General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhile the US was riveted and divided by OJ, the GOP used the distraction to takeover Congress.
Last edited Tue Jul 16, 2013, 11:18 AM - Edit history (1)
They know exactly how to work quietly under the radar for some parts of their agenda, at the same time they are loudly and cynically pressing an opportunistic narrative in the corporate media.
Just a warning for those who didn't live through this before, and a reminder for those who did.
Blue_Tires
(56,111 posts)The 1994 takeover was a plan put in place years before, and there are at least a dozen major factors playing a role and none of them have anything to do with Simpson...
I'll be happy to re-hash them with you at a later time -- It's when I came of age politically...Even wrote a couple of reports for my high school U.S. Government class
blm
(113,840 posts)to the advancements the Republicans were making day by day as part of their longterm plan was exceedingly useful to them.
Sorry, and I don't mean this derogatorily, but, my awareness at the time was not high school US Govt. level. It was that of someone well-studied by then in the political machinations advancing the fascist agenda, and who saw the build up of the RW propaganda machine throughout the 80s and early 90s.
OJ trial was perfect to take advantage of the nation's division and its unfortunate distraction.
Boom Sound 416
(4,185 posts)You really think the OJ trial is what made Gingrich the speaker.
I was 20 at the time and I don't remember tv's in the voting booth. I also don't remember being the only one at the polling station.
blm
(113,840 posts)throughout 1994.
Too few people were paying attention to the cynical politics that were going on at the time.
blm
(113,840 posts)Your statement is absurd. The problem was a news media devoting 90% of their airtime to a sensational case that just happened to be divisive as well, and they certainly were NOT discussing the political issues that needed the attention of voters at the time.
onenote
(44,741 posts)and higher than it was in the next succeeding off year election
Boom Sound 416
(4,185 posts)I never said multiple people were in the booth.
And plenty of things were happening then.
Hillary was getting demagauged
Waco Texas aftermath
Oklahoma bombing
Little Elian down in Miami
No fly zone in Iraq. WMD inspectors
That's just off the top of my head. No searches.
blm
(113,840 posts).
wercal
(1,370 posts)The actual trial started in January '95.
blm
(113,840 posts)EVERY network channel was consumed by every aspect of that case from the day it happened and it only got worse by the time of pretrial. Every aspect of that case was being discussed every day on every network throughout the summer and fall and certainly every day before the election.
I know quite well what occurred and when - we were fighting for attention for World Cup events in Los Angeles at the time. Our celebrities and athletes were being bumped off every show that they had previously booked in the months before the murder.
Your use of the calendar is absurd. You use it exactly like the GOP uses it in their most hollow denials. As if you wish for people too completely disconnect November 1994 from a huge media frenzy that began in June1994 by pushing it to when a jury was seated? That wasn't even a 'nice try'.
wercal
(1,370 posts)Yep, I'm absurd for not believing that the GOP used its mind meld machine to convince OJ to murder some people....and then trickily use it to win the congressional elections in 1994.
Per wikipedia, the 1994 World Cup was June 17-July 17....right after the murders happened. What in the HELL does that have to do with an election in November...where nobody pays attention until September at the earliest? btw....Pasadena isn't LA ( "World Cup events in Los Angeles" )
I'm going to try and slip some info underneath your tin foil cap:
The republicans nationilized the election.
That's it.
It was very effective, it took the democrats off guard, and both parties have been trying to do the same ever since.
Somehow I don't think you'll believe me - and continue to marginalize our political process by claiming it is a continuing series of conspiracies.
onenote
(44,741 posts)TV ratings for the World Cup were higher than expected in 1994.
http://articles.latimes.com/1994-07-22/sports/sp-18607_1_world-cup
If you ever come up with anything empircal to support your cockamamie theory, please let us know.
blm
(113,840 posts)I was in the trenches. A TV rating for a worldwide event followed by most every ethic group in America and around the world doesn't change the facts of what was going on in newsrooms and morning programming after OJ's trip in the White Bronco and the pretrial that began shortly after.
onenote
(44,741 posts)So if that had been the case would you be claiming that the coverage of the World Cup allowed the repubs to capture the House and Senate in 1994?
blm
(113,840 posts)You can claim it had no effect on the outcome of the election all you want. I think you're wrong.
onenote
(44,741 posts)If the OJ trial wasn't going on maybe there would have been more World Cup coverage in some locations; but there wouldn't have been more coverage of the 1994 off-year house, senate, and governors' races.
