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Fourth Estate Also Jumps Shark

by Susan Parker

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Sparxafire!

I guess I should have set this up as a two-parter. Yesterday, I argued that the system of checks and balances among the three branches of government has broken down for the first time in American history (that I know of). Today, I tackle the fourth estate… the press, the media – often referred to as the MSM, mainstream media … which the framers of the Constitution depended on fully as much as the three governmental branches. The first amendment says:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; ….

There it is. GOT to have a free press to publicize and cast a spotlight on governmental antics. Dan Rather is now suing “the media” for crumbling to governmental pressure to report the antics its way, supressing, spinning, whatever you want to call it.

This is as good a bellwether as any to indicate that the fourth estate is just as broken as the government! What’s beyond a “trifecta?” Quadfecta? Who is breaking our society apart. What is their motive? Why do people in power ALWAYS turn corrupt? How is it a good idea to aggrandize oneself on the back of mass human suffering? That is, Katrina suffering, military suffering, Iraqi suffering, medical suffering and, of course, a middle class that is embarking on its last gasp collapse – too weak, apparently, to mount any protest.

I would truly welcome a dispassionate, logical breakdown of how the thought process progresses from President Cheney. Is it actually something so small as greed? Honestly? How much money do you want? Why is it necessary to have so much money beyond, say, a few million? And, apparently, it doesn’t work unless you are doing things to make sure that other people have less money. After all, what good is it to be a millionaire if everybody else is also a millionaire?


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Statecraft Informer explores the behavior of the state, then informs its readers with snappy, humorous insights that provoke conversation and speculation. If you like The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, or perhaps Bill Maher on HBO, you will like the statecraft informer... it's a Sparxafire production!

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