The Fairness Doctrine is a Loser

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Sunday November 09, 2008 · 2:42 AM PST

2008/11/09 · 02:42

With Barack Obama's ascent to the White House and large Democratic gains in both houses of Congress, there have been some Congressional Democrats (most notably Speaker Pelosi and Senator Schumer) who have floated the idea of reviving the Fairness Doctrine.

I think that this is a terrible idea. And if you'll do me the honor of following me below the fold, I'll do my best to explain.

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Do you support reinstating the Fairness Doctrine?

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Do you support reinstating the Fairness Doctrine?

Yes

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74 votes

Ecstatic and Fed Up

seventypercent

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Tuesday August 08, 2006 · 11:10 PM PDT

2006/08/08 · 23:10

Wow, what a rollercoaster ride this night has been.

I would compare this night to the Senate race of 2004 where John Thune (R-SD) beat out Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) in his bid for re-election. I'm from South Dakota. I watched that Senate race with the same trepidation, and constantly clicked the refresh button to get the latest results (and I'm sure my blood pressure was about the same for both races). The obvious difference, of course, is that I'm far, far happier with the outcome tonight. Liberal bloggers have been pointed at, laughed at, and ridiculed over the course of the past couple of years, but all of that will end tonight.

So let it be said: I am ecstatic (beyond words) at Lamont's victory tonight, but I've also grown extremely weary of the mainstream media's treatment of the blogosphere and the netroots movement as a whole. More below the fold. Read More

CT-Sen: 90% Joe

seventypercent

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Sunday July 23, 2006 · 8:43 PM PDT

2006/07/23 · 20:43

While station-surfing on the way to work a week or so ago, I caught a portion of a Sean Hannity re-run (what can I say? I'm a masochist) which featured him excoriating a liberal caller on the issue of Senator Lieberman. Hannity labeled the caller as "hateful" and sternly reminded him that Lieberman has a solid 90% record of voting with Congressional Democrats.

Now, the 90% figure has been bandied about (and in some instances ridiculed) here on Daily Kos. Like many of the rest of you, I'm not sure that it's accurate; there have been plenty of things that I've disagreed with Joe on beyond his blind acceptance of the Bush Doctrine and the war in Iraq (judicial nominees, video game and music censorship, and his speech denouncing President Clinton come to mind, to name a few.)

But you know what? I'm willing to stipulate that 90%. And the next time somebody throws this lame argument at you, you should stipulate it as well, and then throw it back in their face. More below the fold. Read More

Drunken Fun with Hannity and Colmes

seventypercent

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Saturday July 15, 2006 · 11:15 PM PDT

2006/07/15 · 23:15

I just got back from the bar.

Specifically, I played in a two-man scramble golf tournament this afternoon, and despite an mediocre performance, we managed to snag first place in the first flight. Not a bad performance, considering. (We shot a 4-under 68. The winner was a 10-under 62.)

At any rate, where I'm going with this is that we ended up at a local bar, celebrating the success of the tournament as a whole. I ended up getting into a minor (very minor) verbal debate with a Bush-bot who claimed that Fox News Channel was a "balanced" network. When I called shenanigans on this, he brought up the "Hannity and Colmes" program as an example of the network's balance.

Furthermore, he made the claim that in 2010, the Fox News Channel would still be on top of the heap and would still be the "most balanced" network out there. That's all it took. My imagination took over, and I started to wonder what a transcript of "Hannity and Colmes" might look like in 2010.

More below the fold. Profanity and un-PC language follows. Read More

Clarence Kooistra Switches Parties

seventypercent

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Wednesday July 12, 2006 · 9:59 PM PDT

2006/07/12 · 21:59

In late June, Clarence Kooistra surprised many people by announcing that after 47 years as a Republican, he would be leaving the party that he had been inspired to join by Dwight David Eisenhower and join the Democratic Party. I would imagine that at this point, a single question is on the mind of most Kossacks:

Just who the hell is Clarence Kooistra?

Find out below. Read More

Outrage Control and the New York Times

seventypercent

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Monday July 10, 2006 · 9:53 PM PDT

2006/07/10 · 21:53

First of all, some introductory material is in order. This is my first post here at Daily Kos. I've been an Internet user since 1991, and while I've engaged in many lively political debates on sites like Slashdot, Kuro5hin, and Fark, I've never really been involved with "true" political sites and/or weblogs until now. Too much has happened in our nation and our world over the course of the last five years or so, and mindless complacency carries with it a price tag that is far too burdensome to bear. So it's time to get involved.

I just got home from my regular Monday night golf league. On the way home, I managed to catch a bit of a rerun of Sean Hannity's radio program. In this bit, he gloated about a recent poll showing that a "solid plurality" of the American public believed that the New York Times was guilty of "treason". While listening to this, I couldn't help but feel that the "Democratic strategists" responsible for advocating our party's positions and talking points had dropped the ball .. badly.

More below the fold. Read More

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