Stating the Obvious: At Long Last…A Truth Slips In

After nearly a year of playing fast and loose with the facts about campaign fund sources, The LA Times has finally released a report stating the obvious. After nearly a year of PUMAs and other astute researchers trying to tell people that, contrary to the assertions of Obama and main stream media, "NO, Obama's *amazing* campaign money machine was NOT dominated by several million regular folks sending in hard-earned amounts under $200 but rather, Obama's base of small donors was almost exactly the same percent as George W. Bush's in 2004 -- Obama had 26% and the great Republican satan 25%. Obviously, this is unacceptable to current popular thinking. But the nonpartisan Campaign Finance Institute just issued a detailed study of Obama's donor base and its giving. And that's what the Institute found, to its own surprise. 'The myth is that money from small donors dominated Barack Obama's finances,' said CFI's executive director Michael Malbin, admitting that his organization also was fooled. 'The reality of Obama's fundraising was impressive, but the reality does not match the myth.'
Adding up the total contributions from the same small individuals (in terms of dollar amounts, not their height), the Institute discovered that rather than the 50+% commonly...reported throughout the campaign, only 26% of Obama's contributions through last August and only 24% through Oct. 15 came from people whose total donations added up to less than $200." http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/11/obama-money.html?cid=140869288#comments

Clearly, there is a severe problem when the truth only emerges AFTER a political campaign, and this has occurred time and time again: when it is too late for the truth to influence voters' decisions, main stream media releases it. This has got to change. The only way a democracy can exist is by having an informed electorate and as it stands now, media has completely preempted that possibility. The bias and propaganda emitted by media has now reached or even perhaps surpassed that of the old U.S.S.R.'s Pravda and Tass. Media have eroded its own credibility by discarding professional standards to the extent that most people go to the BBC or Al-Jazeera for objective content.

There are several groups working to restore credibility and professionalism to media in the United States, among them, Newswatch http://www.newswatch.org/Media_coverups.htm , Stop Big Media http://www.stopbigmedia.com/ , Media Blackout at Facebook and, of course, MediaPUMA here. Now that the 2008 election cycle has completed, we are regrouping and refocusing on efforts to reform main stream media, provide credible alternatives, and eradicate sexism.

"We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth... For my part, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst; and to provide for it." --Patrick Henry

Please stay tuned and lend a hand!