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THE ABSURD TIMES
Illustration courtesy of Latuff the Great or neo-fascists morons in Ukraine at work.
I had thought
that the nonsense over Russia Today TV had dissipated, but even I had
underestimated the ferocity of U.S. Corporate media in protecting their own
turf and serving as the official "Voice of Truth" available to the
American Public. Unfortunately, the
teeny bopper news anchor mentioned below is now making the rounds of the
corporate news outlets, first on Fox, of course, and soon to follow on others.
Lip service is given to "all sides of the issue," here, but
our news is very careful to adhere only to issues that assure a large audience
of room temperature I.Q. idiots and ignorant dolts in the 18 to 35 year old
range, or is it 35 to 55? Also, care is
taken not to violate the brainwashing that has taken place in our school
systems. (I know I am sticking my head
out here, but I just thought I'd point out that the Universe is almost 14
million years old, much more that 6,000, and to hell with the consequences.)
Here is a
column published by Mr. Schecter over
two weeks ago on the subject:
Russia Today’s Beast Of Burden
James
Kirchick is just the neutral reporter
the Daily Beast would assign to report on the ideological controversy
surrounding the Russian backed RT-TV Channel’s coverage
of the crisis in the Ukraine.
The Beast
lives up to its name by sending a hardcore polemical ideologue to uncover what
he predictably labels as ideological media bias.
Kirchick is a veteran
of the anti-communist wars, now revived as the anti Putin wars, not some
neutral journo crusading for democracy.
According to
Wikipedia, he is a fellow
with the Foundation
for Defense of Democracies in Washington, prior to this he was
writer-at-large for Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty. He is a graduate of the New Republic, Murdoch’s
Weekly Standard and writes for Azure, a magazine that described itself as
pro-Zionist and free market.
Ok, just so we know
who are dealing with here.
And now, to bolster
his “credibility” he presents himself as a victim in his latest article that
exposes himself, far more than his target, asserting that his rights as a
journalist were somehow compromised because of a gutsy quest for truth.
Here’s his
exhibit:
•The Headline:
“Watch RT, Putin’s TV Network, Call the Cops on Me”
•The Lead:
“That’s what happens, it seems, when you ask some simple questions outside RT’s
Washington headquarters.”
•The Polemic: “What would possess an
American to work for a Russian propaganda outlet, especially now that the world
is on the brink of a potential war in Eastern Europe?
I asked that question of about two dozen people coming in and out of the
Washington headquarters of RT, the Kremlin-funded television network that has
become infamous in recent days for whitewashing Vladimir Putin’s invasion of
Ukraine. No one would answer me directly. Instead, RT called the local cops on
me. …”
Kirchik’s first story in his jihad against RT was to interview Anchor
Liz Wahl who resigned flamboyantly on the air denouncing the channel she worked
and making her an instant shero among
Russia-bashers the world over.
Wahl offered up sweet innocence laced with the veneer of red white and
blue (drop the red) patriotism, declaring, “I’m very lucky to have grown up here in the United
States,” she said. “I’m the daughter of a veteran. My partner
is a physician at a military base where he sees every day the first-hand
accounts of the ultimate prices that people pay for this country. And that is
why personally I cannot be part of a network that whitewashes the actions of
Putin. I am proud to be an American and believe in disseminating the truth and
that is why after this newscast I’m resigning.”
Cue the
National Anthem!
Funny,
after her declaration of independence, and stagy pledge to quit was broadcast
on a network that could have cut her off, none other than former Congressman
Ron Paul who was interviewed by Wahl weighed in after she claimed RT censored
her interview with him.
He denied
it, saying, “I don’t think it was slanted in any way.”
Earlier,
another RT on-air personality, Abby Martin, also denounced Putin’s Ukraine policy
on the air but was not fired and did not quit.
Later, she
turned up on CNN debating Piers Morgan, he of the show about to be cancelled,
about how fair and objective most American TV is. She was far better informed
on that subject than this departing British host in assessing the US press, and
on a network considered by some critics as an “American propaganda outlet.”
In an
article about Martin in National Journal, Lucia Graves wrote, “While it’s clear
the network maintains
a strong
pro-Russian bias, Glenn Greenwald on Tuesday defended RT’s coverage, saying
it isn’t so different from what we saw on American media outlets in the lead up
to the Iraq War. “For all the self-celebrating American journalists and
political commentators: Was there even a single U.S. television host who said
anything comparable to this in the lead up to, or the early stages of, the U.S.
invasion of Iraq?” he
wrote.
