Election

Is Meg Whitman A Whore? A Whore? A WHORE?

Posted by on October 8, 2010 at 4:57 pm. 2 Comments :

Reports have surfaced today that a member of Jerry Brown’s campaign staff inquired as to whether their opponent, Meg Whitman, could be portrayed as a “whore” due to her doling out positions in exchange for endorsements. The comment about Meg Whitman being a whore came during a voice mail that somehow continued to record after Brown thought the phone call was disconnected.

The recording picked up a private conversation about whether Meg Whitman could be regarded as a whore due to her promising a police union official that she would protect pension benefits if he threw the union’s support to her campaign. This is how the Brown campaign addressed the whore subject:

BROWN: I have been warned if I crack down on pensions, I will be – that they’ll go to Whitman, and that’s where they’ll go because they know Whitman will give them, will cut them a deal, but I won’t.
AIDE: What about saying she’s a whore?
BROWN: Well, I’m going to use that. It proves you’ve cut a secret deal to protect the pensions.

The acknowledgment by Brown that he might use Whitman’s willingness to sell her positions for an endorsement (i.e. be a political whore) has generated significant buzz in the media. It also generated a response from Whitman’s camp who were critical of Brown for not repudiating the staffer who suggested calling Whitman a whore:

“The use of the term ‘whore‘ is an insult to both Meg Whitman and to the women of California,” said Sarah Pompei, a campaign spokeswoman. “This is an appalling and unforgivable smear against Meg Whitman.”

Of course everyone knows that Whitman isn’t really a whore, but this dialog can’t do her much good. For it’s part, the Brown campaign apologized for the use of the term whore:

“This was a jumbled and often inaudible recording of a private conversation,” Steven Glazer, Brown’s campaign manager, said in a statement. “We apologize to Ms. Whitman and anyone who may have been offended.”

Whitman may be justified in complaining about the language used by Brown’s aide. I’m sure she doesn’t like being characterized as a whore. However, in context, the conversation showed that Whitman was indeed offering a special treat in exchange for something of value – an endorsement. It also showed Brown acting with integrity in that he was unwilling to waver in his position with regard to the union pension just to win their support.

It seems to me that if Whitman continues to harp on the slur of having been called a whore, she will only be reinforcing the notion that she is a whore. Every time her campaign complains about being called a whore the voters will be reminded that she offered up her position on union pensions for a “fee.”

Does Whitman really want to cement the notion into the public mind that she can be had for a price? Because that’s exactly what she will be doing if she prolongs this controversy over a candid campaign discussion that just happened to wonder if her being a whore could be used to their political advantage.

If I were her I would drop the whore business ASAP. She already asked for and received an apology. The only thing she can accomplish now by pursuing it is to make sure that people continue to associate her with being a whore. And since it isn’t much of a stretch to regard any politician as a whore, it can’t possibly do her any good.

p.s. I apologizing for using the word “whore” eighteen times in this article. That’s a whore lot more than I should have.

p.p.s. Make that twenty times. Although that last one may have been a typo.

Bonus From the Archives: This may be a good time to revisit the Motor City Jackass and Tea Party hero Ted Nugent, who said:

“I was in Chicago last week I said, ‘Hey Obama, you might want to suck on one of these, you punk?’ Obama, he’s a piece of shit and I told him to suck on one of my machine guns. Let’s hear it for them. I was in New York and I said, ‘Hey Hillary, you might want to ride one of these into the sunset you worthless bitch.’ Since I’m in California, I’m gonna find Barbara Boxer she might wanna suck on my machine guns. Hey, Dianne Feinstein, ride one of these you worthless whore.“

Funny…I don’t think I’ve heard Meg Whitman, the GOP, or any of the conservative establishment repudiate these remarks. Yet Nugent continues to be invited to Republican and Tea Party affairs.

Poll: Tea Party Is Wildly Out Of Touch With America

Posted by on October 5, 2010 at 3:23 pm. 5 Comments :

Fox/GOP Tea PartyA new poll (pdf) by the Public Religion Research Institute reveals what most conscious observers already knew: The views of the Tea Party are wholly removed from those of the rest of the American people.

