"Listening" to "The Republican Noise Machine," anyone else read

[blondeatlast]

or listened to it?

I knew this stuff was happening, but I had no idea that the NeoCon roots are the anti-civil rights Dems of the '60s. Very interesting stuff.

It seems we have an enormous uphill battle to push the press into being objective. All their careful efforts on the Radical Right have paid off in spades.

FWIW, I'm not really impressed with the reader. If you are thinking of listening, he's VERY dry; which is not to my taste.

[bpcmxr]

1. Who's the reader?

eom

[blondeatlast]

2. I'll have to get back to you; it's in my car, which is now

with my husband while his is getting serviced! Sorry.

He's not bad, but when you're listening on a long commute, it can get tiresome after a while.

[stray cat]

3. Just started the book

What do you think of it?

[blondeatlast]

4. Excellent work. Since he came out of one of the RW think tanks, he

really goes into great detail about how they have managed the coup d'etat of the press.

They made the press putty in their hands, which is why the talking heads are so blissfully unaware of what happened.

For those concerned about the corporate press and the death of fact-checking and objectivity, it's a must.

It's kind of frightening, actually.

[Touchdown]

5. Excellent book.

Not so much as a criticism of rw media (like Alterman's book) but a catalog of who's who in rw media. He details the connections, the influence, money and think tank involvement in much of what we hear, and who it is that's telling us. It's a great compliment to "What Liberal Media" from Eric Alterman.

I just finished "Attack Poodles; and other media mutants" by James Wolcott. He goes over much of what is said befo9re, but he does it in such a biting way, he's absolutely hilarious when he's picking apart Dennis Miller, Bob Novak, or "Best in Show" Peggy Noonan. His humor is a lot like Gore Vidal's. Funny book.

[dad]

6. /

I thought the book was terribly boring. I bought it but could not even get through it.

[OrwellwasRight]

7. I have begun reading it (only 20 pages or so), but I am already

flabbergasted. And by that I mean that if Mary Beth Cahill had taken the time to read the even as far as I have, she would have done a much better job leading Kerry's campaign. for instacne, she could have seen the Swift Boat Vets thing coming from a mile away and been prepared to respond. Is our leadership less well read than we peons who read this for fun and not as part of our job requirements? Should we be sending the DU reading list to the DNC?

BTW, I am not getting very far in Noise Machine because I am also trying to finish Howard Hughes: His Life and Madness, which is fascinating (at least until he becomes a complete and total recluse, because then the action really slows down).

Anyway, for any biography fans out there: Howard Hughes is a fascinating person. Despicable (racist, red-baiter, liar), but amazing (several air speed records, aviation and film innovator).

In the end, even though he is not a nice person, I have become sorry for him. His self-imposed exile became a prison that allowed his staff to take advantage of him, and they certainly did take full advantage. It is too bad nobody stood up to him enough to ensure he got treatment for his mental illness. His negative qualities could have been manifestations of this illness, and if he were legally in an asylum (instead of the one he built for himself), those who looked after his business interests would have had a fiduciary responsibility to take care of it (instead of being able to enrich themselves). Overall, a tragic story.

[kweerwolf]

8. A bit slow, but fascinating

I agree with the assessments that the book moves a little slow. It does take an effort to plod through it ... but it is rewarding. I'm about halfway through it right now and it's fascinating reading. As a former attack dog of the right, David Brock knows his stuff.

I think "Republican Noise Machine" is a much more in depth book than his first one ("Blinded by the Right") because Brock was criticized for writing an occasionally bitchy kiss-and-tell about his leaving the right wing after coming out as gay. (And then he acts surprized when he learned Republicans really do hate gays! ... Sheesh!) With "Noise Machine" I think Brock was trying to make sure all his facts were documented so he would avoid being criticized for a kiss-and-tell approach, but as several have noted, it does not make for the most interesting reading.