Monday, July 16, 2007

Moore's "Truth Squad" on the Larry King Live Interview

Last week, Michael Moore responded to the Sanjay Gupta interview on Larry King Live with another release from the Truth Squad. Moore also posted a letter to CNN asking why they hadn't responded to his webite postings yet.

Well, CNN finally responded yesterday, and to say the least, the response is less than adequate.

I'll be watching MichaelMoore.com to see if Moore responds to CNN.

UPDATE: Moore has a follow-up letter to CNN, as well as a re-cap of the confrontation.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Moore Vs. Blitzer: Part 2

Here's the rest of the interview:


Enjoy.

UPDATE:

Moore faced off with Sanjay Gupta on Larry King Live last night:


Here are parts 2 and 3.

There's a webchat posted over at HuffingtonPost with Moore, conducted after his interview with Gupta.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

8 Reasons Conservatives are Wrong on Health Care

After I posted the Michael Moore video, I remembered this Tom Tomorrow comic from last week:

Be on the lookout for these classic responses from the know-nothing conservatives when it comes to health care in the United States.

Michael Moore Destroys Wolf Blitzer

You have to see the video:


Go to MichaelMoore.com to see the Moore's response to Sanjay Gupta's report.

There's some commentary over at Alternet that helps to put this into perspective, too.

Monday, July 2, 2007

A History Lesson in Media and Democracy

Required reading for today -- an Al Gore speech from October of 2005. Here's a sample:

It is important to note that the absence of a two-way conversation in American television also means that there is no "meritocracy of ideas" on television. To the extent that there is a "marketplace" of any kind for ideas on television, it is a rigged market, an oligopoly, with imposing barriers to entry that exclude the average citizen.

The German philosopher, Jurgen Habermas, describes what has happened as "the refeudalization of the public sphere." That may sound like gobbledygook, but it's a phrase that packs a lot of meaning. The feudal system which thrived before the printing press democratized knowledge and made the idea of America thinkable, was a system in which wealth and power were intimately intertwined, and where knowledge played no mediating role whatsoever. The great mass of the people were ignorant. And their powerlessness was born of their ignorance.

For further reading, look up Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business.

This gets me thinking... will vlogging destroy blogging as television has destroyed print, or will blogging bring a return to the Rule of Reason?

US House Votes to Ban the Fairness Doctrine

This morning I read that the US House of Representatives voted on an amendment to the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations for FY 2008 that would ban the FCC from using federal funds to bring back the Fairness Doctrine.

For those of you who don't know, the Fairness Doctrine was a FCC regulation that required broadcasters, both TV and radio, to present a balanced program on controversial issues. The regulation was applied to only TV and radio, not to print, because of the definition of the airwaves as a public resource. Having a balanced program serves the public interest and helps to ensure that voters can make informed decisions based on all the available information. Without the Fairness Doctrine, broadcasters have a license to air propaganda. Of course, the Right-wing loves that the Fairness Doctrine has been abolished because now they can dominate the airwaves with their one trick pony. It's a lot easier to gain an audience using the tactic of sensational broadcasting when the listeners aren't informed on the topic being discussed.

Of course, the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) completely agrees with the House's decision. If it's good for business, they're in. Good for democracy? Yeah, fuck that.

But what really pisses me off about this is the House vote. Just a little more than half of the elected Democrats voted for this amendment! It's also interesting to note that the Bill which was amended did not pass, and that Republicans -- who voted in unity for the amendment -- voted in near unity against the Bill.

So, which party is looking out for the interests of an informed public? Oh wait, silly me. I forgot that having an informed public to strengthen America's rapidly deteriorating democracy isn't a part of the game plan. Way to go, Democratic majority...