Is it just me or is something else going on?  I got to thinking last night and came up with some interesting thoughts about the media.

In the emotion of the doubts cast about Obama, his integrity, his faith, his allegiance to this country and its citizens, have you asked yourself who stands to benefit the most from you changing your mind and why the media is so invested in this effort?  Is this really about race, white paternalism, or religious affilation or are there a larger reasons --- MONEY and POWER  -- that play an important role?  Ask yourself which candidate would be less likely to become bedfellows with the powerful lobbyists in Washington, DC? Ask yourself why it has been consistently acknowledged that the Republicans are afraid of Senator Obama's candidacy?  There was a very timely joke made by the newly appointed Governor of NY:  The second-to-last question to Paterson came from New York Sun reporter Jacob Gershman, who asked whether he’d (Paterson) ever patronized prostitutes. No, Paterson said, only lobbyists.

 

I did a quick study on the Internet;this is just a sampling of what you can find out by asking questions.  Get the FACTS, You judge the real reasons for the media efforts to dissuade voters who are looking to Barack Obama for change.:

 

-- Phillip Morris spent over $14 million on lobbying in Washington DC in 2003*.

-- General Electric spent $21.5 million on lobbying in  Washington DC in 2005*

   GENERAL ELECTRIC --(donated 1.1 million to GW Bush for his 2000 election campaign)

 

*Note: 2007 numbers are still trickling out of Washington and will ultimately be available on this website:

http://www.opensecrets.org/lobbyists/clientsum.asp?txtname=Philip+Morris&year=2002

 

-- Toshiba Corporation, which now owns Westinghouse, spent over $30 million in 2007 on lobbying in DC,   according to the NY Times.

 

-- Viacom is a bit more murky: You find its lobbying arms extended through various subsidiaries and holdings, varying between hundreds of thousands to millions per entity.

 

--  Rupert Murdoch is much more complex; his many holdings, including DirectTV have large fingers in the lobbyist pies of Washington and would require significant investigation

 

Article on media, lobbying and government: http://backissues.cjrarchives.org/year/00/3/mediamoney.asp

Sources on lobbyists: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=DIRECTV

                                http://www.opensecrets.org/             

 

 

AND NOW, LOOK AT WHO OWNS WHO...

 

Who owns CNN? or MSNBC? ABC?

by systemfailure Wednesday, Apr. 09, 2003 at 1:43 AM

 

So ya think we have a "free press" eh? Check out who owns who, and who owns what you think.......

 

 

Television Holdings:

* NBC: includes 13 stations, 28% of US households.

* NBC Network News: The Today Show, Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, Meet the Press, Dateline NBC, NBC News at Sunrise.

* CNBC business television; MSNBC 24-hour cable and Internet news service (co-owned by NBC and Microsoft); Court TV (co-owned with Time Warner), Bravo (50%), A&E (25%), History Channel (25%).

The "MS" in MSNBC

means microsoft

The same Microsoft that donated 2.4 million to get GW bush elected.

 

Other Holdings:

* GE Consumer Electronics.

* GE Power Systems: produces turbines for nuclear reactors and power plants.

* GE Plastics: produces military hardware and nuclear power equipment.

* GE Transportation Systems: runs diesel and electric trains.

==================================================

 

WESTINGHOUSE / CBS INC.

Westinghouse Electric Company, part of the Nuclear Utilities Business Group of British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL)

whos #1 on the Board of Directors? None other than:

Frank Carlucci (of the Carlyle Group)

 

Television Holdings:

* CBS: includes 14 stations and over 200 affiliates in the US.

* CBS Network News: 60 minutes, 48 hours, CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, CBS Morning News, Up to the Minute.

* Country Music Television, The Nashville Network, 2 regional sports networks.

* Group W Satellite Communications.

Other Holdings:

* Westinghouse Electric Company: provides services to the nuclear power industry.

* Westinghouse Government Environmental Services Company: disposes of nuclear and hazardous wastes. Also operates 4 government-owned nuclear power plants in the US.

