She’s not even wielded the gavel yet, but incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi already finds herself on the defensive — not from bitter Republicans, but from the New York Times.
A Times editorial Friday takes Pelosi to task for her ham-handed push to get Rep. John Murtha named majority leader over the better-respected Rep. Sonny Hoyer (in photo). Then there is the chairmanship of the House Intelligence Committee, which Pelosi appeared to be using to settle a political score against the panel’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Jane Harman.
“As incoming speaker, Ms. Pelosi will be dogged by skepticism — from within the party and without — about her political smarts and her ability to deliver a galvanized agenda,” the Times says.
Not the sort of performance review you want before your first day on the job.
Posted by Dave Knadler
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74 Comments
All I’ve heard about her are the things that the more verbose conservatives have said.I’m guessing those things were probably a bit slanted.She must be doing something right to get to where she is.
Isn’t kind of funny though that she had her head handed to her already over Murtha. By her own party on top of it.
Gee, whatever happened to the ultra-liberal press?
billy, I’m glad that happened.Especially after learning a little more about Murtha.I do not trust that Murtha would allow any REAL finance and lobbying reform to ever happen.
I sort of like what was discussed on Olbermann last night. Murtha took the heat a year ago by saying we should get out of Iraqi, which started a dialogue, not to mention immediate swiftboating from the GOPs. So, in a sense, the Dems at least owed him a shot at the post. Whether he could manage to get elected was up to him. Nancy paid off the Demo debt to him, taking some heat herself. Which is what a chairman has to do. If he/she can’t, he/she shouldn’t be in the post.Murtha ended up on the finance subcommittee of the Armed Forces Committee, so while he didn’t get the chairmanship, he came out all right. Probably a better place for him.
Debts have to be paid off whether they are financial or political. Its called politics.
Dennis,
Exactly. I much prefer Democratic politics, which is out in the open and real, to the GOP lockstep politics of personal destruction.
To quote Karl Rove as quoted by Ron Susskind, the GOP practices the politics by which “we will fuck him. Do you hear me? We will fuck him. We will ruin him.” And then they all go out and smile for the cameras.
http://www.ronsuskind.com/newsite/articles/archives/000032.html
An approach which, it should be noted, accomplished virtually nothing in the last Congress–even with bulletproof majorities in the House and the Senate.
And while the media gleefully fiddles over Democrats, Bush burns:
31% of the population now approves of the job President Bush is doing.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/17/america/NA_GEN_US_Bush_Iraq_AP_Poll_Glance.php
you have to remember to take into consideration the constituecy that is electing her.
Trent (R-Racist) Lott wins by a single vote and the RIGHT -WING media postures like this is the second coming.
Hoyer retains his position with the Democrats and the R-W media postures like the Democrats have started a shooting war within the party.
Pelosi supported Murtha because of his brave stance against the war, but that doesn’t mean that Pelosi has been marginalized, nor does it mean that the Democrats are backing away from the “get us out of Iraq” position.
Perhaps it would be more newsworthy to note that Bush intends to EXPAND our role in Iraq in the coming months, contrary to the desires of the American public.
Three and a half years and 2,800 American deaths after “Mission Accomplished” we are stuck in a Iraqi civil war that we started.
That should be the news.
Santiago, are you actually as stupid as your posts indicate or are you a shill for the Aryan Nation?
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I have to say I am a little concerned too with Reid. Aren’t his sons both lobbyists? Also is Ian for real?
Why is it that the media says the Democrats are fighting among themselves and yet the republican vote for minority leader which is decided by 1 vote is politics as usual? And when convicted republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff says he will start naming names which include 6-8 ‘dirty” democrats, nobody says anything about the Scores of dirty republicans? How many republican congressmen and staffers have been indicted, plead guilty, and/or been convicted? In other words, its business as usual for the republicans and the media which grovels to them.
dave s,
Indeed. The media is back to reporting the only story they knew how to report back in the 90’s: the Democratic Party is headed for disaster! Pay no mind to the fact that the Repubican President lied us into a war that’s killed hundreds of thousands of people for no reason.
No–what matters is that the Democratic Party is headed for disaster!
I think it’s time Democrats did what Republicans do–bully the press into ignoring reality so that it will print stories that are politically adventageous. Or, put more succinctly, treat the press as their bitch.
It wasn’t the Washington Times that was criticizing Pelosi. It was the New York Times.
