...of those media-driven narratives are even telling the truth, let alone shaping the debate in a such a way as to give people enough incentive to vote to change the system.  When you can't turn to the Democrats and their huge majorities and popular president to pass, as their supposed #1 agenda item, a fairly obvious Health Insurance Reform initiative with great political AND policy perks, then there is no one for a lazy media to turn to.

Rachel Maddow said it tonight in her editorial comment:  the Republicans are not and will not be embarrassed into voting for good policy--even policy they agree with.  And neither will the Democrats, apparently.  Why anyone would be optimistic about any political trend in America is beyond me--other than people who are too naive about the situation (i.e. any Democrat who feels that eventually good must triumph over evil here) or people who are insane (virtually every Conservative, who rejoices over the Heath Care system continuing to worsen beyond anyone's--including his own--control).

by Milltycoon on 02/10/2010 01:50:42 AM EST

The table has been tilted against the average American already, and for quite some time.  I don't think you could approach the average American and ask them why they haven't put an ad out on television or radio or in the papers/magazines and not get an angry or sarcastic response.  Perhaps you might get the blase response of 'Well, I just don't give a shit', but most private individuals I think would put their own two cents forward, if the advertising didn't cost more money than most folks get to see in the average year/half-year of wage earning.

Let's face it; those who have the money and fork it over will get their message broadcast to the audience, excepting of course if their message should run counter to the message of another potential gravy train that the network/station/paper is trying to court for even more money. 

I think it was Johnathan Kim who did the review for 'The Corporation' who said it best, actually: 'If a corporation is to be considered a person, then it is a sociopathic personality type.'  The bottom line, self-interest in preservation and collection of profit, is the only ethical standard for most corporations.  If your local television outlet has to pick and choose between a collective of private citizens who want to convey a message and can afford to pay $6000 for thirty seconds of airtime, versus a corporation willing to throw $15,000 at them for the same amount of airtime to provide their message, who is going to win out?  After all, most of those media outlets are themselves owned by corporations or companies whose primary motivation is the protection of the bottom line.

There is one way I can think of to clearly get a point home to the political strawmen who serve the interests of the lobbyists and corporations- stop buying from the heaviest-handed providers.  If you belong to a union and your particular health insurance provider has their hand in the pockets of the politicians deeper than you care for, hold a vote to switch insurance carriers.  Everybody needs coverage, so you can't outright boycott that particular industry.

But there's dozens of other companies whose products and/or services you don't need or don't need to utilize.  Organize a run on your local branch of Bank of America or Citibank.  Hold out as long as possible on shopping at Walmart.  Tell the cocky associates on the floor at American Eagle they can suck it because you're going to find a much more comfortable sweater at Goodwill for a bucketload less money. 

Have a couple of shares in the market?  Threaten to dump them for a fraction of their value.  Get enough people to level that threat, and people in the exchange will take note and either generate their own panic, or they'll snatch at what you're selling and have to record the low, low cost of the purchase for everybody to see.  Especially if the shares you hold have ties to a company that helps fill the politicians' pockets with lobbyist dollars.

There's plenty of ways to get the point home, but the problem still remains thus; if the little guy like you or I is drowned out, not given the chance to expound upon and spread these ideas, how then do we collectively build the strength required to have such actions cause any ripple?

And for that, I have no answer.

by Byronofsidius on 02/10/2010 11:51:36 AM EST

Cenk is way too optimistic, almost to the point of being naive, I think. As we start more wars, our financial situation will get worse and worse. Most people are brainwashed by our myths about terrorism,(we're so good and virtuous, and that everyone else is jealous of us, hates us cause of our freedoms, we never provoke anyone, blah blah blah standard Sarah Palin fare) to the point that we won't cut "defense" spending until the ship's gone down. Univeral health care will be portrayed as an entitlement that's just too expensive. I could even see Medicare be cut back if push comes to shove. Bush already tried to privatize social security and Glenn Beck is already harping on how it should never have been created. Medicare is next. "Fuck that 80 year old widow across town, make the bitch work for her food and medical care. Why should I pay for it?" Universal health care is just a progressive's dream. We'll never have a decent sustainable system anytime soon. That's my guess, it's very pessimistic, but I've seen very little that's encouraging in American politics. I hope I'm wrong.

I don't think the corporate advertising SC ruling will have much effect. Corporations control the country already, they have for decades now. Believing otherwise is akin to believing in Santa Claus. It might even have positive effects. If we're lucky, people will be so inundated with crap that they'll start to disregard it. A sort of wake-up call. The Soviet's propaganda system did have one advantage to our "Free" media: everyone knew it was bullshit. Here, people still don't realize how much they are being propagandized. They eat up whatever crap someone gives them.

by jhufford on 02/10/2010 01:12:05 PM EST

...while I go find a tree from which I can hang myself, since there's obviously no hope.

The United States has always been a conglomeration of different competing cultures and virtual countries.  We joke about California actually being two different states, except that it's not a joke.  Ethnic neighborhoods in New York and Chicago sometimes harbor long-standing animosities, and we still see a strong cultural and ideological division between the north and the south.

It is an evolutionary step in human culture that even these divisions are fracturing into smaller and smaller pieces.   But evolution sometimes takes wrong turns, and America may be on the path of one of those evolutionary dead ends.  As we lose what little cohesiveness we had as an American community, and as the corporations take more and more control over our lives, and as we wallow in our feelings of helplessness, other stronger cultures and societies will usurp our current economic and political power.  The strong will dominate the weak, and America will be transformed into something that bears little if any resemblance to what it was a mere thirty -- or even ten -- years ago.

In fact, there is no "America" anymore.  There are no American principles that unite us other than some nostalgia about the Declaration of Independence, the meaning of which has long been lost to political squabbling.  All that's left of America is a geographical market.  As we continue to squabble, we will continue surrender the power of our unity to the handful of the rich who actually do have the power to implement their will.

The reign of the CEOs has begun, and we are their pawns.  It will be interesting to see if Europe's apparent, if slowly growing, unity can boost them to superpower status before our demise leaves an open field for the Chinese.

by EveningStarNM on 02/10/2010 02:07:03 PM EST