Controlled Media’s Impact on the Mind of America
By James Donahue
It has struck us just how much of an impact the twisted and controlled nightly televised news reports have been having on the minds of Americans. Many now appear supportive of the dangerous and upside-down concepts being spewed from the lips of the sold-out right-wing Republicans now dominating all branches of our government.
It appears that the Washington news staff is accepting this barrage of daily news feeds and dumping this poison out into the nation. The old and reliable members of the press corps that always asked important questions have either retired, died or been driven off the job.
I was shocked by a recent telephone conversation with a close acquaintance who said she was happy with all that the Trump Administration has been doing for the nation. This woman lives in the Republican controlled State of Florida where she makes her living selling new cars to wealthy retirees. She obviously feeds on the nightly news reports. She supported her claim by noting how well the stock market has been responding to the tax bill that was still wrangling its way through the legislative branch.
I noted at that moment that those special televised news reports, which always included a stock market report that few Americans ever understood, was having more of an impact on people’s minds than I realized. This woman did not see that the only people really interested in the wealth of stocks would be the people who could afford to gamble their money on the exchange. This was never a game for the working class living from paycheck to paycheck.
Even though this woman has struggled as a member of that working class all of her life, her success on the job depends upon the willingness of certain people to buy the cars she peddles. Thus she perceived their success on the stock market as a good thing for the business she is entrenched in. She has not yet felt the sting this new tax bill might have on her weekly paycheck or the state and federal tax bill awaiting her at the end of each year. She is a struggling member of the working class but has been goaded into still believing her life will get better.
While this telephone conversation struck me in a personal way, I have been keenly aware of the extreme division in the thinking of the many people involved in the Internet’s social media outlets. There has been a constant conflict there between the pro-Trump and anti-Trump people. The Trump supporters appear to be drawing peculiar statistics from media outlets specializing in fake news. This is proving effective in confusing the minds of people not willing or knowing how to research the facts. Consequently, their way of thinking is getting scary.
The following is a list one person posted a few days after that troublesome phone call. When I challenged the list, I was accused of not having all of the facts. In response, I did the homework this person obviously failed to do:
--Democrats have chosen “the enemies of Israel over Israel.” This obviously stems from Mr. Trump’s order to move the U.S. Embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv, the Capital of Israel, to Jerusalem, a long disputed and holy center of Christian, Moslem and Jewish faiths. He not only announced this, but publically declared Jerusalem as that nation’s capital. Naturally his speech last week stirred massive consternation among the Arab people. The Eastern portion of the city was captured by Israel from the Palestinians during the 1967 Six-Day War. In an effort to generate peace in that troubled region, the International Community granted Jerusalem special international sovereignty and control because of its religious importance. Trump’s move has heated up the long Palestinian-Israeli conflict and is stirring further troubles in the Middle East. The probability of a major war has suddenly become reality.
--Democrats chose Muslims over Gays. Not sure where this thinking is coming from. Trump has placed travel restrictions against Muslim and Latin American people wishing to enter the United States. Some extremists in Congress have called for the expulsion of all Muslims, claiming them to all be potential terrorists. This is, of course, a total fabrication.
--Democrats are choosing to support Communism over Capitalism. This is a complete fabrication. There is a growing movement in the United States to follow the successful route of many European nations in moving to a new form of Democratic Socialism that involves an equal distribution of the national wealth. Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, who ran a blocked campaign for president in 2016 on the Democratic ticket, has been a leading promoter of the socialist concept. He calls for a Medicare health plan, which is favored by doctors and medical people as well as most working Americans. There is a growing anger because of the way the corporate controlled Republicans are creating greater wealth for the greedy rich at the expense of the poor working class. Capitalism is now commonly recognized as the enemy of the people. Because of twisted reporting that has been going on in the United States for years, many Americans incorrectly believe Communism and Socialism are the same thing.
--Democrats support “rigged elections over Democracy.” We suspect this is a reversal of the facts. While there is strong evidence that the Democratic National Committee “rigged” certain state primary elections in 2016 to give Hillary Clinton the party nomination over Bernie Sanders, there also is strong suspicion that the entire election was “rigged” to put Trump in power. This is what the Mueller investigation in Washington has been all about.
--Democrats support criminals over police". Really?
--Democrats support Globalists over America." I think we covered this in the issue over Socialism via Capitalism. It is true that there is a global movement for a democratic form of socialism. It looks like a good alternative to the failed Capitalist system that is presently destroying the government system that worked well for the past 200 years in the United States. It worked because of the growth of powerful labor unions that forced the sharing of wealth. The Republican “Right to Work” concept and international trade agreements have effectively changed the way products are manufactured. Everything has been designed to find and utilize cheap and non-union labor where ever it is found.
--Democrats support Wall Street over Main Street." If the truth be known, it appears that this also is a reversal of the truth. The Democratic Party is long known to be representative of the common working class.
--Democrats support illegal aliens over the nation’s citizens." This argument seems to hinge on the controversy over Trump’s plan to spend $8 billion to build a wall between Mexico and the United States. It is a crazy effort to keep Mexican workers from sneaking into the country and stealing jobs. Opponents to the plan say such an investment would be a complete waste of money that is desperately needed for rebuilding infrastructure and providing good health care. Also the jobs held by the immigrants usually involve fruit and vegetable harvesting or home and office cleaning, which nobody else wants. Because of the Trump crackdown on so-called “illegal immigrants” the cost of food is rising and there is a growing shortage of labor in key regions.
