Talker's Magazine The quirky talk radio trade mag. Check the Talk Radio Research Project- it's not very scientific, but places on the top 15 talkers list (scroll down to Talk Radio Audiences By Size)) are as hotly contested as Emmys (and mean just about as much).
The Advocate No, not THAT Advocate... it's the Northwest Progressive Institute's Official Blog.
Media Matters Documentation of right-wing media in video, audio and text.
Orcinus home of David Neiwert, freelance investigative journalist and author who writes extensively about far-right hate groups
Hominid Views "People, politics, science, and whatnot"
Darryl is a statistician who fights imperialism with empiricism, gives good links and wry commentary.
Jesus' General An 11 on the Manly Scale of Absolute Gender, a 12 on the Heavenly Scale of the 10 Commandments and a 6 on the earthly scale of the Immaculately Groomed.
Howie in Seattle Howie Martin is the Abe Linkin' of progressive Seattle.
Streaming Radio Guide Hellishly long (5795!) list of radio streaming, steaming on the Internets.
The Naked Loon News satire -- The Onion in the Seattle petunia patch.
Irrational Public Radio "informs, challenges, soothes and/or berates, and does so with a pleasing vocal cadence and unmatched enunciation. When you listen to IPR, integrity washes over you like lava, with the pleasing familiarity of a medium-roast coffee and a sensible muffin."
The Maddow Blog Here's the hyper-interactive La Raych of MSNBC. daily show-vids, freakishly geeky research, and classy graphics.
Northwest Broadcasters The AM, FM, TV and digital broadcasters of Northwest Washington, USA and Southwest British Columbia, Canada. From Kelso, WA to the northern tip of Vancouver Island, BC - call letters, formats, slogans, networks, technical data, and transmitter maps.
Plus "recent" news.
News Corpse The Internet's chronicle of media decay.
The Moderate Voice The voice of reason in the age of Obama, and the politics of the far-middle.
News Hounds Dogged dogging of Fox News by a team who seems to watch every minute of the cable channel so you don't have to.
HistoryLink Fun to read and free encyclopedia of Washington State history. Founded by the late Walt Crowley, it's an indispensable tool and entertainment source for history wonks and surfers alike.
right-wing blogs we like
The Reagan Wing Hearin lies the real heart of Washington State Republicans. Doug Parris runs this red-meat social conservative group site which bars no holds when it comes to saying who they are and who they're not; what they believe and what they don't; who their friends are and where the rest of the Republicans can go. Well-written, and flaming.
Orbusmax inexhaustible Drudgery of NW conservative news
The Radio Equalizer prolific former Seattle KVI, KIRO talk host speaks authoritatively about radio.
rainy friday oddems: allen prell, ol’ mutton leg, dori monson, arbitron ratings, putting your ass where your mouth is
Arbitron ratings out today! BlatherWatch will get' em to you as soon as we can. Will KVI pass KIRO? Will Air America make it into the top 15? Deepest Throat from KIRO says that if the Winter Book is as dire as everyone fears, drastic changes in management and programming will be made sooner than later. It’s baseball from now on--KOMO stole the Mariners 2 yrs. ago--and KIRO ratings will go down naturally. Our guy says: to be fading before baseball even factors in, would ring the loudest possible alarm bells at Entercom headquarters at Bala Cynwyd, PA.
Allen Prell: thanks for the mention. the bad news--only two people were listening. The good news: they both wrote to tell us about it. Prell denied blatherWatch’s charge that interns and sales people were assigned by KIRO management to make fawning calls to his show so it’d look like someone’s listening. Blatherwatcher Talkfan said it: “Allen claimed that KIRO would go bankrupt if the sales staff were required to call his show. Isn't that the point? The ratings are tanking all day because of him (listeners tune out at 9am and don't come back for the flagship Monson/Ross shows) and the sales people have plenty of time to puff up his show.” Based on the many versions we got of this, BlatherWatch is sticking with our story.
