Jim “Race Bannon” Bancroft was told by Barack Obama in 1980 that he was born in Mombasa, Kenya.
In this radio interview about his thirty year old memory, Bancroft recounts Obama’s admission. Bancroft was a member of the U.S. Marine Corps at the time and met Obama in the vicinity of Kalakaua Blvd., one evening in early August of 1980.
Bancroft has published the account of his personal meeting with the then Barry Soetero online at the Gathering of the Eagles Blog.
Bancroft writes in his essay:
He also told me something that I never forgot, for it caused me to do some other things in an effort to be nice to him and possibly a favor. We spoke of where I had been and the world as I saw it. I told him I had been to Africa , Mombassa specifically, and he said to me abruptly, “I was born there.” I told him he is not eligible to be president if that was true, but I remembered he said his mom was an American, so, maybe it was okay. But it was what I did after that makes this a true memory: I went back to the barracks and told others of this guy and suggested we all grab our photo albums and visit him again and show him pictures of Mombassa so he could see where he was from.
No one wanted to go, and at that time, my camera had failed me weeks before we hit Mombassa and it was late August or early September until I had borrowed someone else’s pictures to develop myself so I had copies of where I was. But I never forgot meeting that man for those reasons. I was going to do him a favor and show him his home country of birth. And I never went back for some reason, most likely I forgot to or just felt that a one time chance encounter would be meaningless to both of us and didn’t mean we were friends.
Bannon then closes his testimonial with the following observation:
In the light of what is called “The Birther” movement, these memories are still foremost in my mind concerning this. While I cannot swear it was Barak Obama, all the details I do remember of that chance encounter fit the profile of the man who some people claim is born in Kenya and others claim he was born in Hawaii . The man I met was about 18, thin, Mulatto, told me he was born in Mombassa, raised overseas, was living in Hawaii and hadn’t yet been to many places in the world outside of those places, mostly, hadn’t been to the mainland of America for any long time period if at all. And he openly told me he wanted to be President.
And I remember that face, the face of a young man who sat on a table to my right front, his hands resting on the edge of the table, him leaning forward, his smile, all teeth. It was Barak Obama. I don’t know if I’d bet my life on it, but I am willing to tell people openly at the risk of my ridicule. I was there, and saw him, spoke to him, and he openly told me he was born in Mombassa, Kenya, not Hawaii .
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The reality is that it really does not matter where he was born, the Constitution must be followed and as such his father was a British Subject so according to British Law, so is his son, Obama Jr. a British Subject as well………End of story!
Gbae
Would you not accept Obama being drummed out, if it was merely based on his being born in Kenya?
My point here is when there is more revealing news about Obama’s illegitimacy, don’t rain on the parade. We already know he wouldn’t be eligibel even if he were born in HI, but the facts are telling us he wasn’t born in HI, so your point is moot. Meanwhile, we need to get rid of the SOB based on the facts as they are presented, especially since no one is willing to press the case on the other issue even though they know full well he is not eligible regardless of where he was born.
Obama birth certificates from Mombasa online at catholicbook.com website. Scroll down home page to green billboard, Welcome to Kenya and records are just below billboard.
I believe the only way we will EVER get this point raised and, more importantly covered by the media, is if Marco Rubio stands up and announces he is NOT qualified to be vice president because if anything ever happened to the President, Rubio could not take his place because Rubio is not a Natural Born Citizen. Rubio should grow a pair, call a press conference, make the announcement, shut up and let the cards fall where they may.
You are so right. Conservatives should not push a candidate for vice president who is not eligible. This would be the very definition of crazy — doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. View through a slightly different prism, however, perhaps Rubio is being pushed foward by TPTB in order to create chaos after the election, for reasons that only could benefit TPTB. Nothing would surprise me.
I remember the Constitution. I defended it in Vietnam. We used to believe in it. I don’t know what happened but now nobody seems to care what it says, not the people, the papers, the judges or the politicians. When our freedoms go; so does our country. That is the only thing that made this country great.
Hear! Hear! Thank you for your service.
Hoorahh! brother. Like you I swore to uphold and like you I served, never in combat but I did so honorably as my father before me. He served from 1942 through 1987 and he was my only hero. I am sickened by the disregard of the pledge and sacrifice of the founders by too many people that believe freedom is to be defined by the elected and not the citizens who elect them. We brothers in arms throughout our history have much to be proud of…sad that we also have much to lament as our hard fought freedoms are dissolved by fools.
