LEE RODGERS
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RADIO DYING ... THE BIG PAYOFF FOR OBAMA SUPPORTERS
... DEMS VOTE IN REPUBLICAN PRIMARIES

The problem with being a "favorite son" in politics is  ... an opponent is sure to finish the phrase.

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Not that any rational person doubts the blatant media bias in favor of Obama, but just for the record, the Washington Examiner counted noses and found that no fewer than 19 journalists and media executives, including five from the Washington Post and three each from ABC and CNN, have joined either the administration or groups supporting him.

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Speaking of media ...
     I continue to hear from folk both inside my alma mater, ABC Radio, and (former) listeners to those (former) giant stations of talk-radio, complaining about the ravaging of the stations under the new ownership of Cumulus Media. I have no axe to grind with Cumulus; they bought ABC Radio long after I departed. These are simply observations of a business reality.
     The destruction of local on-air product is money-motivated, of course. It's all about "economies of scale", replacing locally-oriented and knowledgeable broadcasters with generic syndicated programming. Instead of paying many individual broadcasters who know the city or region served by the stations, they pay one person to do a talk-show that's fed by satellite -- now pretty cheap to do -- to all their stations, which become nothing more than cut-rate relay outlets.
     In many ways it's a return to the earliest days of radio, when local stations simply transmitted, day and night, programs that originated with NBC, CBS or ABC. Even, at one time, Mutual.  Individual stations could sell a few commercials on station-breaks, but that was the way the business worked. Much like today's TV, which is on the same path to insignificance with audience fragmentation via cable and the internet.
     With the exceptions of a dwindling number of locally-originated morning shows or grinding out endlessly-repeated "news" radio has succumbed to the syndication infestation for one reason: it's cheap. It's a dying industry, despite the pitiful efforts to whistle past the graveyard. Music stations will continue to fall victim to other sources of their mainstay product.
     It all began when the Federal Communications commission in 1992 lifted the previous ownership limitation (a maximum of seven AM and seven FM stations) to allow the ownership of a virtually unlimited number. Thus the companies owning hundreds of stations and programming them all with the same cheap syndicated product fed from a central location. It was the death-knell for variety and creativity. When owners were limited to a maximum of one AM and one FM station per-market, there was fierce competition for listeners. That competition fostered creativity in programming, a factor that is now almost non-existent.

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Reality check: The unemployment rate about which Obamunists are now crowing (not that a rate of 8.3%, the officially-reported number, is boast-worthy) is a bogus cooking of the books. It excludes people so discouraged that they've given up on finding a job. Including those unfortunate folk, the real rate is above 15%. Some accounts put it as high as 19%.
     Unfortunately, even purportedly "conservative" media are participating in this fraudulent reporting about how the economy is "improving". Fox, for example, which is reliably reported to be under instructions from boss-man Roger Ailes to "move to the center" now that vanquished CNN is no longer regarded as a serious competitor. So you hear this bull-bleep about the "improving economy" even there.

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Only a few weeks ago, "experts" were telling us to expect $4 gasoline by May. We're already past that point in many areas, so the new anticipated spike-level for summer is $5. Thank you, Obama! Alinsky, Marx and Lenin would be SO proud!

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Phillip Klein serves up a warning for the Libertarian-inclined ...
     "Nobody expects the Republican presidential nominee to be a libertarian purist, but it helps if he or she at least has a libertarian streak. In Rick Santorum’s case, he’s actively hostile toward libertarianism, and that’s an obstacle not only to him winning the nomination, but also to having a chance in a general election against  President Obama.
     "Santorum [has] explicitly declared, 'I am not a libertarian, and I fight very strongly against libertarian influence within the Republican Party and the conservative movement.'
    "This is a stark departure from Ronald Reagan, who had this to say to the libertarian Reason magazine in a 1975 interview:'If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism'.”
     -- Washington Examiner --

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Left-wing websites (Daily Kos, et al) are urging Democrats to vote in Republican primaries in states where such crossover voting is allowed, like Michigan. The openly-stated goal: to try to get Santorum nominated, or at least use him to weaken Romney, on the basis that Santorum would be easily defeated by Obama.

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Since "Hope and Change" didn't really materialize, Obama's new anthem for his silly sycophant suckups is: "I hope you DON'T change."

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Jim Rogers is co-chair of the host committee for the Democrats' national convention to be held in Charlotte in early September. Mr. Rogers is also CEO of Duke Power, the major utility in that part of the nation. Mr. Rogers has, in past four years, given $210,000 to Democrat candidates and causes. It's been a good investment, for in return Duke Power has gotten more than $230 MILLION in government grant money for "green power" projects. And we know how well such projects have turned out. For further insight, check the Solyndra company.

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From Britain's "The Economist", a few words about the silliness of much government regulation ...
     "AMERICANS love to laugh at ridiculous regulations. A Florida law requires vending-machine labels to urge the public to file a report if the label is not there. The Federal Railroad Administration insists that all trains must be painted with an “F” at the front, so you can tell which end is which.  Bureaucratic busybodies in Bethesda, Maryland, have shut down children’s lemonade stands because the enterprising young moppets did not have trading licences. The list goes hilariously on."
     ... and delivers a serious conclusion ...
     "Regulators who make bad decisions should be easily sackable. None of this will resolve the inevitable difficulties of regulating a complex modern society. But it would mitigate a real danger: that regulation may crush the life out of America’s economy."

At the most elementary level, consider all this in light of recent decisions by teacher/morons taking perfectly healthy lunches packed by sane mothers away from little children in order to feed them fast-food style chicken nuggets.
     The only answer to such idiocy is -- FIRE THEM!

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Is anyone else sick of the White House phony using the words, "I'm going to ASK this-or-that group to pay more taxes so we can blah-blah-blah?"
     When the government "asks" for something, it means, "You do this, or we'll throw you in jail."

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From the "Why Doesn't it Ever Happen to Us?" department, this item ...
     Man, motivated by heaven-knows-what, buys a broken safe on eBay for $122.93. It was sold by a man who didn't have the combination to unlock it and assumed it was empty.
     It wasn't. The buyer busted it open ... and found it contained $26,000.

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For my friend OV and golfers everywhere, some relevant quotes about the most frustrating game ever invented ...
    I was three over. One over a house, one over a patio, and one over a swimming pool. ~ George Brett
    The only sure rule in golf is - he who has the fastest cart never has to play the bad lie. ~ Mickey Mantle
     Sex and golf are the two things you can enjoy even if you're not good at them. ~ Kevin Costner
     Swing hard in case you hit it. ~ Dan Marino
     Professional golf is the only sport where, if you win 20% of the time, you're the best. ~ Jack Nicklaus
     If you think it's hard to meet new people, try picking up the wrong golf ball. ~ Jack Lemmon
     You can make a lot of money in this game. Just ask my ex-wives. Both of them are so rich that neither of their husbands work. ~ Lee Trevino

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Conan O'Brien --
     "A group of Democratic fundraisers is offering a dinner with the president for $35,000. Unfortunately, the only person in America who can afford it is Mitt Romney."

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Jimmy Fallon --
     "Jeremy Lin led the New York Knicks to seven straight wins. Soon he'll be getting all the benefits of being an NBA star:  He’ll get a salary bump, an endorsement deal, a Kardashian."
Lee Rodgers"...and now, if you'll excuse me..."
radiorodgers1@yahoo.com