Day: 9/2/2009

Rupert Murdoch’s Organization Wants Another 9/11

Posted by on September 2, 2009 at 12:58 pm. 3 Comments :

The faux patriots at Fox Nation are continuing to make a habit of exploiting the image of 9/11 and contriving false and negative associations with Democrats. This time Rupert Murdoch and Co. have outdone themselves by accusing President Obama of politicizing the anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center and other targets.

It takes a pretty hefty portion of chutzpah for the Fox Nationalists to sell this falsehood. Particularly in light of how brazenly they themselves have been politicizing 9/11:

In this latest episode, Fox Nation links to an article at RedState, the blog of the uber-rightist magazine, Human Events. The RedState column credits the equally right-wing Heritage Foundation for discovering what they characterize as a despicable act of political exploitation.

What these stalwart detectives found was a notice on the website of Organizing for America (OFA), the Democratic National Committee’s social networking site for Democratic activists. Note: This is NOT a site that is affiliated with the White House or the President.

The offending notice was posted by a user seeking participants for a health care reform event. The notice itself could reasonably be regarded as offensive and inappropriate, but no more so than what Fox Nation has published itself.

The content of the notice said (click to enlarge):

“Sep 11, is Patriot Day, designated in memory of the nearly three thousand who died in the 9/11 attacks.

“All 50 States are coordinating in this – as we fight back against our own Right-Wing Domestic Terrorists who are subverting the American Democratic Process, whipped to a frenzy by their Fox Propaganda Network ceaselessly re-seizing power for their treacherous leaders.”

I can’t say that I disagree with the assessment of Fox News, but the reference to right-wing domestic terrorists was unnecessarily contentious. However, the response by Heritage/RedState/Fox Nation is ludicrous beyond imagination.

First of all, the OFA web site is a user driven site. That means that anyone can post comments, blogs and even announcements of upcoming events, as is the case here. So those responsible for the site’s administration (the DNC) cannot be blamed for inappropriate material that they did not produce or authorize. The site’s administrator did become aware of the posting and promptly removed it. Now you would think that the martinets of manners at RedState would be assuaged, even encouraged, by this behavior, but no. They quickly leaped to a new accusation that the web site had “scrubbed” the embarrassing content. How can OFA win? If they leave the posting up, they are guilty of denigrating the memory of 9/11. If they take it down, they are alleged to be hiding something.

Remember, this is the same organization that permitted Michael Scheuer to appear with Glenn Beck and openly root for another terrorist attack on America:

“…the only chance we have as a country right now is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States.”

So, does Murdoch’s organization want another 9/11? That sounds much more plausible than the assertion that Obama’s organization is politicizing 9/11. This is nothing more than the routine disingenuous outrage from people who only know how to stir up mischief, even when none occurs. And for the Fox Nationalists to raise the ante by publishing gut wrenching photos of the 9/11 attack, with a completely dishonest headline, is the height of cynical and grotesque politicization. Especially after all of the examples above of obvious and intentional politicization on the part of Fox.

But don’t get comfortable yet. Fox News has been running promos today for tonight’s O’Reilly Factor that promise to blow the lid off of this fake scandal. So this nonsense is going from a bunch of ignorant think tankers and bloggers, to the number one cable news program in America.

Seriously…Is this all they’ve got?

Charlie Gibson Stepping Down As ABC News Anchor

Posted by on September 2, 2009 at 9:58 am. NO Comments :

When Charlie Gibson approached ABC News president David Westin to advise him of his intention to step down as anchor of ABC’s World News Tonight, I have to wonder if Westin asked, “In what respect, Charlie?”

Gibson hardly distinguished himself as an anchor or an editor. The moist prominent role he played was as a pitifully poor moderator for a Democratic presidential primary debate in Philadelphia, where he was universally panned.

Diane Sawyer has been announced as Gibson’s replacement. She is presently the host of ABC’s morning show, Good Morning America. But it is notable that she was once Richard Nixon’s press aide and was on the team that prepped him for the Nixon/Frost interviews.

Despite Sawyer’s political past, I think she’s marginally an improvement over Gibson. Plus, it will mean that two of the Big Three networks have female news anchors. That is a profound advancement in a business that is notoriously male-dominated, and has been for decades. It could bring some new perspectives to television news. These broadcast news programs have twice the viewership of the highest rated cable news programs, so her exposure will be significant.

