Concern This

I'm not a concern troll, folks. On the contrary. I'm just a person on the blogosphere who doesn't necessarily perceive things as pure, black and white, etc..I mean, I know that that makes me a rarity and infuriating to people whose sole purpose in life is to get others to "join" them, validate a large percentage of their more cherried notions and all but, seriously, it is what it is, me-bucko. And to me at least, that translates to things a wee-bit more on the complicated side..............................................................Take, for instance, the left's extremely persistent mistrust of Wall Street/corporate America. I actually DO kind of share that mistrust. But I also tend to share the mistrust that conservatives have of the federal government. That's not exactly a smooth running and benevolent institution, either. And, yes, folks, because of these rather unseemly realities/dichotomies, the upshot, at least in my opinion, is a shit-load of rather difficult choices.............................................................So, please, folks, if it seems like I'm sometimes riding the fence here, arguing the merits (and demerits) of multiple sides, etc., yes, I implore you NOW, give the fellow a break from time to time. All it means is that I AM struggling. And if you don't want to listen to me, me-buckos, how about this little quote from President Obama? "If there were easy solutions out there, they already would have been tried."

Herniated Slogans

The Fairness Doctrine kind of reminds me of the Patriot Act. This, I'm saying, in that it sounds good (wonderful, even) but once in fact you start to peel away at the fringes of it, you're never quite so sure anymore. This is especially true when you start to ask questions pertaining to implementation...............................................................For example: Does the Fairness Doctrine only apply to AM radio? Or, does it apply to network news as well? What about to our public television, major newspapers, cable news? Does it apply to the Internet? And who is the arbiter of what is considered fair? Would it be a special government paper-shuffler/bureaucrat....appointed by a politician?.................................................................And then there's the nuts and bolts of it all. How would it even work, for Christ? Does Rush Limbaugh, say, have to share the microphone with some nondittohead? Or do they simply take turns; Rush for a half-hour to an hour, the liberal for half-hour to an hour? And what would happen if the listeners simply turned the dial when it WASN'T Rush....but the liberal voice who was teeing off? I mean, think about it here, folks, in that instance, you'd actually be having the federal government mandating that a radio station's ratings and profits DECREASE! That is kind of scary, I think.....................................................................Now I know that a lot of these stations are corporately owned, and that, maybe, because of this, it is harder for liberal radio to get a break these days. I hear you. But, come on, there has got to be a better answer. My suggestion is that George Soros and Ted Turner get together and maybe procure some of those stations, throw some hackneyed liberal voices (yes, as opposed to those hackneyed conservative voices) behind the mic, and, yes, have them all compete. And what about frigging satellite radio? There are all sorts of opportunities there, too. I mean, come on, we're talking about the government coming in and controlling free speech here. Any frigging thing but that as an answer, I'm thinking.

A Quarter Prius With Cheese, Please

Your silence is deafening, Mr. Gore. I mean, sure, you've been vocal enough in general on global warming but, damn it, sir, the devil continues to be in the details here. As I've stated many times before, the American meat/livestock industry continues to contribute more in terms of man-made greenhouse gasses than all of our cars, trucks, planes, and trains COMBINED!! And, being that most of this information continues to come from U.N. reports, I'm pretty sure you're aware of it, Mr. Gore. Once again, I ask you, why the silence? Why the frigging silence?................................................................I mean, seriously, bro, shouldn't you be educationg people here? Shouldn't you be telling them that the best way that they personally can stop global warming is to switch to a vegetarian diet, or at least eat less in terms of red meat? And what about you, shouldn't YOU be setting a better example by eating less meat yourself? I mean, you do want to be a good role model, don't you? DON'T YOU?

