PBS and rethinking the conservative argument

[JoeB131]

I figured this out when I found myself in 2008, fired because I had run up too many medical bills, with an underwater mortgage and a busted 401K

Yes, your employer is responsible for your medical bills, your bank for your mortgage and I don't know who for your lack of investment ability. People who blame their problems on other people are far more likely to be Democrats, I see now why you switched.

Uh, no, you see, I was doing EXACTLY what I was supposed to be doing.

I didn't crash the stock market or manipulate the housing market with sub-prime loans. That would be Bush and his Wall Street Pals.

And, yeah, my employer IS responsible for my medical bills. When health insurance is part of your employment package, (i.e. Part of my compensation) then they really shouldn't be bitching about when the employee needs to use it.

Unless you want to do the incredibly rational thing like have universal health coverage like every other industrial democracy has. Oh, no, wait. That would be silly.

 

[JoeB131]

[

You only got a *quality* education from television based on what you started with.

Trust me, those of us who watch your idiocy day after day, year after year, notice the giant gaps in your education, your character, and your sanity.

Coming from you, that's laughable.

For the record, most of my education came from the Catholic Church, but I figured out by age 11 they were full of shit. Probably right after the crazy nun blurted out that God had to drown every baby in the world because they were "WIIIIIICKED!!!!!!"

Oddly, Kosh, I think you and this nun would have been good friends. You're both the same kind of religious nut.

 

[koshergrl]

Nobody cares, felon. Nobody believes anything you say.

 

[kaz]

I figured this out when I found myself in 2008, fired because I had run up too many medical bills, with an underwater mortgage and a busted 401K

Yes, your employer is responsible for your medical bills, your bank for your mortgage and I don't know who for your lack of investment ability. People who blame their problems on other people are far more likely to be Democrats, I see now why you switched.

Uh, no, you see, I was doing EXACTLY what I was supposed to be doing.

I didn't crash the stock market or manipulate the housing market with sub-prime loans. That would be Bush and his Wall Street Pals.

And, yeah, my employer IS responsible for my medical bills. When health insurance is part of your employment package, (i.e. Part of my compensation) then they really shouldn't be bitching about when the employee needs to use it.

Unless you want to do the incredibly rational thing like have universal health coverage like every other industrial democracy has. Oh, no, wait. That would be silly.

If you think healthcare is expensive now, wait until it's free. LOL, you were a Republican. The funny part is that you think anyone believes it.

 

[kaz]

I figured this out when I found myself in 2008, fired because I had run up too many medical bills, with an underwater mortgage and a busted 401K

Yes, your employer is responsible for your medical bills, your bank for your mortgage and I don't know who for your lack of investment ability. People who blame their problems on other people are far more likely to be Democrats, I see now why you switched.

Uh, no, you see, I was doing EXACTLY what I was supposed to be doing.

I didn't crash the stock market or manipulate the housing market with sub-prime loans. That would be Bush and his Wall Street Pals.

And, yeah, my employer IS responsible for my medical bills. When health insurance is part of your employment package, (i.e. Part of my compensation) then they really shouldn't be bitching about when the employee needs to use it.

Unless you want to do the incredibly rational thing like have universal health coverage like every other industrial democracy has. Oh, no, wait. That would be silly.

If you think healthcare is expensive now, wait until it's free.

I used to be a Democrat you know. Hug trees, save the whales. I finally realized they are wrong on every issue.

 

[JoeB131]

[

So you want Democracy to work by removing people's choice to watch what they want to watch. Think about it...

And I said I support people watching what they want, that logically in no way implies that I like what the majority of people pick. Obviously no one accuses you of being logical, another example of why.

As usual you start off with a retarded premise and build on it.

Broadcast Media is a public property. That's why the Government issues broadcast licenses.

That's why some enterprising person can't air Japanese Hentei anime on the Saturday morning cartoon block.

Broadcast media has to meet certain standards and serve a public interest.

Now, that said, the overcommercialization is part of the problem. You all might notice my new Avatar, Howard Beale from Network. The plot of that movie is that Beale is an anchorman who is going insane, and the company that owns his network keeps him on because he gets good ratings.

At one time, Networks were expected to lose money on their news divisions. Let the Beverly Hillbillies sell corn flakes, the News was there to keep people informed.

