The Corporate Media Experiment: Why Isn't Senator Obama 'One of Us'?
I'm not sure how he continues to be regarded as a very serious Washington pundit given his obvious history of race-baiting, but somehow he skulks his way onto MSNBC almost every day. Pat Buchanan on Hardball Monday night wondered out loud about Senator Obama: "Is he one of us?"
If by "one of us" he means a cranky, elitist, white, corporate media, man-shaped bunion who fashioned his career by demonizing brown people, the answer is a certain 'no'. But we know what Buchanan meant by this. Is Senator Obama with "us" or is he with the uppity blacks? Is he a real American like Senator McCain or is he a Muslim terrorist like those e-mails suggest? Is he too European (GAY!)? Is he like us: white, wealthy, conservative, elite?
During this dark ride of the Bush years, it's no longer surprising or shocking to hear such a bottomless cup of awfulness. This line of questioning has become the dominant theme in the corporate media's political narrative. "Us" has become a baseline which liberals -- regardless of race or gender -- will never achieve because the experiment is stacked against anyone who isn't centrist, moderate, right of center or conservative.
In scientific terms, the left has been tagged by the corporate media as the "experimental group" while the right is the "control group." The Republicans are the Awesome Republicans no matter what. They're constant. They set the tone of the debate. The corporate media accepts their terms, their rules and their frames as a given and the Democrats are expected to jump and dash and explain themselves based upon those givens, irrespective of how ludicrous they happen to be.
Prove to us that you're one of us. Prove to us that you support the troops. Prove to us that you're patriotic. Prove to us that you're not an effete snob. Prove to us that you can talk to a gathering of bumpkins in a diner like a plainspoken Republican can. Prove to us that you're not the enemy. Prove to us that you're not presumptuous.
And the experiment goes on and on with the Democrats (or liberals or progressives) poked and dissected and injected with false arguments, specious claims and disproved quotes (see Dana Milbank's recent column) often manufactured by the right and invariably parroted by the corporate media.
Instead of disregarding high pitched cranks like Buchanan and asking, "What Pat? Seriously -- why are you such a fringe psychonaut?" and discounting such a ridiculous question as beneath reason and credibility, the corporate media instead takes the "one of us" question seriously and more often than not wraps an entire debate around it.
This present week, in particular, has been yet another high water mark for this dynamic.
Senator Obama has been accused of being presumptuous, uppity (literally), against the troops, snobbish, elitist, hubristic, European (GAY!) and, considering the array of both subtle and obvious messages in Senator McCain's laughable Britney & Paris commercial, vacuous, frivolous, loopy, superficial, "Hollywood" and, I don't know, he produces amateur porn videos using night vision. Of course reasonable, professional analysts with ethical guidelines and some degree of integrity would disregard such accusations as the dripping-with-flopsweat acts of a desperate, pathetic McCain campaign. But instead, these accusations are somehow validated, debated and defended by people like Pat Buchanan. Prove to us, Senator Obama, that you're not a tabloid pop star. Prove to us that you're not a bleached blonde heiress or a slack-jawed ex-Mouseketeer.
Thankfully, for the cause of reason and rationality, there are people like Rachel Maddow who, while occupying the unglamorous role of debunking and debating Pat Buchanan, said to Buchanan on Wednesday's Race for the White House with Stretch:
"We have a responsibility to talk about whether [these accusations are] deserved, Pat. I think when John McCain doesn't speak to Pat Buchanan as being presumptuous -- calls himself 'President McCain.' But Barack Obama speaks to you as presumptuous for doing something much less damning... that says much more about you than it does the candidates."
In the menacing world of Pat Buchanan and of the larger barbecue media, Senator Obama is, in fact, presumptuous and all the rest of it, or, if he's not, the onus is on him to prove that he's not. Meanwhile, Senator McCain is simply...not. Senator McCain couldn't possibly be an elitist and out of touch with most Americans (even though he wears $520 shoes and his wife is the heiress to an Anheuser-Busch distributorship fortune) because it just doesn't fit their scientific experiment dynamic -- the script, the narrative. He's just not. Senator McCain couldn't possibly be a "celebrity" even though he's hosted SNL and had a movie-of-the-week made about his Vietnam experiences. He's just not. Senator McCain couldn't possibly be in favor of torture even though he voted against banning it. He's just not. Senator McCain couldn't possibly be out of his depth on foreign policy even though his lies and errors in this arena far outnumber any similar gaffes by Senator Obama. He's just not.
