"Senators and Congressmen are heading back to Washington facing STRONG public opposition ..."
Kona, Hawaii 9/2/09
I was driving to town at noon and heard the announcer clear as day on a local radio station's CNN feed at the top of the hour, "Senators and Congressmen are heading back to Washington facing STRONG public opposition ..." to gov't administered health care. All I could think is "I don't wanna be smokin' whatever they're havin'!"
Something had to be done. I reached my destination and called the station and asked for the news director. I said to her, are you aware that CNN was broadcasting lies through your station? She was like, yeah, so, what did they say this time? (She wasn't listening?). I recapped the tag line with ... "and you gotta know the fact is that every honest poll shows strong SUPPORT for Public Option. You folks are paying for that feed aren't you? I mean it's one thing if they were paying you to spread disinformation, but I don't think you should have to pay for the priviledge."
The news director, Stephanie, was inclined to agree and didn't seem to take it personally. She was saying "yeah, I know, and I'll pass this along to the station manager." I thanked her and added, "you'd be doing your listeners a real service if you'd let them know our Congresswoman Mazie Hirono has signed the pledge not to support any HC legislation that doesn't include a strong public option. And Congressman Abercrombie is still in favor of SINGLE PAYER!"
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We are all capable, at the local level, of interrupting, even if just for a moment, the constant stream of Corporate Lies, propaganda, and disinformation, especially in cases like this where a communications worker was passively serving as the conduit. I like this particular station - KHBC - and will continue to encourage them to fact-check the "facts" before they are put out as "news".