Showing posts with label speaker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label speaker. Show all posts

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Far-Right Bill Kristol Comes To Defense Of Rep. Joe Wilson

Rep. Joe Wilson’s outrageous and disgraceful outburst during President Obama’s speech before a joint session of Congress has set in and now some of the far-right commentators are beginning to come to the defense of their newly-declared hero (perhaps he represents their feelings, attitudes, professionalism and ability to self control). I am not contending that Wilson should have someone put a foot up his ass and sending him flying out of Congress. But, he does not to be soundly condemned for his ridiculous outburst that bring into question his mental stability.

Predictably on Fox, Kristol had this to say:

KRISTOL: Can I just say one thing? He [Obama] is leading his party off a cliff, and Speaker Pelosi is going to lead his party — her party off the cliff if they try to rebuke Joe Wilson.

He has apologized. It will be a disgrace if they do some stunt in the House to try to humiliate this man, who is, in fact — has a reputation for bipartisanship on the Armed Services Committee and the Foreign Relations Committee he’s on.

Obama and Pelosi are leading the party off a cliff, I think, and I hope a lot of Democrats say, Slow down. Let’s take a look at this bill.

People on both sides of the aisle have come together to condemn the garbage the world heard from Wilson. This should not be a partisan issue in the very least. This is something both sides should be able to come together and denounce. The fact that Kristol is saying something like this shows how irrational and unreasonable he is for the lack of respect and discipline shown by Wilson. Kristol, rather skillfully, has tried to twist this around and use it as an excuse to attack President Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi. This is not about President Obama and Speaker Pelosi. This is about Joe Wilson.

Think Progress:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/09/13/kristol-leave-wilson-alone/

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Fox News Quotes Right Winger In Story About Bias On College Campuses

Well, leave it to Fox News to write and publish a one-sided and biased story about speaker bias on college campuses. Fox News decides to quote the right-wing activist David Horowitz in a story about college campuses inviting more liberal than conservative speakers.

Here’s an excerpt from the Fox News story:

“The colleges have been transformed,” said Horowitz, whose organization, Students for Academic Freedom, tracks ideological bias on campus. “They’re now these partisan institutions. They’re not going to change.”

Horowitz ran a study in 2003 that looked at commencement speakers at 32 top institutions in the U.S. for the previous 10 years. He found that liberals and Democrats were favored over conservatives by a ratio of 15-1. And then he stopped counting.

“It’s permanent. It’s not going to change, partly because there’s so little attention being paid to it,” he told FOXNews.com.

Horowitz, however, can not be trusted (unless you’re from Fox News) to present an unbiased perspective on this issue (or, for that matter, many other issues he and his group are affiliated with). He has a significant credibility gap and, thus, anything he says is suspect.

That being said, however, I encourage different perspectives on college campuses in terms of lectures over the course of the academic school year. Students should have opportunities to hear speakers coming from reasonably different perspectives.

Fox News:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05/14/conservative-speakers-widely-shunned-graduation-ceremonies/