Propagandarama

The Rhetorican writes that “the myriad Ministry of Truth sub-branches have been busy this week!” Of course, as we noted last fall, that’s one bureaucracy that never sleeps:

First, because Fox News is getting on the Tea Party bandwagon, somehow that’s supposed to diminish the whole Tea Party movement.  All of a sudden, any perceived support or sympathy is outright sponsorship.  Even if it were, so what?  Fox News is getting in on the Tea Party action because they’d be stupid not to.  Their audience must dig it (television is a business, after all) and I bet you many of their anchors dig the movement itself, just like Jane Hamsher must dig anti-war demonstrations.

But you want to make inferences that automatically discredit a cause?  How about this: global warming/climate change must be a hoax.  Why?  Well, it’s Time Magazine’s cover story for the week and Time Magazine is part of the same organization that owns CNN.  The same CNN that suppressed stories of Iraqi atrocities for years just to keep its Baghdad bureau open.  See?  We can all play this game!

The Rhetorican may not be just rhetorically speaking here. In 2006, David Mastio wrote:

Companies like The New York Times, Gannett, Tribune, ABC, CBS and NBC have donated more than a half-billion worth of ad space since the 1990s to raise money for some of the nation’s most extreme environmental groups. And yes, that was billion with a B.

Then add to that the billions that the firm who owns NBC stands to make with its green divisions. Is it any wonder why they spend so much time on these issues, no matter how counterproductive they are to the middle class and growing the economy?