Month: May 2014

Benghazi Committee Commences As Phony Fox News Scandal Falls Apart

Posted by on May 5, 2014 at 3:59 pm. 11 Comments :

The Republican House Speaker, John Boehner, announced today that he has chosen the rabidly partisan South Carolina Tea Party congressman, Trey Gowdy, to chair a special committee to waste more time and money investigating their trumped up Benghazi scandal. In naming Gowdy, Boehner praised his determination and desire for truth saying that…

“Trey Gowdy is as dogged, focused, and serious-minded as they come. I know he shares my commitment to get to the bottom of this tragedy.”

Gowdy Doody

Of course the truth is that neither Boehner nor Gowdy have any interest in getting to the bottom of anything. Their statements and actions for the past year and a half show that they are only interested in politicizing a tragic loss of American lives. Having failed to uncover even a sliver of evidence of any wrongdoing, Boehner is, in effect, insulting his own colleagues in Congress (i.e. Darrell Issa) who have been conducting pseudo-investigations without producing the hoped for “smoking guns” with which they could continue their campaign of political slander.

With the appointment of Gowdy, Republicans will have an attack dog in charge of the panel who has demonstrated his bitterly prejudiced views on this subject. Here are just a few of his past comments regarding the issue he is now pretending to seek the truth about:

  • 4/28/2013: There are more Benghazi hearings coming; I think they’re going to be explosive. [That never came to pass]
  • 5/7/2013: I think I can prove tomorrow that it was an intentional misrepresentation by Susan Rice and others. [That was a year ago, and still no proof]
  • 8/2/2013: What creates the appearance and perhaps the reality of a cover-up? Not letting us talk with people who have the most amount of information, dispersing them around the country and changing their names. [Here he is descending into a delusional conspiracy theory for which he provided no evidence]
  • 12/31/2013: What in the world explains the violence in Benghazi prior to the video being translated and released? Our consulate was attacked way before the video was released. [And this is just patently false]

This background on the man who will be chairing the committee shows that Boehner and his party are not really taking this matter seriously. It is a desperate attempt to dig up some political mud to throw, to tarnish the prospective presidential candidacy of Hillary Clinton in 2016, and to salvage Boehner’s sinking reputation with the far-right fringe of his party whom he needs if he wants to be Speaker in the next session of congress.

Adding to the absurdity of convening a special committee on Benghazi is that the foundation of the GOP’s case keeps collapsing. Just as Gowdy’s predictions from a year ago never materialized, the most recent allegations are likewise illusory. The email that has become the object of their obsession reveals nothing new and doesn’t even refer to Benghazi in the portion they have latched onto. So now some Republicans are swerving to claim that the real outrage is the whereabouts of President Obama when the attack in Libya was taking place, and whether or not he was in the Situation Room at the White House. The only problem with that line of attack is that it is utterly irrelevant to anything. Even when Gretchen Carlson of Fox News tried to light that sparkler, she was doused by Andy Card, George W. Bush’s Chief of Staff:

Carlson: Did you find it unusual that the National Security Adviser, the former one, a few days ago with Bret Baier said that President Obama was not in the Situation Room on the night of the Benghazi attacks? Is that odd or is that normal?

Card: I don’t think that says a lot. The President does not have to be in the Situation Room at every time with every crisis. […] I don’t think that it’s credible that we would expect, as the the pubic, that the President would be sitting in the Situation Room all the time.

This is the environment in which the Republican’s new committee will meet. They have nothing of substance to contribute. Democrats are considering boycotting the committee. That would be a wise move that would leave the GOP to stink in their juices.

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The result will be that the GOP will be seen by the American people to have no case, no integrity, and no interest in solving the problems that the people really care about. And if Benghazi is the issue they hope to run with in 2014 – or 2016 – they are going to be sorely disappointed when the returns come in. And they will be able to thank Fox News for their losses. After all, it was Fox, and their CEO Roger Ailes, who masterminded the Benghazi myth and worked tirelessly to prop it up.

foxnews-ailes-benghazi

Fox News Celebrates Supreme Court Decision Upholding Christian Theocracy

Posted by on May 5, 2014 at 12:37 pm. 3 Comments :

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America includes a stipulation that the government “shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” The legal interpretation of that clause, with more than 200 years of precedence, holds that proceedings of official bodies of government may not engage in sectarian religious activity as it puts the imprimatur of the state on the particular spiritual practice.

Nevertheless, the Supreme Court just ruled in favor of the town council of Greece, N.Y, to offer prayers in the opening of their council meetings. The Court explicitly stated that they regarded these prayers as permissible even though they were predominantly Christian. The justification for the ruling was based on the absurd notion that the prayers were merely ceremonial and not religious.

