On McGreevey’s Trial and Katz’ Tribulations
I haven’t done a quantitative analysis, but it seems obvious that media is increasingly tawdry, tabloid, and irrelevant. Mindless coverage and uncritical repetition of government propaganda divert public attention away from real substantive problems, and worse, actually poison the well of democratic dialogue.
Media shares responsibility for our sorry state of affairs (Hint to you Ledger editors, writers, and NJ Voices “bloggers” and anonymous electronic commenters).
When I try to raise these issues, I get attacked by petulant and arrogant “journalists”, so I’ll let well known journalist Bill Moyers explain, in the words of Marvin Gaye “What’s Goin’ On” (listen to that wonderful tune here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9KC7uhMY9s
. . . the philosophy popularized in the last quarter century that “freedom” simply means freedom to choose among competing brands of consumer goods, that taxes are an unfair theft from the pockets of the successful to reward the incompetent, and that the market will meet all human needs while government itself becomes the enabler of privilege — the philosophy of an earlier social Darwinism and laissez-faire capitalism dressed in new togs — is as subversive as Benedict Arnold’s betrayal of the Revolution he had once served.
(from his new book “Moyers on Democracy” http://www.alternet.org/democracy/85521/?page=entire
Because I am an environmental advocate, I’ll leave off with this excerpt:
The earth we share as our common gift, to be passed on in good condition to our children’s children, is being despoiled. Private wealth is growing as public needs increase apace. Our Constitution is perilously close to being consigned to the valley of the shadow of death, betrayed by a powerful cabal of secrecy-obsessed authoritarians. Terms like “liberty” and “individual freedom” invoked by generations of Americans who battled to widen the 1787 promise to “promote the general welfare” have been perverted to create a government primarily dedicated to the welfare of the state and the political class that runs it. Yes, Virginia, there is a class war and ordinary people are losing it. It isn’t necessary to be a Jeremiah crying aloud to a sinful Jerusalem that the Lord is about to afflict them for their sins of idolatry, or Cassandra, making a nuisance of herself as she wanders around King Priam’s palace grounds wailing “The Greeks are coming.” Or Socrates, the gadfly, stinging the rump of power with jabs of truth. Or even Paul Revere, if horses were still in fashion. You need only be a reporter with your eyes open to see what’s happening to our democracy. I have been lucky enough to spend my adult life as a journalist, acquiring a priceless education in the ways of the world, actually getting paid to practice one of my craft’s essential imperatives: connect the dots.
The conclusion that we are in trouble is unavoidable. I report the assault on nature evidenced in coal mining that tears the tops off mountains and dumps them into rivers, sacrificing the health and lives of those in the river valleys to short-term profit, and I see a link between that process and the stock-market frenzy which scorns long-term investments — genuine savings — in favor of quick turnovers and speculative bubbles whose inevitable bursting leaves insiders with stuffed pockets and millions of small stockholders, pensioners, and employees out of work, out of luck, and out of hope.
And then I see a connection between those disasters and the repeal of sixty-year-old banking and securities regulations designed during the Great Depression to prevent exactly that kind of human and economic damage. Who pushed for the removal of that firewall? An administration and Congress who are the political marionettes of the speculators, and who are well rewarded for their efforts with indispensable campaign contributions. Even honorable opponents of the practice get trapped in the web of an electoral system that effectively limits competition to those who can afford to spend millions in their run for office. Like it or not, candidates know that the largesse on which their political futures depend will last only as long as their votes are satisfactory to the sleek “bundlers” who turn the spigots of cash on and off.
“MERCY, MERCY, ME” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9BA6fFGMjI&feature=related
Valid points but mass media should not be faulted for focusing on what is happening instead of what might happen.
Glass-Steagall was repealed in 1999. Ffinancial meltdown really became obvious in August, 2007 with other factors contributing (Iraq, suprime mortgages). The repeal might not have been such an issue had the Bush non-regulators not taken over.
Were the pundits supposed to assume that the repeal would be a disaster because in 2001 a financial neophyte might become president and trash the regualatory structure?
jbken – you miss my point – media is not, as you claim, “focusing on what is happening”
Instead of that, they are telling us a pack of lies and consciously ignoring what is happening.
It dod not take punditry to predict that deregulation would lead to abuses. Of course it would!
That’s why we have regulation, to manage the private sector’s nihilistic greed and lawlessness.
Don’t confuse the tawdry details of Katz’s love life with the union member’s rights to question how their money is being spent. Most people don’t realize that state employees have no choice in handing their money over to the union. The legislature saw to that. The only difference that an employee can make is to become a voting member for a nominal extra dues. Some don’t “join” (become a voting member) in protest. I’ve had mixed service from the union. However, I believe that Katz works for the union members and has no right to donate our money to Booker when there are no CWA 1034 members in Newark! And for the nice salary she makes, she was fairly quiet on the issue of our jobs being contracted out at DEP. It was you, Bill, who did more by your appearing on NJN and testifying before the Legislature. Carla was a no-show although a union rep did provide testimony. Yet her blog is full of photos of her appearing in front of the state house protesting the demise of the Dept. of Ag. I guess the DEP employee’s having their jobs threatened by Licensed Site Professionals (hired guns who also work for industry, developers, polluters) isn’t a good enough photo op for her.