We need to hold our elected officials feet to the fire and MAKE them honor the oath that they took to uphold our Constitution and protect us from ALL enemies, foreign AND domestic!
A natural number is defined as a counting number 1,2,3,4 ect. It does not include zero and neither does the term natural born.
DON’T I WISH!!…..
Far from the end of story, as, if you’ll notice, he occasionally sits in the president’s chair. As long as the other ‘leaders’ are lily-livered, he will remain in office. So we’re a long way from ‘end of story. And his denial of the leaks, referring to ‘MY’ White House really makes the hair stand up.
Let us face the truth. He could now openly admit he was born in Africa to two African parents and not a damned thing would be done about it. He is running the country (into the ground) and most everyone else is running for cover, too damned frightened of his power and the power of his friends, New Black Panthers, nation of Islam et al. there are some who are courageous enough to attempt to bring the proof forward but in the end, the ones in authority, John Boehner, the Supremes, etc., do not want to touch this with a ten foot pole. Tell me, who is going to do a damned thing about it. Answer, NO ONE.
I have to agree, the MSM, the leftist progs, the Democratic Socialists of America, the Democrat Party, and the CPUSA don’t care one whit about where he was born or if he is eligible due to any other circumstance. It’s in your face, the Constitution has been trashed and they now do whatever they want. The leftists don’t love the Constitution or respect it nor even happily abide by it, they condone it as much as they must, but the first chance they get they flaunt it and can’t burn it off the face of the earth soon enough. After all, as Obama said himself, it’s a flawed document. His words, not mine.
Well the old Black panthers did not last very long so neither will the new black panthers, and if they dont want to be productive people then round them up and deport them along with Odumbo and as far as odumbo power he only has power if the honest people let him have it, get him out charge odumbo with high crimes and the rest will run for the hill, Just like they did in the old west nothing new here
mcdonnal – Thank you, thank you – I thought I was the only one screaming your thoughts in ‘comments’ sections.
Nice to know someone else feels we have ‘nothing’ and ‘ nobody’ willing to help even though there are many who are able/capable………I believe they are so intimidated, threatened, scared of lift a finger. If Obama is threatening the NATION with martial law, the militia and jail (no questions asked), you can imagine what is occurring w/the powers that be.
OBAMA WILL LOSE IN NOVEMBER 2012
EVERY ONE OF MY POST HAS THIS STATEMENT STATEMENT AS THE HEADER, THE OPPOSITION.
THE STORY ABOVE IS JUST ADDED EVIDENCE THAT OBAMA IS NOT LEGAL. MARINES ARE TAUGHT NOT TO FORGET. THE WITNESSES ARE COMING OUT OF THE WOODS.
THEY HAVE DECIDED BETTER TO BE YELLED AT NOW THAN BEING SHOT AT BY THE GOONS.
Obamalamadingdong will “lose” in November because Romney has been preselected by the Bilderberg Group. Bilderberg=NWO=global.govt=end.of.Liberty Romney is not only a “white Obama” (socialist, big govt, globalist, national healthcare, sellout, etc.) but also supports THE AGENDA
I think Obama is going to use the issue with the Catholic Church as a reason to declare Martial Law. The catholics said they will refuse to follow his mandates regarding contraceptives, abortion, etc. He has stated that in August his policies will go into effect and that they will be forced to comply. If this starts any kind of civil unrest then Obama will use his Martial Law card to suspend elections and continue to run the government his way. There is no statute that says he has to suspend martial law and give the power back to the people. I wonder what King Obama will rename this country?
That’s a really thin canard. If Obama suspends the Constitution, another pretext will be used. It will have to be an emergency so scary that people will VOLUNTARILY accept the ‘solution’. An example would be the scenario in the movie ‘CONTAGION’, or an (engineered, deliberate) economic collapse. Actually, Obama has already served his masters and will be allowed to vacate 1600 Pennsy. Romney will put the sheeple back to sleep with his false “I’m a Republican, you can trust me” schtick the way Bush did after replacing Clinton. Then it’s Wham-Bam-Thank-You-Ma’am, Another false-flag event so the neocon GOP can take away the few liberties we have left!!
