1st Amendment, 5th Estate

( – promoted by buhdydharma )

There is no revolution without winning the hearts and minds of the very people who must fight it for you.

It not only matters that the information travels, but in how it travels. There are those whose job is in the painstaking research, often resulting in books, if only the footnotes in the same. There are those whose job is in straight, “unbiased” reporting for mainstream publications, local papers or scholastic journals. I think it is important to continue to support 4th estate. Without your subscriptions, how can entities like “The Nation” survive?

What is just as important to remember? Most of these very institutions have been pressed, in the name of “objectivity” to abdicate their duty to report without actual bias. Facts seem to have a penchant for a “liberal bias” by undermining the propaganda arm of the Right’s agenda.

Worse yet? Disgusted by the right-wing bloviating as “reporting” by dubious “news” channels like Fox, the Left has become unwilling to OPINE. Edward R Murrow would be spinning in his grave. There was a time, ladies and gentlemen, to do as he did and call McCarthyism what it was, and there is a time, and that time is now, to call Assangism what it is. Both things are an attempt to prevent the dissemination of ideas, cover up wrongs and demonize truth tellers to protect predatory capitalism. There are now constraints in place, constraints created by the very entities that benefit from the status quo that are put upon journalists who wish to make a living writing.

That is where we ground-level writers must do our duty, and fill the void. We have nothing to lose, and must speak the things the muzzled cannot…. speak them until it becomes impossible for the MSM to not address.

It was why Peter Orzag’s move to Citibank gets a brief mention, but no scathing analysis of the incestuous revolving door between our federal purse strings and the lobbyists for the Elite Institutions who influence every dollar spent. Instead, they snivel and capitulate, “We cannot say anything bad about the move, because we don’t know his intent.”

It was why, short Bernie Sanders, no one reported the cold hard facts, that the tax break would give the Walton family alone a $32.7 BILLION tax break. Reports should have been stating these “liberally biased” facts over and over, and been allowed to opine how very wrong it is.

It is why, dear readers, the press has, for the most part, continued to character assassinate Julian Assange and overplay the supposed “danger” of Wikileaks, rather than embrace and report on the contents of the leaks.

There are many writers in the world, and not all of us can rise to the top. Perhaps if we did, we would find ourselves equally muzzled; settling for at least being able to lend some voice to some topics on the Left, while frustrated beyond belief that we cannot say more.

So what is our responsibility as the 5th estate, the “little people” in this format called “blogging?” We have not the time as laborers to research, to attend lectures, to read every word written by those who do. It has been said we regurgitate information that has already been published, and for many this is true.

Better yet, how do we get those who do have the time to engage with us, and get these messages out, help to overcome the right-wing propaganda bias and help us all return to the reality-based conversations we should be having? For lets face it, if they truly believe that a change needs to occur in this country, it is US they need.

The answer is two-fold. I am relentlessly pursuing some of the bravest voices of the Left to speak with us on WWL Radio. Chomsky, Klein, Hedges. Perhaps after the interview with the former, the latters may agree.

More important than they?

You.

It is to write. Write, write and persistently write.

Read across all the current events, the op-eds, between the lines of the MSM reports… then form your own opinion. And do not fear giving that opinion.

Ofttimes, even if you write something brief, thoughts not entirely well-formed? It is in the comments and discussion that new ideas and more clarity comes. I like to say revolution begins with whispers in the fields, waxing poetic to the days of Woody Guthrie’s migrant workers. The seeds of change begin with the actual disgruntled and abused populations.

That population needs to find its voice.

It may be discouraging to find resistance to what we write, to find petty critics, to suffer fools who interact online only for the meta-me-indulgence and attention. It may be disheartening to find allies and lose them along the way. To paraphrase a great philosopher, “If they have not ears to hear you, shake the dust from your boots and move on to the next town (or ally).”

We have a duty, if we want a future for ourselves that does not include starvation, austerity, or breadlines to continue to make our voices heard.

We are the ones who can say the things they cannot. Union. Safety Net. Social Democracy. Nationalize. Exploitation Capitalism. Shock Doctrine. Injustice. Equality. Sustainability. CLASS WAR.

I don’t believe in stage fright. I don’t believe anyone’s voice is unworthy. What people perceive as a fear of others is actually a fear of themselves. If you believe what you write, if you feel what you are saying, there can be no fear. Fear no one. Fear only lies. Write, write, write until we drown them in truth, we drown them with our knowledge, we change the course of history. Together we will reach more people than we could standing in front of Congress, at Carnegie Hall or on Countdown. This? We? We are ground zero of what they fear most. Truth.

We can, we MUST gather what information we are able, and opine our asses off on what we learn.

There is a coup underway on the 4th Estate, my friends, and it can only be saved by the voices of the 5th. There is a war on the 1st amendment underway as well.

Should it succeed, it will be the single-most damaging event in this global war in which we are all terrorists to the top 1% who hold 90% of the world’s assets.

This is not an exercise in “preaching to the choir” or “professional leftism” or “pajama blogging” (ok, yeah, I haven’t gotten dressed yet, but still..heh) as those who fear us would have is think.

What we do today, what we do every day, is fight back, change the dialogue by VOLUME, be champions of transparency and truth.

There is no revolution without winning the hearts and minds of the very people who must fight it for you.

This is who we are. This is what we must do.