You are imaginging a world that didn't exist in 1994.
At that time, off year elections were viewed as local matters and covered minimally by the national broadcast networks. Even election night coverage was not "wall to wall" but typically involved local affiliates staying with regularly scheduled programming for a good portion of the night and cutting in with results from time to time. Networks didn't assign field reporters to statewide or congressional elections. Fox News didn't exist. CNN only reached 60 percent of the nations' TV households.
The situation began to change AFTER the 1994 elections in part because the results in 1994 were a big deal, in part because the next off-year election, in 1998, was the first post-impeachment election and there was a lot of interest in how the impeachment effort might impact the election, in part because Fox News had launched in 1996 and was beginning to create competitive pressure on the broadcast networks to provide more political coverage.
But you're dreaming if you think the national networks would have spent appreciably more time covering the off-year elections in 1994 than they did but for OJ. As mentioned, turnout in the 1994 off year elections was HIGHER than in any of the three preceding off-year elections and even higher than in the impeachment-tinged 1998 off year elections.
Again, if you have empirical data to support your thesis, I'd love to see it.
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)His tragic death an injustice is just a symptom of the division and disease the 1% have mitigated on the rest, through control of the media.
Its good for private security companies the NRA, and more division.
I know what that implies but think about it. They are only a pawn in their game.
A South politician preaches to the poor white man
"You got more than blacks, don't complain
You're better than them, you been born with white skin" they explain
And the Negro's name
Is used it is plain
For the politician's gain
As he rises to fame
And the poor white remains
On the caboose of the train
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game.
The deputy sheriffs, the soldiers, the governors get paid
And the marshals and cops get the same
But the poor white man's used in the hands of them all like a tool
He's taught in his school
From the start by the rule
That the laws are with him
To protect his white skin
To keep up his hate
So he never thinks straight
'Bout the shape that he's in
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game.
From the powerty shacks, he looks from the cracks to the tracks
And the hoof beats pound in his brain
And he's taught how to walk in a pack
Shoot in the back
With his fist in a clinch
To hang and to lynch
To hide 'neath the hood
To kill with no pain
Like a dog on a chain
He ain't got no name
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game.
blm
(113,840 posts)and on so many levels.
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)And has grown to an art with the technology, and technology control since the days of American Edward Bernays of the 20s or Goebbels of the 30s.
All governments use it to control the masses but for what purpose?
Think tanks these days financed with billions of support these days from the 1% can get their 'new pearl harbor' or expanded power through ways undreamed of by either Edward Bernays or Goebbels
Dylan said this in his song in his own way.
the american:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays
blm
(113,840 posts)Or even find the need to do so.
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)Good propaganda is not obvious
markiv
(1,489 posts)and influences without awareness
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)To avoid talking Snowden and NSA and prism. Now they can't and the damn story refuses to die
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)FOR THE YOUNGSTERS.
markiv
(1,489 posts)quietly sliding into place before anyone notices
i've been attacked for unsucessfully trying to point this out, but in hindsight, many will realize the whiole martin/zimmerman thing wasnt about martin or zimmerman at all
it was about whatever agenda they were using this story as cover for
they've been doing this for a long time
20 years ago, the public was all lathered up about a 'flag burning amendment', while they quitely slipped the New World Order (a world order without flags) of free trade into place
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)its real, I've seen it as have others for a long time. Its just more sophisticated now.
Besides who I mention another one is Marshall McLuhan that readers need to know about.
markiv
(1,489 posts)parqphrasing mcluhan 'has the party become the platform?
Has the Party become the Platform?
