By Guy Somerset
Demonstrating all the constraint and soulful introspection for which American Mass Media is known, immediately following the dual tragedies of El Paso and Dayton the "first name in cable news" lived down to its reputation by imputing responsibility to the internet outlet 8chan.
For those who may not know, 8chan (as well as 4chan) are the Wild West of social media platforms. They are forums in which numerous topics are discussed without restraint. These are clearly labeled as being potentially offensive, often insensitive and unabashedly "politically incorrect."
What they do not do is tolerate overt and direct threats of violence which are demonstrably credible. When the alleged "manifesto" of the supposed shooter in El Paso was linked to him it was removed within the day.
Another thing 8chan does not do is require anyone to read its comments. If you find the opinions and discussion too taxing for your precious sensibilities one is perfectly able to depart the website forthwith.
This author has never posted anything to 8chan (or 4chan) and exceedingly rarely perused either. Though standing with the sentiments of Voltaire, he will fight to the death their Right to say whatever insightful or nonsensical thing they please.
It should go without mentioning, such a belief puts absolutists of Liberty in stark opposition to CNN and its cohorts.
But beyond the tiresome quotes and noble sentiments, we should compare and contrast the "deplorables" of 8chan with the despicables of CNN. We must contrast which can be tangentially linked to more corpses.
Given the explicit and tacit support of the estimable Cable News Network for any and all American military causes, while there may be a speck of blood in one direction there is an ocean of it in the other.
CNN's Three Greatest Hits
Considering the danger resulting from demonization of the (truly) free press, let us review some of the greatest hit jobs CNN has done on some of the most vulnerable populations in this world.
Yemen
It is reported from March 2015 to December 2017 over 5,000 civilians had been killed in the proxy war in Yemen. This conflict was largely being waged by Saudi Arabia with weapons provided by the United States.
Worse than this is the fact there have been more than 50,000 civilian deaths due to the on-going famine as a result of the warfare.
Even as CNN conducts insipidly disingenuous "Town Halls" and incessantly dishonest "exposés" on supposedly rampant racism within the United States it has done relatively little if anything to inform the public about the atrocities which its elected officials fund on a daily basis.
As one reads these words at this exact moment there is a good chance some dirt-poor Yemini is dying from starvation or thirst and this death is to no small extent a bought and paid for consequence of actions by the American government...and most of the CNN anchors probably could not locate Yemen on a color-coded map.
Syria
Yet Yemen is only the beginning!
Moving a little west we find Syria. It has been embroiled in a Civil War that the United States seems to believe is its business. While that particular nexus has never been explained to the public, its sons and daughters have been sent to the theater of conflict for years.
Whether America should or should not be involved is a matter for another article. What is within this purview is that even according to the opposition website Syrian Martyrs there have been over 100,000 civilian casualties not including the rebels themselves or governmental security and pro-government combatants.
This is a matter which should deeply concern taxpayers yet again they seem to take little notice of events. Indeed, in July 2019 there was a 10 day period during which 100 civilians were killed. For those bad at mathematics, this is two times the amount of deaths "attributable" to 8chan.
Even so, CNN remains curiously silent about most of these incidents.
Iraq
Needless to say, the Iraq Wars and their aftermath are the defining feature of American Media insouciance. Sure, there was a war a while back and some other things have been happening in and around the area...but that is nothing as compared to the new CNN documentary on Halston, a popular 1980s fashion designer who has been dead nearly thirty years.
For those still interested in the goings-on throughout the region, the United States Department of Defense admits there were 4,000 civilian deaths resulting from that thing that happened in Iraq and another 31,000 innocents who were wounded.
Alas, since the government routinely lies we might go on and check what less culpable parties might have to say on the matter. According to a study as late as 2013 it was estimated there were over 460,000 war related casualties.
Doing a rapid calculation that would make the ratio roughly 1 to 10,000 in terms of dead comparing 8chan "culpability" to CNN responsibility.
Hypocrisy and Hyperbole
Of course, CNN is not directly responsible for murdering millions of impoverished brown people - this is hyperbole. Yet if the News Readers in Atlanta seek to shut down one of the last bastions of free speech and uncensored public opinion using hysterical claims that opinions equal violence then they should expect Classical Liberals to likewise equate martial propaganda to indiscriminate slaughter.
Moreover, one can easily argue that the latter case of CNN being backed by the military-industrial complex with its millions to spend in the interest of billions to gain is a far more apt analogy.
None of this is to mention that American Mass Media has a great deal of incentive in monopolizing the discourse. It was exponentially easier for News Readers to whip up war hysteria before Internet Activists could disseminate statistics, produce photographic evidence and disprove the lies which lead to massacre.
And although it may be unfair to say CNN is directly killing civilians, it is absolutely accurate to claim that CNN is attempting to kill free speech.
Guy Somerset writes from somewhere in America
#CNNKILLS
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