a well-reasoned argument?

Thanks to a tip from my brother, I subscribe to a conservative newsletter, primarily to keep tabs on the "other" perspective. I try to stay open to other points of view so as to challenge and ultimately strengthen my own, a tactic I don't often see amongst conservatives.

The problem with this idea is that conservative newsletters avoid any sense of reason or logic. For example, the latest newsletter, headlined "Don't Let MoveOn.org Censor Fox News", discusses a campaign by moveon.org to urge congresspeople to support a review of Fox's false advertisement. I think even the most rabid supporter of Faux News will admit that it's not "fair and balanced" and they have no balance using such an expression. It's like bottling battery acid and calling it "smooth and refreshing".

But I want to hear some other points of view, so I read it. Here's what I find:
- "loony leftists"
- "leftists"
- "blatantly liberal"
- "ever-gullible members" (referring to moveon.org members)
- "whackos"
- "loons"
- "out-of-touch far-left"
- "radical left"

And the ultimate slur: calling Fox News "the only bastion of Fair and Balanced news reporting on the air today."

I'm not really getting a lot of information from all this name-calling. The only other "argument" I can see, other than "they're freakin crazy" are repeated accusations of censorship. The way I see it, if the FTC told Fox to report only right-wing (or left-wing) news, that would be censorship. Telling them to report what they want as long as they don't LIE about it is not censorship. And asking our representatives to hold a media corporation accountable for false advertising is what we in this country call Democracy.

If you want to be a puppet for the GOP, then do it. Just don't call it news. And certainly don't call it "fair and balanced."

So if the conservative's only argument for his position is to slap a flag on his ass and call me a loon, then so be it. Just don't say I'm not a patriot, because I cherish the founding principles of this country more than any right-winger will ever comprehend. It's what fuels my relentless anger at this neocon depravity.