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| By now the Cheney shooting is old news and everyone is tired of the same jokes repeated again and again, but this incident reveals more than a trigger happy Vice President. Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman in their book "Manufacturing Consent" very carefully layout the propaganda model used in America on a daily basis to control views expressed and discussed by the public. The system can express many views, but only if there are the elites. Though it has been twenty years since the book has been published, the system holds as true as it has in the past. They define the system as five parts, which work together, enforcing each other to ensure the sucess of the system.
1. Size, ownership, and profit orientation of the mass media - to maximize profit, the media filters opinions which will increase its market share
2. Advertising - how the goal of the media is to sell a product (us) to a consumer (advertising businesses).
3. Sourcing - because gathering news is difficult on a daily basis, organizations which make it obtaining news easier will be favored, like the government
4. Flak - negative responses to media statements
5. Anti Communism (now anti terrorism) - Exploiting public fears
You can read more in the book, but there is a chapter in the book that deals with worthy and unworthy victims for the media. A worthy victim is one which serves the system. For example, incidents of iraqis killing other iraqis are always
mentioned, but rarely have I seen a story about US soldiers killing
iraqis. This is where the media really shines. There are four stages of coverage for a worthy victim. The first one is where there is very detailed coverage of the incident. I saw experts in hunting brought on morning television explaining the shooting. The next stage envolves a call for justice. The government was scrutinized for delaying the release of the shooting incident. The The third stage tries to find responsibility at the top. News anchors were deciding who holds more blame, Cheney or Whittington. The final stage reaches a conclusion. Cheney accepted blame as well as Whittington.
Typically when the someone high in power does something bad, the media downplays it, like Bush not signing the kyoto protocol. But this time, the vice president shot a fellow man, if the propaganda system worked, this should not be in news. Then why was it and why to such a large degree.
Cheney became a worthy victim because the facts of his incident were choosen to serve the system. As soon as the incident happened, the media automatically took the official word and called it an accident. Some reports say that Cheney was 90ft away from Whittington when he shot him with a shotgun. I am no expert, but it is awfully hard to shot someone from that faraway with a shotgun as to impale pellets in there heart. Conspiracy theorist have done scientic testing to validate the shooting and concluded that Cheney was about 15-18ft away from Whittington when the incident happened. Other questions as why Whittington was taken to a poorer hospital which was farther away are also left unanswered. In the end, we will probably never know what really happened that day and it doesnt really matter. Cheney became a worthy victim to divert attention from all the terrible things going on in the world right now and it worked for the week.
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| I want to start of this blog with a truism. Its a truism because it is self evident and can be universally applied. This truism probably has many authors, but the author I steal it from is Noam Chomsky.
Privilege confers responsibility.
Residing in this country and more importantly being aware of the true religion, I believe we are given opportunities, education, training, and resources to obtain what which most of the world cannot. Thus it becomes obligatory on us as human beings and more importantly as bearers of the true religion to go out into the world and correct the injustices, evils, and problems in order to return the earth into a state of harmony and peace.
One of the most blatant examples of us, the citizens of America, falling drastically short of our responsibility is when we neglect to seek out and educate ourselves with the truth. Too often do I find someone turned into a jingoist, just uttering phrases heard over the evening news. We have to learn to ask tough questions to ourselves when we watch the news, such as why do all the news networks cover the same stories, with the same spin, and the same conclusion. It is our responsibility to see the truth behind the news and inform others of the knowledge gained.
This is just one example, many others can easily be cited, but returning to the main point, as citizens of leading power in the world, it is our responsibility to see were help is needed and provide it. No longer should we or can we race after meaningless goals of obtaining the best car or the largest house while our fellow brothers and sisters suffer under this nation's power. We must take responsibility for the opportunities were are given or we will be held responsible at one time or another.
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