Month: December 2013

New Year’s Resolutions From Fox News: Gamble With Your Life And Bankrupt Your Heirs

Posted by on December 31, 2013 at 8:58 am. 11 Comments :

From the day that health insurance reform was proposed by President Obama and the Democratic congress, Fox News has been fiercely opposed to any change in the system that had been failing so miserably for decades. Conservatives were united in support of policies that left millions of Americans uninsured while making millions of dollars for insurance companies (and the GOP politicians who backed them).

Since ObamaCare was implemented, Fox News has worked tirelessly attempting to persuade people to refuse to participate in the program. It’s a mission that seeks to cause ObamaCare to fail. Fox has feverishly rolled out blatant scare tactics aimed at keeping citizens from taking advantage of the improved access to medical care and the lower costs that the ACA provides. And as the year comes to a close, Fox News is augmenting their fear mongering with dreadfully bad advice that, if followed, will cause certain harm and suffering.

Fox Nation

The article, “Eight Ways to Opt Out of ObamaCare,” was published on the Fox News community website and lie factory, Fox Nation (see the acclaimed ebook Fox Nation vs. Reality for more than 50 documented examples of proven lies). It was a reposting of an item from the disreputable rightist hacks at Breitbart News who have been Fox’s partner in falsely smearing ObamaCare and all things liberal. Below are the actual tips offered by the FoxPods and BreitBrats to convince people that not having legitimate, dependable health insurance is a good idea.

1. Join a health care sharing ministry

These “clubs” are set up as charitable organizations wherein people are reimbursed for their health care costs by the other members of the collective. But in order to join, applicants must first pledge their Christian faith and promise not to drink, take drugs or have sex outside of a traditional marriage. Some even require a reference from a minister. Clearly, this is not an option for most people. Furthermore, those with preexisting conditions are not accepted for membership. The coverage also doesn’t include “products of un-Biblical lifestyles,” such as contraception or substance rehab, or some preventive medicine, including colonoscopies and annual mammograms. The clubs are are not obligated to reimburse anyone for anything and there is no regulatory oversight that protects the consumer.

2. Purchase a short-term health insurance policy

Short term health insurance policies provide coverage for a period of six months or less. They are intended for use between jobs or other temporary lapses in insurance coverage. They are not renewable, but you can purchase another after one expires. However, any condition that was being treated while one policy was in effect is exempted from coverage by subsequent policies. Short term health insurance policies are generally intended to only cover major medical expenses. In addition to excluding coverage for preexisting conditions, such policies generally exclude coverage for services like preventive treatment (e.g. routine physical exams and immunizations), pregnancy or childbirth.

3. Buy alternative insurance plans such as fixed-benefit, critical illness, or accident insurance

Fixed-benefit plans are described by Consumer Reports as “Stingy plans [that] may be worse than none at all.” These plans will reimburse you a fixed amount for a specified illness. It is usually far less than necessary to cover the services, and you’re responsible for the remainder. Illnesses not specified are not covered at all. Critical illness and accident insurance are similarly narrow and often do not cover common medical conditions. Included in this tip is a laughable suggestion to increase the accident coverage of your auto insurance policy as a alternative to real health insurance.

4. Visit cash-only doctors and retail health clinics

Cash-only doctors and retail health clinics provide only basic services that can be performed in the doctor’s office. Any more serious treatment like surgery, or services that require more sophisticated hospital equipment like MRI’s, must be paid for separately. Consequently, the most expensive types of care are not covered at all.

5. Sign up for a telemedicine service

Telemedicine is a great leap forward as a tool for providing a service in conjunction with conventional doctor’s care. However, it is wholly insufficient as a replacement for insurance. It basically gives a patient the opportunity to talk to doctor, but no actual treatment is covered. Costs for anything from a vaccination to open-heart surgery would be born by the patient alone.

6. Use generic prescription drugs whenever possible, and compare prices between pharmacies

This is prudent advice for any patient but, once again, it does not in any way replace health insurance. It doesn’t even provide the pharmaceutical benefits of a legitimate health care plan that can provide drugs for small co-pays of a few dollars.

