- America's political king-makers may not have absolute
control, but they do have effective control. Much of the manipulation of
public perception comes through the establishment media, who serve as the
self-appointed sponsors of presidential debates. When a candidate like
Rep. Ron Paul, with millions of grass-root supporters, threatens to break
through they sideline him as "second tier," limit his camera
time, and suppress the overwhelming public support on post-debate web polls.
When even that fails to work, we see them arrest reporters outside the
debate arena who dare ask 9/11 conspiracy questions of the mainstream candidates.
-
- The media used to be able to get away with reliance only
upon the two party system (where the winner takes all votes) to exclude
the rise of third parties. All they had to do to precondition the public
to the preferred candidates was to announce on the evening news that such
and such a list of candidates were the "front runners, according to
experts." Media moguls and other king-makers in America have always
excluded less known candidates from debates by setting an artificially
high percentage of popularity as a barrier to entry. Establishment pollsters
also manipulate polling results by framing the questions to ignore minor
candidates or using sophisticated computerized lists to poll a higher percentage
of predictable voters in areas with known demographic values.
-
- While these tactics are still very much in use, the Powers
That Be (PTB) are having to scramble for new ways to counter the growing
influence of the internet, which has created an independent venue for non-mainstream
candidates to bypass the media blackout.
-
- FreeMarketNews.com has taken the lead in crucial reporting
on this heighten form of political manipulation: "During the recent
presidential debates--certainly the Republican one--CNN executives gave
'second tier' candidates less time and exposure than 'first tier' candidates
[Giuliani, McCain, and Romney]. They did so without informing the public
and in fact seemingly misled the public during the debates and afterward
about their actions and intentions. After the recent Republican presidential
debate, CNN executives evidently manipulated internal political polls,
made it difficult for the public to find information on the real 'winner'--small-government
conservative Congressman Ron Paul (R-Tex), according to widespread Internet
results." Here's the evidence:
-
- "- GOP candidates were seated so that the 'first
tier' candidates had center stage.
-
- "- Second tier candidates received, in some cases,
only half as much time as first tier candidates.
-
- "- CNN moderators stated continuously that 'all'
would have a chance to answer every question, but then ran out of time
before these promises could be kept.
-
- "- After the debate, behavior that seemed to marginalize
certain candidates--especially Ron Paul--was just as obvious.
-
- "- CNN anchors spent a good deal of time interviewing
'major' candidates, but far less time with increasingly popular 'second
tier' candidates. The fervent support of some second-tier candidates on
the 'Net--especially free-market proponent Ron Paul--is a major news story,
but one that CNN virtually ignored.
-
- "-CNN put up a 'visual' after the debate but then
promptly pulled it. At the time it was pulled, it apparently showed candidate
Ron Paul (R-Tex) winning the debate by a significant majority.
-
- "-Later, CNN put up a web-based comments page about
the debate but took that down, as well. The 'vanished' comment page has
been posted at several alternative news websites. It features numerous
positive comments about Ron Paul's performance.
-
- "-CNN has also seemingly made it fairly difficult
to find its web-based GOP Poll on the debate's winner. Once again, Ron
Paul is firmly entrenched as the leader, and in several other Internet
polls as well."
-
- I would add to that, that questions are sometimes tailored
to make major candidates look good, and marginalize lesser candidates by
trying to trip them up or make them look extreme. In all debates so far,
no embarrassing questions have been asked of the majors which would
highlight their conflict of interest, establishment links and/or corruption:
i.e., Giuliani's financial relationship with CINTRA, (the foreign corporation
that is building one leg of the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) highway system.
The TTC is part of the "NAFTA Superhighway"); or Hillary Clinton's
financial relationship with InfoUSA, (an outsourcing company run by Vin
Gupta of India that has channeled millions into the coffers of Bill and
Hillary Clinton).
-
- On the substance of the debate, one set of responses
by the mainstream candidates was particularly galling. Commentator Paul
Craig Roberts describes it best: "All of the leading Republican presidential
candidates openly and nonchalantly endorsed using nuclear weapons against
Iran unless Iran abandons its right to enrich uranium under the non-proliferation
treaty, to which Iran is a signatory (unlike nuclear-armed Israel, India,
and US puppet Pakistan).
-
- "What is moral degeneracy if it is not using nuclear
weapons to murder masses of innocent civilians and spread deadly radioactivity
over vast areas merely in order to force a country to do as we order? If
this isn't barbarism, what is barbarism?" Roberts also said, correctly,
that "War without a just cause is murder, not war."
-
- ASK CONSPIRATORIAL QUESTIONS AND GO DIRECTLY TO JAIL
-
- We've observed for years how anyone holding conspiratorial
views is denigrated mercilessly on mainstream talk shows--especially those
pretending to be conservative (Limbaugh, Hannity, and Beck et al.). After
this week's GOP debate, it is clear the intolerance for journalists who
ask the wrong questions has gone to another level entirely.
-
- Matt Lepacek, a freelance reporter working for Infowars.com
who claimed to have proper press credentials at CNN's Republican debate,
was arrested by NH State Police at the command of Giuliani's press secretary
after asking a question about Giuliani's foreknowledge of the collapse
of the World Trade Center twin towers. Giuliani is denying he ever indicated
he was forewarned even though there are dozens of internet copies of his
TV audio interview with Peter Jennings in which he said, "I was told
that the World Trade Center was gonna' collapse."
-
- Another cameraman stringing for Infowars got the confrontation
on tape:
- http://www.infowars.com/articles/ps/giuliani_reporter_
- arrested_on_orders_of_giuliani_press_sec.htm
-
- The most burning question is why were New Hampshire State
Police arresting a reporter merely on the non-verbal signal from Rudy Giuliani's
press secretary? The police are scrambling to determine whose name they
are going to put on the paperwork justifying the arrest, and are refusing
to release that name until the hearing on July 1. This could result in
a major lawsuit for illegal arrest and violation of 4th Amendment rights.
-
- Lepacek also had a web cam hidden on his person which
continued to record the sounds of his interaction with police in the patrol
car after the arrest. The police threatened him with secret detention for
espionage just because of the presence of a hidden camera. While this is
ludicrous on its face, legally, it does indicate that the influence of
the federal secret prison system has filtered down to state levels. Apparently,
State Police are willing to funnel people into this new American Gulag
as "anti-government traitors."
-
- I predict that one of two possible scenarios will play
out here. Either State prosecutors will try to plea bargain this out of
existence (with a monetary payoff to Lepacek in exchange for immunity against
lawsuits) or they will shop for a judge who will slap a gag order on all
proceedings and deny that any of Lepacek's rights were violated. Lepacek
was arrested for criminal trespass, which will be based on the presumption
that he did not have a press pass. Note in the video that the Police took
him away without making a determination about a pass. They were acting
on orders of Giuliani's press agent.
-
- _____
-
- World Affairs Brief, June 8, 2007. Commentary and Insights
on a Troubled World.
-
- Copyright Joel Skousen. Partial quotations with attribution
permitted.
-
- Cite source as Joel Skousen's World Affairs Brief
-
- http://www.worldaffairsbrief.com
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