Just Another Moral Monday, by Martha Thomases – Brilliant Disguise | @MDWorld

May 18, 2013 Martha Thomases 15 Comments

In the midst of exploring this week’s scandal, that the IRS targeted right-wing groups applying for 501 c4 status, I discovered something I didn’t know.  Which is great, you know, because that’s why one does research, to find out things one doesn’t know.

For example, I thought 501c4s were a rather new invention, but, in fact, one of my favorite organizations, the NAACP, is one.  And, true to form, was subject to a political inquiry because of its political leanings back in 2004.

So, if I wanted to, I could start a diatribe about left vs. right, the role of taxes in our society and the authority of the federal government in determining who pays how much.

But I don’t want to.

 

 

 

 

Instead, I want to talk about this:  the fact that there have been demonstrations in Raleigh, North Carolina every Monday for close to a month now.  Dozens of people have committed non-violent civil disobedience and been arrested at these “Moral Monday” events.

How have we not heard about this?  If any story seemed perfect for a so-called left-leaning media, it would be this.

Here’s the thing:  the news media doesn’t really lean left.  Sure, there are people with opinions in charge, and their choice of story varies from news outlet to news outlet, but, in the end, everyone is working for a paycheck. And that paycheck is issued by a big-ass corporation that wants to protect its big-ass corporate interests.

Sometimes, there is a simple explanation for the news choices — money, which is earned by ratings.  So this week, we’ve seen O. J. Simpson more than we’ve seen the Reverend William Barber of the North Carolina NAACP.

And sometimes, there is elitism at work, and the people in charge of the news think we, the people in the audience, are too stupid to understand a political story that isn’t about sex or scandal.

In this case, I’m willing to cop to the paranoia and say that the people demonstrating in Raleigh are simply too dangerous to the status quo.  Their demands combine issues that those in charge don’t want combined.  Voting rights, education equality, healthcare for all, worker access to collective bargaining — these are things that even network-employed Democratic pundits don’t want to discuss.

Look, I understand that the corporate news media isn’t going to discuss the relationship among labor rights, voting rights, healthcare, job creation and economic mobility in 21st Century America.  I can even understand that the media that claims to “support the troops” doesn’t want to discuss a system that forces soldiers’ families to go on food stamps.  A news media that thinks Obama is a leftist doesn’t know how to talk about Guantanamo.

Still, 49 people were arrested this week.  At the same place.  At the same time.  That’s more than were arrested in Boston and Cleveland combined.  If 49 members of Operation Rescue (or whatever they call themselves these days) were arrested at a women’s health clinic, I bet they’d be on the news.

But then, that’s about sex.

This is about jobs and being able to get a living wage.  Who could be against that?  Oh, yeah, right.

Despite the lack of national media coverage, the Raleigh demonstrators seem to be upbeat.  It’s also possible that their message is getting out to other groups who are inspired by their efforts.

I know I am.

Media Goddess Martha Thomases remembers how difficult it was to get tax-exempt status for Friends of Lulu.