Offered without comment because…well, because it says it all:
Geraldo Rivera to Occupier: “So what’s your goal?”
Occupier: “My goal here is to occupy everywhere possible. I think what you’re seeing here, Geraldo, is a large amount of people that have been deeply and profoundly fucked by the system.”
Geraldo felt compelled to apologize for this honest and accurate analysis.
You would think that one thing Fox News would regard as exempt from their routine campaign of smears and lies is motherhood. You would be wrong.
On Fox & Friends this weekend (video below), the curvy couch potatoes played a video of Stacey Hessler, a mother of four from Florida who is participating in the Occupy Wall Street protest. Co-host Clayton Morris declared that Hessler had abandoned her children, a lie that was repeated on screen with a graphic that said “Mom Abandons Family to Join Occupy Wall Street.”
The truth is that Hessler made a principled decision with the support of her family to take action on a matter of great importance to her family and the nation. She did not abandon her family. They agreed with her desire to take a stand and assured her that they would take up the slack in her absence, along with sympathetic neighbors and friends. Fox could have simply reported that Hessler traveled to New York while her family remained in Florida, but to repeatedly use the loaded term “abandoned” is an obvious attempt to smear Hessler and deceive viewers.
But the abuse didn’t stop there. The on-screen graphic changed intermittently to say ‘From Mom To Mob.’” Morris made a repulsive, and utterly false, insinuation that Hessler was “living with a waiter” while in New York. Co-host Alisyn Camerota, in her role as an unqualified TV psychoanalyst, said that Hessler was “having a mid-life crisis,” and that she may be subconsciously protesting her husband who happens to be banker (and supports the movement). And co-host Dave Briggs was furious about a statement that Hessler made that he read on-air:
Hessler: “Military people leave their families all the time, so why should I feel bad? I’m fighting for a better world.”
Briggs complained about Hessler “equating what she’s doing with military service.” He charged that that was “more disgusting than any of the filth down there on Wall Street.” What Briggs fails to grasp is that there is more than one way to fight for your country. And there is more than one enemy. The damage to our nation caused by Wall Street is unprecedented. It is precisely the sort of damage intended by Al Qaeda when they selected the World Trade Center as a target. The difference is that Wall Street’s assault was far more harmful on a financial basis. Al Qaeda was probably ecstatic as they watched what our financial elite had done to this country.
The Fox gang went on to discuss an Associated Press poll that showed that 37% of Americans viewed the Occupy movement favorably. Instead of recognizing that more than a third of the country was supportive, a remarkable statistic considering that the movement is only a month old, they chose to focus on the 56% who had an unfavorable opinion. What they never addressed at all was that the same poll showed that the Tea Party fared much worse with only 28% viewing it favorably and 68% unfavorably, and that’s after two years. Another poll by CNN reports that 32% view the Occupiers favorably and only 29% unfavorably. Further noting that…
“…opinions are clear about Wall Street itself. Eight in ten say Wall Street bankers are greedy, 77% say they’re overpaid, and two-thirds say Wall Street bankers are dishonest.” […] “54 percent say they absolutely do not trust Wall Street bankers and brokers to do what is best of the economy.”
The American people are smarter than Fox News thinks they are. And all of the propaganda and smears has not helped Fox to undermine the will of the people. Nevertheless, Fox will continue to engage in the malicious fraud they call “news.” But their desperation is becoming ever more apparent as they sink to maligning patriotic mothers fighting for a better life for their children.
[Update:] Another new poll by the Pew Center for the People and the Press shows support for the Occupiers (39%) greater than opposition (35%). However the Tea Party is more opposed (44%) than supported (32%). Even independents are positive about the Occupiers (43% for/35% opposed), while they shun the Tea Partiers (49% opposed/30% for).
