Month: September 2015

Three Degrees Of GOP Crazy: From Benghazi To Planned Parenthood To ACORN

Posted by on September 30, 2015 at 4:21 pm. 13 Comments :

The Republican Party is showing signs of desperation after virtually every attempt to manufacture scandals that they can blame on Democrats has failed. Rather than developing some policy initiatives that might find favor with the American people, or conducting outreach to voter groups, the GOP is diving deeper into unfounded allegations and conspiracy theories. Just yesterday three of their top players engaged in some Olympian nuttiness that produced nothing but embarrassment for their floundering team.

GOP Crazy

Let’s begin this three degrees of separation journey with an appearance on Sean Hannity’s Fox News program (video below) by the man projected to be the next GOP Speaker of the House of Representatives. Kevin McCarthy may have thought that he would have a genteel Tea Party with the GOP-friendly host, but he wasn’t prepared for the level of animosity that wingnuts like Hannity have for establishment conservatives. Hannity took McCarthy to task for not having done more to monkey wrench the Obama administration’s agenda. He assailed McCarthy and the House GOP for presiding over budget deficits, funding ObamaCare, amnesty for immigrants, and not shutting down the government over Planned Parenthood. Having been caught off guard, McCarthy carelessly revealed the real, not-so-secret purpose of the House Select Committee to Politicize Benghazi as he tried to defend his record.

“Everybody thought that Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping. Why? Because she’s untrustable. But no one would have known any of that happened had we not fought to make that happen.”

So McCarthy admitted on TV that the true aim of the Benghazi hearings was to damage Clinton’s reputation and electability. To which Hannity graciously replied “I agree, that’s something good. I give you credit for that.” McCarthy later let slip that he intends to form another pointless select committee on Planned Parenthood. Under Republican control, this congress has held an unprecedented number of flagrantly partisan hearings that have produced nothing of value to their party, much less the nation. The Benghazi investigation has now officially lasted longer than any previous congressional investigation, including the JFK assassination, the Nixon Watergate affair, and 9/11, yet has not found a single bit of evidence of any wrongdoing.

The Benghazi Committee is chaired by Rep. Trey Gowdy (SC-Tea Party), which brings us to the second degree of separation. Gowdy is also a member of the committee investigating Planned Parenthood for misconduct alleged by an anti-abortion group’s videos that have been proven to be edited in a deliberately deceptive fashion. When it was Gowdy’s turn to question Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards he asked whether she had an understanding of those who oppose abortion. Richards said that she appreciates that “people have a lot of different views on the issue of abortion,” then dismissed the condescending premise saying that Planned Parenthood “trusts women” to make decisions about their own bodies.

That provoked Gowdy to accuse Richards of wanting to “frame the issue” to say that she is “the reasonable one, and those of us who have a contrary position are not reasonable.” Which, of course, she did not say. Gowdy actually conceded that she didn’t say that, but then, using his supernatural power to read minds, told her that “It’s not always what you say, sometimes it’s just what you mean.” But he still could not explain how anything she said could be interpreted to mean what he asserted. It’s plain that he was intent on mischaracterizing her remarks no matter what she actually said.

The chairman of the Planned Parenthood committee was Rep. Jason Chaffetz, which conveniently moves us to the third and final degree of separation. During the same hearing, Chaffetz made some glaring blunders. For instance, he displayed a highly distorted and prejudicial chart that Richards had to tell him was provided by Americans United for Life, a virulently anti-abortion group. But his worst gaffe may have been uttered after the hearing when he went on Fox News to spin the event for the media. In an effort to drive home his slanderous perception of events, he said that “Planned Parenthood is the new ACORN. That’s who they are. Remember when we talked about ACORN? That is Planned Parenthood as far as I can see it.”

You know, he’s actually right. ACORN was an organization that helped people, but was smeared by liars who produced false videos that eventually led to Congress defunding them. Sound familiar? There was never any evidence that ACORN did anything wrong. To the contrary, James O’Keefe, the producer of the videos, lost a lawsuit and was ordered to pay a former ACORN staffer $100,000. But, unfortunately, that was after ACORN lost their funding and had to close up shop. Now the same sort of liars are trying to do the same thing to Planned Parenthood despite several state investigations that have already cleared them of any wrongdoing.

