John Edwards has a fever

[Hotplant]

90% of all men are basically dogs. Period .

[danelectro59]

Duh-bya- "Mission Accomplished".

"You're doin' a great job here, Brownie!"

[wanna be drummer]

No I'm not kidding

And as I'm neither Republican nor Democrat nor American, I can watch with a more objective eye

And I can tell you that Fox news borders on shamefull, that no other news channel comes close to its level of bias. Not in reporting the news, but in the copious amounts of commentary and opinion that they have on afterwards... It's almost theatre it's that bad

Most of you complaining about the news are conservatives or republicans, and what I find hilarious is that you criticise the media simply because it isn't sympathetic to your viewpoint or ideology...

Now if the media were so biased, how is it that Clinton suffered such terrible, scrutinized coverage during Monica Lewinsky, and yet Bush's blunders have only really been tackled by late-night comedy show hosts?

If the American media is so liberally biased, how come they all shut down any discussion during the opening of the Iraq War? Not a bad word was said about anyone or anything in that month...

Because sex sells. Haven't you learned that by now?

[wanna be drummer]

90% of all men are basically dogs. Period .

Yeah thats a rational thought

[I have got a horsey]

Because sex sells. Haven't you learned that by now?

oy vey...I just wish my sex would sell, you know what I mean?

[Nathan]

No I'm not kidding

And as I'm neither Republican nor Democrat nor American, I can watch with a more objective eye

Actually, there is a distinct Liberal bent in all of your posts in any of the political threads. You are obviously not Conservative, and I have no doubt, if you were an American citizen, you'd vote Democrat every time.

That's not a bad thing, mind you, but I can tell you, with all honesty, that there is no objective eye on your part. You are a Liberal.

Of course, you have good reason to be, as the Democrats are much better with the International community then Republicans are. I'd say the majority of the International community is Liberal. And yes, that is something to like about the Democrats, because it means, with a Democrat in office, America could very well become popular again in the International community.

So I'm not calling you out for your Liberal bias or saying it is unjustified, because it certainly is justified. However, you do have a Liberal bias.

And I can tell you that Fox news borders on shamefull, that no other news channel comes close to its level of bias. Not in reporting the news, but in the copious amounts of commentary and opinion that they have on afterwards... It's almost theatre it's that bad

Oh I agree completely that Fox's bias is shameful. However, the only difference between Fox's Conservative bent and the other news channels' Liberal bent is that Fox sucks at camouflaging it. CNN, MSNBC, NPR... all those channels... camouflage their bias within the newscast, although, IMO, they don't do it very well. Fox, on the other hand, is quite blatant about it.

Most of you complaining about the news are conservatives or republicans, and what I find hilarious is that you criticise the media simply because it isn't sympathetic to your viewpoint or ideology...

I have said this a thousand times, but I am neither Conservative nor Liberal. I am not a fan of either party, and think it's time for some new parties to take over. I think both the Democratic Party and the Republican party have been lost to corruption, and that we, as Americans, need to remove both parties from office once and for all.

So I'd say there is no media, be it Liberal or Conservative, that is "sympathetic to my view-point/ideology."

Every single Liberal person I know off line, and many on line, complain almost too much about Fox News and its Conservative bias. However, there is less for a Liberal to complain about because so many media sources are Liberal that Fox News doesn't matter. Liberals have CNN, MSNBC, NPR, NBC, ABC, CBS, Headline News... all Conservatives have is Fox News, and Liberals won't even give them that. So what is there for Liberals to complain about?

Now if the media were so biased, how is it that Clinton suffered such terrible, scrutinized coverage during Monica Lewinsky, and yet Bush's blunders have only really been tackled by late-night comedy show hosts?

In Clinton's case, he lied about it. If he had just admitted it and apologized, with the exception of Fox, it would have been a "thing of the past" within a week. Instead, Clinton lied about it, under oath, in front of the entire country. Of course we were upset.

