Blogger Brian Maloney writes:
What happens when the mainstream media, after years of seething over conservative talk radio’s success, discover its alternative got diverted public funds, earmarked instead for inner-city youth and seniors?The answer, with one key exception: they pretend it didn’t happen.
Yes, only because of a New York Daily News tidbit do we know that Bronx-based Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club nearly shut down major programs recently, because almost $500,000 in governmental grant money was instead diverted to Air America’s liberal radio network.
Michelle Malkin and Captain Ed also reporting.
Related posts:
Update: Air America speaks. Also see Wizbang’s comment.
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Hmmm…
Can we say H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-T-E-S
If it weren’t for the kids that are in posistion to get screwed over, I’d say muahahahaaaa
It’s like the limo liberals lecturing us on SUVs while flying on private jets… pay no attention to the progressives behind the curtain
We may not like it but sometimes kids have to be expendable for the greater good of Air America, and the Village that cHillary envisions. Just as pre-birth babies have to be sacrificed for the ‘mental’ wellbeing of the mother. Or the dignity of the black masses so that the plantation can be maintained. /sarcasm
If someone is guilty of this (that innocent until proven guilty thing), they should be justly punished. However, commentors shouldn’t jump to conclusions that this represents all liberals. It’s certainly easy enough to do, but if Air America did represent every liberal, the ratings might be better. It doesn’t make sense to argue that no one listens, yet it represents all liberals.
Tony, methinks thou doth protest too much.
We’re well aware that there are two types of liberals — the classic ie Zell Miller, Scoop Jackson and the kind that MoveOn recently proclaimed that they now own lock, stock & barrel.
As for AA, it is their contention that they speak for all libruls and for the causes I listed in #4 above.
If there’s an identity crisis, take it up with George Soros who financed the takeover or do like Zell and walk away from the MSM/DNC.
The demographics of the Demcratic party are heavily weighted between the very poor and the very rich. I’ve always wondered why the Al Frankens of the world cling to their money so assiduously, proclaiming their compassion for the poor all the while. It seems that they define compassion as that which the government gives….in other words, our money. Compassion to them is forced redistribution of the money of others who don’t have nearly as much money as they do. If the Live 8 performers had wanted to float Africa’s debt themselves, they could have. But, they’d rather take our money. I think that liberals are so enamored of taking other people’s money, that they don’t even make the distinction anymore. Meanwhile, my eight month pregnant daughter, who is suffering from a rare disease called lichen sclerosis, drags herself out of bed every day to work seven days a week, to pay for the compassion of wealthy liberals like Al Franken. Nuff said.
Why is the government funding a left-wing radio program? I don’t always agree with conservative radio ranters, but at least they’re not being funded by tax dollars.
Jan,
DIM-ocrats….that’s the word you’re looking for..
All for them, none for you…..that’s what they want.
mj, because the leaders we elect will not listen to us when we tell them to block the funding of it.
Thus why I will not be voting for ANY GOP incumbents in upcoming elections in 2006 and 2008.
I have fired the GOP leadership presently serving. Just as the NAACP has been ineffective in the so-called “black community”, the GOP has been equally ineffective as conservative government servants of the people who elected them.
I will enter the voting booths with a clear and free mind. I will will feel great knowing that I did not vote for another dadgum RINO. While some of you may say that it is better to have a RINO in office than a Democrat, I ask you to prove to me how since the differences have become so blurred.
I am voting as I always do. Nothing changes. If a politician does not do as he is told and ignores the will of the people I will fire him. Simple.
We are a Representative Republic and until my representative learn that they work for me and not the other way around, they will not receive my vote. Simple.
I am sick and tired of listening to and reading the news only to hear where Congress or the Senate or even local officials are voting on laws we didn’t ask for or for raises they don’t deserve.
I’ve had it. Have you?
EXCELLENT point Jan…
“It seems that they define compassion as that which the government gives….in other words, our money.”
and there lies the difference
Andy,
I hereby proclaim that from now until 2017, I speak exclusively for you. Nothing you say matters, only what comes directly from me. Does that hold up in any rational sense? Just because Air America has a microphone and airwaves doesn’t mean they’re right when they claim to speak for all liberals. You acknowledge that, but then put the requirement on me to correct that. Why should I? Is it wiser to deal with individuals individually, or just easier to smear in a broad swipe across the left of right political sphere?
