money talks

Sebastian Jones has an eye-opening piece at The Nation entitled "The Media-Lobbying Complex." We already know a lot about how lobbyists influence Congress, but did you know they're active in your living room?

Remember that nice man Tom Ridge? He's a former governor of Pennsylvania and was appointed by Dubya as the first director of the Department of "Homeland" Security. So what's he been doing since he left that job? One thing he's been doing quite a bit is appearing on TV in an "informational" capacity. He's one of those "former government official and expert" on this or that of the type we see on cable 24 hours a day.

Jones tells how on December 4, 2009, Ridge was on "Hardball with Chris Matthews" on MSNBC touting the virtues of nuclear power as Obama's best option for insuring recovery from the recession. There were "modest things" the White House might try, like cutting taxes or opening up credit for small businesses, but the real answer was for the president to "take his green agenda and blow it out of the box." The first step, Ridge explained, was to "create nuclear power plants." Combined with some waste coal and natural gas extraction, you would have an "innovation setter" that would "create jobs, create exports."

Of course, Ridge did this without ever mentioning that he's on a retainer from the country's biggest nuclear power company, and Matthews was not so rude as to mention it either.

As Ridge counseled the administration to "put that package together," he sure seemed like an objective commentator. But what viewers weren't told was that since 2005, Ridge has pocketed $530,659 in executive compensation for serving on the board of Exelon, the nation's largest nuclear power company.

He also owns a quarter million dollars worth of Exelon stock.

Just a few minutes before Ridge was on his show flacking for nuclear power, Matthews had been talking to retired General Barry McCaffrey, who told viewers that the Afghanistan War would require an additional three to five years' commitment from the U.S. "and a lot of money." Just a disinterested estimation from an old military hand, right?

Unmentioned was the fact that DynCorp paid McCaffrey $182,309 in 2009 alone. The government had just granted DynCorp a five-year deal worth an estimated $5.9 billion to aid American forces in Afghanistan. The first year is locked in at $644 million, but the additional four options are subject to renewal, contingent on military needs and political realities.

In a single hour, two men with blatant, undisclosed conflicts of interest had appeared on MSNBC. The question is, was this an isolated oversight or business as usual? Evidence points to the latter.

They own Congress. They own the airwaves. Is there any way to escape being smothered under the corporate blanket that is everywhere, that seems to cover everything?

You could start by turning off the TV and leaving it off forever, except for using it to watch videos. Some of those videos have commercials, so skip those. And never, ever watch cable news. It's all misinformation, disinformation, and corporate P.R.

I was steered toward this story by John Cole's blog Balloon Juice (dot-com).