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

What all of this adds up to is the brazen dishonesty of a desperate Republican Party trying to invent scandals and exploit their congressional power to bring down their political foes. With McCarthy we have an admission that their efforts are partisan. With Gowdy we see how blinded they are by their own biases. And with Chaffetz a clear connection is made to a previous effort to sabotage an honorable public service organization.

Ironically, the GOP is whining about taxpayers having to pay for Planned Parenthood and women’s health care services, but most Americans support Planned Parenthood. So the real question is why are Americans forced to pay millions of dollars for congressional hearings that are nothing more than partisan witch hunts based on proven lies?

Here is the video of McCarthy on Hannity:

Trevor Noah’s Daily Show Debut Produces Huge Sighs Of Comic Relief

Posted by on September 29, 2015 at 4:45 pm. 2 Comments :

It’s been nearly three months since Jon Stewart signed off of the Daily Show for the last time, and the void he left has been felt by millions of satire-starved fans. While Larry Wilmore’s Nightly Show has tried to fill that void, and Stephen Colbert’s new Late Night show launched a couple of weeks ago, the sustained satirical presence of the Daily Show has not been reproduced by any of the other late night comedy offerings.

Consequently, the anticipation for Noah’s premiere was at fever pitch when the show finally came to the air last night. And everyone, fans and critics, were bristling with suspense as to how he would perform, and whether he would make a suitable successor to Stewart.

Trevor Noah

Well, the best indication of success is wrapped up in the loathing of one of Stewart’s most notorious and mush-headed critics. John Nolte of Breitbart News said that “Awkward Trevor Noah Bombs In Debut.” And with that we know that Noah can be proud of his maiden outing. If the Breitbrats hated it, you know you’re on the right track. Not to dwell on the ravings of a knee-jerk …er… jerk, Nolte’s critique consisted mainly of childish insults and ignorance:

“For all of Stewart’s fascist, bullying tendencies, he did possess some talent. Noah is undoubtedly talented enough to land this gig, but he is unquestionably in over his head. Noah might grow into the gig. He might not. It won’t matter. He is politically correct and a left-wing extremist. […]

“Although fewer than 1% of the population ever watched Stewart, the media still managed to turn him into a Potemkin Phenom. When you’re a leftist, talent and popularity are not required.”

Isn’t that sweet? Nolte thinks Stewart was a talented fascist. That will undoubtedly make Stewart’s day. However, Nolte’s long-standing and inbred hatred for the Daily Show makes it impossible for him to express a coherent opinion. He even admits that “it won’t matter” if Noah is any good, because he’s a “politically correct left-wing extremist,” and therefore deserving of failure. It’s also rather amusing that Nolte condemns the influence of the program because fewer than 1% of the population watched it. He’s not far off, but what he doesn’t mention is that the Daily Show had more viewers than most of the shows on Fox News. So apparently Nolte also regards Fox as talentless and unpopular.

For the record, the Breitbrats predicted the failure of the new Daily Show months ago with a hilariously stupid article that only affirmed that they are as terrible at analyzing television and comedy as they are at analyzing politics.

As for Noah, his debut was a respectable effort with many hilarious moments. It will take some time for him to fully come into his own, but he is obviously smart and funny and is using the show’s producers and writers (held over from the Stewart regime) effectively to maintain a smooth transition. The opening segment (video below) was a perfect introduction that established an emotional connection to the audience saying that he is just as nervous as they are. He revealed a little personal information that explained how he felt about his new role:

“Growing up in the dusty streets of South Africa, I never dreamed one day I would have two things — an indoor toilet and a job as host of ‘The Daily Show.’ And now I have both. I’m quite comfortable with one of them.”

And with that he thanked the audience for “joining us as we continue the war on bullshit.” That, of course, was a reference to Stewart’s last monologue, and a neat trick to assure the audience that he had the same aspirations to produce the sort of quality satire that acts as a much-needed release mechanism for those of us who are outraged daily by the foolishness and dishonesty of our political and pundit classes. He’s off to a great start.

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

Liberal Media My Ass: Hillary Clinton’s Alleged Polling Woes

Posted by on September 29, 2015 at 2:33 pm. 7 Comments :

The latest round of polling has hit the press with curiously coordinated reactions. Nearly every mainstream news outlet chose to spin the results as negative for Hillary Clinton.

