I don't think a person's politics has anything to do with their ability to be funny

I think that both Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are old and totally boring and bland (just like Mitch McConnell and John Boehner are as well)

At the same time, I think that Bill Maher is funny as hell (super-liberal). And I also think Dennis Miller is funny too (super-conservative).
Rush Limbaugh is funny as hell too on his radio show (he's a great entertainer). Meanwhile, a guy like Mark Levin (super-super conservative) isn't funny at all.

But the real question is: Fox And Friends...just how bad DO they suck?
The answer is: They are the worst "morning show" on any "news channel".
I rate them below Hoda and Kathy Lee. At least with Hoda and Kathy Lee you KNOW you are getting 2 drunken old ladies babbling.

Hi Squealer,

I was wondering if you were interested in trying an experiment?

Personally, I do not think I am biased, at least for biased-sake. I see, or think I see, republicans making lots of mistakes and doing some really bad things. You, or at least some GFY'ers on the other hand, see, or think you see, democrats doing bad things.

What always happens in arguments like this is that the thread goes off topic.

Would you be interested in say, making 2 or 3 points maximum, that you think that I, with my "bias", would argue against?

What I will do then is, if I disagree on an item, I will try to argue my point, and back it up with links and as much facts as I can, at which time you could of course argue back.

The only rule is that we must remain exactly on-topic. This can be very hard to do, but I think it would be a good way to illuminate bias from a conversation, and stick to only the facts.

What do you say?

I think Bill Maher is pretty funny too. I don't really like his style of his monologue but otherwise he's hilarious.

I used to think Dennis Miller was funny delivering the news on SNL. I tried listening to his radio show a few times but found it boring and gave up on it.

Really? Not at all. He's just so full of hate. I've never heard him try to be funny.

They are the worst for sure. Just a bunch of uninformed boobs struggling to get through their morning show. SNL does a pretty good parody of them sometimes.

Never ever watched this show, but isn't just a couple of ladies dishing on celebrity and other lightweight news tidbits? It's just a talk show, not news, is that right?

To be clear, Democrats and Republicans to me, are two sides of the same coin. Bias towards one side or the other is (in my mind) the product of evolutionary adaptation to better regulate large sedentary societies. Put simply, without individual and group bias, there is no argument/debate. Without argument/debate, there is a greater chance of failure than success in an evolutionary sense. Meaning that the best answers for the group, come from debating all sides of an argument. Argument cannot happen without individual and group bias. However, thats a long and very discussion.

Most people do not believe they are biased. We all are. Our brains use a massive array of cognitive biases to navigate the world and to base assumptions on. Largely the result of evolution and the brains amazing ability to conserve energy. Regardless, biases and your obvious political bias have nothing to do with debating facts point for point. If it did, everyone would have agreed on the "facts" long ago. You are simply attempting to sneak away from an obvious uncomfortable fact by changing the discussion to what you believe is a winnable argument... or one where you can at least say "i beat him in the global warming debate and as such, according to me, i'm not biased". That's the reasoning of a 12 year old.

How about this ... as the intelligent "man of science" which you'd like to think you are and have others think you are, ... how about you make a rare attempt to open your eyes and make some minimal attempt to try to open your mind.

Here is pic

http://www.moillusions.com/wp-conten...eja.jpg?4b57f2

You may see an old woman.

I may see a young women.

We both may argue until we are blue in the face that it is one or the other and present all the facts and evidence to support that view.

Does my attacking your arguments change what is in the picture? Does it change what you see? Does it cause you to see what I see if you are resigned to deny it from the outset? Of course not.

You will only see the other side, when you decide you are interested in understanding the other side. You will never see it when you're only intent is to prove them wrong and yourself right. Thats not your fault.. its the brains fault. It doesn't want to think and you'd be forcing it to think. It wants to conserve energy and focus on running the body and on matters of survival and reproduction. Pointless pontificating is not something your brain wants to do by design.

Until then, you and crocket-science and others are so close minded and simple, that you'd prefer to simply argue that anyone who doesn't see what you see is "crazy" and "dangerous" etc etc... all because you are incapable of and/or unwilling to see what they see, or even in making the slightest effort to understand.

That said, you and crocket-science are necessary as are the Vendzillas of the world... as its the extremes which define the center. If someone like Crocket or Vendzilla started to think "wow, i'm really extreme and narrow minded and incapable of accepting any view that challenges my own or even changing my views completely", they would do a lot of soul searching and likely cease being who they are and society as a whole (from an evolutionary standpoint) would suffer.

