The Need For A "Media Matters" For "Fight The Power" Radio

Fight The Power Radio station WAOK AM in Atlanta would benefit by having a "Media Matters" scrutinizing them.

It is clear that SOME of their hosts and syndicates prefer propaganda over facts, as they know that their listeners like being riled up more than they like accurate information.

Radio Show	Suspect Information
Guest Host for "Keeping It Real With Al Sharpton" 1pm to 4pm	Discussing the fall in housing prices - the Guest host on Tuesday May 31 argued that with housing prices down more than 30% - SOMEONE IS GETTING THE MONEY each time your house declines. There are two ways to analyze this argument.  I am going to be transparent and charitable and consider both. Your homes value is merely a VALUATION of how much your house would sell for IF you put it on the market today.   Just like with a Commodity Futures contract - this valuation allows the owner to take this appraised value and transact upon it - if they so choose.  Many people have "cashed out" the equity.  (The spread between the higher home value and the amount they owe on their primary mortgage) If the person who is in an appreciating home does nothing - (does not take out a new loan) - the fluctuating home value of the asset that they own does not impact them.   The only thing that will change is the money paid in property taxes to the local municipality.  The greater the home value - the more taxes that will be paid. Some people with a clear title to their home but who can't afford the higher property taxes associated with the appreciating home can lose their home as a tax lien is put on their home and the home is subjected to Sheriff Sale if they don't work something out to pay the taxes If the person chooses to recognize the higher value of the house and they take out a Second Mortgage on the equity If the underlying value of the house goes down as they have this second mortgage (or if it dips below the principal balance of the primary mortgage) they are now "Upside Down" in their mortgage.  The value of the house is lower than the money owed against it. Again I will be charitable and assume that the guest host was talking about the "upside down" situation detailed in 2.1.   My problem is that he argued from a VICTIMIZATION perspective.   Some conspiracy based set of operatives went looking for Black people to steal their property.  They bid up the prices in Black communities and then pushed loans onto the people.  When the bubble burst the people were upside down and lost their homes - just as planned. The key points that these type of victim-theories fail to mention as they blame the banks are: This person - of full competency and mental facilities - actively sought to capitalize on the spread in the value of their home.  Those who make this argument ultimately are arguing that the banking institution should have more harshly scrutinized the customer and DENIED more of them.  An argument that is counter to their usual grievances about "red-lining" and the denial of credit.  Ironically they are AGAIN arguing that the banks are not lending money to those who need it today.  This as the banks have reduced their risk window Fluctuations in home values are incumbent.  As neighborhoods change - the natural attractiveness (ie: proximity to downtown) will change the market price that a potential buyer is willing to pay for the property.    Even in "Mission Accomplished Cities" the favorable people in power are trying to maximize their tax digest by having a certain balance of working class people who can pay into the city coffers.   Any government that does not have a system for generating tax liens to enforce their tax payment policies is going to erode their tax base to the ultimate detriment of their collective position The thing that I resent the most about "Embedded Confidence Men" is that they position themselves as being "always on the right side". Go back 6 years ago and they were doing remote broadcasts at various new subdivisions around the metro area - summoning Black people to "Come On Down!!  We can get you into a house today.  We have mortgage specialists on site that can work with you".    Today these same people are attacking the very forces that they were complicit in.   Not to mention the "House Flippers".   I did not see any organized strategy to rip down the signs.  In fact - they are back UP again today. In the closing of the show the guest host said "THEY are going to try and BLAME OBAMA for the economy and I AM GOING TO BE RIGHT THERE to tell them otherwise.   This is not the result of 2 years of Obama's policies.  This is 60 years of the erosion of America's industrial base". I wonder if a caller were to blame RONALD REAGAN for all of our problems - as which is popular among Progressive-Fundamentalists if this same host would have disagreed - blaming 30 years of policy that preceded Reagan?   If Tired & Retired Jack White doesn't care that Reagan visited Philly MS 16 years after the killing of Civil Rights workers - I am not sure that people of this same midset will give Reagan a break on the 30 year span of the initiation of policies that lead to the American decline.
