#cause ed doesn’t owe him anything and it’s not like he’s giving him false hope

[softestepilogue]

it’s so fucking funny but also so incredibly sad how many times izzy gets his heart broken by ed. and we get to witness it again soon. hallelujah thank you.

[thegreenfairy13]

Dog Sitter Part 5 - Little Prince

A Gobblepot fanfic. When Oswald loses his dog Ed, Jim Gordon finds it and does an excellent job when it comes to taking care of the mobster’s furry friend. Read it on Ao3 here.

Oswald is surprised when Jim accompanies him to his car. His face is sour, like always. The man somehow never fails to look like he swallowed a vinegar-filled grapefruit and downed it the whole thing with cranberry juice. Gordon is probably genuinely terrified he’ll take some of these oh so innocent Gothamites to their early graves on his way to Connecticut. The kingpin snorts. He’s filled with too much spite to die just yet. Besides, his little boy needs his father.

Holding Ed in his arms, Jim watches Oswald climbing into the vehicle with a disapproving expression. The cop works his jaw as if he wants to say something but then thinks better of it. When Ed squirms, he puts him gently down to the ground. Expression uncertain, the cop hesitantly reaches for the door but doesn’t close it right away.

“Why aren’t you taking Ed with you?” he asks, the question coming out too harsh, too loud. The mobster’s anger flares. They aren’t at the precinct, he doesn’t owe the cop an explanation but he answers anyway. Because he always answers to Jim Gordon. Even if he doesn’t want to, even if Jim has no business ordering him around.

“Ed always vomits on a long drive,” he sighs while buckling his seatbelt, hoping the cop would be satisfied by this explanation.

Jim tilts his head in acknowledgment yet still doesn’t move. Oswald wonders what Jim might still want from him. Finally, he’s about to get out of his sight so why is he still hovering beside the car, boring his eyes into his forehead?

“If you want to know if you can keep the dog in case I wrap myself around a tree, the answer is no,” the kingpin declares breezily, itching to finally get going. He’s serious though. Should anything happen to him, Ed would be given to Martin. Along with enough money his boy would never have to worry about material things in his entire life.

Expression softening, Jim reaches for the door again. “I did not…”

He works his jaw silently, leaving the sentence unfinished. He’s staring at the floor, seemingly observing the dog beside him. The cop is quiet for once, not barking orders or needling the other man with questions. His grip on the door frame tightens until his knuckles turn white. There’s something genuinely distressed, something sincerely concerned, about his whole posture. And then their eyes meet and Jim’s uneasy, fragile gaze almost knocks the wind out of him. Oswald drowns in those blue eyes like the fool he is.

In front of Jim Gordon, he’s sixteen years old again. He’s that pale, scrawny kid nobody wanted to be friends with. The odd boy with the old-fashioned clothes that were always a bit to too big cause his mum thought he’d still grow. He reads a lot and talks a bit awkwardly - like a character from times long gone. He’s got a stutter and he flushes beet-red when he’s ashamed. He's ashamed often. Young Oswald hasn’t got enough money on him to buy lunch but gets roughed up anyway. He hopes his mother won’t notice the bruises.

Thankfully, his mum doesn’t notice much anymore. She lives in her own world and so does he. He’s mostly alone. And even if he isn’t, he’s lonely.

And Jim is the golden boy. The pretty quarterback every girl wants to go out with and every boy wants to be friends with. He’s never lonely and never awkward. He doesn’t stutter and his laughter sounds like a low rumble, not like a hysteric giggle. His clothes could be worn down but he’d still shine. He’s got the kind of body that makes a potato bag look like haute couture. And he’s kind. Everybody loves him and he loves all of them.

Except for Oswald. Nobody loves Oswald, nobody notices Oswald. He hates them all with every fiber of his being.  

And when Jim finally does notice him, he only sees that ugly, insecure, cruel, little boy. He sees right through him, right to the bottom of all that hatred, and like any sane person, he turns away from the boy, too.

“Just make sure you’re back in time before my shift starts,” the cop finally requires, voice steady again.

