Krugman Tells The Voters The Truth (Daily Howler)

Please click on link for full column.

http://dailyhowler.com/

KRUGMAN (5/26/06): “An Inconvenient Truth” isn't just about global warming, of course. It's also about Mr. Gore. And it is, implicitly, a cautionary tale about what's been wrong with our politics.

Why, after all, was Mr. Gore's popular-vote margin in the 2000 election narrow enough that he could be denied the White House? Any account that neglects the determination of some journalists to make him a figure of ridicule misses a key part of the story. Why were those journalists so determined to jeer Mr. Gore? Because of the very qualities that allowed him to realize the importance of global warming, many years before any other major political figure: his earnestness, and his genuine interest in facts, numbers and serious analysis.

And so the 2000 campaign ended up being about the candidates' clothing, their mannerisms, anything but the issues, on which Mr. Gore had a clear advantage (and about which his opponent was clearly both ill informed and dishonest).

<snip>

KRUGMAN (continuing directly): I won't join the sudden surge of speculation about whether ''An Inconvenient Truth'' will make Mr. Gore a presidential contender. But the film does make a powerful case that Mr. Gore is the sort of person who ought to be running the country.

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but I am not sure she will see her reflection.

It reminds all of us what the press did to Al Gore. Too many have forgotten. K&R.

yesterday, I have to wonder how our good-for-nothing National Press Corps concluded that Gore was a phony and that Bush was the genuine article.

Barring a few exceptions, I think our Press Corps are a bunch of lazy, worthless lemmings, lacking spine, integrity, and only concerned with meaningless superficialities. Worst of all, they care nothing about their calling -- to provide the citizenry with meaningful facts.

and managed to skate through with B's and C's. And they resented the kids who got As and had native abilities in everything else.

I don't know where you get the notion that journalists are dumb.

The post below you is more accurate: they need to work for a living and to maintain their jobs, they have to report what the corporations who write their paychecks want them to report. They have to eat, too.

That said, I am no longer in journalism, but that has more to do with the fact that I needed steadier hours for raising my son and nothing to do with any hatred of the profession.

Please reread the post to which I was replying. I'm not sure why you would see my post as objectionable but not object to the same people's being called lazy, lemmings, etc. :-)

corp were lazy and such... so I naturally assumed you meant that all the press corp were dumbies.

were talking about those of Helen Thomas' colleagues (White House press corps) who don't seem to be able to do their jobs.

and if he didn't vote for Bush in 2000.

But they are also supposed to have ethics and be professionals. Ignoring stories like the missing WMDs before the Iraq War, giving the people the impression that Saddam was in league with Al-Qaeda, and serving as conduits for blatant White House lies and propaganda can never be justified in the name of picking up a paycheck.

If you are required to twist the facts instead of ferreting them out and reporting them, you should resign and find another place to work. And raise hell when those with less ethics than you sell out and join the liars.

They did what they did because they want to continue to draw a paycheck.

When will progressives wake up to the fact that the national political press corps IS doing its job -- promoting the agenda of the corporations that employee them.

They were wined and dined by Team Bush, you saw that the RNC had spa facilities for the
Press Corps during their arduous task of covering the 2004 GOP convention. Also I think
it was simply easier covering Bush, he's a media creation, pre-made speeches, very little
ad lib, take the prepared text w photos, file the story and go get yourself a massage.

handlers. They really didn't give a shit about issues or anything substantial. They still don't.

I grew up giving a dollar every Sunday in our Catholic church, maybe that dollar mentality is still with me. The Democrats have always had to pinch pennies. What would you rather do, sit and listen to remarks at a swanky, catered affair, or eat cheese and crackers at the American
Legion Post. We have to feed the party to have them able to do the PR they need. We are
partly to blame with our "dollar" mentality. A lot of us gave in '04 but I wonder if it would
have been better to give locally, a lot of that money was wasted on Tv ads which I think
do not convince people late in the campaign.

But a lot of his convolutions were the result of the rancid treatment he was given in the press. The Press didn't like Gore. I'm not sure I know why. Some of it had to do with who was sent to cover him. Partly, he was seen as a "liar" or a "phony".

Bush was seen as an inarticulate but well-meaning guy who was honest and out to cut taxes.

At the end of their respective campaigns, as I recall the country was pretty much unimpressed with either of them. But Bush was given a pass by the Press and Gore wasn't. It was one of the things that cost him the election.

