Hi Jerry,
Re: Try to read the whole thing, I esp. liked the Stalin part.
Me too! It's a great object lesson in how public figures simply cannot engage in banter or wit today. A fine intellectual like Adlai Stevenson, Democratic candidate for President in 1956, would be completely mis-characterized by today's media and misunderstood by the dimmed down electorate. To paraphrase my favorite Stevenson witticism,
'We promise that as long as the Republicans lie about us Democrats, we'll continue to tell the truth about them.'
The Stalin quip, correctly aimed at belittling the cachet of HBS, is just too smart for today's gullible audience. Better to endlessly fill the fluff between their ears with the psyops specials from the fear-mongers shop.
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Re: BBC's ANTI-WAR Coverage:
I saw a report in passing today that the Beeb had by far the worst record of covering the anti-war protests among any of the major media outlets in Britain. I found that to be interesting, inasmuch as I'd basically relied on the Guardian, the Independent, and the Mirror for my news on the protests. It should never be forgotten for a minute that the BBC is a government voice. Though I certainly don't see it to be nearly as crummy as National Pentagon Radio or Propaganda Broadcating Service.
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From the "Just When You Think You Got Him Figured Out Dept.":
Barry Diller was on PBS's Bill Moyer's NOW program this evening, using it as a bully pulpit to argue against the mendacious and idiotic efforts by Colin Powell's scion to destroy what little is left of the "free" media in America with Mike Powell's craven sellout to the likes of Murdock, Hicks and Redstone.
Diller really impressed me tonight. Here's a dedicated capitalist who isn't in the school that believes that the total consolidation of power in the hands of an greed-mad oligopoly is the best future for our nation.
Here's Diller's speech that got the ball rolling the right direction a couple weeks ago, as he shocked the National Association of Broadcasters with some remarkable candor and good sense:
wga.org |
