Sometimes it’s near impossible to tell mainstream media from The Onion or from farce. Can you remember the last time you read a report on the massive struggle for democracy in Bahrain where thousands continue to protest--after nearly two years--& where thousands have been killed, injured, incarcerated, tortured; where the repression against the democracy movement involves the excessive use of tear gas & extreme violence? The media presents the Bahrain uprising for democracy as a religious conflict between the Sunni Muslim monarchy with his minions & the Shi’ite Muslims battling in the streets. It’s a simple-minded analysis intended to rile us up against Muslims for being irrational & doctrinaire zealots. But the intransigent spirit of the Bahraini uprising remains a beacon to those under the yoke of tyranny everywhere.
Well you can count on the appropriately named, Yahoo news, to know what counts in Bahrain politics when they see it on the Reuters news feed! Kim Kardashian just visited a swank mall in Manama to promote her Millions of Milkshakes franchise. (Don’t weep yet! The story only goes downhill from here.) So apparently (or at least according to the yahoos at Yahoo & Reuters), Sunni politicians presented a motion to the parliament bad-mouthing Kardashian as a bad influence (they got that right!) & a handful of Sunni picketers took up a spot outside the mall. Yahoo continues with this farce: no less than thousands of Kardashian fans paid $1,360 a ticket to see her & “broke into hysterical screams” when she appeared. Thousands of people can fit into that mall!? Thousands of Bahrainis can afford to pay two or three months rent for one lousy ticket!? Well those fans are no fools--at least about everything! They tweeted back at the Sunni politicians to focus on political, economic, & social issues.
This photo from LA Times is of a March 2012 protest in Manama where tens of thousands of democracy protestors blocked a four-lane highway demanding reforms. These mass protests continue throughout Bahrain & are the only news worth reporting from there--not a milkshake franchise run by a celebrity!)
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