Nope, we don't need to be informed about the health care debate. There's some show where a guy is going to eat worms on TV.

 

[JoeB131]

[

If you think healthcare is expensive now, wait until it's free.

I used to be a Democrat you know. Hug trees, save the whales. I finally realized they are wrong on every issue.

We spend more per capita on health care than any other nation in the world.

Most of those countries with "Free" (i.e. single payer government health care) spend less than we do.

They also live longer and have lower infant mortality rates.

 

[kaz]

Broadcast Media is a public property

Yes, Comrade, all property is the people's property.

Government owning roads doesn't mean they own your car.

 

[kaz]

[

If you think healthcare is expensive now, wait until it's free.

I used to be a Democrat you know. Hug trees, save the whales. I finally realized they are wrong on every issue.

We spend more per capita on health care than any other nation in the world.

And Obamac just made it even more expensive, way to go!

 

[JoeB131]

Broadcast Media is a public property

Yes, Comrade, all property is the people's property.

Government owning roads doesn't mean they own your car.

True enough.

They can, however, tell me how fast I can go, that I have to wear a seat belt, that I can't talk on my cell phone while driving, that I can't drive on their road after downing a bottle of 80 Proof Skullcracker.

In short, I can use the road as long as I am using it responsibly.


Same should apply to broadcast licenses.

 

[MikeK]

Back when I was more right wing than I am now, I had a liberal buddy who volunteered to work at PBS for their telethons.

And the argument I made was that PBS didn't need donations and it didn't need a government subsidy. There are plenty of corporations that would happily put their commercials on the quality programming they were producing.

And back in the 1990's, I could point to The History Channel and the Discovery Channel and the Learning Channel and Arts and Entertainment and say, "See, these channels are producing quality education and arts programming and making a buck doing it. The Market Forces win again!"

Yup. I really used to believe that.

Flash forward to today.

The History Channel (which sometimes got called the Hitler Channel because of all the WWII shows) is now a mix of Paws Shops, Logger and trucker shows. Which have nothing to do with History.

The Discovery Channel, on the weeks they aren't doing Shark Week, do street racing, and shows about people who catch crabs in Alaska. (And I don't mean that as a visit with the Palin family.)

The Learning Channel- or Just TLC- They went gutter trash first. Jon and Kate + Eight, Sarah Palin, Midgets, and other trash.

Ah, but Arts and Entertainment. Oops, now it's Rednecks and Exterminators.

In short, the opposite of the argument I made with all sincerity. Once you are a slave to the bottom line, you lose your principles pretty quickly.

Sincere compliments on your clear and objective perception of the commercialism trap.

Your recollections of the History, Discovery, and Learning channels, and how they've been infected and degraded by commercialism speaks verbatim for me. My oldest daughter frequently volunteered at PBS before she became a busy mother and I always send them money at Christmas time.

I am pleased to note the Koch Brothers, arch-opponents of my socialist orientation, are among the One-Percenters who contribute to PBS. Although it is a convenient tax write-off for them I am still appreciative because it enables my enjoyment of the amazing progression of BBC Masterpieces aired commercial free by PBS.

 

[kaz]

Broadcast Media is a public property

Yes, Comrade, all property is the people's property.

Government owning roads doesn't mean they own your car.

True enough.

They can, however, tell me how fast I can go, that I have to wear a seat belt, that I can't talk on my cell phone while driving, that I can't drive on their road after downing a bottle of 80 Proof Skullcracker.

In short, I can use the road as long as I am using it responsibly.


Same should apply to broadcast licenses.

Those things are all safety requirements, the government is preventing them from doing things that affect other drivers. You want content controlled, those are entirely different things. You are an authoritarian leftists, obviously you want that. I'm just pointing it out for people who don't want ubiquitous government.

 

[JoeB131]

[

Those things are all safety requirements, the government is preventing them from doing things that affect other drivers. You want content controlled, those are entirely different things. You are an authoritarian leftists, obviously you want that. I'm just pointing it out for people who don't want ubiquitous government.

Your side wants to tell women whether or not they can have an abortion, with limits for "legitimate" Rape. That's authoritarian.

The left. Hey, maybe we need a subsidy for informative TV because the five corporations that own 95% of the media feel no obligation other than to pander to the lowest common denominated.

