Thompson announces on Leno: GE AGAIN to be kingmaker by abusing control of public airwaves?

[ProgressiveEconomist]

Just as he did with Ahhnold, tonoight Jay Leno gave Fred Thompson an unprecedently big and diverse audience and smarmily "softball" questioning with which to start building his candidacy for high office. Thompson's handlers upstaged a "debate" on Fox "News" tonight and made Thompson look much more "presidential" in contrast.

IMO, Leno and GE/NBC are abusing their broadcasting license in continuation of the same illegal "Boulwarist" GE political manipulations that put Ronald Reagan in office and helped break the power of unions in this country. GE has been doing this for more than six decades but has attracted very little attention (a book that breaks this silence is mentioned in my first reply below). Their apparent political goals are clear-- to minimize GE's tax rate and labor costs, and maximize GE's net income, by promoting public policies that will hamper labor organizing, increase demand for GE's products and shrink expensive government safety nets for the mass of Americans.

I believe it is a threat to democracy when big corporate media can circumvent procedures established over hundreds of years for vetting candidates and can crown candidates of their choice over the public airwaves without equal time requirements.

What do you think?

Here's a smippet from a URL I chose more for its timing and comprehensiveness than for its political stance. I'd never heard of "themoderatevoice" before I googled it. You can use its links to click through to the Washington Post and other more familiar outlets that wrote stories based on pre-announcements by the Thompson non-campaign rather than actual viewing of Leno's September 5th Thompson segment.

From http://themoderatevoice.com/entertainment/television/14955/fred-thompson-announces-candidacy-on-tonight-show

"Television / Politics / 2008 Elections / Republicans / Fred Thompson

Fred Thompson Announces Presidential Candidacy On Tonight Show

By Joe Gandelman

Former Senator and actor Fred Thompson formally announced his candidacy for President on Jay Leno¡s Tonight Show -- following in the footsteps of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger who found the venue a lucky one to announce his own intentions. ... Mr. Thompson's announcement, which has been expected for months, was released to reporters about an hour before the other Republican candidates took part in a Fox News-sponsored debate in the early primary state of New Hampshire. But as if to poke fun at his opponents, he ran an ad, titled 'Debate' that appeared directly before the Republican candidates took their places to face live cameras in a much more traditional political ritual.

In a dark suit with the backdrop of an American flag, Mr. Thompson said in the advertisement: 'On the next president's watch, our country will make decisions that will affect our lives and our families far into the future. We can't allow ourselves to become a weaker, less prosperous and more divided nation.' He then directed viewers to his Web site, Fred08.com, where he will give details of a platform and his reasons for entering the race.

Was it a wise move? Probably. There are now so many debates between the two parties that it¡s coming close to where networks may well simply want to allot time for weekly series. And while debates are watched by many Americans, and scrutinized by the press and webloggers, the impact of an individual debate is not quite what it used to be. So Thompson will take some heat for skipping the debate and be the subject of a few jokes but is unlikely to lose many votes due to it. ... The Tonight Show is a more controlled environment. And running a totally controlled ad is something of a masterstroke."