If the Rocky folds

As Tom Daschle exits the Obama administration in his tax-free chauffeured limo, kudos to the Rocky Mountain News for editorializing today that this hypocritical scofflaw wasn't fit for confirmation as HHS Secretary. Sorry to see nothing on that from the Denver Post editorial page. A Rocky editorial likewise called for the rejection of Tim Geithner, another tax cheat, as Treasury Secretary last week. Unfortunately only 34 senators agreed -- and unfortunately, again, nothing from Post editors on that one either.

The Post did have an excellent Sunday editorial on Feb. 1 pointing out many flaws in the $819 billion stimulus bill, but the Rocky's editors were earlier and stronger in their condemnation of this legislative monstrosity.

One of the things Colorado will lose if the Rocky Mountain News goes away is an outspoken editorial voice that is usually, not always, more friendly to the conservative position and more skeptical of the liberal position than Denver's other daily, the Post. Let's hope it doesn't happen. Our state would be the poorer for it.

The Obama Bowl

What exactly is the connection between NBC and President Obama?  Is it simply a case of mutual love and abiding devotion?  The Super Bowl coverage by NBC looked as much like a post-inauguration celebration as it did a football game.  The Obama interview aired right before the game was a first in Super Bowl history if my recollections are intact, and it was an effective way to get in America's face and remind us that as much as we love our Super Bowl's, we need to be gently prompted to love our new president with equal passion and enthusiasm.  As President Obama tossed out a big howdy to troops in Iraq, I wonder how many of them will actually not be home next year to watch the Super Bowl, but will be reassigned to Afghanistan instead.  The pronouncement was good PR, even if it ends up not being quite correct.  The Super Bowl is a day of hero worship; incredible focus and agility of quarterbacks, amazing speed and fancy footwork of running backs, bone-cracking strength of linemen, and of course, greatness in leadership of presidents.  NBC did their best to create a seamless link between athletic prowess and political greatness.

VISIO television even paid big money for an ad within which they gave the prez a favorable nod on his stimulus package.  The sitcom, The Office, which aired right after the game gave a cozy familiarity to its relationship with the president by calling him "Barack".   The musical entertainers were all avid Obama campaign supporters.

When the owner of the Steelers thanked the president for his years of support of the team, the message was sent, "If you are a Steelers fan, you automatically support Obama." 

There were lots of free endorsements intertwined with an event that is typically non-partisan.  During the previous eight years Super Bowl Sunday was not a day-long love fest with the sitting president.  It was clear yesterday that to be a Super Bowl fan, it was hip to be an Obama fan. 

I think most Americans HOPED yesterday would be a day to relax with family and friends, indulge in favorite food and drink and prepare to be entertained by some smash-mouth football.  Super Bowl is our holiday.  We wanted a day off from the typical media blitz of doom and gloom and the onslaught of propaganda of how much we need the government to soothe our wounds.  We got our money's worth out of the game, for sure.  Both the Steelers and the Cardinals put on quite a performance.  Most of us were not expecting NBC's overt agenda, steering us into the belief that whenever the country is having fun and engaging in an enjoyable activity, we should be ever mindful of our president.  Looks like CHANGE has taken over the Super Bowl, too.

KY in Peril: Where's the Outrage?

Reports out of Kentucky this morning are extremely dire.  At least 20 persons are known dead as a result of a horrific ice storm that has paralyzed the state. The citizens of Kentucky need electricity, water, heat, food and sanitation.  Crews are working tirelessly to get things back up and running.  While most hospitals have generator-supplied power, many nursing homes do not.  The elderly and infirm sit in cold, dark environments, waiting for relief efforts to bring food and water.  My heart and my prayers go out to our citizens in Kentucky.  Midwestern ice storms are devastating at best and the destruction and suffering they cause are such that you should hope you never experience it. As President Obama turns up the thermostat in the White House and gets ready for his big Super Bowl party, I wonder if there is outrage being expressed on MSNBC, CNN and other media outlets.  After all, neither Mr. Obama nor Mr. Biden have raced to the scene in Kentucky and provided hands-on assistance.  While fellow countrymen suffer, they stay tucked safe and warm in Washington, D.C.

