Day: 3/9/2012

Why The F@&K Does Anyone Pay Attention To Breitbart’s Ghost?

Posted by on March 9, 2012 at 9:00 pm. 3 Comments :

Despite his untimely passing, Andrew Breitbart still seems to command attention from the mainstream media hacks who think that what he did was journalism. His ghost has the uncanny ability to summon up fables and pass them on to naive reporters desperate for a hot story.

The much heralded release of Breitbart’s supposedly explosive video that he promised would unmask the racially radical philosophy that President Barack Obama has been trying to conceal for twenty years came out this week. And there hasn’t been a more anticlimactic unveiling since Geraldo Rivera opened Al Capone’s safe. But worse than just the sad spectacle of a failed exposé, the whole production number orchestrated by the Breitbartians (the inept crew that Breitbart left behind) fell apart amidst a tsunami of hype and lies. The list of unmet assertions is long and pathetic:

Claim #1) The videos would “vet” the President in a way he had not been vetted before. The result would dash his reelection hopes.
The Truth: The video was a harmless look back at a youthful and poised Obama advocating for more diversity on the Harvard faculty. If anything it makes Obama look better.

Claim #2) The Breitbartians accused Buzzfeed of “selectively editing” the video they released ahead of Breitbart’s big scoop.
The Truth: When the Breitbartians released their “uncut” version it had about two seconds at the end that showed Obama hugging the professor he had just introduced. Not exactly the makings of a scandal.

Claim #3) Prof. Derrick Bell was an extremist whose relationship with Obama was evidence of Obama’s radical roots. The Breitbartians repeatedly called him “the Jeremiah Wright of academia” in an attempt to paint a false and derogatory picture of Bell.
The Truth: Bell was a respected and admired legal professor and scholar whose work is still revered and taught at law schools around the country.

And the two most recent claims:

Claim #4) There was a conspiratorial effort to prevent the video from ever being released. The Breitbartians alleged that remarks made by Harvard professor Charles Ogletree were an admission of such.
The Truth: Ogletree was obviously joking when he said that “we hid this during the 2008 campaign.” He and his audience were laughing at the statement. Ogletree spoke with the Boston Herald today and affirmed this.

Claim #5) Derrick Bell had made two visits to the White House in 2010. I’m not sure why there would be anything wrong with a law professor visiting his former student at his new job in the White House, but nevertheless, the allegation was put forth as some sort of suspicious activity.
The Truth: It was a different Derrick Bell who was visiting the White House on a routine tour. Seriously, don’t these righties ever try to verify anything?

When you look back at all of the absurd concoctions that have been floated on the Breitbart network of web sites, you really have to ask yourself, why does anyone continue to pay attention to these people? Their record of mistakes, misrepresentations, and outright dishonesty should exempt them from being taken seriously by any other media outlet. How about we start to hold the media accountable for their poor judgment?

I would, however, like to thank the Breitbartians for having brought attention to the inspiring video of a young, activist Obama in his college days. I think that’s worth another look:

Rush Limbaugh Goes There: Calls The President “Boy”

Posted by on March 9, 2012 at 5:49 pm. 13 Comments :

I guess it had to come to this. The undisguised racism of many pundits on the far right has at least avoided the most vile expressions of their hate when anyone outside of their private circles was listening. Today the hate came bubbling to the surface as Rush Limbaugh said this while mocking the way he thinks liberals view Republicans:

“You notice how everything Republicans do is venal? Everything is calculated for political advantage? Everything is done to try to harm our little boy president, Barack Obama?”

There it is – out in the open. Although this is nothing new for Limbaugh. For three years now he has been referring to Obama as a “man-child.” And what is a “man-child” but a boy. It was his way of calling the President boy without bearing the consequences of being more literal. His listeners knew what he was saying.

This sort of disrespect runs deep through the right-wing media. Fox Nation posted this graphic last year along with a story about Obama:

Fox Nation

And even worse, they deliberately mangled the results of a poll in order to run a story with this headline: Obama Has A Big Problem With White Women. Could they have come up with a more racially charged banner with which to introduce a story on a public opinion poll? This framing deliberately recalls the worst of a hate-filled era characterized by irrational fears of marauding black predators stalking innocent and vulnerable Caucasian virgins. I’m just a little surprised that Fox didn’t go with this headline: “Obama Polling: Where Da White Women At?”

Perhaps this is an intentional ploy on Limbaugh’s part. He has been taking considerable heat lately for having insulted Sandra Fluke, a law student who did nothing more than speak her mind on a matter of importance to her and all women. Limbaugh has lost dozens of advertisers. His show airs in some markets with only free PSAs (public service announcements) or even dead air. This may be his way of trying to divert attention from that controversy to something he thinks will be less volatile. Good luck with that, Rush.

Fox News Hypes Last Year’s Sarah Palin Documentary As “New”

Posted by on March 9, 2012 at 9:17 am. 1 Comments :

This weekend HBO is premiering its much anticipated adaptation of the book “Game Change,” the story of Sarah Palin’s selection to be John McCain’s running mate in 2008. The film stars Julianne Moore, Ed Harris, and Woody Harrelson, and has received glowing reviews from critics, although Palin defenders have trashed it despite never having seen it.

In a clumsy attempt at counter-programming, the Reelz cable channel has scheduled an airing of last year’s box office bomb, “The Undefeated” on the same day. The Undefeated is the painfully sycophantic Palin crocumentary that couldn’t make it through three weeks in movie theaters last year. In its opening weekend it made less than 1/10th of what “An Inconvenient Truth” made, despite plying on twice as many screens. In less than a month it was headed for the discount video bins at Wal-Mart.

UndefeatedOn Fox & Friends this morning, Steve Bannon, the producer of the Palin flop, was interviewed about its upcoming airing on cable. Bannon was introduced by Eric Bolling who dishonestly told Fox viewers that, “This is a follow up, right? This is the real Sarah Palin story.” Of course it isn’t a follow up; it isn’t new; and it isn’t real.

It is no wonder that the Foxies have to pretend that this is something new. They can hardly pitch it as the same old garbage that moviegoers so markedly rejected almost a year ago. And the box office failure occurred despite a massive effort by Fox News to promote it. But do they have to be so brazenly dishonest? At Fox Nation they continued the hype campaign with this headline: “New Documentary Takes Intimate Look at Sarah Palin.” Not only does that misrepresent the film as new, it makes it sound a little pornographic. I guess they think that’s the only way they can trick people into watching it.