90% Decrease in Shootings in Oakland During Occupy Protests & Conservative Bias in Media

examples of conservative bias in the mainstream media

The mainstream media reported one shooting in Oakland CA that was physically near, but unrelated to, the Occupy Oakland protest.

The mainstream media also reported that there had been 103 shootings in Oakland so far this year. That works out to be about 1 shooting every 3 days.

Statistically, over any given 28 day period, there would be a little over 9 shootings in Oakland. However, over the 28 day period that Occupy Oakland was present, the mainstream media reported only one shooting.

So, statistically, this is a 90% decrease in shootings during the time Occupy was present in Oakland.

The mainstream media does not report this because it doesn’t fit their narrative of - and conflicts with their bias against - the Occupy protests.

The mainstream media is quick to report about the trouble peaceful protesters exercising their First Amendment right to free speech are causing.

But not one mainstream media outlet reports the relationship between gun violence and the exercise of the second amendment right to bear arms.

Does this represent a conservative bias on the part of the mainstream media?

Peaceful protesters exercising their First Amendment right to free speech for economic fairness is seen as a liberal activity, and exercising Second Amendment right to have guns is a conservative pillar.

The mainstream media can’t even put together guns and gun violence, but willingly insinuates that peaceful protesters are somehow related to gun violence.

Even when there was a 90% decrease in shootings during the time Occupy was present in Oakland.

Regardless of your personal views on either the protests or guns, this is a clear example of the deep-rooted conservative bias on the part of the mainstream media both in what they report, and in what they fail to report.

examples of conservative bias in the mainstream media

examples of conservative bias in the media

Here is another clear cut example of how the "mainstream media" (CNN, NBC, ABC, etc.) is conservatively biased.

Here is another clear cut example of how the "mainstream media" (CNN, NBC, ABC, etc.) is conservatively biased.

When unemployment is up, the conservatively biased mainstream media asks what President Obama is doing about it. They completely ignore the real story of how Republican policies caused unemployment and the economy to become so bad in the first place.

President Obama put out a plan to fix the high unemployment and the economy called The American Jobs Act. The Republicans in Congress are blocking it. The conservatively biased mainstream media story is both sides are at fault! Wrong, both sides are not at fault. Again, the conservatively biased mainstream media completely ignores the facts that Republicans are the ones holding the economy hostage, and that they are still pushing the same Republican policies that caused unemployment and the economy to become so bad in the first place.

President Obama takes his plan directly to the American people to tell them how it will put Americans back to work and help the economy. (because the conservatively biased mainstream media won't report this) He also lets the American people know that Republicans are blocking it. (because the conservatively biased mainstream media won't report this either).

So what is the story that the conservatively biased mainstream media reports? "President Obama is campaigning for President." Seriously! Again, the conservatively biased mainstream media completely ignores the facts that Republicans are the ones holding the economy hostage, and that Obama has to take his plan directly to the American people because the conservatively biased mainstream media won't report the facts.

So while the Republicans are holding the economy hostage, the conservatively biased mainstream media's response is to attack President Obama for trying to put Americans back to work and help the economy.

The "mainstream media" (CNN, NBC, ABC, etc.) is conservatively biased not only by what they report, but because of what they fail to report. We are deliberately being mislead because the media is withholding the facts from us.

How to Deal With Crazy Republican Relatives

So you’re looking forward to the holidays and some family get-togethers. But you are reminded of the last time when you were confronted with an uncomfortable situation with one or more Republican relatives who decided to pontificate to a captive audience. Maybe it was about President Obama, maybe it was about “liberals” in general. You thought at the time that they use the word “liberal” like it was a bad thing. But you are proud of being a liberal, and furthermore, you are right.

So you are asking yourself, “How do I deal with my crazy Republican relatives? What do I do when my crazy conservative relatives start their crap?”

You are not alone. Millions of liberals, moderates, independents, and other Democrats all across the country are asking themselves the same thing.

Confrontation is a Republican tactic.

Realize that no amount of factual evidence will get them to change their mind. Remember, they did not come to their current beliefs because of careful analysis and study. They didn’t weigh the evidence and decide that the Republican position is most supported by the facts. No matter how well informed you are, no matter how logical your reasoning, it is very unlikely that it will get through to them.

It’s OK to say that you don’t accept FOX talking points as fact.

Once you realize that no minds will be changed, you begin to feel a sense of freedom. Say this to yourself “No minds will be changed today”. In other words, it doesn’t matter whether you argue with them, or walk away. It’s very freeing, so have fun with it.