 

[kaz]

[

Those things are all safety requirements, the government is preventing them from doing things that affect other drivers. You want content controlled, those are entirely different things. You are an authoritarian leftists, obviously you want that. I'm just pointing it out for people who don't want ubiquitous government.

Your side wants to tell women whether or not they can have an abortion, with limits for "legitimate" Rape. That's authoritarian.

I'm pro-choice, Homey. Most libertarians, "my side" are. LOL, once again, you're not smart enough to adapt your talking points, so the whole world is Democrat or Republican. That's the deepest you can grasp.

The left. Hey, maybe we need a subsidy for informative TV because the five corporations that own 95% of the media feel no obligation other than to pander to the lowest common denominated.

Again the irony, they cater to the people who vote with you. And yes, you are dominated by the liberal media. You screwed up your own joke you know, I fixed it for you.

You realize your employer fired you because your total compensation was more than you were worth. That is on you, not them. You should have worked harder and cared more about the job you did.

 

[Pogo]

Broadcast Media is a public property

Yes, Comrade, all property is the people's property.

Government owning roads doesn't mean they own your car.

True enough.

They can, however, tell me how fast I can go, that I have to wear a seat belt, that I can't talk on my cell phone while driving, that I can't drive on their road after downing a bottle of 80 Proof Skullcracker.

In short, I can use the road as long as I am using it responsibly.


Same should apply to broadcast licenses.

-- Which they get, by the way, for nothing.

How sweet would it be to have your town just give you a storefront, rent-free?

 

[Pogo]

Back when I was more right wing than I am now, I had a liberal buddy who volunteered to work at PBS for their telethons.

And the argument I made was that PBS didn't need donations and it didn't need a government subsidy. There are plenty of corporations that would happily put their commercials on the quality programming they were producing.

And back in the 1990's, I could point to The History Channel and the Discovery Channel and the Learning Channel and Arts and Entertainment and say, "See, these channels are producing quality education and arts programming and making a buck doing it. The Market Forces win again!"

Yup. I really used to believe that.

Flash forward to today.

The History Channel (which sometimes got called the Hitler Channel because of all the WWII shows) is now a mix of Paws Shops, Logger and trucker shows. Which have nothing to do with History.

The Discovery Channel, on the weeks they aren't doing Shark Week, do street racing, and shows about people who catch crabs in Alaska. (And I don't mean that as a visit with the Palin family.)

The Learning Channel- or Just TLC- They went gutter trash first. Jon and Kate + Eight, Sarah Palin, Midgets, and other trash.

Ah, but Arts and Entertainment. Oops, now it's Rednecks and Exterminators.

In short, the opposite of the argument I made with all sincerity. Once you are a slave to the bottom line, you lose your principles pretty quickly.

Sadly, it's always been that way. Newton Minow coined the term "vast wasteland" in 1961, when TV was barely a decade old.

 

[Pogo]

[

So you want Democracy to work by removing people's choice to watch what they want to watch. Think about it...

And I said I support people watching what they want, that logically in no way implies that I like what the majority of people pick. Obviously no one accuses you of being logical, another example of why.

As usual you start off with a retarded premise and build on it.

Broadcast Media is a public property. That's why the Government issues broadcast licenses.

That's why some enterprising person can't air Japanese Hentei anime on the Saturday morning cartoon block.

Broadcast media has to meet certain standards and serve a public interest.

Now, that said, the overcommercialization is part of the problem. You all might notice my new Avatar, Howard Beale from Network. The plot of that movie is that Beale is an anchorman who is going insane, and the company that owns his network keeps him on because he gets good ratings.

At one time, Networks were expected to lose money on their news divisions. Let the Beverly Hillbillies sell corn flakes, the News was there to keep people informed.

Nope, we don't need to be informed about the health care debate. There's some show where a guy is going to eat worms on TV.

Indeed the Hillbillies and the other sitcoms were what subsidized the costs of network news. That of course was when news was more like news; once the hucksters came along with angry old men pounding on tables talking about the news instead of reporting it, "news" became more like soap opera, and soap opera of course - sells. That's why we replaced News with News Theater; same syndrome as the A&Es and History and Discovery Channels.

 

[SAYIT]

[

So in your universe, it's impossible to have someone change his mind when presented with new evidence.