In 1967, Marshall McLuhan famously said 'The medium is the message'
rest of post is below
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023232892
modern fascism is very, very, very sophisticated, hopeless over the heads of most, and that's why it works. it's also much more effecient and subtle, only using force when necessary, making it far more effecting in reaching it's ends
it assures that the opponent's eye is never on the ball
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)hopefully awoke a few who can't see the forest for the tree. It was my antipathy. of realization of my denial of WTF is going on
He totally lost me with a CIA criminal. I cried for joy when he got elected , but a fool
sees not the same tree that a wise man sees
I read your link.. I'm glad you acknowledge him in the way you do. I've read all his books
IThey just need more METADATA
to expose the traitors and whiners who don't understand 'the truth' they see
snooper2
(30,151 posts)LOL....
Can't wait for election time to come around again...
onenote
(44,741 posts)It is ridiculous on its face. Among other things, it is historically expected for a party that is in the majority in Congress and holds the White House to lose seats in an off year election. Moreover, turnout in the off year elections of 1994, for both the House and Senate, was greater than it had been in the off year elections of 1982, 1986,and 1990 and was greater than the turnout in the off-year elections of 1998.
I was working on campaigns in 1994 and not once did I ever hear anyone suggest that the OJ trial was having an impact on the elections. Rather, we could sense a tidal wave building on the right. Indeed, there had been a string of elections, all predating not just the Simpson trial, but the murder itself that foreshadowed what happened in November 2004 (in an election held the day after Judge Ito ruled the trial could be televised and several months after the televised pretrial hearing had been held).
For example, Guiliani defeated defeated Donald Dinkins (the Democratic incumbent) to become the first Republican mayor of New York in nearly three decades. Los Angeles also elected a Republican mayor in 1993. Christine Todd Whitman knocked off an incumbent Democrat for the governorship of New Jersey; George Allen knocked off a prominent Democrat to become Virginia's governor (a governorship that had been in Democratic hands the two previous terms). There also were a number of special elections to fill vacancies in the House where seats held by Democrats were filled by Republicans. All long before OJ was known for anything other than running through airports.
And by the way, tv ratings for the World Cup in 1994 were significantly BETTER than expected. http://articles.latimes.com/1994-07-22/sports/sp-18607_1_world-cup
markiv
(1,489 posts)ever stop to think about that?
big media, 'think tanks', and university departments, who live and die by grants from media, government and think tanks. Deans of any university department care only about 4 things. Grants, Money, Grants and Money. Anyone who's ever had any firsthand connection to academia will tell you that
would be political scientists who dont play ball, don't pay bills either
onenote
(44,741 posts)Now you are claiming that every political scientist over the past 19 years, including thousands of grad students working on masters or phds are intentionally hiding the oh-so-otherwise apparent connection between the OJ trial and the results of the 1994 election. Wow. I'll try to keep in mind in the future that I should look to you for your expert (based on god knows what) analysis and skip over folks like Nate Silver. I also will make sure not to pay any attention to what some of the nation's leading African American political scientists have to say, since they're also obviously shills.
Silly silly silly.
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)and worked with it for 4 years.
I knew Ann Richards when she was county commissioner.
I did my senior analysis on Florida and on a computer analyses of the right wing vote and elections with the variables of education, race age,county...etc.
I wanted to do it on the causes of world revolution in regards to, food, population and other data I thought was important. But couldn't find enough data so I. changed my dissertation.
I used the most powerful computer in Florida. which at that time was located at
Gainesville.
Probably
like my PC today.
Now, chaos theory, game theory and other scenarios are just child's play for the next big blue.
which I was never able to plug into my equations since they came later.
If anyone thinks its not going on is ignorant on if you don't think that they are manipulating
the populace if they can.
I have two other degrees in education but enjoyed being the carpenter the most.
OneGrassRoot
(23,429 posts)but racism is a real issue...not a media concoction...and it needs to be dealt with and talked about and explored, not swept under a rug. Well, imho, at least.