“Thanks for your service” is the parsley on the plate of talk radio. Smarmy, talk-hosts (most of them draft avoiders) routinely thank soldiers, sailors, Marines, militia members and Power Rangers at the drop of a battalion number. Self-righteousness and antiquated military jargon was thick yesterday as John Carlson (KVI m-f, 3-6p) kissed up a self-satisfied Vietnam era blowhard getting his 15 minutes because he went near a Jane Fonda book signing at Costco and muttered something about blood money and treason. Though it’s doubtful she heard him, he taped it, of course; was thrown proudly out by security and will appear heroically triumphant on Fox News’ Hannity & Colmes tonight. Tune in at 6p for some riveting TV.
Why is it that the most patriotically correct talk hosts never volunteered to serve, if they love their country so much? John Carlson says he got a low lottery number; but he supported the war in those days, he could have joined up. Michael Medved covered himself with glory by playing the going-to-college deferment racket: he says he was opposed to the war at the time. The sheep’s bone installed in Kirby Wilbur’s leg (KVI m-f, 6-9a) gave him a medical deferment. (We’re not saying he had the surgery to dodge the draft, but it did earn him the nickname,“Ol’ Mutton Leg” over at Queen Anne High.) Not sure how Mike Siegel got out of it--unmitigated gall bladder, maybe? What about these young conservatives like the tight-sphinctered Medved Show producer Dan Sytman (KTTH Sat 6-8a) or KTTH utility man David Boze (m-f, 5-6a). They’ve got a lot to offer the war they love so much--youth, brains, loyalty uber alles; but we can’t help but think: patriotism sure is easier in a clean, dry cubicle than it is with small arms fire zinging by your head. Credit where credit’s due: Lt. Bryan Suits (KVI m-f, 6-9p) put his ass where his mouth is, although some of us wish that now that he’s home from the war, he’d re-configure and, well, sit on it.
The gala Dori Monson 10th anniversary mini-party at KIRO last week didn’t set well with many of his colleagues, though they did like the kuchen and pupus. He’s not popular around the office after his rank-pulling tactics to get his friend Tony Ventrella his job and manipulate the new scary line-up. Many kissed Monson’s ring, (Greg Hersholt actually put on lip gloss) but speaking into a blatherWatch microphone cleverly hidden in a punch cup, a coworker noted, “This Pope won’t be around long, either.” He’s the fourth-ranked 12-3p talker in the market, trailing Hannity and Medved. The syndicated shows are had for free, but our guy lowballs Monson’s salary at $150,000. How long can KIRO afford the cranky Ballardonion conservative?
Comments
Poor Dori...what a sad thing to see a guy who used to have a fun radio show turn into Hannity Lite..was this because he thought it would make him popular, or does he really believe all that stuff....
I know for a fact that listeners have written to KIRO for YEARS complaining about Dori, and he alluded to that in his " you tried to get me fired" diatribe. Well, get a hint, Dori. If people want to listen to right wing stuff, there are several stations..listed right here on this page..where we could do that. KIRO was always pretty reasonably moderate in all things, and mocking his callers when they disagreed with him turned people off and we all left! So now his ratings are in the dumper...well...duh!
I love your comments about the cowardly republican chickenhawks. All the yellow ribbons in the world attached to all the pickups in the world won't make up for the fact that virtually every single prominent republican politician, pundit, talking head or crossing guard did everything in their power to avoid the service.
Don't forget Lush Flimbaugh and the boil on his azz! That's one of my personal favorites. And then there's that cowardly Handjob Hannity. He's the right age to have gone to Desert Storm One. Did he sign up? Hell no! But he's glad to see Bush send everyone else to do his dirty work.
For a fun list of additional republican blow hard cowards, go to http://www.chickenhawkcards.com/.
Lemme see: You're a fraud if you didn't serve...but if you did, don't talk about it.
It's a free country and we've chosen to take service off the to-do list of citizenship. That doesn't come at the expense of the 1st amendment. By the same token, can critics of Iraqapalooza be told to shut it if they haven't served?
I don't have a side, but I know draft-dodging versus not serving are two different things.
I thought Cinton's lack O' service wasn't an issue. Yet he launched an illegal war against a democracy in 1999.
