Shock jocks, Murdoch's hate media and Anders Behring Breivik
July 26, 2011
One thing that we have long known about eeevil right-wing conservatives is that they will never let a crisis (or an atrocity) go to waste. Immediately something horrible happens, they are shamelessly using it to bash their old enemies, even when there is no association whatsoever!
This tendency was accurately pointed out by fellow traveller Mike Stuchbery on Twitter when he revealed the cynical use of the massacre in Norway by you know who:
Andrew Bolt is on the same sick level as Oslo’s madman, feeding the fears and hatred of people like him.
It's just disgraceful that this man is still allowed to walk the streets of Melbourne, let alone publish his inflammatory opinions. Yes, there have been admirable attempts to silence him in the name of democracy that may yet bear some fruit. Still, he remains a clear and present danger to our generally free, open, harmonious and most of all tolerant society.
And there is hope that we who believe in true democracy (not the "shamocracy" advocated by Bolt and his ilk) will ultimately achieve our goals. That hope came via the medium of one of my favourite TV shows, Q and A.
This brilliant opening question cut to the heart of the matter:
COL MULLER: The venomous political and media commentary pervading our country seems to have sunk to the absolute bottom of a very unpleasant place. Shock jocks advocate drowning our Prime Minister along with any politicians whose views don’t align with their biased bigoted views. Our opposition leader’s modus operandi caters to the worst elements of greed and self interest in the electorate. Could this culture of hate and conflict result in a situation we have witnessed in Norway?
Unfortunately the panelists, even those on the left, were overly cautious in their responses. But the fact that such a question was actually asked said so much. And we all know the answer, don't we fellow travellers? Hmm? And that answer is a terrifying YES!
Yes, it could happen, and if those appalling blowhards are allowed to continue whipping up racist Islamophobia among the great unloofahed with their hateful on-air diatribes then such an event is inevitable.
The Government should take radical action now. Such pre-emptive measures would be completely justified, much as action on climate change is. If the AFP were to arrest and muzzle Alan Jones, Chris Smith, Steve Price and Bolt himself they would ultimately be saving hundreds, if not thousands of innocent lives.
Too extreme, you say? Well this has been done to Derryn Hinch, so why not these characters as well? (Come to think of it they could all be locked in Hinch's mansion together - indefinitely. They'd be amongst friends, so it would be a compassionate solution. And think of the taxpayers' money that would be saved!)
Then there is Murdoch's hate media, which constitutes the print arm of this sinister right-wing assault on our democracy. While the shock jocks have been focusing on demonizing the Religion of Peace, hacks at The Australian and The Daily Telegraph have been frantically pushing the causes of climate change denialism and NBN-ophobia.
But thankfully sassy sister Christine Milne has signalled how she and her cohorts in Canberra intend to deal with them. On Q and A she said:
The Murdoch press has been running a very strong campaign against action on climate change. The bias is extreme, in the Australian in particular. You’ll see column inch after column inch of every climate sceptic in the country…
You’ll find day after day a real attempt at regime change…
And one of the useful things about the hacking scandal in the UK is that It will lead to an inquiry into the media in Australia…
We are at least going to see some real discussion ...around issues such as the level of ownership and dominance of the Murdoch press in several capital cities in Australia. We’ll also have a look at a range of other issues including who are fit and proper people into into whether we need that test into people to be running media outlets…
It’s time we had a good inquiry and certainly bias is going to be one of the things that’s certainly to be looked at.
Yes, an inquiry doesn't go nearly far enough. But it's a start, fellow travellers, it's a start.
And Bolt himself is worried, which is proof that we are on the right track. He says:
This really, without a word of exaggeration, is the first step to totalitarianism.
Excuse me, Andrew. Actually, this really, without a word of exaggeration, is the first step to democracy. And that's why you hate it so much.
Andrew is clearly losing his power now and he doesn't like it one little bit. He can still throw his weight around, though. Not only does he keep on ranting hatefully on air and in print; he continues to threaten and intimidate his critics. I mean, he's clearly gotten to Mike Stuchbery. Why else would Mike have written this formal apology?
Really, this is deeply disturbing. It's not unlike when prisoners at Nazi show trails were made to formally renounce their beliefs and allegiances before being executed. Will we find Mike's body floating in the Yarra in the coming months? I sincerely hope not. But if we do, I won't be at all surprised.
The undeniable fact is that Murdoch and all those who work for him are waging a relentless war on the truth. And it's those lies that inspire the kind of carnage that occurred in Oslo.
And here's more proof: Of course you've all heard of the historical revisionist Keith Windschuttle. This eeevil man and his diabolical work were actually cited as a motivation in Anders Behring Breivik's manifesto:
EXCERPT FROM MANIFESTO (male voiceover): "Australian writer Keith Windschuttle, a former Marxist, is tired of that anti-Western slant that permeates academia: 'For the past three decades and more, many of the leading opinion-makers in our universities, the media and the arts have regarded Western culture as, at best, something to be ashamed of, or at worst, something to be opposed.'"
Way to go, Keith! Oh, and lookee here: Mr Windschuttle has been known to write for ... wait for it ... The Australian. What more evidence do you need?
I'm surprised that that other Murdoch lackey Janet Albrechtsen wasn't also quoted by Breivik. Not only are her views just as deranged and intolerant as Breivik's, she's also a fellow blonde.
Really, these psychotic ideologues must not be allowed to continue fomenting hate any longer! That is why we must support our brave fellow travellers Christine Milne, Bob Brown and Julia Gillard (among others) in their brave struggle against the fascist forces of Murdochian darkness. If they lose, fellow travellers, then democracy in Australia is dead.
