What’s the Fake News Freak Out Really About?
By Thom Hartmann A...
For decades a staple of the far-right has been the story that the news media in the United States is unreliable, doesn't tell the true story, and even promulgates outright lies. There was the "absolute reality" that the moonshot was faked, that the government is filled with communists, that whites are the superior race, or that both 9/11 and the Newtown massacres were false flag government psychological operations. Conspiracy theorist and right-wingers have long pointed the finger of doubt or damnation at the corporate news agencies in our country.
But 2016 was the year when that perspective on the mainstream news went mainstream itself. The man just elected president of the United States has promoted outright lies, like there being three million illegal voters, or that climate change is a hoax invented by the Chinese, where the immigrants and Muslims are responsible for crime way out of proportion to "average Americans", also known as white people in his world.
Both the president-elect and the entire Republican Party not only embrace outright lies, but damn the mainstream media for not embracing them too. On the other hand, what would you call the refusal of MSNBC to cover net neutrality in any meaningful way -some speculate because its parent company is hostile to net neutrality - or their unwillingness to call out advertisers in the defense and oil industries with anything at all resembling investigative reporting? Is that fake news by omission?
For that matter, why won't they cover the consequences of Republican voter suppression efforts, as in Interstate Crosscheck and others? Is it because they need Republican guests to come on their shows to maintain their profitability? And their "news" stars need to suck up to them to maintain their multi-million dollar salaries?
Whatever the answers to these questions, the media in the U.S. is being questioned now both as to veracity and bias like never before, and it's no longer just the John Birch Society doing the questioning.
Comments
#2
It is all about the money, for most. It is about the Power for some, it is about Democracy being destroyed before our very eyes, for the rest of us. Bernie is the Leader we need. If there had been a fair & impartial Primary, and some common sense/logic used by the Delegates/DNC, he was the only option we had that could beat tRump. It was never in American Politics a more obvious & easy decision. Only an "outsider" was going to win POTUS. This was never more obvious in my lifetime, and likely, never more so in the history of this Country. I said it regularly from August of 2015 through the tainted primary, and up until the election. He is the only one not selling out to the Power Structure of Lawyers, Judges, & Corporate Interest. He is also the only candidate we can trust to act in the interests of the average voter. He supports policies the majority of voters agree need to be implemented into law. No one else does. Elizabeth Warren sold out when she could have joined Bernie's Ticket and crushed TRUMP like an egg, but she played politics instead. IT cost us everything to date, and the next 4 years of holy hell. When money drives every decision, you have conflicts of interest, and that will result in poor decisions, and the impact of those poor decisions may destroy mankind.
#3
I decided to read 1984 (again) prior to the election. It had been some years. I challenge all to do the same now, especially considering the results of this election. It should chill everyone as to what we have enabled our media to become. Voter supression is the most important and dangerous tool the fascist have now but it remains in play and will get worse. When 3 million (+-) citizens cast their vote for the progressive agenda and still don't win the presidency there is a problem. When progressive voters in North Carolina outnumber the conservatives handily but yet are rendered impotent due to gerrymandering such that the house and senate continue to be republican there is a problem. We are in real trouble now people. Hang on......
#4
America has a history of assassinating those elected
Those assassinated usually oppose the blasted banksters
Interesting to see how long the drumpter survives
#5
One of the great ironies of living in one of the world's largest and richest societies -- with some of the most technologically advanced communication systems literally at one's fingertips, with a real-time panorama of nearly every situation unfolding everywhere on the planet day and night, and with virtually unlimited access to almost all of the knowledge ever produced throughout humankind's entire history -- is that millions upon millions of otherwise intelligent individuals are living in complete denial of reality, in a fantasy world of mass delusion, steeped in horrendously destructive deceptions.
Why must one dig so deep for that rare nugget of truth? And why do so many find it so hard to accept the truth and yet so easy to believe the lie?
#6
If you believe the Official Conspiracy Theory regarding 9/11 then you are be definition a conspiracy theorist, because that is all we have a theory that 19 highjackers and Osama bin Laden hiding in a cave in Afghanistan...None of it was ever proven. No trial, no evidence ever tested in court. Nobody ever convicted, all just a Theory.