Oh BTW, the Catholic Church (aka Church of Rome) cooperated with Nazi Germany and ran the ‘Rat Line’ when the Nazis were defeated in the last days of WWII. And the current Pope was part of that, “Ratsy” Ratzinger.
OBAMA WILL LOSE IN NOVEMBER 2012
WALT THERE ARE MANY BEHIND THE SCENES WHO ARE POSITIONING THEMSELVES TO MAKE SURE THE CONSTITUTION WILL BE FOLLOWED.
THE OBAMA CAMPAGIN IS RUNNING SCARED, WHY ELSE WOULD HE TRY THE LINGUSTIC
PSYC. “FORWARD”. WE KNOW THAT HIS ONE WORD SLOGAN MEANS ” MORE OF THE SAME”
HE IS TRYING TO KEEP THE PARTIES AND GROUPS HYPTIONIZED WITH HIS LINGUISTICS.
HE, OR HIS HANDLERS HAVE LEARNED THAT CERTAIN WORDS CARRY A MESMERTIC FREQUENCY
THUS THE ONE HE SELECTED IS FOR THE GROUPS CAUSING THE RIOTS ON THE STREET.
HE DOESN’T HAVE TO ADVOCATE ANYTHING, HIS SLOGAN KEEPS THEM PUMPED UP.
HE IS UNDER COURT ORDER THAT MARTIAL LAW MAY ONLY BE IMPOSED IF AMERICA IS UNDER
ATTACK. THAT IS THE SUPREME LAW. THAT HE CANNOT OVERRIDE, PEORID.
THE OPPOSITION=OPPOSITION TH THE NAZI LIKE POLICIES BEING ATTEMPTED BY THE WHITE HOUSE.
POSTED PURSUANT TO MY RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH. THIS IS VOCAL OPPOSITION TO POLICIES
HIS SIGNING STATEMENTS IS A PLOY, THEY ARE NOT LAW.
If you weren’t to fat, dumb, and happy and wished to be a true patriot, take him out along with all of his friends, we would all honor your achievements or just shut up.
To whom are you directing your challenge, PricklyPete?
ABSOLUTELY…sadly,you are 100% right!!
If this is true, someone send him money to travel to Florida for that June 18th meeting in a Superior Court.
Maybe Obama’s Lawyer will repeat what this Marine said to him and Obama’s response:
“He also told me something that I never forgot, for it caused me to do some other things in an effort to be nice to him and possibly a favor. We spoke of where I had been and the world as I saw it. I told him I had been to Africa , Mombassa specifically, and he said to me abruptly, “I was born there.” I told him he is not eligible to be president if that was true, but I remembered he said his mom was an American, so, maybe it was okay. “
Absolutely no doubt that Obama was born in Kenya!!!!!
BREAKING PROOF! OBAMA BORN IN KENYA – Long Form BC A FRAUD?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fECpVS6DrQ
I agree. Now, find someone who cares!
Christopher, Is this the same video that I have as one of my top sites ? I got the web address off of another blog and saved it. In it Obama states to a group of people that he was born in Kenya and Moochelle knows it. He also states that he is a Muslim and was very proud of it. This web site is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v Not Natural Born. All people who believe that Obama was born in Hawaii need to watch this Video and then explain how he tells a group of people that he was born in Kenya and is a Muslim and now put out a FRAUDULENT BC AND SAY HE IS A CHRISTIAN.
I clicked on the youtube link above and it says the video is no longer available. It is frightening the level of cover-up and corruption involved. I can only pray that one day the truth will come out to the level that it can’t be denied.
obama-said-born-mombassa
http://www.westernjournalism.com/marine-claims-obama-said-born-mombassa/#comment-106691
1. CHRISTOPHER says:
June 4, 2012 at 12:35 pm
Absolutely no doubt that Obama was born in Kenya!!!!!
BREAKING PROOF! OBAMA BORN IN KENYA – Long Form BC A FRAUD?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fECpVS6DrQ
Reply
The solution is to provide Komrade Obama with a parachute and deliver him to a point 6 miles from Mombasa vertically.
