So F**king What? Michelle Obama’s Controversial Oscar Outing

Posted by on February 25, 2013 at 2:24 pm. 1 Comments :

Here is more evidence that Fox News is congenitally incapable of reporting anything about the First Family without attaching some derogatory spin to the whole matter. Last night Michelle Obama participated in an entertainment program that awarded faux golden trophies to entertainers. Her appearance on the Oscar broadcast has rankled conservatives who are jealous that they are too lacking in talent to be honored by their peers. So they have risen up to spew condemnation for the First Lady having the audacity to present an award.

Fox News Michelle Obama Oscar

So F**king What?

This couldn’t possibly be a more petty attack on a more trivial event. The Fox reporter covering the affair wrote that “instead of inspiring, the surprising presenter instantly drew a few head shakes and loud groans from journalists backstage.” The article went to cite derisive, unattributed quotes that ranged from “makes no sense” to “suck job” to “stupid and pointless” to “tacky and tasteless.” Ironically, all of those opinions would apply equally as well to Fox News for choosing to focus on this vapid criticism instead of just reporting what took place. What’s more, if their sources are genuine, they have inadvertently refuted their long-held belief that journalists are “in the tank” for Obama.

Breitbart News chimed in calling Obama’s presentation “obscene, and rather frightening.” Of course, Fox Nation also jumped in to headline their item “Michelle Obama Crashes the Oscars,” as if she were not invited to participate. Certainly the Teabagger press would have preferred that Ann Romney had announced the Best Picture winner. They never complained when she “crashed” the Olympics with her fancy-dancin’ horse.

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More Racist Variations Between Fox News Latino And Fox Nation Reporting

Posted by on February 25, 2013 at 10:55 am. NO Comments :

As has been covered here previously, Fox News is engaging in a disingenuous, insulting, and brazen attempt to deceive Latino news consumers with their Fox News Latino web site. This time they are running starkly different versions of a story involving drivers licenses for undocumented residents:

Fox Nation

Notice that Fox Nation continues to use the epithet “Illegals” to describe undocumented residents. Then it characterizes them as complaining. However, over at Fox News Latino the subjects of the article are referred to as “DREAMers,” a reference to the DREAM Act that provides conditional residency to certain immigrants who came to the United States as minors. Furthermore, they note the program’s controversy, but do not portray the subjects as complaining.

This is the sort of bias that is typical of Fox News. The recipients of these licenses are not lawbreakers. They were brought to the U.S. by their parents when they were to young to make such a decision for themselves. Now they just want to be able to drive, attend school, and work, in the only country they have ever known. But bigots in states like North Carolina, and in media enterprises like Fox, just want to throw obstacles in their path and tag them with second-class status.


Gun Nuttiness Royale: Refusing To Sell Guns To Police In Pro-Safety States

Posted by on February 25, 2013 at 3:23 am. 13 Comments :

So exactly how deep is the vein of idiocy that runs through the NRA gun worship crowd? Just have a look at this item from Glenn Beck’s TheBlaze (and associated wingnut media): 44 Gun Companies Have Stopped Selling To Law Enforcement In Anti-2nd-Amendment States.

Blaze - Guns

This is the sort of thing you expect from lie factories like Fox Nation. But the evil genius in this meticulously plotted protest is not readily apparent at first glance. However, if you let it sink in for a minute it becomes hilariously inept. In fact, it’s rather astonishing how they could get so much wrong in one short headline. Let us count the ways:

1) No states are anti-2nd Amendment.
The gunnies are trying to portray any state that dares to seek solutions to rampant gun violence of the sort that took the lives of 20 children in Newtown, Connecticut, as contrary to the right to keep and bear arms as stipulated in the Constitution. However, reasonable regulations and background checks have been upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court and are supported by majorities of the American public, and even by majorities of NRA members.

2) There’s no evidence that any of the listed vendors were ever state suppliers.
The article on TheBlaze lists 44 munitions vendors who are taking an oath to refuse to sell their products to law enforcement agencies. But in no cases have they provided any evidence that they are presently engaged in such sales. And in at least some cases it seems pretty unlikely. I’m not sure that Old Grouch’s Military Surplus or Controlled Chaos Arms are sacrificing much in the way of revenue from police department clients. None of the major arms manufacturers like Smith & Wesson, Sig Sauer, or Glock are participating in the boycott.