I don't have a theory regarding 9/11 but I know a lie when I see one and the OCT is a demonstrable lie, from start to finish and the mass media has been covering it up for 15 years. Why can't there be an open debate on it? Anyone who points out the obvious lies is never allowed on any media. And if you bring it up like on CSPAN call in show you're immediately labeled a conspiracy theorist and cut off.
I think a lot of people have doubts about 9/11 but are afraid of being ridiculed so they won't speak up. Others are so afraid that 9/11 was a false flag event they will tolerate no discussion at all, they would rather live a lie than such a horrible truth.
#7
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#8
Wow Thom, you of all people. I had no idea you are a gatekeeper, but you lost me when you spewed out the rhetoric about Newtown and 9/11. Any critical thinker with any common sense knows that both of these issues stink to high heaven, if/when you'd take the time to research the evidence. So either you've done zero research on either of them, or you're being paid to follow orders from your bosses. I can no longer in good conscience follow this web site any more. I am very disappointed Thom. Wake up, do some actual investigative journalism, and don't be afraid to publish the truth! Just so you know, 9/11 was an inside job, and nobody died at Newtown, and the library of evidence to back my claims is easy to find.
#9
I have experience in dental forensics. To me the forensics is the smoking gun against the official account.https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e8QCQudNEtY&feature=youtu.be
I have observed victims (pieces of victims) of plane crashes, sky-diving accidents, and intense long-burning fires. Over 1000 of those lost at ground zero were never recovered (41%). I could believe that around 5% from the plane crashes could have been unidentified but less than 200 people were on the planes, those missing 1000 individuals included first responders. How much force does it take to fracture bone down to 1/16 inch and eject it laterally 400 feet? A lot more than gravity and jet fuel fires can provide.
Or anyone who understands Newton's laws and the law of conservation of momentum can just look at the evidence:https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8QLyum1gxBc&feature=youtu.b Or you can read the profiles of the high rise architects and structural engineers who signed the petition calling for a new investigation: http://www.ae911truth.org/signatures/ae.html#:/signatures/xml/supporters/U/StephenBaraschSan-Luis-ObispoCAUS.xml.txt
#10
Sometimes you mystify me, Thom. You know the corporate media is censored but you go and attack the Republicans. Why didn't MSM cover the election fraud that allowed Clinton to get the nomination?
It's not fake news so much by MSM, unless it's created by the government whose lies MSM is quick to accept, it's the omission of news, the failure to cover anything that will damage their corporate ownership.
I haven't read the other comments as I write and just glancing at them, I see there are some very cogent ones. Geezus, Thom, don't let me lose faith in you by spinning crap like this again.
#11
You are so right on, ezwriter!
#12
The biggest conspiracy theory of all is that we are not hurtling headlong into the sixth mass extinction -- the worst one ever, possibly extinguishing most life on Earth unless humans ween themselves completely off fossil fuels very rapidly. It's a conspiracy of silence by oil-drenched corporate media and cowardly politicians.
All of the world's climate scientists -- excluding the three percent deriving benifit from denial -- are shouting the warning at the top of their lungs, unheeded by the stooges steering the American ship of fools.
#13
It scares the hell out of me that Obama just signed into law an anti fake news and propaganda site task force that to be set up under Trump. Big Brother will tell us what is fake and what isn't. Will we be allowed to even see what is determined to be fake?
#14
The nazis decided, that rather than use force, it was more effective to use nazi propaganda technology to get themselves elected. Fascism never sleeps.
#15
I shut off paying corporate media by shutting off Direct TV and COX cable. As long as people keep funding these corporations they assume your all stupid. Why would you watch propaganda and pay for it? America's TV is destroying America.
Your funding it...get it!!!!
#16
9/11 LIE #1: Burning jet fuel caused the collapse of the World Trade Center towers.
FACT: The open-air combustion temperature of jet fuel (highly refined Kerosene) is around 1800 degrees Fahrenheit.
FACT: The melting point of steel is around 2500 degrees Fahrenheit, or higher depending on the alloy.
I don't even need to look at the other lies to know the government was, at least partially, involved in the attacks. Thom, please expose the greatest lie of the 21st century.
