Month: September 2011

Fox Nation vs. Reality: On Learning Ethics

Posted by on September 30, 2011 at 1:51 pm. 5 Comments :

The subject of ethics might seem like obviously foreign territory for Fox News, but the way Fox Nation positioned an article this morning serves to cement their utter lack of ethical principles.

The Fox Nationalists posted an item that linked to CSNNews, a subsidiary of the ultra-rightist Media Research Center. The headline reads: “Obama: ‘I Don’t Think Ethics’ Was My Favorite Subject.”

Fox Nation

Fox Nation was careful to selectively highlight just the portion of the article that made it appear that Obama shunned ethics. They quoted this portion of the article:

President Barack Obama told an audience of high school students in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday that he was “not always the very best student” and that ethics “would not have made it on the list” of his favorite subjects.

“I was not always the very best student that I could be when I was in high school, and certainly not when I was in middle school,” Obama said, speaking at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School.

“I did not love every class I took. I wasn’t always paying attention the way I should have,” Obama said. “I remember when I was in 8th grade I had to take a class called ethics. Now, ethics is about right and wrong, but if you’d ask me what my favorite subject was back in 8th grade, it was basketball. I don’t think ethics would have made it on the list.”

Even stopping there that would not be surprising for a typical 13 year old boy. But on a Fox web site it’s easy to imagine the responses in the comments by ignoramuses who never bothered to click through and read the article in full. The comments ranged from sorry attempts at humor to downright vile racism. They took from this excerpt that Obama had rejected ethics at an early age and that he has none today. Had they read further they would have learned what point Obama was actually making.

“I still remember that ethics class, all these years later,” Obama said. “I remember the way it made me think. I remember being asked questions like: What matters in life? Or, what does it mean to treat other people with dignity and respect? What does it mean to live in a diverse nation, where not everybody looks like you do, or thinks like you do, or comes from the same neighborhood as you do? How do we figure out how to get along?

“Each of these questions led to new questions,” said Obama. “And I didn’t always know the right answers, but those discussions and that process of discovery–those things have lasted. Those things are still with me today. Every day, I’m thinking about those same issues as I try to lead this nation.”

Clearly Obama was affected by his studies, and the lesson that he was passing on to the audience of school children was that subjects that may not seem interesting today are still valuable and will shape your character in years to come.

What a travesty! String him up. Another extremist, Marxist, attempt to indoctrinate American kids by the tyrannical Kenyan.

Fox News plainly lacks any speck of journalistic ethics. They could not have more deliberately misrepresented the facts in this story. And when you sink to these depths to twist facts that even the conservative source of the information reported accurately, you really should not be allowed to use the word “news” in your name.

The Sorry Truth About Roger Ailes And Fox News

Posted by on September 29, 2011 at 10:50 pm. 5 Comments :

Roger Ailes

A few days ago Howard Kurtz of Newsweek published an article profiling Roger Ailes, the CEO of Fox News. It was revealing of both Kurtz and Ailes.

The first sign that Kurtz was either unconscious or delusional was when he offered this description of Ailes’ allegedly changing moods:

“[A]s President Obama’s popularity has plummeted and the country has grown increasingly sick of partisan sniping, something unexpected happened. Roger Ailes pulled back a bit on the throttle.”

Kurtz never provides any evidence to support that contention. In reality Fox News is just as extreme an outlet for rightist propaganda as it has ever been. They incessantly hammer on fabricated scandals and openly disparage the President. The departure of Glenn Beck, which Kurtz mentions in passing, has done nothing to reduce the vitriol. Now Eric Bolling is calling President Obama a socialist in the program that replaced Beck.

Kurtz did manage to slip in this insight from unnamed Fox executives:

“Privately, Fox executives say the entire network took a hard right turn after Obama’s election, but, as the Tea Party’s popularity fades, is edging back toward the mainstream.”

The interesting thing about that is not the contention that Fox is “edging back toward the mainstream.” It’s not. What’s interesting is the admission that Fox “took a hard right turn.” That is something that Fox has been denying for years as they pretend to be “fair and balanced.” It also contradicts the constant Fox drumbeat of support for the Tea Party which they believe is a dominant factor in modern political culture (despite their puny 16% approval in recent polling). Another moment of clarity occurred when Kurtz painted Ailes with concern after the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

“Ailes ordered his troops to tone things down. It was, in his view, a chance to boost profits by grabbing a more moderate audience.”