As far as Bush is concerned, however, his blunders simply aren't news anymore. We all know he isn't as educated as he'd like us to believe, and we all know he's going to blunder. No need to make something so expected a top story when that spot is usually reserved for unexpected things.

If the American media is so liberally biased, how come they all shut down any discussion during the opening of the Iraq War? Not a bad word was said about anyone or anything in that month...

Honestly? Because we Americans were duped. When the idea of the Iraq War first came up, 9/11 was still fresh in our minds, and we were all united against terrorism, albeit rather blindly. So the Bush Administration used that to their advantage and fed us this cock-and-bull story about Nuclear Weapons and how Saddam Hussein was just as dangerous as Osama Bin Laden and had to be taken care of, and we ate it up. Of course, about a year later, Bush's lies came back to haunt him, and the media was consistently on his case about it until the Iraq War ceased to be news, which happened about one-in-a-half to two years ago.

With your permission, I'd like to bring you into the present and offer you the media coverage of the Democrats and Republicans who were/are running for President today. CNN, MSNBC, NPR, and those stations all have a love-affair with Barack Obama. They can't get enough of him. And when Hillary was still in the running, they couldn't get enough of the two of them. Fox News, on the other hand, courts McCain. McCain, of course, is a blip on the radar to CNN and that ilk.

The Bias is quite distinct if you yourself either don't have a bias or are biased in the opposite direction.

I can freely admit to being able to watch all news media with an objective eye and being able to see the bias both ways quite easily because I am neither a Democrat or a Republican. In fact, the only unbiased commentator I have ever known is the one commentator all Democrats and Republicans unitedly think is crazy, Neil Boortz. Why? Because like him, I hate both parties, and as he hates both parties, you are guaranteed a negative balanced commentary from him. And as a hater of both parties, if I am going to have biased commentary, it sure as hell better be biased against both.

Notice this, Gainesbarre. Any Republican will tell you that CNN is one of the most biased, left-wing new channels around. Any Democrat will say the exact same thing about Fox, only that it's right-wing. By the same token, any Republican will tell you that Fox News is the only unbiased, balanced news source around, whereas any Democrat will say the exact same thing about CNN. If that doesn't prove bias, I don't know what does.

[I have got a horsey]

Actually, there is a distinct Liberal bent in all of your posts in any of the political threads. You are obviously not Conservative, and I have no doubt, if you were an American citizen, you'd vote Democrat every time.

I have said this a thousand times, but I am neither Conservative nor Liberal. I am not a fan of either party, and think it's time for some new parties to take over. I think both the Democratic Party and the Republican party have been lost to corruption, and that we, as Americans, need to remove both parties from office once and for all.

Well if you can say you're neither liberal nor conservative then Gainsbarre can do the same

The trouble with discussing politics USA is there is too much of this liberal/conservative or republican/democrat dichotomy

[wanna be drummer]

Well if you can say you're neither liberal nor conservative then Gainsbarre can do the same

The trouble with discussing politics USA is there is too much of this liberal/conservative or republican/democrat dichotomy

The difference being, Gainesbarre posts very clearly define him as liberal whereas Nathans do not place him in either category specifically. So, Nathan is correct in saying that he is neither. Gainesbarre would not be had he have said, "I am neither Liberal nor Conservative"...which he actually didn't do...

So I guess I don't see your point.

[Nathan]

Well if you can say you're neither liberal nor conservative then Gainsbarre can do the same

The trouble with discussing politics USA is there is too much of this liberal/conservative or republican/democrat dichotomy

I never said Gainesbarre couldn't. I just don't believe he's neither. I believe he's Liberal from his posts.

Let me list what I believe, and y'all tell me if I'm Liberal or Conservative:

-I believe both parties need to go.

-I am pro Gun Control but anti Gun Ban. most criminals get their guns illegally, anyways. Banning guns only hurts the victims; it empowers the criminals.

