> What is more important is how leftists can appeal to more of the
> public than we have been able to do so far. Chairman Powell did
> make one interesting point, I thought, namely that the vast
> majority of the public, who are quite free and will continue to be
> free to seek out whatever sources of information they prefer,
> seem to prefer to tune in to the outlets owned by the big
> corporations. Just as most Americans eat white bread instead of
> 7-grain sprouted wheat, and burgers instead of tofu.
I agree that kvetching about the media is no effective way of dealing with ideology. I also appreciate the non-existence of any media Golden Age in the lifetime of nearly anyone on this list. That said, I thought the Whole Foods thread demonstrated that '"7-grain, tofu" political ideas' have nothing to do with a meaningful definition of the left. The "7-grain, tofu" types, as was noted in the thread, often shun the very word "political." Likewise, "Neither Left Nor Right, But Out In Front" has occasionally been taken up Greens.
However, granola crunching is central to a popular and insulting caricature of the left. It's about as fair as claiming the average Bush supporters have their living rooms presided over by the trophy heads of animal carcasses.
It's worth remembering that is was Michael Savage who wrote the _The Herbal Bible_ a decade ago, self-professed catalyst for the "herbal revolution". He's the one who hawked natural cures to AIDS (massive doses of Vitamin C) and cocaine addiction (coffee enemas).
And why aren't figures of the Radio Right and their audiences linked to shit like Coast To Coast AM as we on the left are to tofu???
-- Shane
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