While they’re eager to tell you the latest updates from the White House spokesman, celebrity gossip, irrelevant death tattle, a human interest story about a US Communist who moved to the paradise of China, every new detail on a celebrity rape case, and a non-story about how a manufacturing increase really isn’t one (but it made for a good opportunity for a headline to mislead the lazy reader into thinking that The Obamessiah’s economy is on the mend), there are quite a few things going on in the US that might be of more interest and import.
The BBC’s North America editor has been rather silent since his last dismissal of a newly-declared Republican candidate for an election that’s 18 months away. One would think there are a number of issues on which he could comment. For example:
Public sector unions versus the Government is the biggest story in Britain right now (in between live coverage of Kate & Wils’ Canadapalooza, I mean). One would think that the exact same issue coming to a boil in a few US states would be worth your attention. Only the BBC has been silent about the events in Wisconsin and Ohio.
Many people here probably remember a few months back when the BBC actually did report on public sector union protests against the evil Republicans who (insert NUT/PCS talking point about attacking the poorest and most vulnerable here). As was pointed out here at the time, the BBC’s coverage was biased in favor of the unions and censored news of violence and unlawful behavior by union supporters which might harm the cause in the public eye. The point is, though, that the BBC though you should be informed about the union’s cause, all the way until they lost. Then….silence.
The problem for the BBC is that it turns out that at least part of Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s victory has, contrary to the protests at the time, in fact been good for schools. One school district even went from a $400k budget deficit to a $1.5 million surplus. Sure, there are about to be 354 teachers and a number of desk-jockeys laid off because of budget cuts, but there is also going to be a big increase in school vouchers. More independent schools equals more choice for students and parents, and more jobs for teachers: if they’re worth it.
Seeing as how this is directly relevant to what’s going on in Britain right now, this ought to be of interest to you. Except it’s on the wrong side of the Narrative.
In Ohio, another Republican Governor who defeated the incumbent Democrat in November just passed a major state budget in which he cut a lot of stuff and practically made up for a $6 billion+ deficit over the next two years – all without raising taxes. This is the exact opposite of what the President just recommended (and about which the BBC made sure to inform you), and the kind of plan which Justin Webb told you doesn’t exist.
If that’s not enough to make this story relevant, then consider that Ohio is considered by most pundits to be the poster child of “swing states”. Where Ohio goes in mid-term elections, so goes the rest of the country in the next general election. You can bet that Beeboids assigned to the US know all about this concept. They have no problem covering the early fits and starts of the election campaign itself (we’ve already had plenty of coverage of the Republican debate, speeches, appearances, Sarah Palin, etc.), but the BBC is going to be shy about mentioning this because Ohio made a major turn towards Republicans last November, taking the Governor’s seat, as well as winning most of the state’s Congressional seats, and a bunch of other top offices. And yes, the state legislature is majority Republican now. This budget is the exact kind of thing the Tea Party movement has been pushing for over the last two years and more, in a state which is often looked to as a weather vane for the country, and the BBC remains silent.
California has such severe budget problems that they’re practically bankrupt (when did you last hear about this from the BBC?), and need every last dime they can scrape up. So what did the State Legislature do? They passed a law requiring sales tax on online sales from Amazon.com. Sounds simple enough: install a new tax where none existed before, raise loads of revenue. Except Amazon told them beforehand that if the tax was enacted, they’d shut down the accounts of all the Amazon Affiliates in the state because it would Amazon’s profit (this was really about big brick-and-mortar retailers fighting their online competition). So when the tax went into effect the other day, about 25,000 people logged on to find out their accounts were shut down.
Result: The $151 million in income tax these people pay every year just vanished into thin air, in exchange for….um….no sales tax revenue for the state. California, by the way, is run by a far-Left Governor and a Democrat-controlled State Legislature. Whether one agrees with Amazon or California, this is a pretty major deal that has more informative news value than a special feature comparing Michelle Bachmann with Sarah Palin. Although that depends on what one’s newsgathering priorities are.
While Justin Webb can tell you that the Republicans don’t have a plan to reduce the debt, and only raising taxes on the rich is the way forward, nobody at the BBC is going to tell you that The Obamessiah’s plan to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – the failed institutions which fueled the mortgage crash that led to the economic crisis we’re all still dealing with – will cost 2.5 times more than He said it would. $317 billion down the toilet, to prop up two failed government-funded organizations, which will only continue the damage they’re doing to the housing market.
His big stimulus package? All that “quantitative easing” Stephanie ‘Two Ed’s Flanders was sure would work? Didn’t do a thing. $2 trillion (!) down the tubes, all thanks to ideology. Not a word from the BBC. Again, this is exactly the kind of thing that fueled the growth of the Tea Party movement, and you can bet will be relevant in the coming election.
