Reluctant Activists
Karen Siegemund, Founder and Director
Karen Siegemund is one of the new breed of “reluctant activists.” A mother of two, an educator, a scientist, an American who is deeply concerned about her country, she never in her wildest dreams imagined herself doing what she has been doing these past months: channeling her long-pent-up rage at the media and taking a stand against it. As the daughter of a man who grew up in Hitler’s Germany, she is highly aware of the creeping dangers of a monolithic press, and she is also, in her bones, grateful for what America is and stands for: that shining city on a hill, the last best hope, the land that people from all over the globe look to as representing the best of us, the greatest freedoms, the infinite possibilities that the American Dream had always promised.
Karen has a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics, a master’s degree in international relations, and a doctorate in Education and American culture. And while all of these convey a background of widely diverse interests, there has been a common thread throughout: a pursuit of truth and of understanding; a thirst for knowledge about how the many pieces of our global puzzle fit together, and a desire to understand the relationship among culture, education and politics so that we can best pursue those goals that empower each individual, each and every one. And through it all, there has been a constant recognition that whoever tells the story has power over the story. Translated, that means: the media is too able to control the message.
Her breaking point was the horror that broke this past September 12 when the news of the Benghazi murders was being revealed even as the main-stream media and the White House lied about it. After a week of crazed fury, she launched the Rage Against the Media movement. Since then, her rage has only increased at the continued cover-up of events in Libya, as well as the countless ways in which the media supports and has supported the progressive agenda and the Obama administration generally.
But while the anger continues, so too do her efforts to give each of us a voice in the fight against the monolithic mainstream media. We all suffer from living under what Roger Simon called a media coup d’etat, and Karen is driven to fight back.
To read more about how RATM began, read her remarks from the October 20th rally
Naturally, Karen hasn’t done this on her own. It is quite a commentary, however, on the hostile political climate in Los Angeles that those who have been instrumental in the creating and operating of this movement feel the need to remain in the shadows in order to keep their “day jobs,” in other words, in order to not get fired. Here in the land of Hollywood, the liberal stronghold that wallows in the self-congratulatory illusion of “tolerance,” that corner of American that finds a way to excoriate “McCarthyism” at every turn, right here is where we find the most fear of being discovered as anything but a “liberal.”
In large part, in fact, it is for them that we fight – for those who are the most vulnerable, those who would quite literally lose their livelihoods if they are found to speak out. Those who suffer personally from the effects of the corrupt and depraved media.
We speak up for those whose co-workers and employers “KNOW” that anyone who is not a wide-eyed bleeding heart liberal is a hate-filled racist jihadist who wants to deprive their fellow Americans of the “right” to health care and who, they all know because it’s what they’ve been told, wants to bring down the government.
This is the message from the media, and we can scoff all we like, but the media’s greatest success lately is in demonizing those with a different political stance.
All that is by way of saying:
there are plenty more people who are part of our organization, but who cannot be named.
One of our most committed members is a musician who has a fierce passion for his country and who is driven to do whatever he possibly can to save it. Without his ability to see the big picture and still be a remarkable “details” guy, as well as his commitment to making our every event be as successful as it can be, RATM simply wouldn’t exist.
One of the founding inspirations for the group is Marc Langsam, a photographer who gives of his time and talents not just to RATM but many organizations fighting this fight. He helped provide the original impetus for even starting RATM, and his optimism, long-term view and ideas about how to get the message out have been instrumental in our organization. Most of the photos on our website are his. For more of his work, please visit his website, The Photography Czar
We have a former producer who provides wise counsel and support in ways too numerous to count.
Michael Fell, whom we miss terribly now that he’s moved back to Oklahoma, was instrumental in getting us launched – in fact, we are indebted to him for giving us our name!
Ari David was one of our original supporters – his enthusiasm, encouragement, constant support and inspirations have sustained us since RATM was just a glimmer of an idea.
Richard Moreland designed our Stopsign logo.
And Duane Bentzen is our “web guy”- we have him to thank for bringing our website into the 21st Century. A man who has dedicated his time and talents to the cause generally, and to RATM specifically, he is a fundamental asset to our effort.
And now, thanks to the wonders of Facebook, a team of over 7000 members of our Facebook group who fight against the Mainstream Media on a daily basis. This has necessitated a team of Facebook Page Administrators and RATM is deeply indebted to them as well, noting particularly the extraordinary work by Angi Bryan.
RATM has a number of donors who have made this possible.
And a special thanks to our supporters:
And we hope that you, too, will join our army of activists.
Contact us on our Contact Page or
email MediaRage2012@gmail.com