Your media in action/Updated

One can learn a lot about American elections by watching how our press handles elections abroad. Venezuela Analysis pulled together articles by Michael McGehee, Murray Polner, and Greg Wilpert to present some extraordinary examples of how our media–the article focuses on the NYT– openly supports oligarchy against democracy. The NYT:

* Consistently claimed that the election was close when in fact Chavez was ahead by landslide proportions and everyone knew it

* Claimed that Venezuelans were voting for Chavez out of fear of retaliation when the voting system actually is secure and people trust that their votes are confidential

* Claimed that Venezuelans were voting for Chavez because of Tammany-style patronage, whereas what they are calling patronage is what we in the US call “voting your pocketbook.”

* Published an OpEd that used misleading statistics about child deaths while failing to mention that unemployment has improved, and poverty has decreased (but crime is up)

* Repeated an unverified claim that government workers who signed a petition to recall Chavez suffered retaliation

If our media think that benefits like old-age pensions are “patronage,” how do they see Social Security? If they are lying to us about a foreign election–calling a landslide victory too close to call!– why do we think they aren’t spinning us about our own? I guess we think that we can decode or debunk what they are saying about the US. But this is a big country, with all sorts of wrinkles and hidden action. I think we are fooling ourselves.
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Update: Mark Weisbrot has some of the economic statistics on VZ.

Biden Rules, Ryan Tells Pointless Anecdotes

This pic from http://twitpic.com/b3a14y (@ggreeneva) says it all:

Biden had facts and specifics, whereas Ryan told long stories instead of answering questions most of the time. But the few times he didn’t try to run out the clock, he told big fat whoppers that Biden immediately punctured.

A Pro-Obama video worth watching

It’s fun and well-done. I sent it to a right-winger who keeps sending me shovelfuls of BS. Hopefully like garlic to a vampire.