Cyber-vigilantes Anonymous have announced a new campaign to punish Fox News for belittling the Occupy Wall Street protesters as “filthy,” “disgusting,” and “dirty,”. Operation Fox Hunt aims to shut down Fox News’ web site on November 5th. The video announcement (below) says in part that…
“Fox News is now a target of Anonymous because of their continued propaganda against the Occupations. Those such as Sean Hannity are attacking the credentials as well as the character of the Occupiers and this can no longer be allowed. […]
“Anonymous will not only shut down Fox News, we will also engage in a propaganda campaign of our own to show them how it feels to be chastised. Fox News, your time has come.”
While I can’t condone actions that disrupt web site operations, Fox News certainly deserves to be chastised for their blatant misrepresentation and bias with regard to the Occupy movement (and pretty much everything else they put on the air). Their standard approach to reporting is to slander those with whom they disagree and serve as press agents for their ideological allies. They specialize in puerile insults and character assassination. It is impossible to watch Fox without hearing them call the protesters (or the President) Marxists. And that’s probably what they’ll call Anonymous if they even bother to report this threat.
Stay tuned. November 5th is just two weeks away. And as comment a-j notes beloew, it is also Guy Fawkes Day.
Slime-Life Records is assembling a collection of Herman Cain’s personal faves from the wild world of Rock and Roll. It promises to be a blockbuster explosion of exhilarating music featuring some of the all-time greatest artists. Thrill to hits like…..
…999’s raucous social commentary, Homicide
…and The Godfather’s tales of Birth School Work Death
And what Cain collection would be complete without the Herminator’s own rendition of Imagine
In the past week Cain has exhibited his knowledge of foreign policy (Uzbeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan), announced that he would negotiate with terrorists, and declared that he is pro-choice. Too bad this joker has zero chance of getting the nomination. It would have been a great race. Maybe Mitt Romney or Rick Perry will consider putting him on the ticket. And speaking of Rick Perry, be sure to pick up his latest release, One of the Good Ol’ boys:
Nothing will make me happier than when the utterly delusional notion that the media in this country is liberal has been refuted, defeated, exterminated, and cremated.
While most observers are already aware of the fact-hating editorial policy of Fox News, at least they did fire Glenn Beck earlier this year (although only because his increasingly hysterical ravings were making them look bad). What people may not have noticed is that CNN is taking up Fox’s slack.
This morning on CNN viewers could have awakened to see two of Beck’s surrogates bloviating on the events of the day. Amy Holmes, an anchor on Beck’s GBTV was a guest commentator on Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz. A couple of hours later, Will Cain, a repoter for Beck’s The Blaze appeared on CNN’s Your Money.
For CNN to feature two representatives of Glenn Beck’s insignificant and failing Internet venture is unbelievable. Is that the best they could come up with? Was CNN unable to find any reputable commentators from distinguished networks, newspapers, or universities? Or maybe their attempts to book members of the John Birch Society fell through.
Elsewhere, NPR made news by firing the host of an opera program because she had taken part in an OccupyDC protest. According to NPR, Lisa Simeone was sacked because her activity “has the potential to compromise our reputation as an organization that strives to be impartial and unbiased.”
Never mind that Simeone hosts a music program and does not cover politics or any other subject that could pose any kind of a conflict. Unlike NPR’s Mara Liasson who is a political reporter as well as a commentator on Fox News. Somehow NPR justifies Liasson’s fraternizing with Fox on matters that are explicitly political, but Simeone can’t introduce classical music after having exercised her Constitutional right to free speech on her own personal time.
Conservatives assail CNN as the Communist News Network due to their perception of it as unabashedly liberal. NPR is a perennial target of right-wingers in Congress who seek to defund what they considered to be a hopelessly biased mouthpiece for the left. At what point are these fallacies laid to rest? Do we really need any more proof than when CNN hosts two Glenn Beck flunkies on the same day, or NPR fires an opera program host because she is a liberal outside of work?