-Though I am a guy, I am pro Choice

-I am anti Censorship/PC. I may heavily disagree with what Kramer and Imus said, and I may hope that they accept the consequences they brought upon themselves. But I will give my life for their right to say what they said, even though it was wrong.

-I am pro Gay Rights and pro Gay Marriage.

-In relation to the above, I am pro Human rights

-I do think we as people have over-polluted the Earth and I do think we have been quite harmful to the Ecosystem of our planet. That said, we are not the soul cause of Global Warming nor the main cause, as it is a natural process that we sped up. And I do not think us stopping pollution completely will slow it down, though it will stop speeding it up.

-I think the War on drugs is stupid.

-I think Marijuana should be legal. You want to keep Marijuana off the streets? Legalize it, sell it alongside cigarettes, give it a high price, and tax it at 100%. "Oh yeah. It's $40 for a pack of joints, but with tax that'll be $80." No one will buy it... at least, not often.

-I think the Iraq War is bad, but combating terrorism is something that needs to be done, and we need to find Osama Bin Laden already.

-I am pro Israel

-I agree with the separation of Church and State.

-I am anti-big government but I do think that for people who are poor because life dealt then a bad hand, we should have governmental programs that help them out on a temporary basis (that is, a set amount of time to help them until they can get a job to help themselves).

-If you are poor because you dropped out of school and decided to be lazy, sucks to be you. The American Dream isn't handed to you on a silver platter. You have to work for it. So get up off your lazy ass, get a degree, and get a job. Or quit complaining.

-I think the poor-level margin should be raised.

-I think the minimum wage should be raised a little more.

-I do think that we should be kinder to animals, and endangered species should be protected. However, if a shark (that is part of an endangered species of shark) attacks someone I love or myself, I should be allowed to kill that shark in defense of that person I love and/or myself without getting sued by PETA or going to jail.

-Racism is bad. But everybody is a tad biased towards their own race and against all other races. Nobody on this planet is completely tolerant of an "outside race," and anyone who says they are is lying.

-Serial Killers, Rapists, Pedophiles, and any combination of the three deserve the death penalty, period. I don't give a shit about their mental health. I don't give a shit about how they were brought up. If they fall into any of those four categories, they die, because my tax money will not go to providing them a roof over their head, a place to sleep, and three meals a day. But I have no problem paying for their death.

-We are sue happy. There should be restrictions in place as far as what people can sue for. Anybody should not be allowed to sue anyone for anything.

-Gas prices are too high. And quite frankly, I don't give a shit if we have the cheapest gas prices in the world. I pay for gas in the USA. I drive in the USA. So I only care about gas prices in the USA. And they are too high.

-I don't have a problem with drilling in Anwar and off-shore. It may not be a long-term fix, but it should hold us over long enough to find a reliable, workable, (and hopefully) renewable alternative energy source.

-Technology is moving a little too fast. I got my cell phone when it was brand new. It didn't take 6 months before it was all but obsolete. That is too fast. I should've at least had a year with it before it went obsolete.

-The Free Market really isn't a bad thing, when used correctly.

So... Democrat or Republican? Or neither? Or both?

[I have got a horsey]

So... Democrat or Republican? Or neither? Or both?

mm, Liberal conservative

[Nathan]

mm, Liberal conservative

So both? Hmm...

Never though of it that way...

I tend to find myself in more agreement with libertarians then anyone else. For as y'all know, I supported Ron Paul. Also the 2006-created Moderate Party is another one I seem to fall in with.

[danelectro59]

I never said Gainesbarre couldn't. I just don't believe he's neither. I believe he's Liberal from his posts.

Let me list what I believe, and y'all tell me if I'm Liberal or Conservative:

-I believe both parties need to go.

-I am pro Gun Control but anti Gun Ban. most criminals get their guns illegally, anyways. Banning guns only hurts the victims; it empowers the criminals.

-Though I am a guy, I am pro Choice

-I am anti Censorship/PC

-I am pro Gay Rights and pro Gay Marriage. I may heavily disagree with what Kramer and Imus said, and I may hope that they accept the consequences they brought upon themselves. But I will give my life for their right to say what they said, even though it was wrong.

