Disqus - Latest Comments for mlhradio

Re: Press 1 For English, 2 For Spanish

mlhradio — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 17:27:36 -0000

I actually work on the other side of that phone tree, for an inbound call center for a major international bank (specifically, business accounts). Because I work the overnight shift, when our foreign language department (Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese) does not operate, I have calls from the Spanish phone gate routed to me on occasion. About half the time, I have to get an AT&T interpreter on the line for assistance, but about half the time I discover the people who dial in to the Spanish gate can speak and understand English perfectly fine - it's just that they default to the Spanish option because that is their native language.

>>So why Press 2 for Spanish when it involves not one-sixth of our population but only a small percentage of that same group who resettled here?<<

I have learned that many people will "Press 2 for Spanish" not because they *have* to, but because they *want* to. Don't automatically assume it is done out of necessity, but consider the option that it is done out of choice.

Re: Obama’s Year One Accomplishments

mlhradio — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:31:14 -0000

To me, Obama's single biggest "accomplishment" is that he is actually doing what he said he would do during his campaign. Far too many times, we've seen politicians make all sorts of empty promises to get elected, then once in office conveniently forget everything they said just a few months earlier. Obama, by contrast, is sticking fairly closely to his campaign promises.

Taking a quick look over at the Obameter at PolitiFact: (http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promise...) - out of 511 documented campaign promises:

Promises kept: 79
Compromise: 21
Promises broken: 9
Stalled: 53
In the works: 216
Not yet rated: 133

For just a single year in office, that's a pretty substantial list of work completed and work in progress.

Re: What Took You So Long, Dick?

mlhradio — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:31:27 -0000

And people are still listening to the disgraced former VP because....???

Re: Boobs, Birthers, and Birchers

mlhradio — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 02:47:39 -0000

>Do you really think AKA Obama would have won the election if all the things he is hiding were made known?
...
>Why is Obama paying millions to his lawyers to fight the release of his hospital birth certificate?
...
>All Obama needs is to release his long form birth certificate and his father's birth certificate to end the controversey.

...Must...resist...urge...to poke fun...at the birthers....

Re: When A Bad Prayer Goes Good

mlhradio — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 00:52:56 -0000

>>I'm a tea partier (and also a democrat) and have been against the use of "tea baggers". It was meant as a marginalization word.

I have used the teabagger phrase before, I will admit. However, a little while back I decided to decrease my use of some of the more outrageous political insults - I may slip up and use an insult every now and then when I get angry, but by-and-large I'm cutting it out of my commentary.

The main reason being, it's just plain *not helpful*. If you insult someone on the message boards by calling them a derogatory name or slur, they are only going to tune you out, no matter how valid your argument or solid your logical reasoning. If I'm going to try and argue a point or prove someone wrong, I'd rather do it with an intelligent, well-reasoned paragraph than by simply dismissing them as some "nutjob teabagger".

Although, I must admit, there is that short-term feel-good moment when I write some little insulting zinger, and others who agree with me "like" my comment. But whenever I do that, I'm just preaching to the choir, and how does that really help anyone on this message board?

Re: When A Bad Prayer Goes Good

mlhradio — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 11:12:02 -0000

Agreed - this certainly smells like a prank. But perhaps the most scary part of this is that it seems *almost* plausible. Almost. The obvious giveaway for me is that no Tea Party extremist would refer to themselves as a "tea bag group".

Re: Update on Offutt Military Base-Ben Nelson Story

mlhradio — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 10:02:11 -0000

Kathy, you are technically 100% correct - the whole base closure story is complete bupkes. A complete fabrication, a total lie, a terrible rumor.

But, that being said -- you're missing the point. It really doesn't matter whether it is true or not. Instead, people who *want* to believe it, *will* believe it, even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. We've seen the same thing with birth certificates, Obama's sooper-seekrit Muslim religion, ACORN, death panels, climate change deniers, you name it. Plain and simple: Facts Don't Matter.