The door then snaps shut with a loud bang and the mobster is finally free to leave. Heaving a deep sigh, he looks after Jim. The Captain stands at the edge of the stairs, Ed in his arms. He takes one paw in his hand and waves it at Oswald, lips curling into a small smile as he stares after the retreating car.

The mobster waves back, despite himself, feeling miserable and confused when stepping on the accelerator. Jim really knows how to wrap him around his little finger. It’s not like he cares about his well-being, he never did, and for sure he won’t start caring today of all days.

The Penguin drives through the night, alone with his thoughts and the ever-present paranoia.  He glances into the driving mirror too often, fearing someone might be following him despite all his precautions.

At night, every car looks the same, each person behind a steering wheel seems hostile. The pain in his leg returns, like it always does, but it’s nothing more than a slight throbbing, a reminder to stay focused else terrible things might happen.

Gripping the wheel tightly, he slows down and takes an exit he doesn’t even need. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he watches a black sedan drive past. The car had been bothering him for the past fifteen minutes but thankfully, it had only been a false alarm. Well, better safe than sorry, he thinks while trying to figure out how to return to the freeway.

One tiny inattentiveness on his part could endanger Martin’s life and end his own. If anyone ever found out where exactly they are staying, if anyone would attack, he’d be lost. Sure, he’s a fighter, and he’s armed, but even he couldn’t fight off a paramilitary assault alone. Staying alone at the mansion in Connecticut is a security measure and a high risk all the same.

Maybe he should have told Jim where he’s going. The man knows how to keep a secret. He proved that often enough. After allegedly shooting him at the docks for example, or after killing Galavan. Both times he kept his mouth firmly shut.

And he might not be fond of the Penguin but he’d probably come to the rescue if Martin was in danger and bring some reinforcement too. But then Oswald doesn't want to give him the slightest leverage either. He doesn’t believe Jim would be as heartless as to use his boy against him but what if…? However, shouldn’t Martin’s safety be the utmost priority?

The sun has long since set when he finally arrives at his mansion in New Heaven. Martin had been waiting for him the entire evening. He’s sound asleep on the sofa in the living room. His nurse is sitting beside him, reading a magazine. Oswald hired the woman because she hardly speaks English and never watches the news. She has no idea who and what he is and he’s grateful for that. With a gesture of his hand, he dismisses her.

Dropping his luggage, he makes his way over to his precious little prince. He’s the only good, pure, untainted thing in his life. His precious son stirs when Oswald sits down beside him but doesn’t wake fully. Only when the criminal presses a soft kiss to his forehead, the boy opens his eyes.

“Daddy!” the child mumbles. He’s still fighting to speak properly but that word always comes out without a stutter.

When Martin wraps his tiny arms around him, the burdens of his life fall from his shoulders. The boy is still sluggish but struggling towards consciousness, intent on not letting his limited time with his dad go to waste. This should be enough, Oswald thinks. The unconditional love of a child should be everything he needs in his life.

He takes Martin to bed and despite being drop dead tired himself, he starts reading him a bedtime story. Fittingly, the little prince of Gotham chooses The Little Prince. Oswald hasn’t read that book in years. He only remembers a distant feeling of sadness being connected with the reading.

Martin snuggles closer. Taking the book from his hands, he browses through it, searching for the pictures.

“Did you brush your teeth?” Oswald asks and the little boy nods. Then, he points at one particular page and the mobster starts reading again.

“Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.”

The kingpin has to laugh. He knows exactly why Martin wanted him to read this paragraph. He doesn’t understand why they can’t be together. The boy asks him regularly if he can return to Gotham soon. Oswald tried to explain, he did, but Martin just wants to be with his father. What does a child care for money, power and criminal empires? To him, Oswald isn’t the Penguin, but daddy, and he wants to go home with him. Instead, he’s being left behind at this boarding school, waiting for the weekend to finally come and his dad to share some time with him.

That won’t last, though. Oswald knows. He’ll turn into a teenager soon and there would be parties and friends and too much money to spend on booze and girlfriends or boyfriends. Their relationship is already strained as it is, and one day Martin would stop caring if his dad makes it to New Heaven or not.

