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Sunday, July 15, 2007
Smilin' Norm Coleman: Pandering
While Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) prepares to re-brand himself from toady to centrist, he continues to prove his hard-right bona fides by digging into two issues of the talk radio right. First, Smilin' Norm has been offering legislation to fix a problem that does not exist -- an amendment to a defense authorization bill that would prevent the FCC from reinstating the Fairness Doctrine:
“I absolutely believe that Americans should hear both sides,” responded Sen. Coleman. “But I believe—strongly believe—that the government should not be in the position of deciding and dictating, ‘Now here is the other side.’ Americans have all sorts of options to hear the other side. All they’ve got to do is turn a dial. All they've got to do is push a button. All they've got to do is press a mouse. And they have that ability.”
In many ways, Coleman is right on this issue. There are many more sources of information available to Americans today than there were in Reagan era. While choice exists in many urban areas in the country, no such choice exists in rural areas. On the other hand, there is scant, if any, evidence that the FCC is actually considering taking the action which Coleman seeks to bar.
Likewise, Coleman continues to bang away at the United Nations. A body in need of reform, to be sure, but Coleman remains uninterested in meaningful reform and more interested in appealing to the primary voters who scan the Mower County horizon for black helicopters:
Norm Coleman, a first-term Republican senator for Minnesota, has emerged as the strongest critic of the United Nations in Congress. He charges that the council is "a platform to shield human rights abusers from criticism and launch vitriolic attacks against one country — Israel." He added that having as its members Cuba and other notorious rights violators "is akin to the fox guarding the henhouse and will only ensure that it remains irrelevant in promoting human rights."
Labels: fairness doctrine, Smilin Norm, U.N.
7 Comments:
Not that this is anything new here, but it seems he can't possibly win with you. If he listens to voters, it's pandering; if he doesn't, it's Minnesotans be damned.
Or maybe it's just you he needs to listen to.
By 
Nerdie McSweatervest, at
5:01 PM
Yup, because insuring that the Fairness Doctrine isn't reinstated is the #1 issue for most Minnesotans.
Sheesh.
insuring that the Fairness Doctrine isn't reinstated is the #1 issue
Did I miss the part where somebody said that it was?
By Nerdie McSweatervest, at
7:32 AM
I'm just filling in some blanks.
If he listens to [a fringe group of] voters, it's pandering; if he doesn't [listen to the majority of voters on the most important issue of the day], it's Minnesotans be damned.
That said, of course I think Norm Coleman should vote the way I think is best. These are my opinions, after all.
Ah. So one can safely assume when, in 2009, Senator Franken sides with your minority opinion on some issue, you'll use the word "pandering" in the headline.
By Nerdie McSweatervest, at
12:43 PM
From your lips to God's ears.
Yeah, well, I'm an atheist. Also, not a MN resident, so I can't even vote for the guy. But I think I probably would if I could.
By Nerdie McSweatervest, at
4:50 PM
