On Sunday evening, CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss killed a 60 Minutes segment about men deported to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison—a story that had been screened five times, cleared by CBS attorneys, cleared by Standards and Practices, and was scheduled to air in less than three hours.
Agreed. But not many people have read Hume (for me it’s been almost 40 years), but many, many people have seen at least one of those world controlling corporations in (fictionalized) action. And that’s by no means a complete list. US Robotics and Mechanical Men. Chronowerx. So many warnings.
Oh, and not to mention that we have been warned through “science fiction” across so many different popular media; short stories, novels, TV shows, movies, and video games. You’d think people would take the hint, but Men in Black had it right: “People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it.”
I watched it and probably wouldn't have if it had been allowed to air, but I'm sure I would have read about it. All I'll say is a picture can indeed be worth a 1000 words.
Bari Weiss and CBS are perfect for one another. Both have lacked credibility for a long, long time. CBS is entertainment and advertising, not education, enlightenment, or civic empowerment. We should have learned better in 2016, when former CBS executive chairman Les Moonves told us what mainstream media was really about. He slipped talking about the Donald Trump candidacy: "It may not be good for America, but it's damn good for CBS."
The video interview was even more horrific than just what you quoted... that's ok. The sexual violence was beyond the pale. And now, is the Cover-Up going to be worse than the heinous crimes documented?
Thanks, Mike, for your post! I appreciate how, your timing, evidence... and your dedication- maybe especially more during the holidays!!
PS, your Epstein post was also excellent. There seems to be a theme this holiday season...
But this is not novel. Here's how Alexis de Tocqueville explained how privatized censorship works to "enslave [the soul]" inside the "tyranny of democratic republics":
"I know no country in which there is so little true independence of mind and freedom of discussion as in America...
...In America the majority raises very formidable barriers to the liberty of opinion: within these barriers an author may write whatever he pleases, but he will repent it if he ever steps beyond them. Not that he is exposed to the terrors of an auto-da-fe [1], but he is tormented by the slights and persecutions of daily obloquy. His political career is closed forever, since he has offended the only authority which is able to promote his success. Every sort of compensation, even that of celebrity, is refused to him. Before he published his opinions he imagined that he held them in common with many others; but no sooner has he declared them openly than he is loudly censured by his overbearing opponents, whilst those who think without having the courage to speak, like him, abandon him in silence. He yields at length, oppressed by the daily efforts he has been making, and he subsides into silence, as if he was tormented by remorse for having spoken the truth.
...Under the absolute sway of an individual despot the body was attacked in order to subdue the soul, and the soul escaped the blows which were directed against it and rose superior to the attempt; but such is not the course adopted by tyranny in democratic republics; there the body is left free, and the soul is enslaved."
[1] note: "auto-da-fe" is de Tocqueville's contemporary but now-anachronistic term for being burned at the stake for the crime of heresy. The modern term, of course, is “cancel culture”, but the concept in democracies dates back at least as far as Athenian ostracism law and capital prosecutions of dangerous deviants such as Sokrates.
I agree with what Tocqueville gestures towards, for sure. But as a matter of praxis, I insist the elixir to the social ail is movement. To act from a place of virtue without the weight of other’s imagined judgement. There will be loneliness in that direction. But that is the long march towards togetherness. A commitment to awakeness in a world of sleep.
I concur in principle! But you say praxis - can you be more specific? Case study: Diogenes iirc invented the Greek commodities market and made a fortune, but then retreated into asceticism. I don’t recall it having much impact on his encounter with Alexander, beyond its comedic value. 😉 Or the Stoics, even Marcus Aurelius. Virtue is a good way to live, sure, but those who can afford to practise it tend to have been blessed with good fortune and/or inspiration/education. Example is not always contagious. So can you elaborate?
The oldest democratic institution we know of is the Athenian constitutional device of ostracism, predating the time Athens’ laws were engraved in stone. 😉
I just finished reading The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein and found this quote from the Professor to describe this appropriately.
"Because it wasn't in the news. A managed democracy is a wonderful thing, Manuel, for the managers... and its greatest strength is a 'free press' when 'free' is defined as 'responsible' and the managers define what is 'irresponsible'."
A line from the movie Diner comes to mind: "Do you think there's something going on that we don't know about?"
Yes, yes there is - and we got a glimpse into it. Not just what's going on at CECOT, but what's going on in the most exclusive of boy's clubs, where influence, information and young girls are the currency of power. It is sickening.
There's a reason that I define the name Oracle as an acronym: One Rich Asshole Called Larry Ellison.
I grabbed the 1.4G .mp4 for my personal archive.
This is one time they aren't going to be able to quash the distribution.
Omni Consumer Products - Weyland Yutani - Buy N Large - Umbrella Corporation - Cyberdyne - you can’t say we weren’t warned. Repeatedly.
Hume tried to warn us more generally, hundreds of years ago.
Agreed. But not many people have read Hume (for me it’s been almost 40 years), but many, many people have seen at least one of those world controlling corporations in (fictionalized) action. And that’s by no means a complete list. US Robotics and Mechanical Men. Chronowerx. So many warnings.
There's also "Jennifer Government" by Max Barry, which can be thought of as "1984 Incorporated".
