I woke up this morning to right-wing spin - AGAIN.

[UdoKier]

Every morning I am awakened by the shrieking of my clock radio, which is (badly) tuned to one of the local Right-Wing AM talk stations. I only hear a few seconds before I turn it off, but today it was someone bemoaning the amount of our taxes being spent on welfare (but not the much larger amounts being spent on the military or even on the interest on the debt Bush is ballooning).

Yesterday I saw Bush speaking to a crowd of the faithful, saying that Kerry & Edwards were wrong to vote against the $87 bil "for the troops" (huge amounts were for the Halliburton "troops".) That they had claimed that the issue was complicated but that he, Bush knew that "supporting our troops is not complicated and I'll ALWAYS support them" (paraphrased)

Of course the issue WAS more complicated than that. Kerry wanted to get the money to them, but didn't want to add another $87 billion to the debt. He wanted to rescind enough of the Bush tax cuts to the rich to pay for it. Something I agree with totally.

I guess my only point is this: I hear innumerable right-wing spins EVERY DAY, even if I only listen to or watch the media momentarily, I'm bombarded with it. And I can't think of the last time I heard any left-wing spin on the mainstream media.

Hell, even on Saturday when I went down to visit my cousin down in San Jose suburb Morgan Hill, she started to chime in about how "so many people today are unpatriotic" and "I can't stand lawyers- they're a huge problem" and "one of our biggest problems today is that people aren't self-sufficient enough and they just want the government to take care of them."

I hadn't seen her in many years and didn't want to waste our day in partisan debate, so after defending lawyers a little bit I steered the conversation in a less partisan direction,. But It's pretty clear to me that she too has been worked over by the RW media machine.

She's highly involved in a political movement to keep her unincorporated area, San Martin, "rural in character" in other words, she's a NIMBY -you can develop, but not in my back yard. The net effect of a lot of communities with this attitude is continued soaring housing prices here in the SF Bay area. But that's how it is with people on the right- me, me, me. I suppose they'd like all the new people moving into the area to go over to Reno or something, I don't know...


When are OUR talking points going to get out on the mainstream media? When is OUR spin going to be heard?

[molly]

1. Our spin will be heard when we own the air waves

like the pugs do now!

[ProfessorPlum]

2. Even restoring the Fairness Doctrine

(and then enforcing it) would be a huge step in the right direction.

[NewJeffCT]

7. I'd love to see it, but

I'm afraid Fox, CNN, etc would get around it by cloning Alan Colmes and having him as the liberal on every freakin' show.

[UdoKier]

10. Sad to say, but Alan Colmes clones on every show...

would be an overall improvement. It would be nice to have a few more Carvilles though...

[Bridget Burke]

3. Does your cousin live in a fire-prone area?

I know that "rural" areas are often near forest or scrub--highly flammable. Is she self-sufficient enough to stop any fires that might threaten her home?

And, of course, your cousin can deal with any problems caused by seismic activity!

[UdoKier]

5. I think just about any area away from the foggy coast is fire-prone here.

I would tell more personal things that contradict her beliefs, but if I get too personal, I might expose who she is and I don't want to do that...

[cthrumatrix]

4. there is no balance...corporations own our media...and repugs are in

bed with corp that screw the people...it's that simple.

[redqueen]

6. Bush flip flopped on that $87 billion, too

but don't expect the media whores to ever admit that reality is more complex than they'd like the mostly ignorant public to ever realize.

[KharmaTrain]

8. An Interesting Family Party Last Night

My brother-in-law comes from a heavily Repugnican suburban family. It took several years to "clense him"...so much so he's got two bumper stickers on his car: ReDefeat Bush & No One Died From Clinton's Lies. He gets lots of thumbs up from people, but then he works in yuppieville Chicago, not quite your Right wing haven.

Last night his family entire family came over for a birthday party. His father...a genuniely wonderful man...except he's a Repugnican...LOL. In 2000 we had some heated words about lies he believed about Gore and the ones he was hearing about Bunnypants. He fell for the no nation building, compassionate conservative crap. Then he supported Bunnypants for the tax cuts: he's a fiscal conservative who'd pay no taxes if he could, but that began to change with the Iraq invasion (notice no one calls it a "Liberation" anymore)

Last night I just sat back as the entire family, including mom who hated Clinton like Satan himself, ridiculed Bunnypants and complained how this regime was lying and deceitful. I didn't have to say a word as my brother-in-law did just fine. I just took it all in and gave a nod every so often. The most telling thing was that they all had seen F911 and the only criticism I heard was how Moore went a bit over the top in his commentary, but how it showed how poor a leader Bunnypants is, and that's the most important thing.

While I'm far from claiming a victory and working toward it, these are tangible, real evidence things are really changing out there, and not a good thing if I'm a Repugnican.

Afterwards I chatted with my brother-in-law and asked how many of his family would vote for Kerry. He is pretty sure his father and one of his brothers (he has 2 other) wives will...but is still working on his brothers and mom (even though she joined in on the Bunnypants bashing). I can't see what this regime can do to win these people back or even hold 'em, cause we're sure as hell not gonna give up. In fact, his mom goes to the movies with my wife's mom every week and my mother-in-law's been working on her, too.

Cheers!

[UdoKier]

9. "fiscal conservative who'd pay no taxes if he could"

That is an oxymoron if I've ever heard one. A fiscal consrevative by definition must be willing to pay as much taxes as need be to balance the budget, though it may require some cuts. The only way you can be a fiscal conservative and pay no taxes is to abolish the government altogether and I take it he's not an anarchist...

If he favors tax cuts and balooning spending a la Reagan, Bush and Bush, then he is a supply-sider. Their voodoo is the most destructive, IMO...

[KharmaTrain]

12. True...and hope you caught my irony

He's the type who wants all the bells and whistles, but just doesn't realize someone has to pay for it, and it costs lots of money. His world is the one he sees filling out the endless government forms and taxes and clumps it all together as a major inconvenience. His pain is of pulling out the checkbook and writing a check he'd rather be using for a new wide screen or vacation.

A big Repugnican ruse has been that they are the "party of small government" when you can produce a paper trail of expanding the Federal Government and bloating government spending that the GOOP doesn't dare attempt to defend. And as for states rights...the hypocricies of the gay marriage crap, abortion rights and using the SCOTUS to subvert the electoral system are beyond reproach as well.

Old habits die hard and these people really haven't felt the pinch the defecits they create have made. Some are on the state and local levels as lower tax bases and revenues have turned those budgets into disasters...but unfortunately if Democrats have control in that state, like they do in ours, they get the blame...not the Repugnicans who create it. As always we clean up the mess and then they come along again and squander it.

[UdoKier]

14. Yeah, my cousin was going on about the "big government"...

It's repeated so much by the media that it's become a truism. Few remember that the government was as small as it's been in like 40 years under Clinton.

Of course Bush has grown the government quite a bit - at least the war profiteering sector...

[jedicord]

11. Major Spin!

Last Friday afternoon I was watching CNN and a Tim Russert was interviewing the mayor of Boston (who had some good things to say, he's got huevos). Tim asked him if he thought most Bostonians would vote for Kerry/Edwards, and the major said yes.

Then, I kid you now, he asked the audience if any of them would vote for Bush/Cheney and about 10% yelled yes. Then he asked the same question again, same result. He looks at the mayor, and says "See? I told you so!".

If that ain't spin (not asking the same crowd about Kerry/Edwards), nothing is spin!

[UdoKier]

13. Honestly, with the way the right dominates all media...

It amazes me that democrats ever win at all. Imagine what it would be like if we had a free press!