So F**king What? Fox News Thinks TV Promos Are Sermons

Almost since its inception Fox News has confused the role of television journalist with that of televangelist. Their anchors and guests routinely veer away from reporting to the advocacy of what they regard as Christian values and dogma. If they aren’t waging battle in the War on Christmas, they are admonishing President Obama and others for not being sufficiently pious. Any perceived slight of religion by not saying “God” enough times in a speech or committing the sin of showing respect for the diversity of faith in America, is evidence of covert Satanism.

Today Fox News published an op-ed by Dan Gainor, the Vice President for Business and Culture of the ultra-rightist Media Research Center, with the title, “Reverend Al Sharpton expels God in MSNBC promo sermon.”

Fox News

Umm…What is a “promo sermon?” The video clip to which Gainor is referring is actually an advertisement for Al Sharpton’s program on MSNBC. It is no more a sermon than the familiar program interruptions that compel you purchase hamburgers or Viagra (although some of them can seem kinda preachy). Gainor’s characterization of the ad as a sermon exposes his own twisted analysis of media.

The specific complaint Gainor has is that Sharpton left out the words “under God” in a part of the promo that quoted from the Pledge of Allegiance. Sharpton said…

“We must have a renewed fight for many of the things we fought for. Because voting rights, and women’s rights, and the rights of people against discrimination, whether they’re African-American, Latino, lesbian and gay, must be protected, until we have a nation that is really living up to the creed of one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Not all of one kind. But all.”

So F**king What?

Gainor objected feverishly that Sharpton had not accurately quoted the Pledge. However, Sharpton left out almost all of the Pledge, including the part that said “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands…” Gainor didn’t seem to be the least bit upset about those omissions.

In fact, Sharpton only included the parts of the Pledge that directly related to the point he was making about the diversity of the American people and how they all need to be treated equally under the law. And no matter how obsessed Gainor is with proselytizing his faith, this was still just a TV commercial and not a sermon. It is typical for the far-right martinets of virtue to impose their perception of God on the rest of the country, but to turn a marketing promotion into a religious screed borders on the surreal. In America we do not worship via the solicitations that come in between programs on television. Unless, of course it’s for Goldline or Exxon or some false prophet being promoted by Fox News.

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3 thoughts on “So F**king What? Fox News Thinks TV Promos Are Sermons

  1. These idiots will complain about anything and nothing. Anything they complain about usually adds up to nothing.

    • Oh my! I don’t think Mark is an idiot!

  2. Last I checked, having an opinion is still legal in the US. That opinion may be misguided or even silly in others’ views, but to borrow your jargon, “So f**cking what?”.

    Opinions are like assholes…everybody’s got one. Mine is that as silly as the FOX Op-Ed may be, it is noteworthy that a “man of God” — a preacher — would go out of his way to omit ‘under God’ from his commercial because it didn’t directly relate to the issue at hand.

    Quite frankly, you’re giving way too much credit to the good reverend. He just regurgitated what his handlers told him to say. I realize this was just a commercial, but the omission of ‘under God’ by someone who claims to be a reverend, makes it all the more glaring. I doubt someone actually went through the thought process of removing ‘under God’ because it would blur the message. Actually including it would not have hurt the message a bit.

    Rev. Al Sharpton can say (or omit) what he likes. It does underscore how small his claim is to being the REVEREND Al Sharpton. But then again, I always knew he was nothing more than vaporware.

    Mark, I really think you need a new gig. The blogosphere has gotten the point that you are obsessed bludgeoning the opinions and the inaccuracies (pronounced lies) coming from FOX, while choosing to ignore similar transgressions from those with whom you agree. You’ve gotten predictable and quite boring.

    Of course, I understand this is your vocation. It’s quite a cross you’re bearing, but somebody has to do it. (Excuse the pun.)

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