No Scarborough, MSNBC is Not Like Fox.

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This morning  Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough were arguing about RNC Chairman Reince Priebus’s   decision to bar CNN and NBC from airing the GOP presidential debates if they show the documentary on Hillary Clinton.

Mika Brzezinski said that Priebus should come on their show and explain his position because he still had Fox for the friendly venue that he wants.  Joe stepped in and said “Every time you bring up Fox, you’ve got to bring up MSNBC."

If Joe’s comments comparing the networks and the rhetoric stopped there, I might tend to agree with him more often. MSNBC, low ratings and all, do not recruit people who are running in the democratic primary.  There's no doubt that the network liens liberal and they will discuss the issues from that point of view.  I don't think any one is blaming the RNC for trying to use their leverage but they can't be crying media bias.

Joe Scarborough always plays the moral equivalence card when confronted with some crazy things republicans say.  These days, moderates  like to stay above the fray by saying that both sides do it, but that's not true. The left has their fringe elements but they've been kept  out the limelight for several years now.  The right on the other hand has been out of power for several years, so they're more willing to show their frustration.  For example, Republicans are attacking Republicans right now and Democrats are sitting back and enjoying the show.

For whatever the reasons, liberals don't tune in to talk radio or view MSNBC unless it's during a presidential election year, and the network’s rating prove it.  I normally record the evening programming for some tidbits I might of missed during the day.  Oftentimes, a guest like Erza Klien will break down an economic theory enough to where I can understand it.  Lawrence O'Donnell will break down policy procedures as he did when he was a senior staff member in the U.S. Senate.

Fox on the other hand appeals to the older 65 year plus white viewer, who will turn on Fox at 6:00 AM and a leave it there until they go to bed.  It's a constituency that votes.  Christianity, conservatism, the Second Amendment and traditional values is what drives these people and Fox tailors their programing to suit their needs.

I don't see what Republicans are complaining about because they have more than their share of the media. Conservatives certainly dominate talk radio and Fox dominates political cable television.  I guess they want network television, Hollywood, the New York Times  and the White House as some sort of entitlement. They think that the country is center right even though the data doesn't support that.

A good illustration  of the media and political differences is someone's take on the George Zimmerman trial. I bet an avid viewer of Fox thinks that Trayvon Martin was a thug, and George Zimmerman had every right to kill him in self-defense.  An MSNBC viewer like myself watched most of the trial and was disappointed but not surprised at the verdict. It wasn't so much the network's influence because most of us already had preconceived notions about the outcome.I believe networks like MSNBC, and Fox serves as cheerleaders for a certain point of view and CNN does a disservice because they go out of their way to try to stay in the middle.  Look at the several George Zimmerman trial letters that have been written in our newspaper which are mostly about promoting an agenda.

America loves socialism

Americans don't want an economic system where the federal government redistributes wealth equally amongst its people. I will also argue that Americans are freedom loving people who rather not depend on government for their success or failures. However, I do believe 48 million Americans love their single- payer government run Medicare. I don't believe people were all that upset when president Obama took temporary control of Chrysler and GM Motors. It was a successful temporal measure, intended to save over one million jobs. It would have been Un-American to just let the automotive industry die although it might have set a bad precedent. It was a gamble that paid off. They key word is temporary.

After six years of reading what some posters have said about every government action under the sun; I'm convinced that they have no idea of what the word  socialism means. It's interesting that the highly conservative 23rd district of New York elected a democrat just because the republican candidate supported the controversial Medicare plan of Congressman Paul Ryan. It's also surprising that the republicans are going to continue supporting the Ryan plan, but they will repackage the message. Then again, all but four GOP representatives voted for the Ryan plan, so they might as well try to make lemonade out of some bad lemons they were handed. Paul Ryan is trying to make an argument that his plan was not about a voucher system but more of a “premium support" plan. Mr. Ryan said his plan would allow Medicare recipients who are younger than 55 years old, to choose among various private insurance companies for their coverage and the government would help with their premiums. That's where republicans don't get it; insurance companies will not willingly insure the elderly but when they do, it will be very expensive.

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida said if the democrats don't do anything about Medicare; it would go bankrupt. I don't believe anyone is arguing Mr. Rubio's main point but as Nancy Pelosi said" democrats do have a plan; it's called Medicare." It's no question that Medicare needs additional funds and those funds can be obtained by eliminating the subsidies for the oil companies, raising taxes on the top 2%, and cutting defense spending. The democrats have already made Medicare cuts by eliminating the Medicare Advantage program but more could be done like adding $20 co- pays, means testing, and an increase in the 1.45% Medicare payroll tax. When the republicans throw down the gauntlet of “no tax increases" they're just as much of fault as their opposition, of sticking to ideology instead of compromising for the greater good.

I have to agree with the liberal pundits; the republicans have fumbled at their own 2 yard line, how are the democrats going to mess this up? The liberal left is already saying that former president Bill Clinton should just shut up because he said that the democrats need to come up with a plan for saving Medicare and not just think the mistakes of the GOP will be enough...... Liberal talk show host, Ed Schultz, has been suspended from MSNBC for calling Laura Ingraham a "right-wing slut" and "talk slut" on his syndicated show Tuesday. Ed Schultz should know better because liberals punish bad behavior, so they will never master the art of the "politics of personal destruction" like Limbaugh and Ingraham obviously have. In fact, Laura Ingraham will use the punishment Schultz received as a weapon of convenience. She will say something like “Oh, I don't know who he is" or "his comments were so incendiary, even for a left-wing network like MSNBC."