Notice that Ailes did not want to tone things down to ease tensions and prevent further outbursts of violence. According to Kurtz, Ailes wanted to tone things down to make more money. Of course, returning to reality, Ailes never toned anything down and he most likely doesn’t believe that doing so would be more profitable.

Perhaps the most unintentionally hilarious part of the profile is when Ailes complained that “America used to be able to get straight journalism.” This was such an egregious separation from sanity that even Kurtz noticed.

Roger Ailes is still running a dishonest enterprise dedicated to spreading falsehoods and advancing an ultra-conservative agenda. He still employs demagogues like Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Megyn Kelly, and Sarah Palin (who is NOT running for president and Fox is lying about it). He still allows the ignorant stooges on Fox & Friends to spew gossip and inane conspiracies.

Kurtz was able to ply a few morsels of truth from Ailes about his inherent bias, but that does not excuse his naivete about whether Ailes has softened. He hasn’t. And in the coming months, as the election season heats up, expect to see even more radically untrue attacks on Democrats and progressives. If Kurtz really thinks that Fox News is moderating their biases, he is even dumber than Sarah Palin.

Fox Nation vs. Reality: Obama And The Jews

Posted by on September 26, 2011 at 11:02 am. 3 Comments :

Here we go again. Fox Nation posts another item whose only purpose is to mercilessly twist the truth until it chokes to death.

Fox Nation On Jews

The item posted on Fox Nation features a headline with ominous tones for President Obama’s acceptance in the Jewish community. As you can see from the comments, it also provides an opportunity for the the Fox Nationalists to express their desire to see the President die a gruesome death, as well as their honest opinions about Jews in general. The only statistic reported is the one that shows Obama’s approval rating split (within the margin of error), but characterized by Fox negatively.

The article links to a survey by the American Jewish Committee. Those who take the time to click through to the Committee’s web site to see the full results will learn that Obama’s approval suffers from the state of the economy. By itself, that doesn’t tell us very much because the survey did not ask why the respondent’s were dissatisfied with Obama’s policies. Was it because they were too expensive or because they did not contain more spending for stimulative, job creating projects. However, a closer examination of the results may shed some light on that question.

Despite the overall split on approval, respondents overwhelming view relations between Israel and the United States positively (63% to 36%). They would also vote to reelect Obama over every Republican opponent in the poll: vs Romney by 18%; vs Perry by 30%; vs Bachmann by 38%; vs Christie by 27%.

Fox News has been trying to poison the relationship between Obama and American Jews for months. They broadcast brazenly false reports that portray Obama’s positions as contrary to Israel’s interests. The truth is that this administration has an almost identical policy toward Israel as every administration for the past thirty years. And even Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has had to correct Fox’s misinformation with regard to Obama’s positions and the fact that they are aligned with those of Israel.

Apparently Fox’s efforts are not particularly effective. American Jews still support the President, even though they are worried about the direction of the economy. And to the extent that they express reservations, it may be because Obama has not been forceful enough in opposing the GOP agenda of killing jobs programs and protecting the rich from being taxed fairly.

The Fox Nationalists are beating their heads against the wall to diminish the President’s reputation, and this item is just more proof that they will deliberately deceive their audience to advance their agenda.

Herman Cain: Class Warrior, Calls Obama A Liar

Posted by on September 26, 2011 at 9:51 am. 24 Comments :

I find it endlessly fascinating that these greedy multimillionaires are so distraught when average Americans propose that they pay their fair share toward restoring the economy. Now wealthy junk food magnate, Herman Cain, has joined the battle to declare that President Obama is a liar and that his rhetoric is bullshit:

Fox Nation - Herman Cain

This item posted on Fox Nation goes on to describe Cain’s view that taxing him and his ilk is equivalent to “highway robbery.” He further complains about having to listen “to all this bullshit that [Obama’s] talking about, ‘fairness’ and ‘balanced approach’ to get this economy going.” It’s nice of him to admit that he regards a balanced approach as bullshit. As the winner of the Florida Republican Party’s straw poll this weekend, we know that his position reflects the party.

And, have you noticed, they only call it class warfare when we fight back?

