The future of the conservative movement

Posted at 4:38 PM on April 11, 2006 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)

This should be good.

Release issued today by MPR

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and former Representative Vin Weber will discuss the future of the conservative movement with Gary Eichten during a live Midday broadcast from The Forum on Friday, April 21st.

Event Details:
Friday, April 21st
Noon - 1:00 (participants must be in The Forum by 11:30 a.m.)
The Forum at Minnesota Public Radio

The audience for this event is by invitation only and will include members of our PIJ (public insight journalism) network, key community members, and Humphrey Policy Fellows. The broadcast will feature regional callers and online questions.

This event is hosted in collaboration with the Humphrey Policy Forum.

Comments (5)

Sigh. This is one of the reasons why I've so given up on listening to MPR. My perception (since of course I don't keep a log) that Conservatives are given 'way 'way too much airtime on MPR.

So once again "Spin" Weber gets to play the role of Esteemed Elder Stateman, this time to that tremendous loser and hypocrite, Newt Gingrich.

And the progressive or liberal voice in this discussion is? I mean, yeah, fine, we're talking about the "Conservative Movement," but maybe it would be helpful to have someone on there to point out that this is a misnomer. That this isn't a 'conservative movement,' it's a 'corporate takeover' and a manufactured social realignment based on wealth and power, not some kind of social evolution.

But, no - easier to reach into the rolodex, call the usual puffed up white guys in suits, and burn 50 minutes of airtime letting the wealthy and powerful tell The Rest of Us just how the world works.

What's next? More Mike Osterholm talking about this year's chicken-little fad, Bird Flu? Oy.

Posted by Albatross | April 12, 2006 2:00 PM

To the point - it should be an interesting discussion. I have no respect for Newt Gingrich, somewhat more for Weber, but I owuld argue that they are appropriate for discussing the "conservative movement" (whatever it is). I would not expect to have Newt Gingrich invited to a discussion of the progressive movement, so I'm not shocked that Noam Chomsky isn't on this panel.

Off point,

Fascinating to read through this site and find that the previous poster is convinced that MPR is a bastion of conservatism, while another poster (in the thread on issues) is absolutely convinced MPR is crawling with communists (OK, he said Leftists, but we know what he meant...).

Perhaps you ARE being relatively fair...!

Posted by Allan Malkis | April 13, 2006 12:55 PM

The Conservatives will cry victimization by liberals long after the last of us have been marched over the border into Canada. Meanwhile, would any of us recognize an actual progressive commentator? And I don't mean these faux-progressive Hannity-style strawmen or these people labelled progressive simply because they're willing to consider that maybe someone, somewhere, might be disadvantaged by the system.

If MPR held a "debate" on cannibalism, it would bring in a conservative cannibal supporting deregulated cannibalism, and a "liberal" cannibal, supporting government-regulated cannibalism. There would be no one on the show voicing the point of view that cannibalism may be a bad idea.

Posted by Albatross | April 13, 2006 2:03 PM

//Perhaps you ARE being relatively fair...!

I hear all the time the complaint (and I have nothing to do with what's on the air here ... anymore) that so-and-so gets too much airtime. Usually when I'm able to explore it, "too much' is used as a synonym for "any."

But they all say they don't listen anymore so I guess the issue is irrelevant anyway.

Posted by Bob Collins | April 13, 2006 4:31 PM

//There would be no one on the show voicing the point of view that cannibalism may be a bad idea.

I'm in a betting mood today, so I'm going to take you up on that one. I say you're wrong. I say the debate will be framed EXACTLY as "cannibalism: good or bad."

And if I'm wrong, I'll eat my big toe. You?

Posted by Bob Collins | April 13, 2006 4:33 PM

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