Great article on how we're being spun to surrender.

[pat_k]

They are cranking up the palace gates as fast as they can.

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2992&printer_friendly=1">Media Advisory
Morning-After Pundits Take Winners to Task
Victorious Dems lectured by media establishment

. . .

"The voters, tired of Washington's divisive ways, want to see the two parties cooperate," wrote Newsweek's Clift. Oddly, though, those voters had recently told Newsweek (Newsweek.com, http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/10-21-2006/0004456423&EDATE=">10/21/06) that 51 percent of them wanted impeachment to be a priority (either high or low) of a new Democratic majority. It's likely that these people, who wouldn't mind seeing Bush tried for high crimes and misdemeanors, aren't particularly eager to see the representatives they sent to Washington working with him to advance his agenda.

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2992&printer_friendly=1">More. . .

[stepnw1f]

1. Confirmation that the Establishment is Scared

and losing it's grip on power and control in Washington DC to a more "polpulist" movement.....

[tblue]

2. The hell with *'s agenda. That's what this election said the nation said.

[bobbie]

3. I remember in 2000, about 2 days into the recount battle

The media was telling us we were tired of the ordeal and just wanted it over and done. I didn't know anyone who felt that way; we just wanted the real winner to emerge no matter how long it took. Y2k was the first time I really noticed how the MSM had nothing to do with reality. They're out and out propaganda.

And *Newsweek*!? Uh, they're long-time CIA propaganda "assetts" per Operation Mockingbird. Screw them.

"Later that year Wisner established Mockingbird, a program to influence the domestic and foreign media. Wisner recruited Philip Graham (Washington Post) to run the project within the industry. According to Deborah Davis ("Katharine the Great"): "By the early 1950s, Wisner 'owned' respected members of the New York Times, Newsweek, CBS and other communications vehicles.""
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mockingbird

[TheDebbieDee]

5. "Y2k was the first time I really noticed

how the MSM had nothing to do with reality."

That's when I really noticed it, too, Bobbie. The propaganda spewing from the msm in favor of the * campaign became incredily blatant!

[clichemoth]

21. Has anything in the MSM for the past 20 years had any connection to reality?

Sure, it wasn't exactly a shining beacon of truth before, but it wasn't all-spin all-the-time. There was a definite shift that occurred early in the Reagan years to pure corporate propaganda. When watching old newscasts and documentaries, I'm struck by the fact that...well, they're reporting facts. Not anymore. There has to be at least one pundit (usually RW and always corporatist) spinning everything, including celebrity sleaze and car chases. Even if you don't see them, they're in the back inserting the code words. I'm surprised they haven't found a way to introduce spin into the weather forecast yet...oh, wait, Man-On-Dog Santorum tried.

[pat_k]

26. It is physically painful to remember. . .

. . .They did more to infect the nation with their fascist view of the law (where legalisms and legal technicality trump reality and our will) between Election Day and January 6th, 2001 than I've witnessed at anytime before or since.

It is an open wound and will remain so until we impeach Scalia et al. That's something I'll be fighting for no matter how long it takes -- I don't care if we have to impeach them all posthumously.

[DemBones DemBones]

4. We've already had six years of Bush's "bipartisanship" and the people

clearly want no more of it. To him, "bipartisan" means "you all do what I say because I'm the Decider."

The GOP has ruled like tsars and now that we have the Congress they and their media whores want us to make nice?

[Marrak]

6. B**h's frothy spin...

<>

[chill_wind]

8. Good stuff. :-) nt

[Vidar]

17. Very good.

[pat_k]

28. Wonderful. Thanks!

[Lindacooks]

7. K&R

[pacalo]

9. Here, here.

[alittlelark]

10. Impeachment follows subpoenas and indictment

Let's give our new leaderes a chance and have a smidgen of faith that they understand the rules and regs better than we do.

[John Q. Citizen]

11. Um, I was with you, mostly, up to the

"they understand the rules and regs better than we do" part.

I've read the constitution. Those are the rules and regs. And there is no indictment except impeachment. Perhaps you meant "...follows subpoenas and investigation.

Conviction (or acquittal) is the Senate's responsibility.

Impeachment isn't really a question of the rules and regs, it's a political action.

Just as conviction or acquittal is political.

[alittlelark]

12. Pelosi is in my N.CA zone, Boxer is my rep.....

I TRUST them that they know what they are doing. They will show one face to the press and another to their Corporatist adversaries.


To say either of these women are corporate tools is to be constructing a joke.

[John Q. Citizen]

15. I never said either was a corporate tool. Neither did anyone up thread as far

as I can see.

That you seem to attribute me with saying that tells me that, yes, they do probably know the rules and regs better than you do apparently.

It's all in the constitution, though, and isn't that complicated.

If I were an elected Congressperson or US Senator, I think I'd make sure all my ducks were in a row before I'd say I was in favor of impeachment. No reason to tip your hand prematurely.

