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Ellyn
Joined: 16 Jul 2000
Posts: 4454
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Gingrich - Corporate Pointman for Internet Censorship
 Mon Dec 25, 2006 3:17 am
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Progressive Daily Beacon Opinion Piece
http://www.progressivedailybeacon.com/more.php?page=opinion&id=1383
Gingrich's Latest Political Resurrection: Corporate Pointman for Internet Censorship
A. Alexander, December 18th, 2006
To understand the recent Newt Gingrich resurrection, one must understand the sole reason for the Republican Party's existence. That reason, of course, is to serve large corporations and the ultra-wealthy. The corporations and ultra-wealthy make up a small fraction of the population, so Republicans require some means for motivating working Americans to vote for them. To that end, Republicans and their corporate constituents have worked hard to politicize, strengthen, and grow the most extreme elements of America's Christian community. In return for their political support, this ideologically driven and authoritarian subpopulation expects nothing.
Rather than Republicans having to deliver programs or policies that would impact and improve the lives of their carefully cultivated radical base, the Party simply generates false political issues like gay marriage, abortion, and calling Christmas "Christmas." The party sells these "issues" to the base, as urgent and pressing "moral" crises. Finally, Republicans pretend to battle against the nonexistent political forces that are supposedly pushing the totally fictional evil agenda. For this very cheap price, Republicans and their corporate constituency get to rule and control America.
In order to manufacture the best possible pseudo-social issues and as a means of effectively communicating their urgency, the GOP and their corporate sponsors created think tanks and a vast propaganda network. Known as the "echo chamber," the corporate-sponsored Republican propaganda network's main purpose is to ensure their radicalized base is kept in a fevered frenzy. As a side benefit, the propaganda network often influences the corporate media. The Republican Party's evangelical Christian radicalization and manipulation scheme worked to enviable electoral perfection. That is, it was working to perfection until the internet came along and ruined everything.
Corporations are growing increasingly uncomfortable and worried about the power and influence of the internet. In all other socio-political communication paradigms, controlling the message and the media has been a pretty simple process. Corporations could quite easily leverage their sponsorship dollars into media coverage that was least damaging to their interests or, more often than not, as a means of limiting and preventing negative reporting altogether. The internet, however, has taken power away from the traditional corporate-sponsored media and placed it directly into the hands of average citizens. This is a condition that the Republican Party's constituency -- corporations and the ultra-wealthy -- cannot long tolerate.
There is no doubt that corporations are pressuring Republicans to figure out a way to curtail the internet's influence. That is where Newt Gingrich's latest resurrection finds its meaning.
Gingrich has been busy floating the notion that he might be making a run at the Republican's 2008 Presidential ticket. A look at the polling data, however, makes clear that Newt Gingrich's Presidential ambitions are either delusional or devious. Considering the fact that Charles Manson would probably fight Gingrich to a standstill in a popularity contest, smart money says Gingrich is up to no good.
Newt Gingrich appears to be using his pretended Presidential ambitions, as an excuse to receive airtime from the mainstream media. As a "potential" Presidential candidate, Newt could show up at the local sewing circle and anything he said would receive media play. And what is Newt's number-one topic whenever and wherever he appears in a public forum? Censoring and controlling the internet.
Gingrich has made several media and nondescript public appearances and without fail, pitched the notion of an internet ruled by "jihadists" and the need for it to be censored. The reality of the internet is quite different from the dangerous place Gingrich describes. Of the literally billions upon billions of internet sites - there might be a handful (a small handful at that) of extremist sites. To anyone seeking them - good luck finding them!
Gingrich knows the "jihadist" movement hasn't taken over the internet. The thing Gingrich and his corporate masters really fear is the fact that common people, especially progressive Americans, have taken over the internet. Therefore, Newt Gingrich's job is simple: He is to serve as pointman for the corporate-sponsored Republican assault on the internet. Gingrich is couching his attack in terms of "terrorism," but the real objective is to make the internet safe for and controlled by Republicans and their corporate constituency.
