Media Enablers

Daily Kos
Shame on the Media
by Dr Teeth Wed Jul 21, 2010

By now everyone knows the story of Shirley Sherrod. The new storyline is whether the Obama administration will restore her status. There is no question they should make this right, but I would prefer it happen behind the scenes.

Still, the question is not what the White House did. It isn't what the NAACP did. It isn't even what the right wing hacks did.

The question is whether the media did their due diligence, before reporting this story.
The tea partier behind this is human garbage, so let's just get that out of the way first. The internet is full of people of his ilk. You simply have to search youtube for a couple minutes, and you'll find a multitude of intellectually dishonest propaganda.

That being said, there is no defense in that fact. Journalism is not a function of populism. Before any news agency touched the story, they should have done the responsible thing. They were about to spur racial tensions, and any producer in television knew the demographic reactions, which would result.

Someone at CNN did actually dig the real story up. They followed the simple process of getting both sides of the story, and are deserving of some admiration. Of course they ran the story like everyone else, before seeking out all sides, so this admiration is tempered.

MSNBC or NBC failed to do this. CBS, ABC and newspapers failed to do this. Every morning show on every network, tapped directly into the race baiting for ratings. I refuse to give Fox News the credential of reviewing their vetting process, as they are simply a right wing blog on TV.

This isn't some complex ruse to debunk. Whenever someone sends me a link to a blog or youtube video, I assume it is bullshit. I've been on the internet as long as the world wide web has existed (and a little before that), and my skepticism is well earned. There isn't really citizen journalism, only citizen propaganda.

I do what ever reasonable person should do. I read something on the internet, then seek a credible source for it elsewhere. This level of skepticism should be the standard for everyone who isn't a political hack.

It certainly should be the standard for the media that unjustly got a good woman fired yesterday.

Those Florida Budget Cuts..

... are really starting to have an effect on the state of the state of Florida.
I see signs on government businesses on an almost daily basis saying that the particular office will be closed on such and such date due to budget cuts. In the county of Hillsborough ( Tampa ), the county commissioners take an occasional furlough due to those lousy budget cuts.
Why am I on this topic? Because of the political bullshit that those candidates for governor (Alex Sink (D), Rick Scott (R),Bill McCollum (R) )are pushing down the throats of the Florida villagers. Not only is the race for the governorship blowing smoke up our asses, but those running for the Senate ( Mark Rubio (R), Charlie Chris (R) are doing the same thing.
My problem with those Republican candidates is that they are still into pushing for more tax cuts for Florida, which will help increase jobs in the state. This crap didn't work under Jeb Bush and it is not going to work this time either.
Who will get these tax cuts? The residents of Florida? Not hardly since there is no income tax on residents. That leaves only businesses which will reap the tax cut benefits. It is reported that Florida business pays only a measly 4% in taxes, if they pay any at all. Some of those running for political office would like to see that tax rate lowered to around 1.5%.
Get real you fucks! Those libraries which close one Friday per month and the furlough which county commissioners and city council members have to take are not due to budget cuts folks. They are due to TAX CUTS brought about by your favorite Republican business lackey.