I refer you back to an interesting TED Talk by Jonathan Haidt earlier this year, that touches on this whole idea. Read it in full here: http://blog.ted.com/2009/09/the_healthcare.php

The most relevant paragraph: "We engage in moral thinking not to find the truth, but to find arguments that support our intuitive judgments, so that we can defend ourselves if challenged. The crucial insight here comes from psychologist Tom Gilovich at Cornell, who says that when we want to believe a proposition, we ask, "Can I believe it?" -- and we look only for evidence that the proposition might be true. If we find a single piece of evidence then we're done. We stop. We have a reason we can trot out to support our belief. But if we don't want to believe a proposition, we ask, "Must I believe it?" -- and we look for an escape hatch, a single reason why maybe, just maybe, the proposition is false. So people who have a negative intuitive reaction to Obama, or who are fearful about the enormous changes going on, are already inclined to believe rumors against him and his plans. They hear about death panels and forged birth certificates and ask "can I believe it?" The answer is usually yes, particularly if Fox News raises these questions and brings on experts who claim that the propositions are true. Even if Fox News presents both sides, the fact that somebody on TV endorsed a proposition gives viewers permission to believe it, if they want to. Conversely, Democrats can give rebuttals till they're blue in the face, but if people are asking themselves "must I believe it" about the Democrats' claims then the answer they will usually reach is "no." Logic and consistency just aren't very important when it comes to morality. Reasoning is "the servant of the passions," as the philosopher David Hume said long ago."

My conclusion: There is no reasoning with these types of people. So I don't even try.

Re: Parker Wins Houston Mayorality

mlhradio — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 01:05:12 -0000

I look forward to the day when this is *not* news.

Someday, someday...

Re: Harry Reid, Uncensored (Guest Voice)

mlhradio — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 12:37:14 -0000

I'm kinda curious how this entirely-immoderate editorial ended up on The Moderate Voice in the first place. This junior-high-school level of taunting is not exactly up to TMV's normal level of discourse.

Re: An Exception to the GOP Disdain for “Symbolic” Resolutions

mlhradio — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:01:34 -0000

Whether or not the republican leadership is being hypocritical, I feel that offering up a resolution to recognize Christmas is a good idea, even if it is nothing more than a symbolic measure. And I support good ideas, *regardless* of whether they are offered by hypocritical politicians or not.

And I would hope that more people would make determinations based on the merits of a bill or resolution, rather than by the person offering it.

Re: Copenhagen 2009: The carbon footprint | GDS Publishing

mlhradio — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:30:22 -0000

Highly misleading - keep in mind that the 15,000 delegates and 5,000 journalists would still be eating their 200,000 meals, 50,000 sandwiches and drinking their 200,000 cups of tea whether they were in Copenhagen or not. If anything, this chart only shows how much of the carbon footprint is *shifted* from various localities around the world to Copenhagen, it does not show *new* carbon that would be produced exclusively because of the conference.

Of course, the whole purpose of producing a chart in this fashion is to push the creator's own bias, so it's no surprise that it would be created with the intent to mislead.

Re: Is Palin A Birther Who Thinks Obama Birth Certificate Is An Issue? Or a Serial Gaffer?

mlhradio — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:52:54 -0000

My first reaction to all this: ****sigh****

I enjoy watching slow-moving train wrecks as much as the next guy, but even I am getting pretty tired of the All-Palin-All-The-Time media coverage. And I got fully sick and tired of the whole birther ridiculousness a while ago.

But of course, that's just me. Alas.

The American Public loves a Spectacle, and Palin never fails to provide the cable and blog punditry trainloads of red meat to satisfy. No doubt "we" will still be gabbing about the latest Palin triumph/disaster/discussion/whatever tomorrow and on the next day, the next week, the next month, and I suspect the next year as well. And just as much as the American Public loves a Spectacle, they love a Conspiracy Theory as well. I suspect the whole Birther nonsense will join the pantheon of "great" American conspiracies, right next to the JFK murder, 9/11 conspiracies, and Who Shot J.R.

So, I repeat: ****sigh***

Re: Cheney Blasts Obama On Afghanistan Before Speech: Accuses Obama of Giving “Aid and Comfort” to the Enemy

mlhradio — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:40:58 -0000

I never did agree with the whole "former presidents/vice-presidents/etc should not speak ill of the current administration" argument - as a private citizen, Cheney should have just as much of a right to express his opinion as any other private citizen. One should not attack him because of that point.