3) Other vendors will happily take up the slack.
These eager activists don’t seem to grasp the concept of boycotts. Generally they are carried out by refusing to buy certain products, thus hurting the targeted vendors by using their financial clout to affect policy changes. Instead, the gunnies are refusing to sell their own products to willing buyers, thus hurting only themselves. It’s a little like demanding that the bank teller hand over all the money and threatening to shoot yourself if they don’t.

4) If effective, the boycott would endanger the lives of citizens.
Setting aside the fact that this protest is pitifully ill-conceived, let’s imagine how it would unfold if it had any chance of succeeding. The apparent goal is to pressure states not to implement gun safety initiatives by, in effect, disarming the officers who are there to protect the people. That seems like a reckless course of action and one that the public would disapprove of in droves. Gun advocates may enjoy fondling their weapons and pretending to be superheroes, but most citizens are not anxious to confront desperate criminals on their own. Grandma is not likely to hear the call on the police scanner, start up the Rambler, and head down to the mall to foil a gang of jewelry store thieves.

5) The law enforcement agencies don’t make the laws.
Perhaps the most tunnel-blind facet of this folly is that the dimwitted gun vendors are aiming their protest at the police, despite the fact that they are only responsible for enforcing laws, not drafting them. So the gunnies are taking a stand to refuse to provide service revolvers to local police because of something that was done by governing legislatures and executives.

Like so many harebrained schemes by far-right extremists, this protest action is not very well thought out. It harms first responders who are innocent parties in this debate; it puts citizens at risk; it blows up in their own faces financially; and it makes no strategic sense whatsoever. Yet it is being heralded by the wingnut press including Breitbart News, and Fox Nation. And in addition to the article on TheBlaze, Glenn Beck addressed the subject on his webcast escalating it into pure conspiracy theory delusion. He warned that the gun dealers…

“…are not going to provide anything to a state where those weapons are going to be used against the citizens to possibly take guns and gun rights away.”

So Beck is afraid that states are plotting shooting rampages by police against residents in pursuit of their firearms and, therefore, the police must be disarmed. This is another demonstration of conservatives leaning so far out to the right that they fall overboard and make asses of themselves. And as if to underscore their dementia, note the ad on TheBlaze about “FEMA Coffins.” Those should come in handy after the cops have killed everybody.


Let’s Get Ready To CRUMBLE: Glenn Beck Ducks WWE Challenge

Posted by on February 24, 2013 at 9:41 am. 1 Comments :

Glenn Beck and professional wrestling. Who could have imagined a collision between these two disparate media phenomenons?

After all, one of them is perhaps the most notorious entertainment spectacle of the last fifty years and involves a highly choreographed production of television broadcasts that purport to be genuine, but are in fact as phony as Bigfoot’s Snake Oil Elixir. Nevertheless, it hooked a surprisingly large audience of gullible viewers starved for over-the-top melodrama and sweaty, wild-eyed brawls.

And the other one is professional wrestling.

Indeed, Glenn Beck’s Acute Paranoia Revue and Holy Huckster Sideshow seems like the perfect match up with pro wrestling. They are both so divinely cartoonish and dripping with cheap theatrics that it’s a wonder someone hadn’t thought of it sooner. But Sadly, it’s not to be.

Glenn Beck Wimped Out

After the WWE debuted a couple of characters modeled after Tea Party wackos, Beck bounded into the proverbial ring to slam the sham Teabaggers and the horse they rode in on. That horse, by the way, was the property of two-time Teapublican senate loser, and WWE’s owner, Linda McMahon. Clearly this is not an organization run by Obama functionaries or progressive rabble.

Dimwitted wrestler Jack Swagger and his hillbilly manager Zeb Colter were a pretty accurate representation of the rednecks who mindlessly spew patriotic jargon and blame all their failures on minorities. But Beck wasn’t having it. He declared that he was sick and tired of being miscast and wasn’t about to allow these twits to besmirch the image of his precious Tea Party. With classic WWE bravado Beck taunted his nemeses saying…

“I can take it from a lot of people. I really can. I can’t take it from the stupid wrestling people.”

You can almost imagine him center-ring, yelling that into a microphone hanging from the ceiling. This is the Beck who has called himself a rodeo clown and just last month said that he considers what he does to be “like circus performer art.” Having thrown down the gauntlet, the ball was now in the court of the wrestling duo. So Swagger and Colter struck back inviting Beck to appear on their show and defend the honor (such as it is) of “We the Teaple.” In a video challenge they said…

“You know, Glenn, many of your followers are WWE fans and they understand the difference between reality and entertainment. Are you so out of touch with your own audience, Glenn, or are you just a ‘stupid’ political commentator.”