The differences between the Tea Party and everyone else are so stark that it should give pause to any media outlet that contemplates treating the so-called movement as if it has any relevancy to current public affairs. The survey identifies a number of examples of what has been considered conventional wisdom and blasts them out of the water.

The first example of note is the notion that the Tea Party itself represents a significant segment of society. The truth is that there are just 11% of Americans who identify themselves as Tea Partiers. Only 24% say that a Tea Party affiliation would make them more likely to vote for a candidate, while 31% say it would make them less likely to give that candidate their vote.

Another example is the belief that Tea Partiers have an independent, Libertarian point of view. The survey shows that that is not the case. The Tea Partiers are predominantly Christian, social conservatives who oppose abortion and gay rights. And they are also far more likely to vote Republican (83%).

Tea Party views on public figures are also outside the mainstream. Seventy-five percent have an unfavorable view of Obama (25% favorable), while the rest of us view Obama favorably by 58% (40% unfavorable). On Sarah Palin the Tea Partiers are 80% favorable (14% unfavorable), compared to 52% unfavorable (40% favorable) for the rest of the country.

A couple of other interesting results in the poll that are not widely recognized: A majority of voters (54%) say they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who supported health care reform. And nearly 6-in-10 (58%) Americans favor a policy that provides a future path to citizenship to undocumented immigrants who have been in the U.S. for several years. On that subject, 64% of Tea Partiers think that immigrants are a burden on society, while only 48% of Americans overall have that view.

Some things we already knew, or could reasonably guess, about the Tea Party were affirmed in the survey. They are overwhelmingly white: 80%, compared to 69% of the population at large. They are concentrated in the south with 43% of their numbers residing there. And they are glued to Fox News. While only 23% of Americans overall regard Fox as their most trusted news source (about the same as CNN and the broadcast networks), two and a half times that many (57%) Tea Partiers do. That’s an even higher number than Republicans (48%) or Christian conservatives (39%).

The conclusion that is abundantly clear is that the Tea Party is a fringe cadre of extremists who have little in common with average Americans. So why do they get so much attention in the press? Well, partly because the press loves controversy, even if they have to invent it. And partly because the Republican Party is anxious to hitch its wagon to the Tea Party express in hopes of enhancing their electoral prospects.

But the main reason the Tea Party gets so much attention in the press is because they have their own press (i.e. Fox News, talk radio, etc.) that pours out their propaganda in a flood of fury, fear, and foreboding.

In the face of that Apocalyptic onslaught, it is comforting to see that majorities of Americans have not bought the snake oil being peddled by the Grand Old/Tea Party. And there is obviously still hope that the American people will surprise the media lackeys who would rather stir the pot than tell the truth.

One Nation Working Together Till Election Day And Beyond

Posted by on October 3, 2010 at 3:47 pm. 16 Comments :

One NationWith the massive One Nation rally in DC over, the post-game analyses have been flying furiously around the media and Webosphere. It was clearly a successful event that served to energize progressive activists and demonstrate that the left is not cowering under the national basement.

However, most of the press is making the mistake of comparing One Nation to Glenn Beck’s Acute Paranoia Holy Rollover Revue. This is typical of the horse race mindset of the media that is incapable of putting information in context and making relevant evaluations.

Let me make this crystal clear: The purpose of One Nation was NOT to draw more people than BeckFest. That would have been a shallow and unproductive goal. The purpose was to motivate the activists and organizers who attended, as well as those who watched from afar, so that they would be more effective and engaged in these crucial final weeks before the midterm elections. It was also intended to demonstrate the commitment of progressives to maintaining the course of the past couple of election cycles and to show the media that not everyone out there is a Tea Bagger. There were several reasons why attendance was never meant to be the yardstick by which this event would be measured.

First of all, One Nation did not have the benefit of the highest rated cable “news” network (Fox News) pumping out promotions for the event day in and day out for six months. They didn’t even have the second highest rated cable news network (MSNBC). Only Ed Schultz made much of an effort to promote One Nation. And while he is a popular radio and TV talk show host, recent surveys show that 70% of the country have never heard of him. It would be absurd to suggest that he would have the same impact on marketing that Glenn Beck, Inc. would have (despite what Ed says about himself).

