Ehh… the “One Guy owns all the Media” thing would be better suit for CNN or MSNBC as all the major networks are uniformly Democrat-owned, and the “You pay taxes while I don’t” fits AOC better as she’s actually been caught doing that
Ever stop to think that maybe people like Ms. Cortez and Ms. Omar only have the influence they have because idiots like you KEEP GIVING THEM FREE PUBLICITY??
Way late to comment, but AOC is currently contesting that in court, which is why it’s gone unpaid.
Per a spokeswoman – “The congresswoman is still in the process of contesting the tax warrant. The business has been closed for several years now, and so we believe that the state Tax Department has continued to collect the franchise tax in error.”
notice how of 6 big corporations owning all of american media, 5 line behind democrats on any issue and topic, 1 leans democrats way occasionally on every issue and topic
A yes, I am SO certain Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Schumer would be SO happy to learn they are the ones truly in charge in Washington, why don’t you go tell them that?
I guess you’ve never stopped to think that just maybe that’s because Democrats focus on facts and evidence so naturally the media would appear to lean Democrat, as opposed to republican which is the complete opposite?
That’s some really hilarious conspiracy nuttery you’ve got going there. That page you link to is also hilarious claiming she owes $2k when trump owes hundreds of millions for his various failed business ventures and refusing to pay people that do work for him.
That’s so funny. The left calls for everyone to be paying their fair share of taxes INCLUDING the wealthy, the right meanwhile insists that not only shouldn’t the wealthy have to pay taxes but that they need to be supported by taxpayer money at the same time. Prior to Reagan taxes on the wealthy were in the 80% or better range, the country was doing great for everyone and the national debt and deficit not that bad. Then republicans worked to eliminate taxes on the wealthy and everything’s gone to hell since thanks to them hoarding wealth instead of it circulating through the economy.
It’s also comical that you try and turn things around with that claim that Democrats want to raise taxes on everyone (they don’t) yet the point being made ACCURATELY was that the right thinks the wealthy shouldn’t be paying taxes at all and only the poor should have to.
Remember, in American English, Left means Centre-Right, Right means Moderate-to-Far Right, and there’s no word that means Left because there aren’t enough of those to fill an assembly hall.
In American English, “Left” means “Identity Politics”. E.g., if you are a black Muslim immigrant transwoman you are at the top of the intersectional Wokémon totem pole, and you are good, while if you are a straight white Christian male you are at the absolute bottom, and you are bad. Unless you confess your White Privilege and defer to your moral superiors in all things, in which case you can be a tolerated Ally. Maybe.
Seriously, underneath all the verbiage that’s how it is. Identity politics isn’t the only thing the American Left cares about, but it’s the thing they care about the most, so if there is a conflict between identity politics and other concerns, such as the economy or the environment, identity politics always takes priority.
Alternative hypothesis:
Your oversimplification of various complicated issues into a strawman, attributed to some abstract collective of “the Left”, is nothing more than a story.
It’s a story that is contrived to make you pick a “team” in a culture war instead of engaging with the actual issues constructively.
It’s a story which you buy into because it tells you the pleasing lie that people who are objectively disadvantaged by the status quo and face far more hurdles in life than you instead have the “game” rigged in their favour.
It’s a story that excuses you your failings and short-comings, and a story which shifts the blame for any difficulties you face in life away from those who do have power over your life (plutocrats) to those who have no power over you (minorities).
Or, to put it another way:
Plenty of evidence demonstrates the prevalence of institutional racism; the same cannot be said of the seemingly confected persecution complex that your post seems a shibboleth to.
YouRAPartisan — Compressing any non-trivial idea into a two paragraph statement is going to result in an oversimplification, but are you really going to say that there is no truth at all in my little story? None?
BTW, if I wanted to I could read your mind the same way you read mine, and assert that you are simply supporting your own team in the culture wars because of your own failings and shortcomings. Probably better though to just acknowledge that we have a difference of opinion about how the world works, one which isn’t going to be thrashed out in the comments section of a webcomic. I’ll note though that your point of view and the “evidence” that supposedly supports it is well represented in the liberal media (which is to say, most of the media), so I am very familiar with it. I just think it’s mostly wrong.
(And since in Leftist theology the Marginalized are taken to have special virtue and insight, you really should defer to my opinion, because as a conservative I am a member of an intellectually marginalized class, which necessarily means that I understand you better than you understand me. Right? :-) ).
While I know what you’re talking about and you’re right to some degree, your summary lacks the nuance required to actually understand it.
That said, a lot of politicians don’t have any of that nuance and will repeat the “summary” over and over again. Which is probably why you think that the “summary” is the whole picture.
Ultimately both “sides” of this nonsense are doing more harm than good. The “Left” in that they’re too worried about offending morons and the “Right” in that they have no empathy whatsoever.
