On Nov. 21, 2003, I wrote a letter to the editor that showed, by actual count, the Associated Press approving war when it was conducted by a fellow Democrat (President Clinton in Bosnia), but disapproving of war (Iraq) by Republican George W. Bush.
Nothing has changed in the past six-plus years, and it has even gotten worse, with a socialist/communist in the White House, ushered in by the same AP that brought us Clinton, whose press-protected refusal to take out Osama bin Laden led to the Twin Towers being blown up and the Afghan and Iraq wars.
While that shows we paid for the liberal media's mistakes in the past, here's how the 80-percent-liberal national news media is messing things up now:
In the four-month time between December and March, I reviewed 19 Chronicle -run stories by AP on the health-care issue, all of which are presented as balanced news stories. What a sham. Of the 19 AP stories on Obama's health care, 14 presented only the Democratic Party side. In the 19 AP stories, there were 176 paragraphs that gave the Democrat side, and 11 that gave the Republican side, even though half of the nation is either Republican or independent but is being kept out of the debate -- and only the socialist media is secretly being served.
In none of the stories were the questions posed as to what gifts dissenting Democrat lawmakers will be given for their votes; how few times the up-or-down vote has been used; and the much larger Republican estimate of the cost.
Socialism will be here soon. Act surprised.
Tom Hunter
Augusta
Thank you Mr. Hunter! Your letter was absolutely spot on! You sir, imho, are a great American. I have been pointing out the bias and double standard of the lamestream media for some time. It has now become so bad, that we have indeed become the tail, wagging the dog, only it's not funny, like the movie was. IE: you can youtube Pelosi, Reid, Biden, etc. railing on about the war in Iraq when GW was in the WH. Denouncing it in every way imaginable. Now, in an interview the other day with Larry King, which you can also google, he says, "I am very optimistic about -- about Iraq. I mean, this could be one of the great achievements of this administration." What gall! What arrogance! Or, perhaps he is just getting senile? In either case, please consider that if anything ever, God forbid, happens to Mr. Hussein, this is the man that will lead our nation. Shudder... So, if a Republican VP said something this loony, do you thing the media would be all over him? You bet! However, notice how the silence has been deafning concerning this issue? You Bet! Can you say, "Double Standard"? Just one example, of thousands.
Funny how Obama doesn't look American. Oh, wait...that's not proving to be very funny at all, except to our enemies.
Notreally, I wonder sir, if you are capable of posting here without labeling a person with a derogatory name? I quote, "Tom is a wingnut who probably recently became one when Obama became president." Why do you feel this type of denigration is necessary?
notreally, what happened to most of your posts on the other thread today?????
Every comment he makes alludes to people who disagree with Obama's policies are basically racists at heart. Every comment.
OMG! Now EVERYONE is a socialist. Who knew (except those here who keep throwing that charge around). We should all be really terrified by now.
Sorry guys (and gals), throwing the socialist label at everyone who doesn't just jump on board your band wagon doesn't make it so. It just makes your "argument" look all the weaker. No substance, just emotion.
BTW, Federalist, before you mentioned the fear mongering of the Dems. May I remind you, and everyone else, of the blatant fear mongering that was the primary campaign strategy of the second "W" campaign? If it worked then, maybe it'll work again?
Come on, rise above the muck and focus on real issues. I mean, if all you have to do is count paragraphs for and against your viewpoint then you may need to get out more.
Of course, we could get into the "fair and balanced" reporting of Fox News where every story, even if it is a report about a boy saving a kitten, gets turned into a conservative diatribe against the Dems. Wait, that sounds like many of the letters here, too.
Oh, well, SOCIALISM IS COMING!! Be Afraid. Be VERY Afraid.
It is amazing how many people can look back a decade and blame Bill Clinto for things but throw a fit when "W" is blamed for anything that happened after Nov 2008. I remember Hannity and Limbaugh and their following blaming Obama before he was even sworn in because businesses were firing people and not hiring because they were already scared of Obama was their insane logic.
