My, my, my, I guess since i have an opinion i am a war-mongering bush lover...

bout time says....
No man is the USA = to make Bush analougous to the USA was the cruelest, yet most effective, cornerstone of the NeoCon power grab. Bush is by far, whether you love him or hate him, the furthest thing from an Average American man possible....but not in the good way like other presidents have been (Where their academics and/or military services or govenorship were exempleary )

This is a nice opinion, but everyones got one. You're from NY, so you should get it. i am not sure how the NeoCons caused me to love or hate Bush. That is pretty diluted thinking with some paranoia thrown in for good measure.

bout time says.....
Love Big Brother, he's here to protect you = constant fear mongering by men in stations we were all raised to respect grew this quid pro quo: they're in a position to know, like my forefathers leaders, so we need to trust what they say & be very afraid! If we need to be less free and more monitored , even though we pay our taxes and are a zero level threat not needing the resources to watch me, it is so more than necessary!

I never siad i was afriad, but I am vigilant. You have some authority issues and maybe were not looked after and loved as a child I guess from reading this response. We are you and citizens so afraid to let your country keep you safe? Unless you are dealing drugs, in organized crime, have kiddie porn on you pc, or truly not doing something wrong, why would hte men in Black suits and Black Suburbans show up?

bout time says
The irony of a father's pride & joy on a tank as an avatar on this sort of site = I've done my military service & love my country, but the only thing that has me fearful is what our beutiful angels, our children, will endure because of what we are allowing now.....their bodies will be maimed & blown assunder on foreign soil and/or their fortunes will be severly curtailed because of privatization run rampant.

I will ask you to politely never mention my son again unless it is to say 'what a beautiful boy'. Cool, thanks.

My family fought in WW1,WW2, Korea, Vietnam and a few modern conflicts. There are wars, and there will always be wars. because they are profitable. Open your own eyes and enjoy the ride for the short time you are here.

People this is not funny we are starting to see, how Mr. God in the white house sees himself of grand and omnipotent, this some scare thing I am telling you, not good.

And by the way it goes beyond freedom of speech this is imposing a leader to the ones that did not vote for him.

If people love Mr. Bush so much why don't they give away free pictures framed for the Mr. Bush lovers to have a home and worship him in the privacy of their home.

One really does have to admit that its frustrating that a giant media conglomerate like Clear Channel would do this, but, as Grady pointed out, its a private group doing a private thing.

Itsnot at all like Hussein having his pics everywhere, and its not like Hitler having the title of Fuerher (meaing leader), but it is disconcerting to have a major media outlet be so partisan. On the one hand, I'd say its good, because they are downplaying dangerous dissent, effectively say, like it or not, bush won, he's the president, now lets get behind him. But I'm not so naive to think that this is their only motivation.

Also, aren't they required by law to provide equal time to the opposition? Or is this only in election time?

So if a private group decided to put up billboards proclaiming all the mistakes that Bush has made, how long do you think those billboards would stay up? Not very long, Im guessing. People are trying to say this is about freedom of speach, but when ever someone tries to express thier right, they are oppressed by either the government, or Bush supporters. Im not trying to start an argument, Im just telling about personal experiences. You cant openly talk about Bush and not be retaliated agianst in one form or another.

Why is the billboard wrong? Is it because it is being used to sway the minds of anti Bush citizens? I doubt it. Especially since it seems to have had the exact opposite affect here. Is it an untrue statement? Last I heard, Bush did win the election (at least this one) and is the leader of this country, whether you agree with him or even agree to follow the government he represents. I'm not a Bush supporter, but I see nothing wrong with this billboard. It's not like Bush is putting these up all over the country by himself. A private group put it up with non-gonverment money. The thing is, unlike Sadam, or any other political Tyrant, Bush's billboard will be coming down in at least 4 years. So until then , those who hate Bush, but live in Florida, will have to grin and bear it. Sorry

Originally posted by marg6043
People this is not funny we are starting to see, how Mr. God in the white house sees himself of grand and omnipotent, this some scare thing I am telling you, not good.

And by the way it goes beyond freedom of speech this is imposing a leader to the ones that did not vote for him.

How you can say such silly things is beyond me. How is anyone imposing a leader on anyone? How does this equate to "how Mr. God in the white house sees himself of grand and omnipotent"?

Maybe you just missed the point. Private organizations and individuals put up these billboards, not Mr. Bush. If it bothers you to drive past one, just remember the song:

Keep your mind on your driving
Keep your hands on the wheel
Keep your beady eyes on the road ahead

Or, take another route.

Originally posted by mpeake
A private group put it up with non-gonverment money.