Tom Morello Has A Message For Barack Obama

Posted by on September 24, 2011 at 2:32 pm. 4 Comments :

Musician/Activist Tom Morello (formerly of Rage Against the Machine) appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher last night with a pointed message for President Obama:

“Much like the President, I am half Kenyan. Like the President, I’m a Harvard graduate. Like the President, I’m from Illinois. And, like the President, I’ve been on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine. I got a message for him. ‘Dude, it’s time to grow a pair. A lot of people who put you in office put you in office to fight for them; to fight against the Tea Party; to fight against this bullshit in Congress; to fight against those sons of bitches who are attacking the working class and the poor in this country.’ And he hasn’t done any of it.

At the same time, I’m not waiting for him. I’m with the people in Madison. I’m with the people who are occupying Wall Street. That’s what my music’s about. When progressive, radical or even revolutionary changes happen in this country, it’s come from below. When women got the right to vote, when lunch counters were desegregated, it was people you do not read about in history books who stood up in their place and their time for what they believe.”

Well said, Tom. And just to prove that this inspirational people’s advocate is also a radical shredder, listen to this rendition of “The Ghost of Tom Joad” with Bruce Springsteen:

[Update: 10/16/11] Tom showed up at OccupyWallStreet and answered a reporter’s question challenging his role as a political spokesman saying…

“Tom Morello: When you pick up a guitar you don’t put down your first amendment rights. And I don’t think that you have to be a Harvard graduate in political science to comment on political matters. But I am a Harvard graduate in political science.”

The Fox News GOP Debate Was A Hate Fest – Literally

Posted by on September 23, 2011 at 7:51 am. 10 Comments :

The accumulating evidence of the ignorance, bigotry and callousness of the Republican Party continues to manifest itself at their own convocations of crackpottery – the GOP presidential primary debates.

The star of these debates is turning out to be the audience, as the crowd steals the spotlight from the candidates. In the first debate a few weeks ago the audience cheered the mention of 234 executions carried out during the term of Rick Perry in Texas. In the next debate a question was asked regarding whether society should let a sick person die merely because he had no insurance. The iced (hearted) Tea Party audience began shouting “Yeah!” And last evening’s debate sponsored by the Republican PR agency, Fox News, saw the crowd disrespecting an Iraq war veteran by booing his videotaped question about equal rights for gays and lesbians serving their country in the armed forces.

While the audience endeavors to demonstrate that they are bigger jerks than the candidates, the candidates refuse to surrender that honor without a fight. Amongst the inanities erupting from this affair:

  • Michele Bachmann unveiled her plan to reduce tax rates to zero for all Americans. That and her unicorn giveaway program should excite voters.
  • Ron Paul reiterated his theory that government immigration programs developed to keep foreigners out would eventually be used to trap Americans in.
  • Rick Perry described his preference for a running mate that involved mating Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich. Setting aside the disturbing visual imagery, the prospect of a vice-president that combines the brash ignorance of Cain with the background of ethical lapses of Gingrich shouldn’t make anyone feel better about a Perry ticket.

Finally, Fox News distinguished itself by inviting a question from a representative of the Federation for American Immigration Reform. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks people and organizations that engage in racism and extremist criminality, has classified FAIR as a hate group. That automatically qualifies the organization for participation in any Fox News event.

The embrace of FAIR and the booing of a veteran are emblematic of the modern GOP’s moral decline. And the party is generously exposing its most revolting warts in the primary as its candidates and its members seek to appeal to basest wet dreams of their Tea Bagging comrades.

Levis Added To Glenn Beck’s Enemies List

Posted by on September 22, 2011 at 6:48 pm. 3 Comments :

Now they’ve done it. The folks at Levis have made a powerful enemy. Glenn Beck is appalled by the new commercial for Levis that features young people in situations wherein they appear to be challenging authority.

Oh my heavens, fetch the smellin’ salts. Glenn Beck has the vapors. All because of a commercial for blue jeans that shows young people doing what young people always do. Beck interprets this ad as a statement of Levis’ solidarity with thugs, revolutionaries, and probably agents of the global Muslim Caliphate that is plotting to take over the world.

The commercial aired during ESPN’s Monday Night Football where it likely perverted the minds of millions of young sports fans. Soon they will be donning their Levis, rampaging through our cities and defiling our daughters.

