How can he say that the other side of the story isn't being told? Every day we see people like Tom Daschle and Ted Kennedy on the television bashing our President. CNN and NBC as well as channels like MTV are all well-known supporters of the liberal cause. How, exactly, is the liberal side of things not getting out?
Also, what's this about the "conservative mantra" being crammed down our throats? Does it not occur to Mr. Schultz that the reason conservative media is so popular is because people like it? That maybe people listen to Rush Limbaugh, utilize their brains a bit, and then make the conscious decision to like what he's saying? Anne Coulter writes books because people buy them. Fox News stays in business because people watch. Rush Limbaugh stays on the air because people listen to him. There are no evil plans involved in this equation, people simply agree with conservative ideals. Yet evil plans are exactly what people like Schultz insinuate when they make comments like the one quoted above.
Many liberals have tried to establish themselves in today's market but none have been able to go the distance. Tavis Smiley on National Public Radio is a definite liberal voice and Alan Colmes was on the radio in New York City long before he was picked up by Fox. Colmes obviously was not successful until being associated with Sean Hannity and Tavis Smiley only stays on the air because of public funding. A great example of the public's lack of interest in a liberal talk show is Phil Donahue who was fired from MSNBC after his show did poorly.
Those examples prove that the only reason liberals aren't that popular is that the public just doesn't choose to tune in.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Mark Saleski
They think that if the liberal message got out we would all instantly change our affiliation.
and if the majority of your right-leaning political news is gleaned from sources like fox news, drudge, o'reilly, rush, coulter, etc....you would think that all 'liberals' think alike.
and you would be wrong.
2 - Rob
I didn't say all liberals think alike.
My point in this post is to say that conservatism is not being jammed down anybody's throat. People make the decision to listen to Rush or read Anne Coulter. The reason liberal's have failed on radio and television is that people make the decision to not listen to or read them.
This isn't rocket science.
3 - Eric Olsen
I don't think the issue is content so much as style - look how popular Al Franken is. And Tavis doesn't have a liberal agenda, he has an African-American agenda - period.
4 - mike
Wrong on all counts. A year ago, conservatives said the bestseller lists were dominated by right wingers because liberal ideas weren't popular. Now the left practically owns the bestseller lists.
Check any poll. On almost all issues, liberal ideas are more popular, far more popular, than conservative ones. Health care is only one example. 62% of the public, according to a recent ABC News poll, support a single payer health care system.
The reason conservatives dominate is because the right has oligarchic control of the media and has captured the regulatory agencies. (The print publishing industry is one area where there is more space for leftist ideas, but its power is tiny compared to the other mass media.)
Since the Democratic Party is also dependent on these financial interests for its power, the popular majority is effectively disempowered. We live under a regime of neglected alternatives, as the political scientist Walter Dean Burnham has pointed out.
Tom Daschle and Alan Colmes are not "liberals." They are wussy centrists.
5 - Mark Saleski
dat's right! because when i attend the liberal meetings i'm always asking about Colmes and they always tell me he's at the wussy centrist meeting.
;-)
6 - Eric Olsen
I thought the Illuminati control the media
7 - Chris Arabia
thanks to the hillary care fiasco, we're 10 years older and one year closer to death.
the hard left's disdain for the electorate is ceaselessly amusing. you can creatively frame anything you want, like "we're pro-health," to confirm to yourself that The Man is keeping the left down. being pro-health and being pro-pay for it are two different things.
impotent fox news hatred is silly.
the poll that matters is called an election.
8 - mike
62 percent, baby: Explicitly for a government-financed health care system. Look it up.
9 - Rob
From ABC:
People obviously want cheaper healthcare, but they don't necessarily care about the way the get it.
Perhaps if we could break higher education's dependance on federal grants and loans (democratic policies, I might add) the cost of educating doctors would go down and in the end, prices.
There are better ways of handling the health care isse then resorting to socialism.
10 - Mark Saleski
what exactly does "break higher education's dependance on federal grants and loans" mean?
11 - Rob
Year after year colleges raise their rates confident that the federal government will kick in enough grants and loans to cover the majority of students who can't afford to pay. Thus, tuition prices are out of control and taxpayers are taking it in the shorts.
Check it out.
12 - Mark Saleski
yes, somebody from the cato institute can easily see a conspiracy behind school rates....while ignoring similar situations from the conservative side of things (defense contractors, for example)
13 - mike
Comment 9: What are the "better ways"? For the past fifty years, we've been subjected to all sorts of private pay schemes, from general private indemnity to managed care, and all have failed. I say a Canadian, French, Dutch, Swedish, German or Cuban system is preferable. Take your pick. They each have unique features and all are superior to ours. And why is it ok to have restrictions under private health insurance but not under public health insurance, especially since EVERYBODY would be covered under a public plan?
