From the Left? Did you mean from the Democrats or did you mean Left of GWB like Giuliani or Schwarzeneggar?
Here's what I meant: K----------Middle---B------- with K being Kerry and B being Bush. That is what it is like now. What I would like to see is: -------D---Middle---R---------- with D being a Dem candidate and R a Rep candidate. I would be more likely to listen to and entertain supporting that candidates views. I know pictograms suck but that's the best I can describe it. clm FWIW I would support a Guiliani ticket right now.
I consider him a nice transition between the old, pathetic, grey haired Republicans that have lost touch with reality and the new, younger, more moderate, Republicans that are everywhere. He has made many concessions with the other side of the aisle. People label him because he is a wartime Republican President but they fail to recognize some of the other crap he has done. Oddly enough the differences between me and most of you liberal posters is not that big. I think its a perceptual difference. We want the same things (safe country, educated kids, freedom, low taxes, more money) we just feel like whoever we claim to be, rep or dem, has a better way of achieving this. When we fight and debate with eachother lets try to remember that we want the same things. I am not a war monger. I want the war to end. You are not a disillusioned peacefreak that wants our troops to die. I am not anti-environment. I don't burn tires for the hell of it. You are not an ELF. You don't blow up SUVs. I am not a religious right nutcase. I don't chain myself to courthouses with bibles on them. You are not a PETA member that thinks lizards are more important than humans. I don't blow up abortion clinics. The extremes of both of our party's cancel eachother out. Please lets remember that. We are dealing with the middle. BTW - when I make my (they've been called outlandish) predictions on the election I am not doing it to rub it in your faces or to appear totally disillusioned. I really think that the country is not as divided as you guys think. For example - there is a poll on howardstern.com's bbs that asks who people are going to vote for. These are Howard Stern fans. If anyone is a bigger bush basher and hater than him then I haven't heard of them. He builds his show around getting Bush out of office. The poll is 60-40 Kerry. And those are the die hard Kerry people. I don't know where the pollsters are getting their info this year but it will be a bush blowout with 57% pop and over 300 electorals. phew...
The only places Bush has departed from the radical right wing agenda are this unprecedented deficit (remember when the GOP was the party more likely to advocate a balanced budget and responsible spending?), big government (Bush's is the biggest in the history of our nation - it's not even close.) and nation building (campaigned against it, mocked Clinton for it and proceeded to outdo him at it). And these aren't moderate positions either. They're radical too -- they just happen to violate core GOP tenets. Everywhere else he is pretty much as radical as they come. On guns, gays, God. On big business over the environment. On tax cuts for the rich (even during wartime - unprecedented). On outsourcing. On privatizing social security. On abortion. On stem cell research. On nationalism. There is only one 'major' Republican who is farther to the right than GW and his administration and that's Alan Keyes. Find me one story or editorial from the last two years, from a major news source (not one of obvious conservative bias like Limbaugh, George Will, Fox and the like) that argues Bush is a moderate Republican and I'll bump the bet down to 56.5.
in the context of this thread, who qualifies? is credibility an issue? if so, that leaves out the NYTimes and CBS.
This is stupid. You're clearly Republican and not only have you been to the Howard Stern website, you've been to it's bbs. I'm liberal independent/conservative and I hate Howard Stern. 60/40 sounds about right for Howard Stern fans to me.
And I don't care for Stern either. I go as a professional. I air his show so I stay abreast of what goes on. The people on the HS board are quite atypical of me.
gwayneco: "But when the WaPo, NYT, LAT, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN do decide to cover an issue, it is almost always from a liberal viewpoint. Maybe the Washington Post, although they are also the most respected paper in the country for the thoroughness of their coverage. I'll even grant you CBS and the NYT. But ABC? NBC? They're no Fox, but they are right leaning. CNN has moved a little to the left to differentiate themselved from Fox, but they have always been very down the middle, and like the Post, extremely well respected. (Except by loons like Rush and Fallwell.) Chance: you must not know anyone on the left. I'm pretty progressive, but I know people even *I* consider wild eyed zanies. Most of the people that are REALLY on the left only support Kerry because he's not Bush. To put Kerry at the far left simply shows your ignorance of his record and his proposals. Here's my chart: | --W-----------------K-- | M----------B----------A-- | (K=Kerry, M=Media, B=Bush, A=Alan Keyes, W=Walt Brown) (I would put Bush even further to the right, except that true conservatives seem to hate him, too, for his ocean deep deficits.) All of this, of course, depends on the issue! gwayneco mentioned abortion, but it's pretty meaningless to talk about just one or two issues. You can be very liberal on gun control (whatever that means) but very conservative on the economy. I consider Kerry left on the environment, center right on taxes and the military, and a pure centrist on foreign policy.
