Act VI: In Which Wolf Blitzer Hot Carls All Over the Place

It's sad when people must consult foreign news sources to find out what is going on in the world and in their own country. Protests broke out in Egypt Friday, January 25, 2013, and CNN reports that the Egyptian people are protesting because the democratically elected regime is part of the Muslim Brotherhood and attempting a power grab. Unfortunately, in the past two years our media failed to report that we, the U.S., supported Egyptian rebel regime change leadership in 2011 and, therefore, the current regime.

So what?* 

The muslim world has been very successful in using social media to spread word about, and draw attention to, their causes and political movements. Friday's protests were no different. Egyptian citizens involved in the protests were actively commenting on Facebook about what was really going on there, unfiltered and without media spin. I'm not going to provide a screen shot of the thread because blurring all the photos and screen names is a headache. However, follow this link and find the status update from January 25, 2013 that says "This is happening in Egypt right now." Here are some quotes from Egyptians in the thread (minimal editing for clarity):

• "Today clashes are everywhere in Egypt we want to step-down our system and the new constitution that allows the military trials for [civilians] and ignores women rights".
• "csf are shooting demonstrators with Cartouche and tearbombs."
• "our new system is part 2 of mubarak's system, nothing changed."
• "do not believe whoever tell you that the demos are against the president because he belongs to religious party! it is not true"
• "What's happening is, the new democratically elected president (this is why democracy is shit) gave himself sweeping powers and plans to enact a constitution that is sexist, sectarian, and despotic. This is the Egyptian people's response."
• "back in time, 2011 ...we revolted against Mubarak's system because of poverty,repression and thefts: [We] lost our friends during ,during incidents happened nothing changed, nothing at all we want [is] retribution for the revolution martyrs we want a constitution that represents all the Egyptians our revolution slogan: freedom-dignity-social equality and bread"

I think my favorite part is when they say "this is why democracy is shit". While we were largely posting pictures of snow all day, they were busy posting pictures of the violence used on protesters because, again, they often use social media for something constructive.

Also, please remember that CNN reported Egyptians are upset because the current president is part of the "Muslim Brotherhood" while the Egyptians themselves say that the protests have nothing to do with the president's "religious party". Should we believe the actual protesters or Wolf Blitzer, Zionist/Corporate Journalist?

Why would they lie?*

Because it's better to say that the president belongs to an unpopular "religious party" than to say the regime is despotic and misogynous, especially when we helped put that regime in power. Granted, our role in that revolution has not been widely publicized despite the English media linking documented proof of our support. Lastly, the U.S. doesn't have a good track record in regime changes. Seriously, look it up.

Clearly our media doesn't give us the full story, if they give a story at all. It is widely known and understood that we are using Predator Drone strikes in countries with which we are not at war as part of our ongoing "War on Terror". I may be wrong here (because I can only stomach mainstream news for approximately 10 minutes at a time) but I don't believe our media gives these strikes too much attention, if any. Of course, we are going after Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders and that is necessary**. However, A simple Google search will yield plenty of stories on drone strikes, most of which are the about the number of civilians killed with heavy focus on women and children. Independent news website PolicyMic reports that approximately 36 civilians are killed for every 1 terrorist in thse strikes. Whether we are going after militants or not, that number is ludicrously disproportional and unacceptable.

I get that this is a war but we need to put this in an unbiased perspective. What makes us so great? What makes us right? What gives us the right to do this? We all recognize the Newtown, CT shooting as a tragedy because it fucking is. There is nothing anyone can say to justify or logically explain what happened or why. Twenty-six people were killed, majority children. We all identify with the families, as Americans, and it scares the shit out of all parents.

Imagine if you were sitting around watching television and a missile or bomb suddenly decimates your house, family, and neighbors. That exact thing happens regularly in countries such as Pakistan thanks to our drone strikes. On January 6, 2013 we killed 16 Pakistani people, majority civilian (man, woman, and child). This begs the question, if innocent people are killed by a random act of violence, and they are not American, is it still a tragedy? Our media doesn't seem to think so.

The difference between the average drone strike and the Newtown massacre is not just the age of the victims. We repeatedly do this to people overseas without apology and our media doesn't really say shit about it. If they do, it is justified and the victims are "collateral damage", not people. Yes, we are going after militant leaders but we are killing innocent people in the process. It is tragic and it should not be acceptable to anyone with a pulse. If we can't take out specific targets without killing civilians we shouldn't do it. We need to lead by example. Let's not forget that we are setting the precedent for what is acceptable with drone warfare. Right now we have a lock on the market. How will we like it when someone sends one of those things into our territory or that of our allies? I bet it will be considered an act of war...because it is goddammit. Furthermore, our taxes pay for this shit. Do you like that the money you earn goes to killing innocent people in some way?