Scrilla no one reading your posts believes you don't have a side. Finding a way to make this about Clinton, proves it. By the way, it's probably Clinton's fault that your grass is getting yellow, your dog died and the flowers won't grow too!
Now, there is a big difference between "talking" about war, and advocating it. And to a man (and I do use that term very lightly) these fools are ADVOCATING war. If they're so rough and tumble ready for war and think we're doing the right thing in Iraq, why not sign up? If they're too old, why not send their sons? Oh yeah I forgot....they're all for war as long as THEY don't have to fight in it!
OK then. Sides aside, W's missing service time has been made an issue. What of it?
As I said, his predeccesor advocated war, yet never served. For some reason I can't google any mentions of THAT.
Arianna Huffingtin lectures the plebeians on fuel economy but flies a Gulfstream V.
I've never had cancer, yet I advocate cancer research on kitties.
FDR never served, yet he sent my dad to war. The bastard.
I'm a Heinleinist: Only combat veterans should be allowed to vote.
No...my argument is that the two president's avoidance of service have been treated differently.
Clinton manuevered ( yes, legally. some say cowardly, just like Cheney) to avoid serving. Yet depoloyed HIS Pentagon left and right. There was a minor media hubbub. And it was minor. He held a mirror up to the rest of his generation IN THE MEDIA and they cowered.
Dubyah...joined( cuz of daddy), trained, served then avoided. He coulda been a friggin meteorologist, but he went to flight school. And he's called a chickenhawk.
My point is: what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. No one called Clinton a chickenhawk.
And...just to remind you. There was no engagement in Bosnia. Just babysitting. However, if you were riding a commuter train in Belgrade round about April 1999, you might've been killed by Clinton's "limited engagement."
But, you'll probably say that Clinton only put thousands at risk as oposed to hundreds of thousands like Dubyah. Because that makes a huge difference when you're the family of a Desert Fox or Kosovo KIA. Wasn't it Clinton who called for Regime Change in Iraq in 1999? How DARE he take a stand against evil.
Unlike you, Scott, I see the hypocrisy of both sides.
My bottom line is, what qualifies someone to advocate a position? I say the office IS the qualification.
"Gosh. The Japs bombed Pearl Harbor? I can't send boys to go die because I never served."
See what I mean?
Well you moved off topic because you were losing the argument. The thread started with a list of radio talk show chickenhawks and you switched to Clinton v. Bush.
But I can take this argument on as well.
First, you are wrong about me not seeing hypocrisy on both sides. But there is a difference between us. As a republican, you see hypocrisy on both sides as a defense. I don't. GOP supporters are always, always, always saying....."BUT THEY DID IT TOO!" as if you are all 8-years old.
Clinton was wrong in Bosnia. But he wasn't wrong by trillions of dollars. And he didn't kill hundreds of thousands of people. And his wrongness didn't provide major cash infusion for Halliburton. And he didn't go to Bosnia looking for oil.
The simple scale of the two events makes any argument that they are REMOTELY complimentary is simple stupidity.
Once again, if you want this to be about Bush, okay. But you are still on the wrong side of the argument. Saying that your warmongering, AWOL pretend president is in the clear BECAUSE CLINTON WAS WRONG TOO just won't cut it.
As the bumper sticker says. "War is not the answer." And the "AR" in War are both crossed out!
BTW Scott, you're the one who brought politicians into a discussion about entertainers.
"I love your comments about the cowardly republican chickenhawks. All the yellow ribbons in the world attached to all the pickups in the world won't make up for the fact that virtually every single prominent republican politician, pundit, talking head or crossing guard did everything in their power to avoid the service."
Scott, you are the one being disingenuous. You are as partisan and myopic as the worst GOP zealot you insult. You seem to bring a disturbing aggression to every thread you enter.
What you don't like about my responses (and yes they are partisan and I am proud of it) is that they mirror those of your right wing leaders.
I believe that the left has to start fighting back and hard. We've tried being nice. We've tried playing fair. Problem is...the right isn't nice or fair. For us to protect America we have to fight fire with fire.
And once again Scrilla, you change the direction of the thread and attack me rather than defeat my argument.
Well...I can be as circular in my reasoning as you, Scott.