Heck, I'm just going to copy and paste something I shared elsewhere last night:
To my friends focused on the NSA surveillance controversy who feel the Zimmerman trial is a media distraction, used to divert attention away from Snowden/NSA and to pit Americans against one another....
1. Whereas I'm normally the first to criticize mainstream media as useless, providing white noise as a means to confuse and distract from the work of the puppet masters, I don't view what's happening now concerning the Zimmerman verdict in that light.
What I'm seeing is a national conversation trying to get started about institutional, systemic racism. There are a lot of commentators/hosts/pundits of color who now have a national platform and they are personally devastated by this verdict. This is the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. They personally fear for their own children even more now.
They are passionate and eloquent and REAL. I've seen more honest dialogue on TV in the last two days than I have in the last 10 years. The corporate mask of BS has been ripped away and they are simply being human, asking to please come together to figure this out, for the safety of our children. They also realize the Stand Your Ground laws and other aspects of this case have the potential to negatively affect many innocents.
2. Regarding privacy and freedoms, the NSA, etc., we must ABSOLUTELY be aware and do what we can to fight all injustice and infringement on civil liberties. No doubt about it. We must multitask and fight this larger battle on multiple fronts.
3. Lastly, and most importantly, I wonder how many white people outraged about the NSA have stopped to consider that people of color have had to deal with profiling and surveillance EVERY SINGLE TIME THEY WALK OUT THE DOOR.
EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Men and women of color, all ages. Not only young black men.
It's time to rise up LOUDLY against ALL of the injustice. The oppression and war against people of color, against women, against students|education, against the poor, against the planet....we must rise up against all of it!!!
markiv
(1,489 posts)because it's harder to see though them when they use real issues
how many times do you think they can yell 'here boy, fetch the stick' with non issues like flag burning before the last dimwit would finally figure it out?
just because an issue is real, doesnt mean that people arent being played by the dimension of their focus on it
OneGrassRoot
(23,429 posts)because, to me, we can multitask. Those of us who choose to be informed, that is, like those of us here at DU.
We can recognize manipulation that underlies most of which occurs, especially in media, but also see the need to pay attention to this particular media focus because it COULD lead to an important national conversation.
We can do that AND pay attention to the man behind the curtain.
I apologize for being dense here...I am missing the point.
markiv
(1,489 posts)countless bloody faces in broken windshields cant be wrong
OneGrassRoot
(23,429 posts)what PRECISELY is it that you propose we do?
markiv
(1,489 posts)and inform those you know, and write the most intelligent and consise letter to your reps that you can
the purpose of the frenzy is so that you WONT do the above
the current trade deal and the massive guest workers (totally unreleated to the path to citizenship) in the immigration bill are 2 examples going on right now - 2 skewers into the working class
OneGrassRoot
(23,429 posts)KoKo
(84,711 posts)time to "multi-task" in today's two/three/four job American Families. Average Americans are exhausted and distracted in an economy that isn't working for them. It's easy for an issue that captures the attention of the populace and media (and is exploited for divisiveness) to take over and be used to obfuscate the other issues that are equally important but in the background and not focused on until the deed is done.
But, how to change that isn't apparent yet, sadly.
OneGrassRoot
(23,429 posts)that most of us find ourselves in makes being informed -- let alone doing something about it -- very challenging.
Of course, that's by design as well.
No, none of it is easy.
blm
(113,840 posts)who will take every shot they can to further the divide.
Populist_Prole
(5,364 posts)It was just another in a long and continuing line of BS fluff that people should be ignoring and instead focusing on the plutocrats impoverishing us.
I'll grant the OJ trial was the most blatant fake "news" talk of all too many people. Normally apathetic people I knew suddenly became obsessed with it...never stopped talking about it. It was all OJ all the time. The fact it dragged on was no doubt a bonanza for the media, who in effect, primed their own pumps but then claimed they were just reporting on "what everybody's talking about".
My musing assertion then was that the OJ trial was a great measure of intelligence: The more one talked about it: The more stupid they were.
blm
(113,840 posts).