He may be radical from your perspective (a very scary proposition indeed), but any non-partisan observer would see that he is a real centrist. A GOP president foisting another Mediscare boondoogle on us? A GOP president taking a whizz on the 1st Amendment by signing that awful campaign finance "reform" bill into law? A GOP president passing one of those awful "unfunded mandates" that go against the states' rights stand of conservatismThese are not the actions of a conservative. If he was a "radical" right guy as you suppose, he would have attempted to: A. completely get rid of Social Security B. get a law passed to take care of Roe v. Wade C. Cut deeply the obscene 2.2 trillion dollars that are stolen from the American people and given to politicians to perpetuate themselves in office with "chicken in every pot" vote buying schemes. Now I wish there were such a guy, because we need someone like this to right our ship. I found this, so in advance, you owe me a beer for this one. No, make that a pitcher when you make it to the ATL area. link link
I'm never speechless, but this has me pretty damn close to it. He was the Hippie King. A polished, bathed, hippie that spoke the language of the leaders. But on the inside he was, and is, as far to the left as anyone can imagine and he is no better for this country than having a psycho right winger in there. Dude, I was a hippie back then and, like I am today, very much a political junkie. Kerry didn't impress me at all, and I certainly didn't see him as this "Hippie King" guy you speak of. For the life of me, I can't imagine where you get this stuff, but I respect your right to have your opinions. You are just wildly off base here, in my opinion. And don't throw Bush into that category because he is moderate as all hell. This is one of the most incredible statements I've ever read on this BBS. Seriously. That's all I'll say, because I think you're a nice guy.
whether one considers W a radical republican or not, he's certainly a radical president, at least in the transformative sense. he's taken greater political risks, with less political capital, than any president in memory. He's completely transformed our foreign policy 9one can argue whether this is a good thing), and much republican thinking on the economy. it must be noted that "neocons" are not necessarily deficit hawks, and as W himself said during the 2000 campaign, government is not the problem, but must be part of the solution. and ricealum- ABC and NBC are definitely not moderate, rightest, or anything else. if you've ever heard ted koppel or tom brokaw speak in public this would be quite obvious. if we define the "major media" as being the major daily papers, the big three broadcast networks, plus Fox news and CNN, only Fox and the WSJ can be defined at right leaning. everything else, CNN, MSNBC (chris matthews?!?), NBC,ABC, CBS, NYTimes, USA Today, LA Times, etc. is to the left of center.
