Where's Waldo?

You already know how I feel about Hu Jintao's atate visit to Washington, so I won’t even go there; except to quote from a WSJ editorial this morning: “Of all the differences between dictatorship and democracy, probably none is so overlooked as the ability of the former to project strength, and the penchant of the latter to obsess about its own weakness.” This quote was written under the heading, “RED SCARE REPRISE”. Now, apply this bit of wisdom to our own Democrat and Republican parties today.
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I must say, I've been missing Beck on the radio each morning. His replacement here in New York means well but is an utter lightweight. It's like going from putting cream in your tea to putting in water. WOR gave ‘low ratings’ as a reason for dropping Beck. I happened to run across a ratings book (on the net) since. There is no way that Beck had low ratings - even in New York!!! WOR is lying big time.

Also, when you google "Batchelor leaving WABC” (some time ago) or “Curtis Sliva leaving WABC” (more recently) you get no less than eight pages of material to choose from. Googling "Beck leaving WOR (in New York)" gives you just two stories (one is a re-cap of the other). Beck is much bigger than Batchelor (in terms of ratings), yet there is practically nothing reported about Beck being dropped anywhere. No talk show host has talked about it. To my knowledge, not even Beck has mentioned it.

I’m not a Beck junkie. I haven’t gone chasing after Beck, either on the radio dial or on the net. Yet, this says to me ‘news blackout’ - like what we experienced during the oil spill, and the sinking of the Cheonan.

If this can happen, anything can happen. People can just ‘disappear’, legislation can be passed without the knowledge of those affected, election results can be manipulated, or falsified outright, etc.

This, to my mind, is a big deal. It could be an indication of where we are headed. Up until now, we’ve all been painfully aware that the media slants the news. But what are we to say if there is no news to slant?

Sure, there are plenty of links out there where you can stream Beck’s radio program, jihad, porn or anything else you might want. But that isn’t really my point, is it? It’s not a matter of having accessibility to news. There are millions of people in North Korean work camps as well. Each and everyone of them knows exactly what’s going on there. But you never hear from them, do you? It’s as if they don’t exist.

The third-highest rated radio program is shut out of the biggest American media market. And nobody talks about it!? That’s what I find disturbing!

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

The Bottom Rung

While we gleefully crunch poll numbers, it has suddenly occurred to me that we have already lost our freedom of the press here in America. Our media tells us only that which does not threaten the overall structure of what has been put in place to get us to wherever we are headed.

I remember, back during the Bush administration there were multiple media leaks designed to embarrass the administration and ultimately bring Obama to power. Some involved classified material that gave aid and comfort to our enemies. It was all done in the spirit of childish fun – demolishing the battered piñata that Bush had become. Since Obama has been in office, the leaks have all but stopped. In fact, today, even things that are widely suspected have ceased to interest our intrepid investigative reporters and journalists.

Even alternative media has taken a step backwards. I remember a time when ‘The John Batchelor Show’ was hot on the trail of Bill Clinton’s brother’s cocaine use and his connection to secret airstrips in Arkansas. Now, we’re only discussing the polls that show Republicans ousting Democrats in November. (“Meet the new boss; same as the old boss.”) It’s something that takes up air time without the risk of endangering something we obviously regard as both sacred and fragile. We no longer dare talk about the really important things. Off-hand I can think of no less than three recent international incidents in which the White House appears to have ordered total news blackouts. In addition, of course, the suspicion remains that we are not being told the true nature and depth of our fiscal failing. Neither are we told of Barack Hussein Obama’s personal connections to radical Islam and/or Marxism. We don’t even know if he is qualified (by law) to be president.

The press plays enthusiastically along, pouring oil on the roiling (pardon the pun). Yet the public is not fooled. There is a palpable gnawing at the entrails of every thinking American that indicates something is seriously wrong on any number of fronts. Why did POTUS within hours of the Deepwater Horizon disaster order S. W. A. T. teams to the area? Why did he then proceed to all but ignore the spillage for more than a week? Why have none of the survivors been publicly interviewed?

I’ve raised these questions before and, each time I do, I feel more and more isolated. Perhaps it’s just me. I am reminded that in any business where security and even self-preservation and self-interest are paramount, any advancement does not come entirely without personal risk to the individual who is being promoted. Should he or she fail in the higher position, the only option is dismissal. Demotion is not possible. This is because with each step up in the ranks more information is revealed. Once one is in possession of such information, one cannot go back and work among those who have not yet been initiated.

We, the electorate, are clearly regarded as occupying the bottom rung. And though, in theory, we are said to hold the fate of our elected officials in our hands; in practice we only exist to be manipulated and to rubberstamp the designs of our political class whose ultimate aims remain deliberately vague.