Are CNN and MSNBC Now Our Government?

A lot of people are commenting that there is nothing to watch on CNN. Instead of news, CNN is daily airing hours of Anthony Bourdain travelling to experiment with food and hours of crime shows, such as “Forensic Files,” which is probably the most interesting thing to watch these days on CNN.

The current administration scandals and other important topics are ignored by CNN, unless they are in the context of criticism of Republicans. CNN seems to be trying to force a reality on the American public that does not exist. The majority of the American people are concerned about the economy, the scandals and the radical change the administration is forcing on the American people. Like it or not, all of the media, right and left, should be reporting on Obama’s push for such radical changes. If the leftist media supports the change, then fine, but they should go ahead and talk about why they support it, instead of pretending that nothing is happening in America.

The role of the media is supposed to be to keep citizens informed and educated about what is going on inside their government, in society and in the world. America under Obama has been undergoing a major change that is very alarming to many American citizens, but the mainstream media seems not to notice.

We now have a situation where instead of reporting on government, CNN thinks and acts as though they are the government. Instead of naming their shows with titles that reflect what the media’s job should be — to be a watch-dog — they have chosen to impersonate government. We thus have a show on CNN entitled, “The Situation Room” in which Wolf Blitzer reports as though CNN and the White House situation rooms are the same.

Another CNN show is “State of the Union.” Again here CNN is playing the role of president of the United States, reporting on the state of the union. Another unsuccessful daytime show that was canceled soon after it started was Kyra Phillips’ “Raising America.” Here we see yet another maternalistic title attempting to control and teach America how to raise its kids.

The mainstream media have extended the separation of “Church and State” to their own reporting. In so doing, they have confused themselves with the government yet again. America has left untapped the great talent of many outstanding male and female pastors and religious leaders who would be wonderful guest and hosts of many non-religious shows. Just look at the success of Mike Huckabee on FOX. It is a shame to see disclaimers by some TV channels stating that “they are not responsible for the content” of religious shows such as the 700 Club, but the disclaimer is never made on other shows.

The leftist media is starting to feel the negative effects of its insincerity and bias. Instead of self-discipline and sticking to their duty to the public, they have allowed themselves to be seduced into competing with the goals and role of the government. Instead of objectively examining the causes of their shrinking viewership, they continue to impose their agenda to educate the public about what their of hope and change should be. Instead of reflecting what is going on in society so that the public can make informed decisions, they continue with their obsession of steering the public into their leftist agenda.

MSNBC has recently been trying to get the public excited about yet another hope and change initiative in a commercial called “Growing Hope.” This is what the commercial says:

“When the truth is empowered to action, then truth is spoken to power; when light shines on equality and justice the seed of hope is sewn; it drives you to tackle the hard stuff; to stop gun violence; to protect voter rights; to fight so everyone has access to health care; and make sure that no one falls through the cracks; as hope grows so does the power of people. Change begins with you.”

The above commercial is an insult to the intelligence of the American people. It promotes a high level of conformity to values that are not necessarily universally held by all Americans. In pursuit of MSNBC’s search for the perfect life, everyone will shame and blame the other for allowing someone else to fall through the cracks. The end result will be confusion, disappointment and pitting people against one another, instead of promoting values of self-reliance, taking responsibility and pulling oneself up by one’s boot straps and doing what is best for oneself, one’s family and one’s community.

I have come from an area of the world that is in desperate need for hope and change, the Middle East, and this lesson is not for America. Of course, America like any nation, needs constant fine-tuning to get better and better, but those behind the MSNBC commercial have no clue what the American people need, can or cannot do. The American people need jobs and less government obstacles. They don’t need to be shamed into not measuring up to MSNBC’s unrealistic expectations. They do not need to be changed into conforming robots with hopes of false rights and duties.

It is not the job of the media to promote the perfect society where health care is a right; or as MSNBC puts it “the healthcare you deserve.” Healthcare will never be a right because human beings cannot have rights that obligate another human being to do something for them. Healthcare is a commodity that requires doctors to provide a service and doctors will only do their job when they are paid.

The US current dysfunctional media need a major overhaul. They need to treat people like adults so they can act like adults, leave governing to the government, and leave us, citizens, to decide what is best for us, our families and our nation.

I lived half of my life in the Middle East under a “government-controlled media” and I will not accept to live the second half under a “media-controlled government.”