The boy falls asleep once again but Oswald keeps reading. He wakes the other morning with the book sitting on his stomach and his child waiting for him to finally make breakfast.

He changes into a pair of slacks and a cashmere sweater. His hair hangs down loosely and all too soon he’s covered with a fine layer of flour. He’s making pancakes with Martin like any normal single-parent would, while desperately trying to keep Martin from accidentally setting the kitchen on fire. Like any ten years old, he’s absolutely excited about doing grown-up stuff and terrible at it.

The butter in the pan almost burns and there are traces of eggs in places Oswald can’t even remember coming close to. It doesn’t stop there. Once Martin discovers the chocolate cream, the damn thing is smeared everywhere. Oswald once decorated his hair with purple accents. Now, he’s sporting Nutella at the same place. In this kitchen, he’s not the King of Gotham but only daddy.

And he’s genuinely happy. He isn’t lonely here in New Heaven, not at all, and still, he wishes he could share that day with someone else. This joy he’s currently experiencing is too great for one person alone. He wants to talk with someone else about how Martin finally managed to flip that pancake, looking ridiculously proud in the process. He wishes he could lean into someone else’s touch while watching his beautiful son regain his ability to communicate piece by piece.

Martin keeps talking, slowly but with determination. He’s telling him about his week, about the other kids in his class, and how his teacher Mrs. Roughlin always smells like mothballs. He tells him that he still hasn’t found any real friends in his class. Oswald smiles while his little boy is speaking, he’s listening attentively as if those mundane events were the most important stories he’ll ever hear. Perhaps they are.

His boy says he wants to go to the zoo with his dad. And of course, they do. He could never deny Martin anything. The boy falls asleep mere moments after arriving back at the mansion and one more sacred day with his boy has passed way too quickly. He stares at the kid’s sleeping form, wondering how he deserved to get so stupidly lucky.

Jim Gordon would probably argue he deserves nothing of that. The gangster is a father. His little boy loves him and he loves him back. And the cop, this man who tries to save Gotham on a daily basis, lost his kid. Jim would probably tell him how unfair that is. He would probably tell him that a man like Oswald Cobblepot, a multiple-murderer, doesn’t deserve being a father whereas he had to bury his child before it was even born. Oswald wonders how he ever overcame the loss of his unborn child when all he ever wanted to be was a parent.

The answer is, he didn’t. The pain had been writ clear on his face when the mobster accused him of being responsible for his unborn child’s death. And therefore, his behavior at the precinct when retrieving Ed still fills him with shame. Jim had never given up on a battle as quickly as back then. For one moment, the indifferent mask had crumbled, revealing raw, deep pain.

Oswald tries picturing Jim with a kid, imagines him with a little boy on his shoulders. It’s unsurprisingly easy. A man who has so much love for a pet would have endlessly more love for a child. And he for sure would do anything in his power to protect it. More than ever, the kingpin wishes he could take his harsh words back.

Thinking about Jim, the mobster realizes how blessed he indeed is. Being a parent isn’t a burden but a gift. And this gift should be enough.

The love his son gives him should be enough. If he was a responsible parent, he would pack a bag and leave with his kid. They could start a new life - maybe in Iceland. It’s cold enough to wear three-piece suits on a daily basis but not cold enough for his leg to get worse. Crime rates are low, his boy would be safe.

So why doesn’t he leave? Why does he keep returning to Gotham? The truth is, Oswald fought tooth and claw to become a king. Respect had never been given to him, he earned it - through blood and pain. His own mother had died because of his ambitions.

If he would just leave, her sacrifice would mean nothing. His shattered leg would mean nothing. Each loss would mean nothing. Deep down, he’s a warrior. Nothing compares to the feeling of standing on a battle-field, only armed with a shot-gun and his untamed rage. It was that rage that enabled him to take down an entire city, to make it his own. How could he ever be anything else?

Besides, he likes being a king. All those proud dons kneeling before him, having an entire city at his beck and call, being able to order people like Zsasz around - all these things give him life.