7. For surgery find a facility that offers up-front “package” prices for self-pay patients

This is essentially a suggestion to shop around for cheap surgeons after you have already determined a need (and it does not address how that medical determination was arrived at or paid for). It does not guarantee that the costs will be affordable, even if they are less costly than the average doctor. And while comparison shopping for a Sony HDTV might save you a few bucks, is anyone really comfortable with having a heart bypass performed by the guy who offers to do it for the lowest price? Paging Dr. Nick.

8. When a hospital visit becomes necessary, work with a medical bill negotiation service

This advice can lower the cost of hospital services, but there is no promise that the fees will be reduced to an amount that is manageable for people with limited resources. For instance, your $50,000 cancer treatment might be reduced to $35,000, which is fine if you have $35,000 laying around. If not, you will wish you had insurance.

Every one of these tips are misleading and dangerous. They could result in people being unable to get necessary medical care and/or thrown into bankruptcy. For Fox News to offer them as suitable alternatives to health insurance is irresponsible and potentially tragic. The well-to-do pundits and editors at Fox won’t be the ones to suffer from this extremely bad advice, yet they knowingly put others at risk. And it’s especially offensive when the program that Fox is steering people away from is one that actually provides comprehensive care for more people, at lower cost, than anything that has been available in the past.

Health care is something that every citizen is going to require at one time or another, without exception. And while ObamaCare is not perfect, it is a step in the right direction. The more people who enroll, the more efficiently costs can be controlled and reduced. And of course, the fewer illnesses and injuries that go untreated. These are apparently goals that Fox News and the Republican/Tea Party right-wing oppose, hence this list of resolutions that can only make the new year a nightmare for those foolish enough to adopt them.

New York Times Demolishes Benghazi Hoax – Fox News Freaks Out

Posted by on December 29, 2013 at 12:10 pm. 8 Comments :

After what was described as an “exhaustive investigation” the New York Times has published a report that thoroughly debunks right-wing accounts of attacks on the United States mission in Benghazi on September 11, 2012. The story concludes that there was no direct Al Qaeda involvement and that many of the participants in the attack were motivated by an anti-Islam film, an explanation that Republicans and conservative media had dismissed.

The months following the attack led to a relentless campaign by Fox News and others to promulgate their Benghazi Hoax theory of events, but they were never able to supply the evidence to support their wild accusations against President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, UN Ambassador Susan Rice, and other administration targets of their politically inspired wrath.

Benghazi Hoax

Excerpts from the New York Times article: A Deadly Mix in Benghazi

Months of investigation by The New York Times, centered on extensive interviews with Libyans in Benghazi who had direct knowledge of the attack there and its context, turned up no evidence that Al Qaeda or other international terrorist groups had any role in the assault. The attack was led, instead, by fighters who had benefited directly from NATO’s extensive air power and logistics support during the uprising against Colonel Qaddafi. And contrary to claims by some members of Congress, it was fueled in large part by anger at an American-made video denigrating Islam.

The violence, though, also had spontaneous elements. Anger at the video motivated the initial attack. Dozens of people joined in, some of them provoked by the video and others responding to fast-spreading false rumors that guards inside the American compound had shot Libyan protesters. Looters and arsonists, without any sign of a plan, were the ones who ravaged the compound after the initial attack, according to more than a dozen Libyan witnesses as well as many American officials who have viewed the footage from security cameras.

[O]n Sept. 8, a popular Islamist preacher lit the fuse by screening a clip of the video on the ultraconservative Egyptian satellite channel El Nas. American diplomats in Cairo raised the alarm in Washington about a growing backlash, including calls for a protest outside their embassy.

There is no doubt that anger over the video motivated many attackers. A Libyan journalist working for The New York Times was blocked from entering by the sentries outside, and he learned of the film from the fighters who stopped him. Other Libyan witnesses, too, said they received lectures from the attackers about the evil of the film and the virtue of defending the prophet.

