Corporate badasses, religious loonies, and black helicopter survivalists

[PretzelWarrior]

I think that is what the GOP is reduced to. However, the corporate badasses like Rupert Murdoch, GE, etc. also own the airwaves. So they are not a mere trifling.

My hope is the 80% of normal Americans can override that psycho base and FORCE THESE PEOPLE TO THE FRINGES WHERE THEY BELONG!

When you think about how the megaphone of the loonies is so large and loud, it does make you believe the whole last 25 years was allowed to happen primarily by removing the Fairness Doctrine.

Let's make it illegal for TV networks to air the likes of Sean Hannity without explicitly calling it 'entertainment' or 'comedy' or 'opinion' and then force them to put on equal time for opposing view.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Oh, and tell Saudi Arabia to shove their fucking advertising dollars. Their money can no longer be used for advocacy on the likes of CNN.

[grantcart]

1. from you subject line I thought you were going to start a thread about my relatives

[PretzelWarrior]

2. lol. I have a few myself. one thing I found funny about conservative gnashing of teeth

is that when they talk about "going away somewhere" equivalent to liberals wanting to go to Canada or France, they have to admit there's no industrial nation free society they could go to that is even remotely as conservative as the "red" portions of the USA.

Wake up, conservatives. That means you're extreme.

[grantcart]

7. An interesting point

I was sure that there must have been atleast one crackpot conservative party in the world that would want to get away from Universal health care, there isn't.


Took me a couple of hours but every single major conservative party in other democracies not only wants to keep it, they want to expand it.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/grantcart/188


Some like the Conservative Party of Canada call it their "sacred trust".


Compared with other parties outside the US the Democrats are Conservative and the Republicans are the whako nut job party that usually gets 4 seats.

[redqueen]

8. *Love* that last sentence. (nt)

[PretzelWarrior]

9. exactly. they have nowhere to run but Arizona or Utah, etc.

I cannot believe how conservative they've managed to drag us in our overall view of the world. We need to realize the rest of the world might actually have a clue.

The problem with taking American exceptionalism too far is then dipshit arrogant Americans think "Oh yeah, well if we don't like soccer or metric system or social services, then they must be bad for you."

[nxylas]

13. Somalia is the one I usually hear

Admittedly, this usually comes from liberals (it's become the liberal equivalent of "Why don't you move to Russia, you commie?"), but some libertarians have actually tried to defend Somalia on the grounds that its problems stem from - yes, you've guessed it - that old favorite "not too little government, but too much", and if only they would live up to the standards of the impossible libertopia that could only ever exist in an Ayn Rand novel, all their problems would be solved.

[PretzelWarrior]

14. that is fricken hilarious if Libertarians are saying Somalia has too much government

that right there exposes their arguments for all that they are. Loony pipe dreams. It's like if Joe the Plumber were all of a sudden in charge of the GOP, what would happen to their election chances?... Oh yeah, we already know.

But it's like what if Archie Bunker were suddenly put in charge of a think tank? WOW.

[nxylas]

16. Here's a link

Just to show I'm not talking out of my ass:

http://mises.org/story/2066

[PretzelWarrior]

17. oh yeah. I had someone on another site referencing Mises. weird people. by their standards...

shouldn't we let Afghanistan fall into anarchy where they can be ruled by natural, tribal law instead of a central government?

These people are freaks.

We've already seen what kind of global fuckup can be caused when some of their strain are allowed to get power.

[PretzelWarrior]

15. duplicate message

[FrenchieCat]

3. Our media is quite frightening......

I get so frustrated, till it is kind of scary.

But cable is a part of the Telecommunications Act debacle, circa 1996.

After the OJ trial, it was downhill quickly from there!
CNN succumbed quite quickly, and I think Fox was founded right after the act
was signed into law.

I pray that this President can do something about it.....
I know he wants to.

[redqueen]

10. I pray that the people do something about it.

Like... I dunno... thinking critically about the information they're getting?

[PretzelWarrior]

12. which has taken a major hit with No CHild Left Behind

all the kids of this half generation have been doing is cramming for reading and writing and math skills tests instead of how to think critically about the world around them.

I hate to sound depressing, but it is an uphill battle. My daughter is amazed that a few of her class mates/friends in 8th grade are SURE we aren't at war with anyone. War in Iraq? NOOOO! That's not happening!

We must restore good quality education in public schools relative to looking at and analysing current events. How to look below the surface.

[RandomThoughts]

4. It doesn't work to make any speech illegal.

All you can do is open more venues for diversity. Since limiting what can be said or who can say it never works, and backfires since they put on the 'persicuted' badge.

You can support or expand other opinions that challenge the corporate system. And don't be fooled this is a window of oppurtunity, get it done now before they start doing to the internet what they did to TV.

[PretzelWarrior]

5. no. I disagree. the powerful have figured out a way to keep the rabble in check.

and it has to do with sanitizing information. That has to change also, but is more along the lines of our stupid censorship laws propagated by the FCC.

But it should be wrong that the public trust of our airwaves and such can be used to pollute people with one sided information.

[RandomThoughts]

6. Media ownership is part of the issue

Also how much money is spent on investigative journalism in the profit motive, or controlled media system is low. I think we should have a citizens journalism system where issues that citizens decide are important can be investigated and televised.

The problem is not complicated at all. For the most part, people with the same ideology own the media, control the hiring and spending. All you have to do is change that, you don't want to try and tell them what they have to do, that doesn't work. Removing them or removing their control does work.

[PretzelWarrior]

11. I agree up to a point. I just feel they are always going to be a step ahead

now that they've gained so much control since the 90's. But Air America and other outlets have given me a breath of fresh air. How do we make the BBC's and PBS's of the world dominate and tell Rupert Murdoch to take a flying fuck? THat's what I want to know.