And he still wants more. He’s greedy, insatiable in those regards. He wants even more money, more power. He wants even the stubborn, incorrigible James Gordon dancing to his tune.

But he wants his son, too.

Oswald wants anything and everything. The world owes him. He spent his childhood in bitter poverty, barely saw his mother who worked three jobs to provide him with food, to give him a proper home. And nothing she did was ever enough in the eyes of the others. No, he got beaten up on a daily basis for daring to be different and she had been called a whore.

Now, he feels entitled to take everything this planet has to offer. And there’s still so much more to achieve. So much more to gain.

And yet, he’s being frowned upon. No one really appreciates what being a crime lord truly means. How many sacrifices one must make to gain such power. His leg is destroyed beyond repair and he’s suffering from anxiety attacks. He feels like he could vomit every morning, right before he downs his first whiskey. Mostly, he doesn’t sleep more than three hours per night. He’s constantly exhausted and each day could be his last.

So no, he won’t stop before all of Gotham kneels before him. Before they all respect him.

He’ll leave his son a legacy, the legend of the Penguin. His boy will never have to fight his battles. One day, he’ll be Martin Cobblepot, the heir to the throne of Gotham. A legend on arrival, a man to be feared.

Pouring himself a glass of wine, Oswald makes himself comfortable in the living room. He continues reading The Little Prince while sipping his drink.

“Why are you drinking?” the little prince asked.

“In order to forget,” replied the drunkard.

Heaving a deep sigh, the mobster closes the book. Abruptly, his self-assurance fades to nothing. Until now, Oswald didn’t even notice he hadn’t been drinking the entire day.

However, once he smells the alcohol, he devours it like a vampire sucking fresh blood. He downs glass after glass, trying to forget. Trying to forget his fears, trying to forget how his ambitions keep him from being the father Martin needs. His son doesn’t need a legend, he needs a daddy. And he certainly doesn’t need a drunkard.

His boy should be worth more than all his great plans. Deep down, he just knows. And still, he’ll return to Gotham by Sunday and fight for more. That’s just the man he is.

His Martin deserves a better father. He deserves the kind of parent his mother had been. His mother would have never left him behind - not for all the money in the world. But she’s gone now, can’t tell him anymore what’s wrong and what’s right. He wishes she was still there, being a grandmother for Martin.

Lighting a cigar, Oswald stares out of the window. A responsible father would give up being a king and be a father. He inhales the smoke deliberately. It tastes like soil, oil, and minerals. Filling his lungs with the poisonous fume, he tries picturing to be anything else but the Penguin.

He simply can’t.

His thoughts wander back to Jim. Ever since their first encounter, the man seems to be repulsed merely by his physical proximity.

Maybe Jim had always been right about him. If he can’t even give up his life of crime for his own son, he’s really the trash the cop thinks him to be. It took him only one look to figure out how utterly worthless the Penguin truly is.

Eyes brimming with tears, Oswald almost doesn’t note the sedan from earlier crawling up the street.

[tuyet-mai]

A breakdown of Ed Sheeran’s “New Man” and why it’s problematic:

[TL;DR at the bottom of the post.]

     So yesterday, as I was on Spotify instead of doing work, I realized I hadn’t listened to the new Ed Sheeran album Divide in it’s entirety yet. Turns out, it’s pretty awesome (and if you haven’t listened to it yet, you should go do that)! Unfortunately though, it does have its problematic moments -- the track New Man being the primary representative. 

Before we go into detail though, let’s give the characters of the song names so that they’re simple to discern from each other:

Let ex-boyfriend be X, girl be G, and New Man be N. 

Also, excuse my ADHD. My meds wore off towards the end.

Ok! Now on to the fun bit!

So why is this song problematic, anyways?

I have a couple of different perspectives on this point that we’ll detail momentarily, but to be concise:

X is obsessed with the relationship between G and N, using a mix of manipulation tactics and fallacies to try and convince G to leave him. 

X incessantly shames N for basically existing; he also shames G for choosing to do things/be around people X disapproves of.

X enforcing gender stereotypes. 

G asking X for sex. Also, G cheating on N. 

