Hillary, Rupert, and the Culture of Corruption

[depakid]

Excuse me for not getting fired up when I hear Democratic leaders bleating about the "culture of corruption" in Washington under GOP rule. Sometimes I have to laugh. . .and not because the charges against the Republicans aren't true. They're totally true.

It's just that top Democrats are up to their eyeballs in that same culture of corruption -- which may be why they seem blind to how activists see them. Take my New York senator, Hillary Clinton. The Financial Times just reported that she and her re-election campaign have lined up rightwing media mogul Rupert Murdoch to host a Hillary fundraiser in July.

Murdoch is the symbol of media conglomeration and the owner of Republican mouthpieces like Fox News, Weekly Standard and the New York Post. He and Hillary have lately conducted a public courtship. Last month, Hillary attended the 10th anniversary party for Fox News in Washington, where the presidential contender schmoozed Murdoch and Fox chair Roger Ailes. According to the Financial Times, Bill Clinton will address the summer conference of Murdoch's media colossus, News Corp.

It's actually quite fitting that President Clinton address News Corp, since he helped build that conglomerate -- through his Telecommunications "Reform" Act of 1996, a corrupt measure largely drafted by lobbyists for the media industry as they lavished campaign cash on politicians of both parties. The law loosened regulations constraining News Corp's growth and raised caps on how many TV stations Murdoch and others could own. Murdoch immediately bought up new stations. Clear Channel expanded from 40 radio stations to 1,200; rightwing Sinclair Broadcasting expanded from 11 TV stations to 60.

More: http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0510-20.htm

Jeff Cohen is a media critic, former Fox News panelist, and author of the upcoming book, "Cable News Confidential: My Misadventures in Corporate Media."

[Riverman]

1. WILL NEVER VOTE FOR HILLARY

I would never vote for her, she is like Feinstein, a republican in drag! Hopefully democrats will have more sense than to put her in the White House. Her husband was bad enough, NAFTA, RWANDA - failure to respond and maybe a million died! She has not repudiated the Bush crime family and has consistently supported the invasion and occupation of Iraq. She is as much a beneficiary of the "Culture of Corruption" as any Senator. Maybe Murdocj is supporting her as part of the Rovian scheme to assure that she is the Democratic candidate in '08 so that the republican wolves can chew her and spit her out. She will never be elected President - get over moderate Dems, Hillary is poison!

[Oleladylib]

2. So sorry..sorry grapes!!!

New York for Hillary!!!

[roguevalley]

3. Keep her, NY. Alaska doesn't want her. (My part anyway)