As a former employee of one of Clear Channel's billboard production plants (they bought out a wonderful family-run company who needed cash like the rest of us), I know first hand how they operate. Theoretically, anyone with enough money can call up and order a billboard, as long as it doesn't violate local obscenity laws. In practice, anything with even a remotely political or "controversial" message or artwork has to be cleared through a sales director. And those sales directors routinely deny approval to board orders that involve anything Clear Channel doesn't like. So you get pro-war, pro-Bush, pro-religion billboards, a lot of the time paid for by Clear Channel itself. And you very very rarely get anything else. Even if the area is dying to fill empty board space, and the person pays top rates.

In fact, one of the pre-press artists used to make funny collages of some of the board art on little miniatures they use as proofs. He had a couple hung in his cubicle. One was some text from an anti-abortion board, with a picture of Les Schwab the tire guy. It was pretty funny, but not so funny how he was in the first round of layoffs when the takeover happened.

Clear Channel also has some really ugly practices in limiting musical artists. They own record labels, production studios, booking and tour companies, performance venues, radio & TV stations. So if an artist does or says something not "approved" by Clear Channel, they are pretty much shut down. No tours, no airplay, etc. All perfectly legal. And you know, Clear Channel just happened to fly a few FCC big shots to various regulatory meetings in the company jets

The foxes are not just guarding the henhouse, they are eating their fill of hens, and selling the rest down the river.

--Saerlaith

Originally posted by jsobecky
Maybe you just missed the point. Private organizations and individuals put up these billboards, not Mr. Bush. If it bothers you to drive past one, just remember the song:

Keep your mind on your driving
Keep your hands on the wheel
Keep your beady eyes on the road ahead

Or, take another route.

It matters to me and the invasion of my personal space, and by the way it may sound silly to you but to me is offensive, after all we do have freedom of speech.Right?

Actually I think the billboards are hilarious and I bet somebody is going to do a prank on them.

lighten up is all a joke.

Saerlaith, I completely agree with you on your points about Clear Channel and what they represent. I HATE Clearchannel! And I also strongly dislike Bush as well. But, in the end, I still see no wrong with the billboard. You drive thru any metropolitan area and tell me that there isn't far worse stuff put up all over the place. It's a picture of the President with a statement that is in no way a lie or propoganda. He is our leader. Most of the voters in America are proud of that fact as well. So, when an elected president's picture is posted on the highway, why is that wrong? Like I said before, if you don't like it, just wait 4 yrs and it'll be replaced by our next tyranical presidnet bent on world domination. That's the beauty of this country, we get to bitch about a new president at least every 8 yrs, sometimes less.

And Marge, since when is the highway considered "personal space"? I thought that the highway's were for the use of "Public" transportation, not private.

Originally posted by mpeake
.

And Marge, since when is the highway considered "personal space"? I thought that the highway's were for the use of "Public" transportation, not private.

lighten up, is just a joke but any way I do give the bird when somebody invade my space in the highway.

Originally posted by esdad71
This is a nice opinion, but everyones got one. You're from NY, so you should get it. i am not sure how the NeoCons caused me to love or hate Bush. That is pretty diluted thinking with some paranoia thrown in for good measure.

No, not diluted at all. But in the re-read on my own post, it did seem to be framing you as the blueprint to the psychosis I was mentioning. My bad.

It is a fact that people chose the icon of what Bush stands for as marketed, over the actual track record of what Bush is/accomplished. That perspective, by incessant marketing, morphed into Bush = America after 9/11, whereby our saftey & the actions to supposedly secure it became a referendum on the man's performance. There was not a single White House sound byte explaining their position on everthing that did not include "since 9/11"..

The US authorities have no need to know what you buy at the supermarket, or what I'm watching online or any of the other invasive measures marketed under security. I don't agree with the argument that because you're clean you have nothing to fear; how does reasonable objection to byte level scrutiny mean that I'm "afraid of letting my country keep me safe?" Re-read that line you wrote - it's a Big Brother loves us endorsement.

Like I said, I did my service love my country. My older brother did 25 years & my nephews are currently deployed. My uncles & grandfathers fought in every war of the last century. I will have 19 kids in my family within draft age parameters by 2008.
That we all benefit from increased access to the knowledge of the direct line between war & profit and have those people in our lives is more than reason enough to not take a passive "Play Halo until it passes" mindset . I know I can't .

A BIG DEPARTURE from the billboard-fascist-now-lead-us-topic on the thread, but that's my NY opinion!

lighten up, is just a joke but any way I do give the bird when somebody invade my space in the highway.

I know, I know...I was just playing with ya too

bout time, all I can say is enuff said very on the mark, and I feel strongly that we as a nation should start in our own communities, and attempt change. Help to clean up a bad part of your town, run for local PTA or a council seat Just take notice of what is going on around you, or one day it could truly be gone.