They were obviously giving Beck’s fans more credit than they deserved with regard to their alleged understanding of reality. But they were also giving Beck a sterling opportunity to address the millions of WWE viewers (10 times more than any audience Beck ever had), and explain why Swagger’s character offended him. But rather than meet his opponents in the ring, Beck pulled the covers up over his head and tweeted that he is “currently booked doing anything else.”

It’s inevitable that big-mouths like Beck reveal themselves to be cowards. But this exceeds all boundaries of wimposity. Beck is trembling before fictional foes. It would be one thing if Beck was afraid to debate Rachel Maddow or Bill Maher, experienced communicators who have obvious intelligence and wit. But to shrink from facing off with a fake adversary on a scripted television farce demonstrates just how paper thin Beck’s veneer of bombast really is.


D’Souza’s America: Conservative Crybaby Whines About Oscar Snub

Posted by on February 22, 2013 at 3:01 pm. 3 Comments :

Finally, Oscar Sunday is right around the corner. And what better time for a right-wing loser to whine to the press about how the Academy failed to recognize his brilliance and shower him with undeserved praise?

Dinesh D’Souza turned his critically reviled book of falsehoods about President Obama into a crockumentary called “2016: Obama’s America.” While the film found an audience of gullible Teabaggers anxious to consume anything derogatory about the President, more sensible viewers found the film to be riddled with lies and fabricated mythology.

Not surprisingly, a so-called documentary that failed to adhere to the most basic tenets of truth, also failed to garner much support for recognition by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Thinly veiled propaganda screeds that have no factual basis rarely win Oscars.

Rather than exhibiting some measure of dignity and enjoying the financial rewards of making a film popular with conspiracy nuts, D’Souza has chosen to blast the Academy and its members as hopelessly biased for not seeing what a humongous slab of talent he is. Even worse, D’Souza slammed the filmmakers who actually did produce works of quality that earned them Oscar nominations.

D’Souza: I join most Americans in leaving them in deserved obscurity. I haven’t heard of any of them, and like most people, I haven’t seen them.

What class. And what a demonstration of intellectual integrity he shows by disparaging films he admits he has not even seen. Then again, what more should we expect from a man who was forced to resign as the head of King’s College (a Christian institution) for having an affair, which he denied even as he admitted that he was engaged to a woman who was not his wife.

Dinesh D'Souza

In the hypocritical world of sanctimonious piety peddlers, preachers embroiled in sex scandals, like Jimmy Swaggart and Ted Haggard are forgiven. Politicians like Larry Craig, Mark Sanford, and David Vitter, who have had to explain their own adulteries and whore mongering, know that Fox News will always be there to defend them. Every conservative sinner is granted a “Get Out of Hell Free” card. Too bad they don’t have their own Oscars (yet) to award themselves statuettes for Best Smear Job by a Dishonest Hack.


Rush Limbaugh Is Ashamed Of America. The Feeling Is Mutual.

Posted by on February 22, 2013 at 11:05 am. 6 Comments :

In yet another example of crybaby Republicans bugging out when they don’t get their way, Rush Limbaugh is whining about how he is “ashamed” of his country.

Rush Limbaugh

This isn’t really anything new. Limbaugh has been in fits of hysteric embarrassment ever since America elected its first African-American president. And having done it twice hasn’t helped soothe his frayed nerves. So now he is ranting about how the country is sliding down a path to a hellish fiscal doom (also not new for Rushbo) even though the deficit has declined every year of Obama’s presidency. And this imagined impending apocalypse has so disturbed Rush that he has become racked with shame, poor thing.

Limbaugh’s pride deficiency has spread to infect his pals at Fox News.

Limbaugh - Fox

Over at Fox Nation they think that his tantrum is just the thing to revive the Tea Party that Americans have come to hate in droves. How appropriate that they believe that shame for America will re-energize the Tea-publicans. And at the Hannity show, the rash of embarrassment is epidemic. Hannity goes off on an extended rant about how he, too, is embarrassed. Ironically, he makes a couple of good points:

“It’s embarrassing with our wealth and all that we have, that 50 million Americans are on food stamps, one in six Americans are in poverty, it’s embarrassing we import oil.”

Indeed, that is embarrassing. Too bad Hannity and his right-wing cohorts are opposed to every initiative that would address those issues. Apparently they enjoy being mired in embarrassment.

