Air America Radio? It's about freaking time. The Right controls virtually every media outlet out there, so it'll be a refreshing change to hear news from (gasp!) liberals and moderates.
If self proclaimed liberals and conservatives bash NPR tells me that they are doing something right. So I won't feel so guilty listening to All Things Considered this afternoon.
I was merely refering to what liberals support, which is exactly those things I've mentioned. The bad thing about those barbs against Kerry and Clinton are that they are truthful! While I consider the GOP to be heretical on a lot of issues, I am about restoring economic and social liberty. Taxing people to death to pay for this overburdening growth in govt. as we do now is just ridiculous and Bush is as much to blame as the Democrats, who are not exactly fiscally sound themselves. You almost had me until you mentioned social justice. That's one of those loaded liberal terms that are nearly unopposable. Of course everyone is for something as benign sounding as "social justice." But what it really means is something else entirely. Social justice means that we have more "equality," more "fairness." The only thing fair means is a redistribution of wealth from producers to non-producers. As for the non-economic side of that, affirmative action is the biggest bunch of crap to ever come down the pike. Two wrongs don't make a right and yet that is what is considered social justice? People should be allowed to exercise their God-given agency and engage in whatever behaviors they wish (except when they infringe upon the rights of others). But our society has spent decades now evolving toward a consequence-free one, which is not congruent with freedom. Freedom brings responsibilty and too much in this country are people given a free pass to not have to pay the consequences for their choices. That is the crux of liberalism and this "social justice" you speak of. Consequences are not to be born by the individual, but society at large and that is a mistake. If you call constant corruption, weakening the military, lack of leadership, brain-dead foreign policy and engaging in adultery in the White House a good presidency, I'd hate to see what you consider a bad one! I might tune into this pap just for a few cheap laughs, but I think that will be the end of it for most radio listeners. If people want the liberal point of view, they can watch CNN, MSNBC or the Big Three newscasts or NPR for that particular point of view. The market for liberal thought is already cornered by those bodies (which in the case of CNN and MSNBC are getting their asses kicked in ratings by Fox News, which most liberals here deride as being the province of yokels and hayseeds out in the red states).
Don't get me wrong: NPR definitely offers news value. It's probably the best news source out there. But being the best terd in the toilet doesn't mean much.
No, they are not and that is the point. The conservatives these days act as if their garbage is the truth and they repeat the same lies over and over again until people (sheep) accept it as the truth, but when you dig in to the facts, you see the exaggerations, overstatements, and lies. I am right there with you on economic and social liberty, as I am on fiscal conservatism, I am just not as far off the deep end on fiscal conservatism as you are. As you mentioned, both parties are to blame these days and neither is doing much to help the situation, but at least the Dems are talking about reducing the deficit, something that seems to be eluding the GOP. BTW, which president erased the deficits of the 80s and 90s? I don't consider AA "social justice." However, social security is, as are many other programs that provide for people that wouldn't be helped (through no fault of their own). I understand that you don't want to continuously fund leeches, but there are some people that need help that are not leeches. I am sorry that you can't handle the term "social justice," but again, that is due to your closedmindedness. WHAT PLANET ARE YOU LIVING ON?!? That tripe could have come straight out of the maw of Ann Coulter or Bill O'Liely. I agree that we need to get back to an era of personal responsibility, but that is not mutualy exclusive with liberal or progressive thought. Constant corruption is the realm of the Bushies, buddy. I saw Clinton lead us from a recession to prosperity and from deficits to surpluses. It is truly sad that you think that adultery, even adultery in the White House, ranks worse than lying to America to start a war, but I guess that is just how you see things. Um, if you think that the majors have a liberal slant then you are even further right than I thought. All of the major media outlets are dominated by conservative thinking and reporting and if you can't see that then you are either as blind as a bat or as drunk as Cooter Brown.
Don't mind me just more pesky facts for those who care... How is NPR Supported? NPR (National Public Radio) is a private, self-supporting nonprofit media company with hundreds of independent radio stations as members. NPR receives no direct federal funding for general support. NPR supports its operations through a combination of membership dues and programming fees from stations, contributions from private foundations and corporations, and revenue from the sales of transcripts, books, CDs, and merchandise. A very small percentage - between 1-2 percent of NPR's annual budget - comes from competitive grants sought by NPR from federally funded organizations, such as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. At present, NPR's annual operating budget is approximately $100 million a year (2002 NPR Annual Report).
So they get 1-2 million dollars a year from the federal government or less than one cent per person in the US. The thing is, the corporate and private underwriting skews the coverage. Just as an example, I distinctly NPR started repeating Kuwaiti propaganda when it was underwritten by the Kuwaiti foundation created to prop up that regime's image in the US. Every national news source in the US is biased, it's just that Fox is the most hypocritical about it - they would have to preface every newscast with - all participants vetted to ensure all people have the same beliefs as Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch to be even close to NPR disclosures... IIRC there were some big scandals with Archer Daniels Midlands in the 90's or 80's and McNeil Lehrer could not cover it because - they were sponsored by Archer Daniels Midlands.
NPR gets 1-2 million? People like Bill O'liely make it sound like the american tax payers fund the whole damn thing. There are plenty of companies who get 10 times that in corporate welfare every year.
Funny. Something about a black pot and kettle or is that just a cauldron? By definition, MOST people aren't "uber" anything. Bama, you also accused Clinton of "weakening the military." GWB managed to wage two consecutive wars soon after taking office in what most described as the most high-tech, precision war EVER. Seems like Clinton's military was spot on!!!
After Bush invested the proper funding, it was. The Clinton military my foot! Most of the systems operation in that military were developed during Reagan/Bush and were OPPOSED by most Democrats.
bama, I am sorry, but it is not possible to completely reconstruct a military as gutted as you constantly claim ours was after Clinton in less than a year. You can't have it both ways, Clinton's military won that war (meaning he didn't gut it like you say), and there are no two ways about it.
andymoon: Sorry to derail, but in another thread (I think it was the Howard Stern one) you said you were centrist when it came to Clinton and I asked which of Clinton's policies you were to the right of. Maybe you didn't see it, but I'm still dying for an answer. Little help? (Since you wanna be the resident centrist, you gotta expect a challenge from me while you challenge our resident redneck.)
That is a bold-faced lie, even if it comes from a "centrist" like you. Bill Clinton was in charge of a massive military reduction that included: A. Phasing out the A-6 Intruder, the Navy's only precision attack/ all weather interdiction aircraft with plenty of life left. The Navy still hasn't filled the gap, as the Hornets and even the Super Hornets can't fly as far or carry as much payload. B. Ditto for the Air Force's F-111, which was the AF's most effective strike aircraft. Clinton retired the planes with plenty of life remaining and left the AF with a huge hole in their precision weapons capability. C. Retired the USAF's entire SEAD (Suppression of Air Defenses) fleet of aircraft (EF-111 and F-4G) without suitable replacement. That's just as far as tactical aircraft are concerned. Sound like Clinton was actually "building" the military? Sounds like deconstruction to me. Clinton military my ass.