Rather, one should attack him because his opinions are just plain *wrong*. Attack him on the merits (or in this case, the lack of merits) of his argument, not whether or not he can express it.

Re: Poll: 52% of Republicans Think ACORN Stole Election For Obama

mlhradio — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:39:15 -0000

>>Fourteen percent of the population is an impressive number of people. And 22% is anything but anemic--it's nearly a quarter of the population. It's not hard to imagine why they are being pandered to.<<

More than 20% of the population also believes in witchcraft, astrology, communication with the dead, extraterrestrial visitations, and hauntings (Gallup Link). Does that mean we should pander to those groups, too?

Re: Poll: 52% of Republicans Think ACORN Stole Election For Obama

mlhradio — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:42:11 -0000

Tangentially, I do find that the republicans' monomaniacal obsession with ACORN to be curious. For such a minor group that most people (including myself) had never heard of until last year's election coverage, the frothy-mouthed pundits sure are raising a fuss.

...then again, the exact same could be said for Sarah Palin. So I guess monomaniacal obsession is fair game for both sides, eh?

Re: Poll: 52% of Republicans Think ACORN Stole Election For Obama

mlhradio — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:19:56 -0000

Statistics can be alarming when played the right way. However, all statistics must be taken into perspective. While 52% of republicans may erroneously say that the election was stolen, you must keep in mind that only 27% of the electorate self-identifies as republican (http://www.gallup.com/poll/123362/Independents-...). 52% times 27% equals...14%, not exactly an impressive percentage. 14% is dipping into Lizard Brain Territory (http://www.eschatonblog.com/2006/10/and-they-ar...). Even if you add in the group "republican leaning independents", that still works out an anemic 22% of the electorate.

To put this in perspective, 18% of Americans believe that the Sun revolves around the Earth. And 31% believe in astrology.

Re: Fox News Airs Misleading Old Footage Again

mlhradio — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:19:26 -0000

Using the 'wrong' footage once -- I can see that as a mistake, such as someone in the back rooms grabbing the wrong reel or something like that.

But for the Fox Opinion Channel to use misleading footage *twice* in a week - well, it's getting hard to write that off as a simple mistake.

Shame on you, Fox Opinion Channel!

Re: Hoffman “Unconceeds” In NY 23 Race As Loss Margin Narrows

mlhradio — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:44:56 -0000

435 House seats, elected every two years, for the past many decades...something like this *must* have happened before. Is there any precedence for how this might have been handled in a previous example?

Re: Palin’s Magical Mystery Book Tour: Birth or Death of a Serious Presidential Candidacy?

mlhradio — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:20:47 -0000

>>Scummy attacks on Palin by the Left are lofting her more than the social conservatives' enamoration or adoration of her.<<

Um....I think that's part of "The Plan". I suspect most of those taking pot shots at Palin from the left realize just how much it riles up the right. So they keep doing it. Keep poking that stick in that open sore, y'know?

Personally, speaking as someone who falls in the slightly-left-of-center camp, I really hope that Palin does have some sort of national political aspirations in mind. I really, really, REALLY do - if there was any one single figure that could keep the republicans out of power for years to come, it would be her.

Dobbs/Palin 2012? You betchya!

Re: The Ugly American Syndrome

mlhradio — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:52:11 -0000

All that comes to my mind when I see the whiners complaining about Obama being polite and proper and promoting good American values is that they are being petty and small-minded.

Seriously -- attacking the President for doing the right thing? Obama Derangement Syndrome, anyone?

Hope they keep up this nonsense - all this pot-shot silliness from the extremist fringe just serves to turn off Middle America.

Re: Dumping Dobbs: Good News for News

mlhradio — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:31:08 -0000

Well, I consider Dobbs' sudden exit (stage right) a step in the right direction for CNN - not necessarily because of any lefty/righty balance, but because he was just plain uninformative and unentertaining. It didn't always used to be that way - several years ago Dobbs was a fairly hard-hitting reporter, and I found his show entertaining. But that changed over the years, and some time around 2005 or 2006 I found myself turning away from his show as he started leaning away from news and pushing more extremist commentary. While my views fall mildly to the right-of-center concerning the criminal immigrant community, I found his faux-populist outrage at the criminal immigrants just way too far beyond the pale for me to stomach.