-In relation to the above, I am pro Human rights

-I do think we as people have over-polluted the Earth and I do think we have been quite harmful to the Ecosystem of our planet. That said, we are not the soul cause of Global Warming nor the main cause, as it is a natural process that we sped up. And I do not think us stopping pollution completely will slow it down, though it will stop speeding it up.

-I think the War on drugs is stupid.

-I think Marijuana should be legal.

-I think the Iraq War is bad, but combating terrorism is something that needs to be done, and we need to find Osama Bin Laden already.

-I am pro Israel

-I agree with the separation of Church and State.

-I am anti-big government but I do think that for people who are poor because life dealt then a bad hand, we should have governmental programs that help them out on a temporary basis (that is, a set amount of time to help them until they can get a job to help themselves).

-If you are poor because you dropped out of school and decided to be lazy, sucks to be you. The American Dream isn't handed to you on a silver platter. You have to work for it. So get up off your lazy ass, get a degree, and get a job. Or quit complaining.

-I think the poor-level margin should be raised.

-I think the minimum wage should be raised a little more.

-I do think that we should be kinder to animals, and endangered species should be protected. However, if a shark (that is part of an endangered species of shark) attacks someone I love or myself, I should be allowed to kill that shark in defense of that person I love and/or myself without getting sued by PETA or going to jail.

-Racism is bad. But everybody is a tad biased towards their own race and against all other races. Nobody on this planet is completely tolerant of an "outside race," and anyone who says they are is lying.

-Serial Killers, Rapists, Pedophiles, and any combination of the three deserve the death penalty, period. I don't give a shit about their mental health. I don't give a shit about how they were brought up. If they fall into any of those four categories, they die, because my tax money will not go to providing them a roof over their head, a place to sleep, and three meals a day. But I have no problem paying for their death.

-We are sue happy. There should be restrictions in place as far as what people can sue for. Anybody should not be allowed to sue anyone for anything.

-Gas prices are too high. And quite frankly, I don't give a shit if we have the cheapest gas prices in the world. I pay for gas in the USA. I drive in the USA. So I only care about gas prices in the USA. And they are too high.

-I don't have a problem with drilling in Anwar and off-shore. It may not be a long-term fix, but it should hold us over long enough to find a reliable, workable, (and hopefully) renewable alternative energy source.

-Technology is moving a little too fast. I got my cell phone when it was brand new. It didn't take 6 months before it was all but obsolete. That is too fast. I should've at least had a year with it before it went obsolete.

-The Free Market really isn't a bad thing, when used correctly.

So... Democrat or Republican? Or neither? Or both?

Well, you ain't a communist

But you missed a few things.

One is jobs leaving our country for the Far East and jobs being taken by illegal immigrants.

Who benefits from that?

[Nathan]

Well, you ain't a communist

But you missed a few things.

One is jobs leaving our country for the Far East and jobs being taken by illegal immigrants.

Who benefits from that?

You have no idea how much it pisses me off when I call tech support and get some Indian who lies about his name ("My name is Roger." No it isn't, you liar. Your name is something I couldn't pronounce if my life depended on it.) and doesn't understand a word I'm saying. I'd love to talk to an American who actually knows what I'm saying and knows what he's talking about for once. No offense to any Indians here, but seriously.

And if you can't come to this country legally, then you shouldn't come at all, period. I do not think we should simply legalize all of our illegal immigrants. I think we should deport them, then take a look at our... process that makes non-citizens citizens (forgot what it was called )..., figure out what's wrong with it that makes immigrants not want to go through it, fix those problems, and give those deportees a chance to become legal citizens of the USA.