Fade to the second Bush win. The Swiftboating of Kerry sticks in my mind. It did him in. And the Press loved it.

the Republicans had effectively slimed Clinton, I wonder if they still wax nostalgic over
their hatchet job, boy, the GOPs really turned this country around, wrested it from prosperity
and popularity right into the rubbish heap. I think it will be better now, because I think
the press, and the average joe blow realizes that politics is not just a game where you "pile" on.

when he championed the internet. This was a direct threat to their monopoly on information shaping American Opinion. Information is power and Al took some of it from them and gave it to the people with his vision, persistence and determination in pushing through the legislation opening the internet to the people. Below is my analogy of why the press corps treated Al the way they did.


Remember The Titans!

Bill Moyers had several excellent interviews with the late Joseph Campbell regarding his book "The Power Of Myth". In it Joseph speaks of the commonality of all the world's religions and mythologies, even when they are separated by time and distance. He goes on to state that there are many lessons and much wisdom to be learned from myth. Here in Nashville (The Athens of the South), the home of the only full scale replica of The Parthenon of the Acropolis, mythology is never too far away.

What does this have to do with Al Gore? The lesson of what happened to Al Gore has repeated it self throughout history and myth. A hero or leader comes to the aid of the people and the ones in power trash him for it. When I think of Al Gore, I think of Prometheus. Prometheus, the son of the Titan Iapetus who took pity on the misery of mankind, huddling in the cold and dark, so Prometheus stole fire from heaven for their benefit. Zeus (Jupiter), enraged at this loss of power caused Prometheus to be chained to a rock on Mount Caucasus, where a vulture each day devoured his liver, which was made whole again each night, this was supposed to go on for all eternity.

Al Gore, the son of Tennessee Titan Al Gore Sr. took pity on the American People as they were fed scraps of information on the vital issues of the day. Al, while he was in congress thought that the people should have equal access to the same information as the rich and the powerful. Al Gore recognized ahead of the curve (as he usually does) that for democracy to flourish, the people should have control over the flow of information that will ultimately control their lives.

Information is power, so Al decided to become the primary champion of the relatively new technology (now known as the internet) controlled by the defense dept. and some universities and to open it up for everyone. CNN recently held a poll as to the most revolutionary creation of the 20th century and the internet won hands down. So one might expect praise for such vision, service and dedication to the people, however that would be forgetting the lessons of Prometheus.

The corporate owned MSM were enraged at this loss of power, how dare he! They wanted to remain the sole gatekeepers to the truth so that they could regale us with great stories of runaway brides, missing pretty white women, and various other lurid tales, etc. they could continue do this for all perpetuity. The corporate owned MSM wanted to create a fictitious bubble or Matrix for the American People to live in and Al Gore had endangered their project.

Why would "American Journalism" want to do this to the American People? Because if you are ignorant, you are more easily controlled, and this is all about power. So Al had to be punished for empowering the American People. The corporate owned MSM has no taste for liver with the possible exception of pate de fois gras (goose liver), so they decided to slander, trash, ignore and demean him in every way possible. It still goes on to this day to some degree.

The trashing of Al started in earnest in 1999, although I believe that the witch hunt against Clinton was in truth a back door way for them to hurt Al's chances of coming to power. The War Against Gore began in 1999 with a Wolf Blitzer interview; in it Blitzer asks Al what separates him from Bill Bradley? Blitzer asking Al of and Al is talking about his record in congress. As anyone would do in a job interview, Al speaks of his achievements, primarily in helping to bring about the creation of the internet as we know it today, which in fact is the truth; nothing is said by Blitzer at the time because he knows this is the truth.

One or two days later Dick Armey begins spouting his Republican Talking Points slamming Al for his hubris, and then the corporate MSM begin goose stepping in unison and take up where Dick left off. The MSM says that "Al Gore claims to have invented the internet" which of course is a lie, and it does not end there. "Al Gore claims to have discovered Love Canal" another lie, although he held hearings on toxic waste in Toone, Tennessee which expanded to include Love Canal. The MSM said that Al Gore was wearing earth tones, so he must be a fake, besides being stiff and boring, etc. etc. Al Gore has led a remarkable life and sometimes it reads like fiction such as being an inspiration (along with Tommy Lee Jones) for the book "Love Story" but it is the truth. The corporate owned MSM even did a 180 after the 2000 debates overruling their own focus groups and changing their reporting as to who won those debates overnight, someone had apparently heard him sigh (I did not). The only time terrorism was ever brought up during those debates was when Al mentioned it. With the corporate MSM, the vital issue of the day (and keep in mind this was after Osama had declared war against us) was who would you rather have in your home for a beer? The nation has been drunk ever since.

