The Medium is the Message

(A Marshall McLuhan theoretical study made in 1964)

As I walked the streets as a hippie in 1967, a new pop phrase was added to our lexicon; ‘The Medium is the Message.’ It was coined by Canadian communication theorist Marshall McLuhan in 1964. In my fuzzy world at that time, I wondered what it signified. Did it mean that the message wasn’t so important as the medium in which it was communicated? Well, I never got that far until I recently read a study on how the far right media has swamped their messages 24/7 on every conceivable medium.

Perhaps 25 years ago as I ran for exercise down my street into Cedar Hill Cemetery to continue my run through the peaceful hilly cemetery, a small stone and granite company existed across the street from the cemetery gate. The building is attached to a house. The owner frequently sat outside beside his business with his AM radio blaring Rush Limbaugh’s radio program. I found it irritating to listen to it as a ran past. I thought the business owner hadn’t much better things to do like cutting gravestones then listening to a foul-mouth Limbaugh spout insistent diatribes on whatever democratic side political issues were of the day. And I thought as I ran, “Who the fuck could falls for that obvious shit? Who?

I now have my answer. Anyone who self-selects an extremely one-sided menu of commentary all day long. Donald Trump is the net end user and victor of this 24/4 propaganda. The Hungarian authoritarian leader Viktor Orban said that control of the media through consolidation, media buyouts, or shutting down media is the path to successful autocratic rule. He is, by the way, a dear friend of guess who.

It’s no longer truth in media that is important not in this 1984 dystopian environment. Social media plays an equal role. The Haitians in Springfield, Ohio eating cats and dogs rumor began on Facebook. It persisted enough that Fox and a host of other media picked up on it. Then in the debate, Trump confidently (with a big CON) stated matter of fact, that “They’re eating cats and dogs” to which Kamala Harris let out a huge spontaneous laugh. Preposterous right? Funny? She made me laugh. She made anyone laugh that was aware that it was all made up. But the other side knew what they were doing. Junk, garbage, lies, it doesn’t matter. Say it repeatedly and it will be believed. They were sowing the seeds of doubt. Of disinformation. Our little cell devises were grooming whole generations of listeners and readers 24/7.

This media expansion was carefully choreographed over decades. Rush Limbaugh finally died but not before being given the Presidential Medal of Freedom award in 2020. This is how low we have sunk as a people.

Here is a little song I wrote titled, “They’re Eating Cats and Dogs Says J.D. Vance.” Since someone expressed that they can’t hear the lyrics to clearly, I’ll put them down.

Please enjoy the music. This is the only thing I can do to add my voice to the resistance.

In Springfield they’re eating dogs and now they’re eating cats.

What can a childless Catman do with those erroneous.

Maybe move to Katmandu or flee in a catamaran.

Or just move to Katmandu with my girl and dogs and cats.

He broke down the doorways of the Capital

They followed his directives so tyrannical

In Springfield they’re eating dogs and now they’re eating cats.

What can a childless Catman do with those erroneous facts?