CNN 'Communist News Network' trying to shove gun control down our throats
J.D. Heyes
(NaturalNews) The war on guns is now in full swing and most of the corporate media has dutifully stepped up to play the role of liberal-progressive echo chamber, touting phony polls that asked pre-ordained "gun control" questions, featuring a parade of left-wing politicos and hacks reciting selected anti-gun talking points and advancing straw man arguments as well as "common sense" and "reasonable" policy measures that serve to limit your Second Amendment rights.
Some outlets - ABC, the Washington Post, The New York Times, MSNBC - are well-established left-wing shills, so it's no surprise they have taken President Obama's position on pushing for new gun control policies. But one media company - CNN - has been particularly hypocritical in this debate because its editors still try to position the network as politically centrist, though its left-wing anti-gun bias is just as pronounced as its media peers.
Though plenty of journalists expressed legitimate, heartfelt empathy for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre and their families, CNN used the tragedy in the same way Obama, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and a litany of other liberal-progressives have done: to callously push an anti-gun political agenda while demonizing tens of millions of law-abiding Americans.
After all, in the words of former Obama White House Chief of Staff and current mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, "You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before."
'Only one Republican made an appearance...'
A month after the shootings, the network "commemorated" the horrific atrocity by hosting an ensemble of gun control activists and Democrats who all pushed for - you guessed it - new, stricter gun control laws.
From NewsBusters.org:
From the 5 a.m. through the 3 p.m. news hours, CNN hosted five guests who had participated in the "Demand a Plan" campaign put on by the anti-gun group Mayors Against Illegal Guns. In addition, two Democratic congressmen and one Democratic senator appeared on the network and pushed for more gun laws. Only one Republican made an appearance to argue to the contrary.
So much for the "centrist" mantra.
Of five featured guests who are participating in the "Demand a Plan" campaign, three also worked for gun control advocacy groups. "Stephen Barton is a policy and outreach assistant at Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Colin Goddard works for the Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence. Lori Haas works for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence," writes NewsBusters' Matt Handro.
How's that for a fair, centrist journalistic approach to coverage of a constitutional right?
"We have to do something in this country, we have to do something now, and I think every gun should have a background check. And I also don't believe that people should own military-style assault style weapons. I just don't think they're necessary for hunting," guest Roxanna Green told CNN, echoing liberal talking points.
No such thing as a two-sided gun control debate in the corporate media
Green went on to advise Obama that him not pursuing a ban on military look-alike weapons would be "a huge mistake." Barton emphasized the background check talking point, insisting that "the bottom line is that we need to have background checks for every gun sale in this country."
NewsBusters said the three Democrats who appeared were Sen. Chris Murphy (Conn.), Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.), and Rep. Jackie Speier (Calif.). "The lone Republican face was former Congressman Connie Mack IV," Handro wrote.
And as happens often with friendly (supposedly centrist) "news" organizations, guests who share the same political views as editors and hosts get soft interviews. Schiff got the kid gloves treatment from host Carol Costello; in fact, she set the interview up to allow him an opportunity to tout proposed legislation that would essentially hold gun manufacturers liable for gun violence and allow them to be sued in court by victims (that sound you just heard was a rousing yelp of approval from predatory trial lawyers).
In the end, there was nothing centrist about CNN's commemoration, because there was no real effort to present both sides of the debate or discuss firearms policy in the context of the Bill of Rights (the right to keep and bear arms is, after all, the second amendment).
Sources:
http://www.naturalnews.com/z038778_Communist_News_Network_CNN_gun_control.html