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I thought, for many, Obama represented “CHANGE” from what was happening in Washington, the out of control spending, and ever growing government, and lack of transparency. We heard over and over again that people crossed party lines to vote for Obama. And on top of that, Obama promised repeatedly that he would give tax cuts to anyone making less than
Since taking office, Obama has continued the Bush policies and created an even greater deficit. A deficit that WILL be repaid through higher taxes.
With the additional $3+ trillion dollar debt created under Obama and the Dem led Congress, people have had ENOUGH. Why is it so hard for the media to grasp the concept that people from both sides of the aisle, and those firmly in the middle, don’t like the irresponsible government spending that started under Bush, and is continuing tenfold under Obama?
The media just doesn’t want you to know/believe/understand that.
The tea parties were non-partisan events, and not just about "hating" Obama, as the media would have you believe. They were about people being fed up! Taxes may have been recently cut for some people, but they WILL go up. It is naïve to think that we can have this kind of debt, and taxes won't go up. People were also protesting the state taxes that are skyrocketing around the country, including cigarette tax, residential tax, school tax, and gas and sales tax. They were also protesting the never ending bailouts.
I don’t know the numbers of Dems vs. Repubs vs. Independents that were in attendance, and maybe there were more conservatives (because FOX actually covered the events?), but they weren't all about "hating" Obama. They were about the perpetually worsening big government spending. Obama is the one in charge now, so, yes, it also about him, and his policies.
One of the favorite mantras used by the Left is that the Right is stirring up hate. The liberal MSM has attacked FOX and conservatives for years over this. (I know - it used to work on me.) But, what the HELL do you call what Janeane Garafalo and KO are doing in this video?
Don’t they think that calling half of the country “racist” stirs up hate? (I say HALF because this isn't the first time Garofalo has referred to Conservatives as racist.) If calling millions of Americans Stockholm syndrome suffering racists isn't inciting hate and violence, I don't know what is. (I know, because after I saw the video I wanted to smack them both in the face.)
The Left was so determined that these tea parties were nothing more than racist hate filled “tea baggers” they set out to prove it any way possible. ACORN, Huffington Post and Daily Kos all planned to sabotage the events and infiltrate them to make the tea parties look like they were fringe group efforts full of racists. Individual bloggers also dressed up goofy, made signs that subtly mocked the tea parties, and went to the events with the intentions to stir up trouble. CNN did their best as well, as we saw here. And msnbc and CNN tried to humiliate the attendees all week, calling them tea baggers.
There were 69.4 Million people that voted for Obama, but 121,829,580 (of the 231,229,580 eligible voters) people did not, and 60 Million of those voted for McCain. So, while the majority of the media is obviously liberal, they should remember that there are millions of Americans that although they didn't vote for Obama, they have a right to be heard, too. To disparage them and mock them is a big mistake (which might explain the dismal ratings of CNN and msnbc, and all three major networks).
Ignoring, stifling, and mocking the voices of half a country is a formula for disaster, in my opinion. I saw this quote online, and liked it, "Suppressing people with different ideas is a form of violence that hits at the heart of civil society."
The liberal media utilizes the same ugly tactics perpetuated by psychological and emotional abusers, to intimidate and suppress dissent. The constant belittling and humiliating, constant statements that the victim is mentally ill [racist, hateful, rednecks, bible clinging gun toting hicks] etc., constant criticism, public humiliation, playing on community and cultural fears, constant berating, etc. There are many methods of emotional abuse, and the liberal media is utilizing many, if not all of them, to discredit FOX, and anyone who questions the liberal MSM agenda.
AggressingWhen the liberal media controls 75% of the message, and constantly wages this type of war on half the country, it can influence behavior. And they know that, which is why they practice this type of control. It can make people intimidated, and hesitant to speak out. It can make people feel repressed, and afraid, some people don’t want to be mocked and laughed at. Think of a bully on the playground. It works on the greater population just like it works on a wife or a child.
• Aggressive forms of abuse include name-calling, accusing, blaming, threatening, and ordering. Aggressing behaviors are generally direct and obvious. The one-up position the abuser assumes by attempting to judge or invalidate the recipient undermines the equality and autonomy that are essential to healthy adult relationships.
• Aggressive abuse can also take a more indirect form and may even be disguised and "helping." Criticizing, advising, offering solutions, analyzing, proving, and questioning another person may be a sincere attempt to help. In some instances however, these behaviors may be an attempt to belittle, control, or demean rather than help. The underlying judgmental "I know best" tone the abuser takes in these situations is inappropriate and creates unequal footing in peer relationships. This and other types of emotional abuse can lead to what is known as learned helplessness.
Denial
• Denying a person's emotional needs, especially when they feel that need the most, and done with the intent of hurting, punishing or humiliating
• The other person may deny that certain events occurred or that certain things were said. confronts the abuser about an incident of name calling, the abuser may insist, "I never said that," "I don't know what you're talking about," etc. You know differently.
• The other person may deny your perceptions, memory and very sanity.
• Withholding is another form of denying. Withholding includes refusing to listen, refusing to communicate, and emotionally withdrawing as punishment. This is sometimes called the "silent treatment."
