Sunday, March 20, 2011
I Haven't Been Here for Awhile
The liberals around the world have their own war starting now, a war to find mustard gas that they know is hidden in bunkers in Libya. They are going to oust Muammar Gaddafi and the French are sending an aircraft carrier across the Mediterranean Sea to help the rebels who may or may not be Islamic Fundamentalists to overthrow this evil-doer. The folks at NPR are even explaining to listeners why it is so important to escalate the United States involvement in this crisis and what the difference is between a fighter jet and a tank. In their mind this is a good and just cause. Rumsfeld lied. Bush lied. Cheney lied. But NPR knows the truth....
And a continent away from Washington DC Jerry Brown and the gang in California just cannot understand why businesses are moving from the Golden State to Texas in droves. They have a higher unemployment rate than Michigan and the highest taxes in the country in many areas. With 12% of the nations people they have 33% of the nations welfare case load. Governor Moonbeam says it is the fault of the radical Republicans who want to take down the government at all levels.
So what is their solution to California's problems? Are they going to create a new environment for businesses to thrive? Are they going to lower taxes? Are they going to reduce regulations? Are they going to rein in government spending? Are they going to tackle the State's $500 billion pension fund obligation? No. Wait for it....wait for it...They are going to send a delegation of California politicians to Texas, put them up in a luxury hotel, and ask Texans how they lured businesses away from California.
And somewhere in the Far East nuclear power plants are melting down...
And the President of the United States is telling us all his basketball picks for March Madness. I do not think they need to play basketball to figure there is a lot of March madness going on in the world.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
To To Quote Randy Quaid in the movie 'Independence Day'...
Friday, September 10, 2010
This is Too Funny
Monday, September 6, 2010
Comparison of Reagan and Obama?
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Just a Few More Thoughts on the Fairness Doctrine...
Monday, July 5, 2010
Did the Fairness Doctrine Ever Work?
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Where do Americans get their “every day” news?
“Surely, we have evolved to the stage here in this century that we can understand some sort of balance, some sort of sense. To me it is a feeling that my country is spilling out hatred and lies on many, many of these stations (talk radio) to people who hear nothing but that, who never believe or hear any countervailing opinion ..” Louise Slaughter, Interview with Bill Moyers
Americans are more frequently getting their election news from cable news networks, morning TV shows, talk radio, NPR, the Internet and Comedy TV shows (Conservative Colbert Report and Liberal Daily Show, for example.). There has been a decline in accessing other sources of news, especially nightly network news, daily newspapers and news magazines. The Chart also shows that there are so many sources of information to Americans, that it leads one to believe that, as said by Adrian Cronauer, the Fairness Doctrine is a solution in search of a problem. Is having so many media outlets effecting our individual freedom, order or equality between individuals and groups in our society?
Some, such as Ms. Slaughter, might argue that there is unfair media bias slanting towards Conservative thought, but fairness is in the eye of the beholder. According to the polling, overall, about as many Americans now say news organizations are biased in favor of one of the two parties as say there is no bias in election coverage (39% vs. 38%). A much larger number of Democrats believe that coverage of the campaign (Presidential campaign of the year 2000) tilted in favor of Republicans. More than four in ten Republicans (42%) see news coverage of the campaign as biased in favor of the Democrats. There has also been a significant number of Independents that believe the election news is not free of bias.
Conclusions can be drawn from the polling results that, across the board, whether Conservative, Liberal, Independent, or specific age groups, or educational backgrounds, more than 50% of respondents to the survey believed that there was bias in the media. And each of the groups believed that the bias was toward opposing opinions from their own. More importantly would be the indication that Americans are going to all sources in the media for their news, and they are aware that it is necessary to sift through all of the information to find out what is really going on, or perhaps sift through to substantiate their preconceived ideas about a topic.
Radio has been accused of being the most biased, and influencing the most voters, according to Louise Slaughter and other supporters of the Fairness Doctrine. But as can be seen in the chart at the right, compared to the other sources of information, a very small percentage of voters get their campaign news from the radio. Democrats and Independents tend to look to newspapers and the mainstream nightly news stations for their campaign news.
Those rallying for the return of the Fairness Doctrine believe that what some consider politically incorrect speech must be “balanced” by law – which is to say, by the government. Others have a different opinion. In a discussion of the Fairness Doctrine, then Vice President of the United States Al Gore said, “The administration sees market forces replacing regulations and judicial models that are no longer appropriate. The administration’s goal is to provide the principles…one of those principles should be to trust in an overall market concept in the coverage of public issues with the obvious First Amendment advantages it provides.” In other words, a media outlet, in its efforts to bring in a larger audience, has the right to report the news the way their customers want to see it or hear it.