“As a practice that has long endured, legislative prayer has become part of our heritage and tradition, part of our expressive idiom, similar to the Pledge of Allegiance.”

And joining the celebration of what is ostensibly ceremonial is Fox News, who cheered the decision with a joyful declaration that it was “A Win For Religion.”

Fox News Theocracy

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The language that Fox News used to report this decision demonstrates that it was indeed a matter of faith. After all, they didn’t declare it to be a “A Win For Ceremony.” The ceremonial argument is a thinly veiled excuse to permit proselytizing for Christianity. What’s more, the argument that reciting exclusively Christian prayers does not violate the establishment clause of the Constitution is a gross misunderstanding of the law. Such activity blatantly favors a specific belief and excludes all others with differing beliefs. To illustrate the point, just imagine the reaction if the town council decided to offer a Muslim prayer at the opening of the session. It would create a deafening outcry from Christians insisting they were offended by the invocation.

For evidence of that, take the example of a recent event in Colorado. The students at Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins were led by another student in the Pledge of Allegiance with the words “under God” replaced by the words “under Allah.” This was met with harsh criticism by Christianists in the community and the media, including Fox’s own resident religious bigot, Todd Starnes.

First of all it should be noted that Allah is the Arabic (not Islamic) word for God, and both Muslims and Arab Christians use it. Secondly, why would it be offensive for Muslim-Americans to pledge their allegiance to the American flag? Isn’t that something we should encourage, or are we only open to recognizing Muslims who hate us? More to the point, the criticism reveals the true intent of the religious extremists who aspire to force their religion onto everyone else through the use of official forums in government and schools. That is precisely the behavior that the conservatives on the Supreme Court sanctioned today.

For Fox News to report this decision with a headline that describes it as “A Win For Religion” is further evidence that they regard the issue as one of faith, despite their denials and those of the Court. Their own words betray their not-very-hidden motives.

Fox Nation vs. Reality: Was Benghazi A Koch Brothers Plot?

Posted by on May 4, 2014 at 3:42 pm. 2 Comments :

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has taken a courageous stand of late against the democracy-defiling Koch brothers. He has correctly assailed them for bankrolling dishonest campaigns and offensive Tea Party front groups. However, he has never said what Fox Nation is now reporting that he said:

Fox Nation

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No, Harry Reid didn’t say that “Benghazi Is A Koch Brothers Plot.” He didn’t imply it or suggest it or even vaguely allude to it. The quote that Fox Nation cited from an article in the Washington Examiner addressed the announcement by GOP House Speaker John Boehner that he intends to form a special committee to conduct even more fruitless investigations of the trumped up Benghazi scandal. Apparently the four committees that have been beating this dead horse for nearly two years were not sufficient (or competent) to complete the job. However, Reid’s response to this waste of time and taxpayer money was crystal clear and unambiguous. He said that…

“Republicans are showing yet again that they have nothing to offer the middle class. Republicans care more about defending billionaires like the Koch brothers and trying to rekindle debunked right-wing conspiracy theories than raising the minimum wage or ensuring women receive equal pay for equal work.”

Anyone with elementary level comprehension skills understands that Reid was listing – not connecting – the Koch brothers and debunked right-wing conspiracy theories. That’s why he used the word “and” to differentiate between the two. If he were connecting them he would have said “like the Koch brothers who are trying to rekindle…”

It’s clear that Jesse Watters, the editor of the Fox Nation website (whom Stephen Colbert just royally skewered), has way too much time on his hands. If he is reduced to deliberately mischaracterizing simple English in order to smear his enemies, he obviously doesn’t have anything of importance to work on. That’s the tale of all of the Fox News-invented scandals. Since they haven’t got anything of substance with which to tar the President, they just make stuff up and hope their dimwitted audience swallows it. And that’s something they can rest assured will occur.

Smoking Gun Delirium Disorder: Or What The F**K Is Fox News Smoking?

Posted by on May 3, 2014 at 3:55 pm. 10 Comments :

Generally when someone sees things that aren’t really there they are diagnosed as having hallucinations, perhaps in conjunction with psychological disorders like schizophrenia, paranoia, dementia, or other psychoses. But what do you call it when a cable news network suffers from these symptoms?

It seems that everywhere Fox News turns they have visions of “Smoking Guns” that signal the Apocalyptic end of the Obama administration that they despise so fervently. Yet in every case their obsessive imagination dissolves into the ether leaving nothing behind but their impotent outrage.