None of the politicians seem to have much self-awareness, if any, and they don’t demonstrate any critical thinking skills. They’re just floundering around doing what they’re paid to do. Amassing power for those who already have it.
The left’s media monopolies?
Fox New’s chyron constantly used to boast of its “cable dominance”…
What makes a multimedia conglomerate “left” or “right” or neither? Because it seems to be that a lot of people consider something to be partisan to the left wing based on whether or not it agrees with their own personal ideology, rather than whether or not the reporting is biased to favor one ideology.
Multimedia conglomerations all have a pecuniary motivation to favour the right-wing; the only reason for them to dissent from the right is because of journalistic integrity.
So, it sounds like you’re engaging in whataboutery on the face of it.
It would be a false equivalence to state that a significant “left-wing”media presence which, for sake of argument, abides by strict journalistic standards is no better than a right-wing media presence which is engaging in outright propaganda.
Or, to put it another way: It doesn’t matter if a news agency is entirely staffed by militant left-wing communists if they are abiding by strict journalistic standards and thus are producing actual news; it does matter if a news agency is entirely staffed by apolitical hacks who are employed for the sole reason of advancing their plutocratic boss’s political influence – and thus churn out nothing but partisan propaganda.
It matters even more if the propganda-agency and the government it is propping up both conspire to accuse legitimate news agencies of the wrongs they themselves are perpetrating.
This strip describes REALITY way too well. It’s not even funny: it’s utterly depressing.
I still applaud because it is the core democratic issue at hand and not just in the USA. Without free media (i.e. plural media) there can’t be a free society.
Yes, but it needs some superpowered overtones, even if they’re only mocked as unnecessary because real-life supervillains just exploit advertising and finance for personal profit (and can’t even wear cool costumes while doing it).
You do realise that only two of those things you listed are news agencies, right?
If you are incensed that the crap you are reading on social media is being shut down for being bogus, I think the problem is with your relationship to reality, not some fictitious left-wing media control.
People believing things that are simply false (I assume the “dangerous ideas” you cryptically refer to) is an actual problem which causes real-world harm.
You being denied an echo-chamber for conspiracy-theory nonsense and false partisan talking points is a problem which only causes you the discomfort of being confronted by how mistaken your beliefs are – so very little harm, arguably it would do you some good given your post.
Emotional diatribes without logic aren’t news. Hate isn’t an “idea;” it’s just dangerous. Empathy and fairness are not “leftist ideology.”
Since you like asking questions, here’s a better question for you: Why do the largest, most influential propagators of free speech support one party more than another? Here’s a hint: None of the owners actually give a damn about political ideology, and are only interested in keeping their businesses going.
As soon as I saw Mr. Media Unicorp, I had a sudden realization. If I only subscribed to him, I would have access to every movie, series, etc. with only one subscription. No more paying separately for Netflix, Disney Plus… HBO.
If he had made that argument, I would have been convinced.
What I’ve learned about this kind of strips:
1. I should avoid engaging in a discussion, take any side, and commenting with an opinion and just grab a bowl of popcorn and enjoy the show.
2. Things are very similar in my own country.
3. Learn the big words the commenters are using to improve my English knowledge, since it’s not my mother’s language.
Ehh… the “One Guy owns all the Media” thing would be better suit for CNN or MSNBC as all the major networks are uniformly Democrat-owned, and the “You pay taxes while I don’t” fits AOC better as she’s actually been caught doing that
I call bulls*it on every single word of that.
You might wanna watch this:
$2000? That’s peanuts for a congresswoman! You’re just being a jerk!
Yeah, and $20 is peanuts for the average guy, doesn’t stop him from going to jail if he doesn’t pay it
Sinclair broadcasting is a right wing group that owns a disproportionate amount of the news media
20 dollars can buy lots of peanuts!
“I understood that reference!”
And that’s bad! Nobody should go to jail for 20$, you should focus on beheading the ones that rob millions, those are the truly evil ones. Priorities!
Also nobody says AOC is not going to pay… unlike Trump, whose tax receipts we are still awaiting to oversee…
“You might wanna watch this” *links Tim Pool*
That’s comedy!
You might want to get your news from somewhere other than social media.
Ever stop to think that maybe people like Ms. Cortez and Ms. Omar only have the influence they have because idiots like you KEEP GIVING THEM FREE PUBLICITY??
That face, it’s like “eh, what you gonna do”.
Way late to comment, but AOC is currently contesting that in court, which is why it’s gone unpaid.
Per a spokeswoman – “The congresswoman is still in the process of contesting the tax warrant. The business has been closed for several years now, and so we believe that the state Tax Department has continued to collect the franchise tax in error.”
notice how of 6 big corporations owning all of american media, 5 line behind democrats on any issue and topic, 1 leans democrats way occasionally on every issue and topic
A yes, I am SO certain Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Schumer would be SO happy to learn they are the ones truly in charge in Washington, why don’t you go tell them that?
