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midnight

(26,624 posts)
Sat Jun 13, 2015, 11:05 AM Jun 2015

MSNBC Interrupts US Congresswoman over NSA to Report Teen Pop Star Justin Bieber Arrested for DUI



I know this video has already been discussed, so I was aware of it, but I just saw this for the first time. Maybe this singer is so popular that silencing a congressional persons input on ending this program is news worthy, but I highly doubt it is more important than congress saying it is time to end this program.
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corkhead

(6,119 posts)
1. 21st Century Journalism perfectly distilled into 1 minute and 5 seconds
Sat Jun 13, 2015, 11:09 AM
Jun 2015

It makes me want to and simultaneously.

yuiyoshida

(41,832 posts)
2. I would guess that if President Obama was
Sat Jun 13, 2015, 11:11 AM
Jun 2015

giving a speech, she would interrupt him on breaking news that Justin Bieber announced to the press that he found a he had a hangnail, and it was "Ouchy!"

leveymg

(36,418 posts)
4. Mrs. Greenspan interviewing ex-Congresswoman "this conversation doesn't exist" Harman
Sat Jun 13, 2015, 11:45 AM
Jun 2015

on NSA wiretapping. How apropos.

Let's not forget why Jane was forced off the Intelligence Committee. Wiki:

2009 wiretap/AIPAC allegations

In 2009, it was revealed NSA wiretaps reportedly intercepted a 2005 phone call between Harman and an agent of the Israeli government (the then Mossad Chief of Station in Washington), in which Harman allegedly agreed to lobby the Justice Department to reduce or drop criminal charges against two employees of AIPAC (the AIPAC-OSP spy case) in exchange for increased support for Harman's campaign to chair the House Intelligence Committee.[13] The NSA transcripts reportedly recorded Harman ending the phone call after saying, "this conversation doesn't exist."[14] It was reported that Alberto Gonzales, Attorney General at the time of the phone call, blocked Justice Department lawyers from continuing the investigation into Harman (in spite of the alleged crime) because the Bush administration "needed Jane" to support their warrantless wiretapping program, which was soon to be revealed to the public by the New York Times.[15]

Harman denied the allegations, and called for the government to release the full transcript of the wire-tapped conversation.[14] In June 2009, Harman received a letter from the Justice Department declaring her "neither a subject nor a target of an ongoing investigation by the Criminal Division. Though the espionage charges were later dropped on the two employees from AIPAC, against the wishes of the FBI, Harman did not get the chair for the foreign intelligence committee."[16]

tymorial

(3,433 posts)
5. This perfectly sums up the state of the main stream media
Sat Jun 13, 2015, 11:51 AM
Jun 2015

Sensationalism for profit. The 6 corporations who own more than 90% of all news outlets and media providers ought to change their "mission" statements to reflect this reality. I honestly feel that the last hope for the 4th estate is with public radio, private blogs and public television. Sure MSNBC is left leaning and better suits my political sensibilities but they engage in the same dishonorable behavior as the rest of the networks and major news providers. Clearly the calculus at play here is a belief that viewers are more likely to stick around to listen to the sordid details of a celebrity than a US Congresswoman discussing the erosion of our civil liberties. Sadly, they are probably right. As much as I hate the corporatization of the news media, I also recognize that we have allowed it to happen and we facilitate the exploitation of scandal, tragedies and victims all the time.


midnight

(26,624 posts)
10. I wondered about the calculus here. I thought it was that people are more apt to remember
Sat Jun 13, 2015, 12:54 PM
Jun 2015

the last thing said. So they interrupted the interview with another topic. And so now the public will not remember this Congresswomen who thought the program not illegal but not helpful and what ever was going to be discussed interrupted with a topic that seemed destined to be reported....

midnight

(26,624 posts)
7. I looked her up on Wiki. I wasn't familiar with her. I did understand that
Sat Jun 13, 2015, 12:21 PM
Jun 2015

she felt this spying was not illegal, but was not useful. I thought it was both.

KeepItReal

(7,769 posts)
8. Harman was very powerful, but rolled with Bush & Co. on intel issues
Sat Jun 13, 2015, 12:34 PM
Jun 2015

She was my Representative back then.

leveymg

(36,418 posts)
9. Actually, it was a legal wiretap on the Israeli Embassy that picked up Jane's conversation
Sat Jun 13, 2015, 12:35 PM
Jun 2015

with Mossad Chief of Station, Naor Gilon, who fled the country immediately afterwards.

Kind of makes you wonder about the similar AIPAC and Mossad conversations with other Congress-critters that were taped but remain in FBI/CIA/NSA databanks.

It also says a lot about US corporate media that so few people -- even her constituents -- even know why Jane left Congress. Few have heard of the joint neocon-Mossad operation (the OSP-AIPAC case) to plant phony Iraq and Iran WMD evidence in Pentagon files that led to Jane being outed as an Israeli agent of influence.

 

Hulk

(6,699 posts)
11. This is g'damned disgusting...but so typical of OUR lousy media priorities....
Sat Jun 13, 2015, 01:36 PM
Jun 2015

Prime example of just how low and awful our media is. Of course, andrea mitchell is the perfect example for ratings' whore of the year.

Honest to God, this nation is really fook'd in the head when it comes to priorities and serious discussion on issues of newsworthy stories.

mitchell is the pig of all pigs, but she has hundreds not far behind on the food chain.

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