Well Nancy Pelosi is having to face something no other incoming speaker ever had to.
Koolade radio wailed all summer and right up to the election, “Do you REALLY wanna wake up the day after the election and hear Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi???”
Apparently America DID want to hear that!
But the same radio hacks are still wailing that the sky will fall because of Nancy Pelosi.
I hope the new Speaker moves to address the situation. I hope she moves to bring back the fairness doctrine.
Yes Dave – it is the NYTimes. Shows that the “liberal media” will question the Dems. The conservative media should have done more of that with the Reps. In fact, the supposedly liberal media should have done more questioning of the Reps. PARTICULARLY the NYTimes who was a big cheerleader for Bush’s war.
Interesting that anyone would want the ‘fairness doctrine’ brought back. Typical liberal. Can’t compete in the arena of ideas, then use the law to silence them.
Hank
billy, nobody knows.Let’s see what we can find out.
HAS ANYBODY HERE EVER MET A REAL PERSON NAMED IAN SANTIAGO THAT POSTS RACIST SHIT HERE?
ANYBODY?
It’s pretty clear that Ms Pelosi has no idea what she’s doing.
And–
It’s equally clear that the majority of the US has no idea just how liberal this woman is.
All in good time, my sons…all in good time.
What’s the fairness doctrine?
Oh look.FuzzNuts is back.You ever get those balls off your chin?
Pelosi has made yet another major tactical error: she took impeachment investigations off the table. Unless the Democrats forcefully and repeatedly discredit the neoconservative revolution, — much as the Jewish community discredited the Nazis — and unless they put Bush and these other criminals in jail, and undo the damage to our civil liberties, we will be back in the same predicatment in another 2 years. The vicious scum who are now waiting in the wings to seize power next time will make you long for the good old days of Bush, the humanitarian. They have the will-to-power to play out their dream of using the nuclear arsenal to dominate the world and impose a dictatorship here. That’s why we need a dramatic version of the Nuremburg trials. Most Americans are asleep at the wheel though, and have no idea of the impending danger, thanks to our dysfunctional news media. What we have witnessed the past six years is nothing less than an incremental bloodless right wing revolutionary overthrow of our goverment. Why bloodless? Because it was, and is, unopposed. Bush, Cheney, Rove and their right wing cabal figured out a long time ago that they don’t need bombs and weapons to foment revolution — they’ve got propaganda, the news media and the Democrats to serve as willing foil.
Fairness doctrine? Yep, lets bring it back, along with an evenly divided house, senate and supreme court. Matter of fact, lets just throw out elections, make any kind of political speech illegal and make taxes “optional”.
Fairness doctrine? JR, I agree with you sometimes, but that is one of the most ridiculous things ever proposed by anybody. This ain’t a socialistic society, and God willing, it never will be.
Pretty strong words there Laura.Truth based no doubt.Another Chomsky fan?
I aint your son goofball. You need to put down your beer and climb off your step daughter.
TracyFairness doctrine requires equal time for political speech on radio and TV. YOU KNOW, so that Clear channel doesn’t get to continue to air unanswered the ravings of kooks like Mark Levin shills like Sean Hannity, and assholes like Rush Lamebrain.
If they get to tell us how bad Democrats and Liberals are all day every day, well there needs to be some equal time for the TRUTH.
I get it JR.You know that the FCC requires each public station to also be a public servant.I understand completely, but to legislate this would be a nightmare.Also there would immediatly be a whole new crop of Allen Keyes type activists wanting to rant everytime the prez farts on TV.
Jr
Yeah, to hell with what the consumer want’s, let’s censor radio and television.
I have a word for you JR. Cryptofascist.
Dusty?
So YOU then are in favor of right wing clear channel controlling a large swath of the public airwaves unopposed?
We hear all the time about the so called “liberal media”. There is NOTHING in ANY media that approaches the right wing domination of radio. The “free market” does not work when it is controlled by a handful of companies with a CLEAR agenda.
Heckler, he has a point.That point is that any PUBLIC entity should not be controlled, especially covertly, by any govt entity or political party.
Heckler?
I figured you’d jump in on this one.
Heckler is the marketplace free and the consumer king when that marketplace is dominated and CONTROLLED by one company?
Right wing Clear Channel owns HUNDREDS of radio stations. SOME of them choose to air talk radio. Other are TOLD that they MUST air Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.I am not for censoring anyone. Just provide equal time for opposing views.