While on Meet the Press with Tim Russert, Gingrich exposed his hidden agenda. When Russert asked who should be in charge of censoring the internet, Gingrich said he would be okay with judges having the job ... but only those judges with wartime experience. In other words Gingrich would want the people making the decisions to be individuals most likely to be pro-war, pro-Republican, and pro-corporatist and hostile toward groups opposing such policies and institutions. And in Gingrich-Republican parlance, if you aren't for war then you are a "jihadist"; therefore, pro-peace sites would have to be censored. And if you don't fully support runaway greed-based capitalism, you are a "communist"; therefore, those sites would have to be censored. And if you oppose corporate pollution, you are an environmentalist; therefore, that makes you a "terrorist" and the government, of course, is all ready monitoring environmental groups ... their sites would have to be censored as well.
The pattern is clear: Gingrich's kind of people would get to decide which internet sites would and wouldn't be censored. Imagine an America wherein Gingrich-like right-wing extremists -- a three judge panel, perhaps -- decided what information the other 300,000,000 people were allowed to access. And yet, that is the purpose for Gingrich's latest political resurrection. It is his job to serve the Republican Party's corporate masters, and be the pointman who introduces the public to the idea of censoring the internet. The ultimate goal, of course, is to make sure the internet becomes as controlled by corporations as is the evening news. |
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raze78
Joined: 20 Feb 2006
Posts: 526
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| Gingrich defends free speech curbs
Mon Dec 25, 2006 3:29 pm
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http://www.newt.org/backpage.asp?art=3897
Gingrich defends free speech curbs
Union Leader December 16 2006
Riley Yates
MANCHESTER – Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich last night defended his call to limit freedom of speech to combat terrorism, comments that last month provoked strident criticism from liberal groups.
Gingrich said the threat of biological or nuclear attack requires to consider curbs to speech to fight terrorists, if it is to protect the society that makes the First Amendment possible.
"Our friends at the 'ACLU left,' of course, were staggered at this concept," Gingrich told an audience of Republicans at a Christmas banquet. "How could we talk about anything less than 100 percent free speech? How could we consider in any way thinking about this issue?"
Gingrich cited last month's ejection of six Muslim scholars from a plane in Minneapolis for suspicious behavior, which included reports they prayed before the flight and had sat in the same seats as the Sept. 11 hijackers.
"Those six people should have been arrested and prosecuted for pretending to be terrorists," Gingrich said. "And the crew of the airplane should have been invited to the White House and congratulated for being correct in the protection of citizens."
Gingrich spoke to a crowd of about 250 at the Manchester Republican City Committee's Christmas dinner, held at the Executive Court Banquet Facility.
On Nov. 27, he said the First Amendment may require a "different set of rules" for terrorists, comments made while he addressed a free speech award dinner hosted by the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications.
The statements were picked up by Internet bloggers and pundits who charged the former speaker with attacking American values. Liberal MSNBC host Keith Olbermann assailed Gingrich for having "invoked the bogey man of terror."
In an interview, Gingrich said it is possible to distinguish between terrorists and others when looking to fight threatening expression.
"If you give me any signal in the age of terrorism that you're a terrorist, I'd say the burden of proof was on you," Gingrich said.
Gingrich, who has said he plans to decide whether to run for President in September, struck campaign-esque themes last night.
He urged a departure from heavy partisanship, energy independence for the and a search for cures for cancer and a vaccine for Alzheimer's disease.
Gingrich touted science as offering possibilities that Americans never believed were possible.
He noted it took only seven years for the space program to send a man to the moon, and that iPods, the BlackBerry, cell phones and cell phone cameras are all recent inventions.
A cure for Alzheimer's, "is not a fantasy," Gingrich said. "Imagine it was 1950 and I was talking to you about polio."
Last night's event also saw the feting of two Republicans for their efforts on behalf of the GOP.
Jim Coburn, the unsuccessful candidate for governor, was given the Republican of the Year Award.
David Wihby, a former longtime alderman and the deputy commissioner of the state Department of Labor, received the Ray Wieczorek Award for service to the party.
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Wow! Pretty much all of us will have to be robots to live in his world. I can't believe people like this are actually politicians.
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"Hikow mamtaqiym wkulow mahamadiym zeh dowdiy wzeh ree`iy bnowt yruushaalaaim."
Song of Solomon 5:16, Hebrew original. |
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