The only people who will do something about it are us citizens. I pray to God that the Dumbed-Down Brain Washed half-wits who voted for him last time won’t do it again. But then there are the rumors of the Obama people planning to cheat during this next election, especially with a Spanish company to count un-verified votes. The RNC sits on their hands doing nothing about that future event? The other rumor is that Obama will find an excuse to declare Martial Law to freeze elections. If either one of these rumors comes to pass, then they’ll be a revolt for sure…a revolt that Obama would come to wish that he never started. Why? Because the first targets would be Obama and everyone of the treasonous politicians in Washington…the “Progressives.” After that, or perhaps simutaneously it would include the people who pull Obama’s strings: The CFR, the Tri-Laterals, the Bilderbergers, George Soros, David Rockerfeller, et al. When blood starts flowing, their blood, watch how quickly they change their tune? All of the legal manipulations, Court Rooms run by left-leaning Judges, the “News” Media propaganda, etc., won’t make any difference. Once it begins, it will go to completion. In Obama’s buddy’s own words, “Up to 20 million citizens may have to be eliminated (killed) in order to have Socialism succeed.” Well, Bill, it goes both ways. You’ll be at the top of the list for a citizen’s firing squad! I sure hope that the subversives realize that there are people in the United States who simply won’t put up with their crap forever. What finally happens is totally their decision. If they want to function in a capacity of overthrowing the Constitution, or using the Constitution to overthrow itself, then they had better be prepared to physically suffer. No more Court Room games. No more legal technicalities. No more RINO’s covering their subversion. When pushed too far, the citizens will take matters into their own hands. I hope that the government website spy monitoring the postings here will pass this information on to the people I’ve mentioned. If they didn’t know or realize before that a high percentage of armed citizens are fed-up, well….they know now.
Why do we HAVE to use that ‘spanish’ company to count the election votes? What is to prevent the individual states from counting the ballots and reporting to a central location as we used to do in this country? That is the only way to be sure there is less fraud and the election is not rigged!
I’ve been wondering about that too. How can we make sure that happens?
OBAMA WILL LOSE IN NOVEMBER 2012
DOUG, YOU ARE RIGHT ON THE MONEY.
WE THE PEOPLE ARE WATCHING THE DESTROYERS
ALL ATTEMPTS TO GO ” DICTATOR ” WILL BE NEUTRALIZED.
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WILL NOT STAND BY AND ALLOW THE PROPOGANDA TO DESTROY THE
AMERICA THAT BLOOD HAS BEEN SHED TO PRESERVE.
POSTED AS VOCAL OPPOSITION PURSUANT TO FREEDOM OF SPEECH. THE SUPREME LAW OF THE LAND.
Its funny how it only takes a couple of women claiming that Herman Cain might’ve touched them inappropriately twenty years ago to end his campaing, but all of the evidence amassed so far gets no notice from the MSM. Where is the freedom of the press? This should be the number one story so the public will be educated not indoctrinated, but alas, the freedom of the press is nothing but another item on the Constitution so abhorred by this usurper. There is a reason the founding fathers put the NBC clause in the Constitution and BHO is that reason made flesh.
“Press” and “media” owned by TPTB:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i79tMS3JvkY
http://www.dailypaul.com/comment/2052788
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/mainstream-media-presstitutes-rich-and-powerful
It is as they have planned put a usurper in office to destroy America he will not stop he is totally evil and his puppet masters can taste blood, because they want all the wealth of this country, they are globalists and will not stop until they have created the New world order, destroyed America and made its citizens their slaves.
‘Isn’t it amazing how some people are willing to throw away so many rights of others, while believing they will still retain theirs?’
It isn’t just the left..it is just the ‘good old American way’..GREED AND POWER!..
Even if he were born outside of the USA the question is Who is responsible for forging his path and clearing the way to get the position. He is a lacky skillfully chosen for his golden persuasive voice and personality. He knows what to say even if it is on the teleprompter. He has the charm of a snake charmer and is completely surrounded by dishonest operators for whom he does their bidding. The horrific moves he is making would be impossible for one person to conjure up. He had been earmarked for the job from birth and made his outing when it was PC. The American people generally take people on face value and are not racists which makes them vulnerable to those charletans who want coquer us.
During the election campaign, Obama’s alleged “birth certificate” was proudly posted on his web site as “PROOF” of his eligibility. Of course it wasn’t, so the Dems played some, “Ooops! Sorry! My bad, that wasn’t what we wanted to show, THIS is actually the real true genuine perfectly authentic Hawaiian Birth Certificate.” And Voi-La! Another genuine phony document appeared. And now the Dems are scrambling frantically to post another genuine fake document. “Yessir!” they say, “Sorry about those other two genuine authentic cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-die documents, we was only kiddin’! Can’t you evil Conservatives take a joke?”