Is it any wonder why the latest polls show a much tighter race? And, thusly, is it any wonder that a tight race is better for ratings? Pat Buchanan, it turns out, is good for business.
Anyone who promotes -- or who doesn't necessarily oppose -- the scientific narrative is good for business regardless of whether they're racists or homophobes or drug-addled hooples. After all, Rush Limbaugh's contract was just reupped for $400 million while Sam Seder isn't even allowed on corporate radio.
So irrespective of what Senator Obama might do or say or what his life story might be, as long as he has a (D) after his name, he'll always be expected by the corporate media to explain himself. To prove himself. Why isn't Senator Obama more like Senator McCain: white, wealthy, conservative, elite? They'll go through this routine until the experiment is finished: either Senator Obama is experimented upon until he becomes more like Senator McCain (or another media-approved "one of us") or he'll lose the election and the actual Senator McCain is the next president. And the experiment continues. That is, unless we can seize the initiative redefine who "us" is. After a long history of white, wealthy, conservative elites running the lab, it's time to shut it down and clear the way for the rest of us.
Bob Cesca's Goddamn Awesome Blog! Go!
CORRECTION: Mrs. McCain is the heiress to an Anheuser-Busch distributorship fortune.
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I wouldn't vote for someone like me... I want someone much smarter than me and with a much stronger work ethic. I would take a nap in the afternoon and then stay up all nite reading blogs. I would be awake and ready for that 3AM phone call though!
Well the fact that you recognize that the POTUS should be someone much smarter than you are, makes you smarter than a lot of people. Freaky huh?
Okay, spot-on post, Bob.
Now its time to quitchabitchin!
It's time for progressives to own media and have a powerhouse 24-hour cable news channel. That's the only thing that will work. You must meet power with greater power.
If we don't, who will?
As long as the media are an oligarchy, progressives will never own a 24-hour cable news channel. The failure of America, due to a lack money, is the best example.
Correction: Air America.
This post is right on, as usual. Listening to Pat Buchanan borders on nauseating, just as it was during the Democratic Primary when Buchanan kept saying that Clinton's victories in KY and W. Virginia were all about culture and that Obama lost because he was too different (racially). Buchanan and other conservatives also keep saying that Obama is elitist and too intellectual, as if we were supposed to vote for someone who is poor and ignorant or just an everyday Joe.
The past seven plus years have shown what can happen when we elect a President who is not very intelligent or "someone we would want to have a beer with". It's time we elected a President who is intelligent and who isn't necessarily "one of us". To say that John McCain is "one of us" is ridiculuous. He's just as wealthy as any of our past presidents. The MSM needs to wake up to reality!
Excellent post - thank you for articulating what I cannot.
The fact that one political party in this country can literally ruin peoples lives simply by developing a negative strategy and attack them with blatant lies and mis-quotes is wrong. Sen. Obama is a good man who clearly respects his fellow human beings and does what he can to make life better for as many people as he can. Pat Buchanan has always been to the far right on these kinds of issues and those who support the GOP now, need to ask themselves if this party deserves their support. The bottom line is, people from every walk of life make up this country and most of us are simply trying to get along in the world and do our best to raise our children to be good citizens. There are a lot of good people who have to work at places like wal-mart and they need their jobs, so when someone in authority at that job, makes it clear to them that it would not be appreciated were they to vote in a way that goes against what their employer wants, you can be sure the fear of losing their job will cause them to vote like they are told.
Thank you Bob for the great article but to be honest I don't know how much more I can take. After 2000 I became numb and retreated and found myself totally complacent in 2004. I want to truly believe we can open the minds of the mindless but my skepticism seems to being getting the better of me. I have tried though I have gone to get out the vote events and attended some meetings. I try to talk to people about real issues but I am finding some of the most outrageous attitudes about in particular Senator Obama himself. It has been a disheartening experience and more than anything extremely scary. It is comments like Pat Buchanan's and I’m sure similar ones on Fox and other networks that are feeding into this bias and I don’t know how to defeat them.
I, too, am sick and tired of all the reprehensible smears and attacks - I should just turn off the TV, unplug the computer and just go vote for O in Nov. I can't however because I have a sick need to see what is being thrown at as so I know when to duck.
At the risk of sounding like a skipping record (for those of us old enough to know what that is :), they can't sell what we don't buy. We can point the finger in every direction but it all boils down to us. We have the power, we simply need to find the discipline to weild that power, and that power is our choices as consumers.