The Occupy Wall Street movement has done a great job of defining the 99% of Americans who are being rolled over by the !% of wealthy, corporate interests who are dominating our political culture. Something the Occupiers need to remember and focus on is that the media in this country is also wealthy and corporate, and they are Platinum members of the 1%. Wall Street firms and bankers spend billions on advertising and the media rewards them with positive coverage and the sort of ludicrous editorial decisions noted above. This needs to be addressed and corrected if we are to see any substantive improvement in the massive social and economic disparities that are threatening our nation’s welfare.
The Fox Nationalists are appalled at what they are calling flag desecration by the protesters on Wall Street:
There is no information or context in the photo above that reveals anything about the incident and, therefore, it is impossible to ascribe motive or responsibility. It could be a reporter, or an opponent of the protesters, or a kid looking for a place to sit down. It could be that in the crowded park there is simply no place to walk and that someone might not have even seen the flag as they were trying to get from one place to another. However, here is another photo where it is unmistakable what is taking place and by whom:
Fox was never the least bit disturbed by this overt disrespect for the flag by a sitting president. What’s more, at the link above Bush can also be seen signing a flag, which is also regarded as desecration. Sarah Palin has done that as well at her rallies.
The real desecration here is that done to journalism by an overtly dishonest “news” enterprise whose only purpose is to deceive and divide the American people. The folks at Fox must be so proud of their success in that endeavor.
Always seeking to enhance their journalistic credentials, Fox News has recruited a new contributor that will bring a unique insight to their political analysis.
Mark Sanford, the former Republican governor of South Carolina, has been added to the Fox News team. Sanford, you may recall, was the wayward governor who went missing and, after initial reports from his staff that he had taken a hike on the Appalachian Trail, it was eventually learned that he had slithered down to Argentina for a rendezvous with his mistress.
This hire may surprise some observers who recall Fox criticizing CNN for hiring former New York governor Eliot Spitzer. But there are notable differences between the two fallen pols. Sanford disappeared without informing anyone of his whereabouts, and his unfaithfulness resulted in divorce and a broken home. Spitzer, on the other hand, never abandoned his duties as governor, and he managed to preserve his marriage after it was revealed that he had patronized a Washington call girl.
Kudos to Fox News for snagging a forthright voice for infidelity that is too rarely represented in the media. He will join a fraternity of Fox fellows who have fractured marriage vows including Karl Rove, Newt Gingrich, Dick Morris, Roger Ailes, and the original sinner, Rupert Murdoch, who is on his third wife.
No wonder Fox is regarded as the network of family values. They apparently believe people should have as many families as possible. That may prove to be an advantage for Mitt Romney, the Mormon in the GOP presidential primary.
In a theater on the lot of Fox Studios in Los Angeles, about a hundred investors in News Corp assembled to hear Rupert Murdoch and his lieutenants defend being criminals and thieves. There was a certain beauty in this charade taking place in the guts of a fantasy factory, in the shadow of Hollywood.
Murdoch delivered his well rehearsed monologue about how strong the business is and how bright its future, on the same day that their PR department announced that they were paying $4.8 million dollars to compensate the family of a murdered schoolgirl for having hacked into her phone and misled her parents and the police as to her fate. Today we know that there were perhaps hundreds of others whose privacy was violated, including politicians, celebrities, and royals. And yet Murdoch is comfortable declaring that “I’m very proud of the culture we have at this company.”
Murdoch had the gall to assert that most of the information authorities have now about the phone hacking and other scandals came from News Corp itself. That statement defies belief considering that the company has done nothing to punish any of the wrongdoers associated with the criminal acts. The scandal goes back a decade, all the while being covered up by editors and executives. It was reporting by the Guardian’s Nick Davies that broke the scandal wide open. Since then fifteen News Corp employees have been arrested, top executives have resigned, and one former journalist, Sean Hoare, was found dead in his home. Hoare was the first person to allege that former News of the World editor, Andy Coulson (who later became a press aide to Prime Minister David Cameron), knew about the hacking.