In a normal political environment, the President's response to stay out of the way so as to not create even more problems in a region in peril would be automatically accepted.  If we harken back to the Bush administration, however, the wounds are still fresh in remembering the ridiculous commentary that the media and Democrat politicians spewed each and every time there was an act of God that occurred in our country in terms of weather and subsequent damage and loss.

About a year ago, east-central Illinois was inundated with "100 year" flood waters that destroyed homes, businesses and created massive soil erosion in a very fertile farm region.  Illinois is a blue state, and Democrats from town mayors to Gov. Blago to Sen. Obama were outraged at the failure of the Bush administration to get relief quicker to homeless families and others adversely affected by this tragedy.  Opinion columns in newspapers across the state were clear that any delay or failure to act would not have occurred if a Democrat occupied the White House.  In their view, a Republican president was 'punishing' the people of Illinois by deliberately ignoring their plight.

In May, 2007, a massive tornado struck a small town in Kansas, virtually leveling the entire community.  Democrat Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, while standing in rubble hours after the storm hit, could not restrain herself from partisan back-stabbing.  She quickly laid blame at the feet of the Bush administration, claiming the people of this town were in immediate need of assistance from the Kansas National Guard, but there were few to be found, thanks to Bush's war.  She announced on national TV that the troops she commands were all in Iraq.  Actual numbers of available Guardsmen were later released to show there was ample assistance and equipment available, and had been dispatched.  I don't believe the governor retracted her statements.

Of course, Hurricane Katrina stands out as the most glaring example of the Left's opinion that the Bush-Cheney administration not only deliberately allowed people to die and lose their homes, they also planned the entire weather event and wished it upon the black population residing in New Orleans. 

Just as more probably could have and should have been done by the federal government in these three examples, it is likely the the federal government will in some way be slow to respond or meet the needs of suffering people in Kentucky.  The fed's often fail us, but depending on the political party, one side is deliberate and evil, and the other side is doing the best it can but patience is required as regulations and red tape must be worked through.   When the media reports in this way, are we surprised which party takes power after the next election?

Thus far, KY Democrat Gov. Steve Beshear has not denounced the president or the response of federal agencies, and we probably won't hear him do that anytime soon.  The only recourse for the partisans in the media may be to somehow find a way to tie this disaster to our former president, i.e., failing infrastructure and power grids he should have fixed but deliberately did not because he spent all our money in Iraq; it's been days since we've heard that one, it's time to bring it up, I'm sure.   Keith Olbermann and a film crew may be headed to Texas right now to try and catch the Bush family in the midst of a high-five following a touchdown this evening.  He'll be quick to tell us how unfair and immoral it was for Mr. Bush to enjoy the Super Bowl in the comfort of his home that happens to have heat, power and water.  Oh, that's right....Keith probably will be manning the commentary desk at the game, also comfortable and well-fed.   That just doesn't seem fair when so many in Kentucky not only can't see the game, they don't have food, water and heat to get through the night.   Where's the outrage?

Tax for news bailout is a bad joke

Newspapers have been an important part of our society, communicating information and news. But the Internet has served the same function (and I'd say even better) than newspapers have in recent years. I'm not impressed with how they've competed in the marketplace, and how "impartial" (or biased to the left in their reporting) they've been. Given the amount, quality and diversity of information you can get online from other sources, I don't think newspapers have an inherent right to stay in business. I can get more news in a more timely manner online, than I can through traditional print media. Unfortunately, another big, dumb, slow company is now being talked up for help by big-government do-gooders through a proposed “Newspaper Tax.”

Where do the taxes and bailouts end? I don't agree with the bailouts of Wall Street, the big banks, or the Big 3 Automakers.. and I damn sure don't want the newspapers bailed out. Let's call a spade a spade - this is socialism. Through this proposal, they're essentially holding a gun to taxpayers' heads (or wallets, in this case), and saying "Fork it over, or the fish wrap gets it!"

Local blogger Andrew Hudson frames the issue in a nice way (ironically, through the Internet) but he and other Democrats have no problem using the coercive power of government to prop up their favorite industry or company... or decide which business or industry fails or succeeds – at least in the short-term. In fact, I'd say they're rewarding failure - just like Congress has with the banks and automakers. It's getting to a tipping point where taxpayers are saying "ENOUGH" to more tax increases.