So goodbye Charlie, and “Yahhh Charlie, Yahhh!”

Even More Glenn Beck Messianic Delusions

Posted by on September 2, 2009 at 2:07 am. 7 Comments :

The rate at which the wheels are coming off of Glenn Beck’s crazy train is dizzying. He must surely be disturbed by the success of the campaign that has resulted in forty-six advertisers (so far) ditching his program. It shows in his obsession over Van Jones, whom Beck still neglects to inform his audience was a co-founder of Color of Change, the group spearheading the advertiser boycott (although Jones has had no affiliation with the group in over two years).

Beck is continuing his practice of taking things out of context and twisting them into ghastly conspiracies. For instance, he played a clip from a speech Jones gave wherein Jones sought to inform people that the environmental movement is not just about solar panels and hybrid cars. It has to be considered more fully to include the broad spectrum of eco-issues, i.e. water safety and availability, endangered species, agricultural reform, etc. Beck played a clipped (three times) of Jones saying…

“This movement is deeper than a solar panel! Deeper than a solar panel! Don’t stop there! Don’t stop there! We’re gonna change the whole system! We’re gonna change the whole thing!”

Beck then contorted that to mean that Jones was advocating changing the whole government, presumably to some sort of Muslim Socialist dictatorship. But then, Beck can’t be blamed for the hallucinatory fantasies that crowd his diseased brain. On his show today he exhibits more of the messianic delusions that have made his train-wreck of show so popular:

“You know… I… I’d really like to share with you a personal story from today, but I can’t, because it puts my family in danger.”
[Because everybody is after you, aren’t they?]

“Do you think I want to get on the air every night and tell you this stuff?”
[Of course not. God is commanding that you do it.]

“Do you know who I am?”
[We know who you are, Glenn. And we’re watching you right now.]

“The media will say ‘he’s just a clown.’ Well you know what, I am a clown. I am a guy who just…I just want to have laughs and fun, I’m a capitalist, I want to make money, all that stuff.”
[Well then, mission accomplished, you fun-loving rascal.]

“I want to live my life with my family. I don’t want to have to live with security, and walls, and gates, and everything else. Do you think I want to live that way? Maybe there are some people like that. That ain’t me. That is not me.”
[If only there was some way that you could retire and enjoy your life and family and money.]

“I don’t want to believe these things, but unfortunately I find them true.”
[The voices compel you to believe. You can’t resist.]

Here are some of Beck’s prior incantations, just to keep you up to pace with his Besieged Cult Leader Syndrome:

“They can take my job and they can take my wealth but that’s okay….even if the powers to be, right now, succeed in making me poor, drum me out, and I’m just a worthless loser… which I’m just about that much above that now… I will only be stronger for it. “I will use American ingenuity and my ingenuity to pull myself up, and I will find another way to get my message out on a platform that will be a thousand times more powerful! Because of my faith, I know how this story ends. The truth will set you free! America, you prepare to witness mighty and powerful miracles in your lifetime!”

~~~

“Many people will ask you, ‘Well, if these things are so true, why is that only Glenn Beck is saying them?’ Believe me, I have asked myself that question many, many nights. Usually about 2:00am when I couldn’t sleep. Why is no one else asking these questions?”

~~~

“You ever see those movies where they say, ‘I gave a note to my attorney, and if I’m found dead, open the note.’ I kind of feel like you’re my attorney. If I show up, you know, in Thailand, dead from auto-erotic asphyxiation, don’t believe it.”

~~~

“If I’m ever in a weird car accident, or I commit suicide or something, after the media stops celebrating my death, could they check into it? Because I’m not suicidal. And I’m a pretty good driver.”

~~~

“I fear that there will come a time when I cannot say things that I am currently saying. I fear that it will come to television and to radio, and I will stop saying these things. Understand me clearly. Hear me now. If I ever stop saying these things, you will know why. Because I will have made a choice that I can only say certain things, and I haven’t lost all of the rights. But know that these things are true. And if you hear me stop saying these things, it’s because I can no longer say them to you. But hear them between the sentences. Hear them, please. I will be screaming them to you.”

Seriously, Beck is just a hair’s breadth away from Nikes and castration.