Hey Laura,Why do we need to impeach the SOB? After all, he’s given the next administration the tools they need for him to just disappear off the face of the earth when he leaves office. And they get to torture him to boot!
Equal time for opposing views?How about the Usual Suspects.Shall we go down the list again?ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, NPR, MSNBC, New York Times, LA Times, Washington Post, Atlanta Journal, Wichita Eagle.Air America was a gift to us. You people can’t make it in the free market place of ideas, so what do you propose?libs = socialist commies
JR, as those of us who struggle to recall what we were taught in introductory economics, where an oligopoly exists, e.g., Clear Channel, there is no “free market”. Any attempt to argue otherwise is academic.
As I recall the “fairness doctrine”, the intent thereof was to ensure equal access to a public utility, if you will: the airwaves, in an attempt to provide, through regulation, both sides (given our peculiar, dominant 2 party system) equal access thereto. The fairness doctrine would not apply to allow those opposing the broadcasts of Rush, Sean, BillO, et al, equal time to the airwaves unless it could be shown they were, in fact, acting as an actual, paid spokesperson of a particular political party. It would, however, allow time to respond to official political announcements by the other side.
Lets see now … wasn’t in ABC that aired that Clinton-bashing fiction that purported to be fact-based on 9/11? The NYTimes above bashing Pelosi? Hardly in the pocket of the Dems!
cons = con-men
Democrats! *Shakes Head*
What do you expect.
A Culture of Greed and Corruption. We are only going to see more of it.
Oops! I forgot the Mother of All.CNN
hmmm-The ABC program was from the Entertainment division, not the news division I was refering to. If you are trying to say the NY Times editorial page isn’t liberal then you are a dope.
Dope? Did someone say dope? Where?
I am down to seeds, this is serious.
Where is the dope?
Smoke it down short and eat the roach.
“libs = socialist commies”
That’s funny, Fleet. Redundant, but funny.
That’s funny, Fleet. Redundant, but funny.
Socialism – an economic system.
Communism – a political system that incorporates elements of socialism.
Liberals – the folks that kicked the GOP’s butt on 11/7/2006.
Work on that, Fleet, ya gotta come up with better insults than that or I’ll get bored.
Actually, WS, the lib democrats (as a group) weren’t the ones who did the ass kicking. It was the more “moderate” ones that did that. One reason Ms Pelosi will have her manicured hands full and her surgically enhanced face out there for all to see.Also, I’m not really trying to be insulting, I’m just drawn that way.
Do her manicure and facelift match Trent Logg’s ugly rug?
Is that some hair or what?That isn’t a toupee is it?
Dang it, Fleet, I was hoping that you had some truly witty insults saved up. Shoot!
As for Ms. Pelosi, I love her as Speaker of the House and nominal head to the Democratic Party, but – if that is her face AFTER surgery, I’m not brave enough to see the BEFORE pictures.
BTW – Pelosi will absolutely rock(!) as Speaker.
Would you rather have Denny (the Sweaty Wrestler) Hastert?
I didn’t realize that San Francisco or Washington, D.C. was in such financial trouble that they couldn’t afford a village idiot and a town drunk at the same time. Damn, we are in trouble !!
“So YOU then are in favor of right wing clear channel controlling a large swath of the public airwaves unopposed?”
Is that your supposition? You think you know what I am or am not in favor of because I disagree with you?
What I am in favor of is let the market decide . . . period! I don’t listen to rush, hannity or whomever. I also have never heard a liberal talk show host I would listen to.
You seem to be in favor of forceing political talk shows on a private business, with the indication of that business losing money. Who then will pay for the business loss, the taxpayers? Right . . . that will go over really swell with the average person. I look forward to paying my tax dollar to put some right/left/middle/commie/nazi/neo-whacko moron on the air to spout their particular brand of “how the world should be run”.
There has been quite a tiff about the Eagle not including candidates for office if they come from a less known (read anybody not repupe or demo) in their debates. Who is going to say who can and cannot dive into the federal trough for air time bucks? You? Me? Nancy Polosi? Get real, JR, the whole concept of “fairness doctrine” is pure hogwash.
As I stated earlier, this ain’t a socialist country, and God willing never will be. So, JR, don’t even assume to think for me: I do that rather well myself, without the help of a “fairness doctrine”.
Manicured hands? Surgically enhanced face? Is that illegal? Immoral? Unethical?