The BBC did find time today to mention that corn prices have dropped due to a bumper crop, suggesting that this is a sign that food prices will finally start to drop as well. Except they don’t tell you that ethanol subsidies have screwed things up so badly that both political parties voted at last to drop the massive tax breaks for ethanol farmers. These subsidies mean less people grow the corn we (and beef cattle) eat in favor of “dirty corn” for fuel, so food prices go up. The In this case, the Tea Party-inspired Republicans actually voted to raise taxes. One would think this kind of flip-flop is something the BBC would be eager to report with cries of “hypocrisy!”, never mind how it’s totally relevant to the story of a temporary drop in corn prices. Only they don’t think it’s worth your interest. Why?
Remember last week when the President announced he’d release 30 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in order to help reduce skyrocketing fuel prices? It turns out that He learned a lesson from last year’s Gulf Oil Spill and waved the Jones Act to allow foreign ships to come in and deliver it. One would have thought this is the kind of smart move the BBC would tell you about. Only they’d have to remind you of one of His errors they censored before, so never mind.
That’s enough US news for now, so I’d like to ask everyone here two questions:
1. Does the BBC, with all the staff assigned to the scene, keep you informed on US issues you think are important?
2. What kind of stories does the BBC ignore which you think they ought to report?
-and Glenn Beck is moving to (state-tax free) Texas:
“Glenn Beck Moving to Texas?”
http://news.yahoo.com/glenn-beck-moving-texas-173600319.html
For BBC-Democrat:
Some prisoners asked to stay in Gitmo — got special fruits and nuts for Ramadan, Harry Potter books in Arabic, computer lab
The BBC website’s coverage of U.S. matters is getting worse and worse. Some of the omissions can be put down to bias but others can also be put down to the fact that they don’t seem to even want to report much of substance anymore, as your post superbly demonstrates.
The U.S. coverage on the website seems to be going the way of much of the BBC’s output – down. The quality of the site gets worse by the year. Has it ever been this dumbed-down before? The bias though seems to remain at a constant (high) level.
I blame savage Tory budget cuts and their ideological attack on the poorest workers in the public sector.
Something else to add to the list of news items the BBC won’t bother to tell you:
AFRICOM: AF, Navy still flying Libya missions
Air Force and Navy aircraft are still flying hundreds of strike missions over Libya despite the Obama administration’s claim that American forces are playing only a limited support role in the NATO operation.
An Africa Command (AFRICOM) spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday that since NATO’s Operation Unified Protector (OUP) took over from the American-led Operation Odyssey Dawn on March 31, the U.S. military has flown hundreds of strike sorties. Previously, Washington had claimed that it was mostly providing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and tanker support to NATO forces operating over Libya.
“U.S. aircraft continue to fly support [ISR and refueling] missions, as well as strike sorties under NATO tasking,” AFRICOM spokeswoman Nicole Dalrymple said in an emailed statement. “As of today, and since 31 March, the U.S. has flown a total of 3,475 sorties in support of OUP. Of those, 801 were strike sorties, 132 of which actually dropped ordnance.”
Yep, this has to be the only instance of a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate bombing the §¶!† out of anyone he pleases with no complaints from the media. He says it’s not “hostilities” so He doesn’t legally need permission, and the BBC supported Him. Only it’s obviously not true. How many deaths by military imperialist aggression before it counts as “hostilities”, BBC?
I remember when the BBC used to question when US President’s slaughtered so many many Muslims on a whim without enough legal sanction. And Bush had two UN resolutions in his pocket, whereas their beloved Obamessiah has but one.
Of course, as most Beeboids are pro-Islam and pro-Democrat Party, it is inevitable the there is no analysis critical of Obama-Clinton cosying up to Muslim Brotherhood, as there should be.
The following good sense is political anathema to BBC-Democrats:
“Obama Administration Opens Formal Contacts with the Muslim Brotherhood”
Andrew McCarthy
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.9855/pub_detail.asp
The BBC did mention it yesterday. It was one of those news briefs that was on the US page for a few minutes before getting pushed off by more urgent updates about Kate and Wils and somebody dying in a public pool.
The Beeboids were scrupulously “impartial” in that they made sure not to demonize the Muslim Brotherhood and report their position with clarity and full quotes, with the qualifier that people in the West don’t trust them. As if that qualifiies as providing a voice of opposition.
Yes, I had seen that ‘mention’: ONE sentence at the end, expressing doubt, after a whole page on Clinton’s ‘wisdom’ of cosying up to Muslim Brotherhood.
DP
I’m getting bored congratulating you on superb posts but, dammit, here’s another one. However, the dire coverage by the US to which your posts attest is a reflection of the state of the rest of the BBC’s coverage of local, national and international news and events generally. Events or even plain non-controversial facts which contradict the narrative are ignored or mis- or partially reported.
Further down this site sue (aided by pounce in the comment thread) highlights BBC’s reportage (or, more to the point, non-reportage) of the Gaza “flotilla”. Other reliable flows of crapola from the BBC sewer could be instanced: the woeful economic reporting, the silence or near-silence on any wrong-doing by Muslims, the background drumbeat concerning the (non)cuts and the (non)suffering of public sector workers and, always, always, the constant dribble of (non)science spat in the face of the public by Richard Black and his colleagues.
