“Obviously, some of my rhetoric has been a mistake.”
– George W. Bush in what, we hope, is his final press conference.
SOME???
A Few Popular Media Myths Quickly Dispelled:
– There is not, and never has been, any such thing as ‘global free trade.’
– That we have, or have ever had, a ‘free market’ economy. (Another quaint media fiction that has never existed in reality.)
– There is not, and never has been, any such thing as a corporation that ‘cares.’ Corporations care about you to the extent that it facilitates freeing you from your money to buy their product or service; that is their only purpose in ‘caring’ about the customer at all. All else is marketing and public relations.
Laughable Bulls*it: Bush now admits the ‘Mission Accomplished’ banner was a mistake. Hmmm, was that the ‘Mission Accomplished’ banner prepared by the White House, or the one the Rove PR machine claimed was painted by the happy sailors aboard the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln that had nothing to do with the Bush Gang?
Ponderable: ‘In God We Trust’ is an interesting motto to stick on money. Think about it – if you really trusted God, you wouldn’t need money.
To All of the Geniuses on the Left Excoriating Obama: Word up, friends. It’s said Obama is a good poker player and a good poker player doesn’t show his cards until he’s ready. Next time you think to trash him before he’s even officially president, think for a moment: The guy is one of the smartest presidents we’ve ever had, and he put together an organization to get this far, against the odds; maybe he actually knows what he’s doing.
Not a Cheeseburger in Paradise: Burger King is currently featuring something called the ‘Angry Whopper’ spiced up with slices of jalapenos and pepper cheese to burn your tongue. Geez — fast food with emotions? What’s next, the ‘Big Mad Mac’ with bone splinters, White Castle’s ‘Snarly Slider’ with fingernail clippings, or Wendy’s ‘Ass-Kickin’ Mean Stack’ with pieces of real teeth? “Gimme one a them damn nasty burgers and make it snappy, jerk! Grrrrrrrr.”
RS, how are you?
I’d like to have taken a look at the piece you wrote that your proof reader said was ‘spammy.’
Curiosity….
Your repeated rant that there is no such thing as a free market is noted. You are, however, stating the obvious. Consider the fact that the word ‘free’ is being used in a different sense by those who use it in this context.
Corporations live by the law of the jungle: eat or be eaten. So they show the same compassion as a snake eating a rat. However, the people within corporations aren’t that way. Some very wealthy people give away huge sums.
For example, the CEO of Merck promised Jimmy Carter all he needed of a medicine to cure children of some illness in Africa as long as it didn’t affect his business. But you didn’t hear about it and never will. He doesn’t want it publicised and the Main Scream Media certainly won’t. The idea of rich people who aren’t utterly evil goes against their class envy platform.
Why is the Bartblog so quiet?
Comment by grimgold — January 16, 2009 @ 11:43 am
Hi, Grimmy.
I’m putting together a Tattlesnake article with that response I wrote to you on the other thread. I don’t know what was ‘spammy’ about it — it didn’t have any links. Maybe it was just some glitch.
I never said all rich people were pond scum — in fact, I’ve met a few who were decent folks, although they were mostly ‘self-made’ in the sense that they started off not being wealthy and worked for what they had. (Some were very concerned about spoiling their kids with too much and gave carloads of money to charity.)
However, I have also met the cynical, manipulative, ‘screw the peasants’ moneybags, like the Enron creeps and the Leona ‘Only Little People Pay Taxes’ Helmsley types. They do exist, and they have too much power in our economy.
You wrote: “For example, the CEO of Merck promised Jimmy Carter all he needed of a medicine to cure children of some illness in Africa as long as it didn’t affect his business. But you didn’t hear about it and never will. He doesn’t want it publicised and the Main Scream Media certainly won’t. The idea of rich people who aren’t utterly evil goes against their class envy platform.”
Two things, Grim: 1) He’s willing to donate medicine as long as it doesn’t affect his business? That’s nice. So if it DID affect his business, all of those African kids can go die? Mighty charitable attitude there. 2) If the CEO of Merck didn’t wnat it known what a nice guy he is, how did you hear about it? In my experience, most rich corporate executives hire PR agents to make sure everyone in the world knows of their charitable work. This guy wpould be the rare exception.
Comment by RS Janes — January 16, 2009 @ 8:10 pm
RS, nice to hear from you. You are right on about the fact that rich aren’t all pond scum (hee, hee). The fact is most rich are ’self-made.’
I’m sure Merck can find better PR than what I heard, I believe on C-SPAN. It was just an example anyway.
I don’t agree that ‘most rich corporate executives hire PR agents to make sure everyone in the world knows of their charitable work’ because then they get endlessly hasseled by people begging for money. I could be wrong, but you sound a little cynical to me.
Fact is that the rich begin to feel an obligation even though they worked their asses off to get what they have. Look at Jim Cramer. That man doesn’t have to work another day in his life if he doesn’t want to.
Movie stars are the best example. I refuse to believe that Brad and Ang have hired ‘PR agents to make sure everyone in the world knows of their charitable work’ except as a way of getting more funds. They surely don’t need to bask in the glory of being admired for their humanitarian instincts. But we hear about what they do because the Main Scream Media slobbers with unconditional love whenever those two move a muscle. And Hollywood is every bit a viciously competative as the corporate world. A lot of rich people realize they are just who they are, which is a good thing.
The rich are right to worry about their kids. the Hiltons should join that bunch, though it looks as though Paris (what a name) will turn out okay in spite of.
Beautiful day outside. Is it really January here in Ca?
Grimmy
Comment by grimgold — January 18, 2009 @ 6:58 pm