Restitutor Orbis

It's been a frustrating day politically, listening to the propaganda machine of the Republican party. They dominated the news media yesterday. By far more Republicans were heard than Democrats, all shouting down the stimulus package. As Media Matters for America points out,

ABC's Charles Gibson portrayed

spending and stimulus as opposing concepts in a question to President Obama: "And as you know, there's a lot of people in the public, a lot of members of Congress who think this is pork-stuffed and that it really doesn't stimulate. A lot of people have said it's a spending bill and not a stimulus."

That formulation -- "it's a spending bill and not a stimulus" -- is complete nonsense; it's like saying, "This is a hot fudge sundae, not a dessert." But nonsensical as it is, it has also been quite common in recent news reports.

Obama made this point himself in his speech yesterday. SPENDING IS STIMULUS. But if the media won't tell the truth, or doesn't know the difference, or is afraid to call propagandists to task, then the truth will never get out. IF the stimulus is less popular, as CNN reports, it is because CNN and other news outlets have fed the Republican propaganda machine with their lopsided coverage. As Media Matters points out,

So far, the news media's coverage of the stimulus debate has consisted largely of repeating false Republican spin and pontificating about which side has been making their arguments more successfully (all the while ignoring the media's own role in aiding the GOP.)

From MSNBC:

While Senate Democrats reached an agreement with moderate Republicans on Friday, more conservative Republicans refused to fast-track the legislative process. Senator David Vitter, Republican of Louisiana, insisted that the deal required careful deliberation and said that he would spend the weekend reviewing it, even though it was clear that he was unlikely to support the measure.

As a result, the Senate met for a rare Saturday session, and Republicans delivered some of their harshest criticism of Mr. Obama since he took office, suggesting that he was pressuring Congress to act in an irresponsible fashion.

“In discussing with the American people his approach to the stimulus of our economy, he has first really used some dangerous words,” said Senator Jon Kyle of Arizona, the No. 2 Republican. Mr. Kyl added, “It seems to me that the president is rather casually throwing out some careless language.”

I guess they don't like Obama speaking to us behind their backs. They're not used to an American president actually treating the American people as part of the political process. But Obama has done the right thing. And we must do the right thing now as well, and pressure our representatives to do OUR will, as they are meant to do.