The GOP can’t catch a break because this afternoon,  a Wisconsin judge struck down the state's controversial anti-collective bargaining law.The senate may win on Senator Rand Paul’s amendment to the Patriot Act.Sen. Rand Paul's (R-Ky.) will  demand that the chamber vote on an amendment that would restrict national security officials from examining gun dealer records in their efforts to track potential terrorists….That makes no sense at all. Paul voted,YES, to the Patriot Act but he wants to exempt gun dealers from compliance. I guess if you factor in the gun lobbyist’s future campaign contributions;it makes a great deal of sense.

Finally when you thought that this current group of house members couldn’t stoop lower,they go and do this:

While much of Joplin, Mo., is still under rubble from a devastating tornado, conservatives in Congress are starting to argue for a tougher approach to disaster aid, demanding that any funding be offset by cutting federal money elsewhere.

Disasters will no longer be considered “emergencies” if conservatives win this battle to redefine the way Congress funds aid packages for states and cities stricken by natural and man-made catastrophes.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/55776.html#ixzz1NUTZR7wB

Mind you the tax cut for the top 2% is still in tack.

Is it too soon to be seeing civility?

I had to take a big sip of my coffee this morning because I couldn't believe what I saw.  There sat Bill Kristol as the guest of MSNBC's “Morning Joe.” There  were joking of him being in the Lions' den, but as he is on Jon Stewart and other shows, I've seen him on, Bill Kristol sounded pretty reasonable.  It wasn't until the group started talking about Rumsfeld’s new book when Mr. Kristol  started getting a little defensive about the Iraq war.  It was learned that Donald Rumsfeld wanted plans to attack Iraq just four hours after 911.  There is a conflict between President Bush's book and Donald Rumsfeld’s book.  They are some similarities.  Neither one of them take blame or aplogize for the fiasco, we call the invasion of Iraq. 

On “Morning Joe” Tuesday, the Weekly Standard editor appeared to promote “The Neoconservative Persuasion,” a collection of essays written by his father, Irving Kristol. During that appearance, New York magazine’s John Heilemann asked Kristol why Republicans were reluctant to challenge Fox News host Glenn Beck, a regular target of MSNBC’s personalities, as Kristol did in a column for the Feb. 14 issue of the Weekly Standard for his claim Islamists and liberal forces were collaborating to orchestrate a caliphate.

http://tinyurl.com/4cqml8b

I think the new owners of NBC took the first step by releasing Keith Olbermann and making Ed Schultz drop his “psycho talk”  segment.  Since then I've seen more prominent republicans as a guest.  Rachel Maddow had Michael Steele as a guest the other night.  Michael Steele admitted the RNC would not allow him to go on liberal shows as the chairman of the Republican Party.  He has made up for it since, with appearances on Bill Maher, Jon Stewart, and Rachel Maddow.  The give and take was quite informative.  It's too early to tell, but I hope MSNBC doesn't take a route of CNN, who bends over backwards, so not to appear partisan.  That just means, CNN, is just a sounding board for the left and right to deliver their talking points. 

Sarah Palin is not slowing down a bit but she is getting more incoherent.  The other day she told the Christian Broadcasting Network(CBN) that the Egyptian crisis was Obama’s 3:00 AM call  but it went straight to the answering machine. She when onto say “ the White House was not doing enough to inform  the American people about what is happening in Egypt.”  She didn’t leave it at that, she said “should not stand" for an Egypt led by the Muslim Brotherhood. “ Duh .  As usual  she never said what she would do.  That’s because she doesn't have the slightest idea of where Egypt is or the delicate situation that we are in by trying to come out with the very best solution for in United States, Egypt, the Middle East and Israel.

It's only a matter time before the Republican Party will have to put a lid on Glenn Beck and his conspiracy theories because he is taking some pages from the John Birch Society by not only attacking liberals, now he is saying both Bush's and were leading the charge for orchestrating a caliphate.  He said president's Obama, Bush, I and II put out  strict orders not to bomb Ancient Babylon. Why? Because the Bible tells us that is the seat, right here (aims pointer at map like a college professor) of power of a global evil empire...everybody on this side wants ancient Babylon for their caliphate. (The New Islamic Caliphate) ..I guess they  could wait for the guys with the white coats come for him.

http://tinyurl.com/4gl98a4

The local blogs got a right wing slant this weekend. One was written by itisi called “liberalism” where the author never quoted a reference but instead chose to give a one-sided view point; his. The other blog was written by holly1.  The name and his blog was” It's our way or the highway and other myths of politics.” Both blogs received a lot of traffic, but it quickly became like one of my many political blogs.  They became the dumping ground  for the usual " and you’re another one” back and forth postings  We have a lot of work to do in ridding ourselves of the myths we might have required over a long period of time.  I think it's gonna take a new set of posters to completely overturn the combative dialogue, we call debates.  No one wants to go first and be made a fool of.