Hillary Clinton

To be sure, Clinton’s favorability has suffered in the past few weeks due to relentless bashing by more than a dozen Republican presidential hopefuls and an unending stream of baseless but damaging stories about her email. However, the uniformity of the media presentation is hardly representative of the reality. Here is how the press is covering the news:

  • Washington Times: Hillary Clinton’s unfavorable rating approaches record territory
  • ABC News: Clinton Goes Under Water
  • Breitbart News: Gallup: Hillary Clinton’s Favorability at All-Time Low
  • Wall Street Journal: Hillary Clinton Hits Lows on Favorability, Trustworthiness
  • Reuters: Clinton’s favorability ratings lowest since 2001
  • The Hill: Poll: Clinton’s favorability tumbles
  • NBC News: Hillary Clinton’s Popularity Drops Sharply in NBC/WSJ Poll
  • Fox News: Fox News Poll: Clinton popularity drops

While there is nothing wrong with reporting the facts in polling, it is misleading if the reporters don’t put the numbers into context. And an examination of the poll results paints a very different picture of the campaign. Just using the most recent Fox News poll as an example, Clinton’s “low” favorability rating is still higher than every Republican in the poll except for one (Ben Carson). It is not a trivial side issue to note that Clinton scores better than the GOP front-runner, Donald Trump, and trounces him in a head-to-head match-up. But that is not considered newsworthy by the so-called “liberal” media.

What’s more, the press didn’t think it was important to report that every Republican’s unfavorables are at their all-time highs. Why is it news that Clinton’s favorabilty is suffering, but it isn’t news that all of her potential rivals are suffering as badly or worse? This is something the media has been doing for years with President Obama. They leap at every opportunity to report any drop in his popularity (which currently stands at about 47%) and how it will hamper the success of his agenda with Congress. What they leave out is that Congress has a favorability in the mid-teens, which should give the President a significant advantage.

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

Every single one of the headlines above could just as easily have read “Clinton And All Republicans Favorability At Or Near All-Time Lows,” but that would have meant engaging in honest journalism rather than deliberately misleading horse-race tabloidism. So the next time you see a spate of negative headlines hammering Clinton, remember that there is almost certainly more to the story than the media is telling you. And what they are usually leaving out is that, no matter how much people dislike Clinton, that hate Republicans even more.

Watch John Oliver Bust Fox News For Falsifying Refugee Video

Posted by on September 28, 2015 at 4:00 pm. 5 Comments :

For several weeks Fox News has been trying to stir up irrational fears among their xenophobic audience over the plight of refugees fleeing war and economic hardship in Syria and Iraq. To that end they have mounted a relentless campaign to slander the refugees as terrorists seeking to infiltrate Europe and the U.S. This propaganda blitz is based on nothing but invented tales of horror and racist speculation. But apparently those attempts to deceive their pre-rattled viewers were not sufficiently frightening.

Fox News John Oliver

Consequently, Fox News had to manufacture “evidence” of the doom that awaits any nation that shows empathy for the suffering refugees. So they enhanced their fictional narrative with video that was completely unrelated to the story. Of course, they’ve been caught doing that before. What makes it surprising this time is that it was revealed by John Oliver in an enlightening and hilarious episode of his HBO program “Last Week Tonight:” From the segment (video below):

Kristin Fisher: A new video has surfaced online showing why some are worried that Europe is opening its doors to potential terrorists. Those are reportedly Muslim refugees on a train in Europe chanting “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great.” Now to be clear, we’re not saying that any of those people are terrorists or in any way affiliated with a terror group. But it does highlight just how many of these refugees who are fleeing violence in Iraq and Syria are Muslim.
John Oliver: OK, first, you don’t get to claim that you’re not calling those people terrorists when your lower third says “Terrorists Inbound.” [It later changed to “Terrifying Chant”] If you are really not saying that they’re terrorists, maybe change it to something more accurate like “People Take Train.”

But it was what Oliver noticed next that hammered another nail into Fox’s already tattered journalistic credibility. Comically understating the situation, Oliver reported that the video Fox News ran was “a little misleading.” It turns out that the video Fox said was “new” had actually been uploaded to YouTube in July of 2010, long before there was any refugee crisis in Syria. What’s more, Fisher’s report aired on the September 9th broadcast of Fox & Friends, one day after the five year old video had been dredged up by conspiracy kook Alex Jones for his Infowars website.