Another one I forgot... I have no problem making English the official language of America. When I'm at Burger King ordering my food, I don't want to have to spend 20 minutes trying to get Raoul, who doesn't even know that English is a real language, to understand my order. I don't go to Mexico and expect to be able to get by without knowing Spanish. I don't go to Germany and expect to be able to get by without knowing German. I don't go to France and expect to get by without knowing French. I don't go to Israel and expect to get by without knowing Hebrew. So don't come to the USA and expect to get by without knowing English. Period.

[Electrophile]

I don't care what the guy's name is when I call tech support and I sure as shit don't give a damn where he's from. All I care about is "can this guy help me fix my computer so that I don't have to spend $1200 buying a new one". I don't have a problem understanding them, and if they want to call themselves Rainbow Brite, let them. Their job is to help people, and they do that. The only time I would complain is if they told me to do something, and it didn't work.

[marolyn]

You have no idea how much it pisses me off when I call tech support and get some Indian who lies about his name

So don't come to the USA and expect to get by without knowing English. Period.

newsflash...roger hasn't come to your country...big business is outsourcing your tech support to india...

[Nathan]

I don't care what the guy's name is when I call tech support and I sure as shit don't give a damn where he's from. All I care about is "can this guy help me fix my computer so that I don't have to spend $1200 buying a new one". I don't have a problem understanding them, and if they want to call themselves Rainbow Brite, let them. Their job is to help people, and they do that. The only time I would complain is if they told me to do something, and it didn't work.

Well I don't know what tech support you're calling, but the "tech support" I'm calling doesn't even know English. I have to explain my problem something like 30 times before I finally hang up and get a friend of mine to fix it for me.

I guess you have enough patience to sit there and repeat the exact same thing for 6 hours while "Roger" looks through his translation dictionary to figure out what each word means so he can peace together an idea that may or may not be your problem, but I don't. If I need a fix, I need it in the next few minutes. NOT the next few hours.

newsflash...roger hasn't come to your country...big business is outsourcing your tech support to india...

This is my fault. I talked about two very separate issues in the same paragraph. The part about Roger had to do with outsourcing. The second half (the part about coming to this country legally) had nothing to do with Roger and tech support. Forgive me for the confusion. I'll go ahead and fix that in my post.

[redrum]

It took a tabloid paper to finally bring national attention to this story..

For those with Enquiring minds.

[Electrophile]

Well I don't know what tech support you're calling, but the "tech support" I'm calling doesn't even know English. I have to explain my problem something like 30 times before I finally hang up and get a friend of mine to fix it for me.

I guess you have enough patience to sit there and repeat the exact same thing for 6 hours while "Roger" looks through his translation dictionary to figure out what each word means so he can peace together an idea that may or may not be your problem, but I don't. If I need a fix, I need it in the next few minutes. NOT the next few hours.

I use Dell, so that's the tech support I call. I've been using their computers for about 7 years now, and have only had to call tech support about 5 times for various issues. The only time I had to repeat myself was when they asked for my name and because it's long and foreign-sounding, he asked me to repeat it and spell it because frankly, I know people born and bred in this country that can't say it/spell it. And I had no problem with that. I think the longest I ever spent on the phone with tech support was 3 hours and that's when my computer crashed and he had to walk me through re-installing my OS so that my computer was functional again. Any other call I've had to make took less than 45 minutes and it was all ticky-tack stuff that I'm a complete n00b about and needed some clarification.

I think it's less about having patience and more about understanding that their job is to help you so that you don't have to pay buckets of money for them to do it for you. I could have easily sent my computer to Dell and had them fix it, but I was in school and needed the computer right away. So I spent 3 hours of my day getting it fixed and haven't had it crash since.

I know there will be people complaining that they're taking jobs away from Americans, but I don't care who answers the phone when I call. Indian, Russian, Chinese, French....I don't really care. All I want is someone who knows more about computers than I do who can help me fix my machine. That's it.

[Nathan]

I know what the problem is! We're calling at the exact same time every time and you're getting all the good people I should be getting!

So it's your fault...

LOL

I use Dell, so that's the tech support I call.

