As The Cookie Crumbles (WWH, 8/5): Relief Valve

Prob'ly in honor of the celebration today by ThePrez of his 50th natal anniversary, the F-Book Thursday morning was awash in, literally flooded with, encomiums pledging fealty to St. Barry, the capitulator, and honoring his countless, storied accomplishments...possibly, also, to strew a trail of sweet-smelling spin atop the vile, feculent reek of the "compromise" to which he agreed Sunday night. One repeated Rachel Maddow, anticipating perhaps the fate of Cenk Ugyur, dutifully extolled the alleged, "nearly 85% success rate" of O'Bomber's return on campaign promises (though as a Christmas offering last year, not for his birthday this year, it was old 'news').

We ought not to wonder at this wanton, slurping, proctile lavation, or think it odd or excessive. Rach works for MSNBC. That's the same folks who told Cenk that "people" in DC didn't like his "abrasive" tone (with/about the regime) just before they fired him for having the best ratings in his time-slot. Rachel's just keepin' her job--

...Which JOB is to be a safety valve for the disaffection, disapproval, and disappointment of a people systematically being shorn of their citizenhood while they stand, entranced by the flickering, blue screen. Rach, and Keith, and Fat Eddie, and Stewart and Colbert, too (along with Hannity, Beck, the golden "Gretchens," Doocey, Limbarf and O'Reilly, as well) are all useful agents of, and all fulfill that archetypically hegemonic function: You/we/them hear all their ranting, and spewing, and it sounds JUST LIKE YOU WANT TO SAY IT, and boy it sounds terrific, like somebody powerful's speaking MY concerns...and then they pass and are forgotten with the rest. But having heard them SPOKEN, in PUBLIC, folks feel much better about taking it in the ass the next time; no, really; there's research...

The Owners' hegemonic formations--because they own the media--have virtually (heh) infinite paths by which to draw off any possibly dangerous emanations of popular venom. Everything serves that purpose, even (paradoxically) those things or personae which appear to focus attention on the system's weaknesses. Mass media alienated people; personal media atomize them.

Here's one you'll never see on MSNBC. It's long; 1 hour, 53 minutes. But you won't notice how quickly the time goes by. And you don't have to watch it all. You can just listen, to most of it. Do so, attentively. It'll be on the test...