This tendency was accurately pointed out by fellow traveller Mike Stuchbery on Twitter when he revealed the cynical use of the massacre in Norway by you know who:
Andrew Bolt is on the same sick level as Oslo’s madman, feeding the fears and hatred of people like him.
It's just disgraceful that this man is still allowed to walk the streets of Melbourne, let alone publish his inflammatory opinions. Yes, there have been admirable attempts to silence him in the name of democracy that may yet bear some fruit. Still, he remains a clear and present danger to our generally free, open, harmonious and most of all tolerant society.
And there is hope that we who believe in true democracy (not the "shamocracy" advocated by Bolt and his ilk) will ultimately achieve our goals. That hope came via the medium of one of my favourite TV shows, Q and A.
This brilliant opening question cut to the heart of the matter:
COL MULLER: The venomous political and media commentary pervading our country seems to have sunk to the absolute bottom of a very unpleasant place. Shock jocks advocate drowning our Prime Minister along with any politicians whose views don’t align with their biased bigoted views. Our opposition leader’s modus operandi caters to the worst elements of greed and self interest in the electorate. Could this culture of hate and conflict result in a situation we have witnessed in Norway?
Unfortunately the panelists, even those on the left, were overly cautious in their responses. But the fact that such a question was actually asked said so much. And we all know the answer, don't we fellow travellers? Hmm? And that answer is a terrifying YES!
Yes, it could happen, and if those appalling blowhards are allowed to continue whipping up racist Islamophobia among the great unloofahed with their hateful on-air diatribes then such an event is inevitable.
The Government should take radical action now. Such pre-emptive measures would be completely justified, much as action on climate change is. If the AFP were to arrest and muzzle Alan Jones, Chris Smith, Steve Price and Bolt himself they would ultimately be saving hundreds, if not thousands of innocent lives.
Too extreme, you say? Well this has been done to Derryn Hinch, so why not these characters as well? (Come to think of it they could all be locked in Hinch's mansion together - indefinitely. They'd be amongst friends, so it would be a compassionate solution. And think of the taxpayers' money that would be saved!)
Then there is Murdoch's hate media, which constitutes the print arm of this sinister right-wing assault on our democracy. While the shock jocks have been focusing on demonizing the Religion of Peace, hacks at The Australian and The Daily Telegraph have been frantically pushing the causes of climate change denialism and NBN-ophobia.
But thankfully sassy sister Christine Milne has signalled how she and her cohorts in Canberra intend to deal with them. On Q and A she said:
The Murdoch press has been running a very strong campaign against action on climate change. The bias is extreme, in the Australian in particular. You’ll see column inch after column inch of every climate sceptic in the country…
You’ll find day after day a real attempt at regime change…
And one of the useful things about the hacking scandal in the UK is that It will lead to an inquiry into the media in Australia…
We are at least going to see some real discussion ...around issues such as the level of ownership and dominance of the Murdoch press in several capital cities in Australia. We’ll also have a look at a range of other issues including who are fit and proper people into into whether we need that test into people to be running media outlets…
It’s time we had a good inquiry and certainly bias is going to be one of the things that’s certainly to be looked at.
Yes, an inquiry doesn't go nearly far enough. But it's a start, fellow travellers, it's a start.
And Bolt himself is worried, which is proof that we are on the right track. He says:
This really, without a word of exaggeration, is the first step to totalitarianism.
Excuse me, Andrew. Actually, this really, without a word of exaggeration, is the first step to democracy. And that's why you hate it so much.
Andrew is clearly losing his power now and he doesn't like it one little bit. He can still throw his weight around, though. Not only does he keep on ranting hatefully on air and in print; he continues to threaten and intimidate his critics. I mean, he's clearly gotten to Mike Stuchbery. Why else would Mike have written this formal apology?
Really, this is deeply disturbing. It's not unlike when prisoners at Nazi show trails were made to formally renounce their beliefs and allegiances before being executed. Will we find Mike's body floating in the Yarra in the coming months? I sincerely hope not. But if we do, I won't be at all surprised.
The undeniable fact is that Murdoch and all those who work for him are waging a relentless war on the truth. And it's those lies that inspire the kind of carnage that occurred in Oslo.
And here's more proof: Of course you've all heard of the historical revisionist Keith Windschuttle. This eeevil man and his diabolical work were actually cited as a motivation in Anders Behring Breivik's manifesto:
EXCERPT FROM MANIFESTO (male voiceover): "Australian writer Keith Windschuttle, a former Marxist, is tired of that anti-Western slant that permeates academia: 'For the past three decades and more, many of the leading opinion-makers in our universities, the media and the arts have regarded Western culture as, at best, something to be ashamed of, or at worst, something to be opposed.'"
Way to go, Keith! Oh, and lookee here: Mr Windschuttle has been known to write for ... wait for it ... The Australian. What more evidence do you need?
I'm surprised that that other Murdoch lackey Janet Albrechtsen wasn't also quoted by Breivik. Not only are her views just as deranged and intolerant as Breivik's, she's also a fellow blonde.
Really, these psychotic ideologues must not be allowed to continue fomenting hate any longer! That is why we must support our brave fellow travellers Christine Milne, Bob Brown and Julia Gillard (among others) in their brave struggle against the fascist forces of Murdochian darkness. If they lose, fellow travellers, then democracy in Australia is dead.
Posted by Derek Sapphire.