Secondly, the demographics of the audiences are not remotely similar. Beck’s audience is a much older and more affluent crowd. In fact, he has one of the oldest skewing programs in all of cable news, including a high percentage of retirees. That’s partially how he manages to produce such high ratings in the middle of the day when normal people are at work. His viewers as a group are far better able to afford a trip to the nation’s capitol. They also are more likely to have the spare time available for outings like these. The folks attending One Nation are more likely to be working people who cannot just take time off from their jobs and their families, and sink scarce funds into traveling.

Fox News GOP Tea PartyThirdly, the incentive to attend a rally often hinges on the celebrity star power of the event. While the speakers at One Nation were all fine people who are dedicated to positive change, there was no one with the fan base of Glenn Beck. His devotees regard him as a prophet whom they must follow with unquestioning allegiance. Plus he had help from the Queen Tea, Sarah Palin, who has her own bevy of believers. Can anyone honestly say that 8/28 would have drawn more than a handful of garden-clubbers in a Dodge Caravan if someone like Newt Gingrich was the headliner? For evidence of this look no further than the second annual 9/12 rally a couple of weeks ago that featured teen idols Dick Armey and Andrew Breitbart. They drew a crowd that barely exceed a triple-a ballgame, and far fewer than One Nation.

On a side note, Beck’s fabled popularity may have peaked. A report from New Jersey yesterday reveals that his appearance at the first of his “Restoring America” gigs was filled to only 10% of capacity. Perhaps the $50.00 tickets (or $125.00 for “VIP privileges”) suppressed demand enough to allow 90% of the seats to go unfilled.

The above notwithstanding, One Nation can be considered a roaring success if it achieves its goal of invigorating the electorate, recruiting volunteers, and turning out voters. The right has become fully invested in an outcome that requires them to take majority control of the House and Senate. If they do not, they can only be regarded as failures. That is their projection, not mine. It’s all they’ve talked about for weeks. Now they must be prepared to be judged by the standard they set.

The past few weeks have seen momentum shifting in the election nationwide. The right may be played out. The left are just getting warmed up. In order to close the deal we need to insure extraordinary turnout. So get involved and make the demagogues on the right eat substantial portions of crow. Organizations like MoveOn and Democracy for America are presently recruiting people for their GOTV projects. Call them, or a local Democratic campaign office, and be a part of something positive.

Halloween 2010: Threat Out The Vote: Glenn Beck Shows His Bloody Hand

Posted by on October 1, 2010 at 5:28 pm. 7 Comments :

With just one month left before the midterm elections of 2010, politicos of all stripes are about to gear up for the most important part of any campaign: Get Out The Vote (GOTV). After all the backyard barbecues, the bus tours, the thirty second ads, the hand kissing and baby shaking, it comes time to ensure that your supporters actually make the trek from porch to polling place.

Different candidates employ different methods of doing this. Some recruit phone-bankers to call every supporter and remind them of the need to cast their ballot. Some send mailers. Some spend less time motivating their own supporters than they do demoralizing those of their opponent. And some just try to scare the shit out of you with gruesome tales of the end of days and Satan’s imminent domination of your immortal soul.

The latter is the approach favored by notorious fear monger, Glenn Beck. It seems appropriate that election day is just two days after Halloween because Beck wants to make sure that you are as frightened as deer in a headlight factory. He has turned “Get Out The Vote” into “Threat Out The Vote,” and if you aren’t trembling by the end of his show your veins are pumping ice water. This is a call to arms on the part of Fox News who is initiating perhaps the biggest and most partisan voter drive ever attempted by a media organization. The following is from Beck’s TV program on 9/30/2010:

BECK: This is their shot. They have been waiting and building since the 1960’s. Well, if you’ve just been agitating and everything, you’re not good at ruling, and we’ve seen that right? We’re on to them. We know who they are. This is a nightmare. But they’re about to go back to agitating, because once they lose control of the House they have to. That’s what they’re good at.

