Why the Media Hate Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich

Say the names Dennis Kucinich or Ron Paul to the average American and you'll often hear a snicker, a laugh, and most likely, some derogatory statement. But why is that?

It's not like Kucinich or Paul go around making bizarre comments, such as "the Constitution is just a piece of paper," or, "I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family," or even, "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."

No, neither Dennis Kucinich nor Ron Paul made any of those statements. Instead they get portrayed in the media as "crazy," "goofy," "reckless," or "a nutjob" for saying things like, "I think it's inconsistent to tell the American people that you oppose the war and, yet, you continue to vote to fund the war. Because every time you vote to fund the war, you're reauthorizing the war all over again"(Kucinich), or, "Cliches about supporting the troops are designed to distract from failed policies, policies promoted by powerful special interests that benefit from war, anything to steer the discussion away from the real reasons the war in Iraq will not end anytime soon" (Paul).

Which of those sound like the rantings of a crazy person? Which quote sounds reckless?

It is true that most American media go out of their way to intentionally deny air time to people like Kucinich and Paul. Before we discuss why, it's important to hear a few other quotes from these two "nutjobs." See if you can find an underlying theme to these quotes:

"Deficits mean future tax increases, pure and simple. Deficit spending should be viewed as a tax on future generations, and politicians who create deficits should be exposed as tax hikers." (Paul)

"This is a struggle for the soul of the Democratic Party, which in too many cases has become so corporate and identified with corporate interests that you can't tell the difference between Democrats and Republicans." (Kucinich)

"I am absolutely opposed to a national ID card. This is a total contradiction of what a free society is all about. The purpose of government is to protect the secrecy and the privacy of all individuals, not the secrecy of government. We don't need a national ID card." (Paul)

"Bush is going in the wrong way. And I dare say, that is what the strategy of his administration is, is just to wipe out government's purpose for any social and economic justice at all. And I'm going to take the country in an opposite direction than he's taking it." (Kucinich)

"When the federal government spends more each year than it collects in tax revenues, it has three choices: It can raise taxes, print money, or borrow money. While these actions may benefit politicians, all three options are bad for average Americans." (Paul)

"Everyone should have health insurance? I say everyone should have health care. I'm not selling insurance." (Kucinich)

"War is never economically beneficial except for those in position to profit from war expenditures." (Paul)

Did you notice a pattern? Both Paul and Kucinich are against the influence of lobbyists, war profiteers, deficit spending, and big government, to name just a few.

It's understandable why other politicians would be nervous about either Paul or Kucinich becoming President. But why would the media care who is president, or even who is running for president?

The answer is simple. The media are the lobbyists, war profiteers, insurance companies, and financial institutions that would be impacted by new policies and laws. For those companies, common sense is the enemy, and Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich are full of it - common sense that is. They don't talk like politicians, they talk like successful businessmen. They can see where the fat is and are not afraid to speak up and vow to cut it if given the opportunity, and that scares the hell out of the companies that own the media.

So who owns the media?

Fox News is openly owned by Rupert Murdoch, a hardline supporter of the Republican Party, but the other major media corporations are in the same boat, affiliated if not directly owned by companies that make their living doing business with our military. In effect, the major media in the United States makes a good portion of their income from war.

No wonder these companies use the scare tactics of terrorism, scarrorism as I like to call it. They are business partners in the same secret club. A scared citizenship afraid of the phantom bad guy is good business when you make a living killing people. And anyone who threatens their business is labelled "a nutjob" and denied airtime.

Want proof?

The Nightly News, Presented by Halliburton

NBC is owned by General Electric, who also owns MSNBC and CNBC. GE also owns Bravo, Telemundo, USA Network, and the Sci-Fi Channel, among others. GE was awarded $2.2 billion in military contracts in 2005, and according to the War Profiteers website:

"General Electric is one of the world’s top three producers of jet engines, supplying Boeing, Lockheed Martin and other military aircraft makers for the powering of airplanes and helicopters."

CBS is owned by the former Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, a division of Westinghouse. WBC purchased all of CBS in 1996 and dropped it's name in favor of the less ominous title, CBS Company, which was in turn purchased by Viacom. Besides making the appliances and household electronics we know them for, Westinghouse used to own Northrup Grumman, who makes nuclear powered aircraft carriers, military airplanes, smart bombs and nuclear bombs, and is one of the largest military contractors in the United States. Despite the sale of Northrup, Westinghouse still makes nuclear reactors for U.S. submarines as well as electronics for the military and manufactures arms. Those same arms that are used to kill Iraqi's and Afghani's.

But it's much worse than you think. One of the longstanding members of the board of directors for Westinghouse was Frank Carlucci. Carlucci served as Secretary of Defense before Dick Cheney, National Security Advisor before Colin Powell, and also as the CIA Deputy Director. Carlucci also served as chairman of Carlyle Group from 1992-2003 and as Emiritus Chairman until 2005. The Carlyle Group is an investment firm with ownership in multiple industries, but some of their defense contracts have been widely criticized. Former employees of the Carlyle Group include George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, and James Baker.

We can go on and on, but let's give one specific example of how lobbying works. When Viacom bought CBS, they broke U.S. laws concerning media ownership that is meant to protect the public from media manipulation by giant corporations. Within a week of the purchase, Senator John McCain proposed a change to U.S. law allowing Viacom to complete the purchase. Not coincidentally, Viacom is the fourth largest donor to John McCain's campaigns over his 25 year career in politics.

Knowing this, it's no wonder why NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN and other mainstream media were so eagerly jumped into bed with Fox to consistently report lies and planted stories as news and stop asking the hard questions journalists are supposed to ask. And it's equally no wonder why they attack people like Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul, people they perceive as threats to their income and way of doing business.

Original article posted here.