So to recap: It wasn’t new; there was no indication that they were terrorists; nor was there any indication that these Muslims on a train in Paris were even refugees; the video didn’t just “surface” online, it was the conspiracy fodder of Alex Jones; and the only people worried about it are Fox News and the dimwits who watch it. And finally, this fake story must be publicly acknowledged by Fox News. They must recant and apologize for deceiving viewers. But unless you’re into asphyxiophilia I wouldn’t hold your breath waiting for Fox to do so.

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

Donald Trump’s List Of Lawsuits Is Longer Than His Combover

Posted by on September 27, 2015 at 9:25 pm. 7 Comments :

This week’s Donald Trump news was mainly focused on his latest feud with Fox News, whom he has pledged to boycott unless he is treated “fairly.” But just under the radar is another story that adds to the absurdity that characterizes the life of The Donald.

Donald Trump

Trump is threatening to sue a small t-shirt vendor who is producing “Stop Trump” merchandise in response to his racist assaults on the Latino community. The vendor is donating a percentage of the proceeds to “organizations that support democracy, immigrant rights and Latino education.” What makes this legal action notable has nothing to do with the facts of the case. Trump actually has no case as it is entirely within the vendor’s First Amendment rights to produce and sell merchandise with a political message. For someone who pretends to aspire to the presidency, Trump should learn a little something about the Constitution.

No, what makes this newsworthy is simply the cumulative effect of Trump’s growing collection of lawsuits. Petulant little crybaby/bully that he is, Trump seems ready to file suits at the drop of a “Make America Great Again” hat. [Note: Trump has trademarked that slogan so maybe he’ll sue me for using it] The list of legal compalints that he has filed or threatened is extensive, and pretty hilarious. Here are the ones that I’ve been able to compile:

  • In 2013 Angelo Carusone’s “Dump Trump” campaign aimed to persuade Macy’s to sever their business relationship with Trump. More recently Trump claims to have broken off that relationship himself with a parting slap at what an awful company Macy’s is.
  • Trump recently threatened to sue Bill Maher for having made a joke about his thoroughly joke-worthy challenge to get hold of President Obama’s college transcripts.
  • Trump claims to have filed a $500 million lawsuit against Univision. And he’s going after NBC too. Both of these are related to their cutting ties with his Miss Universe pageant following his remarks about Mexicans being criminals and rapists.
  • Trump is suing Jose Andres after the mega-chef pulled out of a restaurant deal with his DC Hotel. This was also a response to Trump’s racist comments.
  • Trump has also threatened to sue the National Hispanic Media Coalition for exercising their free speech rights.
  • Trump recently threatened to sue the conservative Club for Growth because they ran some negative ads against him.
    Late Additions:

  • Trump threatened to sue a small t-shirt vendor who is producing “Stop Trump” merchandise in response to his racist assaults on the Latino community.
  • After losing to Ted Cruz in the Iowa caucus, Trump threatened to sue him for campaign violations as well as to challenge his citizenship status and eligibility to serve as president.

These are all pretty recent, and most are after he announced his presidential campaign. There have been many other Trump litigations that go back decades as compiled by the Daily Beast. And that isn’t even counting the legal actions that have been taken against him. Most notable is the New York Attorney General’s case against Trump for defrauding the students of his phony Trump University. But the most disgusting episode is one where Trump dispatched his attorney to literally threaten a reporter:

“I will make sure that you and I meet one day while we’re in the courthouse. And I will take you for every penny you still don’t have. And I will come after your Daily Beast and everybody else that you possibly know,” Cohen said. “So I’m warning you, tread very f*cking lightly, because what I’m going to do to you is going to be f*cking disgusting. You understand me?”

And that is the Donald Trump who wants to be president; who Republicans are currently supporting more than any other candidate; whose rivals have signed pledges to support if he gets the nomination. And they better not renege because he will certainly sue them.