Republican arguments appear to conflate purely local extremist organizations like Ansar al-Shariah with Al Qaeda’s international terrorist network.

The leaders of Ansar al-Shariah…lauded the assault as a just response to the video.

Not surprisingly, Fox News reacted swiftly to the New York Times reporting to defend their vested self-interest in advancing some sort of conspiracy on the part of members of the Obama administration. First to take Fox’s fire was Hillary Clinton. On Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace asked GOP Rep. Mike Rogers a particularly loaded question whose premise was not supported by any evidence.

Wallace: Do you think there was a political motivation for this Times report? Some people have suggested that, well, this is trying to clear the deck for Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Rogers: (saying that he “finds the timing odd”) I don’t know but I find it interesting that there was this rollout of stories.

Wallace never identified who the people were who suggested that the Times was clearing the deck for Hillary. He simply used the old “some people” contrivance to disguise the fact that it was Wallace himself who making the ludicrous suggestion.

Fox’s Catherine Herridge also did a report about the Times story that dismissed much of its findings, but offered no substantive rebuttal to the facts as they were laid out by the Times. In addition, she brought along a uniquely preposterous angle that did little to advance the discourse:

“Fox News was able to review the findings of an independent data mining firm which assessed the social media traffic in Benghazi in the 24 hours leading up to the attack and the 24 hours after the attack and, significantly, the first reference to this anti-Islam video was in the day following. It was in a retweet of a Russia Today story. So once again, this does not comport with the idea that this was in response to the anti-Islam video.”

This is a demonstration of Fox’s desperation to belittle the Times’ story. Trying to tie references to Twitter mentions of the event with affirmations of its execution is absurd in the extreme. Especially when there were verifiable accounts of information about the film being broadcast on local Libyan television, and many witnesses testified of its impact as an inspiration for the violence.

Stalwart proponents of the Benghazi Hoax also appeared on TV this weekend to defend their rapidly dissolving positions. They included GOP super-hawk Peter King and the mastermind of a flurry of fake scandals, Darrell Issa, who said on Meet the Press that “We have seen no evidence that the video was widely seen in Benghazi, a very isolated area, or that it was a leading cause.” If Issa hasn’t seen any evidence, he obviously hasn’t been paying attention. Or more likely, he is deliberately diverting his attention to the dishonest horror stories he prefers to peddle.

Fox News has behaved true to form in the wake of the revelations published by the Times. They circle their wagons and defend their phony and sensationalist version of what they laughably call “news.” They fail to address any of the specific assertions in the story and retreat to friendly interviews with conservative characters who will plod forward with their false narratives. The last thing Fox wants is for people to be exposed to actual journalism that presents information in a coherent and factual manner. That would destroy the whole Fox business model if it got out of hand.

Addendum: You didn’t think that Fox Nation was going to be left out of this hoax-mongering, did you? They jumped in with two stories about the New York Times article, and both were typically dripping with lies and partisan distortions, as they have been known to do (see abundant proof in the acclaimed ebook Fox Nation vs. Reality).

Fox Nation

ObamaScare: Fox News And Darrell Issa Join To Tell More Lies About ObamaCare

Posted by on December 26, 2013 at 10:53 am. 5 Comments :

What do you get when you combine the cable TV “news” network most associated with blatant partisanship and dishonesty, with a member of Congress best known for a criminal past and a record of investigating phony scandals? You get the Fox News/Darrell Issa Sappy-Talk Disinformation Show.

Fox News

Earlier this week Issa made one of his frequent appearances on Fox News to bash President Obama and the Democratic Party. On this episode he was peddling an allegation that the ObamaCare website posed a security risk for Americans who visit it. It’s a claim that both Issa and Fox have attempted to hustle many times before. And like on those other occasions, they had no evidence to back up the charge. But that didn’t stop them from spreading their lies on the air. And while they were at it, they also spread them online at their community website and lie factory, Fox Nation, where they cited as their source an article in Roll Call that exposed the falsehoods in their own story.

