A surprise best seller shocks the Left, again

Oak Lawn (IL) Reporter ^ | 7/11/02 | Michael M. Bates

[dogbyte12]

Ok. I am getting to be a curmugeon or something. I wasn't shocked when Michael Moore's book was #1, or Anne Coulter's.

If 1/500 people buy a book it is the #1 best seller going away. TV ratings, radio ratings, and movie grosses are the same way.

The movie industry is a great example of this. They combine the canada and US grosses. There are over 300 million people combined. A movie has a huge opening of 36 million dollars. At around 6 a ticket... that means 6 million people tickets were sold. 294 million people didn't go to the movie. Even less, because some fans went to the movie multiple times in the same week-end. But it is a HUGE opening. Now if 100 million people rushed out to buy any book other than the bible, I would find that impressive. Until then... yawn.

[Henchster]

"Miss Coulter is well known to regular viewers of the cable news networks. Long blond hair. Long legs. Short skirts....."

I was just responding to the "tone" of the article....

[mikeb704]

I am getting to be a curmugeon or something.

Yeah, and a curmudgeon too. Ann doesn't benefit from the establishment media plugging her book and serving as cheerleaders, as they do with their (Leftist) faves.

[GovernmentShrinker]

I smell a fun and productive new form of freeping here. If freepers all across the fruited plain pay visits to their local big-chain bookstores and quietly move copies of Slander and other worthy tomes to the front display tables, we could really move the best-seller charts, while promoting the dissemination of important information and ideas, and doing no harm whatsoever to the bookstores. Let's roll!

[holdenmcneil2002]

The term "liberal bias" is thrown about on this forum like a beach ball in August. Let's take a look at that:

Almost all talk radio is dominated by so-called "conservatives". (Be sure to thank Reagan for helping to repeal the FCC's Fairness Doctrine.)

Fox News trumpets itself as "fair and balanced" at every opportunity, yet hard-line conservatives readily admit that it's their TV news of choice because it has a GOP-favorable slant. (Just for a moment, use that vaunted 'common sense' which you fine folks claim as the exclusive province of the right; would a news program which was ACTUALLY "fair and balanced" feel it necessary to blare out the phrase ad nauseam?)

Not to mention that Bush's and Cheney's questionable financial dealings have received the merest fraction of Whitewater media coverage...or media coverage of Clinton's Penis. (You remember, right? The penis that single-handedly corrupted our nation? At least according to the "liberal" media.)

The mainstream media has become so obviously "conservative", yet you people continue to squawk "liberal media!" at every turn.

Myopia, like ignorance, truly must be bliss.

[mikeb704]

And tony - you may prefer toney - she is.

[mikeb704]

Almost all talk radio is dominated by so-called "conservatives".

Does your use of "so-called" mean that they really aren't conservatives?

yet hard-line conservatives readily admit. . .

Gee, are there any soft-line conservatives?

Thanks for the grins.

[thinktwice]

when conservative books sell hundreds of thousands of copies and top the New York Times best-seller list, it is taken as signifying nothing

Consider also, the Nobel Literature Prize -- Ayn Rand's 1958 classic, the philosophical novel "Atlas Shrugged," is the world's all time second place best seller (the Bible is number one); but the Nobel Literature prize goes to such as V. S. Naipaul (2001 Nobel Literature Prize winner), writing about basic things such as "Guerrillas."

[martin gibson]

holdenmcneil2002, member since 2002-07-09

Dude, thank you so much for your insight!!

[Fzob]

"so-called "conservatives"

"hard-line conservatives"

I'm pretty sure holdenmcneil2002 was just being kind. He really meant knuckle dragging right wing wackos, but is trying to get along with folks in his first post.

[mikeb704]

And an absolutely splendid debut it was, don't you think?

[Doug Loss]

Geez, a lot of you guys joined today! Did DU finally get it together enough to try a mildly-less-disorganized disruption campaign?

[Pharmboy]

Sounds good to me--I've already started! The water's fine, all y'all come on in!