N wears closed shoes without socks. 

Pop culture influences real life, and overall, these are not healthy behaviors. 

Give me a moment to mentally choke a bitch out compose myself.

Just...

What the actual fuck? 

   Now,  I’m sure there are multiple people reading this post and thinking “silly OP, X is justified because N is a piece of shit,” but here’s the thing: 

THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT X IS TRYING TO GET YOU TO BELIEVE. 

     And by “you,” I mean G, ‘cause New Man is basically a request for G to take X back rather than offering sympathy to G or caring about her as a whole individual. 

[explosion noises]

Let’s take it verse by verse to identify how X does this.

Verse 1: 

I heard he spent five hundred pounds on jeans Goes to the gym at least six times a week Wears boat shoes with no socks on his feet And I hear he's on a new diet and watches what he eats He's got his eyebrows plucked and his arsehole bleached Owns every single Ministry CD Tribal tattoos and he don't know what it means But I heard he makes you happy, so that's fine by me But still, I'm just keepin' it real Still lookin' at your Instagram and I'll be creepin' a lil' I'll be tryin' not to double tap, from way back 'Cause I know that's where the trouble's at Let me remind you of the days when You used to hold my hand And when we sipped champagne out of cider cans I guess if you were Lois Lane, I wasn't Superman Just a young boy tryin' to be loved So let me give it to ya 

Did you catch it? Here’s verse one rewritten:

“I don’t like N because [insert stereotype about masculinity] and he’s different compared to me”

“But if that’s what makes you happy, it’s ‘ fine,’ [insert eye roll]”

“But actually, it’s not fine, because I miss you (I’m stalking you) and I’m better because we did fun shit even though I was poor and I’m not [masculinity stereotype]”

“Poor me, I deserve love; let me love you”

Essentially, X is saying that because N plucks his eyebrows, has money to spend on something he wants (even if it’s a dumb purchase), and behaves a certain way, it makes him a dumb jock/fuccboi/undesirable/have certain other traits. Therefore, X is desirable (a nice guy), and G should take him back. 

Because obviously, as a man, if you keep up with your appearance, like one specific band(s), have an aesthetic/meaningless tattoo, and try to take care of your body, you’re a shitty person (sarcasm). To this last point though, I would like to note that if the tattoo has a cultural implication that N is not part of, it’s a dick move to have gotten it. We’re going off X’s assumptions though, so... 

Also, closed shoes without socks is unacceptable regardless of who you are; shape up, N.

CHORUS

I don't wanna know about your new man 'Cause if it was meant to be You wouldn't be callin' me up tryin' to 'Cause I'm positive that he don't wanna know about me I don't wanna know about your new man We'll get there eventually I know you're missin' all this kind of love But I'm positive that he don't wanna know about me

Rewritten:

“I don’t want to know about your new man because you’re calling me up for sex (so obviously I’m better and he doesn’t matter).”

“I also KNOW that you’re missing this kind of love (so please come back) and we’ll eventually be able to laugh at him together.”

“Also, he doesn’t wanna know about me (because he’s too big of a dickbag to care obviously).”

Thoughts on the chorus:

On G’s part: dick move. Nobody should call up someone who’s trying to get over them. It just plays with their emotions and gives them false hope (or in this case, it makes X go batshit crazy)

On X’s part: he needs to get over himself. He doesn’t seem care about G or her situation other than wanting her back. He also can’t KNOW what G is feeling or missing unless she’s specifically told him.  

Verse 2

Your new man rents a house in the 'burb And wears a man bag on his shoulder, but I call it a purse Every year, he goes to Málaga with all the fellas Drinks beer, but has a six pack, I'm kinda jealous He wears sunglasses indoors, in winter, at nighttime And every time a rap song comes on, he makes a gang sign Says "Chune, bwoydem light up the room!" But enough about him, girl, let's talk about you You were the type of girl who sat beside the water readin' Eatin' a packet of crisps, but you will never find you cheatin' Now you're eatin' kale, hittin' the gym Keepin' up with Kylie and Kim In the back of the club, kissin' a boy that ain't him Okay, you need to be alone And if you wanna talk about it, you can call my phone I just thought I would tell you, 'cause you oughta know You're still a young girl tryin' to be loved So let me give it to ya

Rewritten:

[Implied stereotype about people who live in the suburbs]

[Implied jab at masculinity]

“I’m uncomfortable with myself and jealous that he can keep that figure”

[Stereotype]

[Stereotype about “type” of femininity]

[Cheat-shaming, even though he has no idea what G&N’s relationship is about]

“Even though you behave this way you’re still this [type of] girl somewhere inside.”

