The Seattle Times editorial board writes:

The muddy stew of American democracy has four main ingredients: the judiciary, Congress, the executive and the press.

War is no excuse to steamroll the press

The notion that the press is akin to a branch of government is an idea that can't be stated often enough. We have to fight the reactionary fetish which holds that The Press is merely a part of society like common workers or other proletarians.

In order for us to win the War Against Capital that we've been waging for decades and bring about the revolution, the press must be on a par with the other branches of government. Notice the Seattle Times doesn't include "the people" as a main ingredient of American democracy. That's because it would be the height of cynicism to include "the people" as part of a government of a capitalist controlled bourgeois puppet democracy and the Seattle Times quite rightly doesn't fall into that intellectual trap.

Now that our newspapers are upholding the revolutionary idea that they are an important branch of government constitutionally mandated to be part of the government's checks and balance system we, as true socialist revolutionaries, should give national voice to this idea. The best way to do this is to insist that as a branch of government The Press should be nationalized and the newspapers officers and editorial boards should be elected democratically. I'm sure the Seattle Times would agree.

Our nations newspapers are too important a branch of government and too vital to our government's checks and balances to be left in the hands of private citizens. Do we have private police forces? private judicial systems? private armies? As a branch of government they need to be accountable to the people. Elections are democracy's means of ensuring accountability.

Only those reactionaries who oppose government could oppose socialized newspapers. Anything less is anarchy.

Comrade Otis, you really make a lot of sense. I was reading an editorial the other day about how we all have a right to health care. Well, yeah. But what about news. Everyone has a right to know so everyone has a right to news. Free newspapers are our birthright.

Comrade Otis, I don't know if you know it or not but I think you started something. Activists around the country are starting to protest for their right to know the news. Look at these pictures:


You know, it really doesn't take any brains at all to know that we need to socialize the news. It's a no-brainer. This issue could give the democrats a big win in the next elections!

I thought our goal was to just socialize everything....

Premier Betty wrote:I thought our goal was to just socialize everything....

Yes, we do want to socialize everything young Premier Betty. But short of a spontaneous People's Revolution that overthrows capitalism all at once we must do it by gradual degrees. This is what is meant by being "progressive." Sometimes the revolution requires a progression of degrees. A hundred years ago it was known as Fabian Socialism. Now it is known as Progressive Socialism. We are all Progressives now. Capisce?

All communist on one, equal channel, CNNBCBS (a division of ABC)!

All the News that's Fit to Subsidize

Scary thing is that The Seattle Times is widely considered the conservative newspaper in Seattle. (Ok, *only* one left since the P-I stopped printing and went to online only, but there are plenty of leftist moonbat papers there already)

What was most surprising at the time I wrote about this is just how effective the Bush regime was in quashing all the protests across the nation calling for news reform.

But now with Obama and a Democratic congress we will be able to get back to work. First, we will provide a free national government newspaper option. There should be an option for those that can't afford to buy news. Studies show that there are millions of people across the nation that can't afford to pay for a daily newspaper. These people do have the right to know. I know the objections to this, that it is socialism and all that, but if private newspapers are as good as private health insurance and free enterprise is so much better than what the government provides then the private newspapers have nothing to fear and private newspapers will actually thrive because the new competition with a free government newspaper will push them to be that much better.

If anyone disagrees then I ask, what is your plan to help people that can't afford to buy the newspaper? They have a right to know too. What is your plan?

Hooray! The press™ is sooo close to acheiving that special symbiotic relationship with Dear Leader, and I believe that nationalizing the press will allow the 2 to exist as one. Furthermore, to be honest, journalists will be the only ones that notice and they will only notice when their paychecks get halved.

Comrade Otis wrote:What was most surprising at the time I wrote about this is just how effective the Bush regime was in quashing all the protests across the nation calling for news reform.

But now with Obama and a Democratic congress we will be able to get back to work. First, we will provide a free national government newspaper option. There should be an option for those that can't afford to buy news. Studies show that there are millions of people across the nation that can't afford to pay for a daily newspaper. These people do have the right to know. I know the objections to this, that it is socialism and all that, but if private newspapers are as good as private health insurance and free enterprise is so much better than what the government provides then the private newspapers have nothing to fear and private newspapers will actually thrive because the new competition with a free government newspaper will push them to be that much better.

If anyone disagrees then I ask, what is your plan to help people that can't afford to buy the newspaper? They have a right to know too. What is your plan?

What a brilliant idea comrade!

I sell newspaper delivery and do fairly well at it to boot. If everyone gets a free government subsidized newspaper, what of my job? Will I get a stimulus check to replace my lost livelyhood? Or do I now get a government check to make sure everyone takes their free, mandatory newspaper subscription?

You'll get paid at tax payer's expense comrade.

WooHoo!!!! I get to live off of OPM! It's a prog dream come true! Yeehaaa!!! Everyone join me in Olympia collective for a massive party!

In fact, I should get MORE OPM, because the papers I represent have a limited circulation area, as opposed to major ones like the Seattle Times, or national ones like the New York Times. Therefore I deserve to get paid as much as someone who has a larger sales territory.

I *love* The Glorious World of Next Tuesday(TM)!

Colonel, you misunderstand. Your job isn't in jeopardy. Far from it. We only want to offer a government option so that people have more choices. A government newspaper option is a free-market solution and will only help to strengthen competition in the private sector and make the entire news industry better. Your job will be even more secure and your livelihood will be increased immeasurably by the new vitality created in a more robust marketplace.

This isn't about destroying private newspapers, this is about fairness. People have the right to know.

I have a warm fuzzy feeling knowing that someone else is thinking for me, giving me someone else's money, and making sure I have the information they think I need.