Good political tv (any real news?)

[Betsy Ross]

Just bit the bullet and ordered expanded cable service. Keith Olbermann was the motivating force. Heard his editorial on O'Lielly's accusations of WWII servicemen played on Randi Rhodes show. Call it political consciousness or just the desire to be entertained by the likes of Stephen Colbert, we're getting cable.

So far I know we will get KO, Daily Show, and Colbert. I count on DU for most of my news, is there anything on cable to see? Being in the Pacific time zone, DU from the East can alert me to worthwhile cable. What other programs should I be looking for?

[CottonBear]

1. CSPAN1, 2 & 3 plus those three shows are the only ones worth watching

and two of them are satiric comedy shows. For the most part, don't waste your time with the rest of the crap on TV news. Sometimes, Randi Rhodes or Sam Seder will be on Lou Dobbs or CSPAN.

CSPAN Washington Journal is always interesting and the CSPAN book shows and specail interviews are quite good. Of course, CSPAN shows the house and senate live.

[Atman]

5. CSPAN is just a right-wing shill-fest

Remember who controls their budget.

[CottonBear]

6. CSPAN showed the entire march against the war in NYC

& the entire march for women in DC.

I know there is RW control of CSPAN (via cable coroporations) but where else could we see protest marches, Mark Crispin Miller, Randi Rhodes and many, many politicians, journalists and writers.

CSPAN isn't perfect but it serves an important purpose. The live WJ show and the live house and senate sessions are a real public service.

[Atman]

9. CSPAN ignored the entire March on Washington last year

Along with every other "media" outlet (I put it in quotes because it actually is synonymous with "Propaganda Machine").

They focused on a couple of smaller rallies that, frankly, I didn't hear a word about. And I actually watch CSPAN. That's kind of like saying "Hey, I'm a great husband because I only beat you on Tuesdays and Thursdays!"

[CottonBear]

10. I admit. CSPAN isn't perfect but it's the only channel which broadcasts

the house and senate live.

Would I like it to be better and balanced and fair? Hell yes. But, that's not going to happen until the Democrats are in the majority again.

I agree with you that CSPAN is biased. I and Mr. CB are both CSPAN watchers. We know to take what we see and hear with a grain of salt as it were. However, many others don't realize that it is a biased media outlet. To solve that problem, (the one of ingnornace) it will take a long time to fix.

[LouisianaLiberal]

2. Do you have access to Link TV, Free Speech TV

or UCTV? They are often hidden in the netherworld of higher channel numbers.

[Synnical]

8. Yup, Democracy Now!

Airs on LinkTV in my area. I Tivo it every weekday.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

3. LinkTV, FSTV, if you get it.

And, of course, BBC.

[Atman]

4. That's about it. Sorry. Although Lou Dobbs can be surprising.

You're probably going to wind up paying something like $80-100 a month for those three viewable shows. You might try Lou Dobbs, he can also occasionally be good, but he's still pretty much of a corporatist.

We have the digital package with seven HBO channels...and still just watch the three shows you mention, plus the "main" HBO only for Sopranos, Big Love, Entourage and Bill Maher. $117 a month for about seven programs. :crazy:

You can help mitigate the damage by watching crap like Hardball, just to see what the enemy is doing. And David Letterman is always good for some serious Bush-bashing laughs. But as for "news," fuhgeddaboudit. It's all just one giant GOP-controlled right wing fellatio-fest for BushCo. The irony is, the fucking right-wing loonies still actually think the media is all liberal. I swear, check out any of the conservative boards...they still scream "liberal media" if teevee news does anything but wave the BushCo flag and declare him God & Saviour each night. It skeery.

[CottonBear]

7. David Letterman. He hates BushCo. n/t