velvelonmedia's Podcast

In this edition of What the Media doesn't Tell You, Larry Velvel hosts two shorter programs that were extensions of two of his best shows.  First, we hear more discussion with David Walsh and Sherwood Ross on the subject of the New York Times and their hesitation to publish regarding the domestic spying by the NSA just prior to the 2004 presidential election.

Second, Larry continues the discussion with David Michael Green and Alan Erhenhaldt about why we seem to have difficulty getting quality people in elected office, especially national office.

The Massachusetts School of Law, located in Andover, Massachusetts, makes high quality, affordable legal education available to less privileged persons who are traditionally excluded from the legal profession. As part of its mission of providing high quality education and information for both law students and the general public, the Massachusetts School of Law also presents information on important current affairs to the general public via television and radio broadcasts, an intellectual journal, conferences, author appearances, blogs and books. For more information visit www.mslaw.edu. MSLAW podcasts are available from http://mslaw.libsyn.com/rss, for subscriptions, or http://mslaw.libsyn.com, for direct downloads. MSLAW videos are available from Google Video.

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Attorney Glenn Greenwald, a former constitutional lawyer who is now a
blogger on politics and the media for Salon.com, was interviewed by Dean
Lawrence R. Velvel on how George Bush became the Republican candidate in
2000.  Greenwald has just written a book, to be published on Tuesday, June
26th, on the disaster of George Bush’s presidency.  The interview with
Velvel was for the radio show called What The Media Doesn’t Tell You, which
discusses subjects the mainstream does not present (or presents only very
briefly) and why the media ignores these subjects.

Greenwald said that there were three fundamental reasons why George Bush
became the Republican candidate in 2000.  One he called “tribalism,â€? meaning
the cultural ideology of the right wing.  Another was the political lineage
of the Bush family.  Finally, Bush has an affable personality that the media
liked.  This last point was of major importance, said Greenwald, because the
mass media focuses on personal amiability and attractiveness, not on
competence or knowledge.  It also focuses, he said, on the horse race
aspects of politics - - who is ahead, by how much and why.  Here too it
ignores competence and knowledge.

The reason the mass media ignores substance is that it is now largely owned
by large corporations, which feel they get more readers and viewers - - and
make more money - - by focusing on personalities rather than substance.
Reporters have to go along with this to advance in their careers.  In this
vacuum of substance, said Greenwald, blogs are making an important
contribution because they are focusing on the substance neglected by the
mass media.

In addition to the foregoing reasons, there were also other reasons too why
George Bush became the Republican candidate.  The Republican political
establishment was desperate to win, especially because it hated the
Clintons, and was persuaded that George Bush had the best chance to win.
And while member of the Republican establishment weren’t completely sure
about Bush’s ideology, they knew they did not like John McCain’s.  Bush also
had name recognition because of membership in a political dynasty, and he
had access to huge sums of money.  Nor did the Republican political
establishment care a whit about the inadequacy of Bush’s record as Governor
of Texas, nor about the fact that he had been a continuous failure in
business - - and thus had never demonstrated competence.

When asked whether America needs a third party because currently it has
“only one party with two branches,â€? Greenwald demurred.  In his view, the
situation is currently so terrible that it is crucial to defeat the
Republicans in 2008, and he feels the Democrats have the best chance to do
this.  He thus favors efforts to change the Democrat Party so that, in those
areas where it closely overlaps the Republicans, it would instead stand for
the very things that a third party would otherwise stand for.  In response
to the possible objection that the nation is claimed to be in a critical
state in every single presidential election - - a claim that would always
augur against a third party and would make it impossible ever to start one -
- Greenwald said that this time the situation truly is dire.

 Greenwald concluded by saying that it is now essential to find
candidates who will engage in honest, competent debate, for the edification
of the American people, about America’s role in the world.

The Massachusetts School of Law, located in Andover, Massachusetts, makes high quality, affordable legal education available to less privileged persons who are traditionally excluded from the legal profession. As part of its mission of providing high quality education and information for both law students and the general public, the Massachusetts School of Law also presents information on important current affairs to the general public via television and radio broadcasts, an intellectual journal, conferences, author appearances, blogs and books. For more information visit www.mslaw.edu. MSLAW podcasts are available from http://mslaw.libsyn.com/rss, for subscriptions, or http://mslaw.libsyn.com, for direct downloads. MSLAW videos are available from Google Video.

War Funding

In this edition of What the Media Doesn't Tell you, host Larry Velvel discusses with long-time journalist Sherwood Ross and peace activist David Swanson issues surrounding the reluctance of Congress to cut off funding for the Iraq war.  Would such a move place our troops in jeopardy?  Does the media investigate this issue and if not, why not?  Has such a move ever been executed before now?

The Massachusetts School of Law, located in Andover, Massachusetts, makes high quality, affordable legal education available to less privileged persons who are traditionally excluded from the legal profession. As part of its mission of providing high quality education and information for both law students and the general public, the Massachusetts School of Law also presents information on important current affairs to the general public via television and radio broadcasts, an intellectual journal, conferences, author appearances, blogs and books. For more information visit www.mslaw.edu. MSLAW podcasts are available from http://mslaw.libsyn.com/rss, for subscriptions, or http://mslaw.libsyn.com, for direct downloads. MSLAW videos are available from Google Video.

Gasoline

In this program of What the Media Doesn't Tell You, Larry Velvel and his guest, Tyson Slocum of Public Citizen discuss the real causes for the price we pay for gasoline at the pump.  How has the market become separated from the old formula of supply and demand?  Why doesn't the media cover the real reasons for the inflated price of gasoline?  How does futures trading affect the present price?

The Massachusetts School of Law, located in Andover, Massachusetts, makes high quality, affordable legal education available to less privileged persons who are traditionally excluded from the legal profession. As part of its mission of providing high quality education and information for both law students and the general public, the Massachusetts School of Law also presents information on important current affairs to the general public via television and radio broadcasts, an intellectual journal, conferences, author appearances, blogs and books. For more information visit www.mslaw.edu. MSLAW podcasts are available from http://mslaw.libsyn.com/rss, for subscriptions, or http://mslaw.libsyn.com, for direct downloads. MSLAW videos are available from Google Video.

Why do We Have Corrupt Politicians?

In this program, MSL dean Larry Velvel and guests, professor David M. Green and Alan Ehrenhalt, editor of Governing magazine, discuss why so many politicians seem to be corrupt and why the media does a minimal job of covering this phenomenon

The Massachusetts School of Law, located in Andover, Massachusetts, makes high quality, affordable legal education available to less privileged persons who are traditionally excluded from the legal profession. As part of its mission of providing high quality education and information for both law students and the general public, the Massachusetts School of Law also presents information on important current affairs to the general public via television and radio broadcasts, an intellectual journal, conferences, author appearances, blogs and books. For more information visit www.mslaw.edu. MSLAW podcasts are available from http://mslaw.libsyn.com/rss, for subscriptions, or http://mslaw.libsyn.com, for direct downloads. MSLAW videos are available from Google Video.