Month: May 2004

Yes, the choir is about to be preached to!

Anyone who has switched their radio band to AM in the last couple years will have noticed that neocons dominate the airwaves. Being an official ginandtacos.com liason to conservative talk radio is a thankless and often masochistic task. However, it is not without its rewards.

Time and time again you are amused by the circular rhetorical techniques employed by hosts. You become amazed at how the same sentence can get rephrased several hundred times to make a three hour program essentially consist of on statement. You are dumbfounded by a host responding to reasonalble critisism with a louder statement of the original position.

Beyond all else, I am continually amazed by the depth of callers who seem completely oblivious to reality, and yet have such a firm grasp of conservative talking points. Previously I answered this apparent enigma with the conclusion that callers are simply repeating statements they heard on other talk shows.

Imagine my surprise when I found that this is actually an endored campaign technique both the Republican National Commitee and the Bush campaign themselves. Accepting the fact that if you are a Bush supporter you clearly gave up on the concepts of original thought and logic four years ago, the George W Bush website not only gives you tips on how to get on the air, what programs to call, but also exact quotes to say.

• Winning the War on Terror.
  After September 11, 2001, President Bush acted decisively to rout Al Qaeda from their hiding places, and America is safer as a result. The global war on terror continues to be waged with focus and determination.

• Defending Against Weapons of Mass Destruction.
  buy Xenical generic buy Xenical online over the counter
  
  
  Our military proceeded with skill and bravery to liberate the people of Afghanistan and Iraq, and ensure that weapons of mass destruction never find their way into the hands of terrorists.

• Supporting Our Military.
  President Bush has increased defense spending in all of his budgets, giving our servicemen and women the resources and the advanced technology they need to face today’s threats.

I am a bit confused. There was no mention of all the jobs George Bush has created.

They really do. Talk radio personality Sean Hannity does not seem to be able to bring up Al Gore without using discriptive terms such as "shrill" or "insane." In fact, on his website, Sean Hannity asks the question: Is Al Gore losing his mind? The truth of the matter is, Al Gore very well might be insane.

He very well might be losing his mind. Does anyone really care? Does anyone actually listen to Al Gore anyway? Democrats barely cared about him in 2000.

Despite the fact that even democrats believed him to be lacking even the vaguest shred of charisma during the last election, republican pundits in 2004 seem to be labeling him as the great democratic spokesman. Other than the 45 college students who are there to see him speak, the only people who hear what he has to say are viewers of Hannity of Limbaugh.

The truth of the matter is not that Gore speaks for the democratic party, but rather that he is a living breathing conservative talking point. Everytime he gives a speech republicans get to say the following.

• The Democratic party is desperately trying to regain the power that they previously had despite the fact that it is not what the american people want.
  buy wellbutrin online thefreezeclinic.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/png/wellbutrin.html no prescription pharmacy

  buy priligy online buy priligy no prescription
  
  -common Limbaugh sentiment

• Is the tone of Al Gore really befitting an ex-vice president -common Hannity statement
• Is it appropriate for prominent democrats to align themselves with Moveon.org, an organization that compared Bush to Hitler? -also Hannity
• And most intriguing of all… Everytime Gore speaks he gives conservatives another excuse to blame everything on Bill Clinton. "We'd stop talking about Clinton if they would just shut up." -Mark Levin on Hannity and Combs.

So to put it bluntly, everytime Al Gore opens his mouth, even if it is to address 27 people on some college quad somewhere, it gives conservatives justification to say things like. "Look at the lengths the democrats are willing to go to in order to win," and "Why didn't Bill Clinton kill Bin Laden when he had the chance?"

The truth of the matter is, this is just another example of how 2004 is becoming one of the most pathetic presidential elections this country has seen since the American people had to choose between Barry Goldwater and Lyndon Johnson. Democrats are being forced to vote on how much we hate George Bush and not any affection for John Kerry. Republicans are flooding the airwaves with rhetoric condemning any statement against Bush as "inappropriate in a time of war," and "John Kerry is playing politics with national security" – yeah, as though they aren't.

We could go on like this forever. If you are interested in becoming exceptionally annoyed with the lies and half-truths are are becoming this campaign on both sides go to slate.com's doonesbury daily dose and read the line on the top titled "todays mudline" for all the up to date mudslinging in the presidential race.

The Senate race in Illinois is shaping up to be one of the most watched elections this year.