It is important to know that the “they” to whom Beck is referring is the President, the Democratic members of congress, and their progressive allies in unions, churches, and advocacy groups, particularly those involved with the One Nation Working Together rally on October 2nd. He spent much of his program prior to this segment disparaging them and the tens of thousands of Americans who are expected to show up on the mall tomorrow in Washington.

Beck believes that these folks have been agitating for fifty years to reduce America to some sort of third world Marxist ghetto. Since Obama, and likely the majority of the other agitators, aren’t even fifty years old, Beck must view this as an inter-generational plot by subversives who have been shut out of power until only recently and have no experience governing. Not surprisingly, Beck’s facts fail to align with reality. For the past fifty years Democrats have had control of the House for all but 12 of them. And they even held the White House for 40% of that time. Nevertheless, Beck is on to us. He knows who we are. And he is predicting that we will erupt in some nightmarish fashion when we lose control of the House this November, as he predicts. So his prescription is…

BECK: You must overwhelm them in numbers. Get out and vote this November. Get someone else to vote. I don’t care how they vote, just get them to vote. Get off your couch. Get your neighbors off your couch. Be pro-active. You just make sure – are you registered to vote yet? Register to vote. Make sure people in your neighborhood are registered to vote. Get them out in droves and then stand peacefully arm in arm because I fear the trouble is just about to begin, and it will only get worse.

Who does this clown think he’s kidding? He spends hours and hours, day after day, castigating liberals as evil, as cancers that must be “cut out,” and now he pretends not to care how you vote? Let’s be clear, Glenn Beck cares very much how you vote. He just knows that if he gets his audience to the polls they will vote exactly as he has trained them to. So he is free to make ludicrous and disingenuous assertions that he just wants everyone to vote, without putting anything at risk. And then he can reassert what he regards as the real risk:

BECK: The “Sting” I believe happens maybe after January. If I’m right there’s not gonna be a lot of people in Washington that will offer peaceful leadership and the streets will not be peaceful. They will start protesting and agitating again. The peaceful leadership role will fall, unfortunately I believe, on your shoulders. Be ready to accept that challenge.

Beck is fond of forecasting future calamities. Last year at this time he warned that the stock market was going to collapse “sometime after Christmas” (it’s up over 12% since that prediction). In this case it involves some imagined conflagration that will erupt early next year after Democrats lose congressional power and take to the streets to wage war.

And therein lies the heart of Beck’s voter participation crusade. He is not seeking to motivate citizens to fulfill their civic duty and elect the candidates that best represent their views. He is terrifying them with monstrous bedtime stories about how they will be become tragic victims of evildoers who thirst only for blood. He is adamant that you turn out “in droves” and vote as if your life, nay your soul, depends upon it. Do you want to go to Hell?

And how does he want you to vote? Well, he says he doesn’t care. Were that true he would be conceding that it’s fine with him if you vote for the Satanic forces he feverishly opposes. That would be insane and obviously isn’t true. He very desperately wants you to vote, and to vote for Republicans only. He has stated clearly that he wants the Democrats to lose control of congress. He and his viewers know that there is only one other party that can achieve that end. This should finally put to rest his dishonest portrayal of himself as non-partisan. He is fanatically pro-GOP and the next time you hear him deny it you’ll know that he is lying, a skill he has mastered.

I’m not sure I’ve ever before seen this massive and undisguised amount of partisan pressure to coerce voters to the polls emanating from a major “news” network. Fox News is placing itself firmly in the electoral battle and they have decided that getting out the vote is a first tier priority that deserves Beck’s unique and unnerving attention.

With a month to go it is imperative that Democrats match this Fox News effort and mobilize their voters with at least as much enthusiasm. We don’t have network to assign to the task so we must use more traditional tools. If you have never been part of phone bank, consider volunteering for one now. If you have never walked precincts, call your local Democratic party office and sign up. Organizations like MoveOn and Democracy for America are presently recruiting people for their GOTV projects.

Do it NOW! Because that ogre under your bed will get you if you don’t. (OK, I’m not quite as good at the fear mongering as Beck, but you should still do it).

The GOP Pledge To America Is An Allegiance To The Past

Posted by on September 23, 2010 at 4:39 pm. 19 Comments :

The Republican Pledge to America is just another lousy product from GOP, Inc. It is nothing more than a rehash of their failed programs from the past.

