What They Really Mean...
Since the 1950s, many young Americans have first encountered critiques
of mass media in the pages of Mad. With its intricate cartoons and satirical
sendups, the monthly magazine gained a reputation for skewering politicians,
advertisers, TV shows and a variety of print outlets.
One of Mad’s recurrent shticks has involved making fun of gaps between words and meaning -- an especially welcome form of humor because mainstream news so often amplifies the words of public figures with scarcely a hint of irony, much less deprecation. Notwithstanding the zany image of Alfred E. Newman, the magazine’s grinning icon of absurdity has overseen plenty of sobering antidotes to the phony self-importance of major media.
One-third of the way through February, looking at a few of the day’s top news stories, I tried to imagine the properly Mad way to annotate them. Here’s what I came up with:
* Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said to an audience at a university in Paris: “It is time to turn away from the disagreements of the past. It is time to open a new chapter in our relationship and a new chapter in our alliance.”
One of Mad’s recurrent shticks has involved making fun of gaps between words and meaning -- an especially welcome form of humor because mainstream news so often amplifies the words of public figures with scarcely a hint of irony, much less deprecation. Notwithstanding the zany image of Alfred E. Newman, the magazine’s grinning icon of absurdity has overseen plenty of sobering antidotes to the phony self-importance of major media.
One-third of the way through February, looking at a few of the day’s top news stories, I tried to imagine the properly Mad way to annotate them. Here’s what I came up with:
* Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said to an audience at a university in Paris: “It is time to turn away from the disagreements of the past. It is time to open a new chapter in our relationship and a new chapter in our alliance.”
More bad news from Bush
AUSTIN, Texas -- I feel snakebite about praising any proposal by George W. Bush. Every time I write a column saying, "Look, he's done something good!" he does something else that makes it either not so good or just plain bad. He welched on his deal with Ted Kennedy in the Lots of Children Left Behind Act, now underfunded by $12 billion. And nobody has ever seen that $15 billion he promised to fight AIDS in Africa.
A no-brainer
AUSTIN, Texas -- Last week, The New York Times quoted a Harvard Law student who favors the privatization of Social Security as saying the accounts-formerly-known-as-private are "a no-brainer."
Funny, I'd say that pretty well describes this future legal eagle.
Here's my take: If you aren't smart enough to figure out what's wrong with President Bush's plan to privatize Social Security, then you won't be able to run one of the accounts-formerly-known-as-private, either. (The White House doesn't want anyone to call them private accounts anymore, even though they have always been known as private accounts -- it's the new political correctness.) It's not as though this were all just-too-complex for the average citizen.
Without any math at all, you can understand the most important problems with the Bush plan:
Funny, I'd say that pretty well describes this future legal eagle.
Here's my take: If you aren't smart enough to figure out what's wrong with President Bush's plan to privatize Social Security, then you won't be able to run one of the accounts-formerly-known-as-private, either. (The White House doesn't want anyone to call them private accounts anymore, even though they have always been known as private accounts -- it's the new political correctness.) It's not as though this were all just-too-complex for the average citizen.
Without any math at all, you can understand the most important problems with the Bush plan:
Direct Action For Peace?
Do we need to start taking mass, nonviolent direct action for peace?
Street protest is no longer spontaneous, relevant, or reported in the news.
Permits for demonstrations are now staples of bureaucracy. Free speech zones with collapsible barricades are standard equipment. The recent inauguration even saw a separate bleacher section (of course, in a poor location) for protesters.
This is not how struggles are won. This is not what was done in the past.
Thousands of protesters demonstrated at the recent inauguration. What if hundreds or thousands of them had committed to a united direct action against the parade?
What if hundreds or thousands of people had blocked the limousines by standing (ala Tianamen Square) or lying down in front of them along the parade route? How many hours would it have taken the police to arrest and haul us all away? Would the police have had to airlift the president and company by helicopter out of the street?
What a spectacle that would have been. What a powerful statement. That is just one possibility. No doubt, there are many others.
Street protest is no longer spontaneous, relevant, or reported in the news.