For example, count the number of times they accuse Democrats of exactly the things of which Republicans are guilty. So when they say “Democrats are running up the deficit”, that’s one. (Two unfunded wars, and the Bush Tax cuts for the wealthy ran up the deficit.) Counting them out loud might also be fun!

Conservatives like to sit around trying to “one up” each other to prove they are more conservative. Why not join in! But don’t be constrained by the latest neocon talking points. Or reality - they certainly aren’t! See if you can make up equally bizarre talking points of your own. Be so bizarre that they actually look at you like you are crazy. You know, the way you look at them when they say Obama is from Kenya. They may not even realize that you are making fun of them. Either way, you win!

Republicans have no sense of hypocrisy. Even though they are quick to point out hypocrisy of Democrats (whether real or imagined), Republicans are genetically immune to their own hypocrisy, or the hypocrisy of other Republicans.

The important thing is to not be afraid to do what you want.

Republicans Develop Way To Lie Faster

Republicans Develop Way To Lie Faster

In a joint business-government partnership, the Republicans have found a method to increase their rate of lies dramatically. It’s called the LieTron 2012 in honor of the 2012 Presidential election where Republicans hope to run it as their candidate.

“It’s a human-robot hybrid. It has an animatronic interface, similar to Michelle Bachman’s, but much more life-like.”

“In the past, we could only lie as fast as we could talk. We no longer have this limitation.” The super-computer inside is said to have 8 mega-lie capability, or 8 million lies-per-second, and topped the previous record held by Glenn Beck. Put into perspective, Republicans can exceed the lies of an 8 year George Bush administration in a single minute.

The spin-off benefits to businesses became clear immediately. Phil Donahue, head of the US Chamber of Commerce, said “Not just in the obvious places like FOX cable shows, but in Wall Street accounting, even the “development” of alternative energies by corporations.”

“Imagine what BP could have done with this enhanced lie technology during its oil spill.” This technology would have overwhelmed the truth about the Gulf spill within hours, leaving only a thin sheen of factual information on the surface, effectively preventing any truth from reaching shore. Any residual facts would have been easily suppressed through traditional methods by the corporate mainstream media outlets.

To showcase this new technology, the LieTron 2012 will be promoted similarly to how IBM revealed “Watson” the supercomputer that competed with human players on the Jeopardy! quiz show. In this case, however, Sean Hannity will be the learned host the show.

Karl Rove was an obvious choice for one of the “human” contestants, but there is still some question as to who the other challenger will be.

The short list includes politicians Senate and House Minority Leaders Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, as well as TV personalities Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly.

The program was not without its setbacks, however. A hunting party led by former V.P. Dick Cheney had to ‘put down’ a prototype of the LieTron 2012 by shooting it in the face with a shotgun. No charges were filed against Cheney because, like most Republican operatives, it wasn’t a real human.

A genetically engineered human-tea party hybrid was created from the DNA of Ayn Rand and Ron Paul. This project, known as the “Rand-Paul” experiment, was shut down because the result was mentally deficient. It kept thinking it was in 1954 in the pre-Civil Rights era. “He started out OK, but then would digress about how we should end war,” Dick Cheney growled. “Frankly, we found this very disturbing.”

Republicans plan to roll out the final version of the LieTron 2012 in time for the Republican Primary season so Americans can get a feel for it before they run it for President in 2012.

Analysis: Deep-Rooted Conservative Bias In Mainstream Media

Deep-rooted conservative bias in the media is revealed in not only in what they report, but also by what they fail to report.

CNN reporters are embedded with the ultra-right wing Tea Party while reporting on the group’s events around the country on the Tea Party Express bus tour. Who is embedded with the PCCC? Or even with the Republicans or Democrats for that matter?

The real story is how a network like CNN can still be considered a news organization when its “reporters” were riding around on the Tea Party bus that also has the “CNN” logo emblazoned on the side. Now CNN is doubling down on its gambit by sponsoring a Republican Presidential primary “debate” with the Tea Party. Not one mainstream media outlet has dared investigate, much less report on, this conflation of corporate money, lobbying groups, and right wing extremism known as the Tea Party. The failure to make any effort to unravel this is evidence of a conservative bias by what they have failed to report.

President Obama’s State of the Union address had not one, but two Republican rebuttals. Not even FOX , the conservative media arm of the Republican party, would run the second rebuttal by fringe conservative Michelle Bachmann. (Recall Michelle Bachmann warned us that the census is an example of government overreach.) Then a remarkable about-face occurred, and the story about the two Republican rebuttals was the headline run by all the networks, overshadowing the actual State of the Union address by the President.

All of the supposedly unbiased mainstream media networks cover ultra-conservative Sarah Palin continuously. The instant she opens her mouth she gets wall-to-wall coverage on whatever Obama-bashing nonsense she makes up. Do the networks with their legions of “reporters” fact check any of this? Did the mainstream media ever bother to report that “death panels” were not actually real?