Then again, CNN has not exactly been very watchable recently. It's not so much as a liberal-to-conservative balance sort of thing for me, as many others like to frame it. Rather, it's a matter of newsworthiness. CNN has just plain gotten "fluffier" over the years, turning away from the hard-hitting journalism in favor of lightweight populist stories, trading up meat-and-potatoes reporting for popcorn and cotton candy. Gone are the days when I could put the TV on CNN in the background at home for a few hours while I work on something else, although it's not like MSNBC or Headline "The Gossip Channel" News or the Fox Opinion Network are any better. I wonder whether it's more a matter of the "news" landscape changing to reflect the viewing choices the general public are making, or whether my personal viewing habits have changed over the years. Or maybe a little of both.

Re: Ex-Miss USA Carrie Prejean Flips Out On CNN’s Larry King

mlhradio — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:06:01 -0000

Personally, I think that Prejean is a classless lout who is also a hypocrite for pushing her 'family' values while trying to hide that she did not practice what she preached.

*However*...

It really doesn't matter what I think, because I am not her target audience. Nor are the majority of the people on The Moderate Voice, I would imagine. Remember - she is trying to sell her book, and the target demographic is that tiny (and shrinking) slice of Americana that praises Sarah Palin and likes to play the "liberal media victim" card at any chance they can get.

And by that, I think she played to "her" crowd perfectly. While she may have appeared crass and whiny and small-minded to most of the people watching her on King or commenting about her performance afterwards, it's all in the mind of the beholder. For "her" crowd, she appeared like a hero and strong woman who was willing to stand up the the Bad Boy King and his invasive, meanie-man questions.

Interview did exactly what it was supposed to do - play into the current narrative she is trying to portray about herself, and get attention for her new book.

Re: Nothing Stops Political Demonization In America

mlhradio — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:30:36 -0000

Some people will stop at *nothing* to try and play politics with something as devastating as this. I flip on over to Memeorandum, and the top story of the moment is how some republicans are trying their hardest to bash Obama over the tragedy (http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/politics/A-Disco...).

Srlsy? At this time of national tragedy, instead of supporting our troops the republicans decide to weakly score political points? At the expense of many mourning military families? I am *disgusted* that some republicans would stoop so low. They should be ashamed of themselves.

Re: Owens Wins

mlhradio — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:28:40 -0000

>The victory was won when conservatives sent a strong message to the stooges in the national party who tried to pass off an extreme liberal as a Republican.

Hard to argue with with the delusional. Extreme liberal? Nope, only someone who is trying to purposely spread disinformation would consider that - she's pretty much dead-center on the conservative/liberal scale, with a "common space" score of 0.02, and actually more conservative than the average "New England Republican". (http://bshor.wordpress.com/2009/10/21/scozzafav...)

"...Scozzafava’s score puts her in the 58th percentile of her party, which makes her slightly more conservative than the average Republican legislator in Albany, so she’s a conservative in her party. For example, she’s more conservative than James Tedisco, who lost a special election to succeed Kirsten Gillenbrand in the 20th District (score: -.22 and in the most liberal fifth of the party). In the legislature as a whole, she’s in the 83rd percentile, which makes her a conservative in Albany in general..."

Honestly - if you're going to spread disinformation, at least be a mildly creative about it - such easily disprovable lies are just plain weak sauce.

Re: Owens Wins

mlhradio — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:22:19 -0000

My very, very quick reaction to the three "big" races tonight (NJ,VA,NY-23) is this: Despite major attempts to inject national politics into the races, it appears that local issues and concerns were more prominent. The old adage, "All politics is local" still rings true. Again, it's just a quick reaction, but I would be very leery about trying to read any national implications into anything from tonight - for *all* sides involved. (Even though the spin-doctors on the blogs and cable networks will do so endlessly, I'm sure).