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Just got my holiday card (oops, Christmas card) from the Independence Institute, those wacky right-wingers based in Golden. This year’s offering pictures two snowmen sunbathing on a beach. Inside, there’s this message:
Promoting global climate change
by wishing you the warmest holiday wishes .
And may your carbon footprint grow in 2008.Get ahead of holiday shopping this year!Gift 12 issues of 5280 magazine for just $16 »Merry Christmas from your
Freedom Fighters at the Independence Institute
Cute, right?
Adding to the frivolity, the card includes a tin of “1st Amend Mints,” which promise to “alleviate the bad taste left by the liberal media.”
I realize that even Jon Caldara doesn’t think freedom of speech ought to apply to those with one particular viewpoint, and I also realize that the Institute folks are just trying to be funny. But, really, does anyone really buy into the “liberal media” myth anymore? Particularly here in Colorado, I scan the radio dial and hear almost nothing but conservative talking points. Every major newspaper’s editorial page is filled with right-wing rants, and their newsrooms are so cowed by fears of seeming “liberal” (not to mention disheartened by never-ending layoffs) that their coverage of both parties has become absolutely toothless.
So who does that leave? Jay Marvin? Westword? 5280? And yet people are still buying the idea of a liberal media. There’s your Christmas miracle…