And Sheriff Joe’s posse has blown THAT scrap of green paper out of the water and report that the Sleaze Factory is busy rounding up era type paper and equipment to generate yet another real true genuine authentic……… whoa! Wait a minute!
The Obama Gang has trumped up two completely phony “Birth Certificates” already and the Lib Left and O’Media is going to trumpet this newest Fake as true and authentic? Holy Cow! Let me get my Johnny Quest Secret Decoder Ring so I can verify THIS one too. C’mom, Haji, we gots work to do!
TWO STRIKES on TWO total con jobs and the Media and political establishment is STILL giving him the benefit of the doubt?
When I was a kid my mother told me to remember this: “Fool me once, shame on you!. Fool me twice, shame on ME!” Now the Dems are digging more frantically that a cat trying to cover its scat under a marble floor. Do they really believe they can make anyone other than those who WANT to be deceived believe this newest version of the Obama BC?
It’s all smoke and mirrors anyway. Obama did not have both parents who were US Citizens. He is NOT eligible and everyone in Washington, DC knows that.
So why is he still in the Blight House destroying our country?
I took my teenage son to the DMV today to get his driver’s permit. He had to have an official birth certificate with a raised seal in order to get this permit. How is it that illegals can get a driver’s license and our illegal president can run for office without a legitimate birth certificate? I guess honest people are the ones who get questioned while crooks and con artists get away with everything.
Obama supporters are trying to re-write history and make him legal….it will never work with honest Ammericans. To many of us live by the Constitution.
OBAMA WILL LOSE IN NOVEMBER 2012
YOU ARE RIGHT ON THE MONEY RUSS. WE KNOW WHEN SNAKE OIL IS BEING SOLD.
ALL THE OBAMA CAMPAGIN NEEDS IS A WAGON AND A GOOD SUPPLY OF THE SNAKE OIL
PROPOGANDA, THEY WOULD GO BROKE JUST LIKE THEY ARE WITH THEIR CURRENT POLICIES.
Jim. Thanks for sharing this. Please know that all you said and did (even the camera malfunctioning) was okay and ‘in God’s Plan’.
I say this in order to share with you that:
1. You haven’t ‘somehow failed’ way back then.
2. God’s plan for you in Christ Jesus (and for all of us, in Him) is a PERFECT one.
3. Your courage, your bravery and your HONESTY in coming forward will not be forgotten.
It’ll be an honor to lift you up in prayer, Sir.
Cynthia Lauren Thorpe
Christian American living in Australia
OBAMA WILL LOSE IN NOVEMBER 2012
SINCE I HAVE BEEN POSTING MY OBSERVATIONS ONLINE THERE HAVE BEGUN A REGIMIN OF PHONECALLS WITH ” NUMBER UNAVAILABLE “
I bet the reason the young Obama was looking at him is because the guy is a nice looking gentleman and Obama was known to be a bisexual, so he was most likely on the prowl for a lover that night, and tried to hustle this nice looking serviceman. Obama is One Sick Puppy, that is for sure!
Who believes what Obama says?
One thing is clear; the fact he said it makes it highly doubtful.
Subpoena his original birth certificate and DNA and you’ll find his story about a black father is an election hoax.. Polynesia/Caucasian is more like it.
He also lies when he says he’s an American citizen, and when he files a fraudulently back-dated Selective Service registration in 2008 to fabricate evidence that he didn’t relinquish American citizenship by Indonesian naturalization in 1981.
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Mainstream Media: Presstitutes for the Rich and Powerful
Submitted by George Washington on 07/23/2011 12:48 -0400
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Painting by Anthony Freda: http://www.AnthonyFreda.com
While the Rupert Murdoch scandal is justifiably front-page news, there is a much wider problem with the mainstream media.
Purchasing Reporters
Famed Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein says the CIA has already bought and paid for many successful journalists.
A CIA operative allegedly told Washington Post editor Philip Graham … in a conversation about the willingness of journalists to peddle CIA propaganda and cover stories:
You could get a journalist cheaper than a good call girl, for a couple hundred dollars a month.
