If history teaches us anything, it’s that homogenous groups inevitably self-destruct. That reality applies to the success of Asheville’s liberal majority in championing a conforming City Council — a triumph likely to be repeated in the upcoming election. So much for a feigned interest in diversity.
Power has always been the left’s more authentic mission. Time will thus find Asheville losing its luster under the watch of a panel of progressive eyes constricted to one comfortable angle of view.
As the adventure unfolds, a name transition from Mountain “X” to Mountain “L” might be appropriate. Your publication remains admirably consistent in providing weekly pabulum to habituated liberal mascots. An edgy source of information and entertainment has thus morphed into a lollipop. A conservative thinker, being a student of reality, might point out that even the best flavors grow stale with time.
— Carl Mumpower
Asheville
Thank you Mr. Mumpower, for always making me laugh. Have you considered becoming a correspondent for Stephen Colbert?
Glad to see yet another Conservative come out petulantly in favor of affirmative action.
AS. IF…… the right isn’t admirably consistant in their quest….. “power always being the right’s more authentic mission.”
I know most folk here didn’t gloam to the latest grasping for straws, move by the anitboob Mumbitts, but seriously that was so obviously a poorly staged publicity attempt, it came off laughable.
I can picture Mumpower as he wrote this whining piece, tears streaming down his reddened face as his fingers shakily type out this childish bilge.
Maybe he should find another cause that would allow him to once again serve as comedic fodder.
Liberal democracy means free markets, open media, freedom of expression and assembly, as much as personal freedom. That’s you, Carl! Just turn off FOX and you’ll be fine.
There is no ‘conservative democracy’. Because that’s an oxymoron.
We don’t want to hurt you, Carl. Please join us at OWS AVL.
Hey!! There are lollipops? I want one! Who’s giving out the damn LOLLIPOPS?!?
If history teaches us anything, it’s that homogeneous groups don’t exist. Positing that groupthink will drive the Council to unanimity in every case is plain silly. Truly, Council should cease to hold meetings after these elections are completed, as they will become merely a formality in the enacting of the liberal agenda.
More GOTV efforts on the part of some sour grapes conservatives would have been far more effective in changing the outcome than frivolous letters attacking the media.
Viking is correct (well put, by the way), and it proves Barry Summers’ contention that Mumbitt’s whining over the fact that a heavily Democratic and progressive-leaning town would dare to elect people who share that view, and not make special arrangements for ‘diversity’ (or as Barry states, “affirmative action” for him). Because, you know, he’s ‘special’.
We hear this from many quarters lately. This, from Tim Peck in the AC-T:
“Progressive activists want to “pack the board” so as to squeeze out other points of view and create a narrow band of representation. I’ve heard them say so many times…
“I consider this to be highly undemocratic.”
http://tinyurl.com/65jfyva
“Highly undemocratic” of us to elect a majority Democratic City Council in a town that is majority Democratic…
And don’t get me started on the victimization of Mark Cates:
“I mean, Asheville’s a loving, generous city. But there’s elements that are really against Republicans. And they’re passionately against Republicans. And I felt like this is something we have to put a stop to.”
http://www.mountainx.com/article/35563/Asheville-City-Council-Candidate-interview-Mark-Cates
“Put a stop to?” If your party affiliation (it gets worse than ‘Republican’ of course – the least popular is ‘Tea Partier’) is unpopular in the town you are running in, don’t cry about how unfair it is. You run, you lose, you dust yourself off. There is no “putting a stop to” it.
“I felt like this is something we have to put a stop to.”
Yeah, its not like we live in a representative democracy or anything.
Hummmm, no, Mumpower.
The name MtnX is quite satisfactory for us “habituated liberal” readers in AVL.
Perhaps a bit flaky sometimes, but mostly representative, except for petulant imports from Gastonia.
Perhaps a bit flaky sometimes, but mostly representative, except for petulant imports from Gastonia.
Or Jacksonville.
Carl is merely pointing out the obvious. And true to form, the pabulum-eaters are agitated. Doesn’t take much to disturb this anthill, does it Carl?