As for walking away from the MSM/DNC (how MSM got in there, I don’t know… aren’t Air America’s ratings so low to be outside the mainstream?), does that mean I have to run to the RNC? That’s assuming I care about the DNC and want or believe that they speak for me, a statement I never made. So, no, I don’t have an identity crisis. My only point was that it’s excessive to attempt to lump every liberal/leftist with this scandal. Any standard lower than that reeks of partisan stereotyping.
There, I’ve protested some more. I’m waiting to read how I’m wrong.
Tony;
Whether you like it or not, the preponderance of rhetoric coming from mainstream liberals/Democrats is distressingly similar to that emanating from Air America. I listen to Air America six hours a week, and find it indistinguishable from the Deans, Gores, Kerrys, Kennedys, Waters, Jackson-Lees, and so on. Read left wing or liberal web sites that are mainstream. Read Maureen Dowd. Check out what university professors are teaching all over the US. My son’s professor told him that Bush sent our own missiles into the Pentagon and the World Trade Towers. Visit NEA exhibits and be horrified. Spend five minutes listening to Bill Moyers. Read the LA Times.Google Bush and Hitler together. Google our troops and Nazis together. Listen to Hollywood. Michael Moore is not an abberation. Reading the average left/liberal site is like trolling through a sewer. When a liberal says something horrific, it is extremely rare, almost non-existent for another liberal to speak out in condemnation. So, while Air America might not speak for you, and that is wonderful, sadly, they speak for an enormous number of people represented in the press, Hollywood, academia, and the Democratic leadership of America. The reason Air America is doing so badly is not that their views are so out of sync with other liberals; it is that they are so boring, devoid of substance, and just not entertaining.
So, Tony, if you, and others like you wish to change the dynamic, you are going to have to be a whole lot louder, because I am having trouble hearing you over the din of ugly rhetoric on the left.
Renee and Dan;
Thanks for the positive comments!
Tony, the MSM/DNC connection should be obvious, given the anti-Bush pro-liberal pro-Democrat slant of CBS/NBC/ABC/CNN/NYT etc.
A good place to start for some well-documented facts on this issue would be ex-CBS guy Bernie Goldberg’s book, Bias.
Tony, welcome to the debate. We here pretty much know what is meant by liberal/conservative/name-your-label, which is to say it ain’t personal. Where on earth did you get the perception that liberals=Tony?
What’s that saying about throwing a rock into a pack of dogs?
Andy, I was long ago labeled as a curmudgeon on another board, but I’ve never been invited to any meetings of like-minded individuals. I guess that makes me an independent grouch, but not a moderate one.
Jan,
Reading the average left/liberal site is like trolling through a sewer. When a liberal says something horrific, it is extremely rare, almost non-existent for another liberal to speak out in condemnation.
I’m not trying to cherry-pick your comments, but there are so many that that’s the best summary I can respond to in any brief manner. I contend that the same can be said of the right. The Internet tends to bring out the rabid lunatics and they’re all over the spectrum. But here’s a personal example of how I believe most people don’t fit into that simple box. I thought Farenheit 9/11 was a joke. It was terrible filmmaking, with a sloppy, incoherent logic. Michael Moore is a hack partisan uninterested in anything more than his own ego. Hating President Bush happens to be his schtick, which I think is dull and unimaginative. But I didn’t vote for Bush last year. Neither did Michael Moore, I assume. I don’t assume that he speaks for me, so I don’t understand why anyone else should assume that he does, no matter how loud Moore’s voice.
And I tried to listen to Air America once but found it intolerably boring.
Redbeard,
I understand the implied connection of MSM/DNC. My point was that it’s not particularly relavent in the context of potential criminal activity in this story. Yes, Air America is radio and broadcasts in most places (if only by satellite). But go into any college town and you’ll find a radio station that gets ratings about equal to Air America. Does that make the college station mainstream?
But ok, it’s obvious that Air America has a liberal bias. What’s the response, though? To make media conservatively biased or politically unbiased? I see most arguments aimed squarely at the former whenever the letters MSM appear together. Not a great solution, I think.
Andy,
Knowing the difference between liberals and conservatives and whatever is fine, but it’s the generalizations made about liberals (this being a conservative blog) that I was getting at. Again, how does it help the debate if it paints Air America is liberal and Air America is (allegedly) criminal so liberal equals criminal. That’s weak logic but the generalization continues. Perhaps we viewed the direction of the debate in different ways, but comments (trackback title, to be precise) like “Liberals stealing from poor kids?” didn’t give me hope.
