Take Me To Post Comment Form I am repeating myself a bit here. But this taxpayer funding hypocrisy really irks me.

As one more illustration that the notion of a "liberal" mainstream media is entirely bogus, consider the current Blackwater story.

It has been going on for months. Have we seen anywhere near the coverage of the Blackwater crimes that has been afforded to those ACORN videos? You see, the ACORN videos are a perfect fit for the contemporary news cycle that is largely driven by right wing opinion and phony outrage.

A couple of right wing bloggers make a videotape of some ACORN employees apparently discussing criminal activities. Right wing talk radio gins up the outrage. They demand to know why the "mainstream media" is not covering this crucial story.

The major media outlets start to provide extensive but highly nuanced and filtered coverage of the story. No mention is made of ACORN's own initiatives to report registration fraud to authorities. No mention is made that one of the employees in the video contacted authorities on his own. There is nary a word about ACORN's efforts in several communities, including Oakland, in support of ordinances that would have regulated the predatory lending practices that contributed to our financial crisis. No inconvenient truths that would detract from the right wing storyline are included.

Corproate media does its job. The ACORN story is delivered to the American public exactly how the right wants it; e.g. with key facts portraying ACORN in a positive light, completely omitted. Very few people will ever know the name of Bertha Lewis who has quite likely spent more time and energy trying to address voter registration fraud concerns than all of the right wing pundits on the planet combined.

If anyone believes that this well managed, perfectly choreographed hit job on an organization that mostly benefits people who vote Democratic is an example of "liberal media", then I have a bridge to sell you (S-curve included at no extra charge).

The media is not liberal. The media is corporate. Its job is to maximize ratings and distribution. The political right is very adept at generating the kind of buzz that is necessary for a story to have legs and generate ratings. But as we saw with the Obama flag, Ashley Todd, birth certificates and several other stories, they are not very adept at the truth.

If the media were truly liberal, someone in a national news organization would be asking the question, if it is right and proper to immediately defund ACORN which has received less than $100 million in taxpayer money, why are we not also defunding Blackwater which has received BILLIONS of dollars of taxpayer money. In fact, if we truly had a liberal media, that question would have already been asked and answered.

We have a media that is driven by right wing outrage, not objectivity and newsworthiness. Make no mistake. Information is out there for those who want a grasp of the unfiltered truth before they form opinions. But as we see all too often, especially in this very forum, there are lots of people who define the truth as an opinion they agree with.

Here is the latest update on Blackwater. So sleep well this holiday season my fellow Americans. The media and Congress are working hard to make sure that organizations which help poor people register to vote are drummed out of business. Serves them right. Everybody knows that a "real American" organization doesn't waste time helping poor citizens here at home when there are billions of dollars to be made abroad in war profiteering. So what's a few murders and gun running when there is so much profit to be made? Nothing is more important than making money, especially a dozen or so innocent, dead Iraqis.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/world/middleeast/11blackwater.html?_r=1

Separately, a federal grand jury in North Carolina, where the company has its headquarters, has been conducting a lengthy investigation into it. One of the former executives said that he had told federal prosecutors there about the plan to pay Iraqi officials to drop their inquiries into the Nisour Square case. If Blackwater followed through, the company or its officials could face charges of obstruction of justice and violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bans bribes to foreign officials.

Officials at the United States Attorney’s Office in Raleigh declined to comment on their investigation, and it is not clear whether the payment scheme is a focus of the grand jury.

Federal prosecutors in North Carolina have interviewed a number of former Blackwater employees about a variety of issues, including allegations of weapons smuggling, according to several former employees who say they have testified before the grand jury or been interviewed by prosecutors, as well as lawyers familiar with the matter. Two former employees have pleaded guilty to weapons charges and are believed to be cooperating with prosecutors.