Thanks. Put simply, I question their newsgathering priorities and editorial policies when it comes to covering US issues.
And you post ample proof constantly that supports your questioning.
Umbongo, I concur entirely. A great post (not the first) and each link is a slap in the face to the BBC. If the BBC were private – let me dream – and this sort of info were placed on the CEO’s desk there would be a swift and brutal culling of useless deadweight like Webb Martell et al.
Can I add my voice to those congratulating DP on this post. It should be sent to the BBC to get their comments – except all you’d get is “We apologise for the delay in replying but think we got it about right”.
Thanks for the update from the greatest nation on this earth!
You`re a worthy successor to Aliastair Cooke-well, at least he`d never have talked the tosh that Frei,Webb have been spouting these last few years.
Really wish that the Americans would ban Beeb personnel from entering the country-treacherous hypocrites who ought to take their holidays in Venezuela until they learn their lesson-no America=no freedom for the rest of us!
I remember a documentry on Aliastair Cooke’s career, in which his fellow Beeb reporter Charles Wheeler was frustrated with Cooke’s presenting style, he thought his job was to present the mainstream view of america, while Wheeler wanted more prominace given to the 60’s counter culture, anti vietnam protests and the civil rights movement. Cooke was never kicked out but I think its clear who won the idiological battle in the long term
Quite right Jim!
I was once a useful idiot, who would have preferred Wheeler to Cooke…but unlike the Beeboids, I left Rag Weeek behind and had to go out into something approaching the real world.
Hence my respect for similar ex-tools of the liberal elite who have gone rogue…Phillips, Hitchens and the like.
Still I can respect Melvyn Bragg-I know his politics, but “In Our Time” on some topics is as good as it gets with the BBC…all I ask is that they stop trying to groom my mind in the hope I`ll not sift out their pernicious ooze that calls itself “news” or “balanced programming/debate”.
From William to Billy…that is the dumbed-down culture we`re living in…yet Billy will soon be sniffing Melvyns ermine if we let his like get away with ” not caring” about who raided the pension fund!
Those of us in the real world DO…we have to!
Couldn’t agree more CJ. I love ‘In Our Time’.
Charles Wheeler’s daughter Shirin presents a weekly programme on the European Parliament for the BBC Parliament Channel. Her record for failing to be impartial is one of the worst at the BBC. (To be fair, she is exceptionally beautiful though!!)
Wouldn’t you just love to hear Chris Christie being interviewed by Justin Webb?
Right on cue, the BBC immediately reports that the state government of Minnesota has just shut down due to a budget impasse. Contrary to the Ohio and Wisconsin, where Republican governors fixed their budget, Minnesota has a Democrat governor. So whom to blame for the shutdown? The Republicans, of course.
Minnesota budget row shuts public services
The BBC gives full credit to the class war babble of the Democrats (no coincidence that it’s the same thing the President said in his own budget speech earlier this week, and what Justin Webb suggested about how to save the country in his own missive), and gets in a special sympathy shot of a group of blind people hoping their benefits won’t be cut. How biased can you get?
Note the total absence of links to anything about Ohio or California or Wisconsin in the “Related Stories” widget at the bottom. The links instead go to Bernanke warning that he hasn’t printed enough money yet, something about Michelle Bachmann, and a weather report. How is this useful or informative? Is it just random? No sub-editors on duty for the July 4th weekend?
That shot of the blind people made even me gasp. That looks like naked propaganda.
“The blind were among those who appealed for their state funding to be maintained at a special hearing” (picture, featuring – for the full BBC effect – a lady in a burqa!).
We’re used to BBC bias but that is so blatant as to be shameless.
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan leader captured wearing burqa
Superb post, thank you.
One thing which BBC-Democrat should do: let Americans celebrate the 4th of July, without BBC-Democrat bringing in its Obama.
E.g. Ms M. Bachmann:
Your turn: Celebrate country’s history, freedom
http://www.sctimes.com/article/20110702/OPINION/107020026/Your-turn-Celebrate-country-s-history-freedom?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Umbrella|s
Will BBC Democrat report this? – (only kidding):
“‘Whites Are Liars’ — Audacity of Racism: Obama’s 20-Year Mentor Rev. Wright Tells Church Youth All Whites Are Liars…Over and Over in a Long Sound Bite”
(video clip)
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/whites-are-liars-audacity-of-racism-obamas-20-year-mentor-rev-wright-tells-church-youth-all-whites-are-liars-over-and-over-in-a-long-sound-bite-2/
Rev. Wright got thrown under the bus a long time ago. Not that the BBC would ever say it like that. He can’t tarnish The Obamessiah anymore.
Thank you David Preiser for your US coverage – please will you continue to post more?
I find BBC news coverage unendurable – it has literally no relevance to me or anyone that I know. I prefer to catch news from Russia Today, Euronews and similar rather than the BBC – I just wish that it could be dramatically slimmed down and turned into a mainly subscription funded broadcaster.