Day: 10/9/2006

Jon Stewart’s Shermanesque Statement

Posted by on October 9, 2006 at 11:13 pm. NO Comments :

Those people wearing “Stewart/Colbert ’08” T-shirts can stop hoping.

That’s the lede in an AP report dispelling speculation that the Comedy Central stars were gearing up for a White House run. Where they got the idea that the pair were really running is anybody’s guess. My guess is they got it from watching Comedy Central but thought that “comedy” was a synonym for “news”. I can’t be too critical of that since I myself have often mistaken news for comedy (I watch Fox too much). Be that as it may, Jon Stewart has come forward to state unequivocally that the dream is over. He described the shirts as…

“…a real sign of how sad people are…Nothing says ‘I am ashamed of you my government’ more than Stewart/Colbert ’08.”

That sounds more like a rallying cry than a concession to me. Perhaps this statement is not so Shermanesque after all. And I would like to point out that, while Stewart dismissed people wearing Stewart/Colbert T-shirts, he said nothing to discourage people wearing Colbert/Stewart T-shirts (like those above). So despair not, patriots. Keep hope alive.

[Full disclosure: Those Colbert/Stewart T-shirts are currently a News Corpse advertiser. Big f**kin’ deal, killjoy. This is breaking news.]

Brainless = Jobless

Posted by on October 9, 2006 at 3:44 pm. NO Comments :

BrainlessJoe Maguire, an editor with Reuters, is out of a job. His employer gave him permission to write a book on American Patriopath, Ann Coulter, but when he did so, he found himself unemployed.

The book, “Brainless: The Lies and Lunacy of Ann Coulter,” is a response to Coulter’s “Godless.” It takes on Coultergiest’s many fabrications, errors, and hypocricies, and demolishes them with well researched and documented sources.

And for his trouble, Maguire is now out of a job. Reuters betrayal is frought with mystery. One employee who would only speak anonymously for fear of retribution from management said that he and other colleagues of Maguire were informed of his departure and that they “weren’t allowed to ask why.”

While Reuters admitted that they had given Maguire the OK to write the book, Maguire says that there was still some sort of misunderstanding:

“There was a difference of opinion about the approval I received to write this book,” Mr. Maguire said. “I thought I had met the conditions, and proceeded accordingly. As a result, I no longer work there.”

It will be interesting to see how this unfolds. I’m not sure it makes a lot of sense to fire an author as he is about to hit the book tour circuit. He may just be inclined to spill his guts. I hope he does.

Cashin’ In, Sellin’ Out

Posted by on October 9, 2006 at 1:12 pm. NO Comments :

On Fox News Channel’s The Cost of Freedom, they presented a segment they call Cashin” In. It’s billed as a program that, “tells you what you need to know to make your money grow and keep what you already have.”

The October 7th, edition, however, tells you what they want to you to believe to advance their right wing political agenda. From the transcript:

Terry Keenan: If we get a Democratic House, is that going to be something pleasant to look at if you’re an investor?

Stuart Varney, FOX Business News: As an investor, it’s a disaster. Who will be the chair of the house ways and means committee? If the Democrats take the house, it will be Charles Rangel, D-N.Y. He is right out there saying he is going to raise taxes. Who will be the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. She is right out there. “I’m going to raise taxes.” That’s bad, bad news for investors.

Terry Keenan: But Tom, Nancy Pelosi says maybe we need a woman to clean up this mess.

Tom Adkins, CommonConservative.com: Well, she can clean up my bathroom! I’m sure not going to let her clean up the House. Look, Nancy Pelosi is a communist. She wants to raise taxes. She came out and said it yesterday. Look, every campaign is a battle between the Democrats’ ability to lie, cheat, and steal versus the Republicans’ ability to tell the truth. Republicans stink at getting the truth out.

Adkins (who is married to Fox Anchor Brenda Buttner) went on to assert that the Mark Foley CybersexGate affair was, “nothing,” saying that, “What happened was a guy talked dirty to an 18-year-old.” Even after being corrected by another panelist, he insisted the page was 18. He then proceeded to explain that a Democratic plan to cut taxes for the middle class is, “essentially a tax increase.” And he didn’t stop there. Despite some level-headed analysis from Mike Norman, Adkins falsely claimed that the Clinton tax bill, early in his first term, nearly resulted in a recession. The only recession in or near that time, was the Bush recession that Clinton’s legislation pulled us out of. Later, Varney chimed in, escalating his biased rhetoric:

Stuart Varney: I have great hopes that the democrats are peaking too early. There are weeks to go before this election. They are peaking too early and the dirty tricks that they are playing, especially in the Foley case, may rebound against them. It’s entirely possible. And later: “The Democrats would be a lot worse. I don’t approve of what the Republicans have done in Congress, period, but the Democrats would be worse”

I’m not sure how this program “told me what I need to know to make my money grow and keep what I already have.” It did, however, tell me that Fox News is so contaminated with propaganda that even their business news is poisonous. This does not bode well for the prospects of the previously announced Fox Business Channel that is expected to launch next year. With this kind of programming, their audience is going to lose their shirts.