Liberal bloggers versus Fox News

Liberal bloggers are more exasperated than ever at Fox News, especially since prominent Democrats are breaking from the Huffington Post and Daily Kos ranks and appearing on the network.

Mike Allen from the Politico posted today:

The nation’s top Democrats are suddenly rushing to appear on the Fox News Channel, which they once had shunned as enemy territory as the nemesis of liberal bloggers.

The détente with Fox has provoked a backlash from progressive bloggers, who contend the party’s leaders are turning their backs on the base — and lending credibility and legitimacy to the network liberals love to hate — in a quest for a few swing votes.

In a span of eight days, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY.) and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean are all taking their seats with the network that calls itself “fair and balanced” but is widely viewed as skewing conservative.

And, during coverage of the Pennsylvania Primary election, former DNC head Terry McAuliffe congratulated the network on its fair-and-balanced coverage.

So, what’s going on here? Demagoguery on behalf of the Democrats has been so intense during this election cycle that candidates for the nomination refused to appear in a Fox News debate.

Why are all the Democrats flocking to appear on the network they so routinely criticized over the past ten years?

The simple answer may be they want to reach out to moderates, which if cable news rating are to be believed necessarily watch Fox News. But, perhaps, that isn’t the entire story, especially since it’s mostly devout liberals that vote in Democratic primary elections. And, appearing on Fox News would almost assuredly be a turn-off for devout liberals.

It’s a little unclear exactly what’s going on here, but it’s something I’ll be keeping an eye on.

- Matthew White

It’s a scary world out there

A couple of months ago, before I dropped my Intro to Formal Logic class, I received an assignment that dealt with deduction. The questions were not history questions, but to complete the assignment you needed to know basic history, such as:

            Who is George Washington?

            Who did America battle in the Revolutionary War?

            Who won the Revolutionary War?

Now, I’m not here to come down on any one, that’s not my intention, but after class I went to the professor to ask him for help, even though I had every intention of dropping the class, when I was cut off by a student who needed help on her homework. She asked, “Who is George Washington….”

 

I was speechless. I’ll let the Revolutionary War questions pass, but George Washington? That’s an entire day of Kindergarten, learning about the cherry tree and possibly the most important president this country has ever had. The internal improvements that Washington made, the standards that he set, and this person had no idea who he was.

 

This isn’t the first time it’s happened on Kent State’s campus, one student in my comparative politics class asked the professor after watching a Tiananmen Square movie— seriously, not even going for a joke, had no idea— asked, “Didn’t something happen here (at Kent State) like that?”

 

Well these experiences got me thinking: Which candidate will dumb down their campaign in order to capture the voters who are completely clueless when it comes to history?

 

Then they all did. I was at a friends house watching basketball and he turned the TV to Monday Night Raw. Just before I asked him to change the channel, because only Jeff Russ still watches wrestling, they promoted a segment were the candidates would address the WWE fans.  Like a bad car accident or any VH1 show, I had trouble taking my mind off this potentially catastrophic event in American Culture and politics. This is what they said:

My God, George Washington was worried about the U.S. being entangled in foreign affairs, and now we have three people who could possibly be the next leaders of the free world going on, I’m sorry, but a FAKE fighting show.

 

No wonder there’s people who don’t know AMERICA won the freakin’ AMERICAN REVOLUTION, Monday Night Raw has never fit that between a Macho Man Randy Savage-Hulk Hogan match and the Undertaker-Mankind flaming cage of death match.

 

Obviously, Monday Night Raw consistently has high ratings and it makes sense for candidates to go on and talk about their campaigns, but John McCain, do you have say “McCainiacs.” Hillary Clinton, do you have to refer to yourself as “HillRod.” Finally, Barack Obama, these people watching this show think that those “chair shots” to the head are real; do you think they know what special interest groups are?

 

It’s indeed a scary world out there, and after talking to reporter Juan Williams on Wednesday, when he said people’s attention spans are shorter and gorgeous, well-endowed women are the reason Fox NEWS has high ratings, it’s getting worse.