You poor republicans. Can’t you do any better than that?
As Speaker-elect Pelosi spent her early years in the rough and tumble world of Baltimore politics, I suspect she might well prove a worthy opponent in the “back room” wheeling and dealing apparently necessary for Congress to appear to work. I would not be fooled by the “manicured hands” and “surgically enhanced face”.
Remember when john Spencer in NY suggested that Hillary wasn’t all that cute before “surgery.” That was total BS, but I had to wonder – did Spencer ever look in the mirror?
Talk about a double bagger. Wow!
I have seen pigs at the State Fair that looked better than John Spencer.
WSC – fleettwood would rather have DopeHead Rush.
Republican = dpoehead dittohead
Rush went on a golf outing (?) with four guys and took along enough Viagra start a forest.
I guess foursome means something different to Rush than it does for the rest of us.
Perhaps you do think for yourself Dusty.
Sadly, there are millions who do not.
Truck drivers, single moms, working people of every stripe are deluded and lied to by right wing radio. They then go out and vote entirely against their own best interest for Republicans.
There is no Democrat or Liberal counterpart. None.
Anybody remember any organized media predicition that the sky would fall when Newt Gingrich was made Speaker of the House? Actually for a lot of Americans the sky DID fall but there was no organized media predicting it.
No Dusty this is not and likely will never be a socialist country. I would not wish it to be.
I just wish it wasn’t a country running full bore toward feudalism with a bought off right wing media leading the charge.
There is no radio counterpart because nobody wants to listen to them. If they could make it in the free market, they would.
Oh wait, isn’t Alan Combs on at 3AM or so?
Vaughn: Be careful, buddy. Obviously Ian and Rusty have both gone off their medications !!
Nothing will change — both parties will coninue to be neck deep in beholden to special interests — forget any meaningful ethics reform now, 2008 and on out — unless citizens dictate to Congress what we expect in ethical behavior — should be pretty simple — you can’t take any money from any lobbyists / Pac ever — no free lunches, no trips. we pay them more than enough for them to provide for their own meals and vacations — if an industry want s to lobby for a cause they must do it with a minimum of 20 members present at a time and it is also open to the public ———— it’s the only meaningful ethics reform …
rm, thanks for the advice!
JR -
Your opponents got you by the shorts here. Wake up, JR. Those radio stations exist for one reason. TO MAKE MONEY!! They put on what they put on because it generates listeners, who generate advertising revenue. I don’t listen to them, Hank says he doesn’t, and I’ll take him at his word. You say you do, regularly. Frankly, it appears that NO ONE on this blog listens to more conservative talk radio than you.
(Ya know, I have this mental picture of JR listening, fists in the air, screaming obscenities at the radio!! He then turns, writes down the talking point, muttering to himself “I’ve got you this time, bitch!” Put that in your mind’s eye, all – soooo funny!!!
So – who do we have to thank for Rush and Co. on talk radio?? JR!!!!
Thanks, JR. Thanks for keeping those ratings up.)
It’s simple, really, too simple for you to understand, it appears. Air America – style talk radio simply doesn’t generate listeners, thus low ratings, thus little advertising revenue, thus little or no air time. Compete in the marketplace, or die. That’s the way of the world.
Understand? Try to step away from the radio, take a deep breath, and figure it out.
GMC–
So why did seven million more voters vote for Democrats than for Republicans?
Granted, there’s not a one to one correspondence between Democratic voters and liberal radio listeners, but does it stand to reason that Rush can earn a quarter of a BILLION dollars a year and have 20 million listeners nation-wide, and liberal radio is just a non-starter because “no one wants to listen to it.”
I would listen to it, if I COULD listen to it, which I can’t because it’s not on the air here.
You can’t tune the radio dial at noon without hitting Rush “Oxy” Limbaugh on every other channel, but, nope, no market for liberal radio.
We leftist radicals are reduced to having to stream Mike Malloy and Al Franken over the “internets.”
Freedom of the press belongs to the man who owns one.
It couldn’t possibly be that shows like Rush and Sean and Bill and Ann etc. etc. are embraced by the corporatists because they fully support the wage slave society (the new feudalism, good term, JR!) in which most of us are entraped.
“War is peace.”"Slavery is freedom.”"Ignorance is strength.”
Simpler answer, Capn:
Dollars. Talk radio that generates listeners generate dollars. Markets where the radio you cite has been on the air failed to generate ratings.