The Church Committee found that the CIA submitted stories to the American press:
The New York Times discusses in a matter-of-fact way the use of mainstream writers by the CIA to spread messages.
The government is paying off reporters to spread disinformation.
A 4-part BBC documentary called the “Century of the Self” shows that an American – Freud’s nephew, Edward Bernays – created the modern field of manipulation of public perceptions, and the U.S. government has extensively used his techniques.
The Independent discusses allegations of American propaganda.
One of the premier writers on journalism says the U.S. has used widespread propaganda.
Indeed, an expert on propaganda testified under oath during trial that the CIA employs THOUSANDS of reporters and OWNS its own media organizations (the expert has an impressive background).
Of course, the Web has become a huge media force, and the Pentagon and other government agencies have their hand in that as well.
Second-Hand Propaganda for the Rich and Powerful
But stories directly crafted by CIA and other government employees isn’t the only form of presstitution.
Popular MSNBC anchor Cenk Uygur was recently told to tone down his attacks on the establishment because the head of the network reminded him, “we’re part of the establishment.”
Newseek’s Evan Thomas admitted in 2009:
By definition, establishments believe in propping up the existing order. Members of the ruling class have a vested interest in keeping things pretty much the way they are. Safeguarding the status quo, protecting traditional institutions, can be healthy and useful, stabilizing and reassuring….
“If you are of the establishment persuasion (and I am). . . .”
Virtually all mainstream reporters are “establishment” journalists like Thomas.
The Pew Research Center study on the coverage of the crisis found that the media has largely parroted what the White House and Wall Street were saying.
The government, Wall Street and media all dispense happy talk when there is an economic crash.
Financial insider and commentator Yves Smith wrote an essay entitled “MSM Reporting as Propaganda” arguing that the government has been using propaganda to make people think that things are getting better, no one is angry, and – therefore – no one should get upset:
The message, quite overtly, is: if you are pissed, you are in a minority. The country has moved on. Things are getting better, get with the program…
Per the social psychology research, this “you are in a minority, you are wrong” message DOES dissuade a lot of people. It is remarkably poisonous. And it discourages people from taking concrete action.
Arianna Huffington points out:
There is something in the current DC/NY culture that equates a lack of unthinking boosterism with a lack of patriotism. As if not being drunk on the latest Dow gains is somehow un-American.
Or if “shock doctrine” medicine is being pedaled by the powers-that-be (and see this), then overly fatalistic assessments are trumpeted on every channel.
And the corporate media is instrumental in spreading the lies which support war.
(Unknown artist)
Painting by Anthony Freda: http://www.AnthonyFreda.com.
As I noted in 2009:
There are five reasons that the mainstream media is worthless.
1. Self-Censorship by Journalists
Initially, there is tremendous self-censorship by journalists.
For example, several months after 9/11, famed news anchor Dan Rather told the BBC that American reporters were practicing “a form of self-censorship”:
There was a time in South Africa that people would put flaming tires around peoples’ necks if they dissented. And in some ways the fear is that you will be necklaced here, you will have a flaming tire of lack of patriotism put around your neck. Now it is that fear that keeps journalists from asking the toughest of the tough questions…. And again, I am humbled to say, I do not except myself from this criticism.
What we are talking about here – whether one wants to recognise it or not, or call it by its proper name or not – is a form of self-censorship.
Keith Olbermann agreed that there is self-censorship in the American media, and that:
You can rock the boat, but you can never say that the entire ocean is in trouble …. You cannot say: By the way, there’s something wrong with our …. system.
As former Washington Post columnist Dan Froomkin wrote in 2006:
Mainstream-media political journalism is in danger of becoming increasingly irrelevant, but not because of the Internet, or even Comedy Central. The threat comes from inside. It comes from journalists being afraid to do what journalists were put on this green earth to do. . . .
There’s the intense pressure to maintain access to insider sources, even as those sources become ridiculously unrevealing and oversensitive. There’s the fear of being labeled partisan if one’s bullshit-calling isn’t meted out in precisely equal increments along the political spectrum.
If mainstream-media political journalists don’t start calling bullshit more often, then we do risk losing our primacy — if not to the comedians then to the bloggers.
