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General discussion

Even the NYT thinks Democrat abuse of 'soft money'...

Mar 11, 2004 4:00AM PST

needs to be halted.

Soft Money Slinks Back

We sympathize with the Democrats' desire to level the playing field. But they do not have to subvert the law to do it.

and

In addition, anyone who was angered at phony "issue ads" in the last campaign will have little patience with the claims of one group, the Media Fund, that the ads it just unleashed are all about issues, not promoting candidates. One of the group's first broadsides declares that "George Bush's priorities are eroding the American dream," suggesting that the group's one and only ambition is to retire George Bush. That, in turn, represents an illegal use of soft money by an avowedly political group to influence federal elections.

USERNAME == speakeasygang
PASSWORD == speakeasy

Discussion is locked

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Re:Even the NYT thinks Democrat abuse of 'soft money'...
Mar 11, 2004 4:10AM PST

Hi, Ed.

In the meantime, how about the tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal corporate contributions for direct campaigning represented by the three daily hours, M-F, of Clear Channel's "Sean Hannity" show, whose stated purpose is "Hannitizing the vote for President Bush and the Republican Party?" Each show starts with a countdown of how many days left until the election, just in case anyone missed the reason why this travesty suddenly replaced the politically neutral Sam Donaldson talk show on Clear Channel stations across the country about a month ago...

-- Dave K.
Speakeasy Moderator
click here to email semods4@yahoo.com

The opinions expressed above are my own,
and do not necessarily reflect those of CNET!

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Hate to remind you but...
Mar 11, 2004 5:25AM PST

there is NOTHING illegal about any of that (and you are imagining the corporate contributions for the shows--paranoia?) while what was cited in the NYT article is a direct violation of the finance reform.

We could mention a few Liberal shows/columnists that do the same but we won't as I am sure you are aware of them but they just slipped your mind.

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Re:Hate to remind you but...
Mar 11, 2004 12:07PM PST

Hi, Ed.

There's a big difference between this show and even Rush and the usual right-wing rabble. It appeared just at the beginning of an election year, features a countdown to the election, and specifically lists "Hannitizing the vote for President Bush and the Republicans" as its major purpose. That's in no way a "news and information" show that should be exempt from the residue of the "fairness doctrine" -- it's Clear Channel's way (along with the right-wing advertisers) of giving tens to hundreds of millions to Bush's re-election drive.

-- Dave K, Speakeasy Moderator
click here to email semods4@yahoo.com

The opinions expressed above are my own,
and do not necessarily reflect those of CNET!

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So?! The Democrats have all those liberal college professors and their...
Mar 11, 2004 12:36PM PST

...mandatory diversity courses, and social science courses. Universities have been liberal forums for years, now conservatives have radio for theirs.

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Re: So?! The Democrats have all those liberal college professors and their...
Mar 12, 2004 8:33AM PST

Hi, James.

First of all, the sad fact is that the number of liberal college professors is diminishing. Secondly, that's completely irrelevant to discussion of illegal CORPORATE campaign activities.

-- Dave K.
Speakeasy Moderator
click here to email semods4@yahoo.com

The opinions expressed above are my own,
and do not necessarily reflect those of CNET!

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Universities are Big Business too.
Mar 12, 2004 1:11PM PST
Secondly, that's completely irrelevant to discussion of illegal CORPORATE campaign activities.

Universities are Big Business too. Do you mean to tell me none of them are incorporated? Just because their business is teaching should not exempt them from the political equation.
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Difference? Only in your mind Dave, only in YOUR mind. (NT)
Mar 12, 2004 1:40AM PST