Mr. Gore is poised to become the world's first "carbon billionaire," profiteering from government policies he supports that would direct billions of dollars to the business ventures he has invested in.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Al Gore - global warming profiteer
If you want to talk about combatting pollution, I'm all for it, but this global warming hysteria has gone on long enough. Of course Al Gore's made it his life mission. It's going to make him a billionaire.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Lies About Rush Limbaugh
There are two false quotes that have entered the talking-points of news when talking about Rush Limbaugh. His enemies love to smear him as a racist. Is he a racist? He says he's not and never has been. There are some quotes that might make people judge otherwise, but there are certain quotes that are horrible, that make him sound like a contemptible racist. Trouble is, he never said them.
The two worst quotes of his that are true are the bone-through-the-nose one and the Donovan McNabb one. There is no audio of it, but he once admitted in an interview his biggest regret was when he was a DJ in the early 1970's, he got short with a caller and told him to pull the bone out of his nose.
The other is one that isn't really racist, but the hard left loves to accuse the hard right of being racist no matter what. Rush once said on ESPN he thought the press was giving Donovan McNabb a free pass because they wanted to see a black quarterback do well. No one on the set called him on it, it was a non-issue until Media Matters called it to everyone's attention three days later.
The two ones that are false: there's a quote out there that Rush once said slavery had its merits. There's another where Rush praised MLK's killer. It looks like both stemmed from a Wikipedia entry by a contributor called Cobra. They were later removed, but like a virus, the falsehood entered the ether, and thousands just accepted it as true.
"Racist" is turning into "Nazi" for me, which is to say, one passionate political side uses it against the other so much, it doesn't really mean anything anymore. And there are situations where the word(s) should still matter.
The two worst quotes of his that are true are the bone-through-the-nose one and the Donovan McNabb one. There is no audio of it, but he once admitted in an interview his biggest regret was when he was a DJ in the early 1970's, he got short with a caller and told him to pull the bone out of his nose.
The other is one that isn't really racist, but the hard left loves to accuse the hard right of being racist no matter what. Rush once said on ESPN he thought the press was giving Donovan McNabb a free pass because they wanted to see a black quarterback do well. No one on the set called him on it, it was a non-issue until Media Matters called it to everyone's attention three days later.
The two ones that are false: there's a quote out there that Rush once said slavery had its merits. There's another where Rush praised MLK's killer. It looks like both stemmed from a Wikipedia entry by a contributor called Cobra. They were later removed, but like a virus, the falsehood entered the ether, and thousands just accepted it as true.
"Racist" is turning into "Nazi" for me, which is to say, one passionate political side uses it against the other so much, it doesn't really mean anything anymore. And there are situations where the word(s) should still matter.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Sean Hannity vs. Michael Moore = Civil Discussion
There is hope for our Republic after all.
I watched it last night. I thought Moore had the better argument about two-thirds of the time. If Moore did his movies with a tone more like this, he'd expand his fanbase. I still like Moore movies; I just know I have to watch with large grains of salt and then hit the fact-check sites afterwards.
I was surprised how rigidly to the talking points Hannity stuck, but there's a reason that of the right-wing talking-head radio-TV guys, he's one of my least favorite.
I watched it last night. I thought Moore had the better argument about two-thirds of the time. If Moore did his movies with a tone more like this, he'd expand his fanbase. I still like Moore movies; I just know I have to watch with large grains of salt and then hit the fact-check sites afterwards.
I was surprised how rigidly to the talking points Hannity stuck, but there's a reason that of the right-wing talking-head radio-TV guys, he's one of my least favorite.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Sunday round-tables
I watched the first five minutes of Fox News's Hannity and MSNBC's Rachel Maddow the other day. Both had the same lead story, both had completely different takes on it. It was on Rep. Alan Grayson saying Republicans health care plan wants you to die quickly. Two parallel universes. Naturally Hannity called Grayson's statement "ridiculous, outrageous" while Maddow seemed to be okay with it, with a headline of "Pot, meet Kettle" that Republicans were calling on Grayson to apologize because they thought Rep. Joe Wilson apologizing once for his "You Lie!" outburst was enough. (Never mind the Democrats who thought Grayson's statement was fine but wanted to censure Wilson.)