I use HP and Toshiba. Their tech support sucks. My Dad uses Dell, but he's had nothing but issues with the tech support. He was once on the phone for two hours with them before he finally hung up frustrated. One only needed to hear his side of the conversation to understand what was wrong. The guy on the other line had absolutely no idea what Dad was saying. And Dad speaks clearly. He is not hard to understand, even over the phone.

I've been using their computers for about 7 years now, and have only had to call tech support about 5 times for various issues. The only time I had to repeat myself was when they asked for my name and because it's long and foreign-sounding, he asked me to repeat it and spell it because frankly, I know people born and bred in this country that can't say it/spell it. And I had no problem with that. I think the longest I ever spent on the phone with tech support was 3 hours and that's when my computer crashed and he had to walk me through re-installing my OS so that my computer was functional again. Any other call I've had to make took less than 45 minutes and it was all ticky-tack stuff that I'm a complete n00b about and needed some clarification.

Obviously you've been lucky. That's the best I can say. We just consistently have problems to the point where we've completely given up on tech support.

I think it's less about having patience and more about understanding that their job is to help you so that you don't have to pay buckets of money for them to do it for you. I could have easily sent my computer to Dell and had them fix it, but I was in school and needed the computer right away. So I spent 3 hours of my day getting it fixed and haven't had it crash since.

The point is that the people I always end up talking to don't actually know English and, as such, fail to help me... every single time.

I know there will be people complaining that they're taking jobs away from Americans, but I don't care who answers the phone when I call. Indian, Russian, Chinese, French....I don't really care. All I want is someone who knows more about computers than I do who can help me fix my machine. That's it.

It isn't so much that I hate it being a foreigner. But I want someone with enough English under their belt that when we talk, they can understand me and I can understand them, and the 3 hours is spent fixing my computer, not trying to figure each other out.

[Lake of Shadows]

I never said Gainesbarre couldn't. I just don't believe he's neither. I believe he's Liberal from his posts.

Let me list what I believe, and y'all tell me if I'm Liberal or Conservative:

-I believe both parties need to go.

-I am pro Gun Control but anti Gun Ban. most criminals get their guns illegally, anyways. Banning guns only hurts the victims; it empowers the criminals.

-Though I am a guy, I am pro Choice

-I am anti Censorship/PC. I may heavily disagree with what Kramer and Imus said, and I may hope that they accept the consequences they brought upon themselves. But I will give my life for their right to say what they said, even though it was wrong.

-I am pro Gay Rights and pro Gay Marriage.

-In relation to the above, I am pro Human rights

-I do think we as people have over-polluted the Earth and I do think we have been quite harmful to the Ecosystem of our planet. That said, we are not the soul cause of Global Warming nor the main cause, as it is a natural process that we sped up. And I do not think us stopping pollution completely will slow it down, though it will stop speeding it up.

-I think the War on drugs is stupid.

-I think Marijuana should be legal. You want to keep Marijuana off the streets? Legalize it, sell it alongside cigarettes, give it a high price, and tax it at 100%. "Oh yeah. It's $40 for a pack of joints, but with tax that'll be $80." No one will buy it... at least, not often.

-I think the Iraq War is bad, but combating terrorism is something that needs to be done, and we need to find Osama Bin Laden already.

-I am pro Israel

-I agree with the separation of Church and State.

-I am anti-big government but I do think that for people who are poor because life dealt then a bad hand, we should have governmental programs that help them out on a temporary basis (that is, a set amount of time to help them until they can get a job to help themselves).

-If you are poor because you dropped out of school and decided to be lazy, sucks to be you. The American Dream isn't handed to you on a silver platter. You have to work for it. So get up off your lazy ass, get a degree, and get a job. Or quit complaining.

-I think the poor-level margin should be raised.

-I think the minimum wage should be raised a little more.

-I do think that we should be kinder to animals, and endangered species should be protected. However, if a shark (that is part of an endangered species of shark) attacks someone I love or myself, I should be allowed to kill that shark in defense of that person I love and/or myself without getting sued by PETA or going to jail.