An important Republican seat is going up for grabs, and with the Illinois Republicans in complete disarray from scandal the Democratic primary winner, Barack Obama, looks like he is in great shape.

However, his Republican opponent, Wilmette's very own Jack "please seal my divorce records, please" Ryan, is going to put up a fight. After recently polling 16% behind Obama, he has hired media consultant Scott Howell to change the tone of his campaign.

buy avanafil online buy avanafil no prescription

I had no idea why that would have been a big deal, until I just read that Howell was the one of the main guys behind the attack ad against Senator Max Cleland, who went on to lose the seat in 2002.

If you remember, the Republicans went on the offensive in 2002, with Bush going to all the big battleground states to lend a helping hand. Back then Iraq was full of people who wanted to embrace America, and you couldn't walk 5 steps without running into a mobile-train WMD lab – and the Republicans were going to bring freedom to the region. As such, even though the country was in a deep recession, the campaigns went to issues of 'national security.' In what has turned out to be one of the most cynical attack ads ever, Howell and co. put images of Hussein and Osama Bin Laden before an image of Senator Cleland, questioning whether or not he wanted national security (see image on the left). This ad is, of course, horrid. First, Cleland had lost both legs and an arm while fighting for America in Vietnam – so if he hasn't suffered enough to prove himself to America I don't know who has (presumably he didn't get the chance to leave 6 months early for business school). Second, even if he was to the left of Ralph Nader, to compare him to Bin Laden is beyond offensive on it's face. And third, he had been an author on the Homeland Security bill, and voted for Bush's tax cuts AND the Iraq war, making him not all that liberal of a liberal. buy premarin online buy premarin no prescription So if Cleland, who has more or less supported Bush's policies, can get compared to Bin Laden in TV ads, I'm really curious as to whom Obama, a pretty liberal African-American from the South Side, will get compared to when the ads start rolling.

In order to start the ball rolling, I've created a small ad below for the Ryan campaign to start using against Obama, in the style of the above Cleland ad. Mr. Howell, if you are reading, you can use it free of charge.

If it always seems like Chicago is fighting for the respect of the title 2nd City, well, it's because it is.
https://aboutfeetpodiatrycenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/pdf/albuterol.html

Here's a good sign though: the people at The Gothamist have spun out a sister site, The Chicagoist. The Gothamist is one of the better weblogs that covers all of the things to come out of New York – seeing the format adapted to Chicago is a bit surreal.
buy ventolin online taxmama.com/wp-content/forum/styles/new/engl/ventolin.html no prescription

Mostly because Chicago has none of the fashion/celebrity-fucking culture that seems to dominate the NY weblogs. Are they going to give Lisa Madigan's wardrobe a smackdown?
https://aboutfeetpodiatrycenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/pdf/synthroid.html

Anyway, go support them. Chicago needs more things like this.
buy cymbalta online taxmama.com/wp-content/forum/styles/new/engl/cymbalta.html no prescription

Today the Champaign bar reviews recieved a much needed overhaul.

buy ivermectin online www.parkviewortho.com/wp-content/languages/new/prescription/ivermectin.html no prescription

There are four new reviews, a somewhat different introduction, and a comments on bar patronage.

As of three weeks ago, ginandtacos.com has a weekly column in Champaign-Urbana's independent newspaper "The Hub." All three of us here have attended the University of Illinois at some point (Ed for a year, I as an undergrad, and Erik as an undergrad and currently as a grad student), so it's a natural fit. We'll soon put up the columns that we have written so far, but until then hunt down the newspaper.
online pharmacy amoxicillin best drugstore for you

buy furosemide online buy furosemide no prescription

As part of last week's column about the abuse of POWs in Iraq, titled "We too are unfamiliar with the Geneva Convention", we examined arguments proposed on the right, notably by Hannity and Limbaugh, that what happened at Abu Ghraib is no worse than what goes on at fraternities.

Since none of us have ever been in one, we were caught a little off guard. Glow-sticks? Attack dogs? That didn't sound like rush week, but what did we know?
online pharmacy zovirax best drugstore for you

buy grifulvin online buy grifulvin no prescription

As journalists we took advantage of UofI's strong greek presence and wrote a letter to the Interfraternity Council asking them about the link:

An open letter to the Interfraternity Council.

As they have yet to respond, we can only assume the worst.