Yes, in his pretentiously verbose way, he did point out the obvious. It is obvious that Asheville has a “liberal majority”. It is obvious that the voters chose people who reflected tha majority view; it’s obvious Mr. Mumpower feels that the only way right-wingers can ‘win’ is if there is some kind of ‘diversity’ embraced, since they can’t win on their own merits, and it’s obvious Mumpower is a sore loser.
@ John…Carl appears to be the agitated one.
I honestly don’t udnerstnad the entire purpose of this letter to the editor. It has and always will amaze me how people need some sort of affirmation that they are right. If you post in a “liberal” news medium about liberals and there ways. You will without a doubt get slammed by Liberals that want to mock, ridicule, or just contradict your statement. Therefore proving to yourself that the medium is a Liberal Medium.
Same thing as how Conservatives listen to people like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and others to re-affirm there Conservative beliefs. Liberals listen to NPR, CNN, and Liberal news mediums to reaffirm there Liberal beliefs.
If you are so sure in your belief then why do you need others to tell you that you are right? Furthremore, why not read, listen to a variety of news mediums as you might learn something you didn’t already know.
Personally, I think Carl likes to kick the cow turd once in a while just to watch the dung beetles scurry. He’s an awesome Trickster and ya’ll have been tricked.
Whatever.
But, really, MountainX isn’t particularly liberal. It’s pretty mainstream.
I often wish we had a liberal press, but advertising pressure pushes everyone into the middle.
I don’t really get his assertion that Mountain X is liberal. It seems like Nesbitt and Mumpower get way more in print than Bothwell or Newman. The staff may or may not be liberal, but the evidence in print looks fair and balanced.
Mountain Xpress only looks fair and balanced to leftist-liberals living in the insular, fishbowl world that is Asheville. It’s big ‘diverse’ world out there, folks. Wake up. Try accepting someone with a viewpoint different from your own. That’s called ‘tolerance’.
We should tolerate sanctimonious b.s. from a two bit, diploma mill “Doc.”…I don’t think so. You do it if you’re so concerned about acceptance.
Uhmmm, thank you D. Dial for proving my point. Good luck with that.
That would be a point that’s all in your head.
“He’s not a real doctor …”
“Try accepting someone with a viewpoint different from your own. That’s called ‘tolerance’.”
Accepting different viewpoints is one thing; electing those with viewpoints that do not represent the majority of voters’ views is something else altogether.
Agree, Dionysis. For me acceptance doesn’t mean I vote for someone I disagree with.
And this call for political ‘diversity’ comes from a member of a political party that tried to create a ‘permanent Republican majority’.
“Agree, Dionysis. For me acceptance doesn’t mean I vote for someone I disagree with.”
It’s hard to imagine who would, yet that seems to be what Mr. Mumpower is calling for.
Responding to Carl Mumpower is like slapping a retarded child; entirely pointless and…somewhat cruel.
Perhaps with some really creative re-districting help from Raleigh, Carl could win an election somewhere…
@ Mac Malone….We know Carl has his “limitations”…but his supporters do not know that. Which is why we pateintly attempt to point this out when we get the chance. In the hopes that reality will sink in. They’re buying the “learned, scholerly, conservative b.s.”
Hmmmm… so then, are we to believe that Carl Mumpower is absolutely outraged that there are no liberal perspectives at all in the Asheville Tribune?!? Did you write a letter to the Asheville Tribune as well Mr Mumpower? Golly, I hope so. Compared to the Tribune, the MX is a fountain of political diversity.
Asheville is one of only a handful of cities in the entire Southern US that has a liberal leaning… and that’s not good enough for you Mr Mumpower?!? Real diversity would only be possible if every city in the entire Southern US was controlled by conservatives?!?
Do you spend a lot of time fighting how astonishingly little liberal representation there is in the Southern US? I hope so, because otherwise that would make you a pretty huge hypocrite now, wouldn’t it?
And Mr Mumpower, are you really saying that you would be outraged if the percentages were flipped, and conservatives were the prevailing influence?!? Do you seriously expect us to believe that?!? And if not, why spout such laughably blatant hypocrisy?