Already the reception the Pledge has received is decidedly negative – from both sides of the aisle. While Democrats correctly point out that the Pledge is old news and leftovers, Republicans like Erick Erickson and Neil Boortz are criticizing it because it doesn’t go far enough (into Delusionland). This Pledge has managed to disappoint everyone, and it did so by design. John Boehner, the Pledge’s Godfather, introduced the Pledge by saying…

Boehner: “We are not going to be any different than what we’ve been.”

That’s comforting. And to prove it, the Pledge’s development was overseen by a former lobbyist for some of the nation’s most powerful oil, pharmaceutical, and insurance companies. Same old same old GOP.

Fighting Back Against Fox News: A Righteous Example

Posted by on September 23, 2010 at 12:28 pm. 1 Comments :

Robin Carnahan, the Democratic candidate for senate in Missouri, is being sued by Fox News for airing an ad that includes a few seconds from a Fox broadcast. As I previously reported, Fox has no case. The doctrine of Fair Use permits the reproduction of segments of copyrighted material, particularly in works of commentary and political expression. What’s more, Fox’s complaint is selective in that they have failed to assert protection for similar property when it is being used by Republicans. Now Carnahan has responded to Fox’s suit by launching the Fight Fox Fund:

Fox News has filed a lawsuit against Robin’s senate campaign.

They demanded we stop playing our new ad above because it features a clip from one of their shows…where they challenged Congressman Roy Blunt on his Washington record and ties to convicted felon lobbyist Jack Abramoff – and now they’re suing us to make us back down.

Well, we’re not backing down; and we’re not giving up. Not against Fox News, and certainly not against Congressman Blunt. We’re staying on TV and fighting back.

Nicely played. This is the sort of response that should be standard practice when confronted by bullying from Fox News and other right-wing media. Fox has more than confirmed their reputation as the public relations arm of the Republican Party. Their corporate parent gave a million dollars to the Republican Governor’s Association. They give hours of free airtime to GOP candidates who use it as a campaign platform and for fundraising.

Media Matters estimates that Fox recently provided Delaware GOP senate hopeful, Christine O’Donnell, with over a million dollars worth of airtime. Nevada’s GOP senate candidate, Sharron Angle, has admitted that she only appears on networks that allow her to raise money. Sarah Palin’s advice to Republican candidates is to “speak through Fox News.”

Fox News has no credibility as a news network. It is openly advocating for Republican candidates and far-right policies. Carnahan’s Fight Fox initiative should be adopted by her Democratic colleagues as well as the rest of the progressive community. Because no matter how hard they fight against their political opponents, if they don’t take the fight to Fox they are letting their biggest threat get off scot free.

Christine O’Donnell Flunks Remedial Republicanism

Posted by on September 18, 2010 at 12:59 pm. 5 Comments :

The latest Tea Party Mama Grizzly to ascend within the ranks of the GOP asylum is Delaware candidate for senate, Christine O’Donnell. Last Tuesday O’Donnell defeated “moderate” Republican, Mike Castle and will face Chris Coons in the general election in November. This should be fun considering her record as an unabashed schizoid. But between now and then she will have to undergo an extreme right-wing makeover.

After O’Donnell’s surprise victory she immediately announced that she would appear on both Fox News Sunday and CBS’s Face the Nation. But she just as quickly canceled both appearances. This is in keeping with the Republican model this year. Both Rand Paul and Sharron Angle did much the same thing.

The reason O’Donnell canceled is because she had to attend Remedial Republicanism classes (RemGOP 101). As an inexperienced Tea Bagging nominee she has not been properly prepared for her new, high profile, public role. So despite her initial agreement to talk to the press, her handlers have been instructed to reverse course so that her coaching can begin first.

There is much to learn for someone in her position. She has to become acquainted with Facebook and Twitter, and make those the primary outlets for her public statements. This is critical because those platforms protect her from actually engaging in a dialogue or having to respond to annoying questions about her background or agenda. She also has to learn how to dodge, obfuscate, mislead, and smear. These skills are important in the event that she finds herself in a position where she is unable to evade a conventional reporter.

