-V-
06/03/10, 02:59 pm
Though there is often opposing agendas between political parties it does not equate to two legitimate sides to every issue, as Bill Maher has pointed out on his show, regarding the regressive right-wing's campaign against evolution:
Bill Maher's New Rule: You don't have to teach both sides of a debate, if one side is a load of crap.
President Bush recently suggested that public schools should teach intelligent design, alongside the theory of evolution. Because, after all, evolution is quote, "just a theory." Then the President renewed his vow to drive the terrorists straight over the edge of the earth.
...
even though there's a debate, in schools, and government, about this, there is no debate among scientists. Evolution... is supported by the entire scientific community.
...
And the reason there is no real debate, is that intelligent design isn't real science. It's the equivalent of saying that the thermos keeps hot things hot and cold things cold, because it's a god. It's so willfully ignorant you might as well worship the U.S. Mail. It came again! Praise, Jesus!
No, stupidity isn't a form of knowing things. Thunder is high pressure air meeting low pressure air. It's not God bowling. Babies come from storks is not a competing school of thought... in medical school. We shouldn't teach both. The media shouldn't equate both...
Similarly, Keith Olbermann had this to say about Campbell Brown's latest interviews regarding her resigning from her poorly rated primetime CNN show, which he called the "I-Am-A-Martyr-To-Real-News tour":
Olbermann: "I've done the two kinds of news hours that she references by implication, one where you just read what's handed to you and you pretend that both sides -- correct and wrong -- merit equal consideration and you believe that you, and you alone in the world, are objective.
And I've done the news hour where you stick your neck out and tell the echo chamber it's wrong, and you try to get people thinking, and you get death threats in the mail, and dirty looks in the hallway. And trust me, of those two kinds, trying to present an 'unbiased perspective' isn't just easier, it's as easy as rereading the Associated press wire copy.
CNN's 8 o'clock news programs haven't failed because they're competing with opinion and interpretative news programs. They've failed because CNN hasn't figured out that everything it puts on the air is available to everybody who watches all day on the internet and if you don't bring something else to the table, they aren't going to watch!"
For example, if CNN could have broadcast before the Civil War, Campbell Brown would give the same amount of time and consideration to both sides of the argument as to whether dark skinned people should be the slaves of light skinned people. And if Wolf Blitzer could have interviewed Abe Lincoln, Wolf would have played Devil's advocate and integrated every argument of the slavers into the discussion -- to be "fair" to both sides of the argument instead of fair to black people and the principle of human equality and human rights.
Or, just imagine the interviews that Wolf and Campbell might have conducted if CNN, existed in Nazi Germany!
But why look back. All you have to do is turn on CNN today and hear them give equal time to discrimination against Gays because some homophobe believes "marriage is the union of a man and a woman" which is as idiotic and baseless as, "I believe voting as the right of a white male" or "I believe the sun revolves around the earth".
Walter Cronkite called for an end to the Vietnam debacle and it ended. There are no Cronkites today. No one who can be trusted to put journalistic integrity ahead of party politics and corporate sponsors. Because there are no Cronkites today, these Afghan and Iraq war debacles will go on longer than a decade.
Because there are no Cronkites today, our Congress is useless. If one party decides to block all legislation by the other, even if those efforts are to reform our energy policies, Wallstreet, our healthcare, insurance, and banking systems -- to prevent economic collapse, CNN will allow them to make up excuses for doing so.
It's not the equal time that's the problem. Both parties deserve equal time. But no party deserves the right to go unchallenged when they step up to America's microphone and make stuff up. "News" broadcasters should be held responsible for some degree of quality control that includes fact checking and investigative journalism.
Call me naive, but I always thought journalists should be society's Watch Dogs sniffing out hypocrisy, corruption, and injustice, not the political party's Lap Dogs guarding the status quo.
Bill Maher's New Rule: You don't have to teach both sides of a debate, if one side is a load of crap.
President Bush recently suggested that public schools should teach intelligent design, alongside the theory of evolution. Because, after all, evolution is quote, "just a theory." Then the President renewed his vow to drive the terrorists straight over the edge of the earth.
...
even though there's a debate, in schools, and government, about this, there is no debate among scientists. Evolution... is supported by the entire scientific community.
...
And the reason there is no real debate, is that intelligent design isn't real science. It's the equivalent of saying that the thermos keeps hot things hot and cold things cold, because it's a god. It's so willfully ignorant you might as well worship the U.S. Mail. It came again! Praise, Jesus!
No, stupidity isn't a form of knowing things. Thunder is high pressure air meeting low pressure air. It's not God bowling. Babies come from storks is not a competing school of thought... in medical school. We shouldn't teach both. The media shouldn't equate both...
Similarly, Keith Olbermann had this to say about Campbell Brown's latest interviews regarding her resigning from her poorly rated primetime CNN show, which he called the "I-Am-A-Martyr-To-Real-News tour":
Olbermann: "I've done the two kinds of news hours that she references by implication, one where you just read what's handed to you and you pretend that both sides -- correct and wrong -- merit equal consideration and you believe that you, and you alone in the world, are objective.
And I've done the news hour where you stick your neck out and tell the echo chamber it's wrong, and you try to get people thinking, and you get death threats in the mail, and dirty looks in the hallway. And trust me, of those two kinds, trying to present an 'unbiased perspective' isn't just easier, it's as easy as rereading the Associated press wire copy.
CNN's 8 o'clock news programs haven't failed because they're competing with opinion and interpretative news programs. They've failed because CNN hasn't figured out that everything it puts on the air is available to everybody who watches all day on the internet and if you don't bring something else to the table, they aren't going to watch!"
For example, if CNN could have broadcast before the Civil War, Campbell Brown would give the same amount of time and consideration to both sides of the argument as to whether dark skinned people should be the slaves of light skinned people. And if Wolf Blitzer could have interviewed Abe Lincoln, Wolf would have played Devil's advocate and integrated every argument of the slavers into the discussion -- to be "fair" to both sides of the argument instead of fair to black people and the principle of human equality and human rights.
Or, just imagine the interviews that Wolf and Campbell might have conducted if CNN, existed in Nazi Germany!
But why look back. All you have to do is turn on CNN today and hear them give equal time to discrimination against Gays because some homophobe believes "marriage is the union of a man and a woman" which is as idiotic and baseless as, "I believe voting as the right of a white male" or "I believe the sun revolves around the earth".
Walter Cronkite called for an end to the Vietnam debacle and it ended. There are no Cronkites today. No one who can be trusted to put journalistic integrity ahead of party politics and corporate sponsors. Because there are no Cronkites today, these Afghan and Iraq war debacles will go on longer than a decade.
Because there are no Cronkites today, our Congress is useless. If one party decides to block all legislation by the other, even if those efforts are to reform our energy policies, Wallstreet, our healthcare, insurance, and banking systems -- to prevent economic collapse, CNN will allow them to make up excuses for doing so.
It's not the equal time that's the problem. Both parties deserve equal time. But no party deserves the right to go unchallenged when they step up to America's microphone and make stuff up. "News" broadcasters should be held responsible for some degree of quality control that includes fact checking and investigative journalism.
Call me naive, but I always thought journalists should be society's Watch Dogs sniffing out hypocrisy, corruption, and injustice, not the political party's Lap Dogs guarding the status quo.