The simplist answer is almost always the correct one. Your theory simply fails the Occam’s Razor test. Of course, you could substitute a “vast right wing conspiracy.” And the beauty of conspiracy theory is that lack of evidence is simply evidence that the conspiracy is real!!
How convenient! ;-)
The airwaves belong to the people. At least they are supposed to.
Given the incessant whining from the right wing and from talk radio itself about the “liberal media”, I should imagine you folks would be absolutely apopleptic if there were a liberal media anywhere approaching right wing radio.
It works for your side. It deceives a lot of good people to vote for what you think are your interests, so it is ok with you.
That smells of hypocrisy.
By the way GMC? You still haven’t backed up your charge that I am a racist. You need to do that or retract your charge. Otherwise in addition to being a humorless shill, well you are a liar too.
Your characterization of my monitor of talk radio is also mistaken. In the course of my activities, I take note of what the shills say. It helps me understand some of our less talented right wing posters.
I also keep careful track of sponsors. I do not buy from businesses that sponsor those shows. I write to tell the sponsors why. Hey I cost Rush and Hannity the sponsorship of 2 local buisnesses just with a few emails.
Bottom line is Nancy Pelosi is up against more than any other new Speaker in history. I hope she cleans your collective clocks.
“Shill”
Back to your favorite word? So . . . . anyone who dares to disagree with the great JR is a “shill.”
How convenient. And dismissive.
It avoids having to deal with real debate. But that’s the point, isn’t it?
I’ll take you at your word that you have no racist intent, JR. I do think your heart’s in the right place. We simply disagree. Want an apology for calling you a racist? YOu have it. Many who call for drastic action as to illegal immigration (agreed, a serious issue, and one which will take strong action) ARE so motivated.
How’s that? And it’s still a funny mental picture.
I used to listen to Michael Medved on local talk radio. A former leftwinger, now a thoughtful Republican. A Jew.
Zapped in Wichita by “The Masters of the Universe” who decided that Wichita “needed” propagandist Sean Hannity instead. Michael is still really popular in much of America. You can hear him in our neighbor states Missouri, Oklahoma, Colorado and Nebraska’s largest cities, as well as in Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas and Iowa’s largest cities, but not in Kansas’s largest city.
Take-home lesson: Wichita conservatives are judged by the media powers to be not-very-bright people who warrant the administration of repeat, repeat, repeat fear-mongering propaganda, rather than intelligent conservative discourse.
The good news is all of us with Internet at home can listen to an enormous variety of voices. In our cars, we can listen to satellite radio.
On the liberal side, Air America may or may not make it. But The Daily Show and Colbert Report on Comedy Central are total hits.
GMC–
Try not to use the word “conspiracy” as you wrap your mind around this–big capitalists like people who extol the virtues of big capitalism.
I can’t believe that Wichita can support a couple of Spanish language stations playing cumbias but, nope, sorry, there’s just no market for liberal talk radio.
You’re telling me that more people in Wichita would rather listen to Mexican music than listen to liberal political views?
Doesn’t even make good nonsense . . .
Good point, Dr. Heart.
And studies have shown that people who watch “The Daily Show” and “Colbert” are as well informed as people who watch network news shows.
I just like brilliant people. George Soros, a Hungarian Jew, says that we need to UNDERSTAND things. I say Amen to that.
Trying to understand things is really hard. The information is there, but most Americans do not have the means to access it. This is by capitalists’ design. (Don’t misinterpret my meaning: I am for true free enterprise. The model of plutocratic wealth concentration is ANTI-free enterprise.)
Google’s founders are trying to democratize knowledge by putting the library holdings of the New York Public Library, U Michigan, and Stanford U online. The elitist knowledge-sequesterers are taking action to block this. So, if you live in new York City, or are a student at Michigan or Stanford, you can acquire useful information, but if you live in Kansas, you can’t get this information.
KU and KSU cannot afford to subscribe to research journals whose content is primarily publicly-funded. Knowledge is being created through taxpayer expenditures, but is privatized by journals that charge several hundred dollar subscription fees. Berkeley and Stanford are leading an online open-access peer-reviewed bioscience journal initiative. The for-profit journal publishers are gnashing their teeth. They want to privatize publicly-paid-for knowledge. We need to tell them to make money publishing romance novels. Take a hike, ye parasites.
