Great Quotes: “The press is the hired agent of a monied system and set up for no other purpose than to tell lies where the interests [of the wealthy] are involved.” Henry Adams

I came across this quote when working on an exercise for a class I am taking. While it was written in 1862, the quote applies very much to today. No matter if it’s a newspaper article, newscast, radiocast, podcast or blog, there is an agenda being broadcast at you. When matters of the press are concerned, there is no true “fair and balanced” representation in the media today. So don’t be fooled. Whether from right or left wing, there is a slant to all publications, broadcasts and even in art like movies and music. Some may be ever so slight – but it’s still there.

When it comes to your major media outlets, there’s a definite agenda being pushed from those puppet masters at the top controlling the strings. Whether its Rubert Murdoch’s Fox News or the influence of liberal billionaire George Soros, money has influence and those with it wield it to get their personal agendas across. So reader, viewer, listener beware.

The influence of money in the press and politics was never so clearly displayed then in the 1939 Jimmy Stewart movie “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”. In the film, wealthy Jim Taylor (played by Edward Arnold) uses his influence in the press and with politicians, like corrupt Senator Paine (played by Claude Rains), to crush the wide-eyed freshmen Senator Jefferson Smith (played by Stewart). In the film, Jean Arthur inspires Stewart to fight on with “All the good that ever came to this world were because of fools with faith (in their cause).”

In this scene, Jim Taylor has sent thousands of phony letters to the Senate urging Smith to stop. Smith was holding a filibuster on the Senate floor until word from his constituents arrived. If you want to know how it turns out.  Go & rent it!