Street Journal to his empire, not to mention an endless array of well-financed outlets in radio, magazines, newspapers and the Internet.
Meanwhile, many American progressives and liberal foundations remain locked in a dogmatic resistance to investing seriously in media.
When I talk with wealthy progressives, they act as if building honest media is someone elses responsibility.
They tell me that they want to put their money into either direct-action projects (like feeding the poor or buying up endangered wetlands) or into supporting regulatory efforts (like restricting money in politics or trying to reestablish government rules about media size and content).
While those endeavors might have some merit, the tragedy is that the progressives are passing up a great opportunity to use new openings created by the Internet to build powerful media institutions that can generate truthful information and establish some balance in the information reaching the public