I guess you’ve never stopped to think that just maybe that’s because Democrats focus on facts and evidence so naturally the media would appear to lean Democrat, as opposed to republican which is the complete opposite?
That’s some really hilarious conspiracy nuttery you’ve got going there. That page you link to is also hilarious claiming she owes $2k when trump owes hundreds of millions for his various failed business ventures and refusing to pay people that do work for him.
Evidence?
It’s a matter of public record that the entirety of Trump’s wealth is inheritance from his father laundered through tax evasion.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/02/us/politics/donald-trump-tax-schemes-fred-trump.html
You realize, I assume, that we know you’re full of beans?
Wow, if you think this problem is limited to one party, Titan, I don’t know what to say to you.
I’m not saying it is, it just applies more to the Left with their Media Monopolies and constant demand for higher taxes
That’s so funny. The left calls for everyone to be paying their fair share of taxes INCLUDING the wealthy, the right meanwhile insists that not only shouldn’t the wealthy have to pay taxes but that they need to be supported by taxpayer money at the same time. Prior to Reagan taxes on the wealthy were in the 80% or better range, the country was doing great for everyone and the national debt and deficit not that bad. Then republicans worked to eliminate taxes on the wealthy and everything’s gone to hell since thanks to them hoarding wealth instead of it circulating through the economy.
It’s also comical that you try and turn things around with that claim that Democrats want to raise taxes on everyone (they don’t) yet the point being made ACCURATELY was that the right thinks the wealthy shouldn’t be paying taxes at all and only the poor should have to.
The wealthy still pay over 80% of the nations taxes, if each millionaire/billionaire had 80% of their individual wealth taxed they’d leave the country
“if each millionaire/billionaire had 80% of their individual wealth taxed they’d leave the country”
Ipse Dixit.
Also, let them leave. The notion that rentiers generate wealth, rather than syphon it off as parasites, is self-serving plutocratic tosh.
Does the name Rupert Murdoch ring any bells? Suuure the media is dominated by the Left … riiiight ….
Nope, no bells ringing here
Remember, in American English, Left means Centre-Right, Right means Moderate-to-Far Right, and there’s no word that means Left because there aren’t enough of those to fill an assembly hall.
In American English, “Left” means “Identity Politics”. E.g., if you are a black Muslim immigrant transwoman you are at the top of the intersectional Wokémon totem pole, and you are good, while if you are a straight white Christian male you are at the absolute bottom, and you are bad. Unless you confess your White Privilege and defer to your moral superiors in all things, in which case you can be a tolerated Ally. Maybe.
Seriously, underneath all the verbiage that’s how it is. Identity politics isn’t the only thing the American Left cares about, but it’s the thing they care about the most, so if there is a conflict between identity politics and other concerns, such as the economy or the environment, identity politics always takes priority.
Alternative hypothesis:
Your oversimplification of various complicated issues into a strawman, attributed to some abstract collective of “the Left”, is nothing more than a story.
It’s a story that is contrived to make you pick a “team” in a culture war instead of engaging with the actual issues constructively.
It’s a story which you buy into because it tells you the pleasing lie that people who are objectively disadvantaged by the status quo and face far more hurdles in life than you instead have the “game” rigged in their favour.
It’s a story that excuses you your failings and short-comings, and a story which shifts the blame for any difficulties you face in life away from those who do have power over your life (plutocrats) to those who have no power over you (minorities).
Or, to put it another way:
Plenty of evidence demonstrates the prevalence of institutional racism; the same cannot be said of the seemingly confected persecution complex that your post seems a shibboleth to.
YouRAPartisan — Compressing any non-trivial idea into a two paragraph statement is going to result in an oversimplification, but are you really going to say that there is no truth at all in my little story? None?
BTW, if I wanted to I could read your mind the same way you read mine, and assert that you are simply supporting your own team in the culture wars because of your own failings and shortcomings. Probably better though to just acknowledge that we have a difference of opinion about how the world works, one which isn’t going to be thrashed out in the comments section of a webcomic. I’ll note though that your point of view and the “evidence” that supposedly supports it is well represented in the liberal media (which is to say, most of the media), so I am very familiar with it. I just think it’s mostly wrong.
(And since in Leftist theology the Marginalized are taken to have special virtue and insight, you really should defer to my opinion, because as a conservative I am a member of an intellectually marginalized class, which necessarily means that I understand you better than you understand me. Right? :-) ).
While I know what you’re talking about and you’re right to some degree, your summary lacks the nuance required to actually understand it.
That said, a lot of politicians don’t have any of that nuance and will repeat the “summary” over and over again. Which is probably why you think that the “summary” is the whole picture.
