Media – Page 42 – Doug's Views

October 24, 2008April 18, 2020

Breaking News: Medicare will pay for a penis pump!

Let’s take a time out on politics for a moment.

Being a night owl I get to see some funny television and crappy television. Late at night, stations show commercials they wouldn’t show during the day. Usually they focus on sex. Male “enhancement” pills, condoms, and personal lubricants are some of the products seen when the kids are asleep. The other night I saw the following commercial during a late movie and it just cracked me up.

So, Medicare pays for a penis pump… WOW!

Erectile dysfunction is a real medical problem and I don’t intend to insult those who suffer from it, I just thought this pump commercial was comedic in an adult comedy way.

It just amazes me that products like the pump have to “nudge nudge wink wink” around the fact they are for sex related issues. The pills are for “male enhancement” and the lubes are “personal lubricants” for example. I’m sure most adults catch on and the kiddies miss it, but unless the words used are obscene, the makers shouldn’t have to use innuendo.

It reminds me of the scene in the movie Kindergarten Cop when the little boy tells Detective John Kimble, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, “Boys have a penis, and girls have a vagina”. The kid probably had no idea what he said but the adults all did.

There seems to protests if there is too much sex on TV – or commercials about sex related products. It took years for even a watered down condom commercial to air on TV.

The reasoning is “we must protect the children”, but on the other hand protecting the children leads to sexual repression and that isn’t good either. The best defense against sexual issues is information – clear and frank information.

Okay, sorry. Said I would take a break from politics on this post…. my bad.

October 20, 2008April 18, 2020

Tilted election coverage on WBNS in Columbus

WBNS is owned by the same company that owns the Columbus Dispatch, which endorsed John McCain for President on Sunday.

Here is a video from their late news about the day in the election. John McCain was in Westerville, a suburb of Columbus.

A big bag of candy to people who can tell what is wrong with the report:

In case you can’t or don’t want to see the video here are the things that are wrong in the news report:

1. Gave McCain a couple of minutes to express his talking points. They were not based on any truth – like saying Obama’s tax plan is a give away like his plan isn’t or that Obama’s “share the wealth” comment was meant to give away people’s money – it wasn’t. The news report didn’t challenge any of the talking points.

2. McCain said it was a dead heat even though Obama has a slight lead in Ohio it isn’t a dead heat in the rest of the country.

3. The video showing the women marching to Vets Memorial to vote failed to show the size of the crowd while there were many crowd shots of the McCain rally.

4. The part on Obama in NC failed to let him speak. *To me this is the HUGE diss to Obama* so much for equal time.

5. Later in the newscast (not on the video I have) the anchor told about Powell’s endorsement but didn’t once allow Powell to explain why – the piece only had Powell explaining why he still supported going to war in Iraq – which happens to be McCain’s position.

This isn’t the first time WBNS has been “in the tank” for McCain. During the primary season when McCain was heckled about the war at a rally, the talking heads never once mentioned what the protests were about. I sent an e-mail to the news director and he said I was right they should have mentioned why he was heckled.

They have not provided the same amount of coverage for Obama and most of the news stories I’ve seen, Obama never is allowed to speak – the talking heads paraphrase what he says.

Looks like he needs another e-mail about his stations coverage of the campaign.

The news director’s is John Cardenas

October 19, 2008April 18, 2020

Et tu, Colin Powell?

Well it seems that Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama for President. Conservatives will say he is doing because he is black as if that stereotype is the ONLY reason that could be true. Powell gave some good reasons in his appearance on Meet the Press and to the press after the show.

I have always liked and respected Powell. Even though he is a Republican he is moderate. During his military career he never believed the military should be the first resort but it should be diplomacy.

Unlike many people of my political view of the Iraq war, I still believe that Powell was used by Bush, Cheney, and the other neo-cons to put lipstick on the pig for war. He based his presentation to the UN to make the case for war on faulty intelligence which the President knew was false but he let Powell sell the rotten fish anyway.

In September 2005, Powell was asked about the speech during an interview with Barbara Walters and responded that it was a “blot” on his record. He went on to say, “It will always be a part of my record. It was painful. It’s painful now.”
Colin Powell on Iraq, Race, and Hurricane Relief

It might be time to put the dogs in the truck – this one might be over…

October 19, 2008April 18, 2020

Columbus Dispatch – John McCain – POW

Another funky endorsement of John McCain by the Columbus Dispatch. It seems the reasons used were McCain’s years in the Senate, his “maverickness”, keeping the Democrats from having unchecked power, and he was a POW.

Then there was this funny bit:

At a time when the nation faces serious problems, including international economic turmoil, immigration, health care, war in Afghanistan, nation-building in Iraq and foreign-policy challenges from the Middle East, Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and Venezuela, the president should have an extensive resume and long experience in grappling with tough decisions. Few new presidents have faced an assignment as tough as the one facing the winner of the November election.

The editorial board of the Dispatch seem to forget that until one is President you can’t have that kind of experience before hand. No President has. It is a special job. In the decisions McCain has made recently – how he has run his campaign for one example and choosing Sarah Palin for another – don’t show a good a light on his supposed ability to make tough decisions.

A good President needs to be able to have some vision of the future and McCain has shown he doesn’t have that.

Then there was this bit:

Among the top problems facing the United States is its dire fiscal situation. The nation has a $10 trillion debt and other unfunded obligations to entitlement programs that total $53 trillion. The federal deficit this year is nearly $458 billion and some project the 2009 deficit could hit $700 billion. Despite these staggering numbers, lawmakers and the president just approved a $700 billion Wall Street bailout that they don’t have the money to pay for. In short, the United States is dangerously overextended at a time when a worldwide recession threatens.
For years, The Dispatch has called on the president and Congress to deal with this massive, mounting debt which threatens the prosperity and quality of life of generations to come. But year after year, the nation’s leaders have kicked the problem down the road.
Seriously confronting this problem will require a president able to call on Americans to make sacrifices for the sake of their grandchildren.
The president will have to ask them to accept cuts in popular programs, tax increases and lowered expectations of what government can afford to do.
Because of the personal sacrifices that McCain has made for the nation, he has unmatched moral authority to call on Americans to take their medicine. If elected, that is precisely what he should do.
For president: John McCain

The thing is McCain hasn’t made that call. He is still promising the moon from the stump. At least Obama has acknowledged some of his plans will have to be changed because of the problems with the bailout.