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

The Fox News Cult Of Ignorance: It’s Just As Bad As You Thought

Posted by on September 26, 2015 at 10:34 pm. 2 Comments :

Two years ago News Corpse published a collection of articles that documented the deception, propaganda, and outright lies disseminated by the Fox News community website, Fox Nation. It was dubbed “Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Community’s Assault On Truth.” Every chapter was fully verified by reputable sources and exposed the website for its shameful dishonesty and lack of ethics. It is that sort of concerted effort by wealthy and powerful media fabulists that cripple the intelligence of the willfully dimwitted.

Volume II of the series is also available with more documented examples of Fox’s devotion to disinformation. It is titled “Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.” If you purchased Volume I, you will want to add this to your library. It is a great resource for proving to your Fox-deluded friends and family what a den of deceit it is. And if you didn’t buy Volume I you can get Volume II and leap right into the fantastical world of Fox, then go back and read the first volume for additional chuckling and wincing.

Fox Nation vs. Reality

Get Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

Two years ago the first volume of Fox Nation vs. Reality was published revealing an Internet operation that was dedicated to fiercely partisan, right-wing distortions of the truth. Its mission was, and remains, to construct a safe haven for the broader Fox News community to reinforce their preferred fantasies and unfounded preconceptions. The articles aggregated there were from the fringiest sources (i.e. Daily Caller, Alex Jones’ Infowars, Breitbart News, etc.) and often contained nothing but easily disproven falsehoods and rank defamation of liberals.

Since then Fox Nation has evolved into an even more sheltered environment that has taken on many characteristics of culthood. It is a pattern they adopted from their parent, Fox News, where the slogan “fair and balanced” was an implicit condemnation of all other news sources as being neither. Recognizing that the prime directive of a cult is to convince your followers that your version of reality is the only true version and that all others are agents of deception, Fox segregated their disciples to prevent them from being contaminated by impure thoughts, otherwise known as facts.

Some of the enlightening, infuriating, and entertaining chapters include:

  • Obama’s Imaginary Foreign Fundraising
  • Paranoid Gun Nuts Go Wild
  • Night Of The Living Tea Party
  • The Poor Have It Way Too Good
  • Was Benghazi A Koch Brothers Plot?
  • Zombie Reagan’s Fake Declaration Of War

Check out the reviews on Amazon to get an idea of what previous readers have had to say. On a platform that is notorious for focused criticism it has maintained a 4-star average rating. And for reference, that 4-star average was also maintained for the reviews for Volume I.

Purchasing either or both volumes of Fox Nation vs. Reality is a great way to support this website and the work done here to reveal the malignancy of conservative media. And as always, your continued support and patronage is very much appreciated.

If You Have A Boehner Lasting Longer Than 23 Years, Seek Immediate Medical Attention

Posted by on September 25, 2015 at 11:32 am. 8 Comments :

In the midst of an uncommonly busy news day that included the Pope speaking at the United Nations and President Obama welcoming Chinese President Xi to the White House, GOP House Speaker John Boehner chose to announce that he is resigning as Speaker and leaving Congress effective October 31, 2015 (Halloween?).

boehner-resigns

Boehner held a press conference to address his reasons for this surprise resignation, but avoided saying outright why the decision came so suddenly. He alluded to the truth when he mentioned that he didn’t want to put Congress through some unspecified turmoil. What he was covertly referencing was the opposition to his leadership by his GOP peers and the prospect of a motion to vacate the post, in effect a vote of no confidence that could have led to a new Speaker’s election. Rather than face that humiliation, Boehner chose to bug out.

That wimpiness is emblematic of Boehner’s legacy as Speaker. Ever since his ascendancy to the post he has wobbled in fear of the Tea Party caucus that demanded a radical and uncompromising agenda. Boehner has presided over an embarrassing reign of failure and capitulation. The tiny Tea Party cell of extremists in the House has utterly dominated him and reduced him to a dysfunctional figurehead who cannot complete even the simplest tasks of governing. He even set failure as a standard when he said that Congress “should not be judged on how many new laws we create. We ought to be judged on how many laws we repeal.” [Note: Number of laws Congress repealed while Boehner was Speaker: Zero] As a result, Boehner’s tenure is notable for being the most ineffectual Congress in history. It has managed to produce fewer bills, and work fewer days, than any Congress in modern times.

