"After America , There is No Place to Go"

[Michael Tee]

OK sirs, since it is beyond obvious that you don't know WTF you are talking about, I think I've had enough of the subject for now.  I don't wish to become your history teacher  because (a) the gaps in your knowledge are too vast and (b) nothing would sink in anyway.  So I'm going to leave you to your bizarre interpretations of history, where you'll find plenty of your countrymen to agree with you, and give you some time to polish your one-line zingers, blue is red, facts are Kryptonite, yadda yadda yadda.

[sirs]

OK sirs, since it is beyond obvious that you don't know WTF you are talking about, I think I've had enough of the subject for now.  I don't wish to become your history teacher  because (a) the gaps in your knowledge are too vast and (b) nothing would sink in anyway.

Oh, the irony

[Plane]

   Don't get mad , most Americans do know that there is a diffrence between Facism and Communism. Much as we know the diffrence between Cat shit and Dog shit.

    The diffrences are striking , distinctive and unmistakable , but are not as significant as the commonalitys .

[sirs]

BINGO   

[Michael Tee]

Nice analogy, and if you wanted to throw America into the equation too, I bet you'd try to tell me that their shit don't stink.

[Plane]

Nice analogy, and if you wanted to throw America into the equation too, I bet you'd try to tell me that their shit don't stink.

USA has had a lot of stinky history, and a free press to air it out.

I think it is worse for us at first , but the application of oxigen makes it better sooner.


In my opinion the freedom of press is the most significant diffrence we have in comparison to the USSR.

[sirs]

Well assessed, Plane.  That and our Constitution (especially the Bill of Rights) I'd give as the 2 cornerstones as to the vast improvement in our stench   

Also keeping in mind, we're referring to history, and currently Germany has a far better fragrance than it had in the 1930's/40's.  Russia, marginally improved, but nothing like the stink of Stalin & Hitler

[Plane]

Well assessed, Plane.  That and our Constitution (especially the Bill of Rights) I'd give as the 2 cornerstones as to the vast improvement in our stench   

Also keeping in mind, we're referring to history, and currently Germany has a far better fragrance than it had in the 1930's/40's.  Russia, marginally improved, but nothing like the stink of Stalin & Hitler

   Well you know the USSR had a nicely phrased constitution, but with no press to speak of , why pay any attention to it?
    England on the other hand hasn't really got an enforcable constitution, they gradually developed the relitively free society they have.

[sirs]

True

[BSB]

Plane >>  I got much the same, but I took it seriously. <<

It's a political message from the right. They want you to think the Democrats/Obama are moving us towards the kind of totalitarianism that was moving around Europe prior to the war. The kind of system Blowhard is so in love with. It's a scare tactic. But the thing is, if you buy it, that means you're not paying attention. And if you're not paying attention than you are the kind of person that a real Stalin, or Hitler, could fool. It's catch 22 if you will.

Look, lets take Obama Care. We've been trying to pass a comprehensive national health care plan since FDR. Nixon was committed to it but, ironically, the Democrats wouldn't help him. So don't buy this BS that Obama care is a step away from Stalinism, or Hitlerism, or Snowblowerism. Not true in the least. You may rightfully, in my opinion, not like the plan, but its passage doesn't make us Austria in the late 30s.


BSB

[Michael Tee]

As Chris Hedges pointed out in one of his talks, posted here, there are about six corporations that between them control almost everything that the vast majority of Americans read and watch.  On many issues you will not find much difference in the coverage provided by the networks, cable and the big dailies.  "Free press" and "media consolidation" don't fit together.

The MSM are very unwilling to challenge any President taking the nation to war.  The tendency to print unattributed information from anonymous government officials in even the biggest daily papers is a free venue for the government to propagandize the public, and does nothing to minimize the "stink" from clandestine governmental actions.  The Judith Miller/NYT scandal should be a perfect example of the shrinking independence of the MSM, as is "stovepiping" as practiced by Dick Cheney as Vice-Pres.

One of the more egregious examples of administration collusion with the MSM was the NYT's decision to hold back the story of Federal surveillance of US citizens within the USA until after the Presidential elections 0f 2004 so as not to "influence" the vote.

The idea of a semi-free, special-interests-controlled press is actually more dangerous than a totally controlled one, as former Iron Curtain residents have told me, because when everyone knows the press is in the hands of the government, nobody takes it seriously as a source of truth and so read it "between the lines" to try to deduce what the real story might be from what was actually printed.  This kind of scrutiny is rarely practiced in America, where most people erroneously believe that the press really is free.

[Plane]

The idea of a semi-free, special-interests-controlled press is actually more dangerous than a totally controlled one, as former Iron Curtain residents have told me, because when everyone knows the press is in the hands of the government, nobody takes it seriously as a source of truth .....

Where is truth gonna get in ?

The number and power of the press ebbs and flows.

Right now I can easily read articles published anywhere , my dependance on the main media has never been less.

[BSB]

That's right, plane, I don't know anyone that depends on the "MSM". Blowhard is bit out of touch, as usual.


BSB

[Michael Tee]

http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2010/03/where-does-america-get-their-news-everywhere/

That's one version of where most Americans get their news from.

<< Right now I can easily read articles published anywhere , my dependance on the main media has never been less.>>

Sure, but even the internet sources are mostly aggregators and the ones that feature independent reporting are being bought out - - look at the recent sale of Hufpo to  AOL for $315 mil or thereabouts.

When Chris Hedges says that six American corporations control what most Americans see or hear, I believe him.  He's a Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist and he knows what he's talking about.  But why not try a little experiment?  Let plane list his top five news sources and let's see who owns them.  Or even your top ten, plane.  Let's see who you're listening to.

[BSB]

Just what stories do you think you all in Canada have access to that I don't have access to here in Boston? Give me the top ten most important stories in the past month that I don't have access to here.   


BSB