Mark, Rush is funny as hell. How do you think he has such a large audience. I don't listen to him all the time. But if I'm in the car when he's on I'll switch over to listen to him. He has a lot of valid arguments as well as being an very entertaining and funny guy.

You would actually have to listen for yourself. I think the media has pulled a few things he has said here and there over the last 25 plus years and try to represent him that way.
I don't agree with everything he says of course. But make no mistake that he's really, really good at being an entertainer...which is exactly what he is.

Rush even says that plainly on his show every day. He plainly states that his show is NOT all about politics. He tells you that his show is based entirely on things that interest him at any given moment.

Sometimes it's football, most times it is politics, sometimes it's fine cigars, sometimes fine wine, etc. But he just has the gift of being an entertainer.

I don't know if you ever saw Dennis Miller's show that was on HBO for about 10 years...but it was really, really funny. The guy is super smart and has one of the best vocabularies I've ever heard from a celebrity.

Fox And Friends was a pretty cool concept back in 2000. But it deteriorated over the years into just total stupidity. I can't even stand to hear Brian Kilmeade's voice anymore.
He used to be kinda cool and was the "sports guy" on the show.

Now he thinks he's some kind of conservative opinion guru like O'Reilly
But he doesn't have the brains or talent for that. He's just horrible. :(

Actually, the best morning shows in my opinion are on...MSNBC.

To me it's the high mark of their day when it comes to actually reporting the news without any opinions or bias.

Of course, later in the day...MSNBC takes a dive and becomes nothing but the exact mirror image of Fox News' primetime lineup...except with anchors that aren't very entertaining.

The whole thing for both channels in primetime is a wash. They both suck.

In the "real" news hour...I like Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper's shows on CNN.
And I like Shepard Smith's on FNC.

That's about it.

When I really want to know what's going on around the world...I tune in to AlJazeera America News.

making sweeping generalizations that entire groups of people make lots of mistakes and do really bad things is a great example of bias.

Nevertheless, I like experiments and would like to join in, it can be simplified though, no need to go back and forth in a debate like that.

you can proof your lack of bias by simply listing 3 redeeming qualities/features/benefits of the republican party that you recognize.

I can list 3 of both the Republican and Democrat parties CLAIMS that they represent.

But the problem is...neither of those parties actually does these things once they are in power.

Look at Republicans...They had total power for a few years during George W. Bush's term.
Did they cut spending. Hell no! They raised it.
Did they get the govt. out of our personal lives? Hell no! They began spying on all of us and searching us at airports like WE are criminals.
And how about their favorite topic: Abortion. They had complete control and could have passed all kinds of federal legislation that would have made it harder to get an abortion. But they didn't.

The Democrats? They had total power for a couple of years in Obama's term (and of course decades and decades of power in both houses over the last century).
They claimed they wanted national "health care". They gave us a giant insurance company takeover. (just got a letter from BlueCross/BlueShield informing me that my premium is going up AGAIN to $1,063 a month for me, my wife, and my daughter).
Did they raise taxes the way they always promise to do? Hell no!
Did they stop the Patriot Act and stop the govt. from spying on us. Nope, they did the exact opposite.

These two parties ARE the cancer that is destroying our country. In case nobody noticed...those two parties are the ones who have been in power all along.

just for fun, could you list 3 redeeming benefits/qualities/features of the USA government?

:)

I thought "this will be an easy one"...then I sat down and it turned out it was harder than I thought! lol

Lots of "good intentions" from the U.S. govt. that all seem to turn into endless programs that generate revenue for business cronies of the govt. (defense contractors, "green" energy companies, utility companies, etc.)

But here are three that I can think of that benefit people despite the govt. itself:

1. Civil Rights. The govt. "fixed" a problem that (as usual) it had created itself.

2. Environmental Regulations. Though the EPA has certainly grown into a bloated monster...there was a time when it was needed. And the actions they took changed the world we live in for the better.

3. The concept of representative govt. That one is the most important. I don't think anyone here really believes that the person sitting in the office of your Congressional district truly represents the people of that district...but the concept of it is one of the greatest things people ever devised.

There's lots more. Things like stopping monopolies, the TRUE defense of our country (not the invasion of other countries), workplace regulations that stopped sweat shops and other dangerous work environments, the Federal Hwy system, the Federal Aviation Administration, etc.

nice! it is hard to do. It's a good exercise, imo. :thumbsup

need not to take it seriously tho