Anyway, I realized why I hardly ever watch cable news but I like watching the Sunday news-show round-tables. Talking-heads with different opinions are forced to sit in the same room and be nice. In fact I'll rarely watch the people being interviewed on the Sunday shows; it's just spin. But the talking-heads spin has to bounce off each other. If Michelle Malkin goes on Hannity, she can be as abrasive as she wants, but when she goes on ABC's This Week and sits with George Stephanopoulos, George Will and Donna Brazile, she expresses herself in a more polite fashion. Janeane Garofalo may be allowed to talk about Republicans as sub-humans on Keith Olbermann, but if she sat with David Gregory, Joe Scarborough and Eugene Robinson on Meet the Press, she'd probably try to sound a little less like a Rwandan propaganda artist (which Bette Midler also accused Glenn Beck of being.)
My political opinions are always molding, evolving, some issues I care about, some I just don't. I'm Republican, I consider myself a rational conservative, a center-right guy in what's basically a center-right country. Hard-righties can compare Obama to Hitler, hard-lefties can compare Bush to Hitler; it really doesn't matter and it just exposes them.
Bush tried coining the phrase "compassionate conservative" which I guess means cut taxes, increase spending, grow government, and launch two wars without an end game. Obama said the time for change is come, which must mean to spend more than all previous administrations in history combined. All we can do is hope for high turnover in the House and Senate in 2010, and that reporters will act like reporters and not stenographers.
Anyway, I realized why I hardly ever watch cable news but I like watching the Sunday news-show round-tables. Talking-heads with different opinions are forced to sit in the same room and be nice. In fact I'll rarely watch the people being interviewed on the Sunday shows; it's just spin. But the talking-heads spin has to bounce off each other. If Michelle Malkin goes on Hannity, she can be as abrasive as she wants, but when she goes on ABC's This Week and sits with George Stephanopoulos, George Will and Donna Brazile, she expresses herself in a more polite fashion. Janeane Garofalo may be allowed to talk about Republicans as sub-humans on Keith Olbermann, but if she sat with David Gregory, Joe Scarborough and Eugene Robinson on Meet the Press, she'd probably try to sound a little less like a Rwandan propaganda artist (which Bette Midler also accused Glenn Beck of being.)
My political opinions are always molding, evolving, some issues I care about, some I just don't. I'm Republican, I consider myself a rational conservative, a center-right guy in what's basically a center-right country. Hard-righties can compare Obama to Hitler, hard-lefties can compare Bush to Hitler; it really doesn't matter and it just exposes them.
Bush tried coining the phrase "compassionate conservative" which I guess means cut taxes, increase spending, grow government, and launch two wars without an end game. Obama said the time for change is come, which must mean to spend more than all previous administrations in history combined. All we can do is hope for high turnover in the House and Senate in 2010, and that reporters will act like reporters and not stenographers.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Bush & Torture
Andrew Sullivan's open letter to Pres. Bush on torture is one I'd hope Dubya will read and answer.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Beck, ACORN, Health Care Protests
The past week or so has been very strange with media coverage. Glenn Beck is now the most vicious, ruthless puppet-master out there. Huh? Beck's been spending weeks investigating the people in Pres. Obama's White House, and his reporting has actually resulted in Van Jones resigning, another WH player getting demoted, and now citizen-journalists exposed ACORN. But most of the media is only reporting the parts they have to, and they're getting buried. It's been bizarre.
I first discovered Beck a few years ago. He had a talk-radio show, and he had a show on CNN Headline News. I watched parts of his show every once in a while. In non-election years I hardly ever watch more than a few minutes of any of the cable news show each week, but Beck had a fun sense about him.
Now in early 2008 he got a little more doomsday to him. He barked for months that the economy was going to collapse. And then it did. He railed against TARP until he decided to support it at the last minute because the financial people he talked to said the US economy would collapse without it.
Talk radio in general has taken on a paranoid turn since Obama won the election. Rush Limbaugh kept saying Obama's a cold, mean guy; Laura Ingraham's called him a prime candidate to replace Jimmy Carter as the worst president ever. Sean Hannity's been Hannity. He's usually in a good mood and will say with a smile he believes Obama's destroying America. he makes me wish I could get Colmes's show on the radio around here.
Beck is frightened by the people Obama surrounds himself with. I can't defend him saying he thinks Obama's a racist and has a "deep-seated hatred of white people." That was just a dumb thing to say. Beck threw meat to the critics and they chewed. About a month ago, Newsweek had two different columns lumping Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin together as examples of right-wing crazies.
So now Beck's had an increase in death threats and had to increase his security. There hasn't been much disputing of his reporting, because what he's reporting isn't getting played in most of the media. But after Van Jones, Beck had his first "scalp" said The Daily Beast. Keith Olbermann demanded dirt on Beck.
And when ACORN was exposed for trying to help a "pimp" and "prostitute" get housing, lie to the IRS, and even ship in underage El Salvadorean girls for prostitution, well that only got play on Fox News and the internet. It seems like kind of a big story.