While achieving that dubious honor, they also held more than fifty votes attempting (unsuccessfully) to repeal or otherwise cripple the Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare); filed a futile lawsuit against Obama over immigration; orchestrated a costly and unnecessary shutdown of the government; and formed the Special Committee on Politicizing Benghazi. All the while missing real opportunities by declining to hold votes for bills that would have passed merely because they didn’t have a majority of Republicans. What Boehner seemed to fail to grasp is that he was the Speaker of the whole House, not just the Republican caucus – and certainly not the Tea Party.

His departure will create a vacuum at the top that will not be filled without a bloody battle for control. Boehner’s chief lieutenant, and staunch ally, Kevin McCarthy, will not be welcomed by the GOP’s Wingnut Caucus. There will almost certainly be one or more conservatives entering the contest to be his successor. Maybe even Louie Gohmert (if we’re lucky) who got three whole votes when he ran against Boehner earlier this year (despite having endorsements from Sean Hannity and Sarah Palin). Consequently, Boehner’s alleged hopes of preventing the House from undergoing turmoil is going to have the opposite effect. It is just Boehner who will avoid the turmoil.

It is clear that Boehner’s rush to the exits is due to more than just a desire to spend more time with his family. You don’t ditch a job that puts you second in line for the presidency of the United States without serious concerns. Especially during an election year that is so consequential to his party. However, this opening may present an opportunity for Boehner’s last Republican primary opponent in his Ohio district to run again for the seat. J.D. Winteregg may not have had a realistic chance of unseating Boehner back then, but he did have one of the best campaign videos ever.

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

Bill O’Reilly Opposes Theocracy – Except For America And Christians

Posted by on September 24, 2015 at 7:27 pm. 9 Comments :

The dean of Fox News hypocrites has once again demonstrated why he is so revered for his ability to be oblivious to his own self-contradictions. Bill O’Reilly is notorious for his blustery argumentativeness and shallow grasp of substance. But he truly excels at making ludicrous statements that are often at odds with his previous remarks.

Bill O'Reilly

The latest example of this aberrant behavior occurred during a discussion about religion with Fox’s resident atheist, John Stossel (video below). The topic was spun from Ben Carson’s recent admission that he wouldn’t support a Muslim for president and doesn’t think that Islam is consistent with the Constitution. O’Reilly defended Carson’s bigotry in the following exchange with Stossel.

O’Reilly: If you look at Islam, the politics and the religion are always intertwined. In every single Muslim nation their laws are based on the Koran. You know that. Every one.
Stossel: That’s true, but you all week have been on a million TV programs saying “Judeo-Christian country,” philosophy. What do you mean by that?
O’Reilly: I mean that the founders of the Constitution – the people who forged the country – believed in the 10 Commandments, and that’s what they based the law on. There’s no doubt about that. […] They believed in the 10 Commandments as the litmus test of what is right, what is wrong.

Did you catch it? In one comment O’Reilly condemns nations that inject religion into the legal foundations of the state. And in his very next comment he praises the U.S. for injecting religion into the legal foundations of the state. It would be bad enough if the evident hypocrisy of these diametrically opposed comments occurred on different nights, or even in different segments of the same program. But the fact that they occurred literally one sentence following the other illustrates how religious bigots are blind to their own prejudices. They believe that theocracy is evil elsewhere but mandatory in America so long as it is based on Christianity.

Later, when asked if he would vote for a Muslim president, O’Reilly answered “If the guy was a super problem solver – a secular Muslim – I might consider it. I probably wouldn’t, but I might consider it.” So he probably wouldn’t vote for a Muslim, but if he did it would have to be one that didn’t actually practice his faith. How open-minded of him.

To top off O’Reilly’s twisted view and biased presentation, Stossel actually called him out for distorting a man-on-the-street segment that Stossel did. The video was shown earlier in the segment, but toward the end Stossel interjected to complain saying that…

“I just wanted to add, I asked 25 people [if they would vote for a Muslim president]. I thought most would have an objection. And your editor split it 50/50. But almost everyone just said no, no problem, without hesitation.”

Fox News using deliberately deceptive editing to leave viewers with false impressions is nothing new. However, it may be unprecedented that one of Fox’s hosts openly scolded a fellow host on the air for doing so. And it is just as much a testament to Stossel’s commitment to his principles as it is to O’Reilly’s lack of them.