I've always respected Boxer for having the guts to stand with the Congressional Black Caucas and challenge the seating of the Ohio Electors in 2004. Pelosi has also been fighting the good fight, usually, for a long time.

I tend to praise my elected officials when they do what I want and hold their feet to the fire when they don't. For me it isn't about trust so much as it is about my responibility to hold elected officials accountable to the public. They work for us, presumably, and if or when they don't. I'm not shy about calling them on it. I've had very few political heros. Maybe I'm hard to impress. Paul Wellstone and Bernie Sanders are about as close to "heros" as I've seen.

I grew up in Sta. Cruz and remember Boxer from when she was in the US House representing Marin.

So there you have it.

[pat_k]

27. You got it -- Jan Schakowski did too

There are just too many the lawyers kicking around DC and it has tended to distort reality and led many (both inside and outside the beltway) to believe that impeachment is a legal proceeding.

We would have given the judiciary the power to impeach if we had wanted the letter of the law to govern. (Similarly, we empowered them to "preserve the government" by judging and counting (or rejecting) electoral votes on Jan 6th).

They've blow two shots to rescue the Constitution -- January 6th, 2001 and January 6th, 2005.

In the coming months, they have another shot. (That is, we have another shot to Wake them Up to what they must do.)

In the wake of Pelosi's "impeachment is off limits" edict, I was heartened to see this from Jan Schakowski.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/huntley/85997,CST-EDT-HUNT06.articleprint">Dem denials don't end talk of impeachment
October 6, 2006

. . .this response from Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who as chief deputy whip occupies a leadership position for Democrats:

"Whether the president has committed acts that meet the standard for 'high crimes and misdemeanors,' which constitute an impeachable offense, is not defined in the Constitution or in a statute. It is a determination made by the House of Representatives. To that end, I am a co-sponsor of . . . Conyers' resolution to authorize an investigation into whether grounds exist for the impeachment of President Bush based on his manipulation of pre-war intelligence and use of torture."

"Impeachment proceedings are very serious and must never be used for political purposes," Schakowsky wrote. "However, that does not mean that they should never be used. They may be warranted in the case of President Bush in light of the extreme seriousness of the issues involved." She complained the GOP-controlled Congress has been derelict in conducting oversight of "an unprecedented expansion of presidential powers.". . .

[pberq]

33. Yes. This Rep. is spot on!

[pat_k]

25. We know all we need to know. . .

Every time they publicly invoke Bush as unitary authoritarian executive they confess to nullifying the Constitution.

When we say "we must investigate first" we are making a statement that we do not know all we need to know to impeach. That statement is a lie.

Seeking refuge from action in investigation makes it much HARDER to convey the simple truth. It puts us on the fascist's turf ("If the case is simple why are they having all those hearings? There must be something wrong with the case. They don't have anything. If they did, they would have impeached already")

We need to stop pretending and get on with it. The Constitution is being tortured in plain sight. We must rescue it by removing the torturers from power. Thorough investigation and prosecution must follow, but FIRST we need to take away the power they are abusing.

From http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Senator/10

. . .
As to the specifics of impeachment, there is no "time issue," as the charges have already been investigated and even adjudicated. They have admitted violating FISA -- and have tried to "defend" it (mutually exclusively) by claiming inherent authority and congressional approval. GOP Senator Specter himself has already scoffed at the defense.

The (formerly) Supreme Court has already ruled in Hamdan that Geneva applies to Gitmo. Behind the Euphemedia smokescreen of tribunal tinkering lies the reality of the decision: Three Years of War Crimes had already been committed. Similarly, the lies about WMD that terrorized the nation into war are already "old news." There is no fig leaf left.

There is nothing to "investigate."

The articles of impeachment are already written. There is no hearing necessary. They can be brought up for vote on Jan 4th (though I'd prefer Jan 6th to commemorate the 2 Stolen Elections). Should they not resign and demand a Senate trial, it need not take more than a week. There are no "fact witnesses" required.

. . .

[struggle4progress]

13. After 2008 we'll need major investigations of the effect of media monopolies

[yurbud]

22. as a start how about no media may be owned by non-media conglomerate?

strip NBC from GE, and prevent things like tobacco companies buying CBS then muzzling 60 Minutes.

[pat_k]

29. Hey, multitasking is the name of the game ! They can impeach, . .

. . . and mandate paper ballots + other changes we already KNOW must be made if we are to being to have confidence in our election.

. . . and bring together the stakeholders (with We the People being first and foremost) to figure out what we must do to rebuild a functional and vibrant press.

. . .and pass minimum wage . .

. . .and move toward single-payor healthcare. . .

. . .and . .

With their trusty staffs, they should be able to walk, chew gum, and juggle for goodness sake!

[bleever]

14. They want us to think that our strength is our weakness.

Just as democracy has been decried as "mob rule" through the centuries (and privately scorned by corporatists in modern U.S. goverment).

Too much "voice of the people" clouds the issues, from some people's perspectives:

Brooks wrote that Democrats "will have to show they have not been taken over by their bloggers..."

