Lubbock Left

I know this isn’t a local issue, but I miss fresh content on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report so much.

YouTube Video

And for some yuks:
http://xkcd.com/360

The above image was dugg pretty heavily today, and I think it’s worth reflecting on. What is the popular appeal of Ron Paul, and why is the Republican Party working so hard to suppress it?

I admire Ron Paul for bucking the Republican Party status quo and for his stance on the Iraq War. That’s about it, though. However, I think he is the candidate that best matches the modern Republican voter. Like Kucinich on our side, he should be a strong contender, but the Party leadership and big media don’t want to hear it.

One side note about the above image — I think it’s a bit misleading in one aspect. The major candidates don’t use meetup.com to organize their supporters. Instead, they have their own in-house systems that accomplish the same and more. So, the numbers in the image are a bit of apples vs oranges.

What are your thoughts about Ron Paul and about “minor candidates” in general?

Recently, the A-J, via LubbockOnline, began hosting a political blog called Mr. Conservative, written by Dr. Donald May. I was quite frustrated when this blog launched, because it was the only non-staff blog at LubbockOnline and Dr. May is a staunch Republican. (And his letters to the editor are some of my least favorite of all time.)

Well, it turns out that the LubbockOnline folks were planning a political blog to balance Mr. Conservative, and it launched today. Lubbock, meet Freda McVay, a Liberal Lubbockian**.

I’ve known Freda for a few years now, and she’s great. She speaks well, writes well, and has done a lot of good for our community. She also did her part as a candidate against Mr. Carl Isett a few years ago.

I can’t wait to read more blog posts from her, and I relish the chance to do a side-by-side comparison of her blog with Dr. May’s blog.

** Yes, I know we’re “Lubbockites” here. After reading the first post, you’ll realize, as I did, that the title is meant as a Molly Ivins tribute. RIP, Molly.

Sunday’s A-J included an editorial from Lubbock Mayor David Miller. I’m surprised because it’s not that bad of an editorial.

A few points that I like:

• He recognizes that Lubbock citizens want “time to build consensus on what our taxpayers believe is needed to position our city for the next 100 years.” Good.
• He regognizes the importance of maintaining our core streets like 34th St. Also good.
• He wants to address Lubbock’s ridiculous teen pregnancy and STD rates: “Doing nothing is no longer an option.” Absolutely.

I am pleasantly surprised by the Mayor’s editorial, but, as always, deeds will speak louder than words.

Here’s another gem from MoveOn.org’s 50 Ways to Love Your Country, this time about responding to biased reporting:

The media are indeed biased, but, if we speak up when the facts as they report them do not match the facts that we or others have observed, we can help neutralize the propaganda and get back to the reporting.

I don’t care whether you believe that the overall media leans conservative or liberal — biased reporting is harmful either way, especially on the local level. So, how do we fight it? Some of my favorite suggestions from this chapter are (paraphrased):

Let your passion be your guide; select an area that you care about for your media watch.

Make a note to yourself whenever you notice something that doesn’t sound right or something that is obviously false. Do research online and in person to seek the truth.

Choose your battles. It’s ineffective to become the “crank” who complains about every story, but you can save notes on a specific trend you see in your local media and then make a larger complaint.

I can say with confidence that I know some Lubbockites that are “cranks.” Being a crank is a speedy way to marginalize yourself and decrease your effectiveness. Of course, even a crank can tell the truth; the question is whether anyone will listen.

I’m still at a loss for how to address Lubbock’s right-wing radio stations that present nonstop cherry-picked news with conservative commentary. Who do you complain to there? They know what they’re doing, and are sometimes directly run by Republican Party leaders. (The state of talk radio shows how Reagan really screwed us when his administration did away with the fairness doctrine.)

I believe that TV and print media in Lubbock are generally more responsive to media watchdogs, because they have a reputation of reliable news to maintain.

We’ll see how online media in the area evolves.

Thoughts?

Former City Councilman Gary Boren was guest hosting Robert Pratt’s radio show today while Pratt is on vacation / suspension / whatever. He remarked that he wished we could force prisoners into the army to go fight in Iraq for us. He prefaced this remark by saying that it might sound “extreme Right Wing.” You don’t say, Gary.

Felons, by committing crimes, have already demonstrated that they don’t deserve the full trust of our society. If you, as a soldier, can’t trust your buddy next to you in the foxhole, then you’re screwed.

It’s bad enough that we have a large mercenary fighting force — somewhere in the tens of thousands — fighting many of our battles. It’s worse still to consider using prisoners to fight our wars.

With brilliant ideas like that, I hope Boren doesn’t have aspirations for higher office.

Looks like the Dallas Morning News Editorial Board published an editorial about the need to change course in Iraq. In the past, they have been big supporters of the Bush foreign policy; critics agree that this is a significant reversal in position. Color me surprised!

From the editorial:

Americans are being asked for a level of patience that they do not have and that the White House has not earned. It is time for Iraqi troops to take over this fight, even if it means risking full-blown civil war.

And wow, they also have an editorial urging Congress to pass a “20 percent renewable energy standard.”

Did this newspaper dinosaur evolve while I wasn’t looking, or what?