You might call this an episode of read Digby’s mind.
It is normal for old media to believe a Political Thesis long after it’s proven not to work.
But could there be something more involved this time?
Much of the speculation surrounding the "old" NSA wiretapping program, the one Gonzalez and Andy Card tried to renew on John Ashcroft’s sickbed, according to former acting Attorney General Jim Comey, involves the idea that the power was used to spy on domestic political opponents — war protesters and other DFH (Dirty Foul Hippies is the polite acronym).
But in an excerpt from Bush’s Brain, published on Hullaballoo, Digby describes how spying was used against a supposed "friend" of the Nixon Administration, back in the day. Some dumpster diving found that this Nixon supporter had also given money to a Democrat, and that information was used to blackmail said supporter into cutting a Republican a large check.
This caused me to have a very scary "ah hah" moment:
Why is Glenn Beck still on at CNN, despite ratings that would get sane people canceled?- Why are people like editor Jon Meachum at Newsweek still spouting
right-wing talking points, even after they’re proven to be nonsense? - Why was Dan Rather replaced with a right-wing hack named Katie Couric, and why is she still there?
- Why is the new "insider" political site, dubbed Politico.Com, so
right-wing? And why are its writers getting so much face time on the
TeeVee? - Why, after Keith Olbermann proved there was a market for news
which takes, let us say, a skeptical look at Washington, hasn’t MSNBC
followed up in any way?
- Why are The Washington Post and The Washington Times becoming indistinguishable?
- Why has The New York Times been so silent about the crimes of this Administration?
- Why can’t top bloggers who’ve proven they can get an audience,
like Digby, Josh Marshall, Atrios, and the people at Firedoglake, still
getting shut out of most media interview opportunities? While asshats like Hugh Hewitt, Michelle Malkin and Glenn Reynolds are on all the time?
My previous belief was that big media companies were essentially getting paid-off. Media consolidation, new spectrum licenses, a complete lack of antitrust enforcement. These are expensive gifts to conservative businesspeople, who have the power to control what their employees write and report.
But could there be more at work here?
Is it possible that the NSA wiretap program has been spying on President Bush’s "friends" as much as his enemies? Are anchors, editors, owners and talent having their secrets revealed through illegal means, then controlled through their own knowledge this is going on?
Pretty serious stuff. There is evidence now this may be truen.
But how can we disprove it? Especially since the Administration won’t let us investigate it. Any denial it’s not happening, given the track record, is at this point non-credible. Trust, but verify.