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

You’re Fired! Donald Trump Dumps Fox News, Who Say They Dumped Him First

Posted by on September 23, 2015 at 3:19 pm. 9 Comments :

Buy stock in Orville Redenbacher today, because the popcorn market is set to explode. Reality TV goofball, and GOP object of perverted lust, Donald Trump, has declared that he will be kissing off his former BFF Fox News. In a tweet explaining the break up Trump said that…

“@FoxNews has been treating me very unfairly & I have therefore decided that I won’t be doing any more Fox shows for the foreseeable future.”

Fox News Donald Trump

Oh my. How ever will we survive? This isn’t the first time that Trump and Fox have quarreled. Earlier this year they took slaps at one another for what Trump thought were questions that were too hard during the Fox News Republican debate. He shot off insults aimed at the only female moderator, Megyn Kelly, that focused on her menstrual cycle as his reason for her harsh questions.

Eventually Trump and Fox News CEO Roger Ailes patched things up with Trump praising the executive and the network’s fairness. But that quickly deteriorated as he openly taunted Ailes saying “I love Roger, but all you have to do is ask him who won.” That’s akin to saying Ailes is my bitch.

The latest dust up appears to have been triggered by Trump’s butthurt over critical remarks on Bill O’Reilly’s show. Then, in a tantrum that seemed to have come out of the blue, Trump served his divorce papers on Twitter (Twivorce?), alleging abuse and irreconcilable differences. It all began in typical Trump fashion as he tweeted his disapproval complete with ad hominem insults.

Donald Trump Tweets

Ironically, there is no network that has been more friendly to Trump and his campaign. They have featured him far more, and more positively, than any other candidate. In fact, his ubiquitous presence on Fox exceeded the combined total air time for ten other Republican candidates last month. Fox News made Trump and he owes his current front-runner status to their worshipful coverage. For some examples of just how reverential Fox News has been, watch this:

Following Trump’s dismissal of Fox News, the network made a statement that may explain why Trump suddenly cut his ties. According to a spokesperson at Fox it was the network that fired Trump first. They said that in response to his tweets, they canceled his scheduled appearance on O’Reilly for Thursday. Subsequently, Trump decided to hit the press first with news of the separation. The Fox spokesperson went on to say that…

“When coverage doesn’t go his way, he engages in personal attacks on our anchors and hosts, which has grown stale and tiresome. He doesn’t seem to grasp that candidates telling journalists what to ask is not how the media works in this country.”

What’s funny about this is that Trump may have managed to accomplish something that News Corpse, and millions of rational, thinking Americans, have been trying to do for years: Mount an effective boycott of Fox News. The response on Trump’s Twitter page is filled with his followers pledging to forever abandon Fox and its “liberally-slanted” news coverage. That could actually have some real advantages for the future of media and America. Even though Trumpsters are among the most delusional of the GOP fringe, there are studies that show that Republicans who watch Fox are even more ill-informed than Republicans who don’t.

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

So the more people on the right who avoid Fox News, the better. And I may be in the uncomfortable position of having to thank Trump for getting people to stop watching Fox. All told, it would be worth it. And now I have to go restock my supply of popcorn. This show is still only in the first act.

[Update:] Crybaby Trump, who routinely calls people ugly and stupid, is now saying that he was offended by someone who does not work for Fox (National Review editor Rich Lowry) saying that Carly Fiorina “cut his balls off” in the CNN debate. So while he relentlessly postures about being a champion in the fight against political correctness, he can’t handle someone using a common idiom to describe what took place. How can this thin-skinned, whiner go up against Iran, who literally call for “death to America,” if he can’t deal with harmless, non-lethal metaphors?

[Update II:] Here we go again. Fox News says they have scheduled a meeting (again) with Trump to settle their differences over his latest tantrum. Planned for next week, this would represent their third “truce” so far. The real question is why is an alleged “news” network negotiating the conditions for coverage of a political candidate at all? That is a flagrantly inappropriate breach of journalistic ethics. If Trump doesn’t like Fox’s treatment he can stay off their air or go on and complain. Secret meetings raise the question of what concessions Fox News will make to accommodate (benefit) Trump at the expense of his rivals. And when was the last time that Fox offered to meet with President Obama or Hillary Clinton to discuss their differences with Fox’s far more blatant unfair coverage? No reputable news organization would even consider altering their coverage to satisfy the demands of a petulant candidate. But then again, we are not dealing with a reputable news organization.

