These musings were stirred by a recent diary…
The narrative really is everything if you consider the extent to which corporate media is co-opted in service to the status quo. The narrative forms the sole basis of the knowledge of current events for millions of Americans, and is accepted without question or suspicion by many. The narrative is where the limits of acceptable debate are enforced, and where an obedient perspective is imposed on the public. The narrative reliably, by design, and in purpose, supports the status quo.
OWS was dismissed as college kids yelling, without leadership or policy ideas, or whatever other references… But it infected the narrative with a very strong virus – the concept of the 99% vs. the 1%. That’s a virus they have not been able to clean out despite their efforts to erase it, nor have they been able to co-opt it. OWS was violently suppressed in a federally coordinated nationwide effort because it threatened the narrative.
Bernie Sanders and his message are incompatible with the narrative. When he is allowed to interact with the media, most of his answers amount to an effective dismissal or rejection of the narrative, to the astonishment of media talking heads.
Trump is very convenient and useful for the narrative. He overshadows and masks the general illegitimacy of the GOP agenda. He fills most of the time, and is made to order for attention getting TV. He also provides an “outsider” angle to the whole thing, which Bernie Sanders can be dismissively tossed into, in just the kind of false equivalency which the narrative so loves.
The narrative is made of bullshit. It’s very fragile, and must be carefully sheltered from the truth.
This site’s proudest achievement was its ability to affect the narrative.