Letters to the Editor
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What has the government asked from us?
We default to comfort and leisure because after 911 Dear Leader took bold actions to protect us and alleviate our fears so that we could go back to life as normal. What sacrifices has anyone other than the military personnel and their families made to fight terrorism? This complacency is exactly what corporations and the government want. the media goes right along with the notion that appeased tranquil populace means less intrusion into what actually has been going on in the name of Nat'l Security. Meanwhile making any objections, let alone ones made for the sake of the Constitution,seem hysterical. My solution; Obama- Clinton ticket and HRC immediately assumes all of the power that Dick Cheney has garnered for his office and it will all mysteriously need to go away. Just like the GOP raping the treasury and as soon as they lose the majority they are now the greatest proponents for eliminating earmarks. Pry their fucking hands off the controls.
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To Bad Hippocrates Wasn't a Journalist
The study exerpted below finds that public opinion has a fundamental impact on Supreme Court Decisions. While it focuses on the first amendment, the exact same is true for any of the rights in the Bill of Rights. Public opinion impacts Judicial decisions as it does legislative and executive actions. In light of this fact, media coverage that has the effect of deflating public support (through misrepresentation) for civil liberties is simply toxic to democracy. It is not only sloppy journalism--it is actually harmful to our form of government. It is unfortunate that journalists have nothing similar to the medical Hippcratic Oath.
One other reaction to GG's piece--The figures Greenwald shows for media articles covering superficial topics as opposed to important topics is also true of polling. We could use more frequent polls on issues of this sort, and many fewer on the "horse race", which occur without fail every single day. Polling is expensive, and we are wasting so much by polling on questions that are simply not that important.
Over time public support for free speech helps buttress — or undermine — existing legal protections. Public support for free speech tends to be strongest for speech that clearly promotes an informed citizenry and democratic self-governance. However, the public tends to have less tolerance for offensive speech and speech that it regards as extremist, particularly when it fails to see a connection to democracy.
The public is also much less protective of media rights than individual rights. That makes it less likely that the high court will rule for news organizations in First Amendment cases than it would in an environment of high public respect for the news media.
The study points to a wide range of mechanisms by which public opinion affects judicial decisions, ranging from the appointments process — which shifts the median or “swing” Justice on the Supreme Court — to the fact that judges and Justices live in the same culture as everyone else. These effects may often be indirect, but over time they may matter a great deal.
“We are now engaged in a really vital debate over civil liberties after 9/11, and it becomes ever more important for the public to show its support for our basic freedoms,” said Balkin, “It’s a time of challenge but also a time of opportunity. Courts can’t do everything by themselves, nor should we expect them to. If the public rises to the occasion and supports freedom of speech when it is threatened, the judiciary will be far more likely to protect this core freedom.”
What is needed, the study says, are larger efforts to educate the public about the First Amendment. It proposes a model for educating students and the public on First Amendment issues, focusing on how free speech and a free press advance democracy and serve the public interest. The model education program should also educate the public about the difference between using social norms and social disapproval to regulate speech, and using the power of the state in the form of fines and criminal penalties.
http://www.knightfoundation.org/news/press_room/knight_press_releases/detail.dot?id=136205
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I feel like screaming
The economy is tanking -- which of course, has nothing to do with Bush Administration policies either on the home front or our trillions of dollars spent in Iraq -- Iraq is still around our necks like a millstone, prosecutors are protesting and resigning from the cases in Gitmo, new revelations of spying and abuse crop up every day, the stink of corruption coming out of the Justice Dept and the Bush administration is nearly unbearable, but what does our press talk about? Obama's preacher, Eliot Spitzer's sex life, and, oh yeah, everything the government does is good or at least has good intentions behind it. Now, let's hear about the latest on Britney.
It's time to move to that island.
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Even
If 100 percent of Americans thought that 100 percent of mail and telephone communication inside the US should be monitored without warrants and published in public journals, what does that have to do with constitutionality?
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No Checks Please!
Americans also don't much care about that strange news about New York banks either. Everyone know it's just a problem with a few misplaced cash or receipt boxes or something. Our boys and girls with the green eyeshades will find that stuff before the day is out - maybe just in time for supper. In fact, all the bank employees are wearing green eyeshades today, in honor of St. Paddy don'cha know; and tomorrow, by gorry - even if worse comes to worse they have to do an all-nighter! - they'll find those lost metal boxes, deep in the vault under some old issues of Time magazine or under the break room tables or wherever. Then! - they'll all have a big promotion see, and they'll give all the customers their own Free! green eyeshades, and - Free! little tin change boxes for all the kids in the family (they're ready to ship from the Caymans right now!).
It's a small token; it's the least they can do; it's their way of saying: "Thanks for your business"!