-You brought politicians into it
-I asked "what does it matter?"
-You said I was a partisan-hack-winger-blah
and bringing up Clinton was proof.
-I said, "No it illustrates the hypocrisy that his lack of service never resulted in the chickenhawk label."
-You said "Cuz Kosovo wasn't war enough."
-I said "Yes it was."
and there we are. I've been addressing your straw man all along.
You LIVE in circular Scrilla. You claimed to have no dog in the fight and I busted you. You saw that the hateriots at your favorite right wing radio stations were chickenhawks and highlighted with an attack on Clinton. You tried to claim there was no difference between Kosovo and Iraq and anyone who's IQ is 10 or above saw the problem with that specious argument. You should give up on this thread too because I will never let you and those like you win.
Reread it. You've addressed nothing.
1.You've never told me what qualifies someone to discuss the war.
2. Discounting Kosovo doesn't address my argument: Clinton was a chickenhawk and got a pass. There's no post facto scale-of-war meter! By your reasoning, Clinton could only do small interventions!
On chickenhawks, I dont have a side. I'm just honest about it. Give it a shot for once.
Avoiding my central argument seems to be your specialty. Followed by self-declared victory.
We, as a nation, do not require service. Therefore, any elected official has the right to advocate use of force, regardless of what Scott thinks of the war. War is war. If it's a train full of Belgrade commuters or a Iraqi town square that gets bombed, its a president's right to act as he sees fit.
Morally, I have hesitation in the decision when it's made by someone who's never served. But there are many who've never served yet consider the counsel of those who have. Like FDR. Unlike LBJ.
Clinton had one huge thing going for him when the US attacked Kosovo without UN approval: Few people were paying attention. Many were watching the net bubble and many simply didn't care much about what went on in the rest of the world.
We were told that Serbians were committing genocide. William Cohen (clinton sec def) said there were as many as 100,000 bodies in mass graves but offered no proof. Indeed, after the US bombing and invasion, UN inspectors, as well as the FBI and others, couldn't find more than 2000 bodies of undetermined ethnicity. That's a bit different than 100,000.
The "media" never questioned and indeed joined in painting all Serbians as dirty lying killers. The same Serbians that helped us in WW2.
So in the end, the US killed about 3000 *civilians* (bombing Serb tv, clusterbombing marketplaces like Nis, destroying soap and car factories, and sending a missile into the chinese embassy due to "bad maps", etc.) and between 10 and 15 thousand brave Serbians trying to defend their soverign country. Conservatively, 13,000 deaths to find 2000 victims of a civil war.
The US killed more *civilians* than were _ever found_ in "mass graves".
Not to mention the Rambouillet accords that were amended at the last minute (appendix b) which the negotiators knew Serbia would never approve-because it turned control of their country over to NATO (NOT the UN).
IMHO, Kosovo was a test. To see if the warmongers could get away with bombing and destroying a soverign country that never attacked us. Of course, having US Army PSYOPS hanging out in CNN and NPRs newsrooms could have helped.
Lastly, it appears from this URL http://www.newamericancentury.org/balkans.htm that it was a PNAC project from the start. I believe PNAC is wrong when it's objectives are carried out by Republicans OR Democrats.
All of the above information is correct.
However, Bill Clinton was a compassionate, caring man who wept at the news of each dead Serb. He had the moral right to commit men to war even though he never served a moment in harm's way. His prior contempt for the uniform and those who wear it was more than made up by his commitment to fight to the last KLA druggie.
However, since he went to college with today's network news anchors, he must be good. So he gets a pass.
KIROFM 97.3 Multi-format: news and nearly all local talk. This is where classic KIRO AM news talk radio went... hopefully, not to die. The home of Dave Ross & Luke Burbank, Dori Monson, Ron & Don, Frank Shiers, Bill Radke, Linda Thomas, Tony Miner and George Noory.
KUOW FM 94.9 Seattle's foremost public radio news and talk.
KVI am 570 KHz Visit the burnt-out husk of one of the seminal right-wing talkers in all the land. Here's where once trilled the reactionary tones of Rush Limbaugh, John Carlson, Kirby Wilbur, Mike Siegel, Peter Weissbach, Floyd Brown, Dinky Donkey, and Bryan Suits.