* Energy Systems: provides nuclear power plant design and maintenance.

================================================================

VIACOM INTERNATIONAL INC.

Television Holdings:

* Paramount Television, Spelling Television, MTV, VH-1, Showtime, The Movie Channel, UPN (joint owner), Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, Sundance Channel (joint owner), Flix.

* 20 major market US stations.

Media Holdings:

* Paramount Pictures, Paramount Home Video, Blockbuster Video, Famous Players Theatres, Paramount Parks.

* Simon & Schuster Publishing.

=============================================

DISNEY / ABC / CAP (donated 640 thousand to GW's 2000 campaign)

Television Holdings:

* ABC: includes 10 stations, 24% of US households.

* ABC Network News: Prime Time Live, Nightline, 20/20, Good Morning America.

* ESPN, Lifetime Television (50%), as well as minority holdings in A&E, History Channel and E!

* Disney Channel/Disney Television, Touchtone Television.

Media Holdings:

* Miramax, Touchtone Pictures.

* Magazines: Jane, Los Angeles Magazine, W, Discover.

* 3 music labels, 11 major local newspapers.

* Hyperion book publishers.

* Infoseek Internet search engine (43%).

Other Holdings:

* Sid R. Bass (major shares) crude oil and gas.

* All Disney Theme Parks, Walt Disney Cruise Lines.

======================================================

 

TIME-WARNER TBS - AOL (donated 1.6 million to GW's 2000 campaign)

America Online (AOL) acquired Time Warner–the largest merger in corporate history.

Television Holdings:

* CNN, HBO, Cinemax, TBS Superstation, Turner Network Television, Turner Classic Movies, Warner Brothers Television, Cartoon Network, Sega Channel, TNT, Comedy Central (50%), E! (49%), Court TV (50%).

* Largest owner of cable systems in the US with an estimated 13 million subscribers.

Media Holdings:

* HBO Independent Productions, Warner Home Video, New Line Cinema, Castle Rock, Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera.

* Music: Atlantic, Elektra, Rhino, Sire, Warner Bros. Records, EMI, WEA, Sub Pop (distribution) = the world’s largest music company.

* 33 magazines including Time, Sports Illustrated, People, In Style, Fortune, Book of the Month Club, Entertainment Weekly, Life, DC Comics (50%), and MAD Magazine.

Other Holdings:

* Sports: The Atlanta Braves, The Atlanta Hawks, World Championship Wrestling.

=======================================================

NEWS CORPORATION LTD. / FOX NETWORKS (Rupert Murdoch) (donations see bottom note)

Television Holdings:

* Fox Television: includes 22 stations, 50% of US households.

* Fox International: extensive worldwide cable and satellite networks include British Sky Broadcasting (40%); VOX, Germany (49.9%); Canal Fox, Latin America; FOXTEL, Australia (50%); STAR TV, Asia; IskyB, India; Bahasa Programming Ltd., Indonesia (50%); and News Broadcasting, Japan (80%).

* The Golf Channel (33%).

MEDIA HOLDINGS:

* Twentieth Century Fox, Fox Searchlight.

* 132 newspapers (113 in Australia alone) including the New York Post, the London Times and The Australian.

* 25 magazines including TV Guide and The Weekly Standard.

* HarperCollins books.

OTHER HOLDINGS:

* Sports: LA Dodgers, LA Kings, LA Lakers, National Rugby League.

* Ansett Australia airlines, Ansett New Zealand airlines.

* Rupert Murdoch: Board of Directors, Philip Morris (USA).

 

*(Phillip Morris donated 2.9 million to George W Bush in 2000)*

 

Source: http://la.indymedia.org/news/2003/04/47530.php

 

Browse the NewsHour's coverage of the media

 

It will take a grassroots effort to get every voter possible to think for themselves without fear of not going for a real change.  We have everything to lose if we cannot change our minds and be willing to look past race, ethnicity, and other external and unimportant factors to the truth.  If you keep doing what you've always done you will  get what you've always gotten.  This country cannot afford to continue to make that choice.  It's up to you.

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