A Quick Bit of Frustration

I've been sort of reluctant to post in the last few days, partly because I've just been frustrated with the news coming out of Washington, primarily the ridiculous National Debt Commission chair recommendations, which were released to the press behind the President's back earlier this week.*  The press coverage has focused primarily on Social Security reductions (fueled by the oft-repeated lie that Social Security will be bankrupt in our lifetimes) and really didn't mention the 500,000 jobs that are suggested to be cut under the proposal.  Yeah, that's what we need right now, to cut half a million jobs.  All non-defense, of course.

On top of this is the "will they or won't they?" game the media is playing with the Administration's capitulation on the Bush tax cuts.  It's all pretty clever, as they have now moved the discussion from whether they will temporarily keep the tax cuts to whether they will permanently keep the tax cuts.  I'd like to see ALL of the the Bush tax cuts expire... including those on the middle and lower classes.  I'm more than willing to take the $10-14 a week in tax increases that will hit me if they expire... it's a very small price to pay to help get our country back in shape.  Realistically, I hope the true Democrats do stand up and prevent any extension of the cuts for $250k+.

Of course the headlines are almost all leading to the more tax cut, benefit cut philosophy.  I'm tired of seeing CNN opinion piece headlines such as "Is American Losing It's Influence?" which then suggests that our current path is what has lead us down this road to ruin.  That article particularly upsets me, as it is super light on specifics of how we've run into trouble, but very heavy on how tax cuts and benefit reductions will save us.  As usual, no talk of jobs or investment in our crumbling infrastructure.

Then again, it's no surprise that the media is aligned against us.  Rachel Maddow had Jon Stewart on as a guest last night and they discussed his false equivalencies between the right and left and their influence in the media.  Although I agree with Stewart's message of thoughtful discussion and maintaining a fact-based dialogue, I was pretty disappointed with some of the things he had to say to Maddow.  I felt he made a lot of excuses for the right and evaded more pointed questions about the differences.**

Almost seeming to be emboldened by the infighting on the left (and those who've taken Stewart's message to heart in some way) Glenn Beck is on a rampage this week with his nonsensical claims that George Soros controls the progressive movement and is building up to some violent revolution to conquer the US.  In reality, Beck is a more visible and manipulative puppeteer, and the calls for violence have been far more prominent on the right... but of course they want to frame the narrative that it's the left who are the bad guys.  It's all very scary... especially when you see the right wing corporate backed movement placing ads like this:



If this is what is being advertised on the centrist Huffington Post, I shudder to consider what lies and hatred are on the conservative websites.***

So it's been a little frustrating over the last week.  I've been kind of busy too, but it's the continued daily assault on my sensibilities that have kept me from trying to make a difference here.  It hasn't taken me long to remember why it is I stopped being involved two years ago... it's really hard when you keep getting hit in the face over and over again.****

____
* Notice the leading headline in that article.  "Panel Seeks Social Security Cuts and Higher Taxes."  The "higher taxes" bit is ridiculous, aside from the adjustment of a few fees and a modest increase in the national gas tax, there are few revenue increases.  No surprise, it recommends keeping the Bush tax cuts for the rich and suggests a corporate tax cut from 35 to 26% - that's about 1/3.  You have to read through 3/4 of the article to get to that point, of course... the headline would be far more accurate to read "...Additional Tax Cuts" rather than "Higher Taxes."

** Sam Seder did a good analysis of Stewart's interview on his Majority Report podcast today.  He discussed a few things I thought stood out from Stewart's interview... among them, the way he made excuses for Bush and his "Weapons of Mass Distruction" claim, equating it to a six year-old desiring car ownership.  If we invaded every country who "sought out" WMDs in such a broad, long-term sense, we'd have to invade every country on the planet.  He also failed to address the idea that claiming Bush is a war criminal (which he admitted was technically true) is the same as claiming Obama is a secret Muslim Socialist born outside the US.  Tsk tsk.

*** And how many lies are in that simple ad?  Unconstitutional?  Just because you disagree with something doesn't make it unconstitutional, despite how many times people repeat it.  Government Run?  There's nothing in our watered down health care legislation causing it to be government run, any more than regulations run every aspect of our lives.  Of course in an ad like that, you can just say whatever you want, and put it on a news site...

*** Having to provide these links to back up my arguments doesn't help.  Nor my inability to keep it short or to-the-point.  I should start writing outlines rather than just rambling on like I do...

Right Wing Media's $200 Million Field Day

I'm constantly surprised by the ability of the right wing media to make up crazy stories out of thin air, and how quickly they can spread across the public consciousness via the conservative Echo Chamber. The most recent wild accusation coming from the right is that the Obama administration is engaging in a $200 million per day trip to India. That link will take you to a Fox News clip where they list a number of fictional allegations against the President.

Snopes.com has quickly put up a response to this nonsense, disputing nearly every point made by Fox and other media outlets. There is also a great dispelling of the points over on Talking Points Memo. The compelling TPM article really makes me wonder how the right is able to come up with such a crazy narrative in such a short period of time.

I won't go into dispelling them here, as it's been done by people smarter than me, but I would like to comment on how these fabrications are even possible. The security of the President has been increasingly amped up over the last few decades, presumably starting with the assassination of JFK and accelerated by the attempt on Regan in '81. Due to these security concerns, the government is unable to reveal specifics on the number of people being sent in the President's entourage, as well as the number of vehicles/rooms/meals, etc. being purchased in the destination.  It seems like overkill, if you ask me, but I can understand it; it's just part of our modern times.

Since no clear figures can be provided by the government, it leaves the window open completely for people to speculate and point fingers. Needless to say, commentators such as Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh who are not beholden to truth can just make stuff up without any clear facts available to refute them. Since this is the only information out there, it is repeated and taken by many as reality.

Most people don't have time to research information for themselves (and who can blame them? It's taken me an hour just to research the links provided in this post) and have no way of instantly debunking this nonsense. For example, I had no idea that the "34 warships" claim represents 10% of the navy. Looking at the information in the TPM article, most of the claims from the right are obviously ridiculous, but difficult to respond to because they are not commonly understood.

Hopefully, the mainstream media will dispute the lies and try to set the record straight. Unfortunately, as is evidenced by the presistent birther and Muslim lies about Obama, I imagine the $2 Billion India trip meme will be repeated endlessly from the far right and take a "Weapons of Mass Destruction" level place in the American consciousness.