Skip to main content

The Subversion of Democracy?

Anyone who reflected on it must have, or certainly should have been, disturbed by the photographs and TV coverage of the alleged terrorists arrested last week, and the "removal" of the men who was shot, to prison. The images were truly appalling - and one must wonder what the purpose of it all was? To intimidate the general populace or perhaps to dramatise the alleged threat from terrorists for political purposes?

Whatever the underlying motive [s] on Margo Kingston's Webdiary there is today an interesting piece by Tony Kevin on what he describes as the Subversion of Democracy. Certainly food for thought! - and concern.

Perhaps the point can't be made more graphically than that made in CRIKEY yesterday:

"The ingredients that seem to have gone missing over the past few weeks of terrorism and IR rhetoric (and counter-rhetoric) in Australia are balance and perspective. Today, for example, these are the top five headlines on the Daily Telegraph's website ...

"New terror camp names"
"Stockpile of chemicals found in shopping mall"
"Jail boss alarmed at cleric's activities"
"Five charged over courthouse attack"
"Buying in bulk drew attention"

... a melange of hysterical "reporting" about terrorism that purports to be "news" but is really a carefully-calibrated portfolio of stories calculated to whip up fear and create reasons for people to cringe and buy the Tele."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Robert Fisk's predictions for the Middle East in 2013

There is no gain-saying that Robert Fisk, fiercely independent and feisty to boot, is the veteran journalist and author covering the Middle East. Who doesn't he know or hasn't he met over the years in reporting from Beirut - where he lives?  In his latest op-ed piece for The Independent he lays out his predictions for the Middle East for 2013. Read the piece in full, here - well worthwhile - but an extract... "Never make predictions in the Middle East. My crystal ball broke long ago. But predicting the region has an honourable pedigree. “An Arab movement, newly-risen, is looming in the distance,” a French traveller to the Gulf and Baghdad wrote in 1883, “and a race hitherto downtrodden will presently claim its due place in the destinies of Islam.” A year earlier, a British diplomat in Jeddah confided that “it is within my knowledge... that the idea of freedom does at present agitate some minds even in Mecca...” So let’s say this for 2013: the “Arab Awakening” (the t
Post a Comment
Read more

The NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) goes on hold.....because of one non-Treaty member (Israel)

Isn't there something radically wrong here?    Israel, a non-signatory to the NPT has, evidently, been the cause for those countries that are Treaty members, notably Canada, the US and the UK, after 4 weeks of negotiation, effectively blocking off any meaningful progress in ensuring the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.    IPS reports ..... "After nearly four weeks of negotiations, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference ended in a predictable outcome: a text overwhelmingly reflecting the views and interests of the nuclear-armed states and some of their nuclear-dependent allies. “The process to develop the draft Review Conference outcome document was anti-democratic and nontransparent,” Ray Acheson, director, Reaching Critical Will, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), told IPS. “This Review Conference has demonstrated beyond any doubt that continuing to rely on the nuclear-armed states or their nuclear-dependent allies for l
Post a Comment
Read more

#1 Prize for a bizarre story.....and lying!

No comment called for in this piece from CommonDreams: Another young black man: The strange sad case of 21-year-old Chavis Carter. Police in Jonesboro, Arkansas  stopped  him and two friends, found some marijuana, searched put Carter, then put him handcuffed  behind his back  into their patrol car, where they say he  shot himself  in the head with a gun they failed to find. The FBI is investigating. Police Chief Michael Yates, who stands behind his officers' story,  says in an interview  that the death is "definitely bizarre and defies logic at first glance." You think?
Post a Comment
Read more