On 17 Jun 2003 at 7:59, Barb Jernigan wrote:

> Is this to say Randoph Hearst was before his time?

Not exactly, and yet he would recognize where we are now as a VERY 
congenial atmosphere and would feel right at home...   What's sad and 
infuriating is that in many ways we had, for a bright shining moment, 
moved beyond Hearst (at least in theory) to a recognition that the 
readers deserved, and democracy demanded, a better standard of news 
and reporting than Hearst and McCormick and others of that stripe 
gave them.  Perfect?  Of course not; not even close... but at the 
very LEAST there was an attempt to build a foundation for the future, 
an awareness than an informed and educated public and an enlightened 
public conversation were vital elements in an open and participatory 
society -- and that everyone, without exception, was better off for 
living in that sort of society.  

Now?  It seems likely that, with Hearst and McCormick, many movers 
and shakers would argue that educating the public is unprofitable, 
that an informed citizenry is too much trouble and too hard to 
manipulate, and that an open and participatory society isn't even a 
worthwhile goal -- and a growing percentage of the general public in 
the US, who aren't encouraged or permitted to see otherwise, would 
agree with them. One of the preconditions for slavery to last is that 
the slaves themselves must believe it right, or at least 
inevitable...

Sure, it's cyclical, we've seen it before.. and y'know,  robber 
barons, divine right, colonialism, all the different flavors of 
oligarchy, plutocracy, theocracy, and Government By Crony... they 
sucked ALL the previous times, too.  Letting it happen again because 
we've done it before doesn't seem a good thing.  


Sometimes maintaining freedom against the different flavors of 
tyrants, imported and homegrown,  seems to resemble nothing so much 
as a vicious round of whack-a-mole.... and there's no telling which 
flag or what bit of scribbled parchment the moles will be wrapped in, 
but it doesn't matter.  Gotta whack `em all before you can go to the 
next level.

> beyond the consolodation issues -- and there are still myriad individuals
> reporting their slant -- no new news here, imho

Consolidation is just the latest round in the same issue... but in 
this case it's a little different..  The world is both smaller and 
larger than it was, 
and once you've learned that there IS a better way to do things....   
 Ask Russ if he wants to go back to building dams using a few 
thousand 
slaves with shovels and buckets. 

When the 900 pound gorilla goes sociopathic and psychotic, even if 
you know your DSM-IV backward and forward and have seen it before, 
it's STILL a problem requiring attention.

> 
> Remember the Maine! tygress


Trying... and wanting to keep them guys from hitting the fan 
again....


               Albest,

                        Clayton

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