Day: 6/2/2014

Right-Wing Media Attacks Twelve Year Old Musicians Because Their Parents Are Democrats

Posted by on June 2, 2014 at 5:14 pm. 10 Comments :

The true conservative ethic is once again on display as a prominent rightist media organization launches a vile attack on twelve year old children who formed a rock band. The impetus for the attack was simply that their parents are Democrats. For the Family Values set, that’s reason enough to go after kids.

Twenty/20

The Washington Free Beacon is a Republican operation with ties to the Koch brothers. An article by Sonny Bunch, the managing editor, sports the headline “Awful Children Release Awful Song.” While nobody cares what this lunkhead thinks of their music, it is utterly deplorable that he calls the kids, whom he certainly has never met, “awful.” If Bunch has a problem with the politics of their parents, he ought not to resort to the cowardice of attacking the kids. What sort of sick pervert does that?

The group, Twenty/20, was featured in a brief profile in the New York Daily News when they released a video of a new song (video below). The young players met at the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, which they all attend. Their parents are some of President Obama’s top advisers: Jay Carney’s 12-year-old son, Hugo, is the lead singer. U.S. Trade Rep. Mike Froman’s son Ben plays guitar. HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan’s son Lucas plays bass. And Obama campaign adviser Patti Solis Doyle’s son Joey is the drummer.

Those familial relationships was all it took for Bunch to dish dirt on these kids. He described them as being kids “who can kinda hold a guitar or prance around the stage while whinily singing nonsense.” Then he predicts that the “little twerps” will “probably have a keynote gig at the Democratic convention.”

But Bunch isn’t through with his juvenile insults. After inviting you to listen to their “caterwauling” he expects you to agree that “we can reach bipartisan consensus that this song is utter shite, right? “ Then he reviews young Hugo’s singing saying that he “sounds like the whiny, nasally, prepubescent whelp that he is.” Remember, these are twelve year olds he’s talking about. Yet he sounds more like a whiny whelp than they do.

Finally, Bunch attempts to preempt criticism of his craven child abuse by mocking those (like myself) who find it disgusting to take out your political aggression on innocent children. But he defends his immorality by suggesting that because Carney’s kids were part of a magazine’s family profile a few weeks ago, they are now fair game to be maligned by the allegedly mature editor of a puerile rightist rag. I only hope that if he has any kids they don’t suffer the same sort of depravity that he is shoveling here. But then again, they are likely already suffering from having such a dipshit for a dad.

Here is the video of Twenty/20’s song “Heart Thief.” It may not be U2, or even The Ramones, but it shows promise and eagerness. They are clearly having a good time and demonstrating a commitment to something more creative than video games. They should be encouraged to continue to express themselves – as should all kids. As for Bunch, he should be encouraged to shut his fat, ignorant, hateful mouth.

John Oliver Explains “Preventing Cable Company Fuckery” (aka Net Neutrality)

Posted by on June 2, 2014 at 10:06 am. 2 Comments :

In a hilarious rant on Network Neutrality, HBO’s John Oliver delivers about as good an explanation of the concept as I’ve ever heard (video below). Even better, he calls out the corporations and special interests who are trying to co-opt the Internet for their nefarious purposes.

Oliver hits on every bullet point in the debate including how businesses are already deliberately obstructing access; how the FCC is headed by a former cable lobbyist; how our current system is delivering worse service than third world nations; and how the cable cabal is a working monopoly.

Oliver also notes that the public discussion on the issue is impeded by the inherently dull and technical subject matter, and how opponents of Net Neutrality are exploiting that by having figured out that “the way to do something evil is to put it inside something boring.” So Oliver has a suggestion about how to frame the debate, at least in terms of the yawn-inducing identifier “Net Neutrality.”

John Oliver Net Neutrality

That’s right. “Preventing Cable Company Fuckery.” Now that’s something that can get people riled up to actually do something productive like send comments to the FCC to demand that they protect Net Neutr…er…I mean Preventing Cable Company Fuckery.

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So please take this simple step to change the world and free yourself from the shackles of corporations who are working against you and your principles. You’ll feel great for having done so. And send this video (and this link) along to your friends and family as well. We can have a huge effect if we join together for something positive, rather than submitting to the corporate masters.