Wow! I did not realize The Associated Press had the authority to approve war. I learn something new every day. Thanks!
Mr. Hunter's letter reveals his profound lack of knowledge of history.
The Bosnian involvement had ONE U.S. combat casualty, 11 non-combat deaths, and SIX wounded and cost about $3 billion dollars a YEAR at its height, much less now.
Iraq has resulted in the deaths of more than FOUR THOUSAND U.S. servicemembers and more than THIRTY ONE THOUSAND wounded, many maimed and dismembered by bombs. In addition, the cost of the Iraq war is about TEN BILLION dollars PER MONTH, to a total of ONE TRILLION so far.
The Bosnian deployment has also been a success, peace was restored and a functioning government established. What is going to happen in Iraq? In any event, we know that the USA is not going to regain its costs in blood and money.
If having some sense about the costs of war is the "socialist agenda," then let's have more of that agenda, I say.
Delsby, I don't remember Bosnia or the Serbs attacking the US, I don't remember the exist stratagy (suprise we are still there) and all gabage the left dumped on Bush (3 billion dollars is wasted funds that could have solved Gerogia's budget crises and was wasted by Clinton) blah blah blah...Another area to look at for balanced news coverage is the sham called antropogenic global warming,EVERY article exposing and detailing the fraud and shabby science and statistics used to "prove" global warming has come out of British or Canadian papers! Our press is pushing an agenda pure and simple nothing balanced...
Deselby........you don't remember Iraq attacking us? I guess you aren't a Navy or Air Force Pilot. They were attacked DAILY while peacefully patrolling the UN imposed no fly zone. Do their lives mean nothing to you? Ignoring that the attacks happened, while a mainstay of liberal mindset, will not mean they didn't happen......THEY DID!
Yea, Muslim only exist in individual countries, not a radical religious blanket that covers multiple countries. The best trick pulled on gullible viewers is that this war against America was staged by geographic boundaries. So many still let the left wing media do their "thinking" for them. A well informed public would be much harder to control.
Wow, should we be socialist or fascist? Politicians don't care? The masses of the world do not care about "political affiliation". They would like to just live in peace. Control of the masses is the "end game". American forces remain in every country where we have "placed our flag", except Vietnam and Lebanon. There is a "pattern to this madness". Its called "world domination". It is draining the "life out of our economy". Remember when we had "advisers" in Vietnam? But if you question what your government (Dem or Repub) is doing, gee you are unpatriotic, you are un-American, you have no respect for our service men and women. And you hate "children and dogs". Nationalism at all cost can be a dangerous game. When "flags are waved in church, its a dangerous time. Look to history. Look to "repressive societies".
Calling everyone who doesn't toe the hard core right wing party line a socialist just shows how ignorant and desperate you are. And, yes, that is exactly what you and others here have done. Your own post calls the Congress socialist. With a Democrat majority that can only mean one thing. Every Democrat, no matter how moderate their views, is a socialist in your eyes. And you're not too sure about those Republicans who even appear to work with them. How amazingly paranoid.
The right wants only one thing, to seize and maintain power. While the same can be said of the left, the tactics of the right show how facist their orientation is. Which is worse, a socialist-leaning government that seeks to care for its citizens, even at the expense of some who will abuse the system, or a clearly facist government that says, "Let them die. They obviously deserve to do so."
Clearly slavery is alive and well in the CSRA. The change now is whom you would enslave ... anyone who is not on board with your agenda.
If the world could be run on sound bites, we'd have no social issues. Just look at all of the trite garbage being passed off above as meaningful thoughts. I am reminded of Steven Colbert's "TRUTHINESS."
Seriously, geographic boundaries are a mask for the Worldwide Muslim Agenda? As if the "left wing media" drew those boundaries just to confuse people. Somebody needs to go back to school.