Permits for demonstrations are now staples of bureaucracy. Free speech zones with collapsible barricades are standard equipment. The recent inauguration even saw a separate bleacher section (of course, in a poor location) for protesters.
This is not how struggles are won. This is not what was done in the past.
Thousands of protesters demonstrated at the recent inauguration. What if hundreds or thousands of them had committed to a united direct action against the parade?
What if hundreds or thousands of people had blocked the limousines by standing (ala Tianamen Square) or lying down in front of them along the parade route? How many hours would it have taken the police to arrest and haul us all away? Would the police have had to airlift the president and company by helicopter out of the street?
What a spectacle that would have been. What a powerful statement. That is just one possibility. No doubt, there are many others.
Bush to Social Security: Drop Dead
Let's cut the actuarial doublespeak: Bush comes not to save Social Security, but to bury it.
Ever since Franklin Roosevelt installed the most successful social program in US history, far right fanatics of the Bush ilk have been trying to destroy it. They may be on the brink of succeeding.
Fundamentalist conservatives despise any social welfare program that works. Their stark ideological crusade demands the dismantling of any program through which society can exert control over the economy or our common heritage, such as the natural environment.
Their demand is precisely the opposite when it comes to personal and cultural behavior. The fundamentalist right WANTS the government (if they control it) to legislate "morality" when it comes to sexual choice (gay marriage), recreational preferences (marijuana), women's rights (freedom to choose), free speech (the Patriot Act), free press (censorship), sexual expression (the FCC), religion (official prayer), education (evolution), human rights (Guantanamo), the sanctity of life (the death penalty) and much more.
Ever since Franklin Roosevelt installed the most successful social program in US history, far right fanatics of the Bush ilk have been trying to destroy it. They may be on the brink of succeeding.
Fundamentalist conservatives despise any social welfare program that works. Their stark ideological crusade demands the dismantling of any program through which society can exert control over the economy or our common heritage, such as the natural environment.
Their demand is precisely the opposite when it comes to personal and cultural behavior. The fundamentalist right WANTS the government (if they control it) to legislate "morality" when it comes to sexual choice (gay marriage), recreational preferences (marijuana), women's rights (freedom to choose), free speech (the Patriot Act), free press (censorship), sexual expression (the FCC), religion (official prayer), education (evolution), human rights (Guantanamo), the sanctity of life (the death penalty) and much more.
The Black Perspective
February is the month in which Black History is discussed more openly and freely than any other month in the year. However, as a Black Activist for social change and justice, we need to dialogue everyday about the contributions of the black race.
One usually obtains their information from the media and unfortunately tends to believe as truth what they see on the nightly news, hear on the radio or read in the newspapers. How sad it is that our vision of history is so narrow and clearly lacking in accurate information. We are controlled in this nation by a few, who have led us down the path of bigotry and hated, by false imagery, based on fear and lies and blatant discrimination. The black community is lacking in black media, which clearly would enable us to educate and distribute the truth of who the black person really is. You will not hear this on CNN or FOX news, not even on 610 radio (Columbus, Ohio).
One usually obtains their information from the media and unfortunately tends to believe as truth what they see on the nightly news, hear on the radio or read in the newspapers. How sad it is that our vision of history is so narrow and clearly lacking in accurate information. We are controlled in this nation by a few, who have led us down the path of bigotry and hated, by false imagery, based on fear and lies and blatant discrimination. The black community is lacking in black media, which clearly would enable us to educate and distribute the truth of who the black person really is. You will not hear this on CNN or FOX news, not even on 610 radio (Columbus, Ohio).
State of the Union speech falls short, says Rev. Jesse Jackson
CHICAGO - When will our troops return home from Iraq? What is the President’s plan to prevent factory jobs from going abroad? What is his plan for providing healthcare for the estimated 45 million Americans who have no insurance coverage? And how much money will he commit to address the AIDS epidemic spreading rapidly in black communities in the U.S. and around the world?
The President’s 2005 State of the Union address failed to answer the questions that people care about. And for Americans who expected President Bush’s speech to bring a divided America closer together, the speech was a major disappointment, Rev. Jesse L. Jackson said.