Ultimately both “sides” of this nonsense are doing more harm than good. The “Left” in that they’re too worried about offending morons and the “Right” in that they have no empathy whatsoever.
None of the politicians seem to have much self-awareness, if any, and they don’t demonstrate any critical thinking skills. They’re just floundering around doing what they’re paid to do. Amassing power for those who already have it.
The left’s media monopolies?
Fox New’s chyron constantly used to boast of its “cable dominance”…
What makes a multimedia conglomerate “left” or “right” or neither? Because it seems to be that a lot of people consider something to be partisan to the left wing based on whether or not it agrees with their own personal ideology, rather than whether or not the reporting is biased to favor one ideology.
Multimedia conglomerations all have a pecuniary motivation to favour the right-wing; the only reason for them to dissent from the right is because of journalistic integrity.
So, it sounds like you’re engaging in whataboutery on the face of it.
It would be a false equivalence to state that a significant “left-wing”media presence which, for sake of argument, abides by strict journalistic standards is no better than a right-wing media presence which is engaging in outright propaganda.
Or, to put it another way: It doesn’t matter if a news agency is entirely staffed by militant left-wing communists if they are abiding by strict journalistic standards and thus are producing actual news; it does matter if a news agency is entirely staffed by apolitical hacks who are employed for the sole reason of advancing their plutocratic boss’s political influence – and thus churn out nothing but partisan propaganda.
It matters even more if the propganda-agency and the government it is propping up both conspire to accuse legitimate news agencies of the wrongs they themselves are perpetrating.
I’d say one party having 5 out of 6 deep in its pocket is the problem
This strip describes REALITY way too well. It’s not even funny: it’s utterly depressing.
I still applaud because it is the core democratic issue at hand and not just in the USA. Without free media (i.e. plural media) there can’t be a free society.
Yes, but it needs some superpowered overtones, even if they’re only mocked as unnecessary because real-life supervillains just exploit advertising and finance for personal profit (and can’t even wear cool costumes while doing it).
Nice acid satire. Since it it a complete moral inversion of what is really happening with the American News Media.
Who owns the Washington Post?
Who owns Bloomberg News?
Who owns Facebook?
Who owns Twitter?
Who owns Google?
Who owns YouTube?
Which Political Party do they all support? Which Political Party do they all oppose?
Do they support or oppose censorship of “dangerous ideas”?
Look at the local news and who owns them, there’s a good chance it’s Sinclair broadcasting, which has must reads that are very republican in nature
You do realise that only two of those things you listed are news agencies, right?
If you are incensed that the crap you are reading on social media is being shut down for being bogus, I think the problem is with your relationship to reality, not some fictitious left-wing media control.
People believing things that are simply false (I assume the “dangerous ideas” you cryptically refer to) is an actual problem which causes real-world harm.
You being denied an echo-chamber for conspiracy-theory nonsense and false partisan talking points is a problem which only causes you the discomfort of being confronted by how mistaken your beliefs are – so very little harm, arguably it would do you some good given your post.
https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/26/21270290/youtube-deleting-comments-censorship-chinese-communist-party-ccp
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-new-york-times-palin/sarah-palin-says-ny-times-editors-animosity-led-to-defamation-idUSKBN1YY1HO
Emotional diatribes without logic aren’t news. Hate isn’t an “idea;” it’s just dangerous. Empathy and fairness are not “leftist ideology.”
Since you like asking questions, here’s a better question for you: Why do the largest, most influential propagators of free speech support one party more than another? Here’s a hint: None of the owners actually give a damn about political ideology, and are only interested in keeping their businesses going.
I’m not sure what’s more depressing.
The fact that the strip is only barely less subtle than reality.
Or the morons screaming that it’s untrue.
As soon as I saw Mr. Media Unicorp, I had a sudden realization. If I only subscribed to him, I would have access to every movie, series, etc. with only one subscription. No more paying separately for Netflix, Disney Plus… HBO.
If he had made that argument, I would have been convinced.
Same tbh.
Waitasec, the Professor isn’t wearing a pin badge!
How can we trust a word he says?
All this comic needs is a Grrrl Power-esque ticker at the bottom:
https://grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-65-a-slight-overreaction/
Stop Drop and Roll: Is it a Lie?
ugh.
I thought you guys were smarter than this,…
Those guys are. You’re just exemplifying the Dunning-Kruger effect in that you can’t see it.
How to go from entertainment to political controversy in 3 inked panels. Sheesh!
What I’ve learned about this kind of strips:
1. I should avoid engaging in a discussion, take any side, and commenting with an opinion and just grab a bowl of popcorn and enjoy the show.
2. Things are very similar in my own country.
3. Learn the big words the commenters are using to improve my English knowledge, since it’s not my mother’s language.
I like you, Pablo. You’re alright.