Issa based his accusations on testimony that took place at a hearing he chaired in the House of Representatives. His modus operandi in these events is to selectively release just the parts of the hearing transcripts that make Democrats look bad. When the full transcripts eventually become available they prove that Issa was lying and deliberately misrepresenting what took place.

This event is no exception. Issa’s unscrupulous disclosures falsely implied that there were known security risks in the ObamaCare website that Health and Human Services officials ignored prior to going live in October. The snippet of testimony released by Issa included what appeared to be warnings by an HHS security analyst against approving the website’s launch. Had that been the whole story, Issa might have had a case. However, the parts of the record that Issa withheld revealed that the same security analyst reversed her assessment seven days later after steps were taken to address the problems she cited.

This is typical of Issa’s unethical promulgation of information that is deceitfully edited in order to advance a false narrative. And that is precisely how the Democratic ranking member of the committee described it when responding to Issa’s fraudulent tactics:

Rep Elijah Cummings: Chairman Issa’s reckless pattern of leaking partial and misleading information is now legendary for omitting key information that directly contradicts his political narrative. This effort to leak cherry-picked information is part of a deliberate campaign to scare the American people and deny them the quality affordable health insurance to which they are entitled under the law.

In addition to the mitigating testimony that Issa withheld, he also failed to report that his witnesses stated that “there have been no successful attempts of any of these types of attacks … no successful breaches [or] security incidents.” That’s after three months of operation in circumstances that have been notably less than optimal. So despite the problems that plagued the website’s rollout, while millions of Target customers were victimized by criminal hackers, there were no victims of any improper access by anyone using the ObamaCare website.

Notwithstanding the facts, Fox News and Darrell Issa bent over backwards to misinform their audience and spread fear about the program that is bringing access to health insurance to millions of Americans for the first time. Fox and Issa apparently prefer it when people are either prevented from getting the health care they require, or are bankrupted by the costs. And they are a perfect pair for propagandizing and fear mongering. In fact, just last week Issa held a hearing wherein he made a laughably ludicrous response to a health care official, saying that “You need to watch more Fox, I’m afraid.” Well, at least he’s right about being afraid. Fear is the primary ingredient of everything that Fox and the GOP combine to afflict upon the American people.

Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Obama Vacation Myth

Posted by on December 24, 2013 at 11:07 am. 13 Comments :

Just as every December comes with the annual Fox News War on Christmas, there is a right-wing ritual that engages whenever President Obama and his family take a vacation. The wingnut whine factory ratchets up its outrage at the deplorable notion of a presidential holiday, particularly if the president isn’t a Republican whose vacations are always proper and well deserved.

Fox Nation

The latest hissy fit being thrown by the right comes from the Fox News community website Fox Nation (whose many documented lies can be found in the acclaimed ebook Fox Nation vs. Reality). The article sports a shocking headline that asserts that President Obama has taken more vacation time than private sector workers – as if that comparison had any relevance to anything. After all, how many private sector workers are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, even while they are on vacation?

But even the obvious inaptness of the example doesn’t come close to the dishonesty proffered by the Fox Nationalists. Their source is CNSNews, a division of Brent Bozell’s uber-rightist Media Research Center. CNSNews in turn cites as its source the rabidly right-wing Government Accountability Institute (GAI), which was founded and run by the same pseudo-journalistic charlatans who bring you Breibart News.

GAI’s report takes data from the Bureau of Labor Management and spins it into an unrecognizable slop of fraudulent PR. They state that Obama’s average vacation days per year (21.5) exceeds that of private sector workers who have been at their jobs for five years, which GAI reports as 19 days. However, a quick glance at the actual BLM data (pdf) shows that the 19 day figure is a mean average that is brought down by the 20% of workers who get less than 15 days of vacation, and some as little as two days. In fact, the number of employees who get 15-19 days off is only about 20%. The majority of private sector workers (60%) get greater than 20 days of vacation. So the truth that GAI and Fox is concealing is that most private sector workers get more vacation than President Obama. That, of course, is the complete opposite of what their headline and article assert.

