Geez, how naive does a school teacher get. Sure, there's a "right wing attack machine", just like there is a "left wing attack machine". Ain't nothing wrong in it either. When you consider that edyucashion in this country turns out dumbasses who don't know the three branches of government, never read or heard of the constitution, and don't care, well, this is whatcha get.

I wasn't feeling particuarly bad last night; just didn't have my quota of beating up on the criminal class yesterday. Gotta keep in shape, if'n you know what I mean.

Okay, boys. Why can't we all just get along? It seems there is nothing to be done but to gather at my flat for some bathtub gin and maybe a peace pipe? I'll put some jazz on the phonograph. :drink:

Yes, ma. :(

Oh, Wry, darling, I was just trying to be funny! If you don't like bathtub gin, perhaps I could procure some bootleg Scotch!

joebordenrebel Wrote:You can't use your own common sense to deduct that a RWAM exists?

Okay, how about these sources?

<a href='http://mediamatters.org/' target='_blank'>Source Two</a>

<a href='http://www.fair.org/' target='_blank'>Source Three</a>

<a href='http://gadflyer.com/ammodump/?AmmoDumpID=4' target='_blank'>Source Four</a>

When you Mo groupies get tired of clapping, maybe you can check those out and tell me what YOU think. . . :laugh:

Wow, joe, those are some sources who certainly have no prior agenda there.

Let's see. The following appeared on the front pages of those links you provided...

Quote:In the column below, Media Matters for America will document and correct conservative misinformation in each news cycle.

Quote:The Gadflyer will be unabashedly progressive...

Hey, when I want to read a 'fair and balanced' analysis of vegetarians and animal rights activists, I check these out...

TedNugent.com

Hunters Digest

IEatMyRoadKill.net

:roflol:

Motown Bronco Wrote:Wow, joe, those are some sources who certainly have no prior agenda there.

Let's see. The following appeared on the front pages of those links you provided...

Quote:In the column below, Media Matters for America will document and correct conservative misinformation in each news cycle.

Quote:The Gadflyer will be unabashedly progressive...

Hey, when I want to read a 'fair and balanced' analysis of vegetarians and animal rights activists, I check these out...

TedNugent.com

Hunters Digest

IEatMyRoadKill.net

:roflol:

Well, if you don't like the sources I provide, could you kindly address the issue by providing sources of your own?

Or maybe we could just return to arguing from anecdotal evidence. Would you agree that there is a partisan conservative op-ed machine, a mainstream press that attempts ojectivity (NPR and USA Today are the most objective, to me) and a reactionary partisan liberal op-ed machine?

As Wryword mentioned 7 posts above, there are right-wing biased media, and there are left-wing biased media. And there are some other sources that don't neatly fall into any wing.

Some wear their poltical bias on their sleeve, while others try to hide it.

The objective is to pick through all of this and come to a determination of your own.

To be quite honest here, I've gotten so lost on this thread that I'm not sure what we're "arguing" about anymore.

Motown Bronco Wrote:As Wryword mentioned 7 posts above, there are right-wing biased media, and there are left-wing biased media. And there are some other sources that don't neatly fall into any wing.

Some wear their poltical bias on their sleeve, while others try to hide it.

The objective is to pick through all of this and come to a determination of your own.

To be quite honest here, I've gotten so lost on this thread that I'm not sure what we're "arguing" about anymore.

I'm with you on that, Motown. It's starting to look like typing just to hear the keys click.

Ah, even the attention span of the most devout fall short at some point.

If we had stayed on the point, we might have come to some resolution by now. I'm sure that's my fault. Nevertheless, I would like to follow up with one more personal observation.

I live in Makanda, IL, an hour and a half southeast of St. Louis. My available talk radio choices include:

WJPF 1340, Carbondale, IL. They boast:

"So, you wanna learn more about us...well then, you've come to the right place. Let's take it from the top: WJPF is a NewsTalk radio station for Southern Illinois. We're one of the top-rated stations in the Carbondale/Marion/Paducah market. Why? Because that's our job. We live in the area and know what's happening in our community, region, state and world. We then sprinkle a little magic dust around and create what we think is one of the most informative and entertaining NewsTalk radio stations in the country."