“Poor, silly, you. Let me love you because I’m not [stereotype] therefore my love is better.”

A few points with this verse:

This reminds me so much of the people who say the: “I’m not racist, but...” bullshit. X is passive-aggressively shaming N and G through the entire song by implying “N isn’t a fuccboi but... N is a fuccboi -- and if you like fuccbois (G), then I guess that’s what you like (but I’m judging you for it because (stereotype))”

I’m not one to advocate cheating if that’s the case, but neither I nor X have ANY IDEA what G and N have agreed to in their relationship. Maybe G found out she’s polyamorous. Maybe N is polyamorous. Maybe they’re fine with having multiple partners. We don’t know, and neither does X! G shouldn’t be shamed. 

Again, what is with this guy and shaming people for taking care of themselves? G is doing well for her body! Also, maybe she realized she liked that show (ironically, or unironically: it doesn’t matter).

STOP WITH THE GENDER JABS, CHRIST ON A STICK! That is not okay! N is in no way required to conform to society’s or X’s expectations of masculinity/style/etc.

Another thing: People change! Even if G’s behavior/aesthetic/style/gender identity was a certain way with X, that doesn’t mean she’s locked into those things for the rest of her life! Nor does it express her as a full individual! Crazy concept: you can be chill/humble, take care of yourself, and eat crisps every now and then!  

X does get points for the ‘gang signs for every rap song’ line though; that’s unnecessary and ignorant. 

Bridge

Baby, I'm not tryin' to ruin your week But you act so differently When you're with him, I know you're lonely Please remember you're still free To make the choice and leave Don't call me up, you need to show me

Rewritten:

“Baby I’m not trying to ruin your week but...”

[goes on to do/say some dumb shit]

“You act so different, therefore you must be lonely!”

“So please come back to me, but DON’T call me! I demand you show me (see: make it up to me cause I’m too good for that)”

Thoughts:

Again... one aspect of a person in one instant is not representative of the entire individual. X is not owed anything from G. 

Summary & Societal Implications

X is fucking insane and doesn’t care about G as a whole person. He loves the idea of who she was before. 

X continually shames N and G to manipulate G into coming back to him. 

There’s a lot of details being assumed. 

     Also, if you haven’t sorted this out by now: this is a terrible portrayal of romance for people to relate to/internalize. It normalizes creepy/arrogant/ manipulative behavior as well as gender stereotypes. None of those things are healthy within or after a relationship. 

     If X loves G, he should be her friend and comfort her/help her situation instead of acting all high and mighty/implying something along the lines “I told you this was silly; now come back to me.” If he loves her, and she is not happy with N, he should help her exit the situation without requiring personal gain in return. Unconditional love does not necessitate reciprocal behavior. 

TL;DR

New Man has a great beat, but sends an overall terrible message. It also enforces gender stereotypes. Also, X is creepy as fuck and should leave both of them alone, even if G called him, solely because he’s a passive-aggressive, manipulative fuck.

[96thdayofrage]

Watching the latest update on the Guardian, a UK-based newspaper, publishing a story about Julian Assange allegedly meeting with Paul Manafort, has inspired my next article. I realize that many of my readers will already know everything I say in the article. If you consider yourself progressive, I’m super glad you’re reading this, but I’m really hoping to enlighten your friends and family when you share this article around (so please do).

