Democracy Has Prevailed.

November 11, 2010

How The Right Wing Noise Machine Works

As if we needed another example.

But here it is anyway. From today's Tribune-Review:
Noted George Mason University constitutional scholar Ilya Somin writes (in the Richmond Times-Dispatch) that the states that have challenged the president's "individual mandate" prescription "have a serious case with a real chance of victory." That's far from the characterization of such Obama acolytes as Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell that the lawsuits are "frivolous." Let's hope Professor Somin is right -- and that the Constitution survives another in a long line of "progressive" potshots.
While we scoot over the debate over the "individual mandate" we wonder who this Ilya Somin is. The braintrust gives no clue to his identity beyond his being a "noted George Mason University Constitutional Scholar." One would think he's just a neutral observer just calling the constitutional balls and strikes.

Um, not so much.

He's also an Adjunct Scholar with the Cato Institute. You know what happens next, right? Yes, that's right. So how much money has Richard Mellon Scaife given to the Cato institute over the years?

Approximately $2.5 million.

Of course, no mention of the multi-million dollar financial connections between Scaife's op-ed page and the "neutral" source they quote.

That's how the right wing noise machine works.

But perhaps this is a tenuous connection (Somin to Cato to Scaife = politically biased). But take a look at another snippet from today's "Thursday Wrap":
National Review Online's Matthew Shaffer discovers that -- surprise, surprise -- nearly all of the members of two boards of directors involved with National Public Radio "have demonstrably liberal political sympathies." Ah, so a name change to National Progressive Radio really is in order, we see.
This is the NRO piece. And what do we see as the first example of the "liberal bias" of NPR?
Antoine van Agtmael (chairman of the NPR Foundation): He is a trustee of a liberal think tank, the Brookings Institution. He donated $1,000 to Obama for America in 2008, $2,000 to Kerry in 2004, and $1,000 each to Hillary Clinton and Terry Liermann in 2000. That’s $5,000 — every penny to Democrats. [Emphasis added.]
So the NRO can establish the political biases of the NPR board by listing their think-tank membership (and there by discredit them). Looks good enough for me.

Good for the goose and all that.

3 comments:

bacalove said...

This small group of Democratic Senators left will have to be brave and pass that Legislation already passed by the House which will be a help to the nation. They cannot afford to let the GOP Senators hold up changes desparately needed to get this country going again. They cannot allow GOP to let Obama fail, because doing so, America fails.

For Veterans' Day: When the people of the U.S. become more civil, compassionate and loving towards one another (no Rush Limbaughs, Becks, etc.), they will not elect leaders who so hastily takes the country to war without trying to work problems out through diplomacy and negotations first...

Alert: Give tax breaks to the rich, which will cost Americans trillions of dollars, and then cut Social Security and Medicare to pay for it! We cannot keep taxing the people to death, while the wealthy and big business do not pay their fair share due to tax cuts, tax breaks, tax shelters, etc. Until we Replace Greed, with the principals of sharing and cooperation, we will be unable to solve our problems. Greed and tax cuts for the rich is not the answer -- it is the problem! They want us to Sacrifice, but how come the Rich don't have to sacrifice too?

Wake-up Call: The soon to be Speaker, John Boehener, is the man who recently campaigned for an Ohio Congressional Candidate who dresses up as a Nazi on the weekends! You know the Nazi uniform that stands for separatism, white power, kill off all Jews! This is who the U.S. Speaker of the House Palls around with -- God Help This Country!

Dems have to Stop making Deals with the devil, those who cloak themselves as Christians, yet act otherwise...., Christ said many shall Invoke my name, but I know them not!

Conservative Mountaineer said...

NPR biased against Democrats/Liberals??? Man-o-man, you should either take your meds or have them checked.

NPR 'may' have made some sense when there were only the 3 alphabet channles, but not today. Defund NPR. Now. We do not need government propaganda radio/TV.

EdHeath said...

CM, who said NPR was biased against liberals? I'm really curious, I didn't see that in Dayvoe's post or bacalove's comment. There is the point about the National Review Online (NRO) exposing the bias of the board of NPR. After all, FOX (which might be considered the opposite of NPR) is a private business (including a Saudi who might have ties to terrorism), so NPR has no business taking money from the government. (according to some) All NPR ever talks about are liberal lies, and the people deserve to hear only the truth (as presented by FOX news).

I take it you are opposed to the "Voice of America" - our government's actual propaganda radio/internet effort?

I don't believe there is a NPR "TV" entity. You know, the "R" standing for radio.