It's not so much a political issue as it is about economic freedom, and how individual citizens should have the freedom to spend our money how we choose to – not how government can. It's like a Jerry Lewis Telethon where taxpayers are forced to "give 'til it hurts." Mr. Hudson knows that almost all taxes enacted by government stay in place forever, and are rarely repealed. This sounds like a sneaky way to extract more money from Colorado taxpayers, to fund an increasingly greedy state government.

Currently, 44 of our 50 states face budget shortfalls. What bureaucrats fail to remember is that budget deficits occur when spending exceeds cash inflows. To reduce or eliminate these deficits, they should (gasp!) cut spending. Trying to balance state budgets on the increasingly-burdened backs of taxpayers qualifies as cruel and unusual punishment. The cause of these shortfalls is that government has spent too much money and made too many promises that it can't deliver on.

Our country wasn't founded or built on propping up industries or companies who “deserve” to be in business. This is another step of slouching towards socialism, all in the name of good intentions – which the road to hell (in this case, bigger government) is paved with. Enough's enough –this “Newspaper Tax” idea should be dropped like a bad habit.

Captives of the media?

(Denver Post, Jan. 18) You, a captive of the media? No way. Nobody mediates for you. You think independently. You gather your own information and decide for yourself. Me too. We don’t need no media mediating for us, no sir. Yeah, right. In our dreams, maybe, but not in America today. The world is so interconnected, changes so fast, and presents each person with so many choices, that reliance on others for much of our knowledge is inescapable. But which media can we trust, and how do we keep them at our service – on tap, not on top? Especially if newspapers as we have known them are on the way out, how can we stay reliably informed as free citizens in a free society? That’s the underlying concern as Coloradans wonder about the fate of the Rocky Mountain News, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and maybe even the Denver Post.

I love newspapers. They’ll always be my preferred window on our civic and cultural life. Online and broadcast media rank a distant second. I hope enough American papers manage to reinvent themselves for the digital era so that print journalism can long continue. Since you’re reading this, you probably agree.

Yet trouble and transformation are stalking the media industry regardless. News providers face brutal pressures to adapt. For us as news users, this is a good time to think about the fundamental question we began with: Who mediates for you? Or as the counter-culture used to say, what do you feed your head?

The media seldom challenge us on this. They have a commercial motive not to. Challenging myself, I find I’m often careless as to both the quality and quantity of what gets fed into my head. New technologies and rebranding by the providers are beside the point. The problem is my passivity about the content they deliver.

A medium is a just a conveyor belt. At one end is a loadmaster, the editor. According to what’s on his clipboard, the belt gets loaded with news from reporters, opinions from pundits, and ads from businesses. It’s all conveniently brought to our homes. That convenience can be a trap, however. We may become too accepting.

“Couldn’t drink coffee without the morning paper,” worried someone at our Vanguard discussion club when the industry’s woes were this month’s topic. “We are Colorado,” says a Denver Post promo campaign. Media companies, this paper included, become part of our lives. They’re still only companies, means to an end. The end is knowing what we need to know to live together responsibly and happily.

Running the conveyor costs money. Persuading us to buy things, either subscriptions or advertised goods and services, is life and death to the company. Print is in trouble because more and more people are buying elsewhere. How concerning is that?

After all, as the Post’s Dean Singleton told fellow publishers in a speech last June, “Newspapers are the cornerstone of democracies everywhere…. If we fail, democracy fails.” Thomas Jefferson said two centuries ago that he’d rather live in a country with newspapers and no government than vice versa. So are bankrupt papers a national crisis?

No. Both men’s points go to freedom of the press via whatever medium works best. They aren’t limited to ink on pulp. In America, thanks to the First Amendment, it’s the marketplace and not government that picks media winners and losers. You and I as consumers, voting with dollars, make that sovereign choice.

Again, as I’ve written before, it’s up to us. Insisting on liberty, WE can make our country’s broadcasting and Internet as free as print has always been. Exercising personal responsibility, WE can choose a healthier information diet, more fiber, less junk. Conveyors inevitably come and go, but independent thinking remains.