Fox News Smoking Gun

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Just to summarize, here are a few of the trumped up “Smoking Guns” as seen on Fox News:

  • Is This Really Smoking Gun Of Obama’s Kenyan Birth?
  • Smoking Gun In The IRS Scandal?
  • Washington Times: White House – ACORN Smoking Gun.
  • Kagan’s Smoking Gun? Partial-Birth Abortion.
  • Smoking Gun Amnesty Memo Discovered.
  • Smoking Gun: Al Sharpton’s Secret Work As FBI Informant.
  • EPA’s Smoking Gun?
  • Climate Skeptic’s Smoking Gun in Researchers’ Leaked Emails.

The latest example of this syndrome has manifested in the discovery of an email that the Foxpods are convinced reveals some sort of dastardly plot by the White House to define the tragic assault on an American diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya, as a response to an offensive video by an Islamophobic preacher. Their headline blares “Smoking Gun Email Shows Team Obama Misled Country About Benghazi.” It actually doesn’t show anything of the kind, but then none of Fox’s other smoking guns bore any resemblence to reality either. In fact, the whole conspiracy theory doesn’t make any sense because it wouldn’t matter whether the video incited the attack or not. And there is no doubt that if the video were the cause, Fox would be taking the opposite position and attacking President Obama for blaming the terrorists – you know, the cretins who actually slaughtered our citizens.

With regard to the email, Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes wrote that among the goals of UN Ambassador Susan Rice, as she prepared for a series of Sunday morning news interviews, were “To underscore that these protests are rooted in an Internet video and not a broader failure of policy.” Note that it says “protests” (plural) making it obvious that Rhodes was not referring to Benghazi alone, but rather to numerous hostilities throughout the region. He doesn’t even mention Benghazi in the email until twelve paragraphs later, and then not in regards to this question.

The delusional mindset of Fox and their conservative allies has even constructed a conspiracy around the fact that Ben Rhodes is the brother of CBS News president, David Rhodes. Therefore, there must be a plot between them to coordinate the reporting on this issue in favor of the President. Never mind that David Rhodes came to CBS from Fox News where he was the Vice-President of News and oversaw all of the blatantly partisan, pro-Bush coverage from 9/11 to Katrina to Iraq to the Bush economic collapse. Also, it was under David that CBS broadcast the recent (and now discredited) Benghazi story on 60 minutes that was so harshly critical of Obama. It’s fair to say that David and Ben have different political views. But that didn’t stop the ultra-rightist Heritage Foundation from juicing up the sibling conspiracy, complete with a Twitter-friendly graphic.

Clearly Fox News is deeply disturbed and fixated on finding evidence of malfeasance that will bring the Obama administration crashing down. But when they see smoking guns in every direction, haunting them in their waking hours as if there were substance to them, it really is time to seek professional help. The parade of alleged smoking guns have all amounted to nothing but mirages of the feverish hopes embedded in the twisted psyches of Fox News. And this new one will suffer the same fate.

Stephen Colbert Nails Fox Nation’s Resident Imbecile Jesse Watters (Video)

Posted by on May 2, 2014 at 12:04 pm. 4 Comments :

Finally. Media analysts and satirists have chronicled the brazenly partisan and shamelessly deceitful pseudo-news enterprise, known erroneously as Fox “News,” for several years. The disinformation and deliberate lies propagated by disreputable characters like Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Steve Doocy, Megyn Kelly, etc., has all been subjected to appropriate scrutiny and ridicule. But one of Fox’s most embarrassing figures has managed to escape the criticism he so richly deserves.

Stephen Colbert Watters World

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Jesse Watters is a producer on the O’Reilly Factor. He is regularly featured in segments that are intended to be humorous, but rarely achieve that goal for anyone whose sense of humor has evolved beyond kindergarten (in other words, Fox News viewers will love it). The “Watters’ World” bits generally show Watters interviewing “average” people – you know, the “folks” that Bill O’Reilly always claims to be watching out for. Except for when he dispatches his goons to produce heavily edited segments that only show responses from people that fail to give correct answers. That’s because the purpose of the interviews is to make them look like idiots.

It is also worth noting that Watters is the editor of the Fox News community website, Fox Nation. That fact is rarely disclosed publicly and is not credited anywhere on the website. But given the juvenile tone it sets, the horrifyingly violent and racist comments it draws, and the repeatedly false stories it promotes, Watters may have good reason to want to hide his involvement. [For a collection of more than 50 documented examples of blatant lies published by Fox Nation, get the ebook “Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.” Available at Amazon]

Now Stephen Colbert has turned his biting incite toward Watters in a hilarious segment that demonstrates the dishonesty inherent to what Watters does. Colbert rehabilitates the people that Watters attempts to demean, exposes the cheap tactics that Watters exploits, and does it all with comedic brilliance. Here is the episode for your viewing pleasure:

Where’s The NRA? GOP Rep Wants To Take Guns Away – From Law Enforcement

Posted by on May 1, 2014 at 3:54 pm. 9 Comments :

The National Rifle Association has a long record of defending the rights of every American to own firearms of any type and to carry them everywhere. It’s an agenda that enriches the NRA’s financial backers in the weapons trade, but endangers millions of citizens.

