Monday, August 17, 2009

Don't you Mess with Public Radio

Crossposted at CobaltVA

We are live blogging - sort of - today's anti-Public Radio rant from the editor of the Daily News Record's op-ed section. His radical views display his fear of "leftists," and his irrational fear that somehow, leftists will destroy his beloved conservative talk radio. He therefore projects all of that fear on his ideological opponents accusing them and specifically, Mark Lloyd, the new head of the FCC, of conspiring to destroy THEIR ideological opponents. What is the face of the Right Wing? You get a snapshot of the "right wing mind" in this letter this morning.

I've picked out the relevant portions of the letter. You should really read the whole thing along with the comment section HERE. Away we go.....


"...appointing Mark Lloyd, a veteran “newsman” and professional leftist, to this position (FCC director) is extremely troubling on many fronts."

What is a professional leftist anyway? Is there a job with money? Where can I go to get one? Mr. Editor, you are marking your territory on the extreme right. Prejudicial and bigoted.... what else is new?

"Mr. Lloyd is an enemy of free speech. In a nutshell, Mr. Lloyd thinks that commercial radio stations should pay heavy fees, or fines, if you will, to help fund left wing radio."

Are you talking about NPR, PRI.... you know "Public Radio?" Our own WMRA (insert YOUR local public radio station here) with talk shows that cover events in a serious reasoned manner, giving us a depth of information that is not to be found in other media markets? What could possibly be wrong with that? How in the world is rational argument a threat to free speech? Your ideological bigotry is showing....
I'm a subscriber. I put my money where my mouth is. OH..... I get it...... It's not Profitable! and... it's not loud, outrageous, biased, and silly! Great! To each his own.

Give me more of that "left wing" radio. I'll send them another check today. Thanks for the inspiration.

As for the "fines".... what you don't want conservative talk radio to pay taxes like the rest of us? They should somehow be immune? I know they live in their own little world, but they are sponsored in the USA.... you remember.....we the people?

“operating in the public interest,” which is code for “operating in the left-wing interest.”

Talking in code are we? Nice of you to recognize "code." Your coded message today, ("left wing radio," "professional left winger," "his lunacy,"diversity chief.") shows a level of paranoia that is rare even for the DNR editorial staff.

You've jumped from an appointment of a Democrat to the head of the FCC to shutting down wingnut radio, a pretty far leap even for a wingnut. It's paranoid ranting. Hate Public Radio if you wish, but never fear that conservative talk radio will disappear. Liberals do not wish for the destruction of their opponents. That's your territory. Heck, without wingnuts to cuss, being a liberal would be no fun at all! :)

"Again, when a man of Mr. Lloyd’s ideological feather says “fair and balanced,” what he really means is one-sided, that side being the left side."

Nope. You've got that wrong. It really means, "Again, when a person of the editor's ideological feather says “fair and balanced,” what he really means is one-sided, that side being the right side."

You are simply criticizing yourself sir.

"Mr. Lloyd’s real object, of course, is shutting down conservative radio. Why would he want to do that?"

Exactly. Liberals generally encourage opposing viewpoints and rational debate. Shutting down conservative radio is YOUR idea not his. The only time you EVER hear of shutting stuff down is in ..... you guessed it... conservative radio! Strawman alert!

"Because conservative talk shows have millions of listeners and make hundreds of millions of dollars in profits,"

Yup. Smells but it sells. Capitalism at it's finest. TV loves a ruckus and that's what you get 24/7. The intelligencia meanwhile? Let's talk... :)

"...while few listen to liberal radio and it never makes a profit."

NPR is a non-profit organization... dummy. It's directly supported by it's listeners and the rest of the slackers who only contribute their tax dollars... It only seems like a few, cause they are never raisin' a ruckus or attracting attention by raising their voice needlessly.

"Americans don’t want to hear leftist lamentations or progressivist protest."

Nope. There are legions of fans that love Prairie Home Companion, Morning Edition, Acoustic Cafe, Talk of the Nation, Car Talk, ....... more than you'll ever know, and we ain't goin' anywhere! And besides, Liberals and Progressives are Americans too, thank you very much...

"Mr. Lloyd doesn’t like that, and neither do his allies at Media Matters and the other institutions of organized subversion."

There's that bigoted, paranoid code again. Are you fearful of mean ole Mr. Lloyd? Afraid that he'll take his super armies and crush wingnut radio?.... oops sorry, I got caught up in the paranoia again.... now.. let's talk a little about organized subversion.... would that be radical wingnuttery you are proposing? Sounds like paranoid projection again.

"But having leftist ideologues such as Mr. Lloyd determining the public interest is more than a little scary."

Ok we get it. You and your ideological brethren are shivering in the corner in fetal position, petrified with fear that your beloved wingnut radio will be destroyed by the fearsome armies of the night..... need a blankey?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

As a PRI and NPR listener, I enjoy many programs, especially This American Life, and enjoyed your commentary on his op-ed piece. You're right, I'm not going to stop listening :D