As one might expect, times of crisis affect different groups of people in different ways. For the majority of Americans, the past six months have been a time of feelings of unanimity and an acknowledgment that perhaps there is indeed some evil in the world that should be opposed.
Simultaneously, those on the fringes of the left in this country have been in full-flung panic mode, instinctively feeling that any manifestation of massive public support such as we have seen since September is, at best, probably not a good thing and, at worst, a sign of the reincarnation of Hitler.
If Monday's Lobo article is at least 50 percent accurate, Alternative Radio producer David Barsamian seems to be in the apocalyptic crowd. Mr. Barsamian sees a United States under assault by propaganda stemming from any number of groups, especially the Bush Administration, the corporate media and even that bastion of fascism, National Public Radio. He chillingly states that his own studies have found that the national media are essentially employing Nazi strategies, no doubt for sinister motives.
Before I go on, I should state that any relevance Mr. Barsamian has, indeed his very livelihood, is dependent on there being a need for an "alternative" media news source. Just as it may not be prudent to ask a barber if one needs a haircut or, better yet, consult an oil executive about environmental standards, it may be equally mistaken to expect an important member of the alternative media to give an intellectually honest and serious talk on the mainstream media.
If the rest of the media is fundamentally corrupt, biased and prone to propaganda, Mr. Barsamian can continue to hit the lecture circuit and sell books. But if the media is just fine, he is pretty much out of a job. Personal attacks are of course a rather poor method of argumentation, and I will not employ them, but it is interesting to see how an objection that alternative media types make all the time - namely, A can't give a legitimate opinion about B because B pays his bills - applies to alternative media.
It would be easy just to write off complaints such as Barsamian's as hyperbolic paranoia and in a way it is, but these complaints illuminate something deeper than just a psychological pathology. Comments such as "The media of the United States constitutes a private ministry of propaganda" or comparisons of the "Axis of Evil" reference to Nazi disinformation show a strikingly idiotic approach to history and an even poorer ability to draw distinctions, moral or otherwise.
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The facts that the United States is the injured party in this war, terrorists do indeed threaten to kill our citizens and that we have, since our inception, been the most democratic and liberal state in the world are either ignored or denied so that Nazi reference can be made. How anyone is blind enough to seriously make an argument that an elected government regulated by 225 years of constitutional restraints today is no better than Nazi Germany, set up after what was essentially a coup and ruled by unrestrained "emergency" powers, is beyond me. Even the complaint about the media is unsupported by any real fact. Yes, corporations own much of the media and this may be a disturbing trend, but The New York Times, CNN and National Public Radio do not represent a cabal of propagandists either in fact or in metaphor.
What do leftists such as Barsamian base these complaints, if not on facts or reason? The short answer is, knee-jerk emotional reaction. These people have an almost instinctual opposition to both war and U.S. policy and culture. But because they are unwilling or unable to make coherent cases for pacifism and equally unwilling to declare that no matter what the United States does, they will have a problem with it, this brand of leftist resorts to what really is just name-calling.
The reason that equivocating the United States to Nazi Germany sounds baseless is because it is baseless. Calling the government fascist and categorizing the media as sinister propagandists is the only way to make the emotional case and to prevent oneself from having to make the hard intellectual argument.
A word to Mr. Barsamian and those that support his point of view - come on out from the haze of cheap accusation and fear mongering. Enter into the arena of ideas and not just emotions. I promise it will be for the best.
by Michael Carrasco
Daily Lobo Columnist
Comments or suggestions can be sent to Michael Carrasco at mjc_carrasco@hotmail.com.