-Racism is bad. But everybody is a tad biased towards their own race and against all other races. Nobody on this planet is completely tolerant of an "outside race," and anyone who says they are is lying.

-Serial Killers, Rapists, Pedophiles, and any combination of the three deserve the death penalty, period. I don't give a shit about their mental health. I don't give a shit about how they were brought up. If they fall into any of those four categories, they die, because my tax money will not go to providing them a roof over their head, a place to sleep, and three meals a day. But I have no problem paying for their death.

-We are sue happy. There should be restrictions in place as far as what people can sue for. Anybody should not be allowed to sue anyone for anything.

-Gas prices are too high. And quite frankly, I don't give a shit if we have the cheapest gas prices in the world. I pay for gas in the USA. I drive in the USA. So I only care about gas prices in the USA. And they are too high.

-I don't have a problem with drilling in Anwar and off-shore. It may not be a long-term fix, but it should hold us over long enough to find a reliable, workable, (and hopefully) renewable alternative energy source.

-Technology is moving a little too fast. I got my cell phone when it was brand new. It didn't take 6 months before it was all but obsolete. That is too fast. I should've at least had a year with it before it went obsolete.

-The Free Market really isn't a bad thing, when used correctly.

So... Democrat or Republican? Or neither? Or both?

I'd have to say you're some of 'either' and some of 'both'. For one thing, I don't think "Republican" and "Democrat" automatically mean "Conservative" and "Liberal". I consider 'conservative' and 'liberal' to be how we tend to view things or think things should be done while 'Republican' and 'Democrat' are group mechanisms (for lack of a better phrase) by which we act upon/carry out those views.

I've known some pretty conservative Democrats and some pretty liberal Republicans. I consider myself to be liberally moderate or moderately liberal in general, but there are certain issues where I differe with that quite a bit. (Generally, here on the board I tend to come across more liberal than I actually am, but sometimes it's hard to get some of the more subtle nuances across on a message board).

[A brief digression... I think the word you were looking for regarding the process by which immigrants become U.S. citizens is 'naturalization'].

As for media bias... I think all of the media has some 'bias', just as most/all people do as well. I think a lot of the bias is 'unintentional' and I think totally eliminating it would be very difficult, if not impossible. I think the important thing to do is acknowledge that it exists, be aware of what it is, and interpret the news through the appropriate filter. Watching Fox News and indignantly shouting that they aren't biased is ludicrous, same goes for listening to NPR or Air America. I think it's beneficial to tune in to FoxNews and CNN and ABC and MSNBC, etc. etc. I think it's useful to get your information from a lot of different sources and then make up your mind about things as best you can. (And fergawdsake, it won't kill anybody to pick up a book once in awhile and read something more in-depth than tv soundbites).

...Just a couple more pennies.

[Dzldoc]

Off topic but a couple good posts there. Thanx for the change

[I have got a horsey]

Another one I forgot... I have no problem making English the official language of America. When I'm at Burger King ordering my food, I don't want to have to spend 20 minutes trying to get Raoul, who doesn't even know that English is a real language, to understand my order. I don't go to Mexico and expect to be able to get by without knowing Spanish.

I have to agree with you, in my city we've had a huge influx of Indian immigrants who a lot of them are now working at Burger King and McDonalds and the communication/language problems are terrible. In my old job, at certains times they used to provide me with a security guard, and the security company always only provided Indian security guards. And, don't get me wrong, the Indian guards were always friendly, nice people, but I just got so fed up with making 4 hours of conversation with guys who I simply could not understand anything they were saying...

[The Rover]

John Edwards Admits to Affair, Denies He's Father of Lover's Child

Saturday, August 09, 2008

AP

John Edwards's paternity admission vindicates National Enquirer, its editor says

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/21/AR2010012102670_pf.html

Friday, January 22, 2010

The executive editor of the National Enquirer says he plans to enter his paper's work on the John Edwards scandal for a Pulitzer Prize.

