Rubio: It's the media's fault we have to take billionaire's money
by Spocko
All Things Considered did a story yesterday about a Koch event attended by GOP presidential candidates. It's really stunning to listen to some of their quotes.
Here is the link. Here are two audio bits I highlighted in the transcript below:
From the story:
"The biggest contributor so far is hedge fund magnate Robert Mercer. He sent $11 million to a super PAC backing Ted Cruz. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio told the Koch network the candidates really have no choice about raising money."
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING at 1:48)
MARCO RUBIO: As long as newspapers and television stations keep charging people to speak out on politics, we're going to have to keep raising money to pay for it.
Great narrative flip Marco! You are the real victim here. You had no choice but to accept the trucks of cash dumped on your doors! And besides, why should you have to pay for your "free speech?" (Hey, does this mean he wants the fairness doctrine back? )
"And Carly Fiorina, a former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, said the media isn't nearly as critical of liberal donors and labor unions."
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING at 2:01)
CARLY FIORINA: The point is the media doesn't like one kind of money, but is OK with another kind of money. I think...
(APPLAUSE)
FIORINA: I think everybody ought to play by the same rules.
Notice how smoothly they shift the blame to the media. And the media is just going to sit there and take it.
Yes, the liberal media is to blame. She's saying, "Why is the media always picking on rich conservatives? Why not pick on rich liberals or those damn Unions?! Let's have some false equivalency here media!"
Why would anyone in the media ever want to stop big money in political campaigns? Why would they piss off the Kochs or other billionaires who might be buying ads? What's in it for them, except loss of revenue? And really, where is the harm in letting it continue?
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”
― Upton Sinclair, I, Candidate for Governor: And How I Got Licked
TV media are not going to question any money coming into political campaigns. As long as the money keeps coming, they won't even question the process too hard.
The billionaires are telling the media,
"Shut up and take my money."
And they do.
Even on the public media side they let someone else question the money and then put in a nice balancing quote from Jeb "Ice In the Belly" Bush.
JEB BUSH: "Money helps. I'm playing by the rules of the game, the way it was laid out. And if people don't like it, that's just tough luck."
Fund raising has become so easy candidates would be stupid NOT to do it, if only for the future benefits. This is what we are seeing now.
The media want to maximize revenue during this post Citizen United time. They don't want to rock any boats. But they will be happy to cover the people who do, and then provide "balance" to distance themselves from them in the eyes of advertisers.
This, my friends, is an opportunity.
This Thursday we will see just how acceptable extreme opinions are.
Will we see the crowd cheering for cops defending themselves from cigarette smoking women and agreeing about those raping Mexicans? Trump will be providing lots of great extreme opinions. Will others use his views to distance themselves from Trump's remarks or try to top him?
If I put on my activist or real journalist hat on, I would figure out what questions aren't getting asked and then figure out how to insert myself in the process.
The MSM would tut tut any outsiders asking tough questions, but secretly they love the fact that they didn't have to ask the hard questions because it might limit their future access--or ad revenue.
If I was really smart, which clearly I'm not, I'd also figure out a way to monetize doing the MSM's old job for them. Their current job is covering the horse race, while keeping the ad revenues coming. Yes they can "cover the controversy" but can't ever be the source of any of it.
Someone might have already figured all of this out, we'll see soon. I've been told that my tragic flaw is an inability to monetize doing the right thing. I guess that is why I'll never be a billionaire.
