Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

Editor’s note: Here’s a post from Steve Frisch that sums up what I’ve been trying to say about our community extremists such as George Rebane for years. Nobody’s listened, including the management of The Union and KVMR, where he was invited to be a regular columinst. I’ve never met Steve in person, but he expresses the perspective very well:

The issue with George is not his ability or right, or KVMR’s right, to have him comment. George has every right to comment, and should not be censored in any way. I agree that George violated our rules of engagement when we met on air, but Paul handled that well, and followed up by clearly stating the issue on these blogs, so I am ENTIRELY satisfied.

What I do have a problem with is that IDEAS that George presents are often racist, sexist, and intolerant and the tactics he uses to make his case are slimy.

George is just flat our dishonest. He twists information, tells half truths, intentionally misrepresents data, uses questionable sources, attacks other peoples highly credible sources as biased because they are from ‘elite’ sources, and implies that his opponents are fascists, communists or socialists.

A prime example of George playing fast and lose with the facts would be his equation of the NAZI government of Germany with socialism. No credible historian would agree with George on this one: the name National Socialist German Workers Party was chosen before Hitler led it, the ‘socialist’ was added to the title to demonstrate that the party supported the Bismark era social welfare programs, and the NAZI party never supported state ownership of the means of production which is the definition of socialism.

George knows this, but he finds it necessary to equate the Nazi party with a left wing government to confuse people and make a point, that all totalitarianism is leftist. It is bullshit pure and simple.

It makes me wonder how someone with such a remarkable personal history of living under totalitarian regimes could be so blind to his own propensity to twist the truth.

George enables personal insults and name calling on his web site. If one reads Georges blog, or for that matter Russ Steele, Todd Juvinall, or Barry Pruett, it is clear that their primary interest is venting their spleens. Rarely does any topic of conversation led to any productive dialogue, never does a hand extended to find common ground yield any permanent thawing of the blog cold war, and never do the ‘moderators’ step in to discipline posters who step over the line. In my humble opinion their blogs are a form of pseudo-intellectual masturbation on their part. It is self gratification.

Finally I can not countenance a guy that calls people ‘rag heads’, equates an entire religion (Islam) with evil, calls legally born American citizens ‘anchor babies’, and calls anyone who disagrees with his far right wing libertarian economic views a communist.

This is not a voice of leadership in our community. It is a voice of intolerance.”

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This from Examiner.com: “Tea Party activist Michael Erickson was successful in moving his illegal immigration enforcement idea to the signature collection process. The California ballot initiative called ‘Support Federal Immigration Law Act,’ which closely mirrors Arizona’s SB1070 immigration law would require law enforcement officers to check suspected illegal aliens for immigration status.

According to the bill’s author, the proposed-immigration law will expand police officers ability enforce immigration laws when they have a reasonable suspicion that a person is undocumented and/or committing other crimes.

The proposed law would also make it a crime for illegal aliens to seek employment while concealing their illegal resident status.”

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Editor’s note: You’d think that after Prop. 23 lost by a landslide, including in our county, its proponents would shake hands with the winners and do their best to help us all implement AB32. (There’s room for compromise along the way). Think again. The dialog below appeared on George Rebane’s blog. It shows that extremism that will always breed divisiveness in our community. When will more “moderates,” including the electeds, business and civic leaders, speak out? Why does the local media promote their views at the expense of “the rank and file” in our community?

I can see it now… soon gym members will be required to pay a special ‘exhaust tax’ to The State due to the increase in CO2 exhausted whilst they exercise and Physical Education in public schools will only be permitted on days when the ‘dispersion layer’ is deemed acceptable by the CARB Mothership. All while our politicians are permitted to fill the air with promises their butts can’t keep.

Posted by: Mikey McD | 24 November 2010 at 12:12 PM

Prop 23 was fatally flawed and poorly sold. ‘Carbon is bad and needs restricting, but let’s wait until California’s financial woes are solved’ was a loser, especially when faced with massive spending by foes heavily invested in the Green bubble.

No on 23 advertising promised no pain, all gain. Nasty black hearted oilmen just wanted California’s kids to breathe dirty air. No Cap and Tax, nothing about CO2. Just affordable green energy in everyone’s future. What the people will eventually see, sooner not later, is higher prices; then they’ll be wanting to know why the bait and switch?

Posted by: Greg Goodknight | 24 November 2010 at 12:32 PM

Greg,

I agree that Prop 23 was poorly sold and they never challenged the crap put out by the “dirty air” propagandist. When I complained, they said that they had used focus groups to refine the message, and wanted to stay on message and not get into a gutter fight with the competition. I guess that was the only option when out spent three to one. The Pro Prop 23 did not have the money to be competitive. All the polls never asked the cost questions, how much were the poll targets willing to pay to reduce CO2. When talking to our local political leaders they kept bring up the poll results. Publishing bogus polls had an impact.

Posted by: Russ Steele | 24 November 2010 at 01:46 PM

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“San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris will be California’s next attorney general, after her Republican opponent conceded today – a full three weeks after the Nov. 2 election,” the San Francisco Chronicle is reporting.

“Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley had declared victory on election night, only to see the race flip-flop between the two candidates in the coming days as counties around the state continued to tally mail-in and provisional ballots. This morning, Cooley called Harris – who is now leading by 50,000 votes – to concede and congratulate her.”

