Schooling the Media

This will be an ongoing blog where I list lessons that are obvious to most of us but seem to completely evade the mainstream media. Feel free to add to this list.

Dear Mainstream Media:

Here are a few items to help you understand how the real world actually works.

1. Osama Bin Laden and Mother Teresa do not worship the same God. Duh! A five year old child could tell you that these two people have different worldviews. Quit trying to tell us that all religions are the same! Anyone who has spent more than about 10 minutes studying theology knows that the beliefs of the major world religions are irreconcilable. Deal with it.

2. A normal person would define racism as judging people based on race, treating people differently based on race, making decisions about people based on race. By this definition affirmative action is racist, pure and simple. Further, using that definition Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are two of the most racist people to ever walk the earth. The ONLY thing that matters to them is race. In their world ALL decisions should be based on race and race alone. Why are they not treated as racists?

3. The military has a very short job description 1. Kill people, 2. Break things. That is it. It is not a place for social experimentation.

4. An abortion stops a beating heart. Please spend 10 minutes actually thinking about that truth.

5. It seems counter intuitive but tax cuts do NOT lead to lower revenues. They never have and probably never will. Look it up. Revenues went up when JFK cut taxes, revenues went up when Reagan cut taxes. Regardless of which party initiates it, it works.

6. At least since the mid-70's there has never been a "tax cut" for the wealthiest Americans. The tax code has been reformed many times since then and the Top 1% have always ended paying a greater proportion of the total tax bill. Every time. The top 1% now pay roughly half of all taxes. The top 10% pay nearly 96%.

The definition of "rich" varies depending on what kind of propaganda one is trying to advance but being in the top 10% is one of the most consistent standards. A household in the top 10% may be earning 80-90K per year. This type of wage could easily be earned by two public school teachers. These are the "rich" people making off with these tax breaks.

Also, if the "rich" are paying all the taxes then won't they be the ones to get the tax cut? Duh!

7. If I had to guess neither John Kerry nor Swiftboat Veterans for Truth are telling the whole truth. However, since Kerry has chosen to make this the centerpiece of his campaign, shouldn't we at least figure out who is closer to the truth? Forget all of it, if 10% of what SVT says is true Kerry truly is "Unfit for Command" If you want to be of service to Americans try to untangle this for us a little bit instead of trying to find ways to bash SVT. Here a few things one trying to find the truth should note:

Which side keeps changing their story? (Kerry)
Which one has already been caught in at least one bald faced lie? (Kerry)
Which side does not know who was President in December 1969? (Kerry)
Which side has the most to lose? (Kerry)

This should at least be making you wonder.

8. If you are a former National Security Advisor and an attorney, you know it is uncool to stuff sensitive documents down your pants and in your socks. Sandy Berger is liar and is almost certainly involved in a cover up. That could actually matter. Maybe you need to look into that a bit more.

9. If you want to be the most powerful man on earth. You should have at least one reasonably compelling idea about how the world could be better. Have you noticed that John Kerry can not meet that standard? Should this not be addressed at some point?

10. Please take the time to learn some economics or hire someone at your company that can consult on economic matters. 99% of the time you look like idiots when you try to talk about these things.

11. See #10 concerning Christianity. I am beginning to think you are making an effort to make sure it is wrong.

12. The 9/11 Commission was a colassal waste of time. A pre-teen can tell you who was responsible for 9/11- the terrorists. DUH!

13. Concerning the war on terror-- we were attacked. Do you remember this? Remember planes flying into a building? This may be the most memorable day in American media history. The people we are after want to kill EVERYONE in America. They have already demonstrated this desire and have made no effort to make it a secret. What price would be too high to deal with a threat like that? Can we have a little perspective on the way this whole thing is covered? Example, are any of you even aware that 2/3 of Al Queda's known leadership is either dead or in jail? Quit bitching quite so much and balance out your reporting of what is going on.

14. When people do bad things without consequence (bomb World Trade Center, bomb various Embassies, bomb U.S. warship) they tend to continue. This was a fact that the previous president could not grasp. When a bombing is met by killing 2/3 of their known leadership in less than three years, well, that tends to act as a deterrent don't you think?

more later