BuzzMachine

You are what you buy II

: Last month, the NY Times reported how the GOP used marketing patterns to sell their president to their voters. Today, The Times adds more fascinating details (story here, chart here):

: Democrats watch more TV than Republicans. Fill in stereotyped conclusion here.

: During the week, Republicans turn off the TV earlier than Democrats. Republicans who stay up watch Leno, Democrats who stay up watch Letterman.

: Big Republican channels: Speedvision, Golf channel. Big Democratic channels: CourtTV, Game Show Network.

: Democrats are more likely to go to the movies.

: Republicans and undecided voters to go health clubs.

: Get this: “One of the shows most popular with Republicans, especially Republican women ages 18 to 34, turned out to be be ‘Will & Grace.'”

: Republicans are more likely to drive Porsches, Jaguars, Land Rovers. Democrats are more likely to drive Volvos, Subarus, Mazdas, Volkswagens, Honda. Boy, we drive our own cliches.

: Republicans are more likely to water-ski, snow-ski, and do volunteer work.

: Republicans are far less likely than average Americans to dance; Democrats are far more likely. See Will & Grace, above.

: Republicans are more likely to like Nascar, and college football. Democrats are far more likely to like women’s basketball. See Will & Grace, above.

The real cultural revolution

: The Playboy Club is coming to China.

Why Rather left

: Punditguy quotes at length from Tim Rutten’s view of why Dan Rather is leaving the air and it’s a good thing he is because you can’t get to the LATimes Calendar without subscribing.

FCC — and media — duped by Brent Bozell’s complaint factory

: First I revealed that the FCC’s largest fine in history was based on only three original letters and now Mediaweek has a great story revealing that up to 99.9 percent of complaints to the FCC come straight from King Prig Brent Bozell‘s self-annointed Parents Television Council.

It’s shocking enough that the FCC has not revealed this on its own and it took a bloggers’ FOIA request to start to reveal the lie. To me, that indicates that the FCC was a knowing accomplice in this; they went along with Bozell’s shock troops because they wanted to.

But here’s the real shocker:

Now go back to every single news story that “reported” floods of outrage and complaint about everything from Janet Jackson’s breast to Howard Stern’s farts to Fox’s whipped cream and discount that by 99+ percent. And now tell me whether that’s a flood of outrage. And, more important, all you news commentators who pontificated about an upsurge of moral values and a shift to cultural conservatism in America, tell me whether you’re going to reexamine the conclusions you jumped to and correct yourselves.

As I said in my original post about the three letters to the FCC, this is like an old Foreign Legion movie in which three soldiers act like three hundred by putting helmets on sticks over the fort’s walls. Only stupid foes fall for that. The FCC and reporters are the stupid foes here.

Here’s what Todd Shields reports in Mediaweek:

In an appearance before Congress in February, when the controversy over Janet Jackson

Your Yahoo?

: The new MyYahoo is up and I’m surprised to be among 14 blogs listed under lifestyle. Yes, I am a lifestyle.