She will become the state’s first female attorney general.

In our county, Cooley received more votes than Harris.

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The Associated Press is reporting that former Majority Leader Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) has been convicted of money laundering charges. “The verdict came down five years after DeLay was forced to step down as the second most powerful Republican in the U.S,” noted the AP. According to the New York Times, DeLay faces “up to life in prison”:

Jurors deliberated for 19 hours before they came back with guilty verdicts against Mr. DeLay on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The verdict was the latest chapter in a long legal battle that forced Mr. DeLay to step down. The trial also opened a window on the world of campaign financing in Washington, as jurors heard testimony about large contributions flowing to Mr. DeLay from corporations seeking to influence him and junkets to posh resorts where the congressman would rub shoulders with lobbyists in return for donations.

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Editor’s note: While perusing the minutes of KVMR for another blog post I came across this from the “unapproved minutes” of the October meeting:

“Discussion ensued regarding the Celtic Festival not meeting the budget with proceeds this year expected to be around $40,000. There was discussion regarding what benefits the Celtic Festival provides, both in terms of positive financial impact to membership, underwriting, and major donors, as well as in community building. There continues to be concern that the amount of financial benefit derived from the event may not justify the substantial financial outlay and risk.”

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Supreme Court Justice Sam Alito is dismissing as “not important” his attendance at a fundraiser for a right-wing fundraising event in Washington.

“Last night, the American Spectator — a right-wing magazine known for its role in the ‘Arkansas Project,’ a well-funded effort to invent stories with the goal of eventually impeaching President Clinton — held its annual gala fundraising event,” writes ThinkProgress.org.

“The Spectator is more than merely an ideological outlet. Spectator publisher Al Regnery helps lead a secretive group of conservatives called the ‘Conservative Action Project,’ formed after President Obama’s election, to help lobby for conservative legislative priorities, elect Republicans (the Conservative Action Project helped campaign against Democrat Bill Owens in NY-23), and block President Obama’s judicial appointments.”

Alito has attended the event before, speaking and “helping to raise tens of thousands of dollars for the political magazine.”

As Alito entered the event, Lee Fang of ThinkProgress approached the Justice and asked him why he thought it appropriate to attend a highly political fundraiser with the chairman of the GOP, given his position on the court.

“Alito appeared baffled, and replied, ‘it’s not important that I’m here.’ ‘But,’ I said, ‘you also helped headline this same event two years ago, obviously helping to raise political money as the keynote.’ Alito replied curtly, ‘it’s not important,’ before walking away from me.”

Here’s a video from after the event. “Is it right for him to attend political fundraisers”? the reporter asks. He is threatened with arrest by a security guard:

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“The Nanny State: Total bliss is just one more regulation away,” reads the November issue of CABPRO.

Well, here’s another way of looking at it: The Baby State. While complaining about a nanny state, many of the same people want to live in a baby state.

What’s that? As one reader put it: “Baby State — don’t want fair taxes; don’t want no rules; don’t want no scanners at the airport; don’t want to pay for their own pollution; don’t want no big government; don’t want to pay their fair share; don’t want to have no sprinklers; don’t want to live in a society where they have to align or compromise none of their values.

“And if they don’t get their way, they cry, whine and stomp their feet, like babies.”

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KVMR has published the results of a listener survey feedback on its website. Some of the comments:

“Stop with the right wing nut jobs getting to make statements on the air I pay for,” said one listener.

“Generally, more music,” said another.

“I want KVMR thriving, because it is a unique radio station. I can get mainstream stuff any place, but not what KVMR offers.”

Then why did KVMR choose to run commentary from a hard-right guy like George Rebane on its “news hour”?

•Unique? No. He already writes a column for The Union.

•Music? No. Some commentary is a “neofascist screed,” as one reader put it.

•”Right wing nut job”? Well, many people think so. A lot of George’s views are on the political “fringe.” One example: “Accepting a little bit of socialism is the same as taking comfort in that you are a little bit pregnant.”

George is now whining on his blog that people want to “censor” him. My point has never been censorship, just balance, and relevancy.

Please point to the local who is his exact ideological “opposite” on KVMR — or The Union for that matter. Though I hear that KVMR is “liberal,” I’ve never heard from a regularly scheduled “left-wing nut” commentator of George’s ilk, addressing the same topics from a different perspective. It’s a, well, “red herring.”

I’d rather hear from a parent, teacher or entrepreneur on the issues George addresses, to name a few — not a blindly partisan ideologue.

This blog is credited with helping to balance George’s screeds on KVMR — one blasting opponents of Prop. 23 comes to mind — with a counter-point from Sierra Business Council President Steve Frisch.

As for relevancy, George’s views — for Prop. 23, for candidates ranging from John Spencer to Barry Pruett and painting too many of us as “socialists” with a broad brush — aren’t what the majority of us think.

Worse, people who disagree with George get labeled “rent seekers” or the like. The name calling is endless. Using terms such as “raghead” also comes to mind.

Our demographics are changing; we are “purple” politically. KVMR can provide more leadership when it comes to “community voices,” rather than an ideological “cookie cutter” approach.

There is a place for conservative commentary on any radio station, including KVMR. But a radio station needs to listen to its audience and not be put on the defensive by calls of “censorship.”

A better way to frame the issue is by simply asking, “Is this the best we can do?”

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