I still believe that no one is fundamentally more capable of first-rate bullshit-calling than a well-informed beat reporter – whatever their beat. We just need to get the editors, or the corporate culture, or the self-censorship – or whatever it is – out of the way.
2. Censorship by Higher-Ups
If journalists do want to speak out about an issue, they also are subject to tremendous pressure by their editors or producers to kill the story.
The Pulitzer prize-winning reporter who uncovered the Iraq prison torture scandal and the Mai Lai massacre in Vietnam, Seymour Hersh, said:
“All of the institutions we thought would protect us — particularly the press, but also the military, the bureaucracy, the Congress — they have failed. The courts . . . the jury’s not in yet on the courts. So all the things that we expect would normally carry us through didn’t. The biggest failure, I would argue, is the press, because that’s the most glaring….
Q: What can be done to fix the (media) situation?
[Long pause] You’d have to fire or execute ninety percent of the editors and executives. You’d actually have to start promoting people from the newsrooms to be editors who you didn’t think you could control. And they’re not going to do that.”
In fact many journalists are warning that the true story is not being reported. See this announcement and this talk.
And a series of interviews with award-winning journalists also documents censorship of certain stories by media editors and owners (and see these samples).
There are many reasons for censorship by media higher-ups.
One is money.
The media has a strong monetary interest to avoid controversial topics in general. It has always been true that advertisers discourage stories which challenge corporate power. Indeed, a 2003 survey reveals that 35% of reporters and news executives themselves admitted that journalists avoid newsworthy stories if “the story would be embarrassing or damaging to the financial interests of a news organization’s owners or parent company.”
In addition, the government has allowed tremendous consolidation in ownership of the airwaves during the past decade.
Dan Rather has slammed media consolidation:
Likening media consolidation to that of the banking industry, Rather claimed that “roughly 80 percent” of the media is controlled by no more than six, and possibly as few as four, corporations.
This is documented by the following must-see charts prepared by:
Media Channel
The Nation
Free Press
And check out this list of interlocking directorates of big media companies from Fairness and Accuracy in Media, and this resource from the Columbia Journalism Review to research a particular company.
This image gives a sense of the decline in diversity in media ownership over the last couple of decades:
The large media players stand to gain billions of dollars in profits if the Obama administration continues to allow monopoly ownership of the airwaves by a handful of players. The media giants know who butters their bread. So there is a spoken or tacit agreement: if the media cover the administration in a favorable light, the MSM will continue to be the receiver of the government’s goodies.
3. Drumming Up Support for War
In addition, the owners of American media companies have long actively played a part in drumming up support for war.
It is painfully obvious that the large news outlets studiously avoided any real criticism of the government’s claims in the run up to the Iraq war. It is painfully obvious that the large American media companies acted as lapdogs and stenographers for the government’s war agenda.
Veteran reporter Bill Moyers criticized the corporate media for parroting the obviously false link between 9/11 and Iraq (and the false claims that Iraq possessed WMDs) which the administration made in the run up to the Iraq war, and concluded that the false information was not challenged because:
“the [mainstream] media had been cheerleaders for the White House from the beginning and were simply continuing to rally the public behind the President — no questions asked.”
And as NBC News’ David Gregory (later promoted to host Meet the Press) said:
“I think there are a lot of critics who think that . . . . if we did not stand up [in the run-up to the war] and say ‘this is bogus, and you’re a liar, and why are you doing this,’ that we didn’t do our job. I respectfully disagree. It’s not our role”
But this is nothing new. In fact, the large media companies have drummed up support for all previous wars.
For example, Hearst helped drum up support for the Spanish-American War.
And an official summary of America’s overthrow of the democratically-elected president of Iran in the 1950′s states, “In cooperation with the Department of State, CIA had several articles planted in major American newspapers and magazines which, when reproduced in Iran, had the desired psychological effect in Iran and contributed to the war of nerves against Mossadeq.” (page x)
The mainstream media also may have played footsie with the U.S. government right before Pearl Harbor. Specifically, a highly-praised historian (Bob Stineet) argues that the Army’s Chief of Staff informed the Washington bureau chiefs of the major newspapers and magazines of the impending Pearl Harbor attack BEFORE IT OCCURRED, and swore them to an oath of secrecy, which the media honored (page 361) .
