Monday, July 05, 2004
Clash of the titans: Republicans vs. Arithmetic!
See, the problem is that the arithmetical process doesn't respond really well to ideological fervor. Here's the latest:
OK, that's 60 minutes x 5 days x 1 channel = 300 channel/minutes per week.
So, assuming a 5 day week, that would be 1.5 minutes x 6 times x 5 days = 45, plus 1.5 minutes x 2 times x 5 x days = 15 minutes, for a total of 60 channel/minutes per week.
So, one of two things is true:
1. The Republicans believe that 300 = 60.
Now, given how the Republicans are handling the budget, justifying their tax cuts for the super-rich, and cooking the books generally, that may be exactly what they believe.
2. 5 minutes of Limbaugh = 1 minute of Hightower.
Which could also be true, given that Limbaugh's pill-fueled ramblings are virtually devoid of factual content.
Readers? Republican readers? Which is it?
The Pentagon's American Forces Radio and Television Service is airing the first hour of Limbaugh's show, five days a week, on one of the 13 radio channels it offers.
(via AP)
OK, that's 60 minutes x 5 days x 1 channel = 300 channel/minutes per week.
"Liberals, moderates and independents contribute to funding for American Forces Radio through payment of their taxes, just like conservatives do," said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who slipped a provision this month into a $447 billion defense bill to counter Limbaugh's presence on the Pentagon's airwaves.
Conservatives are determined to get Harkin's measure removed from the bill when lawmakers return in July and start working on merging House and Senate versions of the legislation into one package.
"This amendment is absurd, and we respectfully ask you to oversee its removal," Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas, said in a letter, released June 28, to California Rep. Duncan Hunter, the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
Johnson said American Services Radio has plenty of programing to counter Limbaugh, including the talk show of Jim Hightower, a liberal populist and former Texas agriculture commissioner. Hightower's 90-second spots are aired on two Armed Forces Radio channels, six times a day on one, twice a day on the other.
So, assuming a 5 day week, that would be 1.5 minutes x 6 times x 5 days = 45, plus 1.5 minutes x 2 times x 5 x days = 15 minutes, for a total of 60 channel/minutes per week.
So, one of two things is true:
1. The Republicans believe that 300 = 60.
Now, given how the Republicans are handling the budget, justifying their tax cuts for the super-rich, and cooking the books generally, that may be exactly what they believe.
2. 5 minutes of Limbaugh = 1 minute of Hightower.
Which could also be true, given that Limbaugh's pill-fueled ramblings are virtually devoid of factual content.
Readers? Republican readers? Which is it?
