Vision

Eye exams are funny things.

I had my eyes checked today and when asked by the doc what letters I could see on the board, I had to tell him that what was visible to me was a very big white blob.

It got me thinking about the administration’s spokesman Robert Gibbs – and not just because I see him as a white blob. But look, if you’re going to attack the most successful media concern on the planet, but you can’t carry out assassinations or use smart bombs or Predator Drones without drawing too much attention to yourself, it’s probably a good idea to keep your head.

But the administration hasn’t been doing that – at least not outwardly. This begs the question, “why?”

So here’s my take on it as a former trainee at the Defense Information School.

I have said before that the administration appears from my perspective to be afraid – from Nancy Pelosi’s tears to the marginalizing of massive sections of society, to the duck and cover antics of our Congressmen, they have been telegraphing fear like a castrated midget in a cage fight.

"Gibbs blob" and friends have been conducting themselves like school-children, but like any recess bully, they are a bit too vociferous to suggest real guts. Instead, they are the kind of bullies that hide behind their bluster until they are called out, then they aren’t so tough.

Given that light, the present attack on Fox has an interesting air about it. It smacks of a final escalation or a desperate roll of the dice. Here’s some possible motivations approaching it from a trained PR perspective:

1. * By naming Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck, the administration is hopeful one of the two guys will get canned for the obvious bribe of returned access to the goodies – namely White House participation.

2. * By getting even one of these guys canned, the administration can claim victory of a sort and put the fear of God into all the other news reporters in big media. Sort of the same way the nation put the fear of retribution into the hearts of the Czars and Congressmen by using the bug-zapper on everyone’s favorite Communist, Van Jones.

3. * Also by getting even the perception that they contributed to the firing of one of these guys, the administration gets an added benefit. All the followers of that canned host will be up-in-arms and depart Fox en-masse. The results would be catastrophic to Fox.

4. * Failing getting either guy fired – and instead getting more resistance from Fox - the administration can justify harsher treatment of the network and by continuing to demonize them, can justify even removing their people from White House access to events. Which means no immediate news – and that can be the kiss of death in a 24-hour news cycle, because you’re getting scooped all the time.

5. * Continuing to demonize the network can eventually lead to removing their rights piece by piece. They may eventually be able to claim a negative effect on national security by basically calling these broadcasters “rabble-rousers” of a kind. With the powers of the government unchanged since directly following Sept. 11, 2001, this may mean that the government has a wide range of tactics and resources they can bring to bear on “instigators.”

6. * Of course, if Fox folds, the administration wins the lottery. Control of the media – complete control – is necessary to any good dictatorship. You can’t have “Big Brother” if he doesn’t have speech control – and in the end, “thought control.”

7. * Distraction is useful. If you do outrageous things, the majority of the people will engage in that discussion. The result - programs like health care, and other goodies get slipped by without much ado.

8. * Distraction takes our eyes off the indecision, which is placing our troops in greater and greater jeopardy. Basically Obama can continue his vacations and Latin dances and ice-cream runs to New York while our boys and girls give their lives half a world away.

9. * Lastly, attack on a news organization like Fox creates such a storm of poop that eyes come off all international policy, and people simply forget where our soldiers and allies are. Just consider what a Nuclear Iran will do when bracketed by two major U.S. military operations. Set aside Israel for a moment - one nuke dropped in-theater with our troops means a huge loss of American lives and the start of WWIII.

So how do we get a massive force like Fox to fold if we are an aspiring “big brother.” You have to look at tactics these folks have used up until now, ie. Midnight runs pushing policy through while no one is watching, glad-handing scumbags like Acorn, and funding big organizations full with their buddies. Basically, the current administration is good at Chicago mob tactics.

In addition, trillions are being spent and there is no oversight. Where is the money going? I believe a large portion of the money is getting into places where funding these kinds of assaults on civilian organizations is not only possible, but moving forward in full force.

So, if you have all the money in the world, all the police and military power in the world, control of health care (ie. Life and death) of the regular people, control over what people eat and drink and how they live their lives, and lastly, control of the media – what’s the next step? I can’t help but think of my eye exam.

Eye exams are funny because we put so much stock in the things we see – basically our perceptions suggest what the world really is about. Perception makes us look at the world around us and see things as they are – or as our particular type of vision deficiency suggests.

But if you look at history and if you follow the path of other dictators, the next step is eliminating term limits and limiting religion.

Then you are king.