“The President’s State of the Union address looks at the world and our nation from a top down philosophy,” said Rev. Jackson, founder and president of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. “From his plan to privatize social security, curtailing class-action lawsuits that hold corporations accountable, to his proposals granting tax breaks to corporations who take their businesses and jobs offshore, his state of the union offers windfall hand-outs to the haves and possibilities for the have-nots.”
The President’s 2005 State of the Union address failed to answer the questions that people care about. And for Americans who expected President Bush’s speech to bring a divided America closer together, the speech was a major disappointment, Rev. Jesse L. Jackson said.
“The President’s State of the Union address looks at the world and our nation from a top down philosophy,” said Rev. Jackson, founder and president of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. “From his plan to privatize social security, curtailing class-action lawsuits that hold corporations accountable, to his proposals granting tax breaks to corporations who take their businesses and jobs offshore, his state of the union offers windfall hand-outs to the haves and possibilities for the have-nots.”
Divide between Bush's rhetoric and reality
AUSTIN, Texas -- I don't get it. The divide between the rhetoric and the reality in this administration is larger than I can span. The dissonance between the noble ideals expressed and the nasty actions is too raw for me.
For example, Bush announces: "Our founders dedicated this country to the cause of human dignity, the rights of every person and the possibilities of every life. This conviction leads us into the world to help the afflicted, and defend the peace, and confound the designs of evil men." (I got that nugget from the 2003 State of the Union via an article by Bush speechwriter Matthew Scully.) So how come we give less to the afflicted than any other advanced nation?
And how come we're torturing people? How come we're putting people into high office -- attorney general, Department of Homeland Security -- who unleashed the whole torture scandal? The International Red Cross says torture is still going on today at Guantanamo. Torture has blackened our name around the world and made the president's words about bringing freedom and democracy sound hollow and hypocritical.
For example, Bush announces: "Our founders dedicated this country to the cause of human dignity, the rights of every person and the possibilities of every life. This conviction leads us into the world to help the afflicted, and defend the peace, and confound the designs of evil men." (I got that nugget from the 2003 State of the Union via an article by Bush speechwriter Matthew Scully.) So how come we give less to the afflicted than any other advanced nation?
And how come we're torturing people? How come we're putting people into high office -- attorney general, Department of Homeland Security -- who unleashed the whole torture scandal? The International Red Cross says torture is still going on today at Guantanamo. Torture has blackened our name around the world and made the president's words about bringing freedom and democracy sound hollow and hypocritical.
Iraq Media Coverage: Too Much Stenography, Not Enough Curiosity
Curiosity may occasionally kill a cat. But lack of curiosity is apt
to terminate journalism with extreme prejudice.
“We will not set an artificial timetable for leaving Iraq, because that would embolden the terrorists and make them believe they can wait us out,” President Bush said in his State of the Union address. “We are in Iraq to achieve a result: A country that is democratic, representative of all its people, at peace with its neighbors and able to defend itself.”
President Johnson said the same thing about the escalating war in Vietnam. His rhetoric was typical on Jan. 12, 1966: “We fight for the principle of self-determination -- that the people of South Vietnam should be able to choose their own course, choose it in free elections without violence, without terror, and without fear.”
Anyone who keeps an eye on mainstream news is up to speed on the latest presidential spin. But the reporters who tell us what the president wants us to hear should go beyond stenography to note historic echoes and point out basic contradictions.
“We will not set an artificial timetable for leaving Iraq, because that would embolden the terrorists and make them believe they can wait us out,” President Bush said in his State of the Union address. “We are in Iraq to achieve a result: A country that is democratic, representative of all its people, at peace with its neighbors and able to defend itself.”
President Johnson said the same thing about the escalating war in Vietnam. His rhetoric was typical on Jan. 12, 1966: “We fight for the principle of self-determination -- that the people of South Vietnam should be able to choose their own course, choose it in free elections without violence, without terror, and without fear.”
Anyone who keeps an eye on mainstream news is up to speed on the latest presidential spin. But the reporters who tell us what the president wants us to hear should go beyond stenography to note historic echoes and point out basic contradictions.