http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027426350 H2O Man (53,128 posts)
The Media vs President Obama
In the past week, I have been focused on the issue of how the media engages in perception management. If one were to believe the news -- specifically from yesterday afternoon until this morning -- it would seem that the United States is losing the war with ISIS, because of the weakness of President Obama. Last night on MSNBC, even Chris Matthews acted as if President Obama had somehow let the nation down, by not announcing that a million troops were being sent to Iraq, and martial law declared in the United States.
Perhaps the only sane voice heard on MSNBC and CNN has been that of Malcolm Nance. I noted that another forum member had an OP about Mr. Nance two days ago; shortly before it “sank,†another forum member questioned who Nance is? It is difficult to imagine how the public could have informed opinions on American policy on ISIS, without an awareness of Malcolm Nance and his beliefs on the topic.
If the media’s intention was to inform the public -- to provide rational, factual information that appealed to the public’s intellectual potential -- Mr. Nance would be provided with a bit longer than 40 seconds to speak. But instead, the general public is far more familiar with what Donald Trump says about President Obama betraying the nation, than Mr. Nance’s saying that President Obama is approaching the issue in the best way possible.
The result is that much of the public believes that sending ground troops to Iraq and/or Syria would lessen the chances of domestic “lone wolf†terrorist attacks. A growing number of republicans actually are convinced that Donald Trump could make the United States “safer†than has President Obama. And even those Democrats who are unfamiliar with Malcolm Nance know who Donald Trump is. Thus, even they tend to discuss ISIS et al in the context of the definitions provided by the media and Donald Trump.
I’m not in full agreement with President Obama. I do not favor an emphasis on military action to “defeat†ISIS. By definition, this is not a “problem†that the military can solve by killing “bad guys.†But I believe his approach is sane, while the republican-media approach is insane. It is troubling to see the nation being swayed by the drum-beats for war.
I have no clue who this Nance guy is, nor do I care.
Here is the PGR defense program to defeat ISIS:
Kill them all and let God sort it out. Problem solved.
The only thing ISIS understands is violence, I say give it to them in spades.