But it was Hannity’s guest, Herman Cain that totally went off the deep end by latching on to the argument that almost single-handedly sunk the Romney campaign:

“Look, 51 percent of the voters elected Barack Obama. Forty nine percent of us are not that stupid. That’s what [Rush] was saying.”

Oh, I see. Rush was saying that the majority of the nation is stupid. What a great way to invigorate Tea Partiers and win voters over. If this is a preview of their campaign strategy for 2014-16, then get ready for Speaker Pelosi and President Clinton. They can recycle leftover Romney posters that said “Believe in America” by simply editing them to read “Ashamed of America.” That’s the new GOP slogan for the foreseeable future.

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MSNBC Hires David Axelrod – Fox Nation Comes Unglued

Posted by on February 21, 2013 at 11:52 am. 17 Comments :

It simply never ceases to amaze how Fox News can clutch to such fantastical versions of reality and attempt to pass them off as reasonable analyses of current events. Witness this item wherein they grouse about MSNBC’s hiring of a former Obama campaign aide:

Fox Nation

First of all, do they really think that the addition of David Axelrod to the MSNBC roster of contributors is going to substantively alter the network’s programming? Considering the fact that they already regarded MSNBC as “in the tank” for Obama, how would Axelrod change that?

Secondly, The Fox Nationalists conveniently forget that MSNBC also has on its payroll the former head of John McCain’s campaign (Steve Schmidt) and the former chairman of the Republican Party (Michael Steele). Does that mean the the GOP is controlling the message at NBC News?

Finally, Fox News has been notorious for employing Republican operatives and candidates. These are people far more instrumental to the messaging of the Republican Party than Axelrod ever was for the Democrats. They include much of George W. Bush’s “brain” trust (i.e. Karl Rove, John Bolton, Liz Cheney), and party leaders like former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and their just past nominee for VP Sarah Palin.

Fox is, without a doubt, the PR arm of the Republican Party. Their anchors are as much responsible for GOP propaganda as their well-connected contributors. No one at MSNBC has anywhere near the tight relationships that Fox has with the GOP. And Fox doesn’t have any Democrats on staff that balance their reporting in an equivalent way (sorry, Kirsten Powers and Juan Williams don’t cut it). When Fox gives a former chair of the Democratic Party the air time that MSNBC gives to Steele, or when they give a three hour morning block to a liberal Democratic host (i.e. MSNBC’s conservative Joe Scarborough), then maybe Fox can talk about messaging without being so desperately hypocritical.


The Fox News Community Reveals Their Racist Vulgarity – Again

Posted by on February 21, 2013 at 3:11 am. 6 Comments :

Those who have been paying attention are already aware of the blatantly dishonest practices of Fox News, particularly on their community web site (see Fox Nation vs. Reality) The only thing more repulsive than their disregard for the truth is the disgraceful conduct of their audience. So for anyone out there who hasn’t had the displeasure of meeting an actual Fox News viewer (a truly endangered species whose numbers are dwindling), here is a sampling of how they express themselves when informed about something as incidental and non-controversial as a new official portrait for the First Lady, Michelle Obama.

Fox Nation

There isn’t much to add to that except to note that it isn’t a new or isolated occurrence. It is, however, important to acknowledge that there is an abundance of crude behavior and overt hatred on the Internet emanating from across the political spectrum. Most of it occurs on fringy outposts run by anonymous extremists with tiny followings. But for this sort of dialogue to be hosted by a major so-called “news” organization that seeks to present itself as reputable – even fair – tells us a great deal about the type of audience they cultivate.


Breitbart Refuses To Apologize For Hagel Story Proven To Be False

Posted by on February 20, 2013 at 1:22 pm. 15 Comments :

In a typical display of arrogant obstinance, Breitbart News is refusing to acknowledge or take responsibility for a false story that was apparently based on a joke.

Breitbart News

BreitBrat Ben Shapiro posted an item of February 7, asserting that the White House was “Duck[ing] Questions On Friends of Hamas” with regard to Chuck Hagel’s nomination to be Secretary of Defense. Shapiro wrote that his investigation had turned up several sources claiming that Hagel had received donations from the terrorist sympathizers with the unlikely name.

However, it turns out, as it often does with the BreitBrats, that there was no truth to the rumor. In fact, it wasn’t even a rumor, it was a joke. When investigated by real reporters it was learned that Friends of Hamas does not even exist. But upon being revealed as a hack who never bothered to look into the claims of his alleged sources, BreitBrat Ben is now stiffening his back and defending his journalistic incompetence.

