I lived there four years and everyone thought my politics were a joke..sort of like moveon.org? Only just the opposite.
'Fairness' Doctrine -- Round Two
by Mark Hyman
Liberal activists are using the Internet to wage a new war on moderate and conservative values. Liberal Internet grassroots (“netroots”) activists have no room for any individual, institution, organization or policy that does not support their extremist positions. They are the antithesis to Nixon’s “great silent majority.” They are the vocal minority. Yet, they have achieved success.
The first major success of liberal netroots activism occurred during last year’s Democrat Senate primary in Connecticut. They prepared the battlefield in incumbent Joe Lieberman’s loss to über-liberal challenger Ned Lamont. The most influential of the netroots groups was MoveOn.Org. Rather than provide factual critiques of policy differences with Lieberman’s positions, MoveOn followers instead engaged in shameful name-calling. MoveOn supporters posted anti-Semitic comments online such as “Jew Lieberman,” “Zionazis,” and “why are the Jews so Jew-y?” As reprehensible as it was, this tactic was successful in the Democrat primary.
Other netroots successes include Democrat leaders canceling a presidential debate in Las Vegas sponsored by Fox News; a permanent invitation to participate in a daily conference call with House and Senate Democrat leadership staffers mapping out positions and strategies; and the snub of an invitation to address the centrist Democratic Leadership Council’s summer meeting by all eight Democrat presidential candidates. Seven of the candidates instead attended the YearlyKos Convention, a hatefest of Angry Left bloggers.
MoveOn, Campaign for America’s Future and archliberal bloggers such as the DailyKos comprise a whole new class of authoritarian political ideologues. They call themselves “progressives,” yet their words and actions belie their claims. They believe that individuals and other societal interests should be subordinated to the needs of the nation -- as they define it. They missed their heyday in history by 70 years.
These liberal netroots activists have successfully harnessed some of the power of the Internet and they are now are attempting to use the power of the purse as they pursue their next phase of activism. The latest plan of MoveOn, Campaign for America’s Future and DailyKos is to attack the advertisers of Fox News. Armed with reports from the hapless Media Matters for America, netroots activists will claim documentation supports their assertion about the “unfairness” of Fox News as they attack the cable channel’s advertisers. Media Matters is a web-based organization that claims to identify and correct conservative misinformation in the media. The liberal group instead engages in esoteric hairsplitting and character assassination.
Mass retailers simply want to sell products and services without having to defend themselves from ideological bomb throwers. Nonetheless, netroots activists intend to engage in a campaign of harassment aimed at crippling the business end of any media outlet they view as the enemy. Fox News may be first, but talk radio, the Wall Street Journal editorial pages and the Internet will be next. The liberal netroots are not interested in contributing to public discourse. They want to wipe out the competition and silence those voices that do not support their agenda. They are the modern day equivalent of Richard Euringer, the library director in Essen, Germany, who endeared himself to the regime in the mid-1930s by selecting more than 18,000 works to be burned for not conforming to the Nazi ideology.
The liberal blogosphere has been doing the happy dance as of late claiming their first victory against Fox News. “Home Depot dumps O’Reilly,” the Americablog.com website breathlessly claims. The site explains, “Home Depot seems to have had a change of heart. They’re now unequivocally telling their customers that they will not advertise on Bill O’Reilly’s show.” O’Reilly is the host of The O’Reilly Factor on Fox News. Liberal filmmaker Robert Greenwald’s Brave New Films homepage called the Home Depot report “a great first step… for us to exploit.” A posting on the DailyKos website proudly proclaims that the other major home improvement retailer, Lowe’s, has also pulled advertising from The O’Reilly Factor. Yet another liberal blogger claimed “Home Depot responds to strong pressure” as O’Reilly is “not a good fit for an environmentally conscious retailer.” This is because, the blog argues, “O’Reilly has consistently mocked… global warming.”
A simple review of the facts shows their celebration has been misplaced. “Home Depot does not advertise on opinion talk shows such as The O’Reilly Factor,” Ron DeFeo, the company’s communications director told HUMAN EVENTS. Home Depot has never advertised on O’Reilly reported DeFeo. He added, “We do advertise elsewhere on Fox News, such as Fox & Friends.” Home Depot does not advertise on other opinion talk shows such as MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann or Hardball with Chris Matthews, according to DeFeo. Nor does Home Depot buy commercials on the Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer or Larry King Live on CNN although it does advertise on “general news shows such as CNN’s American Morning, CNN Newsroom and CNN Saturday Morning,” DeFeo explained.
,B.Lowe’s did not pull advertising from O’Reilly’s program as a result of any pressure from outside groups reported Chris Ahearn, vice president of public relations. “We are always evaluating the effectiveness of our advertising and we change advertising strategies from time to time,” she reported. As a general rule, Lowe’s tries to avoid what Ahearn called “dramatic programming” that might not reflect the views of its customer base. The first season of Desperate Housewives, she explained, was an example of a show in which Lowe’s did not purchase advertising because of concerns raised by viewers during the program’s inaugural season..
Lowe’s did briefly stop advertising on O’Reilly’s show in January over comments the talk show host allegedly made regarding Shawn Hornbeck, the teenager who was kidnapped and held captive by his abductor for four years. Ahearn did not elaborate on the company’s decision other than to say Lowe’s officials thought O’Reilly’s comments were insensitive. That absence of Lowe’s advertising lasted “about a month,” said Ahearn. Although the retailer is not currently advertising on O’Reilly, it “continues to advertise on Fox News…[but] we are not presently advertising on MSNBC or CNN.”
The liberal netroots claiming credit for no Home Depot or Lowe’s ads on The O’Reilly Factor is like the crowing rooster accepting congratulations for the sun rising each morning. Nonetheless, this false success story will not likely dampen the enthusiasm by netroots activists whose cartoonish efforts have proven to be effective in pushing Democrat politicians further left. The Democrat presidential candidates’ boycotting of the Democratic Leadership Council underscores this.
The Home Depot-Lowe’s “success” story, as with any good legend, will invigorate the netroots as they pursue their activist agenda. These agents of intolerance have had remarkable success influencing Democrats. The question is how successful will they be in the free market? So far, all of their actions have occurred without the usual suspects opening their checkbooks. However, imagine the havoc that could occur if liberal billionaires such as George Soros, Peter Lewis, Ron Burkle and Stephen Bing funded a liberal war chest to attack advertisers and silence outlets that provide opportunities for conservative voices.
humanevents.com |