No, it's impossible to believe that someone who supports every liberal position, uses every liberal talking point, believes every ridiculous liberal stereotype and has no idea to present an argument that would convince anyone but the most shallow left wing Democrat of anything that they used to be anything but what they are.

Here's the problem. The thing is, most positions, the Republicans turned out to be DEAD WRONG on.

I figured this out when I found myself in 2008, fired because I had run up too many medical bills, with an underwater mortgage and a busted 401K. I am STILL digging my way out of that mess. That's why I don't support Republican positions.

Ah, got it. YOU got sick, YOU made a poor housing decision and YOUR 401k took a hit when the market tanked so YOU suddenly found yourself in agreement with the leftist POV. That says waaay more about YOUR lack of character than it does about American econo-politics.

 

[TheJedi]

With his track record it's probably all made up bullshit again.

When reading him it's best to eschew the grains and grab a big family-sized container of Morton's salt.

So in your universe, it's impossible to have someone change his mind when presented with new evidence.

No, it's impossible to believe that someone who supports every liberal position, uses every liberal talking point, believes every ridiculous liberal stereotype and has no idea to present an argument that would convince anyone but the most shallow left wing Democrat of anything that they used to be anything but what they are.

And at one time, The History Channel produced good shows.

Then they started producing crap like Alien shows.

Then they figured out that they could just produce the same Reality TV shit everyone else was producing. Their top show is about a Pawn shop right now. Which about three or four other networks have copied.

The History channel was good and now it sucks. The irony is that they are pursuing the same people who elected Obama President with shallow programming that appeals to the masses because that's where the votes are, and that's where the ratings are.

The people who watch those shows now are your people, Joe. Be proud!

You should really take a look at the demographic metrics for those shows. The term "Liberal Elite" came about because in the early '60s they were college students and intellectuals that used their education as a means to spread a message. In other words being smart meant being "elite".

Liberals do not watch shows like Duck Dynasty, Hardcore Pawn, American Guns and Toddlers and Tiaras. Those shows almost exclusively cater to bigoted rednecks, naive gossip hounds and under-educated people who can be just as amused watching turtles fuck on the internet.

Most intellectuals I know, regardless of party affiliation don't watch much TV and when they do, it is not reality TV. It is usually news shows and shows like NOVA, COSMOS or Popular TV dramas and even those are DVRs because we do not want to have our brains assaulted by stupid TV commercials. I haven't seen a TV commercial in at least 6 years.

 

[JoeB131]

[

Those things are all safety requirements, the government is preventing them from doing things that affect other drivers. You want content controlled, those are entirely different things. You are an authoritarian leftists, obviously you want that. I'm just pointing it out for people who don't want ubiquitous government.

Your side wants to tell women whether or not they can have an abortion, with limits for "legitimate" Rape. That's authoritarian.

I'm pro-choice, Homey. Most libertarians, "my side" are. LOL, once again, you're not smart enough to adapt your talking points, so the whole world is Democrat or Republican. That's the deepest you can grasp.

Oh, I'm sorry. You're a LiberTARDian. I thought I was talking to an adult. Not some child-like retard that makes up the Ron Paul Brigade.

[

The left. Hey, maybe we need a subsidy for informative TV because the five corporations that own 95% of the media feel no obligation other than to pander to the lowest common denominated.

Again the irony, they cater to the people who vote with you. And yes, you are dominated by the liberal media. You screwed up your own joke you know, I fixed it for you.

Ah, guy, the really stupid ones are the ones who watch Faux News.

Some News Leaves People Knowing Less

According to the latest results from Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind Poll,
some news sources make us less likely to know what’s going on in the world. In the
most recent study, the poll asked New Jerseyans about current events at home and
abroad, and from what sources – if any – they get their information. The conclusion:
Sunday morning news shows do the most to help people learn about current events,
while some outlets, especially Fox News, lead people to be even less informed than
those who say they don’t watch any news at all.

[
You realize your employer fired you because your total compensation was more than you were worth. That is on you, not them. You should have worked harder and cared more about the job you did.

Actually, I made them a shitload of money. But their policy was to fire anyone who might run up medical insurance

Oh, by the way, that's totally illegal, and they did give me a bunch of "Please don't sue us" money before I left.

In the six years since I left, they've hired and fired six people who did what I did.