War Children (Apologies to Jethro Tull)

Have you noticed that whenever O'Reilly wants to expose liberal bias by his competitors at MSNBC, he generally tries to underscore it by showing footage of Chris Matthews? I mean, seriously, folks, am I the only one finds this particular tactic at least a tad on the suspicious side? It's like, hell, even Mr. O'Reilly himself admits to a little something something. "I don't mean to pick on poor Matthews. He's not anywhere near the worst over there." He's not the worst and yet he continues to pick on him. Hmm...................................................................Gee, folks, could it simply be that Mr. O'Reilly is a coward? I mean, think about it. Everybody and his sister knows that Bill O'Reilly's real beef is with Olbermann. You'd think that O'Reilly'd show some cahones and mention Mr. Olbermann by name and, yes, systematically attempt to rebut (not to mention, attack) his competitor. But he doesn't. He doesn't because he's afraid of giving Olbermann publicity, afraid that his own ratings could potentially suffer, etc.........................................................And he doesn't mention Rachel Maddow, either. The reason for that is is that Maddow comes on right after Olbermann and if in fact folks tune in to see her, and do so five minutes early, they just might hear the words, "Bill O'Reilly, the worst person in the world!!!!"....................................................................As for me, folks, I'm starting to get sick of it all the way around. I just wish that both of these guys (not to mention all the others out there who urinate on their competitors) would just go back to covering news and events. I mean, I know that O'Reilly is basically the protagonist here, the fact that he's always coming up with new and unique conspiracy theories, etc., but, lately, folks, a lot of what he's been spouting is retaliatory to Olbermann's snipes. Olbermann hammers him and O'Reilly counters by slamming MSNBC. It's all getting kind of nauseating, frankly. Hey, maybe we could get George Mitchell to broker a peace here (though, yes, northern Ireland was probably a cake-walk, comparable).

Buck-Shooting Critic

I really wish that O'Reilly would stop lumping MSNBC and CNN together. I mean, I know that he likes to denigrate his competition and all, generalize the daylights out of anything that doesn't say "fair and balanced", etc., but come on!.............................................................Yes, MSNBC (especially in prime-time) is as blatantly far-left a media entity as any in our history - no question! But CNN, while it hasn't always been perfectly down the middle, in my opinion, it's now far and away the fairest cable news channel, period. And, yes, I base this upon my viewing of it. From Lou Dobbs (boorishness and immigration fixation, aside) to Wolf Blitzer to Anderson Cooper and Campbell Brown, the shows are balanced and the presentations fair. And if you don't believe me, just watch it yourself. Like I just said, most topics they choose for discussion are unbiasedly presented and the panels balanced (i.e., real liberals and real conservatives). And civil - none of this strident, denigrating the other side bull-crap of Fox and MSNBC. Real news, essentially, and real debate.

Did You Hear the One About....?

First of all, folks, I have absolutely no problem with President Obama's Special Olympics joke (gaffe, if you prefer). In fact, the politically incorrect tenor of it actually made me like it somewhat - laugh even (as I tend to like Obama's sense of humor in general). I mean, sure, the fact that he's the president probably should have caused him to press the pause-button and save the joke for later but, come on, the guy's a human being and human beings make mistakes. We're especially adept at putting our feet in our mouths.............................................................The only part of this that bothers me, folks, is the inconsistency. This, I'm saying, in that I think we all know what would have happened had a Republican said something this politically incorrect. Yeah, that's right. Internet sites such as the Daily Kos would have gone absolutely apoplectic. And, so, too, would have radio personalities such as Lydia Cornell and Rachel Maddow. To them, folks, a gaffe is only a gaffe if a Republican says it. Progressively speaking, of course!

Arrogant Display

I was watching the Factor the other night, folks. And, yes, I was (as I am from time to time) very amused. Bill was in the midst of one of his powder-puff interviews with "analyst" (propagandist, if you prefer), Karl Rove, and Rove, right in the middle of the love-fest, uttered this gratuitous "observation". He actually had the temerity to call President Obama arrogant. Rove, I'm saying - Rove called Obama arrogant. It's like, talk about the pond calling the river wet, huh?.............................................................I mean, I know that I've been a little tough on Obama from time to time (topics ranging from wasteful spending to rendition) but, truly, if I ever had to pick between him and Karl Rove, I think I'm probably going to have to go with the president here. Hell, I actually kind of like the president. He's smart. He's funny. And, yes, from what I can tell, folks, he doesn't seem to have a mean bone, either (something that his stronger critics probably see as a weakness). I, personally, would love to have a beer with the fellow..............................................................There, now if I could only get him to listen to Evan Bayh more, Nancy Pelosi a hell of a lot less, etc..