While I'm at it, I had a thought about President Obama's speech after the Newtown shooting, the one in which he cried. He has described the event as the worst in his presidency and in this speech he said that the victims had their future stolen from them. What about the foreign children that are dying as a result of the drone strikes he authorized? Do they not matter? Are they lesser people because they are not American? Drone warfare has been a consistent criticism of Obama's foreign policy. The fact that by June 2012 he had authorized 5 times as many Pakistani drone strikes as President Bush, killing around 3,000 people of which only 2% are reportedly militant leaders, makes his Newtown speech seem a little sanctimonious.

Our media so heavily spins stories on our foreign policy that we can't really understand what is going on. They'll show Palestinians throwing rocks at Israeli soldiers without showing or saying how Israel shelled a Palestinian neighborhood. They'll talk about rising anti-U.S. aggression against U.S. soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan without mentioning that it is in response to civilian casualties. Hell, they don't even acknowledge that the main reason for the tension between the U.S. and the Middle East is largely do to our foreign policy and influence on the region.

Well, that's over there. How does our media do with domestic issues?*

Piss poor.

Remember Occupy Wall Street (OWS)? I remember the news coverage on television was pretty much tents, hippies, squalor, interviews with extremely uninformed outliers, and an overall presentation that they were lazy and unorganized. Mostly I remember the backlash against the movement. Cops used unnecessary violence against protesters to detain, disperse, or humiliate them. People were pepper sprayed, hit in the head with gas canisters, and arrested for staging peaceful protests.

You may have missed this story because our media failed report it altogether and should be ashamed of themselves for not doing so. Fortunately, the British media still seems somewhat objective. The Guardian, a respected British newspaper, reported and linked documents proving that the OWS crackdown was planned and executed by a cabal of federal, state, and local law enforcement officials working in cahoots with private institutions, namely BANKS AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.  Officially, this is known as the Domestic Security Alliance.

I feel like this also needs some perspective. The Occupy Movement put the terminology "99%" and "1%" in our everyday vernacular. The movement was born out of dissatisfaction with the influence that the wealthy and financial institutions hold over our government and the favoritism our government shows them. The very people OWS are protesting against - the ones that caused the recession; the ones that try to shirk paying taxes; the ones that lobby and obtain favors from politicians - are now working hand in hand with the federal government to take down the movement by providing law enforcement with private and financial information on protesters. The people benefiting from ruining the country are now working with the government to stop people from rallying against them.

For those of you that may not remember, the head of the intelligence community was recently taken down by the intelligence community itself. Do you feel comfortable expressing a dissenting opinion knowing that your bank may turn your financial records over to the government? Shit, they apparently even talked about assassinating OWS leaders. That shows how much big business cares about us common folk doesn't it?

Why should the media report this? Wouldn't it just spread dissent?*

The media should report this because we are taxpayers, not the enemy. We are citizens, not Al Qaeda and, fuck yeah, it would spread dissent. The protests exist because the system no longer works for the people. It now works for the affluent and big business. To the government I say this: Go after those motherfuckers. Throw their asses in jail when they conspire to fuck people over in the name of greed and you will find it restores integrity. Make them pay their fair share in taxes, business and individual alike, and you will find that there is plenty of money to kill children with drones or whatever other hegemonic activity gets your dick hard. If this Domestic Security Alliance doesn't convince you that the system is broken, I don't know what will.

Our media is an utter failure and public enemy number one. U.S. journalism died in the 1980's. We don't get objectivity, we get a very phosisticated*** form of propaganda. Prior to cable, there was approximately 60 minutes of national news on television per day and it was more efficient and of better quality than today's 24 hour format. The premise is the same in that there is still one act of journalism - the breaking of new information. In the 1970's the story would break and the known facts would be given. The next day, all the new facts would be given. Today, the story breaks and then people talk about it and speculate for a few hours until new information is available. Then they talk and speculate about that. Then they put a pundit on that presents their batshit crazy opinions as fact on a talk show that is designed to look like a news program. Punditry is entertainment disguised as journalism. Every topic is beaten into the ground and spun until the audience no longer can tell fact from bullshit. It's not a conspiracy, it's business and they are in the business of protecting the status quo. What we now call journalism in this country is a festering canker sore of marketing, opinion, sensationalism, fear mongering, celebrity worship, and bullshit. The revolution will certainly not be televised.

Today's topic has been brought to you by the letter "p":

      * For the record, for all of the hypothetical questions I imagine you are asking me, in my head your voice sounds lik Kermit the Frog with Cerebral Palsy.
   ** I guess.
*** That spelling is intentional.