The first quarter of 2005 brought significant media dividends for the
Bush-Cheney limited liability corporation.
Stakeholders received windfalls as mainstream news outlets deferred
to consolidation of power from the November election.
A rollout of new “democracy” branding -- kicked off by the State of
the Union product relaunch -- yielded at least temporary gains in
psychological market share. For instance, repackaging of images in the
Middle East implemented makeovers for several client governments. Actual
democratic threats, inimical to Bush-Cheney LLC interests, remain low.
Our major domestic financial goal, the privatization of Social
Security, is out of reach for the next several quarters. However, in view
of the magnitude of potential profits, this massive effort will continue.
More problematic, in retrospect, was the March expenditure of
political capital in the Schiavo gambit. Returns on media investment, as
gauged by opinion poll data, have been disappointing. However, base
earnings are likely to accrue to beneficial levels due to high volume from
fundamentalist buy-ins.
Some media damage is inevitable, like the March 30 New York Times
op-ed by John Danforth claiming that the Republican Party “has gone so far
in adopting a sectarian agenda that it has become the political extension
of a religious movement.” But such refined GOP sensibilities are not a big
part of our base. In fact, the further melding of religious and patriotic
symbolism augurs well for investors. With the Cross in one hand and the
Dollar Bill in the other, this limited liability corporation is moving
forward to advance the interests of its various constituencies.
Unfortunately, the first quarter closed with a looming personnel
problem on Capitol Hill. On balance, as indicated by a recent Wall Street
Journal editorial, the House majority leader’s baggage has approached the
tipping point. Tom DeLay may need to be dumped before the fourth quarter.
On cable television, satisfactory trends continue. At MSNBC the
process of imitating Fox News Channel is apparently secure. Other good
news: The benign junk quotient on prime-time CNN continues to rise, with a
welcome boost from the Michael Jackson trial. Overall, the ambient TV
trajectory is edging toward our target, “No journalism is good
journalism.”
Negative impacts of the Armstrong Williams “payola” scandal continue
to dissipate. Our in-house audit of the cost/benefit ratio indicates that
such payments to media pundits amount to a short-term plus but long-term
minus. In general, crass payoffs are inappropriate and unnecessary to
curry favor with sycophant columnists.
Less problematic are the “video news releases” skewered by the New
York Times. Taxpayer funding for some of our PR operations is a
significant enhancement of perception management, and little ground need
be given in this area. (If the Times were as scrupulous in avoiding
stories we plant as it urges TV news departments to be with our videos,
many of the paper’s articles wouldn’t exist.) Blow-over anticipated by end
of third quarter.
Regarding the Iraq war: Despite occasional barbs from “the liberal
media,” they are largely taking cues from weak-kneed Democrats in Congress
who ignore the significant opposition to the war that exists at grassroots
as measured by opinion polling. With many stakeholders in Bush-Cheney LLC
still receiving major financial benefits from war-related contracts, the
status quo remains lucrative while the political hazards appear to be
manageable over the next few quarters.
As in the past eight quarters, the spectacle of U.S. servicemen and
servicewomen in harm’s way must be utilized to deflect criticism of the
policies that put them in harm’s way. CEO Bush will continue his Jimmy
Stewart imitations during appearances with soldiers and their families,
while CFO Cheney will further develop his persona of stern and slightly
avuncular paternalism.
On the talk-radio front, the emergence of Air America as a liberal
network, while troubling, does not currently threaten the airwave
dominance of B-C LLC clients. Our proprietary echo chambers -- with such
booming amplifiers as Rush Limbaugh, the Weekly Standard, the Washington
Times, the New York Post, Fox News Channel and the Wall Street Journal’s
editorial page -- provide a steady barrage of media blasts unmatched by
anything the left-of-center can possibly offer.
Cautionary note: The interests of the Bush-Cheney limited liability
corporation remain vulnerable to realization by a majority of the
population that their financial interests and long-term security are being
undermined by our policies.
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Norman Solomon’s latest book, “War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits
Keep Spinning Us to Death,” will be published in early summer. His columns
and other writings can be found at:
www.normansolomon.com