On Google,
a story from CNN on Wahl’s hyped farewell to RT carried Martin’s picture, not
hers.
Oh well,
details, details!
Back to
Mr. Kirchick’s heroism in defense of democracy!
(Watch the
video of how he posed some of
his “simple” questions to RT employees outside their office. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/07/watch-rt-putin-s-tv-network-call-the-cops-on-me.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=cheatsheet_afternoon&cid=newsletter%3Bemail%3Bcheatsheet_afternoon&utm_term=Cheat%20Sheet)
What you
see is a wise-guy provocateur harassing people entering the building with
hostile, if not nasty and self-righteous questions, in an argumentative and
aggressively hostile manner.
RT later
challenged this image-building exercise of the “man who is not afraid of Putin”
with a denial that they called the cops, an “update” that the Daily Beast
tacked on to their story.
“RT America did not contact the DC police at any point,” Anna
Belkina said in a statement. “The building’s security personnel called in the
police after an intruder has been reported inside the building. The police
questioned Mr. Kirchick as part of the investigation of that incident.”
Kirchick’s shouted out questions were there to call attention to
himself, and score political points, and not to challenge the network that
actually offers programs with views that are more diverse than on any US TV
news channel. It features programs with Tom Hartmann and even Larry King, both
of whom deny they have been censored.
As an occasional commentator on RT News myself, I can and have said the
same. I am not surprised that the networks I once worked for, ABC, CNN and CNBC
never have me on, while BBC, RT, Press TV and Saudi TV, among others, feature
my commentaries without telling me what to say.
Kirchick is less bothered by what gets on RT than that it exists at
all, and especially because the network has built an audience among Americans
disgusted by how controlled and manipulated most US media outlets are.
His real target are RT’s viewers who he bitterly denounces as a
“species,” perhaps because they are looking for information you never find on
the Daily Beast or many of the outlets he whores for as a self-styled
“objective newsman.”
Listen to this: “RT has become the go-to network for a particular species
of disillusioned American, fed-up with what the “corporate media” is telling
them about the world.”
He doesn’t
waste any putdowns either from an arsenal of vituperative broadsides and
even—get this— denounces RT employees as “slovenly.”
He then
rants on to share what may have been his Yale-bred elitism about his perception
of the people the network interviews that includes politicians and commentators
of all stripes.
“RT, both
in its employment and viewership,” he writes,” seems to attract a particular
type of person. You know the man who writes political chain emails IN ALL CAPS
or the bag lady shouting on the street corner about the metal device the
government has implanted in her head? Under normal circumstances, no one would
give them a television show. But these are the people who appear on, and watch,
RT.”
Oh,
really– another round of clichés to keep the truth from getting in the way of
his preconceived perceptions.
Now, now,
feel better Mr. Kirchick, time to take your medication, before you melt down,
or stir up more hatred and animosity for people who lack your years of slimy
experience as a media warrior in the service of a neocon empire.
MR
KIRCHICK?
Oh, you
have more to say?
“For the
past 9 years, RT has provided steady paychecks and frequent media appearances
to a veritable insane asylum of the great unwashed and unemployable dredges of
the American fringe.”
Whew, I am
glad he got that out of his system, until tomorrow, of course, when he will
find another way of cursing without cursing, while showcasing superiority to
those of us in that other sub- human “species.”
Now, let
me get back to my Rolling Stones record:
I‘ll never be your beast of burden
I’ll never be your beast of burden
Never, never, never, never, never, never, never be
I‘ll never be your beast of burden
I’ll never be your beast of burden
Never, never, never, never, never, never, never be
Also, by
the way, do I need to say that I am not a Putin booster, my father was a
veteran, I have pledged allegiance to the flag many times, and wrote two books
and made a film about media miscoverage of the Iraq War. My critique was based,
in part, in my own experience in network TV.
News
Dissector Danny Schechter edits Mediachannel.org and blogs at
NewsDissector.net. His latest book is Madiba A to Z: The Many Faces of Nelson
Mandela. Comments to dissector@mediachannel.org.