Well put. Consumers always blame the companies but never hold themselves responsible for purchasing decisions. People are always, for instance, blasting auto makers for manufacturing gas guzzling SUVs and Hummers. Well guess what folks, they gave us what they wanted. If we had wanted smaller, efficient vehicles, that's what they would have made. They didn't invent the SUV because they hate the environment and love Saudi Arabia. They made SUVS because CONSUMERS couldn't buy enough of them!
The important thing, and I wonder why this comes as such a surprise in this Ass Backwards country we live in, is that an every growing number of American voters don't think he is. If the election were held today, it would be too close to call. In November, the way the tide seems to be turning on him, he will be heading back to this jr. senate seat.
what tide? Obama is going to pummel McCain.
I hope you are wrong. Let us think back to the kitchen sink Hillary strategies of the primary season. Remember how Barack seemed to be losing his "momentum" and then suddenly he'd gain back his ground and end up better off than before the attacks? This happened over and over and eventually, as we all know, he defeated the Clinton machine. I think the same will be the case vs McBush, who is making a complete arse of himself lately.
Yes we can, and YES WE WILL.... again! :)
Obama '08
LOVED THE ARTICLE!
But I think you're giving psychonauts a bad name lumping Buchanan in with them.
I can't stand his voice - the screeching brings to mind a train throwing on the breaks. Goes for his sister too!
Please give more voice to this subject. We all know the MSM gives voice to some of the most unbelievable garbage and then spins it and debates it ad nauseum.
Of course Obama does not look like the other fellows on the doolor bills. Those others are old,, full of wrinkles, expressionless, and some are even wearing wigs!!
and he's black - simple fact, and I have freckles.
What I don't understand is why on Earth would we WANT our President to be "one of us." I understand the desire to have a President that can relate to your needs, but at the end of the day it takes an extraordinary human being to be a President of ANY nation, but especially a nation like America. As much as we like telling our kids that they can be anything they want to be, they could even be President, that's simply not true.
I don't care that John McCain wears $500 shoes or that Obama drinks expensive tea or that John Edwards has $400 haircuts. I don't care if they shop where I shop or eat what I eat or worship in the same manner as myself. I'd prefer them to be self made men who didn't rely on their family's name and wealth to get them through life, but I am wiling to overlook that if they have been able to prove themselves on their own merit. At the end of the day, what matters to me is that they are up to the task of being President of the United States, not whether or not they're like me.
While I agree with 99% of what you're saying, I think George W. Bush could successfully refute this argument:
"...it takes an extraordinary human being to be a President of ANY nation..."
Of course, if you add in the word "good" or "effective" or even "competent," your argument is valid.
Lol! Very true.
LOL, sorry, yes indeed that should be changed to "effective President"
As long as BO comes off looking non threatening, kind of a Tiger Woods type of black, Americans will be eager to have them as their teddy bear. When he takes the gloves off like this week, most voters will be reminded that he is human and the soft fuzzies will disappear. He will then need to run on his ideas which are same old, same old. A level playing field is not good for his campaign.
It is impossible to overcame the power of the Corporate media tilt in favor of of the Republican party, because they own the party. The only solution is to ask these millionaries progressive people such as Al Gore, Soros, Spielberg,
Corporate News media and American 'journalists' have elevated McCain to "the most popular national political figure in the country" by repeatedly describing him as a "war hero" based on his refusal accept a communist offer of "early release" from captivity.
What the media has carelessly refused to acknowledge is that the camp's senior ranking U.S. POW (SRO) had issued unquestionable orders that if a POW was to be released, "it would be the longest held prisoner" Because McCain was not the longest held POW, he would have faced a military court-marshal if he had accepted the offer.
It is incumbent upon McCain to prove to the American people that the 5 1/2 years he spent at the mercy of communist interrogators did not leave him with mental health issues that could hinder him in making snap decisions "if the White House phone rang at 3 a.m."
Buchanan is really disgustingly snide every time he talks about O. I cannot understand why MSNBC lets him get away with it. I have to hand it to Rachel Maddow tho because she usually catches him when he makes an inane statement and laughingly calls him on it.
Talking Pez Heads
http://sfb
I think they like to bring Buchanan on because he's painfully easy to disprove. It's just a good thing that they bring Rachel on to disprove him. It would be bad if they didn't.
Anyhow, it makes good TV to watch those fireworks.
Great post you hit the mark!
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