Now it's Top 40 hits from the '60's & '70's aimed at that diminishing crowd who still remembers them and can still hear.
KTTH am 770 KHz Right wing home of local, and a whole bunch of syndicated righties such as Glennn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Medved, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Lars Larsony, and for an hour a day: live & local David Boze.
KPTK am 1090 KHz Syndicated liberal talk. Stephanie Miller, Thom Hartmann, Ed Schultz, Randi Rhodes, Norman Goldman fill in the large hole to the left on Northwest radio dial.
KLFE AM 1590 kHz Syndicated right-wing 2nd stringers like Mark Levin, Bill Bennett, Mike Gallagher, Dennis Prager, Dennis Miller and Hugh Hewitt inhabit this timid-voiced neighbor honker for your radio enjoyment (unless you're behind something large like Costco).
KOMOAM News, traffic, Ken Schram and John Carlson.
Poor Dori...what a sad thing to see a guy who used to have a fun radio show turn into Hannity Lite..was this because he thought it would make him popular, or does he really believe all that stuff....
I know for a fact that listeners have written to KIRO for YEARS complaining about Dori, and he alluded to that in his " you tried to get me fired" diatribe. Well, get a hint, Dori. If people want to listen to right wing stuff, there are several stations..listed right here on this page..where we could do that. KIRO was always pretty reasonably moderate in all things, and mocking his callers when they disagreed with him turned people off and we all left! So now his ratings are in the dumper...well...duh!
Posted by: Sparky Anderson | April 29, 2005 at 12:58 PM
I love your comments about the cowardly republican chickenhawks. All the yellow ribbons in the world attached to all the pickups in the world won't make up for the fact that virtually every single prominent republican politician, pundit, talking head or crossing guard did everything in their power to avoid the service.
Don't forget Lush Flimbaugh and the boil on his azz! That's one of my personal favorites. And then there's that cowardly Handjob Hannity. He's the right age to have gone to Desert Storm One. Did he sign up? Hell no! But he's glad to see Bush send everyone else to do his dirty work.
For a fun list of additional republican blow hard cowards, go to http://www.chickenhawkcards.com/.
Posted by: Scott | April 29, 2005 at 01:44 PM
I wonder if Sharkansy served?
Inquring minds...
Posted by: carla | April 29, 2005 at 02:36 PM
Lemme see: You're a fraud if you didn't serve...but if you did, don't talk about it.
It's a free country and we've chosen to take service off the to-do list of citizenship. That doesn't come at the expense of the 1st amendment. By the same token, can critics of Iraqapalooza be told to shut it if they haven't served?
I don't have a side, but I know draft-dodging versus not serving are two different things.
I thought Cinton's lack O' service wasn't an issue. Yet he launched an illegal war against a democracy in 1999.
Posted by: Scrilla | April 30, 2005 at 01:34 PM
Scrilla no one reading your posts believes you don't have a side. Finding a way to make this about Clinton, proves it. By the way, it's probably Clinton's fault that your grass is getting yellow, your dog died and the flowers won't grow too!
Now, there is a big difference between "talking" about war, and advocating it. And to a man (and I do use that term very lightly) these fools are ADVOCATING war. If they're so rough and tumble ready for war and think we're doing the right thing in Iraq, why not sign up? If they're too old, why not send their sons? Oh yeah I forgot....they're all for war as long as THEY don't have to fight in it!
Posted by: Scott | May 01, 2005 at 07:19 AM
OK then. Sides aside, W's missing service time has been made an issue. What of it?
As I said, his predeccesor advocated war, yet never served. For some reason I can't google any mentions of THAT.
Arianna Huffingtin lectures the plebeians on fuel economy but flies a Gulfstream V.
I've never had cancer, yet I advocate cancer research on kitties.
FDR never served, yet he sent my dad to war. The bastard.
I'm a Heinleinist: Only combat veterans should be allowed to vote.
Posted by: Scrilla | May 01, 2005 at 11:37 AM
Once again, the completely disingenuous arguments you make show that your position is lame.