The shareholder’s meeting provided an opportunity for critics to voice their frustration with the company’s management. There were proposals to slash the pay of the Murdochs, to mandate a separation between the chairman and the CEO, both positions currently held by Murdoch. And an unprecedented number of investor groups and advisers publicly advocating that the entire board of directors not be reelected.
British Member of Parliament, Tom Watson, flew in to confront Murdoch and inform shareholders that the worst is yet to come. He revealed that investigations are proceeding on allegations of unlawful surveillance beyond those of phone hacking. But there were Murdoch defenders in the audience as well. One of whom identified himself as a Fox employee and said that in his years of service he has never been asked to do anything unethical. Of course not. As a Fox employee you don’t have to be asked, it’s expected.
By the end of the shareholder’s meeting it was learned that the Murdochs had retained their board seats. And despite Murdoch saying that the vote results would be released in a couple of hours, News Corp. declined to announce the vote tally, saying it would release the figures early next week. Analysts say that if even 20% of votes are cast against the Murdochs, it would be a victory, because that would be nearly half of the 53% of votes unaffiliated with the family. So what are they hiding? Apparently they have reason to want to keep the results out of the news cycle.
Outside the studio, about 200 people gathered to protest the greed, domination, and manipulation of News Corp. Participants included OccupyLA, FreePress, Common Cause, MoveOn, Avaaz, Change to Win, Brave New Films, and more. The media was there in force as well. Representatives from every local TV station showed up, along with the Associated Press, CNN, BBC, and Al Jazeera.
This is irrefutable evidence of the Occupy movement’s success. It has grown from a curious rabble ignored by the press, to a powerful voice for the people. It has earned the enmity of dullards who can only resort to childish insults that the protesters are unfocused, unclean, and unpatriotic. But most importantly, it has changed the public debate from one of a phony debt crisis, to one that addresses the real concerns of Americans: jobs, economic disparity, and the destructive influence of corporations on politics and policy. And it’s only been one month.
For the past month Manhattan has been the epicenter of a new movement that seeks to reinstate the people as the stewards of American politics and to foreclose on the corporations who have been managing Washington as if it were a wholly owned subsidiary. But now the revolution heads west to Los Angeles where News Corp, the parent of Fox News and the Wall Street Journal, will be holding their annual shareholders meeting on Friday, October 21.
The meeting promises to be a stimulating affair as Rupert Murdoch and his spawn face expulsion from the board of their own company. A surprising number of institutional shareholders and analysts have already publicly advised their clients to withhold their votes to reelect the Murdoch clan and a handful of their allies. The Guardian is reporting that opposition to “The Family” is presently as high as 25% before the meeting is even gaveled in to order.
Dumping the Murdochs will still be an uphill battle given that they control 39% of the voting shares. Astonishingly, they still have supporters despite the fact that they have presided over unlawful and unethical practices that have materially damaged the company’s revenue and reputation. But even if they survive it will be in a weakened and humiliated state. There is certain to be vocal opposition in the room from big shareholders disgusted by nepotistic cronyism and the lack of independence, as well as rebel voices who may engage in a bit of theatrical protesting.
The real protesting, however, will be going on outside the meeting as the Occupy Los Angeles crowd migrates over from their base in Downtown L.A. to give Fox a taste of what it’s like to be occupied. They will be joined by FreePress, Change to Win, Common Cause LA, Brave New Films, and others. If you’re in L.A., be sure sure to head down to Fox Studios at 10201 W. Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles (Street parking is available on Motor Ave. A map is here). The protest is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 21, 9–11 a.m.
Rupert Murdoch and News Corp are the epitome of what the 99% are protesting: an unaccountable corporation that manipulates the political process while seeking to enrich itself at the expense of the public that it is failing to serve. And as a media enterprise they also contribute to the disinformation and divisiveness that is tearing this country apart.