The "Fight The Power Show" 4pm to 7pm	The State Of Georgia Now Has A Shortage Of Agricultural Workers Now That It Has Passed An Arizona-Like Crackdown On Illegal Immigration Now let me see. On the one hand CAPITALISM exploits people.  The businesses who were looking the other way to employ illegals should have their farm equipment confiscated by the government until they get the message.  This was the position that "Fight The Power" Derrick Boazman had about 3 weeks ago TODAY "Fight The Power" says that now that these same farms are offering $12.50 per hour to Americans they need to suffer from what the "Republican Governor" has created.  "The Republicans ran away all of the Mexicans, let them pick the cotton" Next "Fight The Power" began playing several "Confederate" songs on the radio in order to rile up Black folks. He argued that "Black folks ain't gonna pick no cotton today.  We have too many bad memories.  Not even $12.50 per hour is going to get US out there". I have previously reported that the one unspoken motivation which prompted "The Great Migration" of Black people last century was "Farm Mechanization".  The "Cotton Picking Machine" (I did not say "Cotton Gin" - a common error) did the work of more than 25 workers in one day.   As farmers purchased these labor saving devices - they summarily discontinued employing their - disproportionately Black - labor force. I can relatively confidently say - Any farmer in America that is hiring people to hand-pick cotton is not able to compete with his fellow farmers who have a big John Deere cotton picking machine.   Each are paid a commodity price for cotton. A few years ago I reported on how AFRICAN cotton farmers had a grievance against American farm subsidy prices.  They largely still pick their cotton by hand.  Still they were able to achieve a lower market price for cotton into the American market.   The money paid by the American government in subsidies to American farmers - allowed them to sell at the lower commodity prices - denying African farmers their competitive advantage and resulting market share. Do you think that "Fight The Power" ever talked about THIS?  Of course not. When given the choice to talk about global issues like this and how the continent of Africa is impacted by American "corporate welfare" they are not interested.  They are only interested in "Racism Chasing" about marginal issues. (Note - the higher rate of loan denials by the US Ag Dept which triggered the Black Farmers' Lawsuit is a form of subsidy and price support.  These farmers - Black and White - were deemed uncreditworthy by commercial and community banks.  The government set up a last chance financing program and the rest is history.   The typical African farmer does not have access to such a credit system)
Bev Smith Show 7pm - 9pm	When a statement is said once - it can be considered a slip up. When a statement is made in the context of a line of talking points - it must be considered a purposeful lie. I am forced to ask:  "Does Bev Smith Consider President Obama An EQUAL Commander In Chief - With The Same POWERS That The 43 People Before Him Had?" Why then is it that when it comes to the attempt by the American government to KILL Gaddahfi and the successful take out of Osama Bin Laden, Ms Smith says that REPUBLICANS are trying to kill/killed them?    She said the very same thing last night. I just heard Commander In Chief Obama - in Europe last week - standing next to the French Colonizer of Africa - tell the world "We are going to keep bombing Libya until Gaddahfi leaves power" Did Ms Smith not hear this report? Maybe she needs to purchase a Roku box and watch "France 24", "Russian Television News" and "Al Jezeera" as I do everyday.   I can see key international perspectives on the news. Ms Smith said "They (the Republicans) are trying to TRAP Obama with this 'Strategic Arms Reducation' scheme.  As America reduces its arms THEY will say that Obama has made us vulnerable - he needs to go. "  Then she said (paraphrased)  "They want to not be bound by any arms agreement so they can GO TO WAR ANYWHERE LIKE THEY DID IN LIBYA"

HTML Tables

We all know that many of you believe that Fox News is a propaganda source.    MSNBC - despite its fraud is never included on this same list.  When it comes to "Fight The Power radio", however - you should be concerned that people don't even take them serious enough to even think about holding them to the same standard