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Location: Massachusetts, United States

My "I" is constantly changing (perhaps this is merely AD/HD): overdetermined nexus of cultural forces emanating from several continents: skeptical of all Truths and seeker of the truth: iconoclast by enculturation, brain chemistry, and, perhaps, choice: perpetually perplexed, particularly about why we exist/ as the manifestation of overdetermined forces whose existence (and nature) is not as solid (or simplistic) as we would like.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Coup in Thailand --- Where's U.S. Media?

The media in the United States has become increasingly useless as a source of news (news, as in give us the facts to the best of your ability to gather them without bias). A glaring example of this is the coup in Thailand. The Thai military ousted the elected prime minister, parliament, and the Thai constitution. They also seized control of media outlets. The American public is, however, very poorly informed on Thailand, both the events leading up to the coup, as well as the coup itself. Why is this? Why does the U.S. media not serve as the "Fourth Estate" and keep our citizenry informed, so that democracy in this nation might function all the better? Indeed, how can democracy work at all if the media is not vigilant at finding and exposing information, with as little bias as possible? To make matters worse, when the coup was mentioned, it was typically placed in a bizarre "Thai government redefines democracy" context. Democracy and coups are NOT compatible. The media should treat Thailand's military no different than any group of armed thugs taking over an elected government. Thailand has (or had) elections. There was a way of bringing about regime change through the popular vote. If might makes right, then democracy loses. So, I'm afraid that the increasingly weak state of our Fourth Estate represents, at best, a crippling of this leg of democracy, and, given the increasing concentration of corporate control over media outlets (often in the hands of corporations with direct ties to the military and specific political candidates), perhaps the media leg of democracy is completely amputated at this point.