And just to add some context, these conservative dissemblers also fail to note that Obama has taken far fewer days off than his predecessor, George W. Bush. Obama’s average of 21.5 vacation days per year makes him look like a workaholic compared to Bush’s 110 day average per year – more than five times Obama’s. But if you’re a rich white Republican you can’t be accused of being lazy or shiftless when you are enjoying some leisure time at your ranch in Crawford or on your yacht in Kennebunkport.

Coming Soon To Fox News: Dick Dynasty With ‘Hateful Phil’ Robertson

Posted by on December 21, 2013 at 2:14 pm. 31 Comments :

Fox News has announced the signing of former Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson to an exclusive contract to host a new program on the cable news network.

Fox News - Dick Dynasty

In the wake of the controversy over anti-gay remarks made by Robertson, The A&E Network put the Duck Dynasty star on an indefinite suspension. Shortly thereafter, conservative activists and homophobes rushed to the defense of the unreality character with accusations of liberal media bias and censorship.

Not surprisingly, Fox News personalities were among the first, and most vocal, defenders of Robertson with Sean Hannity saying that Robertson’s comments were “old fashioned traditional Christian sentiment and values.” Fox’s Todd Starnes dismissed the comments as merely reflecting “the teachings of the Bible.” Sarah Palin warned that “Free speech is an endangered species.” Erick Erickson said that “Robertson said precisely what true Christians believe.”

These reactions illustrate the strategy behind Fox’s signing of Robertson. He is a Christian extremist who preaches that gays are bound for Hell. He is racist who believes that blacks were happily singing in the cotton fields during the Jim Crow era. He displays a level of ignorance on most subjects that is pitiful. And he has become wealthy by deceiving people into thinking that he is a redneck hillbilly. In short, he shares all of the same rightist positions and personality traits of the rest of the Fox News roster and will fit in nicely at their holiday parties.

Critics, however, object to the characterization of racism and homophobia as traditional Christian values and they reject Fox’s effort to claim to be the authority on such matters. Open-minded Christians put their faith in the actual teachings of Christ (who admonished his followers to refrain from judging others) and not in the sanctimonious bellowing of cable TV pundits. They also recognize that free speech is available to everyone, not just bigots who want to be able to spew their hatred without consequence.

Fox News CEO Roger Ailes is said to have personally directed the Robertson signing. It is consistent with his philosophy of demonizing the gay community that he lived in fear of, and built a bomb-proof office to protect himself from. Likewise, his security measures shielded him from dark-skinned and Muslim people of whom he was also afraid.

With Robertson’s addition to the Fox family, Ailes will have another ideological ally to advance his Tea Party agenda. Plus, there will be an experienced marksman in the building in the event of an attempt on on his life or an outbreak of civil unrest. Insiders are speculating that the new program will have spring premiere so as not to interfere with duck season.

Bill O’Reilly Explains The Horrors Of Being Rich (w/Video)

Posted by on December 20, 2013 at 1:57 pm. 4 Comments :

Over the years, Fox News blowhard Bill O’Reilly has said some painfully stupid things. He has claimed that Christianity is not a religion. He promised to admit on his show that he is an idiot if the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of ObamaCare (which he never admitted). He actually boasted that he has more power than anyone except the President. And now he has taken up the case for America’s beleaguered millionaires.

On his program Wednesday (video below), O’Reilly began his hokey Talking Points segment by asking “Do you want to be rich?” He then set about to answer the question with a litany of reasons why any sane person would flee in fear of such a curse. The burden of great wealth is far too cumbersome to be endured and those of us not suffering from it should pity the rich and their miserable existence.

Fox News - Bill O'Reilly

“Here’s what happens when a person is wealthy,” O’Reilly said, as he commenced his tale of woe. His first complaint was that if you become rich you will simultaneously become a target of people who will want your money and will lie and cheat to get it. Therefore, you will have to hire lawyers to shield yourself from the envious rabble who will be barking at the gates of your mansion. Well then, it’s certainly better to be poor than to have to fraternize with lawyers in order to sustain your life of luxury. Then O’Reilly gravely warned that “Every affluent person in America is in danger. Every one.” As an example he cited the two winners of the Mega Millions lottery, about whom he said…

“The two folks who won the big money this week will see their lives instantly change. And perhaps for the worse.”