The Socialists are coming! The Socialists are coming! And they're bringing the Muslims with them!!! Run and Hide!
Deselby- You don't remember history or don't care to, Sadam violated every one of his agreements during the cease fire, firing on Planes as mentioned, failing to allow weapons inspectors to due thier job, hiding weapons programs, continueing with his crimes against humanity etc. What did the Serbs do to us? Being a liberal means never having to say you are wrong or apologising like Durban calling our soldiers NAZIs, Murtha calling the Marines cold blooded killers, Ried saying the war in Iraq is lost etc etc etc...
orgpsych- This is a power grab pure and simple and has nothing, nothing to due with providing health care. Read todays editorial that quotes from IBD. Money is being taken from social security funds, medicare funds etc that are needed for those programs and double counted..This will lower Drs payments and over whelm the present health care system while creating a 6 year program payed for with 10 years of taxes...It is pure socialism and will be broke in 6 years. What would you call it and those promoting it other than stupid..
The Bosnian enterprise was carefully planned with a clear strategy. Its purpose was to stop horrible human rights abuses, the existence of which was beyond question. The Iraq war was a misconceived attempt to get rid of WMD's that turned out not to exist. Thus, Clinton's adventure in Bosnia was not worthy of the criticism that Bush's foolishness was.
Not to mention that Bosnia is now an ally sending troops to Afghanistan to help NATO.
@Tigger_The_Tiger & carcraft: Yes, like 99.999% of the American people, I was not a Navy or USAF pilot flying over Iraq, so I didn't feel particularly threatened by Iraq before 2003. I guess it was because I wasn't flying over THEIR country in military aircraft.
Oh, and how many pilots died from those "attacks" by Iraq? Z E R O.
None. We did shoot down two of our own helicopters over northern Iraq, though.
So that makes a lot of sense - start a war which killed 4300+ fine Americans and maim many more, and spend $$One Trillion$$ (One Thousand Billion), because they shot a few missiles over planes flying over their country, without effect.
That's a logic I can't understand, you can say I prefer the "socialist agenda" of weighing the costs and benefits of a war and having some common sense as to what wars we get into. Let's build America, not spend billions in Iraq. But I guess that's socialism, spending money on Americans. It's only OK to build roads and bridges and provide jobs in Iraq or Afghanistan if you're a right-winger.
Anytime you tell the truth about how you crazies on the right are towards Obama seems the chronicle deletes my post LOL. This writer and MANY of you are ODSers to the fullest. NO MATTER WHAT the man does you will never like it, he can't win or lose with the people on the right. Again I ask when will this paper print another former DEM letter. As we all know those former dems only became republican voters since Nov 08.
Actually, saying Obama is a socialist is an insult to Socialism. True socialist ideoloy calls for everyone to work and contribute to society and share in rewards equally. It has never worked....anywhere.....ever....but at least it sounded good. But Obama and the Dems are not true socialists, they are Liberal Socialists. That is a perverted form of socialism where the elite have decided that there is a certain 30% or so of society which are destined to never contribute and to eternally be dependent on the government and the other 70% of society must be taxed and controlled in order to guarantee the support of those who are satisfied to live off of the labors of others. I do not agree with Liberal Socialism. I firmly believe that anyone who is receiving taxpayer money for an unearned government benefit should have to report every morning at 7:00 to a location where they would be drug tested and have to justify each day why they should get another day's subsistence allowance. The process for getting free taxpayer money should be made more difficult than it would be to actually get up and go to work every morning. It should be available to all who truely need it, but it should require a lot of effort to get and keep. That is what I would call American Socialism.
