Due to the advent of cable, internet, computers and smart phones we now live in what we call the ‘digital age’.
The Message Was Always To Conform
During the so called old days media served an important purpose. Among other things, it was a tool to encourage people to conform.
New Platforms Different Mission
Finally the truth is we have the same number of major platforms we had back in the day. The difference is these platforms provide an opportunity for millions to be heard and seen.
We’re Still Pushed To Conform
However today’s supposedly complex media in the same vein as the old, pushes people to conform.
Tribes, Villages, Birds of A Feather
We speak to our tribe and not everyone. Our instinct to conform is reinforced by social media and other platforms.
The Message Is Manipulation and Control And We’re Still Buying It
Watching coverage of George HW Bush’s funeral I wondered when we turned our presidents into emperors. Learn more in America’s Royalty-Bush-McCain Funerals-Bob Davis Podcast 784.
Mediocre Politicians Should Not Be Hailed As National Heroes
These days a mediocre politician who dies can’t just be a guy who lived a full life and served his country. The loss is a national tragedy. The deceased was a “contemporary founding father“, or a “Hero”. Hence, Bush and McCain funerals carry all the trappings of American Imperial Nobility.
In conclusion I think we should remember, no matter how high the media holds them up, even presidents are chosen by the people. We delegate our sovereign authority to them. It’s not the other way around.
It is difficult to contemplate or talk about politics. In Podcast 601-Nobody Knows Anything! a phrase attributed to screenwriter William Goldman is applied to American politics. The guy who wrote Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All The President’s Men once said “Nobody Knows Anything”. Goldman was referring to Hollywood know-it-alls. In those days as today producers, professors and other so called experts wanted to make people think they knew the ‘formula’ for success in the movie business. The truth is making movies is almost always a gamble because no one knows what’s going to sell before the fact. Nobody Knows Anything.
Nobody Knows Anything And Our Politics
What goes for movies goes for American politics these days. Everyone has a voice. An audience. A constituency. Everyone wants to tell you what is happening. What to do about it and what will happen next. Everyone knows. Except no one really knows anything. From the highest of the high to the lowliest position on a small town board of education. Everyone has a voice they can’t wait to use but what they have to say is empty. In Podcast 601-Nobody Knows Anything!
Tell Your Audience What They Want To Hear
Social media. Local radio. The Internet. Protect your audience. Tell it what it wants to hear. Get accolades, speaking fees, book sales, click throughs and even election certificates. Commentariat. Bloggers and podcasters. Comedians. Subpar politicians and local political operators. All ply their political but noncontroversial wares to people only too willing to applaud when they hear what they want to hear.
It’s All About Power
For those in what is called the Deep Government where policies are implemented everything is theater. Everything is Pay Back. Get Back. It’s all about power and games. Using your constituency to get what you want. In office. Out of office. All part of the game in the puzzle palace we call government in Washington DC or your state capitol.
The Fairness Doctrine
30 years ago a regulation called ‘The Fairness Doctrine‘ was rescinded by the FCC. The Fairness Doctrine simply required broadcast licensees to both present controversial issues and to do so in a manner that was, in the FCC’s view honest, equitable and balanced. 30 years ago there was no social media. There was no political talk.
Political talk was something you heard on Sunday mornings or read on the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times. The news was something you heard at the top of the hour. With a technology and media revolution, political talk today isn’t just a virus. Political talk has become a cancer.
Political Saturation
Every political development is dissected, repurposed, rewritten, opinionated, worked over, subjected to satire and analysis. Today’s demons and today’s heroes. They’re only too happy to tell you what will happen tomorrow. The louder the cacophony grows the less we know. The solution isn’t some kind of new Fairness Doctrine. Maybe the cure is more of the disease. We’ll talk about it in Podcast 601-Nobody Knows Anything!
Nobody Knows Anything
The big talk radio guy speaking at your local political dinner doesn’t know anything. The guy who has the You Tube Channel or the Podcast? Nope. The local radio station talk show? Talk radio now depends on people calling in who don’t know anything to add to the conversation by two guys who don’t know anything either. Clearly the White House doesn’t know. The Pentagon doesn’t know. The people at your state capitol don’t know. The people behind the desk on the 24 hour news channel don’t know either.
Saturation Point
Open your mouth about a political issue on social media and you’re branded. We’re saturated with political talk and political partisanship. Our differences are encouraged by know it alls commanding increasingly misinformed tribes fed a steady diet of what they want to hear. A few sell ‘expertise’ on the US Constitution. Some are self appointed media experts. Many are the founders of popup political movements. Many more are simply political operators selling their wares to the highest bidder, behind the scenes. These are the new carpet baggers.
Hungry For Leadership
Those sold to us as heroes turn out to be pygmies and charlatans. We read their books. We cheer and believe in them. When they are destroyed we move on. In Podcast 601-Nobody Knows Anything I share with you my utter disgust with the political process in this country. You can forget the labels. They all suck. Republicans. Democrats. Socialists. Populists. Libertarians. It’s all noise. Memes. Rants. Photos. Guest Appearances. Stand Ups in front of the capitol. Everyone wants to be the next Juke Box Hero.