Perhaps? It is almost a certainty that the lives of those sad former peasants will spiral downward into a hellhole of having everything they have ever dreamed of for themselves and their families. If they are smart they will dispose of that dirty money as quickly as possible. As a service to these wretches, and at great personal risk to myself, I would agree to take it off their hands so they can continue to have decent lives. That’s just the kind of guy I am.

O’Reilly also stated that the new millionaires would suffer because “Their freedom will be severely curtailed.” Obviously, everyone knows that having untold riches shackles the victim in a pit oppression. Freedom is only really enjoyed when you have no money weighing you down on your estates and your yachts and your villas in international resorts. As O’Reilly notes, “Only one percent of the population is truly financially independent.” That’s why America is a free country. Only one percent has their freedom curtailed by wealth. And if it is up to O’Reilly, that figure will remain at one percent so that more people are not similarly tormented.

Unsaid in this screed is that when O’Reilly is talking about the downtrodden millionaires, he knows whereof he speaks. He is, in fact, talking about himself. So he should be well aware of the damage that wealth does to the hapless souls who suffer from it. He is selflessly enduring a life of subjugation and oppression in order to prevent such tribulations from being forced onto others. And his compassion is evident in his closing remarks where he made a point of raising this injustice to the heavenly doorstep of God:

“So congratulations to the Mega winners. And the best thing that we can do for them is say a prayer.”

Indeed. Let’s all say a prayer for the millionaires and billionaires in our society who are too often forgotten victims of a dastardly fate. And while we’re at it, let’s say a prayer for Bill O’Reilly who is always looking out for the folks, even if he won’t associate with them.

The Fox News Dynasty Comes To The Aid Of The Duck Dynasty

Posted by on December 19, 2013 at 5:48 pm. 30 Comments :

Right-wing blowhards have never been known for their intellectual consistency or for shying away from hypocrisy. They have always been among the first to attack those with whom they disagree and demand satisfaction in the form of terminating the employment of outspoken liberals. There isn’t a progressive public voice whose job hasn’t been threatened by conservative activists who have campaigned for the firing of people like Rachel Maddow, Ed Schultz, and Al Sharpton.

Today, however, these same martinets of virtue are appalled that A&E has suspended Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty (the show with “nasty” right in its name) after he unleashed a vile tirade of hateful commentary about homosexuality, which he likened to bestiality and rebuked as sin. The debate has consumed conservative media with pundits railing over this intolerable injustice. And leading the charge, of course, is Fox News. Their community website, the lie-riddled Fox Nation, posted six articles on this one subject.

Fox Nation

The magnitude of obsession with a single topic might seem appropriate if the topic were imminent war, a deadly epidemic, a natural disaster, or an economic collapse. But for Fox all it takes is a missing white girl, a high-speed police chase, or a bigoted hillbilly being put on leave from a lucrative television program. And as is always the case when a conservative says something offensive and dumb, his defenders wail about free speech. Here are a few examples of the more hyperbolic grousing that has been heard:

Todd Starnes (Fox): A&E is apparently run by a bunch of anti-Christian, bigots. Duck Dynasty worships God. A&E worships GLAAD. If Phil had been twerking with a duck the network probably would’ve given him a contract extension. But because he espoused beliefs held by many Christians, he’s been silenced.

Ted Cruz: Phil expressed his personal views and his own religious faith; for that, he was suspended from his job. In a free society, anyone is free to disagree with him.

Rush Limbaugh: I think they’ve essentially fired the guy, and in the process, they have thrown away the largest audience on cable television. They’ve just thrown it away. They’ve thrown away all that advertising.

