The NYT:
"The World Roger Ailes Created" and "Roger Ailes Fused TV With Politics, Changing Both" are just two of the stories that the NYT printed in the last week on the media mastermind of Fox News. It's not that the articles lacked insight. In fact, several of them drew interesting parallels with Trump's basic message to the angry and disaffected in American society.
What is missing in all the articles is the word "race." The only mention of the word was in "presidential race," not as in the racism so blatantly apparent in Fox News and in the fascist rhetoric of Donald Trump.
How to avoid the obvious? Leave it to the NYT to leave out racism even when describing Ailes' Willie Horton ads: "he produced the sleazy and effective 'Revolving Door' ad that tarred Michael Dukakis by association with murderers and rapists."
Of course, the Horton ads were really about Black murderers and rapists. The fact that our newspaper of record can talk about Ailes, Fox News, and Trump without referring at least once to racism is a testament to how white intellectuals in our country still don't get it, or don't want to get it.
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Observer:
"Debbie Wasserman Schultz Served Class Action Lawsuit for Rigging Primaries. This is the first of many consequences the Democratic Party will face for manipulating millions of voters. ...
'The first is a claim for fraud—against the DNC and Debbie Wasserman Schultz—based on the revelations from the recent Guccifer 2.0 documents ... include internal memos in which the DNC broke legally binding neutrality agreements in the Democratic primaries by strategizing to make Hillary Clinton the nominee before a single vote was cast.
The second claim filed is for negligent misrepresentation, a legal theory based on the first claim of fraud. The third claim alleges the DNC and Wasserman Schultz participated in deceptive conduct in claiming the DNC was neutral during the Democratic primaries, when there is overwhelming evidence suggesting favoritism of Clinton from the beginning. The fourth claim of the lawsuit seeks retribution of any monetary donations the DNC to Bernie Sanders‘ campaign. The fifth claim alleges the DNC broke its fiduciary duties during the Democratic primaries to members of the Democratic Party by not holding a fair election process ...' "
-->This lawsuit was not covered by any mainstream media, which preferred personality stories about who hated who in the DNC emails. The NYT has a long article blaming the Russians, all based on hearsay evidence as usual. Maybe the most interesting story (told by Julian Assange on Democracy Now) was how Wasserman called the head of MSNBC and got the "Morning Joe" show "disciplined" for giving interview time to Sanders. Who could have imagined that the Democratic Party had that much power to subvert the media?
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Guardian UK:
"Israel’s parliament has passed a controversial law allowing MP's to expel colleagues for incitement, racism or support for armed struggle against the state that critics say is aimed mainly at Arab legislators. ...
The passage of the law brings an end to a long running saga over attempts by Israel’s rightwing to bring in the legislation, with the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, saying the law ended 'the absurd situation' whereby someone who 'supports terror against the state of Israel and its citizens' could serve as a member of parliament. ...
'This is one of the most serious legislative proposals in recent years and it harms the very building blocks of democracy – the right to freedom of expression, the right to vote and to be elected, and the right to representation,' said Debbie Gilad-Hayo of the Association of Civil Rights in Israel."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/20/israeli-parliament-passes-controversial-legislation-allowing-mp-explusion
-->Isabel Kershner covered the story for the NYT. According to her Israeli friendly version of events, the law targets "the feistiest and most provocative Arab politicians in Israel." Arabs like Hanin Zoabi, whose crime was being on the Turkish boat to Gaza that was attacked by the Israeli commandos while in international waters. According to Ms. Kershner, the boats attempted to "breach the naval blockade of Gaza in 2010, resulting in the deaths of 10 activists." Weren't the 10 just shot by Israeli commandos? Not in the NYT's world of pro-Israeli reporting. Deaths are always the fault of Arabs in apartheid Israel.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 21
-->Isabel Kershner covered the story for the NYT. According to her Israeli friendly version of events, the law targets "the feistiest and most provocative Arab politicians in Israel." Arabs like Hanin Zoabi, whose crime was being on the Turkish boat to Gaza that was attacked by the Israeli commandos while in international waters. According to Ms. Kershner, the boats attempted to "breach the naval blockade of Gaza in 2010, resulting in the deaths of 10 activists." Weren't the 10 just shot by Israeli commandos? Not in the NYT's world of pro-Israeli reporting. Deaths are always the fault of Arabs in apartheid Israel.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 21
The NYT:
" 'My Time With the Netanyahu Brothers' by Jeffrey Gettleman, The Times’s East Africa bureau chief"
-->Our newspaper of record does some Israeli hero worshiping when things start to look bad for the apartheid state. This article is all about the "Entebbe rescue," described in the article as one of the "most precious stories Israel has to tell." Why is the NYT telling Israel's precious stories? Especially one that is 40 years old?
On the surface, it is because Netanyahu's brother was killed in the raid. "Yoni is an icon. He was the ideal Israeli. It wasn’t simply that he was handsome, intelligent, adventurous and patriotic; he seemed to embody a sense of sacrifice, of serving a cause greater than his own." Was that greater good the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people?
Netanyahu himself, according to Gettleman, lives very simply. His plane is old with scratched-up sinks and worn carpets. No mention of his and his wife's reputation for high living. No $5,000 breakfasts or $1,600 haircuts mentioned here. No reference to Israel's state comptroller's conclusion that Netanyahu's past expenses have been "excessive and improper."
In Gettleman's smarmy words, this story is about the "mythic land full of scholar-warriors who could overcome awesome odds and accomplish good." It is simply another NYT propaganda piece for Israel, while that country treats millions of Palestinians as subjugated people.
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BoingBoing:
"The Republican National Convention kicks off this Sunday in Cleveland, Ohio. Most of the highest-profile activists associated with the Black Lives Matter movement are not planning to attend, but that didn't stop FBI agents from contacting them by phone, and showing up at their homes to interrogate them and their grandmothers.
Wesley Lowery at the Washington Post was first to share the scoop on a most recent round of FBI 'visits' today. Lowery knows first-hand how heavy-handed law enforcement response to the protests has been, because he was roughly arrested and jailed while covering Ferguson in 2014.
This is not the only recent report of law enforcement pre-emptively visiting activists they believe may protest at the RNC. In June, Mother Jones ran a feature about how police are targeting black human rights activists ahead of the Republican party gathering: 'Local and federal authorities have begun aggressively tracking activists—including members of the Black Lives Matter movement who have helped spotlight Cleveland's brutal policing problems.' ”
-->The FBI is still doing what it has always done, using its power to intimidate peaceful black protesters. Harassment and dirty tricks are sure to follow from an organization with a long history of suppressing dissent. No mention of this political intimidation in the NYT.
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Common Dreams:
"President Barack Obama is poised to sign the so-called DARK Act, a GMO labeling bill critics say notches a win for the food and biotech industries but will still leave consumers in the dark about whether or not their food contains genetically modified ingredients.
After the legislation easily passed in the U.S. House on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal described it as 'a victory for food companies,' noting that it 'will supersede tougher measures passed by one state [Vermont] and considered in others.' ...
Gary Ruskin, co-director of pro-labeling group U.S. Right to Know, urged Obama to veto the legislation, saying in a press statement that it 'is a sweetheart deal for the food and agrichemical industries, who want to keep consumers guessing about the contents of their food.' "
-->The NYT did not cover this story of Big Ag crippling consumers' right to know. A Reuters story on the NYT website begins with a different take, calling the law 'legislation that would for the first time require food to carry labels listing genetically-modified ingredients.' Buried in the article is the fact that consumers will have to use an app on their cellphone to tell whether their food has been genetically modified.