Now there is a new effort to restrict access to guns that would ordinarily get the NRA riled up in opposition. It follows the recent standoff at the Cliven Bundy ranch in Nevada where the Bureau of Land Management sought to hold Bundy accountable for violating the law and refusing to pay customary grazing fees for his cattle. In response to the BLM’s efforts to enforce the law, Bundy issued threats, saying that he had guns and was willing to use them. He was backed up by heavily armed militia members who stormed in to confront the BLM.

This is the backdrop for a legislative proposal by Utah Republican Chris Stewart who has analyzed the situation and concluded that there were too many guns in the mix and that steps must be taken by the federal government to disarm — the law enforcement officers.

Disarm the Cops

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That’s right, unaccountable, and likely unstable, shady characters, who dashed across the country to defend a racist criminal, must be permitted unrestricted access to guns and munitions, even when they threaten to use them against their own government. But it’s the government agents who need to be relieved of their firearms. That’s the lesson that Stewart learned from the Bundy ranch episode.

This is where the NRA would usually step in and declare that anyone who wants to take away guns will have to “pry them from my cold, dead hands.” However, it seems that that sentiment only applies to lawless posses and murderers who were standing their ground. When it comes to the first responders who uphold the law and keep America safe, at great personal risk, the NRA has no principles or sympathy.

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It is not surprising to find this sort of hypocrisy by the NRA-theists who are opposed to even the most common sense reforms that the American people favor by large majorities. But it is surprising to find that a sitting Republican representative can observe the disturbing events at the Bundy ranch and come away believing that it’s our law enforcement officers who should be disarmed.

Fox Nation vs. Reality: Insignificant New Email Reignites Benghazi Tourettes On Fox News

Posted by on May 1, 2014 at 12:16 pm. 6 Comments :

No “news” network has been more committed to promoting rumors and conspiracy theories than Fox News. And the most persistent fake scandal in the Fox News Bucket-o-Bullcrap is the allegation that the Obama administration attempted some sort of cover up following the terror attack on the United States facility in Benghazi, Libya. Still, after more than a year of congressional hearings, and independent investigations by government agencies and the press, there has not been a shred of evidence linking the White House to anything improper.

However, that record of abject failure isn’t enough to dissuade Fox News from continuing its crusade against President Obama and his staff. The latest spark that is firing up Fox & Co. is an email that was released by the conservative activists at JudicialWatch. The email itself reveals nothing new. In fact, it reiterates information that has been publicly available for months and has been affirmed by the intelligence community. Nevertheless, Fox is unleashing a flood of phony stories that serve no purpose other than to distort the facts and enrage their pitifully ill-informed audience.

Fox Nation Benghazi Tourettes

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What Fox News and other Obama antagonists regard as the smoking gun is a single sentence (out of 112 pages) that they falsely connect to events in Benghazi. In that sentence Deputy National Security Adviser David Rhodes writes that among the goals of UN Ambassador Susan Rice, as she prepared for a series of Sunday morning news interviews, were “To underscore that these protests are rooted in an Internet video and not a broader failure of policy.”

However, what is left out by Fox, JudicialWatch, and virtually every right-wing pundit to comment on this, is that the email was not referring exclusively to events in Benghazi at all. It was a response to the much broader set of events in the Middle East including those in Libya, Egypt, Yemen, etc. This was expressed explicitly in another section of the documents that read “Clearly there are protests that are taking place in different countries around the world that are responding to the movie that was circulated on the Internet.”

It is unambiguously true that most of the unrest that was occurring contemporaneous to the attack in Benghazi was incited by the anti-Muslim video posted online by a raving American Islamaphobe preacher. No one, not even the deliberately deceitful folks at Fox News, dispute that.

So what we have now is Fox News pretending that the Rhodes email was related only to Benghazi when all the evidence shows that this is not the case. They have relaunched their 24/7 Grand Benghazi-thon wherein virtually their entire broadcast consists of nothing but Benghazi, and specifically their purposeful misrepresentation of this newly released email.

Over at their Fox Nation website they are suffering another seizure of Benghazi Tourettes. As of this writing there are nine separate articles posted on this one story. For reference, there are no stories posted about the GOP blocking the minimum wage bill, or the crisis in the Ukraine, or the devastating tornadoes in the Mid-West. On Fox Nation the only story of any significance is the trumped up Benghazi scandal. And the only thing that brings it back to prominence is an email whose contents Fox is lying about.