Even for someone as skeptical as myself, the past two weeks have been an exercise in the absurd. I watched as three major media events were so completely manipulated (or ignored) to produce a distorted image that was by and large swallowed whole, and I asked myself whether democracy was even possible amongst such utter corporate domination of the mainstream media.

The first event was every single major media outlet seeming to uniformly decide at once that Ron Paul was no longer among the candidates in contention for the Republican nomination for President of the United States. Of course, this was news to Congressman Paul, his millions of supporters and Republican voters who have consistently voiced their support for him poll after poll.

In the 2008 election, the mainstream media simply ignored the Ron Paul phenomenon – pretended it wasn't there like some crazy uncle in the corner of the room at a family reunion. As a result, many intrigued Americans bought the nonsensical statement that supporting Paul was somehow ”throwing their vote away.“

Ron Paul's legions only grew. This time, he was allowed to be acknowledged, at least among the dozen or so candidates in the early running. But after the Aimes Iowa Straw Poll (in which Dr. Paul finished 2nd!), the mainstream media declared a top tier of candidates that inexplicably did not include... Ron Paul! Watch the amazing montage assembled by comedian John Stewart on Comedy Central's, The Daily Show (some readers may find language objectionable).

As you see in the above video, we're not talking about one news channel. This is an across-the-board consensus that was developed absent of any coinciding reality. For constitutionalists and reform-minded Republicans, it's been decided for them – they will be represented by Michele Bachmann, a corporate-friendly shill who's been taught to parrot Ron Paul like bullet points – and not even very well. They've decided: Michele "I want to drill for oil in the Everglades" Bachmann is top tier, Ron Paul is a black hole that does not officially exist.

That same week, Stewart assembled an equally unthinkable montage of mainstream-media footage that showed a frighteningly uniform response to Warren Buffet's op-ed suggesting that the richest of the rich surrender their extended and unaffordable tax cuts to help the nation recover much-needed revenues during a time of economic crisis. The class warfare/Buffet is a socialist cries were bellowed from CNN to Fox News and everywhere between. Am I the only one aside from Stewart who can see the ridiculousness in that suggestion???

Say what you'd like about Warren Buffet. Say he's cozying up to the White House (where he already has close ties) and expects to get compensated in the form of a mortgage fraud-settlement policy that will pay off handsomely through his recent $5 billion Bank of America investment. But don't say that a BILLIONAIRE  capitalist is a socialist, just because he wants tax rates for the super rich to simply return to pre-boom levels! And what does it say about our Republic when we have to go to a comedy network, so that a comedian can point this out. But just watch the video and tell me this isn't something you'd expect from a country with state media (some readers may find language objectionable).

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c World of Class Warfare - Warren Buffett vs. Wealthy Conservatives www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook

A grandmother is arrested during the pipeline protest photo: tarsandsaction.org

The third event was the utter lack of meaningful coverage regarding the massive civil protest of an ecologically dangerous oil pipeline to carry tar sand oil to the U.S. from Canada. Over 700 American citizens have been arrested so far for protesting the pipeline – an incredible show of civil disobedience that has gotten relatively-minuscule media coverage, while the front page of newspapers and the bulk of political talk shows have been dedicated to things like where Gadaffi's wife and kids might be. The protest got a slight bump in coverage yesterday when actress Daryl Hannah was perp-walked off the scene in cuffs.

Over the past half-decade, Americans have lost more in terms of a free and independent media than any other three-decade period combined. In 2003, led by then FCC chair Michael Powell (son of former Secretary of State Colin Powell and world class corporate shill), rules protecting independent news dissemination from the dangers of corporate consolidation were thoroughly relaxed. As a result, an increasingly small number of corporations own an unthinkably large portion of the airwaves – or at least access to them.

You don't need a conspiracy to set the agenda when ownership of the message is that consolidated. This nonsense about a liberal or conservative media bias is ridiculous. We have a corporate media with a corporate bias and all of the many conflicts of interests that exist are front and center in such uniform dissemination of disinformation.

When mega-conglomerates own defense contracting interests and news channels, clearly they have an interest in presenting military conflicts in a certain light. When any billion dollar conglomerate that will undoubtedly have financial holdings across a wide spectrum of markets has multiple "news" and ”financial news“ outlets at their disposal, clearly they have a financial interest in promoting certain points of view or ignoring obvious realities.

Buffett's Class Warfare Part II

The Daily Show - World of Class Warfare - The Poor's Free Ride Is Over Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

You don't need memos to go out in the morning for this to happen. You simply need to breed a culture of certain philosophies and hire selectively based on people's demonstrated ability to either convey a certain viewpoint or have a very pliable point of view. Look at the news shows above. Do these pundits seem particularly talented or do they seem like well-paid hacks in expensive (yet empty) suits, happy to be in the top tax bracket and understandably disinterested in rocking the boat.

The Internet was supposed to bring an end to such media control, but the infinite platform, while giving a voice to everyone, also creates a giant vacuum that makes the voice with the loudest megaphone all the more influential. When radio, television and print media are all beating the same drum, it only serves to discredit the independent media outlets and make it easier to portray them as paranoid conspiracy theorists if they go off-script.

If Americans continue to swallow such blatantly untrustworthy propaganda, they should have no expectations beyond more of the same. Mainstream media outlets have a vested profit interest in sensationalizing news and marketing to one side of the political spectrum or the other, one that is doubly profitable if they can advance their own related self-interests as well. There was a time when the media was considered a public treasure, far too essential to liberty to be exploited for any group's personal gain. If we fail to restore that attitude, we will wake up in a nation in which democracy is extinct – and that is not an America I relish passing on to future generations.

related:

Romney, Bachman, Paul and Perry Begin to Shape Republican Field

Dennis Maley is a featured columnist and editor for The Bradenton Times. An archive of his columns is available here. He can be reached at dennis.maley@thebradentontimes.com.