Limbaugh’s complaint is ironic in that he has some personal experience with throwing away advertising by saying stupid and offensive things, like calling a young woman a slut and a prostitute because she advocated in favor of access to reproductive health care. But the larger point regarding free speech is something that conservatives get wrong repeatedly. They seem to believe that free speech means being able to say anything you want, but that no one else has the same privilege if they disagree with you.

The truth is that the Duck Dude has free speech and he exercised it. His critics and defenders also have free speech and they are exercising it. Even A&E has free speech and they are within their rights to punish an employee whose behavior reflects poorly on their enterprise. Robertson’s suspension has not impaired his freedom to speak. He could appear on Fox News tomorrow if he wants and reiterate his repulsive views. I’ll bet he has already received numerous invitations.

Finally, Fox News has an abundance of free speech that they utilize to advance a right-wing agenda. That’s why, in a world that is not lacking for subjects that have a profound impact on people’s lives, Fox has devoted six articles to the triviality of a cable TV reality program whose bigoted star is gonna have stay home in the swamp for a little while enjoying his wealth and killing defenseless creatures.

Merry (War On) Christmas: Bill O’Reilly Declares Victory – Again

Posted by on December 19, 2013 at 11:26 am. 5 Comments :

The Fox News driven War On Christmas is a peculiar conflict that only seems to flare up every year after Thanksgiving. Apparently both sides go into retreat between New Year’s Day and Halloween. But that isn’t the only peculiarity about this war.

Bill O'Reilly
Fox News’ general in the battlefield is Wily Bill O’Reilly. He is by far the most dominant figure in the war. And for proof of that, just ask him. Not only does he take the point every year by exposing any alleged assault on a nativity scene that his staff alerts him to, he proudly boasts about the success of his warrior crusade. Just this week he declared victory, an announcement that hopefully will put an end to the seemingly endless conflagration:

O’Reilly: We challenged them! So, therefore, it isn’t a mythical war on Christmas. It’s real and we just won!

That would be a profound turning point in the Christmas Wars except for the fact that O’Reilly had previously declared victory five years ago:

O’Reilly: “The Factor’s” reporting on Christmas is one of the most important things we’ve done. The underlying assault on this federal holiday is spelled out in my book, “Culture Warrior” if you have an interest. But the bottom line is this. We won.

How many times will Wily Bill claim to have emerged victorious in the same war? Generally when you have vanquished your enemies you do not have to re-vanquish them the following year. But that’s the peculiarity of a war that is waged for ratings, profit, and the adoration of dimwitted troops bravely manning their sofas with remotes at the ready.

So America can thank O’Reilly for saving Christmas – twice – and for preserving the true spirit of the holiday season that he described with such heartfelt earnestness when he said…

“Every company in America should be on its knees thanking Jesus for being born. Without Christmas, most American businesses would be far less profitable.”

If that joyful expression of profit over prophet doesn’t jingle your bells you are two steps lower than Scrooge. So get with the program and join O’Reilly’s crusade for the traditional values that honor greed and corporatism. It’s a vision of the holiday season that was expressed so artfully in music by Miles Davis and Bob Dorough in this classic Christmas carol: Blue Xmas.

War On Voting: Fox News Exposes Voter “Fraud” In Ohio

Posted by on December 18, 2013 at 3:30 pm. 2 Comments :

The intrepid investigative journalism team at Fox News has uncovered a scandalous trend of voter fraud in the state of Ohio. Led by Fox News reporter Eric Shawn, the team delved into data provided by Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted. Here is what they found.

Fox News

Husted revealed that records indicate that seventeen undocumented immigrants actually voted in the 2012 election. In a swing state like Ohio that translates to about 0.0003% of the more than five million votes cast. Since President Obama won the state by 449,000 votes, the seventeen “fraudulent” votes would have had a negligible effect on the outcome.

It also needs to be considered that the votes deemed fraudulent may have been inadvertent or not even fraudulent at all. In prior assertions of fraud of this nature, it later turned out that there was merely a discrepancy between the status of the voter at the time of their registration and the actual voting day. In other words, the voter registered prior to officially becoming a citizen, but whose citizenship was complete by election day. That is perfectly acceptable and is not fraud. There were other cases where an undocumented resident simply misunderstood the technicalities of election law and overstepped his privileges. That is not fraud either because there was no intent to deceive.