Comparing a limited engagement in Bosnia with an all out war in Iraq is silly.
And I think it's far worse to be an AWOL coward as opposed to someone who legally avoided the draft.
The fact that all these chickenhawks in the GOP pretend to be all guts and glory makes most real vets that I know sick!
Posted by: Scott | May 01, 2005 at 06:12 PM
No...my argument is that the two president's avoidance of service have been treated differently.
Clinton manuevered ( yes, legally. some say cowardly, just like Cheney) to avoid serving. Yet depoloyed HIS Pentagon left and right. There was a minor media hubbub. And it was minor. He held a mirror up to the rest of his generation IN THE MEDIA and they cowered.
Dubyah...joined( cuz of daddy), trained, served then avoided. He coulda been a friggin meteorologist, but he went to flight school. And he's called a chickenhawk.
My point is: what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. No one called Clinton a chickenhawk.
And...just to remind you. There was no engagement in Bosnia. Just babysitting. However, if you were riding a commuter train in Belgrade round about April 1999, you might've been killed by Clinton's "limited engagement."
But, you'll probably say that Clinton only put thousands at risk as oposed to hundreds of thousands like Dubyah. Because that makes a huge difference when you're the family of a Desert Fox or Kosovo KIA. Wasn't it Clinton who called for Regime Change in Iraq in 1999? How DARE he take a stand against evil.
Unlike you, Scott, I see the hypocrisy of both sides.
My bottom line is, what qualifies someone to advocate a position? I say the office IS the qualification.
"Gosh. The Japs bombed Pearl Harbor? I can't send boys to go die because I never served."
See what I mean?
Posted by: Scrilla | May 01, 2005 at 08:50 PM
Well you moved off topic because you were losing the argument. The thread started with a list of radio talk show chickenhawks and you switched to Clinton v. Bush.
But I can take this argument on as well.
First, you are wrong about me not seeing hypocrisy on both sides. But there is a difference between us. As a republican, you see hypocrisy on both sides as a defense. I don't. GOP supporters are always, always, always saying....."BUT THEY DID IT TOO!" as if you are all 8-years old.
Clinton was wrong in Bosnia. But he wasn't wrong by trillions of dollars. And he didn't kill hundreds of thousands of people. And his wrongness didn't provide major cash infusion for Halliburton. And he didn't go to Bosnia looking for oil.
The simple scale of the two events makes any argument that they are REMOTELY complimentary is simple stupidity.
Once again, if you want this to be about Bush, okay. But you are still on the wrong side of the argument. Saying that your warmongering, AWOL pretend president is in the clear BECAUSE CLINTON WAS WRONG TOO just won't cut it.
As the bumper sticker says. "War is not the answer." And the "AR" in War are both crossed out!
Posted by: Scott | May 02, 2005 at 03:43 AM
Well then, back on topic. Can a non-serving talk show host have an opinion on war?
Yes they can.
Posted by: Scrilla | May 02, 2005 at 09:10 AM
BTW Scott, you're the one who brought politicians into a discussion about entertainers.
"I love your comments about the cowardly republican chickenhawks. All the yellow ribbons in the world attached to all the pickups in the world won't make up for the fact that virtually every single prominent republican politician, pundit, talking head or crossing guard did everything in their power to avoid the service."
Scott, you are the one being disingenuous. You are as partisan and myopic as the worst GOP zealot you insult. You seem to bring a disturbing aggression to every thread you enter.
Posted by: Scrilla | May 02, 2005 at 09:16 AM
What you don't like about my responses (and yes they are partisan and I am proud of it) is that they mirror those of your right wing leaders.
I believe that the left has to start fighting back and hard. We've tried being nice. We've tried playing fair. Problem is...the right isn't nice or fair. For us to protect America we have to fight fire with fire.
And once again Scrilla, you change the direction of the thread and attack me rather than defeat my argument.
Posted by: Scott | May 03, 2005 at 06:43 PM
Well...I can be as circular in my reasoning as you, Scott.
-You brought politicians into it
-I asked "what does it matter?"
-You said I was a partisan-hack-winger-blah
and bringing up Clinton was proof.