Thank God that Beck is here to warn us of the impending danger. He has sprung into action saying that “I am turning my red tabs in. I will not wear a pair of Levi’s. Won’t do it.” I’m sure this will come as a relief to Levis who don’t need the bad publicity or the visual imagery. Beck is not exactly Levis’ target market. In fact, Beck coming out against Levis may be more valuable to the company than the offending commercial. After all, Beck’s audience notably skews to the elderly cranks who see Andy Rooney as a juvenile delinquent.

There may be an additional reason for Beck’s hysterics. He announced earlier this year that he is launching his own line of apparel. Perhaps he is making a preemptive strike against a potential competitor. If he can get his disciples to abandon Levis for his Jesus Jeans (or whatever he calls them), he could make a bundle.

Finally, Beck’s hypocrisy cannot be left unmentioned. When he announced his clothing venture he also revealed the logo which consists of a skull wearing a crown and the slogan, “Death To Tyranny.”

Glenn Beck

So Beck is castigating Levis for displaying kids engaged in acts of youthful defiance of authority – you know – the sort of independence that results in the toppling of dictators and the general pursuit of liberty. Yet the logo for his own clothing company expresses the same sentiment. One difference is that Beck’s slogan is more overtly violent with its pointed reference to death.

Beck is shameless in his hypocrisy. He spent much of the summer belittling the Arab Spring, the movement of brave young protesters who removed tyrants in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, and are continuing the movement in Yemen, Syria, and elsewhere. His phony sloganeering demonstrates the impotence of his crass attempt to enrich himself by pretending to want to kill tyrants. The truth is that if Beck came face-to-face with an actual tyrant he would surely need a new pair of Levis.

Troy Davis: Reasonable? Doubt!

Posted by on September 22, 2011 at 11:32 am. 1 Comments :

Last night the state of Georgia murdered an American citizen in cold blood.

Casey Anthony / Troy Davis

The tragic case of Troy Davis has no winners. A grieving family of a possibly innocent victim of capital punishment now joins the grieving family of a slain law enforcement officer. And despite the cacophony from protesters, lawyers, and pundits, there has been no justice served.

Even advocates of capital punishment should be disturbed that a man was executed for crime for which there was no physical evidence of his guilt. His sentence was carried out despite the fact that seven of the nine witnesses against him recanted their testimony. Numerous legal errors were identified at trial that unfairly prejudiced the verdict. Subsequently, several jurors have come forward to object to the sentence. Other objections were raised by former President Jimmy Carter, former FBI Director William Sessions, and even the former warden of the prison where Davis was incarcerated.

This execution has made a mockery of the American doctrine of equal justice under the law. Earlier this year the presence of a reasonable doubt resulted in an acquittal for Casey Anthony who was charged with killing her own daughter. I won’t pass judgment on that verdict because I wasn’t sitting on the jury and I didn’t hear all the evidence. However, to the extent that a reasonable doubt was justifiably held in the Anthony case, it is inconceivable that there wasn’t at least as much justification in the Davis case. Nevertheless, the white woman in Florida was acquitted and the black man in Georgia was executed.

Capital punishment is a serious business and should never be undertaken without thorough consideration. It is an irreversible penalty. We have all seen the reports of murder verdicts that were overturned while the prisoner was awaiting execution. We’ve seen innocent people released from death row after serving twenty or more years for a crime for which they were eventually exonerated. If we are to engage in capital punishment it must be reserved for cases that have as close to 100% certainty as humanly possible. And that was not done for Troy Davis.

There are many reasons why capital punishment should be abolished. In addition to being an irreversible penalty that can never be invoked with total certainty, it is inordinately costly as compared to life in prison. It is also barbaric and inspired by vengeance and blood lust.

It is ironic that the conservative adversaries of big government, who pontificate on the sanctity of life and complain incessantly that government can’t do anything right, are comfortable with allowing government to carry out executions. They even cheer at the mere mention of the number of executions carried out by Gov. Rick Perry in Texas, the national leader in state-sponsored murder. Troglodytes like Ann Coulter veritably drool at the thought of corpses being wheeled out of prisons. She published an article this morning, after the Davis execution, that called him the “the media’s latest baby seal.”

