Forcing MSNBC to put KO back on is just instant gratification. It does nothing to address the

[rhett o rick]

basic problem that the fat-cats own our media. I am surprised KO lasted as long as he did. Donahue never came back. If they want, they can kill you, figuratively and literally.

We are in a war and our side is circulating petitions. Their side is buying Congress.

We need a leader, a strategy and tactics. We have the army (I dont mean military).

ps: I signed the petition and I am never giving up. As Margaret Cho once said: "I am going to stay and fight." (hoping i got the quote right)

[spanone]

1. if we don't address the media, as a nation, we may have a one party government permanently

[polichick]

2. imo the WH and Congressional Dems should use a branding firm...

...a top-notch outfit to paint a clear bold picture of what our party represents and what the other side represents.,

[rhett o rick]

Yes that's a great idea. But they wont do it. nm

[polichick]

5. If not, then at least bring in Dem supporters in the field of advertising...

Perhaps a team of people from different parts of the country - the inside-the-bubble folks just aren't getting it right.

[calimary]

6. ABSOLUTELY. They lost because they lost the PR war. They lost the PR war because

they didn't even realize there was one.

I am still dumbfounded by our Dems - who STILL seem not to have realized that it's a propaganda war you have to win - beyond ANYTHING ELSE. Beyond what you actually do. Because the propaganda will fill in the blanks and spackle over the holes and whitewash the dirt on the peeling paint job beneath.

It's not what you are. It's what people THINK you are.

And it's not what you've done or not done. it's what people THINK you've done or not done.

They've supposedly got the brightest minds and the sharpest tools in the shed available to them. Does NOBODY around Obama see this????

[rhett o rick]

15. And they lost the PR war because they dont have media and were hugely outspent. Figure out how to

remedy that and maybe we have a chance.

[calimary]

20. Man, that's for sure. How do we undo "Citizens United"?

Especially when we have a Supreme Court Chief Justice who's too stupid to remember the Presidential Oath of Office? And evidently too stupid to spend any time rehearsing it, or taking a cue card with him from which he could read it if he was uncertain of his own memory?

Sorry - that STILL galls me.

:banghead:

[me b zola]

18. IMO, we did have a brand, an identity

It is the new democrats/neo-liberals who are attempting to re-brand us.

I was born in 1963, and there were a few things that I felt were implicit when I supported Democrats. Protection of the average person from powerful/wealthy interests. This included Labor, civil rights & liberties, a social safety net, the regulation of big business, the protection of our environment, and foreign policy that sought diplomacy and peaceful solutions.

The above principles I always believed were the bedrock, the foundation of the modern Democratic Party that I could rely upon when assessing a politician with a "D" after their name. In hindsight, the Party began walking away from that circa 1980, began jogging away from during the Clinton years, and now is flat out sprinting away from under the Obama administration.

IMO, we need to remember our brand, and in turn remind the politicians why any of us ever became Democrats to begin with.




edited for grammer

[cynatnite]

3. We need KO's voice...

I agree it does nothing to address the problems, but his voice is needed, IMO.

[stray cat]

4. Forcing, getting rid of media fat cats - what do you seriously suggest?

[felix_numinous]

7. We need KO back on the air to expose the propaganda

of the RW. I think many more people are awake now than when Donahue was fired. That was many years ago and we were voices screaming in the wilderness back then.

"...our side is circulating petitions. Their side is buying Congress."

Exactly. Yet I have to wonder what millions of people can do when they get really pissed off, can solidarity at some point defeat totalitarianism? It has happened before.

If we can secure net neutrality it would be a major accomplishment, that has to go with media reform.

http://www.commondreams.org/category/broad-topics/media/media-reform

[rhett o rick]

8. Yes I would love to have what you suggest. But the reality is that the propagandists arent going to

let him back on the air to criticize themselves. Donahue was fired and hasnt been hired back even today. No network will touch him. Even if they allow (get it ALLOW - they own the network) he wont be the same. They suspended him for a reason. You cant scare them, your petition cant scare them.

When did solidarity defeat totalitarianism?

Please explain how we the people can get Congress to reform the media? Write emails?

[FrenchieCat]

9. Agreed that the media sticks it to us where the sun don't shine.....

and we don't seem to be disturbed much by it....
or at least not close to enough.

[DawgHouse]

10. You are absolutely right!

And incidentally, I do believe Cho said "I have chosen to stay and fight".

[rhett o rick]

11. Thanks for setting me straight on the quote. I love Ms. Cho. nm

[DonCoquixote]

12. This is not the war

It is a battle, which we need to expand on...attack attack attack!

[redirish28]

13. Perhaps we did inch the attention closer to public light after all in

2 1/2 days we the people (common folk as Corporations would look at us) made a channel owned by 2 corporations to give in to our demands and make it own that we want this type of programming. If anything we should use this event as a stepping stone and get our voices heard in Congress when the Net Neutrality bill and the Comcast/NBC bid gets final approval.


We should be using this as an example to everyone the importance of getting corporations out of such dominance.

[rhett o rick]

14. Let's assume that We the People "forced" MSNBC to put KO back on the air.

For how long? With what concessions? How is this going to affect the other two liberals? I think they got exactly what they wanted. They showed us on the left that they have complete control of the three liberals on TV. Sure we can petition and boycott, but that doesnt scare them. They are using the media as a propaganda machine. It doesnt have to make money. They are willing to pay for propaganda. They have money to spare, our money.

CorpAmerica is going to clamp down on our internet freedoms and there isnt a thing we can do to stop it.

[chillspike]

16. We should look to Sam Seder as an example

if our access to the mass media is ever cut off. Look at Sam Seder. When you lose your backing or are fired, go to the internet. if you are popular, your followers will follow you there and you are no longer beholden to the corporate douche bags to boot.

[OneGrassRoot]

17. As a first line of action...

since we are essentially a corporatocracy and there are SO MANY things to do to affect systemic change and loosen the stranglehold on our government and media, what if we start by demanding that lies and misinformation be illegal, be it on radio, network TV, cable and in print if it's via a corporate media website?

And that (as another DU said in another thread) retractions must be front and center, not buried.

If we can stem the flow of outright lies, we can move forward from there.

Until the lies are challenged, we'll continue down this hole.

What are steps, especially in this new world with new media, to start a movement such as this?

And, to whom would such a petition or movement be addressed with any hope of having it move forward if citizens are shown to support it in large numbers?

I know many of you are sick of me jumping in asking about specifics as to what we can DO but -- for now, at least -- I'm like a dog with a bone for us to DO SOMETHING CONCRETE, SOMETHING POSITIVE as a group.

:hi:


edit for typos

[rhett o rick]

19. I agree we need to acknowledge we are at war. We need leaders to step forward.

We need a specific strategy and specific tactics to effect that strategy.

We need a group, join moveon.org, DFA or PDA. Support them with money and actions.

We need organized boycotts, and sit ins.

We need our own propaganda machine. I think handing out flyers is a start.

We need slogans like: "End world greed".

We need to go to our congress-critters offices in mass and explain that we want to be heard or we take our chances with someone else next election.

[nadinbrzezinski]

21. I see it as a beginning, not an end

This is the FIRST time people have seen something positive of citizen action.

But it has to be the BEGINNING of something that will take a generation or two.

That said this is about control of the message so it is not hat minor. It is NOT major, but not that minor.