orgphysch, your 6:43 shifts perspective every half sentence. First, the entire congress isn't socialist. Even the entire Dem party isn't socialist, but the leadership IS. Reid, Pelosi, and the mad Marxist in the white house are all left of Karl Marx. Many of their minions and supporter are too. However, the 2008 election, a brilliantly manipulated event by the Dems, put a lot of moderates in office. Moderate Dems were as rare as hens teeth until 2008. Now there are a lot of moderate representatives in the house and the hard socialist agenda of the leadership is having a hard time getting past them. Mocking those that see this makes you look like a radical believer. Yes, slavery is alive and well in the CSRA and throughout the entire subsidy system in this nation. The enslaved will always vote Dem or run the risk of losing their special treatment. Many complain about this "use" of taxpayer money. I think if you found your philosophical leadership someplace other that Stephen Colber, Bill Maher, other "brilliant" messiahs of the entertainment world you would probably be more "centered". And, yes, the geographic boundaries that defined other enemies of the U.S. don't apply to a religious fanaticism that doesn't recognize these boundaries. Any media that uses these boundaries to disprove the existence of terrorism is just foolish, as are those that are tricked by the ploy. The "socialists are not coming", they're here and need to be removed from power.
orgphysch Calling all dems socialist is certainly a generalization but the democrat party has been infiltrated by very left leaning socialist/progressive types and unfortunately they are the ones calling the all the shots right now. The regular democrats are probably shell-shocked but I am positive that they feel bullied to vote for all these bills, even to their own peril.
The republican party is just as bad. There are many extreme moderates & big government progressives. They love to spend taxpayer money & they lie to us to tell us what we want to hear & then go in & vote however they please (although that's changed a little bit lately because they are terrified of not being re-elected because of a "little" movement call the Tea Party. We have started our transformation of the party)
Maybe all of you who are real democrats (not socialists, not progressives) need to rise up and start you own tea party type movement to send your party a message. You'd better do it before it is too late for your party. As you can see, they are starting to get branded socialists and I don't think that that is what the majority of you want. But it will continue as long as the current dem leaders continue down their socialist path.
Solution for all us? Don't vote for any of them. The 2 party system duopoly is not working anymore. Don't forget the independents and the libertarians in November.
So since our pilots who were doing as Iraq agreed they could, but were able to evada AAA fire, in your eyes that doesn't count? Since they weren't shooting at YOU but at those who lay their life down to secure your freedom, it doesn't count. That's a heck of a selfish attitude, but not unexpected from a lib. Bottom line is, you said we weren't attacked, yet clearly we were.
Maybe I am the disillusioned one here, but how can someone be elected to the nation's highest office, and then try to change our form of government, and not incite resistance in the least? I believe there are some Democrats who would put their heads in a guillotine for Obama.
Deselby_ I will reiterate Tiger's post- we do nothing until an American service member is killed, OK unless it is a member of your family huh? Sadam wasn't invovled in crimes against humanity? Those mass graves and tapes on the internet, the rape rooms etc were OK because stoping those things were Bush's war? Again I'll ask you what did the Serbs do to America that we went to war agianst them? Iraq just had an election, one of many so things are going better there than under Sadam! What did the Serbs in Bosinia do that the Musllims in Durfur haven't?
What do you call the take over of private automobile companies, US Banks, cramming a government take over of our health care system which the majority of Americans oppose , if not socialism? Some call it Progressivism, which nothing more than a euphemism for socialism.
It sounds to me chillen you think all the current tea partiers are REPUBLICANS from my understanding I thought the make up of those angry and bitter people crossed party lines. So you suggest the Democrats start a tea party movement? If they do (which I doubt) I wonder what type of signs and slogans will be on display and shouted? All the ones I see from the current partiers are DISTASTEFUL and out right RACIST.
themaninthemirror
Wednesday, Mar. 10 8:58 AM
* Report
Maybe I am the disillusioned one here, but how can someone be elected to the nation's highest office, and then try to change our form of government, and not incite resistance in the least? I believe there are some Democrats who would put their heads in a guillotine for Obama.
They ain't true DIMocRATS, they are Progressives like BimbObama.