Fair and Balanced

We all "know" that the media is incredibly liberal, biasing everything toward the democrats. How do we know that? That’s a good question. Because the people who tell me that, also admit they rarely have anything to do with the “mainstream media” except of course Fox News. Because Fox is “Fair and Balanced.” And how do we know that? Because they say they are, apparently.

In all seriousness, many people are sure the mainstream media is liberal, because they hear it all the time. Rush says it, Sean says it, the republicans all say it. Sarah even calls them the “lamestream” media. So therefore it must be true.

Well, let’s try something different. Let’s try a little unscientific discovery. And while it’s unscientific, it’s still more discovery than most news fans get.

So what I have below are links to three different news websites: NBC, NPR, and Fox. They are from two different days, October 5, and October 12. So go ahead and click on them. And make your own call. 

The conclusion is pretty obvious. Now I didn't cherry pick these particular dates, I just used two random dates. But if you don’t like these results, then do what I do: When I open my browser, I have an igoogle page set up. And on that page, I have headlines and links to all three of these news sites, as well as a few others. And every day I compare these sites. So go ahead and do that. And see what you think.

Fox Oct. 5     NBC Oct. 5      NPR Oct. 5     Fox Oct. 12     NBC Oct. 12     NPR Oct. 12

And whether you’re right or left, I would think we could all agree that a news site should be neither. At least that would make sense to me.

Still No Facts

Tonight I watched the presidential debate, and I'll admit I was very frustrated. Honestly, it made me sick. I watched a man who absolutely refuses to give any details about his ideas, criticizing a man whose ideas are out there for all to see.

Romney’s plan really is very simple. He blames everything on the president. But when asked how he’s going to make things better, he gives no facts, no details. He says he’s going to lower taxes on everyone, and make up for the lost revenue by getting rid of loopholes. But which loopholes? He’s had over a year of campaigning and he still hasn't told us. And be honest, do you really believe he’ll find enough loopholes to make up for a 20% across the board tax cut? Really? No thinking person can honestly believe that.

OK, if you’re a Romney supporter, you’re going to say that lowering taxes will stimulate the economy, and the extra revenue will more than make up for the lost taxes. Again, really? Every republican president since Reagan has said he’s going to lower taxes and decrease the deficit. Yet every single one has increased the deficit. I know my republican friends don’t want to believe that, but really, just google it. It’s not too hard to find. (If you’re lazy, try here, here, here, here, and here.) Even the most right-leaning sources are still damning.

In fact, the only president in the last 50 years to actually balance the budget was Clinton. And he did it by raising taxes. And by the way, the economy during his term is the best we’ve seen in a long time.

Add to that the fact that sitting here, a few hours later, reading online that most fact check organizations sided in a huge way with Obama on most things in the debate, I know that some people, even those who pride themselves on being thinking people, just won’t care. They'll blame it all on the so-called liberal press. Republicans will believe Romney because they want to. It doesn't matter that his facts don’t add up.

So go ahead and vote for Romney. At least then we’ll find out what he really plans on doing.

Because he sure isn't telling us now.