“(Ya know, I have this mental picture of JR listening, fists in the air, screaming obscenities at the radio!!”
No, GMC, that was me, and only because my then-hubby thought Rush was the next best thing to sliced bread. I had to find out what it was about. I did and drove my blood pressure sky high, while my kids were running upstairs to find out why I was screaming and yelling.
I no longer listen to Rush.
The fairness doctrine is almost beside the point these days. It was ruled constitutional (Red Lion Broadcasting v. FCC) during a time when “spectrum scarcity” was a serious issue.
The real issue is media consolidation–the same huge corporations owning huge chunks of what we see and hear. It’s gotten ridiculous.
I’m rather tired–what was it, somebody–the initiative to TRY (at least) to control of ISPs to a limited number of companies in a similar manner?
” Perhaps you do think for yourself Dusty.
Sadly, there are millions who do not.”
Well, ain’t that arrogant of ya. And you are going to decide just how these “politically correct” airwaves are going to be divided up. Yep, you know SO much better what they should be watching and listening to. And these same “braindead” millions who, according to you, cant think for themselves are going to gladly pay Uncle Sam to do the controlling of these same airwaves they, according to you, are to stupid to listen to anyway.
JR, you’re making rush look semi-intelligent. If you can think for yourself, you should be able to figure out the rest.
Heartlander, you are correct in that public education needs to be able to publish at the publics expense, as it is doing so already for that very reason.
Private education, on the other hand, can charge what the market will bear for research data, as they are a PRIVATE concern. There shouldn’t even be a discussion about that part. It’s a blind alley. To expect them to give away their findings, at the risk of being redundant, borders on socialism
If you have HBO, try to watch the season finale of Real Time with Bill Maher sometime during the next week. The transcript of the show will be up on Bill’s website on Tuesday (http://billmaher.com), and I’ll try to remember to post the relevant comments that were made.
Richard Dreyfus was one of the guests. He’s been busy. Not doing films, but studying at Oxford to teach civics. I’ve always liked Richard for his comedic sense, but he wasn’t being funny last night. His comments are well worth watching.
This isn’t a democrat/republican issue or a conservative/liberal one. Three major corporations pretty much own the airwaves, whether television or radio. There are and will be more repurcussions to this. Newspapers are also involved.
Is this a part of the dumbing down of America? Real news has died. If you grew up in the 50’s or 60’s or even during most of the 70’s, you know what real reporting is. You saw it every day. You don’t see much of it now. It’s pretty much dead.
Rage:
We do agree sometimes. No matter where you stand on the “bias” of the MSM (and we all see bias, often through out own rose-colored glasses), your last statement is absolutely true.
As you put it:
“Real news has died. If you grew up in the 50’s or 60’s or even during most of the 70’s, you know what real reporting is. You saw it every day. You don’t see much of it now. It’s pretty much dead.”
The explosion of cable channels, and the need to generate advertising revenue rather than truly serve the public interest (whatever you perceive that to be), has pretty much killed it, at least in broadcast. It’s now infotainment.
And Heart, The Daily Show and Colbert Report aren’t popular because their liberal. I dont think they’re particularly liberal, in fact they insult everybody. It’s just the nature of the targets that makes them appear liberal. As Pelosi and Co. take power, they’ll take their pot shots at the left too.
No, they’re not popular for their ideology. They’re popular because they’re FUNNY! I prefer the Daily Show; Colbert’s schtick wears a little thin after a while.
Capn:
You assume that the heads of the media corporations are driven by ideology.
They’re not, of course. They’re driven by something much simpler and easier to understand: Dollars. Pure and simple. When liberal talk radio makes money, it’ll be on the air.
Not hard to understand, Capn. Why you can’t understand something that simple is beyond me. Instead, you attempt to explain what you won’t accept. You make the simple complex and darkly conspiratorial.
The simplist answer is almost always the correct one.
Let’s talk about the reality of today’s politics, and the appearances of same. The reality is that it is too soon to celebrate the election of Dems…..there has been nothing of substance yet. The appearance, the face we show the public prior to January ‘07 installation of new majority is crucial; therefore, we should admonish Speaker-elect Polosi to forego the planned celebratory “tea party”, and donate the money that would be spent on it to some worthy cause…perhaps to some inner-city food banks, schools, etc. Let us make our “extravegant expenditures” go toward some genuine humanitarian purpose, and leave the big showy stuff to the GOP – Gone Out of Power!!