By the way, complaining that the liberal weekly is liberal is a bit like going to a Chinese restaurant and complaining that there is too much Chinese food on the menu. The Mountain XPress makes a genuine effort to reflect a cross-section of the community, but it is a liberal weekly with virtually the same format as every other liberal weekly in the country.
I think it would be a beneficial in the long run to have every single elected position and appointment in Asheville filled with nothing but myopic leftist progressives. I am all in favor of passing huge tax increases to fund every single desire they can come up with.
” I am all in favor of passing huge tax increases to fund every single desire they can come up with.”
Thanks for your view; many have been anxiously awaiting you to chime in.
no prob … happy to provide.
So, travelah, you want for Asheville what the United States had from 1932 to 1964? Lots of progressives in government, high marginal tax rates and unprecedented stability for the middle class?
Gee, I want that too.
Ah, the good ole halcyon days of yore.
Don’t forget all the tax loopholes and shelters that went along with those high marginal rates. I think Asheville should get it all!
Gee, great argument travelah. All that trying to help people stuff, it’s just so unChristian. Golly danged leftists with their helpiness. If there is one thing Jesus hated, it was helping people in need, right? Especially if it was inconvenient! That’s why he commanded not to give to anyone who begs from you, and that if someone asks for your coat, and it is a little chilly out, you should dropkick them. “Tax cuts for the rich, screw the poor. Buncha lazy SOB’s.” That was Jesus’ motto, right? He never said anything about how it’s not your place to judge whether or not you think they deserve help, ya’ know, help like the social programs that cost money, now did he? Nah, he hated lazy ol’ poor people. Damned leftist liberals and their desires to help the needy. You tell em’ travelah.
Did you donate some extra tax money this year? Gosh, couldn’t all the wee people of Asheville just kick in an extra 10% … for the children of course?
Friendly Monday note: Instead of making this thread about Travelah and some continued tete-a-tetes … what about that letter? The “L” and the “X”?
So MtnXp leans liberal. So effing what? We can’t all be narrow minded tight-azzs. SOME of us even have a quality education that tends to clean out the narrow minded cobwebs.
I’m guessing there are no other pressing issues for Dr. M to get into a tizzy about. I’m declaring this another “mumbitt.”
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Mumbitt
Margaret,
Good point and in that spirit, I believe Carl is not taking into consideration that the publisher is entitled to pursue whatever ideological direction he/she/it desires. I appreciate the MountainX being an inclusive publication that does not politically censor opposing opinion. If it were to establish that internal policy, Carl would have a valid point to make.
Carl’s feigned fear of a lack of diversity, as if there wasn’t enough conservative representation in North Carolina, is beyond asinine, but there is a real point buried deep inside of his nonsense, and that is the issue of why the XPress continues the charade of pretending that it isn’t a liberal weekly. Clearly they are afraid of scaring off advertisers, but really, who do they think they are kidding?
It’s great that the Xpress makes a genuine effort to have some conservative voices be heard, but that doesn’t situate them in the middle, or make them detached, or particularly objective. They are still the liberal weekly, virtually identical in format to every other liberal weekly in the country. There is nothing wrong with that. As travelah said, the publisher is entitled to pursue whatever direction that they like.
The biggest problem with Fox news isn’t that they have a right wing slant; it’s that they absurdly claim not to. In that regard, the Mountain Xpress is every bit as guilty. The problem is not that the liberal weekly has a liberal bias, it is that they pretend that they don’t, as if anyone with two brain cells to rub together is fooled by that.
The Huffington Post is another case of of a liberal news source that pretends to be even-handed. In the AOL buyout deal, they even specified that the site had no political bias. Seriously?!?
The truth would be a refreshing change for once. If the liberal weekly wants to make a genuine effort to represent a range of opinions, that’s great, just be honest about it. When a conservative or liberal news source pretends that it is even-handed, when it clearly isn’t, that is just insulting. Throwing in the occasional Carl Mumpower or Chad Nesbitt rant doesn’t make the express unbiased any more than throwing in the occasional Alan Combs or Robert Reich commentary makes Fox News unbiased.
Of course, my comment will probably be blocked, as usual.