more rather 'toons. the bloom county strip is actually 20 years old! "If they were done in Word, your defense is absurd" http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2004/09/rather_blames_r.html -- RATHER BLAMES ROVE IN ROCKET-SKATE MISHAP NEW YORK - Veteran anchorman Dan Rather implicated White House Political Director Karl Rove as "the mastermind behind the so-called Acme Group" after his rocket-powered roller skates exploded during a Wednesday CBS Evening News investigative report. Rather had donned the controversial Acme skates -- along with an Acme brand Bat-Man suit -- in a complicated sting operation to reveal what he termed a "deep conspiracy between the White House and internet partisans to cover up George Bush's shameful military records." The investigation went awry soon after Rather lit the skates, releasing what NYU Physics professor Alan Sokol estimated as "20,000 to 30,000 pounds of thrust." The heat of the initial explosion was so intense that it singed the hair off several nearby CBS reporters, including Rather's anchor heir-apparent John Roberts. The blast sent Rather hurtling along 53rd Street toward the Hudson River at speeds estimated upwards of 200 miles per hour, scarcely slowing as the runaway skates drug the helpless journalist over, under and through stalled rush hour traffic. Rather frantically righted himself just in time to hurtle cleanly though the side of an MTA bus at 7th Avenue, leaving a gaping Rather-shaped hole. The impact sent Rather careening down the stairs of the 50th Street subway terminal, through a turnstile, and onto the tracks of the Uptown-bound 1 train. "The incoming tunnel was sparking and lighting up, I thought there was some kind of power problem," said Carla Robertson, who witnessed Rather speeding through the tunnel at the 34th Street platform. "Later I realized it must have been his ass hitting the third rail." Robertson said she didn't pay much attention whe she saw a spread-eagle Rather, screaming along the tracks on rocket roller skates. "This is New York, so we see celebrities all the time," said Robertson. "Then I realized he was heading downtown on the uptown tracks." Witnesses as far as Chelsea report hearing the collision as Rather met the next oncoming train, which sent the newsman rocketing skyward through a man hole cover at 31st and Broadway, arms flailing wildly, his rocket skates sputtering their last spare ounces of fuel. Midtown bystanders looked on in horror as the award-winning broadcast titan began plummeting from his 3000-foot apex. Amazingly, though, Rather's arm-flailing and prescient decision to wear the Bat-Man suit had paid off. Regaining composure after the initial shock, he began soaring over the skyline of Manhattan, swooping through its concrete canyons. Rather's high-flying antics came to a abrupt conclusion when he splattered into the New York Times building. Momentarily stunned, he peeled off the side into a desperate pummet, not realizing his Bat-Man wings remained adhered to a 38th floor window. Gasping for breath as he climbed from his Rather-shaped crater on 43rd Street, he quickly faced another ignomy: his impact had jarred loose a grand piano that was hanging from a rope outside William Safire's 30th-story office. As the shadow of the piano slowly grew, Rather pulled out a tiny umbrella and picket sign that read "Yipes!!" His lump-covered head peering through the demolished keyboard, Rather finally played a off-key rendition of "Taps" his piano-key teeth. Rather remains in guarded condition at Cedars-Sinai hospital, but says his legendary investigative ferocity "is as healthy as Olympic weightlifter's liver." "Batten down the barn door, Aunt Gussie, we're got more stories coming, and I promise you that these will sting the Bush boys like syphillitic urine," said a defiant Rather. Rather said that the CBS news team was already working on a new story that would "prove, once and for all, that Karl Rove made those rocket skates." "I can't reveal much right now," added Rather. "We're still trying to line up the necessary catapult."
Chris Mathews is certainly not left leaning. I don't know if he's right leaning or not, but he's no leftie. It was Chris Mathews who kept the falsehood alive more than anyone where Gore supposedly said he invented the internet. Even after it was shown that Gore never claimed to invent the internet Mathews kept on saying and talking about it as if it were fact. Mathews has tangled with Republicans and Democrats alike. He may have some positions where he argues liberal, and some where he argue conservative or at least keeps repeating distortions spread by the right.
a letterman top 10 from 1995. not the last item: http://www.cbs.com/latenight/latesh..._archive1995/ls_topten_archive_19950208.shtml -- Top Ten Things Dan Rather Would Never Say On The CBS EVENING NEWS 10. I'm Dan Rather, your love anchor 9. Connie, mind if I borrow your mascara? 8. Wanna buy a fake Rolex? 7. And now a report from our White House correspondent, Howie Mandel 6. Maybe Letterman ought to spend some of that big-time TV money on better wigs 5. That's the news, I'm Oprah Winfrey 4. Hey, let's bomb Alaska! 3. Honey, I'll be home soon--have the tequila ready 2. Good evening. I'm Dan Rather and I'm not wearing pants 1. I made that last story up
As a journalism student researching media bias, I can tell you that most of the media outlets (ABC and NBC included) lean to the left. Journalists as a whole lean more towards the left on social issues and are almost evenly split down the middle on economic issues (with a slight sligh majority leaning towards the right). However, when asked how they vote, journalists said 3-to-1 that they vote democrat and journalists covering DC said 12-to-1 that they vote democrat. So to put the media on the right side of your pictograph isnt correct.