Oh, and not to mention that we have been warned through “science fiction” across so many different popular media; short stories, novels, TV shows, movies, and video games. You’d think people would take the hint, but Men in Black had it right: “People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it.”
The American Exceptionalism we all bought told us it couldn't happen here.
Oh, I love that you phrase it as a purchase of American Exceptionalism, rather than a belief, or a moral choice. So telling.
I think the two of you are using different definitions of American Exceptionalism.
I watched it and probably wouldn't have if it had been allowed to air, but I'm sure I would have read about it. All I'll say is a picture can indeed be worth a 1000 words.
Bari Weiss and CBS are perfect for one another. Both have lacked credibility for a long, long time. CBS is entertainment and advertising, not education, enlightenment, or civic empowerment. We should have learned better in 2016, when former CBS executive chairman Les Moonves told us what mainstream media was really about. He slipped talking about the Donald Trump candidacy: "It may not be good for America, but it's damn good for CBS."
The video interview was even more horrific than just what you quoted... that's ok. The sexual violence was beyond the pale. And now, is the Cover-Up going to be worse than the heinous crimes documented?
Thanks, Mike, for your post! I appreciate how, your timing, evidence... and your dedication- maybe especially more during the holidays!!
PS, your Epstein post was also excellent. There seems to be a theme this holiday season...
Your buddy coined “the Streisand Effect”? Good on him.
Thank you, Mike, for your eloquence.
But this is not novel. Here's how Alexis de Tocqueville explained how privatized censorship works to "enslave [the soul]" inside the "tyranny of democratic republics":
"I know no country in which there is so little true independence of mind and freedom of discussion as in America...
...In America the majority raises very formidable barriers to the liberty of opinion: within these barriers an author may write whatever he pleases, but he will repent it if he ever steps beyond them. Not that he is exposed to the terrors of an auto-da-fe [1], but he is tormented by the slights and persecutions of daily obloquy. His political career is closed forever, since he has offended the only authority which is able to promote his success. Every sort of compensation, even that of celebrity, is refused to him. Before he published his opinions he imagined that he held them in common with many others; but no sooner has he declared them openly than he is loudly censured by his overbearing opponents, whilst those who think without having the courage to speak, like him, abandon him in silence. He yields at length, oppressed by the daily efforts he has been making, and he subsides into silence, as if he was tormented by remorse for having spoken the truth.
...Under the absolute sway of an individual despot the body was attacked in order to subdue the soul, and the soul escaped the blows which were directed against it and rose superior to the attempt; but such is not the course adopted by tyranny in democratic republics; there the body is left free, and the soul is enslaved."
- Alexis De Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 1835, pp292-3 original Henry Reeve translation, PSU, http://seas3.elte.hu/coursematerial/LojkoMiklos/Alexis-de-Tocqueville-Democracy-in-America.pdf. With exquisite irony, all or most of this material has been edited out of every print edition I’ve ever seen... :)
[1] note: "auto-da-fe" is de Tocqueville's contemporary but now-anachronistic term for being burned at the stake for the crime of heresy. The modern term, of course, is “cancel culture”, but the concept in democracies dates back at least as far as Athenian ostracism law and capital prosecutions of dangerous deviants such as Sokrates.
I agree with what Tocqueville gestures towards, for sure. But as a matter of praxis, I insist the elixir to the social ail is movement. To act from a place of virtue without the weight of other’s imagined judgement. There will be loneliness in that direction. But that is the long march towards togetherness. A commitment to awakeness in a world of sleep.
I concur in principle! But you say praxis - can you be more specific? Case study: Diogenes iirc invented the Greek commodities market and made a fortune, but then retreated into asceticism. I don’t recall it having much impact on his encounter with Alexander, beyond its comedic value. 😉 Or the Stoics, even Marcus Aurelius. Virtue is a good way to live, sure, but those who can afford to practise it tend to have been blessed with good fortune and/or inspiration/education. Example is not always contagious. So can you elaborate?
Good to know that cancel culture is already in Tocqueville.
The oldest democratic institution we know of is the Athenian constitutional device of ostracism, predating the time Athens’ laws were engraved in stone. 😉
I just finished reading The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein and found this quote from the Professor to describe this appropriately.
"Because it wasn't in the news. A managed democracy is a wonderful thing, Manuel, for the managers... and its greatest strength is a 'free press' when 'free' is defined as 'responsible' and the managers define what is 'irresponsible'."
Before I even read this : Trump incompetence is a disease that is spreading like a cancer.
Good luck chasing a video down on the web. Nothing disappears. All the king's horses and all the king's men kinda thing....
They are making even bigger fools of themselves now.
Makes you wonder about the "Free Press" I used to subscribe to. What is it's future?
I'm sorry that you have friends that are willing to defend Bari Weiss.
Next time the story will get killed before it’s reported and no one will know about it.
Keep up the good work Mike of exposing things as you have done here.
A line from the movie Diner comes to mind: "Do you think there's something going on that we don't know about?"
Yes, yes there is - and we got a glimpse into it. Not just what's going on at CECOT, but what's going on in the most exclusive of boy's clubs, where influence, information and young girls are the currency of power. It is sickening.
So go our freedoms, one by one.