It is that sort of monstrous hatred that society promotes when it sanctions the killing of human beings. It is a horrific lesson to pass on to our children about justice and compassion. And if there is anything positive to take from the death of Troy Davis, it is a renewed resolve to eliminate capital punishment in this nation once and for all.

Bill O’Reilly: I Have More Power Than Anybody Other Than The President

Posted by on September 21, 2011 at 11:08 am. 5 Comments :

For anyone who was not previously convinced that Bill O’Reilly has the most acutely inflated ego on the planet, he has generously settled this question for us in a new interview with Newsweek:

Bill O’Reilly: I have more power than anybody other than the president, in the sense that I can get things changed, quickly. I don’t have to go through the legislative process; I don’t have to do any of that. I can just bring it to the people, and say, look, this has gotta be dealt with.

There you have it. In terms of unfettered power to affect change in this world the order is…

  1. President Barack Obama
  2. Bill O’Reilly

I think the remainder of the top five would be George Soros, Kim Kardashian, and, tying for fifth, Jon Stewart and Ronald Reagan’s ghost.

It would be interesting to hear O’Reilly explain how he arrived at this perspective of his own near omnipotence. After all, his cable news program averages less than three million viewers a night (for comparison, NBC Nightly News pulls in almost nine million). The number of issues on which his impact was a primary factor comes to approximately zero. That’s not to say that he has had no impact at all.

O’Reilly did launch a boycott of France that, according to his reference to a publication called the “Paris Business Review,” cost the nation billions of dollars. That’s a pretty remarkable feat except for the fact that France’s imports to the U.S. actually increased during the alleged O’Reilly boycott, and there is no evidence that the Paris Business Review exists.

Additionally, O’Reilly can take some credit for the murder of Dr. George Tiller, whom he repeatedly called “Tiller the Baby Killer.”

While O’Reilly’s impact on world affairs is negligible at best, his capacity for taking credit for events he had nothing to do with is extraordinary. He has patted himself on the back for everything from lowering gas prices to Bill Moyers’ retirement from television (look out Bill, he’s baaaack). He has been a stalwart general in the War Christmas, and in a rare moment of honesty, he took credit for the collapse of journalistic standards (I’ll give him that one).

Bill O'Reilly

The obvious question upon learning the magnitude of his influence is, with all of that power why hasn’t he resolved any of our nation’s problems? Why are we still mired in recession? Where are the jobs? Why is the planet still warming? How does Ahmadinejad retain power in Iran? And what ever happened to Natalie Holloway? Or has O’Reilly actually been exercising his power by having created all of those problems to begin with? A frightening thought.

Rick Perry In New York To Kiss Rupert Murdoch’s Ring

Posted by on September 20, 2011 at 2:33 pm. 1 Comments :

Rick PerryLast night Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry met with News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch for dinner. Murdoch, who owns Fox News, already has a relationship with Perry. Last year Murdoch donated a million dollars to the Republican Governor’s Association which Perry chaired.

Murdoch has also had relationships with several other GOP candidates. Both Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum were employed by Fox News until recently. Mike Huckabee and John Bolton are still employed by Fox, however they have bowed out of the presidential race. And Sarah Palin is still on the payroll as she engages in a charade with Fox to boost their respective fortunes (she isn’t running and Fox knows it).

In the meantime Murdoch continues to be shielded by congressional lackeys like Rep. Darrel Issa who refuses to hold hearings on Murdoch’s alleged criminality because he doesn’t want to “start picking on media.” That’s a disturbingly asinine excuse. Generally when politcos talk of picking on the media they are referring to complaints about coverage or bias. What Issa is saying is that investigating crimes is off limits to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. That’s like the SEC saying that Bernie Madoff should not be investigated because they don’t want to pick on fund managers.

Former media mogul, Ted Turner, is less circumspect as he forthrightly declares that Murdoch will probably have to step down as CEO of News Corp:

“A major media company should definitely be following the law, that’s all. And when they break the law — and certainly, it’s already been admitted that News of the World broke the law. The question is how big a scandal is it.”

It remains to be seen what benefits Perry will receive for having paid his respects to the Foxfather. But Perry is well known for making deals that inure to his advantage. He certainly expects some reward, either in the form of more money or more good PR. And if he is the nominee, he will surely get some of both.