Communist Fantasies

If you want a textbook example of how right-wing extremists are dominating the political debate in the state’s corporate media right now, read Randy Krehbiel’s piece about recent town halls staged by U.S. Rep. John Sullivan.

Here’s a little taste of this biased story published in the Tulsa World under the online headline “Sullivan hears constituents air their concerns”:

I do not want to live in a socialist nation, a Marxist nation, a fascist nation or a communist nation," one woman said.

It’s simply irresponsible journalism to report such an anonymous comment without some type of rebuttal or context. It’s ludicrous to imply that President Barack Obama’s administration is turning the country into a “communist nation.” If anything Obama has been pandering to corporations to get some type of health care reform passed. Read Robert Reich’s piece on Obama’s relationship with the pharmaceutical industry.

What is the point of publishing this anonymous woman’s statement—in the second paragraph no less—unless it’s to instill irrational fear in the minds of the newspaper’s readers. Why not simply ignore such comments or qualify them by stating an obvious truth, such as “ . . . these were the type of extreme comments delivered at the town halls.”

By giving the quote such prominence and by not contextualizing it, The World implicitly endorses it. How can we have any type of rational debate over health care reform or any other issue here when the state’s corporate media allows itself to be so obviously used by the right-wing propaganda machine? It’s really terrible journalism and another example of why metropolitan newspapers are in financial decline and why they shouldn’t be trusted.

But there’s more. Here’s another quote in the story:

I don't think they are true Americans," audience member Hal Watts said. "I think they are communists."

The audience member was supposedly referring to members of Obama’s administration. Again, the claim is absurd. The right-wing wants it and gets it both ways. Obama is the ultimate capitalist who favors rich people by bailing out the banking system and, oh yeah, his administration is also filled with communists. Why can’t The World and The Oklahoman put comments like this in some type of context and show the contradiction? Do the editors of these papers really think the country is slipping into communism or fascism? If so, then state the argument in a rational, thorough manner using evidence and logic.

Meanwhile, Sullivan, an ultra-conservative Republican who recently left a treatment center for drinking issues, apparently fueled the radicalism among town hall crowds at Northeastern State University-Broken Arrow and Tulsa Community College Southeast Campus. The story, for example, never mentions that Sullivan disagreed with the communist comments.

The story is a telling example of how the mainstream media here supports and encourages right-wing radical rhetoric.