Huckster Michael Savage has
created a pseudo-controversy by accusing, of all outlets, C-Span of
liberal bias. For those who are unfamiliar with the background,
Savage received an award from Talkers magazine recently,
but instead of showing up at the ceremony, he sent in a speech by
DVD. C-Span cameras were at the ceremony, but the channel did not
air his speech because it was not delivered live. Anybody who
watches C-Span knows they give unfiltered coverage to all sides. I
mean, they even broadcast the Constitution Party
convention. So, the channel's explanation seems perfectly
reasonable. But Savage knows an opportunity to make a quick buck
when he sees one, and has cried censorship! His website features the scrolling text,
"C-Span Blacklists Savage's Speech! Click here to order!" If this
was really about him wanting to get his message out, of course,
he'd post the video of the speech on his website, making it free
for anybody to watch. Instead it's $22, and you have to "allow 4 weeks
for production and delivery." Savage has posted a list of C-Span's phone
numbers and email addresses, allowing his legions of fans to
inundate them. Brian Lamb responded brilliantly, by reading some of
the vitriolic letters he received on air, such as, "You are a Nazi
and a Stalinist and probably a homosexual, and I don't appreciate
your agenda."
The Politico
wrote on the controversy, quoting one letter Lamb read in which
the writer assumes C-Span is taxpayer funded. Lamb explained that
the channel is not publicly funded, but financed via a five cent
contribution from everybody's cable bill. Apparently, this was
beyond the grasp of "cornhusker," who posted the following comment
to the Politico story:
Mr Lamb seems to think that because CSPAN is 'paid by a nickel
when you pay your bills' instead of federal funding, so, it's a
private station. I wasn't familiar with this debate until reading
the story, but Mr. Lambs comments show his slant towards socialism.
Take from people that don't want to pay it and make them accept
what ever you decide they want to hear. To me, this isn't about a
speech, this is about his agenda and the resistance it's meeting.
To bad we can't choose whether to fund his paycheck. Oh, that's
right, a mandatory collection of our funds doesn't make him "A
taxpayer organization". How can I be so ignorant....
Yeah, and when I go to an all-you-can-eat
buffet and proceed directly to the guy in the paper chef hat
slicing juicy prime rib, and then skip to the dessert station, I'm
paying a "vegetable tax" for the string beans that I choose not to
eat.
topics:
Constitution, Socialism