In the few hours after her primary win, O’Donnell made some embarrassing gaffes that illustrate the need for sequestering her in the RemGOP re-education facility. She proved that she doesn’t even know basics like Media Freeze-Out. The fact that she would book a non-Fox interview is evidence of just how far behind she is in her studies. To catch up she will have to buckle down and cram for the next few days.

Luckily she has many experienced tutors to help her bone up for the final exam on November 2nd. Paul, Angle, Joe Miller, Ken Buck, and of course, Sarah Palin, have all demonstrated their expert ability to avoid all press contact except, of course, for Fox News. And even then, stay away from “news” related programming by only visiting friendly, partisan, hacks, like Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity.

O’Donnell must heed the advice of her mentors. Sarah Palin recently told Fox’s O’Reilly that O’Donnell should “Speak through FOX News.” Sharron Angle has a policy of only appearing on TV programs that allow her to beg for money. These are amongst the lessons that O’Donnell needs to internalize and adhere to.

It’s a good thing for these GOP cowards that the media doesn’t care if they are being played for saps. Palin can fire off rounds from the safety of her Facebook page and the press dutifully reports it as if it were newsworthy. Angle, Paul, and the others can flaunt their delinquency knowing full well that what they say on Fox News, or at podiums before Tea Bagger rallies, will still be covered by the rest of the media stenographers. Bob Schieffer of Face the Nation demonstrated the typical behavior of the compliant press when O’Donnell backed out of her booking. Schieffer booked GOP strategist Ed Rollins instead. It never occurred to Schieffer to call Chris Coons, O’Donnell’s Democratic opponent, who ought to be just as timely a guest, except for the fact that he isn’t a whack-job Republican.

So don’t expect to see much of O’Donnell between now and election day outside of the warm confines of Fox News. The same goes for her role models and mentors. If there is one thing you can be certain that the right-wing does well, it’s teaching their wards how to dodge scrutiny and manufacture their own PR.

Hypocrisy Alert: Fox News Sues Democrat For Infringement

Posted by on September 16, 2010 at 2:19 pm. 9 Comments :

In a feat of Olympian hypocrisy, Fox News has filed a lawsuit against Robin Carnahan, the Democratic candidate for senate in Missouri. The network that regularly rails against the excess of litigiousness in American society, is alleging that Carnahan’s ad infringes on their proprietary property.

The ad in question has been temporarily removed from Carnahan’s web site, and YouTube as well, but you can still view it here. The offending content was a clip of Carnahan’s opponent, Roy Blunt, in a 2006 interview with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday. Wallace is seen asking whether Blunt is the right man to “clean up the House” given his financial ties to convicted felon Jack Abramoff, and his efforts on behalf of the tobacco industry despite his romantic relationship with a tobacco lobbyist.

In addition to copyright infringement, Fox alleges violation of privacy, misappropriation of Wallace’s likeness and – I kid you not – that the ad is “compromising its apparent objectivity.” This begs the question, apparent to whom? The filing itself (pdf) begins with a paragraph that contradicts Fox’s assertion of objectivity:

“In a smear ad against political rival Roy Blunt, Defendant Robin Carnahan for Senate, Inc. usurped proprietary footage from the Fox News Network to made (sic) it appear – falsely – that FNC and Christopher Wallace, one of the nation’s most respected political journalists, are endorsing Robin Carnahan’s campaign for United States Senate.”

By characterizing the ad as a “smear ad,” Fox may be setting up a lawsuit against itself for compromising its objectivity. Perhaps what Fox is really concerned about is that the ad may instead compromise their reputation for partisanship, as Wallace’s question actually addresses some very real and damaging facts about Blunt, a candidate belonging to Fox’s favored political party (the GOP). In fact, the ad’s representation of Wallace may actually enhance his reputation for objectivity, and therein lies the real dilemma for Wallace and Fox. They are fiercely attached to their biases and can’t abide anyone casting them as even marginally neutral.

Fox’s complaint is unlikely to prevail in court. The doctrine of Fair Use permits the reproduction of segments of copyrighted material, particularly in works of commentary and political expression. Fox News Sunday is an hour long program, but the clip in Carnahan’s ad is a just a few seconds. And it is clearly political in nature, which grants it further protection from the First Amendment.