14 - Rob
Mark:
We weren't talking about defense contractors. I am against all industries bilking the federal government and, indirectly, the taxpayers.
Mike:
Why in the world would we want to copy any policies from a country like Cuba. That place is so bad people are literally trying to swim across the ocean to get away from it.
Also, just because a socialized health care system is right for those countries doesn't mean its right for this one. I, for one, would rather my hospital not be run like the post office. The amount of tax dollars it would take to run a bureaucratic health care system would be astronomical.
I am not an expert on this issue, but the problem as I perceive it is not with the quality of care but rather with the expense. My socializing healthcare we'd simply be passing that expense onto the tax payers, so we're paying for it anyway.
Hospitals need to be stopped from charging $5.00 per aspirin and $30.00 for the use of a pair of scissors (both charges from a recent medical bill that I received). That's where the problem is and that's where we can solve it. How? I'm not sure yet. I don't have all the answers.
15 - Hal Pawluk
The Leadership Genius of George W. Bush
I tried to control myself, but have to ask: is that one of those joke books with blank ages?
16 - Hal Pawluk
typo: make that "blank pages"
17 - Mark Saleski
industries will stop bilking the government for millions of dollars when those industries cannot get themselves into the hip pockets of our legislators.
the chance of this happening is pretty much down near zero.
18 - Mac Diva
Well done, fellows. The inaccuracies in what Port says have already been pointed out, saving me a lot of typing.
One of the trends in the blogosphere I had hoped would change is the way it produces parrots. Some ditto head for Limbaugh, Coulter, Free Republic in general, e.t.c., will latch on to the notion that the 'brilliant' ideas of those sorts aren't widely disseminated enough and set up a blog to echo their every word. I do mean echo. There will be next to no evidence of original thought. Instead, one will get the same old you know what served up as if the alleged blogger thought of it. Well, the trend hasn't ended. Port's blog is just one more in a long line of Right Wing parrots.
19 - Eric Olsen
Of course the same can be said for all "wings" on the spectrum - the echo chambers are everywhere
20 - Chris Arabia
mac -- your intellect is superior to everyone else's. we get it, ok? you don't need to remind us how much smarter you are than your opponents EVERY time.
21 - Mac Diva
Chris, not everyone's. Ninety-something percent of folks for sure, though.
However, you miss the point. Encouraging bad blogging is a way of helping destroy good blogging, so I don't do it.
22 - Dan
The Conservative Revolution underway in the few media markets not dominated by leftists, isn't about popularity of ideology. It's more about people clueing in on the Liberal con job thats been going on for decades.
When all major mainstream media outlets are parroting the sloganeering of Liberal politicians with such pabulum as: "Tax cuts for the richest one percent", it's easy for gullibles to be misled. People need a Rush Limbaugh etc. to explain that:
1. The top 1% of wage earners pay 30% of income taxes.
2. The top 5% of wage earners pay 55% of income taxes.
3. The bottom 38% of wage earners pay NO income taxes.
4. The Bush tax cuts still screwed the rich because they did not recieve an equitable portion of the cut in proportion to the taxes they pay.
Of course, this is only one example of the mainstream media bias where only one side is heard. Liberals still totally prevail in Hollywood. The upcoming Reagan biography is an example of extremist liberal perversity taken to a new level.
As the Conservative Revolution grows and Conservative policies succeed, (anyone notice the 7.2% economic growth for the third quarter?) it's odd to see Democrats pulling further to the left.
23 - Rob
Well, I've been accused of being inaccurate (I'm not sure how opinions can be inaccurate, but oh well) but at least I've gotten a response.
Hopefully in the future we can all comment in a more civil manner. I'd rather not have every post descend into a war of personal attacks.
24 - Mark Saleski
the few media markets not dominated by leftists
it's funny how when the media doesn't have its head firmly planted up the bush administration's butt, they're called "leftist".
liberals totally prevail in hollywood...oh, boo hoo. the right is always preaching about how the free market is more efficient...if the conservative ideology is so fantastic, why don't some of 'em just start up a company to make their own right wing movies...and let the market decide.
or is that controlled by liberals too?
25 - Rob
I think he was talking about the media, not hollywood.
And conservatives did start up their own NEWS channel, its called Fox News and its doing very well.