And now Donald Trump joins the ranks of birthers like Orly Tates. The fact that we even know what the term “birther” means is testament to the ridiculous amount of coverage that right wing conspiracy theories get. What is the real story here? The real story is why the mainstream media did not expose the birther nonsense for what it is, put it to rest, and move on to actual news.

Actual news – like the national campaign of voter suppression being carried out at the state level – is completely ignored by the mainstream media. Voter suppression and disenfranchisement is being made law in states from Maine, to Ohio, to New Mexico, that targets the young, old, poor, and minority groups – but it doesn’t make the mainstream media news.

Is it only a coincidence that Republicans are leading these state efforts, while the groups targeted by the legislation tend to vote more for Democrats? The real story is that attempts in 22 states to suppress voting is itself being suppressed by a conservative bias in the mainstream media.

Maybe the mainstream media wants to carefully investigate stories before it releases them into the news. Maybe… Consider the complete opposite stance taken by the media when the story is not about conservatives. Complete fabrications about ACORN, Shirley Sherrod, National Public Radio, and Planned Parenthood – these made-up stories are instantly thrust upon the media-viewing public by eager networks. Each successive fraudulent video did not, however, make the mainstream media more careful the next time. It seems to have instead exposed the media as part of the fraud since these fraudulent videos kept coming from the same sources! The message is clear: If it promotes conservative talking points, it gets the “mainstream media” headline.

Whether the mainstream media does it for ratings, or for political activism of its corporate owners doesn’t matter – the end result is a deep-rooted conservative bias in what is seen by the media consumers in America.

Obama Leads While Congress Stumbles

Obama Leads While Congress Stumbles

President Obama again decisively demonstrated skilled diplomacy as he and Hillary deftly garnered the international support for intervention in protecting thousands of people from a mad dictator. There should be a nonpartisan effort to stand with the world and face down Muammar Gaddafi. Instead, Republicans are criticizing Obama for – get this – lack of leadership? I guess when you have nothing to offer, attack someone else for your own failure to lead. Even Dennis Kucinich, a Democrat, criticized the President for not getting approval from Congress.

So where was the House? At recess…
Congress could not even muster enough interest to meet to address the humanitarian crisis in Libya. Republican Hose Speaker Boehner could have called the House back into session, but he failed to act at this critical moment. Hypocrisy is such a Republican mainstay now the world rightfully asks, “Was Boehner on a corporate sponsored golf junket?”

America is playing this one perfectly. We are gathering real support from nations around the world to deal with rogue regime intent on massacring it’s own citizens.

Contrast this with the dark years of the Bush administration fabricating intelligence reports, scaring the country with nonexistent WMDs, and forcing Colin Powell to lie before the UN holding a baggie of white powder. That is just one of the images from that era that shamed America.

But America has turned a corner since then. The genius of Obama’s actions in this situation re-inspire the American people and the world to once again have confidence in the United States government to identify and address real crises. The US once again serves as a role model to the rest of the world when the President leads the American people in living up to it’s ideals.

As Republicans Lurch Right, Moderates & Independents are Left Behind.

As the Republicans lurch ever further to the right, moderates and Independents are left behind.

The divide between Republicans and the rest of the country is growing ever wider, and moderates and liberals are slowly realizing they actually have a great deal in common.

Even some Republicans who have managed to unplug from FOX have realized that they, too, have a lot more in common with those who support working Americans than they previously thought.

The birther-muslim-kenyan etc. craze has served as a lightning rod for Republicans to draw attention away from their radical pro-rich agenda. The daily shriek is just a smokescreen designed to make what Republicans are really up to seem less extreme in comparison.

Everyone except the most extreme Republicans have come to realize that what is good for the richest 1% is not good for the remaining 99% of Americans. We are all starting to realize that America is made up of more than multi-national corporations; America is made up of people.

Moderates and independents join the liberals in a collective "WTF?" when Republicans vote to keep giving oil companies tens of Billions of dollars in welfare payments. No Republican "talking point" can overpower the fact that oil companies are the most profitable in the history of the world and should not be getting subsidies from the taxpayers.

Independents and moderates are no more immune to rising gasoline prices at the pump than anyone else. So as Wall street speculators drive up the price of oil, Independents, moderates and liberals are coming to the same conclusion: There is something wrong with Republican "business as usual".

So as the almost continuous campaigns heat up, we all know what to expect. The Republicans will trot out all of their tired tactics designed to divide people on social issues in hopes of driving Americans with common economic interests apart. They are playing to an ever shrinking, ever more radical conservative base, leaving most of America behind.