However, what propels this lawsuit from the merely frivolous to the strikingly hypocritical is that Fox News doesn’t seem to have any problem with candidates who use their precious, copyrighted material in support of Republicans. In that scenario there isn’t any infringement or harm to objectivity. Take for example this ad for Rand Paul, featuring Fox News contributor Sarah Palin:

The ad contains all of the same elements that triggered Fox’s complaints against Carnahan: infringement, misappropriation of likeness, and harm to apparent objectivity. In the Paul ad, Palin is even making her endorsement on Wallace’s Fox News Sunday. So you have a Fox News employee, on a Fox News program endorsing a Republican candidate in a campaign ad, and yet Fox never filed suit against Paul.

If, as the lawsuit claims, Carnahan “intruded upon Wallace’s private self-esteem and dignity; and caused him emotional or mental distress and suffering.” then why isn’t the same true for Paul’s ad? Perhaps the severity of the mental distress and suffering was such that the aggrieved party became incapacitated and was unable to respond.

News Corpse would like to extend its sympathies to the poor and suffering Chris Wallace, Sarah Palin, and Fox News. This must be so hard on them.

Sarah Palin Pimps Fox News

Posted by on September 16, 2010 at 10:43 am. 2 Comments :

After the surprise victory by Christine O’Donnell in the GOP senate primary in New Hampshire, her role model, Sarah Palin, visited Bill O’Reilly to offer the candidate some advice on dealing with the press and her own staff, who O’Reilly asserts are keeping her off of his program:Sarah Palin Factor

“So she’s going to have to learn that, yes, very quickly. She’s going to have to dismiss that, go with her gut, get out there, speak to the American people. Speak through FOX News.“

The spectacle of Palin, a Fox News employee, offering her analysis that O’Donnell should “speak through Fox News” is a perfect illustration of the built in bias that is at the heart of Fox News. Palin inadvertently let slip the fact that Fox is the PR arm of the Republican Party and that Republicans should be taking full advantage of that (not that they didn’t already know).

Try to imagine someone like correspondent Lara Logan advising Democratic candidates to speak through CBS News. For that matter, try to imagine any network news correspondent with a role remotely similar to Palin’s at Fox. In addition to her network duties, Palin actively campaigns for GOP candidates, raises funds for the party and affiliated advocacy groups, and is herself a potential candidate for office.

Palin is not alone at Fox as a partisan player. Former Fox News host John Kasich is presently running for governor of Ohio. Former, and possibly future, presidential candidate Mike Huckabee currently hosts his own Fox show. Contributors Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, and Andrea McGlowan, have all been, or are considering being, GOP candidates for office.

Fox News is the place where Republicans go to nurture their political aspirations. They are the farm team for the GOP. And now Sarah Palin has admitted it in public.

Fox News Hosts Candidate Debates After Giving $1 Million To GOP

Posted by on September 11, 2010 at 1:26 pm. 1 Comments :

This is precisely why the News Corp donation of a million dollars to the Republican Governor’s Association was such a violation of ethical standards in media and politics.

Fox News Channel Reporters To Moderate Debates For Governor And U.S. Senator

How can we expect any semblance of objectivity from Carl Cameron as he moderates the debate between the Republican and Democratic candidates for governor of Connecticut? We already know that the company that employs him is bankrolling the Republican candidate. It wouldn’t even matter if Cameron were completely above reproach and capable of being a fair moderator. The perception of bias invalidates his participation and that of his employer.

For the record, Cameron is not above reproach. His bias during the presidential campaign of 2004 was plainly apparent. His wife worked for the Bush campaign, which he never disclosed when covering it.

Similarly, Bret Baier cannot be considered an impartial moderator for the senate debate. He has repeatedly reported on the brush with controversy over statements made regarding service in Vietnam of Richard Blumenthal, the Democratic candidate. But Baier has virtually ignored the controversial financing and the association with drug use of former employees of the Republican candidate, Linda McMahon.

During the 2008 election Democrats refused to participate in any primary debates sponsored by Fox News. That would be a good policy to reinstate with regard to this year’s general election.