[pat_k]

30. Quite a commentary on what we've come to, isn't it? (nt)

[barbtries]

16. i read the

whole article, and it pissed me off. these so called "journalists" are such whores to the bushies that they are useless as far as providing any worthwhile interpretation of recent events.

the checks and balances provided by the legislative branch of our government are designed, are meant to lead to meaningful oversight of the chief executive - who in this case has gone completely apeshit and for the past 6 years has been acting as if he had absolute power and a blank check, while his fellow bushies aided and abetted, his media whores dutifully put the spin on every goddam crime committed and the minority party members in the house and the senate were treated like poor relations by a bunch of nasty, spoiled, rich kids. laws passing retroactively so that actions taken that were criminal - and the perps KNEW very well they were criminal, else they would not have bothered to take such steps. how immoral and cynical can a whole lot of people be? and what the hell is it that the bushies have on these people!

One thing that the new Democratic legislature must surely avoid doing, according to the media analysts, is investigate the old Republican executive: "The danger is that the campaign of '06 will simply continue under the name of 'government,'" wrote Dick Mayer for CBSNews.com (11/8/06). "Many Democrats, for example, are dead set on a new round of aggressive hearings about everything from pre-war intelligence to homeland security to the hunt for Osama bin Laden. The theater of Grand Congressional inquisitions is generally an enemy of statesmanship."

these assholes! just like that the whole world should forget how close we came to losing our democracy to the gwbush sdministration? thoughts and statements like the above to me smack of nothing more than wishful thinking. if congress reconvenes with a democratic majority and it's business as usual (i.e., an extension of the last 6 years' worth of bullshit) - the pundits will certainly find out just how wrong they are and how myopic they are to the reality of which they purport to be experts. they can kiss my progressive, liberal, peace-loving, anti racist pro choice anti sexist pro love without judgment as long as it's consenting adults ASS.

[pat_k]

31. My head has been exploding for weeks. . .

. . .the insanity reflected in the article captures much of it, but I sometimes wonder how much more i can take -- particularly from the so-called "leaders" on our side. (With friends like these. . . )

My TV may not survive much longer. When Senator Reid said "Single party government doesn't work" in one of his speeches on the 8th I almost threw my lamp at the thing screaming "Single Party Government is what we are fighting for!! What is wrong with you?"

Then, as if "impeachment in off the table" weren't bad enough, Madam Speaker-to-be Pelosi had to say "There are people who want to get even; but we're not about that." Does she really have to parrot and confirm the fascist propaganda that impeaching Bush and Cheney = revenge?

Impeachment is "Operation Rescue" for the Constitution.

Retribution must wait until they are criminally prosecuted and punished, but that's something we cannot even think about until legitimate authority has been restored to the WH.

[klook]

18. It's not monolithic

In some areas, conservative Dems won. In more areas, progressive/liberal Dems won. All those victories together give the Democratic Party a majority.

The DNC needs to keep pushing the 50-state strategy and building a big-tent coalition.

[depakid]

19. The media "establishment"

IS the problem.

Not just part of it.

I hope by now that that people see that....

[w4rma]

20. One of the two biggest reasons Democrats were elected is to investigate Republican corruption.

The other reason is, of course, is to end the war.

[pat_k]

32. The outrage is at Bush -- at his abuse of this nation. . .

The War, Torture, Katrina, Corruption, the hatred he has brought on the United States . . in the public mind, it is all connected in a Gesalt with Bush at the center.

The public is not just calling for investigations, or an end to the war, or for some legislative agenda. Many in the public cannot articulate it, but it is about Bush's abuse of power and abuse of this nation. The war is the most horrible symptom of his abuse of power, but it is not about the war. It is about him.

With their self-imposed "impeachment is off limits" edict, our "leaders" are not just failing to give the very real and justified outrage at Bush's countless abuses a voice, they are doing their utmost to suppress the outrage.

When they finally wake up and take up the fight for impeachment, they are going to be met by a roar of support.

If they don't wake up, I dare not contemplate the price this nation will pay.

Time is not on our side. On September 10, 2001, there were many signs that sanity was returning. The number who believed Florida was stolen had passed 50%. Bush's approval was continuing the steady downward slide that started the day he was inaugurated. A coalition that included the National Lawyers Guild and Bugliosi was about to announce a campaign to impeach Scalia et all for Bush v. Gore -- a campaign that would have undercut Bush's claim to even a semblance of legitimacy.

Then the sun came up on 9/11/2001. In the weeks that followed, we who were opposed to Bush were silenced in a nation that had seemingly gone mad.

Sanity is once again returning, but we must recognize how fragile the moment is.

We can not afford to delay impeachment. It may seem like a tough thing to do right now, but we must "Just Do It." Any day we could see another terrorist attack, Bush could declare was Iran, or some completely unforeseen event could make it far, far, harder to rescue our national soul.

[gully]

23. The voters wanted accountability and they want justice.

Screw the spin.

[Laelth]

24. Hear, hear!

n/t

:patriot:

-Laelth