#17
To ezwriter:
After Sandy Hook happened I heard of false flag theories about what happened that day and based on the way the media and government pushed hard for gun control I looked into the claims. I found them to be mere speculation.
Since you seemed very convinced in this post I revisited the Newtown hoax evidence last night and still find it lacking. There are strange anolamies indeed however I did not find it convincing to where I would accuse the parents of the children to be acting. There are other possibilities that could involve government knowledge or influence where the children still died and the parents lost their babies.
Such accusations are quite cruel wouldn't you say? The shock of losing a child in such a way could lead any normal person to behave strangely. We don't know unless we experience it for ourselves. Unless someone reveals facts about the event that are more concrete everyone needs to lay off the parents. What if you're wrong?
9/11 is much easier to prove because there is hard scientific evidence to point to along with 2750+ architects and structural engineers to back up your claim.
#18
Some of the posts on this thread seem to be a little harsh on Thom, by taking him to task for one phrase out of one sentence, then getting into the weeds by tacking in a whole new direction, far away from the overall point about fake news and corporate media.
I've listened to Thom for many years and have read several of his books. Right through this large body of work, he has always striven to be as sincere and fair-minded as possible, debating different aspects of a wide variety of issues, including 9/11.
In the past, more so than most radio programs that air general, current-event politics, whole segments have been devoted to callers and guests fleshing out the myriad details of 9/11. To stay relevant, however, there comes a point when such a program, with a purview restricted by limited resources and time constraints, must simply move on to stay abreast of the avalanche of other ongoing issues in a world that never stops. In this regard, it seems unfair and unrealistic to expect Thom to be the go-to 9/11 truther guy.
He has stated many times that he is reserving judgment on the "inside job" accusation part of the argument until more credible evidence from the scientific community can be presented. In spite of the mountain of very convincing evidence already on record of a massive cover-up of government involvement, the unfortunate reality is that much of it actually can be explained with more pedestrian interpretations by equally convincing independent experts.
Whoa, whoa! Please don't flood me with impassioned responses. I happened to be an early proponent of the conspiracy -- like so many, beginning with "Loose Change", the many other videos, and several of the more well-documented books. I've read various other ones -- both pro and con -- but the keepers for my library include: "The 9/11 Commission Report; Omissions and Distortions" and "The New Pearl Harbor" by David Ray Griffin; "9/11 Synthetic Terror" by Webster Griffin Tarpley; "9/11 and American Empire; Intellectuals Speak Out" by Griffin and Scott; "The Terror Timeline" by Paul Thompson; "The Looming Tower" by Lawrence Wright. I'm sure there are numerous other, more currents pieces I haven't yet read.
My own take, for what it's worth, is that this whole mess is probably going down the rabbit hole of history just like the Kennedy assassination, where so much misinformation and omissions have distorted the truth so effectively that no one is ever really going to know exactly what happened.
Should the case be reopened? Abso-f--king-lutely!!! Considering our current, God-awful, rotten-to-the-core power structure, will it ever be reopened? Abso-f--king-lutely not!!!
Either way, it doesn't change the fact that our government, our media, and our dumbed-down citizenry are all complicit in the insanity of what has transpired since that single, defining event -- a world of endless war, extreme wealth inequality, completely immoral leadership, neglect of the environment, and monumental anthropogenic climate disruption, the end-all issue of our time.
I'm convinced that we need all hands on deck to focus on the biggest threats facing humankind and the rest of life on Earth at this crucial juncture, happening right now today, rendering all other issues moot. We're running out of time.
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First, so glad your surgery went well, and wondering if my advise about the Arnica Montana was useful, or even used! I keep a tube of the little white pills handy. Also given to me by a homepathic doctor is Ruta Graveolens and Rhus Toxicondron, both for muscles and bones.
Just FYI, I cancelled my cable subscription before the election because I was tired of seeing trump all the time, but also because of the non-coverage of Bernie and the untruths, out and out lies I was hearing. Not good for my blood pressure!!
I get my news from your radio show and Amy Goodman on Democracy as well as my local KCBS, Bellevue Community College / Free Speech carrier, I think. The rest I choose via RO
KU, which I like more all the time.
Thanks so much for all you do, enjoyed the replays and the guests who kept us in the loop.
Maggie Jordan
noevirmjg@yahoo.com