But remember, there is another 99% in America. That is the 99% of the nation that does not watch Fox News. The highest rated program on Fox (The O’Reilly Factor) pulls in about 1% of the population. That’s about half the audience of the lowest rated broadcast network news program (CBS Evening news). NBC’s Nightly News draws four times the viewers of Fox. Yet Fox deftly uses their platform to exult themselves and shout down everyone else.
After taking the Tea Party under their wing and promoting it incessantly, Fox now regards protesters as ignorant, smelly, and unpatriotic. Their overt hostility to the majority of citizens who want economic and social justice is fraught with lies and riddled with childish insults that cater to the diminished IQ of their viewers. Polls show that, even after Fox’s relentless propaganda, support for the Occupy movement is twice as much as the Tea Party, which is still viewed negatively by most people.
So let Fox have the 1% of America’s most delusional television viewers. The rest of us will make our voices heard the old fashioned way: by organizing, communicating, and exercising our rights. Stand up. Speak out. Occupy. We are the 99% who do not watch Fox News.
Dana Loesch, CNN’s senior Tea Party correspondent and editor of Andrew Breitbart’s BigJournalism, is engaged in a dust-up with Eric Boehlert of Media Matters over her delusional campaign to disparage the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement as anti-Semitic. Her claim is wholly unfounded, although typical of her deceitful brand of yellow journalism.
The squabble began when Loesch appeared on CNN attempting to smear OWS due to a report that the American Nazi Party had endorsed the movement. That is the sort of dishonest associative logic that propagandists like Loesch love to employ to bash their opponents. Commentators who are not pathological liars know that fringe groups frequently try to align themselves with popular movements to draw attention to themselves. Perhaps she should be made to explain why the Tea Party is not racist in light of the fact that they were endorsed by white supremacist and KKK leader David Duke.
Boehlert responded to Loesch’s ravings with a series of Tweets that made the point that these endorsements exist on both sides and that they aren’t necessarily indicative of anything. Loesch fired back that Boehlert had not proven his argument – even though he had. Then she set forth a list of demands that she expected Boehlert to comply with. I don’t know if Boehlert has any intention of wasting his valuable time answering Loesch. After all, he is running a busy media monitoring and analysis organization. On the other hand, I’m an unemployed, Cheetos-munching, blogger in my mother’s basement with nothing but free time due to all the government handouts I scam. So I thought I’d take a stab at Loesch’s list where she asks: “I need Eric Boehlert to do the following:”
Back up his analogy that Fox (and other network coverage) of the tea party is the same as NBC’s Ratigan writing messaging while pretending to report on OWS by showing examples of Fox writing tea party messaging.
First of all, Ratigan never wrote messaging for OWS. He merely made comments on an email list that expressed his opinions. He was not serving as an adviser and the list was not even an official OWS group. The emails were stolen by a hacker and published by Breitbart.
What Fox did, however, was much worse than what Ratigan was accused of. They openly promoted Tea Party events, even branding them as “FNC Tax Day Tea Parties.” They sent their producers out to ride Tea Party buses, attend rallies, and try to whip up the crowd when they did not seem sufficiently excited. Sal Russo, founder of the Tea Party Express, gushed that “There would not have been a tea party without Fox.” That’s a good deal more damning than an assertion of message writing.
Explain why Obama was present at a rally with hate leader Malik Shabazz.
Obama was not present at a rally with Shabazz. He was present at the 42nd anniversary of a famous 1965 civil rights march in Selma, Alabama. As the event was open to the public and thousands of people attended, there is no way that then-Senator Obama could have known who else had shown up.
Explain why Obama’s DOJ refused to prosecute the NBPP for voter intimidation.
It was the Bush administration’s Justice Department that made the decision not to pursue criminal charges against members of the New Black Panther Party for alleged voter intimidation. And it was Obama’s DOJ that successfully obtained a default judgment against Samir Shabazz for carrying a nightstick outside the Philadelphia polling center on Election Day 2008.