The result of all this slander, demeaning and trashing of our best and brightest is the Pottersville that we are currently living in today. But think how much more difficult it would have been for us to get the truth out regarding the Iraq War, the Downing Street Memos, Gannon/Guckert, supporting Cindy Sheehan, torture, wiretapping Americans without a court order, Bush's corruption and incompetence etc. without the internet. Think how much more difficult it would be for you to put your opinions out for the masses or praise your favorite leader’s virtues if we did not have the internet. Even the freepers and Bush owe Al, they are just too clueless to know it. It is for these reasons and many more that I will never abandon Al Gore for President.

P.S. For a historical refresher, click on link below and google “War against Gore” or 2000 debates.

http://dailyhowler.com/

Going from 35% of the Television Air-wave Market to 45% of the market is a big deal. Being able to own a TV station, a radio station and a newspaper all in the same market had nothing to do with Al Gore's denouncement. How about deregulation, deregulation, and more deregulation with massive tax breaks had nothing to do with Al Gore's denouncement. Those were the promises long before the 2000 election to the Rich and Powerful. A very big MONEY giveaway by a new GOP administration that had no shame to screw the day to day people.

Oh by the way, Al Gore won. What Al Gore big mistake was, he did not realize his campaign was going to be shanghaied to be a loser right before everyones eyes. Just did not see that coming.

What is even more sad is John Kerry needed bigger guns because he did know what was coming.


edit: clarity

than the Gore campaign.

but I think that the tide is turning now, the Nightly Business Report, on PBS predicted
a dem majority both Senate and House come November, they are warning investors to
consider switching from companies that may be investigated to health care. There is
no transcript of the 5/26 show yet.

The reporters cannot report what they want. And gradually, the bureau chiefs learn to want to report what their editors will "approve" of, because they want to "succeed". And it isn't what we think should be reported.

It's like a nasty little secret that everyone knows. the elephant in the living room. You cannot change the media. Geez, I've been tooting that horn (Hey, let's change the media! Hey, let's convince them! Hey, let's REASON with them!) for 12 - 15 years now, and I finally get it. Forget about it. They own the media. We have to do something else. We have to establish some media they do not own and cannot buy. That they cannot blackmail. That they cannot control. That could be available to all Americans.

That is what we need to do.

Anybody listening?

They're complicit and "on the take."
They know EXACTLY what they are doing and are paid handsomely to do so.

since the neocons won, they have heavily influenced the news which is bad, & I think that
some of the haters on the major shows are paid to spew talking points but I think that
the neocons got the fundies to do letter writing campaigns. Every time a liberal or pro-democratic statement was made the local stations and papers were flooded with hate mail.
This was esp. easy to do when a hate pundit would mention an offender over the air. Very
soon editors and producers got the idea that the country had shifted to the right and
started to play to the new moral majority, there never was a moral majority. It was all
clever spin and hogwash. They are experts at framing. At first, they were angry and
everyone said thay had righteous anger, now we are angry because our country has been trashed.
But we are mocked for being angry, we are accused of being irresponsible and petulant.
We are supposed to embrace Bush and help the country in its time of need. In other words,
they get everything they want all the time with no accountability. Also I think a lot of
journalists have sacrificed their lives or their safety in Iraq so that we would see the
truth about Iraq and they were mocked for it.

Krugman is one of the very best journalists around today.

How many times did that bastard Chriss Matthews say that Gore would "lick the bathroom floor to be President".
http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh081402.shtml

It makes me so sick to see these idiots who pass for "journalists" -- and because of assholes like that, we're stuck with eight years (or hopefully at least one day less) of Bush for President, to the great detriment of the whole world.

AND I HATE THEM - because they (corporate media shills) believe I AM AN IDIOT and I AM NOT.

The powers-that-be only allow into the media, people who are too stupid and lazy to understand the big picture, people who patronize their readers/viewers by protecting them from 'difficult truths', and people who are *desperate* to keep their jobs and will spend their careers guessing what their editors want to hear and saying just that.

FIRST WE DEPORT ALL THE CORPORATE MEDIA SHILLS!

:grr: :grr: :grr:

Truth can't win elections against corporate lies anymore,
so truth makes cinema films... given the 5-10 year reality
lag, the "killing fields" the american drugs war will yet
take some time.

And if incarcerating every decent american is the only way to
drain the beast and finally kill it, by destroying its own
cells, its own citizens, well, then ain't that dandy.

This will kill us before global warming does, mr. Gore:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1283288&mesg_id=1283288

but that one of the achievements Jack Welch was proudest of, one that he bragged about, was getting Russert on board the conservative Republican train. The way he did that was by throwing money and perks at him, so that his bread would be well-buttered on the conservative side.

That's why I think it is what The Daily Howler calls "millionaire pundit values" that are the main influence on the way these guys report. They like their cushy spots, and plan to stay in them.

The lowest level reporters are just trying to please their bosses so that they can move up the ladder, but the ones at the top are protecting their cushy jobs.