Really, though, no offense taken, not that it matters. I’m more libertarian than anything, so I have no affinity for whether or not a liberal at Air America goes to prison. I do believe that the issues facing America are large and unattended, which is why scandal-mongering, rather than the legitimate public good of revealing illegal/unethical actions, is a bad idea. We’re too busy trying to win points against each other that we forget solutions to our problems. That problem lies mostly with politicians, but we don’t push our representatives enough to focus. (Whether through the ballot box or direct contact.)
Liberal = criminal? Well……… ok, maybe not entirely.
See, I laughed at that.
Raymond: that’s what happened in the ‘96 election: the GOP lost a lot of seats because they promised to fight abortion and other issues, and then did nothing about it when they got in. People stayed home. But I’ll keep voting for the candidates that are the furthest away from secular Marxism.
Wheres jessie jackson and al sharpton when their needed anyway?
Tony;
You can cherry pick my comments all you want. I enjoy the dialogue and don’t want everyone to reflexively agree with me. I certainly don’t intend to reflexively agree with anyone. So, go for it…..but have fun doing it.
While it is true that the internet brings out lunatics at both extremes, I made a distinction in my comments in that I specifically referred to mainstream left sites and mainstream liberals, and Democratic leaders such a Howard Dean, etc. Absolutely, there is intense garbage on both ends of the spectrum.I hate it. But, my point was that there really is a difference if one compares mainstream sites, and leaders on the left to mainstream sites, and leaders, on the right. The other day I was reading a mainstream site on the left, to which Kerry, Kennedy, Durbin, and others had contributed, and someone (Julianne Malvo? sp) said that she hoped that Clarence Thomas would eat a diet high in cholesterol and die asap. Horrible! That’s what I am talking about. I just don’t like to read stuff like that on sites that my senators are contributing pieces on. When Tom Tancredo made his comments about Mecca, numerous prominent people on the right came out vehemently in protest, but I just don’t recall any prominent liberals coming out vehemently in protest against Dick Durbin’s comments about our troops. And, while you may have recognized that Michael Moore’s movie was tripe, his movie was required viewing in high schools and colleges around the US. He receives enormous amounts of tax payer money to speak at universties all over the US, and receives standing ovations from students and professors alike. While most people probably recognize that Ward Churchill is extreme, two hundred professors at his university have come out strongly in support of him, which I don’t understand, in light of his plagiarism, bullying, and extremist views. So, I don’t put all liberals in a box, but I don’t understand why so many prominent people on the left say things that are so harsh and no prominent person on the left comes out in condemnation. In fact, every week I visit with a friend of mine, a university professor, who is to the left of the left as he says. However, he admits that he is becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the type of things that his colleagues are saying.He said that even his colleagues that are not calling the president a liar, and a Nazi, never come out and condemn that rhetoric on the left. Further, not only did I not hear or read of condemnation of Michael Moore’s movie or comments from mainstream liberals anywhere in the US, my son had to watch his film in college and was given a fervently positive commentary on it by his professor. And, for a year now, I have been going to the top web sites on the left and the top ones on the right, and it just seems like the ones on the left are really really harsh. If I am wrong about this, tell me about the top ten left sites for me to compare.
Tony, also, to be accurate, I never said that I assumed that Michael Moore spoke for you. I quite specifically said,”That while Air America (and such) may not (NOT….) speak for you, they speak for an enormous numbers of people.” Basically, you refuted something I simply did not say. I would never be so silly as to presume what any specific individual thinks. However, it is logical to say that those who profess the same views as the ones expressed on Air America and by Michael Moore and Gore and such are quite a large group. Empirical evidence supports that view.
By the way, Air America is incredibly boring. That was exactly my contention for why it is doing so poorly. Interestingly, Franken was recently invited by Democrat Senators to be on a panel to discuss the state of journalism in the US. I watched him on C-SPAN. He was there as a respected expert. I think that says it all.
Franken as an expert on journalism?
Ok, I can see that. Just as I can see the captain of the Titanic being an expert on maritime safety.
Redbeard;
I would have laughed about the panel with the ‘expert’ Franken, but, like the Titanic, these people are steering our country’s ship. Scary!
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