And the military-media alliance has continued without a break (as a highly-respected journalist says, “viewers may be taken aback to see the grotesque extent to which US presidents and American news media have jointly shouldered key propaganda chores for war launches during the last five decades.”)
As the mainstream British paper, the Independent, writes:
There is a concerted strategy to manipulate global perception. And the mass media are operating as its compliant assistants, failing both to resist it and to expose it. The sheer ease with which this machinery has been able to do its work reflects a creeping structural weakness which now afflicts the production of our news.
The article in the Independent discusses the use of “black propaganda” by the U.S. government, which is then parroted by the media without analysis; for example, the government forged a letter from al Zarqawi to the “inner circle” of al-Qa’ida’s leadership, urging them to accept that the best way to beat US forces in Iraq was effectively to start a civil war, which was then publicized without question by the media..
So why has the American press has consistently served the elites in disseminating their false justifications for war?
One of of the reasons is because the large media companies are owned by those who support the militarist agenda or even directly profit from war and terror (for example, NBC – which is being sold to Comcast – was owned by General Electric, one of the largest defense contractors in the world — which directly profits from war, terrorism and chaos).
Another seems to be an unspoken rule that the media will not criticize the government’s imperial war agenda.
And the media support isn’t just for war: it is also for various other shenanigans by the powerful. For example, a BBC documentary proves:
There was “a planned coup in the USA in 1933 by a group of right-wing American businessmen . . . . The coup was aimed at toppling President Franklin D Roosevelt with the help of half-a-million war veterans. The plotters, who were alleged to involve some of the most famous families in America, (owners of Heinz, Birds Eye, Goodtea, Maxwell Hse & George Bush’s Grandfather, Prescott) believed that their country should adopt the policies of Hitler and Mussolini to beat the great depression.”
Moreover, “the tycoons told the general who they asked to carry out the coup that the American people would accept the new government because they controlled all the newspapers.”
See also this book.
Have you ever heard of this scheme before? It was certainly a very large one. And if the conspirators controlled the newspapers then, how much worse is it today with media consolidation?
4. Access
Politico reveals:
For $25,000 to $250,000, The Washington Post has offered lobbyists and association executives off-the-record, nonconfrontational access to “those powerful few”: Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and — at first — even the paper’s own reporters and editors…
The offer — which essentially turns a news organization into a facilitator for private lobbyist-official encounters — was a new sign of the lengths to which news organizations will go to find revenue at a time when most newspapers are struggling for survival.
That may be one reason that the mainstream news commentators hate bloggers so much. The more people who get their news from blogs instead of mainstream news sources, the smaller their audience, and the less the MSM can charge for the kind of “nonconfrontational access” which leads to puff pieces for the big boys.
5. Censorship by the Government
Finally, as if the media’s own interest in promoting war is not strong enough, the government has exerted tremendous pressure on the media to report things a certain way. Indeed, at times the government has thrown media owners and reporters in jail if they’ve been too critical. The media companies have felt great pressure from the government to kill any real questioning of the endless wars.
For example, Dan Rather said, regarding American media, “What you have is a miniature version of what you have in totalitarian states”.
Tom Brokaw said “all wars are based on propaganda.
And the head of CNN said:
There was ‘almost a patriotism police’ after 9/11 and when the network showed [things critical of the administration's policies] it would get phone calls from advertisers and the administration and “big people in corporations were calling up and saying, ‘You’re being anti-American here.’
Indeed, former military analyst and famed Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg said that the government has ordered the media not to cover 9/11:
Ellsberg seemed hardly surprised that today’s American mainstream broadcast media has so far failed to take [former FBI translator and 9/11 whistleblower Sibel] Edmonds up on her offer, despite the blockbuster nature of her allegations [which Ellsberg calls "far more explosive than the Pentagon Papers"].
As Edmonds has also alluded, Ellsberg pointed to the New York Times, who “sat on the NSA spying story for over a year” when they “could have put it out before the 2004 election, which might have changed the outcome.”
“There will be phone calls going out to the media saying ‘don’t even think of touching it, you will be prosecuted for violating national security,’” he told us.
* * *
“I am confident that there is conversation inside the Government as to ‘How do we deal with Sibel?’” contends Ellsberg. “The first line of defense is to ensure that she doesn’t get into the media. I think any outlet that thought of using her materials would go to to the government and they would be told ‘don’t touch this . . . .’”
Wha-at?