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The Romney-Koch Handshake: Network TV Misses Revealing Moment Between Nominee & Billionaire at RNC
Democracy Now! / Video Report
Published: Saturday 1 September 2012
“Groups in the network of David Koch, and his brother Charles, intend to spend nearly $400 million ahead of the 2012 election.”
When Mitt Romney walked down the aisle toward the stage Thursday night, among the people whose hands he shook was the conservative billionaire and major political donor David Koch. But it was a moment missed by the tens of millions of viewers at home. While Democracy Now! was there on the floor and captured the handshake on video, the networks cut away just before the handshake to show footage of two enthusiastic young women supporters and then an overhead shot of the convention center. Then, the shot came back to Romney shaking hands further down the aisle as he ascended the stage. Groups in the network of David Koch, and his brother Charles, intend to spend nearly $400 million ahead of the 2012 election.
Transcript:
AMY GOODMAN: I want to go back to that moment when Mitt Romney made his entrance on Thursday night. He walked down the aisle of the Republican convention, and as he was passing the New York delegation, he shook the hand of the state Republican Party chair, Ed Cox, and then he shook hands with David Koch, actually put his hand on his shoulder, pointed at him, and then shook his hand. While Democracy Now! was there on the floor, we captured the handshake on video. The pool feed that went out, that the networks broadcast, cut away just before the handshake, showing two enthusiastic young women supporters, and then an overhead shot of the convention center. Then the shot comes back to Romney further down the aisle, shaking hands as he ascended the stage. And we show that split screen. For our radio listeners, you can go to democracynow.org. I think it’s an interesting metaphor for the money behind the scenes, not highlighted even by the media. Medea?
MEDEA BENJAMIN: Well, I think, in the last—past conventions, you’ve seen it more overtly. They’d be giving out the bags, would have the corporate logos on them, and it would be so easy to know who is the sponsors. Now I think the parties are afraid, because people are so outraged. I would say, on the left and the right, knowing that this presidential election is going to cost $2.5 billion—obscene—the—if you add the congressional races, you’re up to $5.8 billion—that just says that our system is broken. And I think that the two parties are worried about it, because the American people are starting to realize that it’s very hard to keep calling our system a democracy when it’s really being run by a very small elite that is the shadow government.
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ABOUT Amy Goodman
Amy Goodman is the host of "Democracy Now!," a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 900 stations in North America. She is the author of "Breaking the Sound Barrier," recently released in paperback and now a New York Times best-seller.
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By Ronnie Cummins
6 comments on "The Romney-Koch Handshake: Network TV Misses Revealing Moment Between Nominee & Billionaire at RNC"
September 02, 2012 7:37am
Now, in a more ethical time, long, long ago, we could all depend on the media to question and delve and present a full diversity of facts and perspectives to truly inform the citizens. This, of course, is an absolute necessity, if the citizens are to be involved in a true Democracy. But, the flood of money unleashed by Citizens United flows principally to the media. So it is not surprising the media may comply with requests to manipulate presentation, when made by the purse-holders. Propaganda machines know no boundaries.
So, in this clear example, it appears Amy Goodman is helping us to see how manipulated the networks are. We can all imagine the negotiations between Romney handlers and news producers; what to emphasize, what to conceal. We can also imagine the final briefing before all the camera and sound crews start rolling: "OK, guys, let's go do it. And remember, no Koch-Shots!!"
September 01, 2012 1:47pm
Very correct money in politics from both sides is corrupting. Best campaign finance reform has come from citizens initiatives, direct democracy at the state level.
Please take a look at Direct Democracy, bringing in We The People as the 4th check in our system of checks and balances. Voting on such issues as money in politics, transparency, corporate personhood, campaign finance reform will not come from the majority of our leaders but will come from the majority of our citizens. Please take a look at a 4 min film on the subject. http://ni4d.us The National Initiative for Democracy.
It has been vetted by constitutional scholars and we can implement this.
September 01, 2012 11:41am
Perhaps we should try a new approach. Have Obama turn over his political war chest to the governors of 15 swing states, and they use it to hire more teachers this year. Challenge Romney to give his war chest to the causes he thinks most deserve support. Maybe that would get some of the cash out of politics and into areas where it is needed.
September 01, 2012 11:16am
It would be a nice exercise to put names to the "400 wealthiest Americans with more money then 150 million Americans. Like, who are these people??
September 01, 2012 9:38am
The deal with the filthy rich Devil sealed with a handshake by his hand-picked plutocratic candidate wasn't news in the eyes of the right-wing mainstream media owned by the filthy rich.
September 01, 2012 9:24am
And this is the media that the wingnuts call "liberal"? It seems that if you're not overtly right-wing, like Fox News, you're counted as part of the fantasized Liberal Media.
But all we have to do is look at who owns the media today, and realize that what shows on the "public airways" is controlled by conservative conglomerates. So-called Liberal Media is a concoction of the right-wing propagandists to push the mainstream media further to the right, and this has been going on for years.
It's very sad to see such pandering to the 1% and wonder what it portends for our country in the future. I have "family-of-origin" relatives in the South who fall for the lies and distortions of the modern Republican Party, and nothing I do or say can convince them otherwise. They've had their brains laundered by Fox News and Talk Radio, while Mainstream Media just looks the other way.
I am afraid Obama may lose this election because of the power of money in our politics. While Obama has been a disappointment to those with unrealistic hopes, it's clear that the Republicans have sold their souls to the highest bidders, and their sheer cynicism in manipulating public opinion through use of the media is still shocking to me.
I thought George Bush's outright lies about Iraq, when he was selling his phony war to America, was the lowest thing I had seen in politics in my lifetime, but Willard and Lyin' Ryan are reaching to greater depths in their campaign to control our government.
Smile and wink at your masters, while blathering about "more jobs," Willard. It's all just an act with you, and some of us know it, but so great is your confidence in the money behind you, that you can keep on smiling your way to Election Day. I can only do my best to ensure that you wince on that day, instead of sneering.