Starting now, at a local level, we as a nation could take back our country through public election within 20 years, and maybe put a regular Joe in the White House. Maybe one day it could be your face on that BillBoard, and morons like us will argue over whether it is a conspiracy or not


But Halo 2 has been a nice diversion for a few weeks

[edit on 23-11-2004 by esdad71]

Originally posted by mpeake
Saerlaith, I completely agree with you on your points about Clear Channel and what they represent. So, when an elected president's picture is posted on the highway, why is that wrong? Like I said before, if you don't like it, just wait 4 yrs and it'll be replaced by our next tyranical presidnet bent on world domination. That's the beauty of this country, we get to bitch about a new president at least every 8 yrs, sometimes less.

I guess the problem comes in when there is no proof that a leader was elected in the first place, and then that leader allows laws to be passed that create near-monopolies for our media. So on the surface of it, a billboard of Bush is perfectly legal, but if you dig into the how & why of it, it gets a little stinky.

Clear Channel (legally) bought up hundreds of smaller companies, using broader laws passed by the FCC. And if you go up the food chain, the FCC is populated by friends of the current regime. All perfectly legal, since the laws formerly preventing conflicts of interest and monopolies have been stretched and rewritten since Bush came to power.

So yes, legally Clear Channel can endorse any person or issue it wants, and deny any it doesn't. But if you turn the clock back to before the laws were changed regarding media ownership of an entire market area, you would have had 2 or 3 other billboard companies willing to sell you space for un-Clear Channel-approved messages. That was the whole idea behind the laws preventing any one company from owning too many TV/radio stations, newspapers, etc. in one area.

Icky! --Saerlaith

clearchannelsucks.org states....
They outright own the tours of musicians like Janet Jackson, Aerosmith, Pearl Jam, Madonna and N'Sync. They own the network which airs Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura, Casey Kasem, and the Fox Sports Radio Network. With 103,000,000 listeners in the U.S. and 1,000,000,000 globally (1/6 of the world population), this powerful company has grown unchecked, using their monopoly to control the entire music industry. Clear Channel Entertainment (aka SFX, one of their more well-known subsidiaries) owns and operates over 200 venues nationwide. They are in 248 of the top 250 radio markets, controlling 60% of all rock programming.

Clear Channel does own ALOT, and controls alot. I still think they were within their right however to put up a billboard that promotes President Bush.

Clear Channel (legally) bought up hundreds of smaller companies, using broader laws passed by the FCC. And if you go up the food chain, the FCC is populated by friends of the current regime. All perfectly legal, since the laws formerly preventing conflicts of interest and monopolies have been stretched and rewritten since Bush came to power.

Exactly! But until the general public wakes up, and does their own digging, we won't get someone in office to right those wrongs. And clearchannel, and those alike, will be able to go along as they always do. I blame the less than 50% of the US population for allowing such things to happen. I just can't blame Bush and the republicans this time. They did what what the dems and liberals and third parties should have done...show up and vote. Bush may not have won the first election hands down, but he did this time. And there is nothing that can be done about that now. Four more years and we are done! That's about all I can say for now...

I live in Florida and sometimes need to be reminded who stole the last two elections. Thank you Clear Channel!

Originally posted by esdad71
Maybe one day it could be your face on that BillBoard, and morons like us will argue over whether it is a conspiracy or not


But Halo 2 has been a nice diversion for a few weeks

[edit on 23-11-2004 by esdad71]

Since Nov. 3rd, I've read the Da Vinci Code and My Life, as well as making a point to shoot pool........I'm going shopping for a table this weekend!

THere was a thread around before.....I am thinking of making a run for office locally!
And yes, starting tomorrow night, I more than likely won't be sober until sometime Sunday afternoon!

Originally posted by mpeake

Bush may not have won the first election hands down, but he did this time. And there is nothing that can be done about that now. Four more years and we are done! That's about all I can say for now...

Hopefully 4 more years will be all. I've heard the question if Bush lost this election, would he actually leave the white house. We may never know if he really did win. So I guess we don't have to wonder if he would leave or not. All he has to do is pick the right vote counting "method" and wait out the people wanting proof that he won.

But yeah, under current laws, Clear Channel can put up all the Bush boards they want. And under current law, I can be hauled off to Gitmo for protesting that. A lot of ugliness can happen in 4 years, and that's not counting a creepy billboard of our great leader

--Saerlaith

Originally posted by Saerlaith
But yeah, under current laws, Clear Channel can put up all the Bush boards they want. And under current law, I can be hauled off to Gitmo for protesting that. A lot of ugliness can happen in 4 years, and that's not counting a creepy billboard of our great leader

--Saerlaith

Are you saying that there is a law that prevents me from starting a small company that puts up billboards in Florida? Or that can send Clearchannel reject bands out on tour?

And Gitmo...?