 

But Oh well, the country will soon implode, college students will think France won the AMERICAN REVOULOTION and Monday Night Raw will dictate public policy. And that’s the bottom line because America wants it so.

 

 

 

Okay, they’re not so bad…

We continue to discuss in this class how important the bloggers have been to politics, popular culture and the way journalism itself is practiced.  Regardless, this will most likely be my last adventure into the blogosphere for awhile.

However, I have learned a few things from doing the blog this semester.  Probably the most crucial fact I’ve learned is that important things can be said on blogs.  I’m still pretty skeptical about blogs being the wave of the journalistic future, but I am convinced that individuals who have their own private blogs are not just nutjobs who like to hear themselves talk (see themselves type).

As a skeptic, though, I still need more convincing.  Maybe I am just getting old, but I am longing for the “good ol’ days.”  I can’t quite put my finger on what that means, but I know that I have never been more pessimistic about the affairs of the world.  Times like these call for inspirational leaders – heroes.  I believe some of those heroes need to have a voice, and some of those voices may be found on the blogs.  I’m not talking about every Joe Schmo or Susie Highschool with an opinion but actual people with real-life degrees in economics, political theory and maybe American literature for artistic value.

Is this too much to ask?  May I have a smart people revolution, please?  Where are the Thomas Paines and Samuel Adames of this millennium?  Let’s join together to educate the unwashed masses (thanks, Jen) and bring about our own “change we can believe in,” rather than waiting for someone to do it for us.  No, I don’t have anything specific in mind, but everything begins with ideas, and one thing I know for sure, is that blogs are a place for those.

Good night Kent, Ohio!

-Mary K. Clause

The Revolution marches on

Today Ron Paul’s book, The Revolution: A Manifesto comes out in stores. Many people wonder why Paul and his supporters continue their battle in the American political scene. The answer is actually rather simple – unlike McCain, Obama or Clinton, Paul’s campaign has never completely been about winning the nomination for the Republican ticket. Instead, it was a call for change. In his book he admits he did not know if enough people would respond to his campaign platform but was pleasantly surprised with how many did. While the remaining Republicans and Democrats pretend they are not two horns on the same beast, Paul and his supporters have accepted their loss and begun to move on in several interesting ways.

The Revolution: A Manifesto

Paul’s aforementioned book is not a call to arms, but rather his ideas on paper so his supporters can use them:

“The revolution my supporters refer to will persist long after my retirement from politics. Here is my effort to give them a long-term manifesto based on ideas, and perhaps some short-term marching orders.

At the same time, I am also describing what the agenda of George W. Bush’s successor should be if we want to move toward a free society once again. Our country is facing an unprecedented financial crisis precisely because the questions our political and media establishments allow us to ask are so narrow. Whether or not politicians actually want to hear them, it has never been more important for us to begin posing significant and fundamental questions.” Page 7

The book has already begun to become a bible for libertarians and old-school conservatives. Much like the Paul grassroots campaign, his book has already found a hardcore group of supporters who are trying to promote his book. Particularly one group called the Ron Paul Book Bomb is attempting to get the book on the New York Times bestseller list by having people pledge to buy it today.

Paul Ville

Perhaps an idea that is a little more extreme than simply keeping the Revolution alive, some supporters have created a group in an attempt to organize closed gate communities for Paul “supporters and or people that live by the ideals of freedom and liberty.” The idea is much like the Free State Project that was started several years ago for libertarians.

Personally the idea of ‘Paul Villes’ seem a little too cult-like and I believe it would have been better for the supporters to join up with the FSP instead. The Paul Ville people, however, have just made their first purchase of land in West Texas outside of Dell City.

So while the Ron Paul Revolution may be down, it is anything but out. Many of his supporters – at least one of my friends and myself included that I know personally – are still thinking of writing in his name come November, not because he can win but to give a middle finger to the established politico.

Although his bid for presidency may have ended, the Revolution still beats the drum for freedom and change.

-Ted Hamilton