Julian Assange is a publisher, and as such, he deserves the same freedoms and protections that any other publisher gets. He was a hero of the left when he published files that exposed torture at Abu Ghraib, which made George W. Bush look like a war criminal (he is). When he dared to expose secrets that hurt Democrats, the establishment didn’t like that as much and many officials declared that he should be executed. Now, if you agree that Assange is a criminal for publishing what he did, I’d like to take a moment to remind you that journalists and publishers regularly use material that is obtained in less than legal ways. It happens all the time!

Already in the Ecuadorian Embassy, because of some statutory rape charges in Sweden, which were dropped, he knew damn well that if he went to Sweden, the U.S. would have him extradited, even though there were no charges against him “officially”. He still faced charges of skipping bail, in the United Kingdom in 2012, when he went to the embassy for asylum, even though the original Swedish charges had been dropped.

Since the 2016 election, Democrats have accused Assange of working for Russia and working for Trump, in an effort to discredit him, even though Wikileaks has never, in its existence, had to retract a story. Earlier this week, a sealed indictment of Assange was “accidentally released” by a cut and paste error on the part of U.S. prosecutors.

On November 7, a CNN journalist named Jim Acosta, had his White House press pass revoked for being pushy during a press conference. You might have a different view, but I thought Acosta was out of line, whether or not he put his hands on anyone. Still, practically every news outlet reported that story as if it were an assault on the First Amendment. So where are they when it comes to Assange? The persecution and potential prosecution of Assange is an assault on all of them, and yet they are almost all silent, or they blame Assange. That’s because the mainstream media (yes, even PBS) now has a corporate narrative, and protecting Assange doesn’t fit into it, just like the truth about potentially dangerous medications (how many drug commercials do you see during the news?) or any kind of anti-war message at all. Ed Schultz was fired from MSNBC for favoring Bernie Sanders in the 2016 election*. Pulitzer Prize winner, Chris Hedges was fired from the NY Times for questioning the Iraq War. **

Back in the days of Murrow or Cronkite, people could count on the news to at least try to be accurate and fair. So what happened? Well, it began with Ronald Reagan, whose FCC eliminated The Fairness Doctrine, which “was a policy that required the holders of broadcast licenses both to present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was — in the FCC’s view — honest, equitable, and balanced.” *** The elimination of this doctrine allowed outlets to be totally biased. This was how we got right-wing radio personalities like Rush Limbaugh.

But even if you have right-wing media and left-wing media, you still have hundreds of other news outlets that will call out dishonesty, at least until 1996 when Bill Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act and deregulated the media.**** As a result of this act, larger news outlets started buying up others, leaving us where we are today, with all of the mainstream media being owned by a total of six corporations, many of them sharing the same scripts. A video famously circulated featuring dozens of news personalities from stations owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group reciting identical lines. It’s quite disturbing that this is the state of our media. Sinclair owns stations in 81 markets, reaching 70% of American homes. If you haven’t seen it, I’ll footnote the link to an article where you can watch it. *****

In 2017, before leaving office, Barack Obama signed The Countering Disinformation And Propaganda Act, which repealed the ban on propaganda. ****** This leaves us with very few choices in the media, and the choices we do have no longer even have to be truthful. For instance, when the media made such a big deal about President Trump refusing to shake German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s hand *******. It wasn’t true. President Trump had shaken Chancellor Merkel’s hand many times that day, and the media had been with them the whole time. They knew it was a lie. Then they retracted it later. That is fast becoming standard practice — to publish a false story to discredit someone the news corporation doesn’t approve of, then later retract it, usually quietly or in small print, at the end of a broadcast or on page 4, several days after the public has absorbed the lie.

The latest case of this (that I’ve heard of) is this Manafort story about him meeting with Assange. Wikileaks has accused the Guardian of fabricating the whole thing and is taking the paper to court. Considering Wikileaks track record of never losing, my hunch is that the story is totally false. But if you’re thinking its only national sources that are doing this, you’d be wrong. Recently, the Napa Register printed a letter to the editor about a Napa Valley College Trustee named Amy Martenson — a letter that falsely accused Ms. Martenson of voting against using the college as a shelter from the 2017 fire.******** A simple 5 minute check of the dates in the letter disproved it, but another Trustee also wrote to the Register to correct it. Still, it took several days for a correction to be issued, which appears as a disclaimer on the original letter, so you probably didn’t see it unless you were looking back at letters from several days earlier. This same paper, when several other important stories that were completely verifiable were presented to them, flat-out refused to print a word or investigate at all.