[Gorzaloon]

"...far too hostile for my taste." I like 'em hostile. (Ooops, did I say that outloud?)

I think I am hostile, too.

Most people are not born that way. It comes from decades of being marginalized and trivialized by the Media ELite, by the (Not really very smart) Cambridge and Berkley axis. It is born out of frustration, revulsion and disgust.

BTW, they used to hide Rush's books, too. People reported The Correct were going into bookstores and turning them binder side out.

Book Burning was a big sport in Berlin, once, and in Bejing, also, and reveals much of the leftist character.

[holdenmcneil2002]

Seems I've caused some confusion...I was referring to the difference between genuine conservatism and far-right demagoguery.

And, you're right; "hard-line conservatives" is a rather redundant phrase. Consider the GOP's rejection of moderate conservative John McCain (a favorite target here, it seems, for not being far enough to the right) in 2000.

I'm not just being kind, I was actually hoping for some civil discussion...I wouldn't waste time trying to deal with "knuckle-draggers".

[pgkdan]

Annie is correct about O'Reilly

She sure is...he's a loudmouthed, arrogant and egotistical populist. Whatever he thinks the people want to hear...that's what he says.

It's funny...I lobbied my cable company to start carrying Fox News becasue of all the buzz about O'Reilly and becaause I wanted to see Hannity and COlmes. Now I get Fox and I've discovered that I can't bear to watch either show and Fox has hired Geraldo and Greta Van Sustern. Sheesh.

[Green Knight]

Almost all talk radio is dominated by so-called "conservatives". (Be sure to thank Reagan for helping to repeal the FCC's Fairness Doctrine.)

That's talk radio. It's not a news business. And if liberals could get better ratings then conservative commentators, then it'd be liberals who dominate talk radio rather than vice versa.

Fox News trumpets itself as "fair and balanced" at every opportunity, yet hard-line conservatives readily admit that it's their TV news of choice because it has a GOP-favorable slant.

No, because it actually reports the news fairly. It only appears to have a conservative slant when you're so far out left that anything that anything that isn't to the left of you automatically qualifies as rightwing to you. Just because Fox News isn't anywhere near as left wing as CNN and MSNBC doesn't make it right wing.

(Just for a moment, use that vaunted 'common sense' which you fine folks claim as the exclusive province of the right; would a news program which was ACTUALLY "fair and balanced" feel it necessary to blare out the phrase ad nauseam?)

Because it's a tag line. Sort of like "America's News Channel" on MSNBC.

Not to mention that Bush's and Cheney's questionable financial dealings have received the merest fraction of Whitewater media coverage...or media coverage of Clinton's Penis. (You remember, right? The penis that single-handedly corrupted our nation? At least according to the "liberal" media.)

Could it be they're not jumping on it because *gasp* there's nothing there? Please. If the media could find ANYTHING to somehow lay the blame on Bush and/or Cheney then they'd jump on the story just as fiercly as they did the whole "Bush did cocaine" story, which only began because Tom Daschle, who didn't witness anything, said they should investigate it.

The mainstream media has become so obviously "conservative", yet you people continue to squawk "liberal media!" at every turn.

Myopia, like ignorance, truly must be bliss.

Uh huh. Methinks you took a wrong turn when clicking your bookmarks. You may have wanted to go to here.

[pgkdan]

Myopia, like ignorance, truly must be bliss.

Troll.

[Fzob]

Indeed it was spendid but typical.

Typical logic that takes the few areas where liberal bias is not so entrenched that the media outlets can't even see it and profoundly claims that:

"The mainstream media has become so obviously "conservative", yet you people continue to squawk "liberal media!" at every turn.

How do we get from one slightly conservative viewpoint (Fox) coupled with some conservative radio to the opinion that the mainstream media is obviously conservative?

My guees is 50/50 myopia and ignorance.

[Psalm 73]

"The term "liberal bias" is thrown about on this forum like a beach ball in August."

You just got here today - already making judgement calls about how often a phrase is used?
Wassa' mattah' - slow day at DU?