20-02-2014, 10:15 PM
"He might be a genuine researcher who didn't have a good reality governer in his mental software. The mainstream media would be anxious to invite such persons on their own without the person being an agent provocateur."
That's exactly what I think about the Fetzer issue. When lower level producers get the job to run a "JFK Mystery" story, they know how it's supposed to play out for the public - expert vs. loon (and in this case, "Dr." loon). It reminds me of Chomsky's Propaganda Model. The people most successful in attaining a seat of power are the ones who have been most successfully propagandized. I can't imagine it's hard for the community college graduates at Fox News to realize that the sooner they absorb Roger Ailes opinions, the better. The higher you move up through the ranks, the more you know what not to talk about, and the more you believe the Thomas Friedman One World-One Market Right-Wing Propaganda. The strength of this conception is that it does not require manipulation by the Intelligence Community. Those at the top could have been approached at some time in their career (a la Mockingbird at Life, the NY Times, etc.), but not all "journalists" and reporters that we think are so obviously not in tune with reality. In fact, if that Mockingbird contact was made in a major decades ago, you'd have to think that servicing the interests of the US Government (aka "stability", winning the Cold War, avoiding Nuclear War, etc) became an informal part of our media culture. The end result being, of course, that we get to hear about sexual affairs and bridge closings, but nothing about domestic political assassinations, economic warfare, Geopolitics, etc.
I could actually learn to live with this, IF our ruling class didn't ensconce themselves within this system of maintaining order. And, it's not even that much order anyway.
That's exactly what I think about the Fetzer issue. When lower level producers get the job to run a "JFK Mystery" story, they know how it's supposed to play out for the public - expert vs. loon (and in this case, "Dr." loon). It reminds me of Chomsky's Propaganda Model. The people most successful in attaining a seat of power are the ones who have been most successfully propagandized. I can't imagine it's hard for the community college graduates at Fox News to realize that the sooner they absorb Roger Ailes opinions, the better. The higher you move up through the ranks, the more you know what not to talk about, and the more you believe the Thomas Friedman One World-One Market Right-Wing Propaganda. The strength of this conception is that it does not require manipulation by the Intelligence Community. Those at the top could have been approached at some time in their career (a la Mockingbird at Life, the NY Times, etc.), but not all "journalists" and reporters that we think are so obviously not in tune with reality. In fact, if that Mockingbird contact was made in a major decades ago, you'd have to think that servicing the interests of the US Government (aka "stability", winning the Cold War, avoiding Nuclear War, etc) became an informal part of our media culture. The end result being, of course, that we get to hear about sexual affairs and bridge closings, but nothing about domestic political assassinations, economic warfare, Geopolitics, etc.
I could actually learn to live with this, IF our ruling class didn't ensconce themselves within this system of maintaining order. And, it's not even that much order anyway.