Monday, September 28, 2009

This is "The Most Trusted Name In News"?

From CNN Newsroom (keep that "News" part in mind; it's important later) ometime last week,emphasis mine:

Michael Moore: And when you and I went to college, we didn't have to go to a private bank to take out a loan that would have us in hock for the next 20
years, a loan that would eventually have us paying $500,000 to the bank just so
we could go to college. When we went to college, there was a sign on a door that
said "Financial Aid Office," and you went in there and you got a grant or a
scholarship, work study, you might have to work in the library 10 hours a week,
you know, maybe a low-interest loan, like a one or two percent, pay it back when
you can to the college. I mean, that's the way it worked. People got to go to
school and you weren't in debt. Our 22-year-olds now, when they leave college,
they are socked with so much credit card debt because, of course, the credit
cards are all over the campus encouraging kids to sign up for these things. And
they're in student loan debt. The noose is already around their neck, and they
don't really maybe get to go and explore their dreams, or work the jobs that
they would like to work, because they have to get to work right away at any job
they can get because they have to start paying off these loans and these credit
cards. It wasn't that way 30 years ago.But this beast, this beast call
capitalism, just got so out of control and it just said, you know, I'm going to
gobble up whatever I can gobble up. And it's an insatiable beast. You can never
stop it. And even when it's exposed for being a corrupt system, like it was in
this last year, it just moves on to the next thing to suck money out of.

Rick Sanchez: Well, then why is it -- you know, it's funny, because I don't
think anybody who just listened to you say that, whether they are on the right
or on the left, Republican, Libertarian, whatever the heck they call themselves,
are going to disagree with what you said
, but yet when we watch protests, all we hear people say is give more power to the corporations and take it away from the government. How have they been able to pull what appears to be a snow job off?


What's wrong with that, you ask? Well, first, on it's website, CNN lists Sanchez under the "Anchors & Reporters" heading, not "Commentators." An anchor/reporter ought to be sticking to the facts, not presenting personal opinions as if they WERE facts.

Second, it's flat-out wrong. I disagree with what Moore said. Capitalism has built this country into the strongest, freest, most prosperous country in the world. And under capitalism, while the rich got richer, the poor and middle class got richer too. Today's middle class have it better than the rich did even fifty years ago. And this country's poor have it better than a lot of countries' rich.

I used to think MSNBC was the most insidious, with their far-left agenda. But while MSNBC claims to get you the real story, it's with a little wink; you KNOW what you're getting when you tune into MSNBC. But what CNN does is try to pass off agenda-driven opinion/commentary as objective, fact-based news. And that's just dishonest.

1 comment:

John Tyrrell said...

Interesting blog. When I grew up after the war we thought all Americans were rich. Alas no more. In many respects Europe has overtaken you.