Day: 7/28/2011

Fox Nation vs. Reality: On Labor Day

Posted by on July 28, 2011 at 12:54 pm. 1 Comments :

The fact checkers at Fox Nation are a notoriously incompetent crew. Today they are featuring an item that references an article at RealClearPolitics about Sarah Palin scheduling an appearance in Iowa on Labor Day. However, the Fox Nationalists don’t seem to know what holiday is celebrated on September 5:

Sarah Palin

This error is particularly conspicuous given that there was nothing in the RealClearPolitics article about Memorial Day. In fact, they cited Labor Day very near the top of the column. There could not have been any mix-up as a result of a transposition. Fox Nation’s editors are wholly responsible for a mistake born of ignorance.

Or was it a mistake? Fox has been castigating America’s workers for years. They characterize them as thugs, leeches, and loafers looking for handouts. Is it really so surprising that Fox would seek to suppress recognition for a holiday that celebrates working people?

Furthermore, Fox may not want to have associated their star political analyst with a day honoring Labor. Palin will be keynoting a Tea Party affair in Iowa and Fox surely wouldn’t want to confuse readers by insinuating that the event had anything to do with those socialists who work for a living. Palin’s reputation is damaged enough as it is by having been the subject of one of the biggest film flops this year.

Try as they might, Fox News cannot do away with Labor Day. They can only insult workers by pretending that it doesn’t exist.

The Narcissistic Paranoia Of Glenn Beck

Posted by on July 28, 2011 at 10:46 am. 3 Comments :

Glenn BeckA few days ago, Glenn Beck told his radio audience that the murdered kids at a Norwegian summer camp were “like the Hitler Youth.” That repulsive comment, coming before the grieving families could even bury their loved ones, was received with horror by most of the world, but Beck refused to apologize. In fact, he defended it by insisting that if he wasn’t able to draw comparisons between teenaged massacre victims and Nazis that “We are going to be a society of gas chambers.”

For Beck it isn’t bad enough to defend his disgusting Nazi comparisons with more Nazi comparisons, he has now gone further to attempt to turn himself into the victim in all of this. I guess the scores of victims in Norway weren’t sufficiently sympathetic.

Here is an annotated account of Beck’s neurotic paranoia as expressed yesterday on his radio program:

“They’ve been taking something that I said completely out of context and they’re trying to just…they’re trying again to destroy me.”
You can hear for yourself whether anything was taken out of context. And if there’s one thing about which Beck is consistent, is that it is always about him and the forces out to destroy him.

“Give it your best shot gang. You tried to get me out of the mainstream media.”
Um…Remind me again, what show do you have on television now? Oh, that’s right, we got you canceled after getting more than 300 advertisers to rebuke you. Hopefully, that’s just the start.

“Be careful what you wish for. Because now I’ve got a 24 hour, 7 day a week network.”
What you’ve got is a friggin web site, Poindexter. So do I and about a billion other people. But don’t let me interrupt your delusions of grandeur.

“Oh wait, in a year from now you’ll pray for me to be a part of the mainstream media. You’ll pray.”
The only praying most people will be doing for you is for a cure for the brain disease that has turned you into a conspiracy monger with a Messiah complex.

“Bring it on. I am not afraid. If I go down, don’t worry. I’m doing my damnedest to make sure there are 30 million others like me who will never sit down.”
Cool. That means there will be plenty of seating for the rest of us. And trust me, if you go down no one will remember your name in a year.

This page has a list of the radio stations carrying Beck’s program. Please call or write the one nearest you and tell them what Beck said and that you will not listen to the station or patronize their advertisers until Beck is gone. Also, sign this petition from Media Matters.

Beck is also holding an event in Israel next month with the unseemly name of “Restoring Courage.” How can his Israeli hosts permit this to go on as scheduled after he insults the memory of Holocaust victims by throwing around aspersions regarding Hitler’s atrocities aimed at innocent kids? After this, whatever authorization Beck has to produce this event should be rescinded. Feel free to contact the Israeli Embassy and advise them of the sort of person that is heading their way:
Email: info@washington.mfa.gov.il / Phone: 202.364.5500

Why The Tea Party Is Unyieldingly Stupid

Posted by on July 28, 2011 at 1:18 am. 31 Comments :

The Washington Post published an op-ed today by Judson Phillips, the founder of Tea Party Nation. The opinion piece appeared under the title “Why the Tea Party is unyielding on the debt ceiling.”

Tea PartyThis is a serious subject that could result in severe economic hardship if the Republicans, steered by their ignorant Tea Partners, persist in refusing any reasonable compromise or resolution. However, the editorial was so rife with dim-witted logic it’s hard not to ridicule. Phillips opened the article by complaining about a media narrative that…

“…Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner were close to a deal last week that would have resolved the debt-ceiling crisis. It would have allowed for continued borrowing and more ‘revenue,’ the euphemism of the day for tax increases. And the Tea Party said no.”

The next paragraph began “The Tea Party did say no,” effectively taking credit for doing the very thing he’s complaining of being accused of. Then Phillips asks…

“Why is the Tea Party intransigent on the debt ceiling? Why is the Tea Party pushing congressional Republicans so hard that we have a crisis?”

Phillips answers his own question by saying that…

“We do not have a debt crisis. We have a spending crisis. There is only one way you get to a debt crisis — you spend too much money.”

In that bit of twisted logic Phillips denies that there is a debt crisis while simultaneously explaining how we came to have a debt crisis. Then he gets off into some contortions about Greece and Star Wars while blaming Obama for this “axis of fiscal evil.” He makes no mention of the fact that Obama’s proposal cuts the debt by four trillion dollars, four times more than the GOP plan. He also misstates the desires of the American people saying that they don’t want their taxes raised. In fact, most polls show majorities favoring an approach that includes new revenues imposed on corporations and the rich. Next Phillips complains that…

“The left has accused the Tea Party of wanting America to default on its debt obligations. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Tea Party wants America to stop incurring debt obligations and to cut back on the wasteful spending already in place.”

Phillips knows a little something about getting further from the truth. Remember, the title of his op-ed is “Why the Tea Party is unyielding on the debt ceiling.” So, his irrational whining notwithstanding, he is explicitly advocating that America default on its debt obligations. That’s what will occur if the debt ceiling is not raised. What’s more, he misunderstands that raising the debt ceiling now does not in any way incur new spending. It merely authorizes payment of debts already incurred, mostly before Obama even took office. But Phillips saves the best, and funniest, for last:

“America cannot keep borrowing money it does not have.”

Um…Jud…I’m pretty sure that the only time you borrow money is when you don’t have it. If you have it there would be no need to borrow it. And this guy is a leader of the Tea Party movement? What does that say about the followers? It is truly frustrating to think that our nation could be plunged into another recession because of these dolts.