Them's fightin' words: Time Warner CEO compares Google to General Custer

Dick Parsons has gotten feisty. Maybe it was because he was in Las Vegas. The Time Warner CEO (NYSE: TWX) compared Google to General George Armstrong Custer and "old media" to the Sioux Nation. According to Reuters, he went on to say "They will lose this war if they go to war." And also: "The notion that the new kids on the block have taken over is a false notion."

Parsons was on a panel at the 56th annual National Cable & Telecommunications Association conference in Vegas. Some of his panel pals including Sumner Redstone's guy, Viacom (NYSE: VIA) CEO Philippe Dauman and management from News Corp. (NYSE: NWS).

Mr. Parsons may be right. Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) may be beaten back for taking material under copyright and allowing teenagers to post it on YouTube. But Parsons may have made a poor choice of analogy. It's true that Custer was killed at the Little Bighorn in June 1876, but the Sioux Nation was eventually defeated -- Sitting Bull and some of the Sioux surrendered in July 1881. In 1890, most of what was left of the tribe was killed at Wounded Knee.

But, enough of that. Parsons and his allies still might change the tide of things. Together, the large media companies are still powerful and as each day passes and Google draws more blood from Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), an alliance of sorts may form.

The world against Google. Has a nice ring to it.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Media, LLC.