There is no longer an interest in truth, in media, only in what furthers that outlet’s agenda. Another example is Jill Stein’s 2016 appearance on PBS’ Newshour. Her criticism of Hillary Clinton and of the TPP were simply edited out. ********* PBS didn’t want anything bad about either going out over the airwaves. I can hear a bunch of “left-of-center” Democrats crying blasphemy. PBS is, in fact, a corporation, and as such is extremely biased. I used to love PBS radio, never realizing how biased it was, until I suddenly did. Some of PBS’ corporate sponsors include Chevron, Walmart, Koch Industries and Coca Cola. Do you really think that PBS is willing to give extensive coverage to the damage the Chevron refinery does to the Richmond area or to the people who live near the refinery? Nope. The reality is there are news stories out there that the mainstream media simply will not report.

What kind of news would the media NOT report? Well, for one, they didn’t want to tell you about Bernie Sanders. Trump and Clinton got like 1000 times more coverage than Senator Sanders in 2016. The media once had a live camera on Trump’s podium, before his speech, during the entire time Senator Sanders was speaking. They didn’t report the massive protests at the 2016 Democratic Convention, or the fact that half the delegates walked out in protest. Instead, seat-fillers were hired and the media proclaimed how unified Democrats were. The media won’t report problems with medications like Abilify or Benicar until the public pressure gets so great that they have to report it. DuPont dumped millions of pounds of a cancer-causing chemical known as C8 directly into the Ohio River, which ended up in the drinking water of 70,000 homes, but you didn’t hear about it on CNN or NBC. When a former Russian spy who was living in the UK, was suspected to have been poisoned, that story was everywhere, but when evidence started piling up that Russia was blameless and owed an apology, the story disappeared. And you sure didn’t hear how the United States, under Barack Obama, installed a Neo-Nazi President in Ukraine (Petro Poroshenko).

I sometimes have been known to watch the local news. Local news, nowadays, has weather frequently broken into 3 segments and sports into 2. The anchor reports a few semi-relevant stories in the first few minutes, then the rest is fluff. Filler. On my local ABC station, it seem like their last 7 or 8 minutes are often a commercial for some local restaurant. This is because of all the topics they aren’t allowed to talk about. Well, at least that’s my theory.

So, what can we do? My suggestion is alternative media sources like The Intercept, Consortium News, Truth Dig, Zero Hedge. I like to watch certain shows on RT America, like America’s Lawyer, which focuses on legal news such as the DuPont and drug stories I mentioned in the previous paragraph, or Redacted Tonight, which is news given to you with comedy. The important thing is to think, to question. What is their motive in telling you what they tell you? Are they trying to make you hate or fear someone or love them? What aren’t they telling you? Did that story not quite make sense or contradict another story?

* — https://www.dailywire.com/news/29531/ed-schultz-i-was-fired-msnbc-because-i-supported-emily-zanotti

** — https://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/american-patriots-would-k_b_827000.html

*** — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FCC_fairness_doctrine

**** — https://thehill.com/policy/technology/268459-bill-clintons-telecom-law-twenty-years-later

***** — https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/4/2/17189302/sinclair-broadcast-fake-news-biased-trump-viral-video

****** — https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-12-24/obama-signs-countering-disinformation-and-propaganda-act-law

******* — https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-ignores-handshake-merkel_us_58cc16e7e4b00705db4f31ad

******** — https://napavalleyregister.com/opinion/letters/vote-jeff-dodd-for-napa-valley-college-trustee/article_5fa5ba2b-e6b0-59f3-bf3c-983624617025.html?fbclid=IwAR2kYEDVJuWXEFldzg87vJyYBX6txzZO7NXCIyus9FDmVE65snjB08qOR7Q

********* — https://www.truthorfiction.com/pbs-facebook-censored-jill-steins-criticism-of-hillary-clinton/