-I said, "No it illustrates the hypocrisy that his lack of service never resulted in the chickenhawk label."
-You said "Cuz Kosovo wasn't war enough."
-I said "Yes it was."
and there we are. I've been addressing your straw man all along.
Posted by: Scrilla | May 03, 2005 at 07:20 PM
You LIVE in circular Scrilla. You claimed to have no dog in the fight and I busted you. You saw that the hateriots at your favorite right wing radio stations were chickenhawks and highlighted with an attack on Clinton. You tried to claim there was no difference between Kosovo and Iraq and anyone who's IQ is 10 or above saw the problem with that specious argument. You should give up on this thread too because I will never let you and those like you win.
Posted by: Scott | May 04, 2005 at 04:14 AM
Reread it. You've addressed nothing.
1.You've never told me what qualifies someone to discuss the war.
2. Discounting Kosovo doesn't address my argument: Clinton was a chickenhawk and got a pass. There's no post facto scale-of-war meter! By your reasoning, Clinton could only do small interventions!
On chickenhawks, I dont have a side. I'm just honest about it. Give it a shot for once.
Posted by: Scrilla | May 07, 2005 at 10:34 AM
Avoiding my central argument seems to be your specialty. Followed by self-declared victory.
We, as a nation, do not require service. Therefore, any elected official has the right to advocate use of force, regardless of what Scott thinks of the war. War is war. If it's a train full of Belgrade commuters or a Iraqi town square that gets bombed, its a president's right to act as he sees fit.
Morally, I have hesitation in the decision when it's made by someone who's never served. But there are many who've never served yet consider the counsel of those who have. Like FDR. Unlike LBJ.
Posted by: Scrilla | May 07, 2005 at 02:16 PM
Clinton had one huge thing going for him when the US attacked Kosovo without UN approval: Few people were paying attention. Many were watching the net bubble and many simply didn't care much about what went on in the rest of the world.
We were told that Serbians were committing genocide. William Cohen (clinton sec def) said there were as many as 100,000 bodies in mass graves but offered no proof. Indeed, after the US bombing and invasion, UN inspectors, as well as the FBI and others, couldn't find more than 2000 bodies of undetermined ethnicity. That's a bit different than 100,000.
The "media" never questioned and indeed joined in painting all Serbians as dirty lying killers. The same Serbians that helped us in WW2.
So in the end, the US killed about 3000 *civilians* (bombing Serb tv, clusterbombing marketplaces like Nis, destroying soap and car factories, and sending a missile into the chinese embassy due to "bad maps", etc.) and between 10 and 15 thousand brave Serbians trying to defend their soverign country. Conservatively, 13,000 deaths to find 2000 victims of a civil war.
The US killed more *civilians* than were _ever found_ in "mass graves".
Not to mention the Rambouillet accords that were amended at the last minute (appendix b) which the negotiators knew Serbia would never approve-because it turned control of their country over to NATO (NOT the UN).
IMHO, Kosovo was a test. To see if the warmongers could get away with bombing and destroying a soverign country that never attacked us. Of course, having US Army PSYOPS hanging out in CNN and NPRs newsrooms could have helped.
Lastly, it appears from this URL http://www.newamericancentury.org/balkans.htm that it was a PNAC project from the start. I believe PNAC is wrong when it's objectives are carried out by Republicans OR Democrats.
Posted by: war_is_a_racket | May 07, 2005 at 06:05 PM
All of the above information is correct.
However, Bill Clinton was a compassionate, caring man who wept at the news of each dead Serb. He had the moral right to commit men to war even though he never served a moment in harm's way. His prior contempt for the uniform and those who wear it was more than made up by his commitment to fight to the last KLA druggie.
However, since he went to college with today's network news anchors, he must be good. So he gets a pass.
Posted by: Scrilla | May 07, 2005 at 06:50 PM
I'll take your non response as as a concession.
See you on the other threads Scott.
Posted by: Scrilla | May 08, 2005 at 09:37 AM
You two clowns sound like a couple of four-year-olds in a sandbox.
Posted by: robert faist | July 04, 2006 at 12:17 PM