In any case, Fox News failed to disclose any of the details of the seventeen cases they discovered. So it is difficult to draw a conclusion as to whether there was any fraud. But even if there was, it was at a level so low that it could not have possibly affected the outcome of any race. Since the whole controversy over the new laws proposed and passed by Republicans in the past few years is centered on preventing tainted election outcomes, these revelations of a handful of disputed cases don’t come close to justifying measures that result in thousands of legitimate citizens being denied their right to vote.

However, as we know, these voter suppression laws are not meant to prevent fraud, but to prevent Democrats from getting elected. It is a brazen effort to stack the deck in favor of Republicans under the guise of voter integrity. But you can hardly call it vindication when the best the advocates of voter suppression can do is scrape up a measly seventeen instances of fraud that might not actually be fraud. Nevertheless, Fox News can be counted on to hype the story to help their ideological allies on the right.

George Zimmerman: From Killer To Plagiarizing Scam Artist?

Posted by on December 18, 2013 at 3:06 am. 15 Comments :

What do you do as a follow up after killing an unarmed teenager and getting off with no punishment whatsoever? Well, If you’re George Zimmerman you start out by domestically abusing your girlfriends and then proceed to perpetrating an eBay hoax to net yourself a cool hundred grand.

Trayvon Martin’s killer is in the news again, this time because he has posted for sale on eBay something he calls an “original” painting. However, there appears to be something fishy about the whole thing.

George Zimmerman

The picture that Zimmerman claims to be an original, hand-painted work of art looks suspiciously like a stock photo from Shutterstock. It has undergone a bit of modification through standard Photoshop filters, but it is clearly a derivative work and there is no attribution or credit for the source. In fact, Zimmerman signed it as his own and made this statement on eBay:

“First hand painted artwork by me, George Zimmerman. Everyone has been asking what I have been doing with myself. I found a creative, way to express myself, my emotions and the symbols that represent my experiences. My art work allows me to reflect, providing a therapeutic outlet and allows me to remain indoors.”

Apparently Zimmerman believes that copying someone else’s artwork is a creative way to express himself and that plagiarism is a therapeutic outlet.

As of the publishing of this article, the bid for Zimmerman’s item is at $110,000. That’s a pretty sweet deal for a work that seems to be a copyright violation. The folks at Shutterstock will probably be interested in this if it actually sells. As will the buyer, unless it is someone who is seeking to funnel funds to Zimmerman through some backdoor, anonymous channel. After all, there is something awfully suspicious about anyone assigning a value this high to a Zimmerman knockoff.

Zimmerman has responded to a few questions on eBay from supporters who express their admiration for him as a hero. In one such response, Zimmerman attacks the people (including Trayvon’s family) who sought to hold him accountable for the shooting death of a kid walking home from the market with an iced tea and a bag of Skittles. Zimmerman says that…

“The system is broken, an innocent man should not spend one second without his God given liberty, solely because a small sect of uneducated loud mouths.”

For someone who has been in trouble with the law on several occasions since his famous acquittal, Zimmerman has an abundance of gall to insult the family of his victim and the civil libertarians who believe that a teenager’s death should not be swept under a legal carpet. And for him to come out with what appears to be a plagiarized work of “art” in an effort of profit from his infamy, and another family’s tragedy, is further evidence of his depraved character.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

eBay should not permit this auction to proceed. It is an affront to a family still in mourning and a violation of the copyright of Shutterstock and the artist who provided the original work. Should the auction conclude, the funds should be sequestered and held until the resolution of any wrongful death suits that may be filed by Trayvon’s family.

[Update 5:52pm:] There have been a dozen canceled/retracted bids so far today, bringing it down 10 grand, but it’s current bid is still above $100,000. Some rich, sick individual obviously wants to give this killer a gift. I wonder who.

h/t Mediaite