• When the abuser disallows and overrules any viewpoints, perceptions or feelings which differ from their own.
• Denying can be particularly damaging. In addition to lowering self-esteem and creating conflict, the invalidation of reality, feelings, and experiences can eventually lead you to question and mistrust your own perceptions and emotional experience.
• Denying and other forms of emotional abuse can cause you to lose confidence in your most valuable survival tool: your own mind. [Did the President BOW or not? See how that works?]
Invalidation
• The abuser seeks to distort or undermine the recipient's perceptions of their world. Invalidating occurs when the abuser refuses or fails to acknowledge reality. For example, if the recipient tells the person they felt hurt by something the abuser did or said, the abuser might say "You are too sensitive. That shouldn't hurt you."
Minimizing
• Minimizing is a less extreme form of denial. When minimizing, the abuser may not deny that a particular event occurred, but they question the recipient's emotional experience or reaction to an event. Statements such as "You're too sensitive," "You're exaggerating," or "You're blowing this out of proportion" all suggest that the recipient's emotions and perceptions are faulty and not be trusted.
• Trivializing, which occurs when the abuser suggests that what you have done or communicated is inconsequential or unimportant, is a more subtle form of minimizing. [Like telling people that Obama has no idea the tea parties even exist…]
Verbal Assaults
• Berating, belittling, criticizing, name calling, screaming, threatening
• Excessive blaming, and using sarcasm and humiliation.
• Blowing your flaws out of proportion and making fun of you in front of others. Over time, this type of abuse erodes your sense of self confidence and self-worth.
But that feeling of repression only lasts so long. Eventually those feelings grow from doubt to frustration to outrage or helplessness. People become outraged that they aren't being listened to, or exhausted of feeling belittled, humiliated, and abused. (Don’t believe me? Just ask Lorena Bobbitt or Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover.)
Some people, like many readers here, don’t care and speak out and speak often, but this type of “abuse” does work on many. It’s ugly and should not be allowed to continue. All those videos we saw just this week, with Maddow, Shuster, Olbermann, Cooper, and others, mocking and trying to humiliate fellow Americans were ugly and despicable. They weren’t funny, and they certainly weren’t worthy of a “news network”. They were outright rude, and flat out abusive.
The liberal MSM is always attacking FOX. The liberal media controls 75% of the message, and they do their best to discredit the only dissenting channel that represents the conservative message. Everyone is America, whether you like or watch FOX or not, should be glad they exist. They exist for the purpose of providing an opposing view to the majority control of the media. Without FOX and talk radio, wouldn’t we basically be living under a dictatorship type controlled media message?
I am not saying that FOX is perfect and I am not saying they have never made mistakes. But, I now question everything I heard for eight years from the Left, and no longer believe what I once thought to be the truth. I have now seen how the liberal MSM lies, how they misrepresent, and how they abuse dissenters. And I am thankful that FOX exists, if for the sole purpose of providing an opposing view – and as I now know, for providing the actual news. The only reason FOX seems extreme to some is because they present an opposing view to the majority of the controlled message.
And they are in no way as extreme when compared to the filth and hatred coming from people like Garofalo and Olbermann.
Enjoy reading your blog, as always. You always have great posts and do thorough research. ~D
ReplyDeleteI must have just been dreaming in 2001-2008: wasn't Bush (Dubya) POTUS when all the "Bush=Nazi" and "Bush Lied, People Died" and "Bush just kept reading fairytales while the towers tumbled" stuff was being rigorously defended as "Freedom of Speech"?
ReplyDeleteAnd all the Dem-threats to move to Canada because they couldn't fathom the thought of an uneducated uncouth white trash POTUS?
I think you bagged the cat best in "Just Shut Up". The "ad hominem" approach to attacking in this case by the MSM&co is just so scary. They interpret any criticism of the policies and politics of the executive branch as a personal attack on its figurehead, Obama, while turning the attack back as a direct personal attack on anyone daring to doubt those policies. That would seem to better fit the definition of "Redneck" that I understood growing up in the midwest, where there really are "rednecks" (in the literal sense - it supposedly originally meant relatively poor, uneducated seasonal field workers who had long sleeves, and so only got sunburned on the neck).
I think Fox is often far from perfect, but then CNN and much of the print media seems even further away from any pretense of it, and with greater malicious intent too.
Well said, Sara--
ReplyDeleteThis hate within these so-called Progressives has been festering and growing for a long time. I was more than appalled at the amount of hatred pointed toward Sara Palin and her family. I wrote about it on my blog and subsequently was kicked off any of the blogs that I used to visit regularly--all because I tried to defend Sarah Palin's daughter and infant son. I couldn't believe that people that I used to blog with, laugh with, and discuss everyday issue would turn so ugly. I can only say it was a real eye-opener for me.
These new "Progressives" are going to sink the Democratic party so deep that it may never recover again.
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/brad-wilmouth/2009/04/20/hannity-calls-brokaw-are-you-proud-msnbc-garofalo
ReplyDeleteJust a little update.
There is *still* hope.
I hope.