By James Donahue
It has struck us just how much of an impact the twisted and controlled nightly televised news reports have been having on the minds of Americans. Many now appear supportive of the dangerous and upside-down concepts being spewed from the lips of the sold-out right-wing Republicans now dominating all branches of our government.
It appears that the Washington news staff is accepting this barrage of daily news feeds and dumping this poison out into the nation. The old and reliable members of the press corps that always asked important questions have either retired, died or been driven off the job.
I was shocked by a recent telephone conversation with a close acquaintance who said she was happy with all that the Trump Administration has been doing for the nation. This woman lives in the Republican controlled State of Florida where she makes her living selling new cars to wealthy retirees. She obviously feeds on the nightly news reports. She supported her claim by noting how well the stock market has been responding to the tax bill that was still wrangling its way through the legislative branch.
I noted at that moment that those special televised news reports, which always included a stock market report that few Americans ever understood, was having more of an impact on people’s minds than I realized. This woman did not see that the only people really interested in the wealth of stocks would be the people who could afford to gamble their money on the exchange. This was never a game for the working class living from paycheck to paycheck.
Even though this woman has struggled as a member of that working class all of her life, her success on the job depends upon the willingness of certain people to buy the cars she peddles. Thus she perceived their success on the stock market as a good thing for the business she is entrenched in. She has not yet felt the sting this new tax bill might have on her weekly paycheck or the state and federal tax bill awaiting her at the end of each year. She is a struggling member of the working class but has been goaded into still believing her life will get better.
While this telephone conversation struck me in a personal way, I have been keenly aware of the extreme division in the thinking of the many people involved in the Internet’s social media outlets. There has been a constant conflict there between the pro-Trump and anti-Trump people. The Trump supporters appear to be drawing peculiar statistics from media outlets specializing in fake news. This is proving effective in confusing the minds of people not willing or knowing how to research the facts. Consequently, their way of thinking is getting scary.
The following is a list one person posted a few days after that troublesome phone call. When I challenged the list, I was accused of not having all of the facts. In response, I did the homework this person obviously failed to do:
--Democrats have chosen “the enemies of Israel over Israel.” This obviously stems from Mr. Trump’s order to move the U.S. Embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv, the Capital of Israel, to Jerusalem, a long disputed and holy center of Christian, Moslem and Jewish faiths. He not only announced this, but publically declared Jerusalem as that nation’s capital. Naturally his speech last week stirred massive consternation among the Arab people. The Eastern portion of the city was captured by Israel from the Palestinians during the 1967 Six-Day War. In an effort to generate peace in that troubled region, the International Community granted Jerusalem special international sovereignty and control because of its religious importance. Trump’s move has heated up the long Palestinian-Israeli conflict and is stirring further troubles in the Middle East. The probability of a major war has suddenly become reality.
--Democrats chose Muslims over Gays. Not sure where this thinking is coming from. Trump has placed travel restrictions against Muslim and Latin American people wishing to enter the United States. Some extremists in Congress have called for the expulsion of all Muslims, claiming them to all be potential terrorists. This is, of course, a total fabrication.
--Democrats are choosing to support Communism over Capitalism. This is a complete fabrication. There is a growing movement in the United States to follow the successful route of many European nations in moving to a new form of Democratic Socialism that involves an equal distribution of the national wealth. Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, who ran a blocked campaign for president in 2016 on the Democratic ticket, has been a leading promoter of the socialist concept. He calls for a Medicare health plan, which is favored by doctors and medical people as well as most working Americans. There is a growing anger because of the way the corporate controlled Republicans are creating greater wealth for the greedy rich at the expense of the poor working class. Capitalism is now commonly recognized as the enemy of the people. Because of twisted reporting that has been going on in the United States for years, many Americans incorrectly believe Communism and Socialism are the same thing.
--Democrats support “rigged elections over Democracy.” We suspect this is a reversal of the facts. While there is strong evidence that the Democratic National Committee “rigged” certain state primary elections in 2016 to give Hillary Clinton the party nomination over Bernie Sanders, there also is strong suspicion that the entire election was “rigged” to put Trump in power. This is what the Mueller investigation in Washington has been all about.
--Democrats support criminals over police". Really?
--Democrats support Globalists over America." I think we covered this in the issue over Socialism via Capitalism. It is true that there is a global movement for a democratic form of socialism. It looks like a good alternative to the failed Capitalist system that is presently destroying the government system that worked well for the past 200 years in the United States. It worked because of the growth of powerful labor unions that forced the sharing of wealth. The Republican “Right to Work” concept and international trade agreements have effectively changed the way products are manufactured. Everything has been designed to find and utilize cheap and non-union labor where ever it is found.
--Democrats support Wall Street over Main Street." If the truth be known, it appears that this also is a reversal of the truth. The Democratic Party is long known to be representative of the common working class.
--Democrats support illegal aliens over the nation’s citizens." This argument seems to hinge on the controversy over Trump’s plan to spend $8 billion to build a wall between Mexico and the United States. It is a crazy effort to keep Mexican workers from sneaking into the country and stealing jobs. Opponents to the plan say such an investment would be a complete waste of money that is desperately needed for rebuilding infrastructure and providing good health care. Also the jobs held by the immigrants usually involve fruit and vegetable harvesting or home and office cleaning, which nobody else wants. Because of the Trump crackdown on so-called “illegal immigrants” the cost of food is rising and there is a growing shortage of labor in key regions.