Krugman: Faking It

[ProSense]

Faking It

Three somehow related stories of the day:

1. Brent Bozell’s Media Research Center is an important part of the machinery that has, for the most part, successfully intimidated the news media into adopting a right-wing slant...But Jim Romenesko finds something interesting: Bozell doesn’t write his own columns or books, forcing a staffer to do it.

2. The Koch brothers have been running ads in Louisiana with distressed citizens facing ruination from Obamacare. But the people in the ads are all paid actors.

3. Best of all is the news from The Can Kicks Back, which is a Bowles-Simpson-run outfit that was supposed to be the youth arm of Fix the Debt. It has always been an astroturf operation, and a clumsy one at that, doing things like hiring dancers to stage fake flash mobs and placing identical ghostwritten articles in college newspapers. Now, The Can Kicks Back’s campaign against debt is running into trouble, because it’s, um, running out of money.

What these stories have in common is that they show how much of what passes for genuine expression of public concern is really just a bought and paid-for (or, in the case of The Can, not sufficiently paid-for) front for plutocratic priorities.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/13/faking-it

Fix the Debt is in debt?

[WhiteTara]

1. Too bad most people don't recognize pr when they see it.

If it's on the tv or internet, it must be true, seems to be the thought. (or lack there of)

[ProSense]

2. Kick! n/t

[DJ13]

3. the can!

[Hekate]

4. Kick. There are people with more money than ethics.... nt

[freshwest]

5. The RW is... Revolting... As usual. They think that's a compliment, too! n/t

[pampango]

6. "...what passes for genuine expression of public concern is really just a bought and paid-for..."

Thanks again to Mr. Krugman.