Their daily list of "magic dust" includes:

9:00 AM Monday - 11:00 AM Monday
Neal Boortz

11:00 AM Monday - 2:00 PM Monday
Rush Limbaugh

2:00 PM Monday - 5:00 PM Monday
Sean Hannity

5:00 PM Monday - 7:00 PM Monday
Bill O'Reilly

7:00 PM Monday - 9:00 PM Monday
Michael Savage

9:00 PM Monday - 11:00 PM Monday
Michael Reagan

So much for balance, eh? Good thing Reagan got rid of that teensy bit of government regulation.

The competing "Left-Wing Attack Machine" (if you want to call it that) is WINI 1420, Murphysboro. Their weekday lineup?

12am - 1am
Judicial Watch Report

1am – 3am
Geoff Metcalf (Repeat)

3am – 6am
Doug Stephan

6am – 8:30am
Daybreak USA - news, sports, weather

8:30am – 9am
Trading Post (buy, sell, trade)

9am - 10am
Duke and the Doctor, health show

10am – 11am
Derry Brownfield Show, general talk, rural issues

11am – 1pm
Thom Hartmann

1pm – 2pm 
Chuck Harder "For The People"

2pm - 4pm
Dave Ramsey

4pm – 5pm
Joseph Farrah, World Net Daily Radio

5pm – 6pm
Medicine Man Health Show

6pm – 9pm
Bruce Williams, advice on life, health, and money

9pm – 12am
Geoff Metcalf Show

Of the shows listed, only Thom Hartmann will address issues that would excite leftists, and he claims to be a moderate from the radical middle. Chuck Harder is an old hippy who's all over the map. Joseph Farrah should be following up Savage on 1340.

My point is this--when you look at the distribution, there's an inordinate amount of right-wing op-ed apparatchiks hammering their message, from dawn to dusk and far into the night.

The left has no analog, in this market or in most markets. Thus, the RWAM exists.

If you're too stupid to see that, then you're really too dumb to be posting, period.

You convinced me. AM Talk Radio in Makanda, IL leans conservative, so there are no left-wing pundits to seek out on ANY type of media anywhere. Thanks for clearing that up.

FWIW, there's no one stopping you or anyone else from creating a Makanda Liberal newspaper. Change your line of work, get some people together, and start your small-circulation weekly. Then let the market take over. Since you feel that there are many who crave left-wing views, but just aren't gettin' it in metropolitan Makanda, then you should have no problem selling newspapers. The market is ripe.

Or, is that too "stupid" for you?

Run along.

Two interesting articles on Salon today.

<a href='http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2004/05/11/right/index.html' target='_blank'>http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2004/05...ight/index.html</a>

<a href='http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2004/05/11/noise/index.html' target='_blank'>http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2004/05...oise/index.html</a>

I'm sure that the folks who could most benefit from them will skip the reading portion and jump right into attacking the source, but you never know.

Is there a right wing attack machine? Maybe.

Are there right wing media pundits who aggressively spin for their ideology? Yes, of course.

Are there those on the left who do the same? Naturally.

Does the enormous differential in fund-raising prowess and talk radio clearly enhance the GOP spinning? Yes.

Does the liberal bias of the vast majority of the mainstream media give the Dems a natural advantage? Yes.


The bottom line is that all of this crap balances is out, as it would in a free market, and thus we have a 50/50 country.

I gave up political ideology a long time ago. Not because I'm more cynical, but in fact because I'm less cynical. Once you grant people their admirable motives, you can learn a lot from ideas on both sides. If you block them out as evil and ill-willed before you hear their ideas, you get no value from public debate. One only needs to examine the Arab world to see how that happens.

As they say, there are two sides to every story...

I found Bernard Goldberg's book <a href='http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0895261901/104-2844785-2995169?v=glance&s=books' target='_blank'>"Bias"</a> to be pretty interesting. Admittedly, I didn't read it cover to cover... probably enough summarized reading while parking my rear end at a Borders Books not too long ago. So, I'm not necessarily endorsing the book, saying everything he states is fact-true, although I found ample eye-opening material rummaging through it.