Day: 7/2/2012

Bill O’Reilly Is An Idiot Whether Apologizes Or Not

Posted by on July 2, 2012 at 6:25 pm. 2 Comments :

Back in March, Bill O’Reilly had a contentious debate with Caroline Fredrickson, the president of the American Constitution Society, on the potential outcome of the Supreme Court’s hearing on ObamaCare. Ms. Fredrickson presciently predicted that the bill would be upheld as constitutional and even noted specifically that the justification would come from the Constitution’s taxing authority. However, O’Reilly disagreed and concluded the segment by saying this:

“Ms. Frederickson, you’re going to lose, and your argument is specious. We appreciate you coming on. But this is absolutely a mandate. It’s absolutely a force. It’s absolutely police powers from the federal government, and it’s going to be 5 to 4. And if I’m wrong I will come on, and I will play — I will play your clip. And I will apologize for being an idiot. But I think you’re desperately wrong.”

Last week, following the Court’s decision, O’Reilly was on vacation, but he did call into his program and spoke with guest host Laura Ingraham. He said nothing about himself having been so desperately wrong. Today he returned and brought up the the incident in March, however, he did not apologize. Just prior to a disingenuous pseudo-apology, he declared that he is “not really sorry,” which cancels out anything he said afterwards. You don’t get credit for an apology if you precede it by saying that you’re not really sorry.

Rather, O’Reilly spent several minutes blaming CNN’s Howard Kurtz and Media Matters for – well, I couldn’t really figure what he was blaming them for. Apparently they were somehow responsible for his being a complete moron, and therefore he had nothing for which to apologize. He alleged that Kurtz was empowering Media Matters in some respect, and that…

“Kurtz does the bidding of Media Matters, and, I don’t know, maybe I should just ignore that and, as you say, move along down the highway, but it certainly disturbs me a little bit.”

And that was it. No actual apology. No admission that he was an idiot. No integrity in keeping his word. Just an obvious and pathetic dodge. He pointed fingers at others who had nothing to do with any of this and pretended that he never made a spectacularly stupid promise in support of his ill-informed prediction. It was a display of dishonesty and cowardice that befits someone like – well, like Bill O’Reilly. So I thought I’d help Billo out by saying what he is to chickenshit to say:

Bill O'Reilly is a Sorry Idiot

I think that about covers it.

Rupert Murdoch Proves That A Fish Stinks From The Head

Posted by on July 2, 2012 at 5:52 pm. NO Comments :

The CEO of News Corp, parent company of Fox News, has been tweeting up a storm lately. Much of it was silliness about Tom Cruise’s marital troubles and his view of Scientology as “creepy, maybe evil.” But some of it was revealing and noteworthy.

Rupert Murdoch on Mitt Romney

The first tweet above is interesting because it is so openly disparaging of Mitt Romney’s campaign team. He does not disguise his opinion that they are amateurs who came to their posts by being Romney cronies. More interesting is the vague introduction wherein he says that he “Met Romney last week.” That’s a news bite that had not previously been disclosed.

As it turns out, Romney met with 40 to 50 fatcat supporters at a secret meeting in Manhattan including Murdoch, investment banker Ken Langone, Goldman Sachs head Lloyd Blankfein, and other business barons and political operatives. It’s somewhat disturbing that a meeting with this kind of firepower went unreported until after Murdoch let it slip on Twitter. One thing we learned from the meeting was why Romney has been so hesitant to take an actual position on immigration. He told the group that…

“I know I took some positions in the primary that are” hard to contend with in a general, Romney said, according to two sources. “I am not going to be a flip-flopper,”

He is admitting that, were he to take a position, it would be contrary to what he told conservative audiences during the GOP primaries, so he says nothing instead. The Etch-a-Sketch has spoken. He believes that he can get by with Latino voters by relying on surrogate Marco Rubio and one of his sons who speaks Spanish. Yeah, right.

The second Tweet above is even more revealing. It was Murdoch’s response to all of the flack he got after criticizing Romney. It’s bad enough that he openly states that he wants Romney to win, but what goes farther over the line is his reasoning. He says that he wants Romney to “save us from socialism.”

After years of hearing Fox News anchors and guests making delusional comments about President Obama being a socialist, you sort of grow accustomed it. It’s easy to dismiss (and ridicule) wingnuts like Eric Bolling, Sean Hannity, and Sarah Palin. But now we know where they get their marching orders. Rupert Murdoch himself believes that Obama is a Manchurian candidate bent on delivering America into the arms of our commie adversaries. The conspiracy obsessed right-wing media has a leader and a hero in Murdoch. That little tweet explains a lot.

Fox Nation vs. Reality: Cherry Picking Poll Data

Posted by on July 2, 2012 at 2:03 pm. 1 Comments :

The top-of-page headline at Fox Nation today is a report that falsely declares that “Obama Poll Numbers Drop After Court Upholds His Law.”

Fox Nation Polls

The poll to which the Fox Nationalists refer is from the notoriously GOP-slanted Rasmussen Reports. Rassmussen is best known as a Republican shill. He attends GOP conferences and is a fixture on Fox News. His findings invariably favor right-wing politicians and policies.

As a demonstration of just how far afield he is, take a look at the most recent polls posted on RealClearPolitics:

RealClearPolitics Polls

Notice that Rasmussen is the only one that shows Romney in the lead. What’s more, in every poll taken since the the Supreme Court’s ruling on the health care bill, Obama’s numbers have gone up – not down. And that includes the poll from Fox News.

So Fox News promotes the results of a poll by Rasmussen even over their own poll. That’s how committed they are to deceiving the blockheads who watch their network of lies.

Even Fox Nation’s Vacation Coverage Is Blatantly Biased

Posted by on July 2, 2012 at 11:58 am. NO Comments :

The Republican Press Release Agency known as Fox News can’t even report trivial side issues without resorting to pathetic and insulting misrepresentations. Here is how Fox Nation is portraying the news that both President Obama and Mitt Romney are taking a few days of R & R:

Fox Nation Vacation

Notice that the President is characterized as a shiftless slacker who “Takes the Week Off,” insinuating that he is neglecting his obligations. The Fox Nationalists accompany this headline with a photo of a tropical paradise suitable for sunbathing and luaus, despite the fact that Obama is actually going to Camp David. Furthermore, he is only spending two days there, where he will also be working. This news is viewed as “Obnoxious” by the Fox Nation community.

Romney, on the other hand, is described “Recharging” at his own personal resort destination on Lake Winnipesaukee, where he has his own vacation home. His holiday is seen as a well-deserved respite from the stress of the campaign trail (which everyone knows is much more severe than being the leader of the free world). This news is viewed as “Cool” by the Fox Nation community.

Imagine for a moment if Obama had been photographed in the manner Romney is above. It would immediately have revived memories of John Kerry windsurfing, wherein he was savaged by the media for engaging in a sport that was reserved for upper-crusters (as opposed to dancing show horses). Put Obama on the back of a jet ski with his wife driving and there would be endless mockery of him as a pussy-whipped wimp. And add to that the fact that the jet ski is stalled in mid-lake and Romney is helplessly throwing up his hands, and you have the makings of a story about a clueless and out-of-touch elitist who can’t even get his jet ski started.

These sort of visuals are subtle, but they are also effective and deliberate. The problem with them appearing on Fox Nation is that they will only be seen by people who already share the puerile views of the emotionally-stunted editors at Fox Nation. So the exercise is a waste of time except for the degree to which they validate every criticism of Fox News as a brazenly biased mouthpiece for the GOP.