A subsequent investigation concluded that the department acted appropriately and that there was “no evidence of improper political interference or influence from within or outside the Department in connection with the decision in the case.”
Explain why the ADL had to issue a condemnation to Occupy Wall Street for antisemitism.
The ADL did not issue a condemnation to Occupy Wall Street for antisemitism. That is an outright lie. They issued a statement that condemned remarks by individuals attending OWS events, but also stated that “antisemitism has not gained traction more broadly with the protestors, nor is it representative of the larger movement at this time.”
Perhaps Loesch can explain why the ADL had to issue a condemnation to Fox News and Glenn Beck over comments about Jews that “demonstrate his bigoted ignorance.” And again with regard to Beck’s vilification of George Soros saying that Beck was “completely inappropriate, offensive and over the top.” Not to mention the apology they graciously accepted from Roger Ailes after he called NPR executives Nazis.
Explain the antisemitism at occupy protests and give video equivalence of equal or greater antisemitism at tea parties since no one has seen such.
There is no justification for antisemitism anywhere, but as noted in the answer above, the anti-Semitic remarks of a few repugnant individuals is not representative of OWS. But maybe Loesch would like to answer for these remarks:
David Duke: The Tea Party movement is a great sign that the people are finally waking up.
Tea Party, Republican Activists Circulate Anti-Semitic E-Mails Against Presumptive Texas Speaker.
Weisel blasts the tea party ‘antisemitism’: ‘Indecent and disgusting.’
White Supremacists and Anti-Semites Plan to Recruit at July 4 Tea Parties.
California GOP Decries Anti-Semitic Tea Party Activism.
GOP must condemn “Tea Party” signs.
For Loesch to assert that no one has seen any antisemitism, racism, or other bigotry at Tea Party events illustrates the selective recall of a bigot.
Explain why there have been over 1,o00 (sic) OWS arrests and zero tea party arrests if the tea party are “violent racists.”
There are two reasons there have been so many OWS arrests. One is that the participants believe passionately in their cause and the honorable practice of civil disobedience as demonstrated by leaders like King and Gandhi. The other is that the police are often utilized by the corporate classes to protect what they regard as their assets rather than protecting the rights of the people.
It also needs to be noted that Loesch makes an absurd correlation between the arrests of peaceful OWS protesters and the violent tendencies of some in the Tea Party. OWS protesters never carried signs saying “We came unarmed – this time.” And then there’s this:
Explain why communists are endorsing OWS.
Already answered above. However, I’ll humor you: To exploit a popular movement to draw attention to themselves.
Explain why felons need to carry guns at OWS.
Just because someone may have found a single person doing that does not mean that there are wild gangs of felons running around Zucotti Park with guns. It’s a rather idiotic insinuation that you should be embarrassed for having brought up. And again, it has nothing to do with any official representation of OWS. However, It is good to hear that you are in agreement with the majority of progressives who support stricter gun control laws that would prevent such behavior.
Explain what a man who has exposed himself repeatedly to children was doing at the occupy protests.
Same answer as above. Do you really think that in any group of thousands that there aren’t some despicable low lifes with questionable character? Hell, you can’t even say that about a few hundred people in Congress. Have you not heard about the GOP senators who solicit sex in airport restrooms (Larry Craig) or patronize prostitutes (David Vitter). Perhaps you could explain Charles Leaf, the Fox News reporter who was arrested on charges of aggravated sexual assault on a four year old girl.
Loesch’s tirade failed utterly to prove any point. The only thing she succeeded in doing was to open the door to the dark side of Tea Party and force her to answer for it. That’s what she is asking Boehlert to do. So either she steps up to take responsibility for all the nutjobs in the Tea Party, or she admits that she is an unscrupulous hypocrite. Technically, the latter is a given so don’t hold your breath waiting for her to respond.