Conspiracy! Wingnuts Think Liberals Planted Questioner At Donald Trump Event

Posted by on September 22, 2015 at 8:30 pm. 2 Comments :

The lunatics on the right have embraced some pretty outlandish conspiracy theories over the years. Not the least of which is that President Obama, who supports Planned Parenthood, gay rights, gun safety regulations, separation of church and state, and equality for women, is a Kenyan-born Muslim. Based on his political platform Obama would be the worst Muslim ever. But conservatives have never let reason interfere with their dementia.

Now the Doofus Brigades in the daffy rightosphere have latched unto a new bit crackpottery with which to tingle their nether regions. Two of these “news” sources were featured on Fox Nation, the community website of Fox News. According to the Daily Caller’s Jim Treacher, there is something fishy about the meathead who asked Donald Trump about the “Muslim problem” in America. Treacher notes that “Some people are speculating that the guy was a plant.” He doesn’t bother to identify any of those speculators, but he is worried that nobody knows the questioner’s name. Nobody ever knows the names of random people asking questions at rallies, but this time it’s cause to freak out.

The intrepid pseudo-journalists over at Breitbart News went even further to declare their “Exclusive” story revealing that “The man, whom some suspect to have been a liberal or Democratic plant in Trump’s audience, was featured in a meme in the spring of 2013 that was credited to aattp.org, the website of the group Americans Against The Tea Party.” Actually, that photo dates back to a Glenn Beck 9/12 Project rally in 2009 where there were lots of guys just like this. Also aattp.org features actual Teabaggers and has no incentive to promote phonies. The real ones are bad enough.

Fox Nation Donald Trump

Before demonstrating the unparalleled idiocy of these cretins, let’s just point out the obvious fact that liberals don’t need to plant a moron among the Trumpsters. Most of them already believe that Obama is a Muslim who is waging a “War on Christianity.” If liberals sent trolls to Trump’s events they would just blend in with the rest of the imbeciles. Even Trump disputes that the questioner was a plant. He told the Curvy Couch Potatoes of Fox & Friends that…

“When he was asking that question, by the way, a lot of the people in the audience were nodding. They were not laughing at him or anything. They were nodding. I don’t think he was a plant.”

Indeed, they were nodding. Because they agree with the asinine premise. As does Trump. In fact, they’re proud of it. So the entire notion that liberals would have gone to the trouble to plant someone to ask a question that most of the people in the crowd would have asked without any prodding is absurd. All they had to do was watch and wait. Trump’s supporters would expose themselves on their own in due time. [Note: Due time in this instance was the very first question]

But none of that would stop Breitbrat Patrick Howley from concocting the most preposterous plot surrounding the alleged liberal plant. Howley, a disreputable hack who has confessed to unethical and unlawful tactics to smear his ideological foes, asserts that the “plant” at the Trump affair was previously spotted at a Tea Party gathering in 2013. He even posts a link to what he says is photographic evidence of the sighting.

There are just two small problems with Howley’s hysterical hypothesis. First of all, he doesn’t provide any proof that the guy in the old Tea Party photo was a plant. If he was a legitimate Teabagger back then, he couldn’t very well be a liberal plant now..

More importantly, the two men do not share even a remote resemblance. The Teabagger is significantly older with a full head of gray hair. It is unlikely that he got younger in the years since the Tea Party rally. Also, he has a narrower face and a more pronounced chin. No one could plausibly say that these two men were the same person unless they were hopelessly predisposed to seeing only what they want to see, or they were determined to deceive others. And in furtherance of that goal, Howley wrote that “We know now that the left-wing media and activists were aware of this man more than two years before last week’s Trump rally.”

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

No, actually, you don’t know anything of the kind. You don’t know who the Teabagger was, you don’t know who the Trump guy was, you can’t honestly pretend that they were the same person, and even if he were a plant his question represents exactly what Trump and his followers believe. So all you’ve got left is to continue to lie and invent ridiculous scenarios for which you haven’t got a scrap of proof. In other words, you can do exactly what you always do and hope your glassy-eyed disciples don’t catch on. The rest of us are familiar with your conspiracy ravings and aren’t impressed by your poor journalistic skills and complete absence of logic. So carry on.