Independents and moderates are not fooled by these distractions. As much as the Republicans have attempted to demonize everything they disagree with as "liberal", it turns out that liberal values are American values. A majority of Americans don't want to change Social Security and, despite the inaccurate reports in the media, Social Security is not "broke". Americans believe it's unfair when people are thrown off their health insurance when they become sick. We realize that tax cuts for the rich only benefit the rich, and the rest of us (and our children) are left paying the bill for it.

Are the Rich Paying More Than Their Share? Are Others Not Paying Their Fair Share? No, and No!

We always hear how the rich are being overburdened with taxes and how a progressive tax system is unfair to the rich. It's such a common talking point in the media that it is almost never questioned. Here's why it's completely false.

First, a few facts: 400 households have 50% of the wealth in the US. These top 400 billionaires own half of everything - money, property, ...Everything.

The rest of us get to share the remaining 50% of the wealth. That means that just 400 get one half, and 310 million share the other half.

But the rich pay a lot of taxes, right? ...Right?

The total amount of the income taxes collected from the billionaires who own half of everything in the US is less than 2%.

So who makes up for the rest? You guessed it ... we do.
The total income taxes paid by the poorest Americans who share the other half of the wealth is 98.2%!

In short, the richest people who own half of everything in America pay 1.8% of the income taxes, while the poorest who share the other half pay over 98% of the income taxes. That's so hard to imagine I made a picture.

The 'common wisdom' talking point that the rich are getting a bad deal is just plain wrong.

How come 40% of people don't pay any income taxes?

The short answer is: because they don't have anything. The poorest 40% of Americans have to share 0.02% of the wealth. That's not two percent, that's point zero 2 percent - or 0.0002.

To put this in perspective, if all the wealth in the US was $100, then the poorest 40%, or 124 million Americans, would split 2 cents between them. That's why they don't pay taxes. You can't get blood from a stone.

So the next time someone whines that it's not fair that 40% of people don't have to pay income tax, remember this picture, and tell him that he's looking the wrong way. Instead of looking down the income scale, he should be looking up the income ladder. Trying to tax those who don't have anything is stupid.

So who else doesn't pay taxes?

Those who have too little income to pay taxes are in good company. It turns out that some that have a lot of income - many in the Billions of dollars - don't pay taxes either.

Amazon(.com) and Boeing aircraft company have income tax rates less than 5%. That seems very low, except when compared to other corporations, they are suckers.

According to the Government Accountability Office, two out of three U. S. corporations paid no federal income tax from 1998 to 2005.

These include many huge corporations. ExxonMobil is the most profitable company in the history of the world. They pay no tax. Nothing. Zilch.

General Electric also pays no tax. But what makes this fact even more unbelievable is that they even get billions in "tax credits" back from the government. That's correct, they actually get money BACK!

So when you hear in the media about the rich being overtaxed, or how tough it is for the rich right now, you now know this 'common wisdom' is completely wrong.

It's always a good time to be rich!

Fellow Americans: We Need to Reflect

"If ballots don't work, bullets will" was shouted by Joyce Kaufman, former Chief of Staff to Republican Representative Allen West, in her speech to the crowd at a Tea Party rally.

It a sad time in America when this anti-American statement and hundreds more like it are not met with widespread and immediate condemnation.

The media likes to portray this issue by reporting both "sides" in a political he-said, she-said style with no real analysis, and certainly no indication of the truthiness of either position.

"False equivalence" in this case refers to the often heard claim in the media that everyone is equally guilty of inciting and dangerous rhetoric. It is a false equivalence because the inciting and dangerous rhetoric comes predominantly from the right-wing of the political spectrum, and not equally from both "sides".

The reality is that Democrats and liberals will reflect on their speech and rhetoric, but Republicans, tea partiers and the right-wing TV & radio shockers will not. Already we have seen the right-wing defend their past inflammatory rhetoric and insist that they will continue it. So the call to "tone it down" will only be heard by those who don't really need to hear it, and ignored by those who really do need to tone it down.

Everyone is NOT equally guilty of inciting and inflammatory rhetoric. But we all have a responsibility to work against it.

In the end, the two "sides" are really those who support open democracy and American principles, and those who agitate against these ideals. The underlying principle of democracy is that we can make the best decisions for the many, without resorting to violence to achieve selfish and narrow political objectives.

If there is one thing that should unite all of us as Americans it's that the vote is the foundation of our democracy. The idea that bullets should ever - ever - be more powerful in our democracy than our votes is something we can all unite against.

So the answer from all Americans to Joyce Kaufman and people like her is: No, bullets will not work. Ballots will.