Friday, June 10, 2005

Pocket Paradigm

The mega-media is out to get Howard Dean again. Dean is a fascinating target since he stands, in the media's collective mind, at the dividing line between acceptable acquiescence to the status quo and unacceptable criticism of that status quo. There are, of course, many people to the left of Dean, which is precisely the point: if Dean gets away with it, who knows who will successfully follow in his footsteps?

Consider this fascinating fact: a majority of the American people do not think the Iraq war was a good idea yet the media - even NPR - does not reflect this truth in any substantial way. The media's coverage is as pro-war as it ever was. Thus it is not enough to have the backing of the American people. In fact, it's not even important. What's important is that one's coverage coincide with the collective and heavily bipartisan judgment of the political and economic elite. The devil take the rest of us, including the head of the Democratic National Committee if he is foolish enough to speak out of turn. - Sam Smith

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