Which is a long walk to the health care protests in D.C. over the weekend. Naturally when NBC mentioned it, they found a sign that said "Hitler Gave Good Speeches Too." Will those right-wingers never learn? But what got a lot more play was Joe Wilson's "You Lie!" outburst. Champagne corks must've popped at the DNC after they found themselves a new poster-boy villain.
How many were at the protests? "Tens of thousands" said NBC. The UK press said 2 million.
Look, I want Pres. Obama to succeed. He'll succeed if he gets a health-care bill that does more good than harm. He'll succeed if the unemployment rate back to the 5% range. And when Wilson shouted what he did, I though on one hand, that's stupid. On the other hand, I'd like to see the president and Congress engage in a British-style back and forth every few months where Congress asks the questions and the president has to answer. Woulda been good to have under Bush too.
I go to many sources to get my news. I think sane Americans should, to be informed. The ones who reject 100% of what Fox News says are blinding themselves. Fox is biased, absolutely, but there are facts in there. I'll watch MSNBC to see Joe Scarborough or Chris Matthews too. I'll watch CNN, I'll flip through Politico, RealClearPolitics, Daily Beast, Drudge, Googlenews, even HuffPo sometimes to see what the left-wing spin of the day is.
I also realized that I like watching the Sunday newsshow round tables, because it's one of the only times pundits who disagree will sit together and have a civil discussion.
I first discovered Beck a few years ago. He had a talk-radio show, and he had a show on CNN Headline News. I watched parts of his show every once in a while. In non-election years I hardly ever watch more than a few minutes of any of the cable news show each week, but Beck had a fun sense about him.
Now in early 2008 he got a little more doomsday to him. He barked for months that the economy was going to collapse. And then it did. He railed against TARP until he decided to support it at the last minute because the financial people he talked to said the US economy would collapse without it.
Talk radio in general has taken on a paranoid turn since Obama won the election. Rush Limbaugh kept saying Obama's a cold, mean guy; Laura Ingraham's called him a prime candidate to replace Jimmy Carter as the worst president ever. Sean Hannity's been Hannity. He's usually in a good mood and will say with a smile he believes Obama's destroying America. he makes me wish I could get Colmes's show on the radio around here.
Beck is frightened by the people Obama surrounds himself with. I can't defend him saying he thinks Obama's a racist and has a "deep-seated hatred of white people." That was just a dumb thing to say. Beck threw meat to the critics and they chewed. About a month ago, Newsweek had two different columns lumping Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin together as examples of right-wing crazies.
So now Beck's had an increase in death threats and had to increase his security. There hasn't been much disputing of his reporting, because what he's reporting isn't getting played in most of the media. But after Van Jones, Beck had his first "scalp" said The Daily Beast. Keith Olbermann demanded dirt on Beck.
And when ACORN was exposed for trying to help a "pimp" and "prostitute" get housing, lie to the IRS, and even ship in underage El Salvadorean girls for prostitution, well that only got play on Fox News and the internet. It seems like kind of a big story.
Which is a long walk to the health care protests in D.C. over the weekend. Naturally when NBC mentioned it, they found a sign that said "Hitler Gave Good Speeches Too." Will those right-wingers never learn? But what got a lot more play was Joe Wilson's "You Lie!" outburst. Champagne corks must've popped at the DNC after they found themselves a new poster-boy villain.
How many were at the protests? "Tens of thousands" said NBC. The UK press said 2 million.
Look, I want Pres. Obama to succeed. He'll succeed if he gets a health-care bill that does more good than harm. He'll succeed if the unemployment rate back to the 5% range. And when Wilson shouted what he did, I though on one hand, that's stupid. On the other hand, I'd like to see the president and Congress engage in a British-style back and forth every few months where Congress asks the questions and the president has to answer. Woulda been good to have under Bush too.
I go to many sources to get my news. I think sane Americans should, to be informed. The ones who reject 100% of what Fox News says are blinding themselves. Fox is biased, absolutely, but there are facts in there. I'll watch MSNBC to see Joe Scarborough or Chris Matthews too. I'll watch CNN, I'll flip through Politico, RealClearPolitics, Daily Beast, Drudge, Googlenews, even HuffPo sometimes to see what the left-wing spin of the day is.
I also realized that I like watching the Sunday newsshow round tables, because it's one of the only times pundits who disagree will sit together and have a civil discussion.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Keep this kid away from your daughters
Levi Johnston, the father of Sarah Palin's grandchild, is turning out to be quite the scumbag.
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