Media, In-Group Collectivism, Feeding American Denial On Inequality, Wage Theft, And More

Denial is a powerful force, and in a representative democracy, mass denial is incredibly dangerous. Combine mass denial with in-group collectivism packaged by a handful of self-serving elites, and we call it conservative media. And leading the charge is the ideological solidarity sold by Fox News for conservative consumption, a force assisting in transmuting our representative democracy into something much more closely resembling a representative oligarchy.

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American Immigration Politics: The Haters vs. The Compassionate

In 2014 America, the “haters” rule our media coverage. We see them protesting undocumented children, screaming vitriolic language, and holding offensive signs. Why do they have such hate for these children? And make no mistake, they do indeed hate them, because people don’t act the way these so-called “adults” are acting without having a deep-seated resentment. Obviously they feel threatened, and they are acting out of fear, resulting in their open display of hostility towards people seeking a better life.

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Conservatives Believe All Democratic Presidents Are Illegitimate

One thing is clear if you pay attention to politics, there’s a large contingent of conservatives in this country who believe a Democratic president, any Democratic president, is automatically illegitimate. It doesn’t matter that the Democratic president was elected by a majority (or plurality) of American citizens, because that never actually happened, according to conservatives. See in conservative fantasia, they believe most Americans are conservatives too, and because they believe this, that means no Democrat, especially not one with any liberal ideas, could possibly win a presidential election on the merits.

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CHART: Minimum Wage vs. Unemployment Rate, 1948 – 2012

Most Americans believe the minimum wage should be increased. It would make good economic sense, and it would help pull people out of poverty. But many Republicans in Washington say this is a non-starter because raising the minimum wage would be a job killer. But how do we know this is true? Should we just take their word for it? And come to think of it, calling something a job killer seems to be the boilerplate Republican response to just about anything these days, including Obamacare and raising taxes. Republicans aren’t lying to us, are they?

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Photographers Hassled By Police Might End Up On ‘Suspicious Activity Reports’

People should not have to worry about being hassled by law enforcement when they are out taking photos with their camera. But in the total fear zone known previously as the United States of America, you not only face questioning by police officers, the government might be keeping records (known as Suspicious Activity Reports) on where you’ve been and what photos you’ve taken.

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