Don't laugh.

"It's clear we should be a contender for this," Barry Levine said by phone Thursday, hours after the former presidential candidate admitted what the paper had been reporting all along: that he is the father of Rielle Hunter's baby. "The National Enquirer, a supermarket tabloid, was able to publish this reporting."

While the staff never doubted its reports that Edwards had fathered a daughter with his former campaign videographer, Levine said, "there is vindication, finally. Mr. Edwards kept the story alive much longer than it needed to be kept alive with his denials. He has only himself to blame."

While the Enquirer stories may or may not be prize-winning material -- the paper's most significant disclosures came in 2007 and 2008, and this year's Pulitzers will honor material published in 2009 -- there is no question that the tabloid scooped the rest of the media world.

When the Enquirer first reported in 2007 that Edwards had had an affair with Hunter, the former North Carolina senator dismissed the account as tabloid trash. The rest of the media, having no independent proof, steered clear of the story, even as Edwards, aided by his cancer-stricken wife Elizabeth, was mounting an aggressive campaign for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

In August 2008, after being knocked out of the campaign, Edwards admitted to ABC's "Nightline" that he had been lying about the affair. But he didn't come entirely clean. Asked about the Enquirer cover that showed him with the baby during a late-night visit to a Beverly Hills hotel, Edwards denied paternity, saying: "Published in a supermarket tabloid. That is absolutely not true. . . . I know that it's not possible that this child could be mine because of the timing of events." He claimed he wasn't sure if the man in the blurry photo was him.

Edwards acknowledged that Frances Quinn Hunter is in fact his child in a statement first aired Thursday by NBC's Lisa Myers. Once again, the Enquirer had been proved right.

Edwards's second admission was most likely forced by ABC's plans to air an interview next week with a former aide, Andrew Young, who originally claimed paternity in the case but is about to recant in a forthcoming book. In an excerpt released by the network, Young says Edwards told him: "Get a doctor to fake the DNA results."

Levine faulted the mainstream media's handling of the story, saying that even after Edwards's partial admission on ABC, news outlets "still didn't dig into it to a great degree, the fact that he had fathered this child. The larger issue involving the love child was the cover-up."

Some news organizations, including The Washington Post, did report that Edwards's former campaign finance chairman had steered payments to Hunter that enabled her to drop out of sight by relocating from North Carolina to a $3 million Santa Barbara home. A federal grand jury is investigating whether any campaign or personal payments made to Hunter were illegal.

While the Enquirer specializes in celebrity gossip, it has landed a series of exclusives that the rest of the press has wound up chasing. These range from its reporting on the O.J. Simpson case in the 1990s, to its 2001 disclosure that Jesse Jackson had fathered an out-of-wedlock child, to its 2003 report that Florida authorities were looking into prescription drug abuse by Rush Limbaugh.

Mainstream news organizations, unlike supermarket papers, do not pay for information. In the Edwards saga, Levine said, "the fact that we practice checkbook journalism, and we make no bones about it, certainly helped. But we've had every aspect of reporting, from pursuing financial documents to stakeouts to cultivating sources. Along the way, there were times when some sources came out of the woodwork and, for a tip fee, would lead us in another direction and help with the story."

He added that "at the end of the day, it's great to see he's taking responsibility for this child, Frances Quinn. She needs to know who her father is." That's right: a supermarket tabloid editor is now lecturing a former vice-presidential nominee on matters of morality.

As for the Pulitzer, Levine had better hurry: The deadline is Feb. 1.

[SteveAJones]

John Edwards's paternity admission vindicates National Enquirer, its editor says

John Edwards and The National Enquirer deserve each other.

[Virginia]

I am really disgusted by Edwards. The cover up more so than the child, although I think it's really crappy to cheat on your wife while she is battling breast cancer. You won't hear any arguments from me on this one and I am a Democrat.