Shapiro is attempting to divert attention from his bumbling reportage by attacking the reporters who actually did what reporters are supposed to do. Meanwhile, his phony story is bubbling up the conservative food chain and has even made it to Fox’s Lou Dobbs program. So far, none of these disseminators of the debunked story about the fake group have issued corrections. But that’s to be expected from “news” enterprises that have such a devoted aversion to the truth.


Fox News Freak-Outs: How The Big Bully Of Cable News Fizzles Under Fire

Posted by on February 20, 2013 at 2:55 am. 3 Comments :

In the cable news business there is one network that relentlessly boasts about its prominence and formidable presence above all others. Fox News is clearly taken with itself and is even promoted in their own ads as “The Most Powerful Name In News.” That makes it all the more curious that Fox seems to shudder when confronted with opposing arguments.

Fox News
This article was also published on Alternet.

Fox News is often the subject of well-deserved criticism due to their aversion to facts and a long record of strident bias. However, their first reaction to reasonable rebuttals is to go on the attack against their perceived enemies. It is behavior reminiscent of schoolyard bullies with marshmallow centers who struggle to mask their hurt feelings with forced bluster. What follows are seven examples of just how thin-skinned this allegedly powerful network really is, and how prone they are to whining when they get smacked down.

At a press conference President Obama astutely noted that the penchant Fox News has for punishing Republicans who dare to work cooperatively with Democrats has the effect of discouraging Republicans from such cooperation. That rather modest observation sent Fox News into a tizzy. Jumping immediately to the most absurd stretches of hyperbole, Steve Doocy of Fox & Friends fired up the outrage machine to accuse the President of attacking, not merely Fox News, but the First Amendment. Meanwhile the determinedly dishonest Fox Nation web site declared the President’s remarks to be a threat. How Obama was infringing on freedom of the press or threatening anyone was never explained.

In an interview Al Gore commented on Fox News and right-wing talk radio saying “The fact that we have 24/7 propaganda masquerading as news, it does have an impact.” Rather than try to dispute the obvious truth of Gore’s comment, Fox’s Peter Johnson, Jr launched into a harangue about Gore permitting a news enterprise based in the oil-producing nation of Qatar to buy his network, Current TV. Yes, that had nothing to do with Gore’s remarks, but it did serve Johnson’s purpose of blindly lashing out at Gore for daring to besmirch Fox.

Author and military foreign policy expert Tom Ricks was invited on to discuss his new book, The Generals. Fox host Jon Scott thought he could get Ricks to join Fox’s crusade to blame Obama for the tragedy in Benghazi, but Ricks wasn’t cooperating and told Scott that “I think that the emphasis on Benghazi has been extremely political, partly because Fox was operating as a wing of the Republican Party.” That was apparently too much for Scott who abruptly ended the interview less than 90 seconds after it began. After taking criticism from other media for that self-serving censorship, Fox VP Michael Clemente doubled down and disparaged Ricks for not having “the strength of character to apologize.”

Greta Van Susteren saw an opportunity to whimper about how mistreated Fox is when she complained that the State Department had left them off the mailing list for a couple of news briefings. She called it “a coordinated effort” to punish Fox by “denying Fox access to information.” What she failed to disclose was that the State Department had previously explained that they had only notified news organizations that had reporters assigned to cover the department and that, having none, Fox didn’t get on the list. But that explanation didn’t stop Van Susteren and others at Fox from assailing the administration for an imagined snubbing.

In a debate over whether or not NBC had ever criticized President Obama on the use of drones, Bill O’Reilly falsely claimed that the drone story never appeared on NBC. In fact, it was NBC who broke the story. The following night, after much ridicule for his egregious mistake, rather than apologize and set the record straight, O’Reilly lashed at the “loons” who were engaging in “more deceit from the far left.” As usual, any critical analysis of O’Reilly or Fox News is viewed as liberal Fox-bashing and is met with name-calling and vilification.

Fox’s Juan Williams is one of the network’s alleged lefties. When he made a disturbingly racist comment about his fear of flying with Muslim passengers, he was let go by his other employer NPR. The reaction from Fox News was swift and utterly repulsive. Fox’s CEO Roger Ailes lashed out in defense of his pet liberal saying of NPR that “They are, of course, Nazis. They have a kind of Nazi attitude. They are the left wing of Nazism.” Most people would regard that as something of an overreaction, but for Fox it is consistent with their characteristic vengefulness when they consider themselves under siege.

Perhaps the most frequent target of Fox’s vitriol is the watchdog group, Media Matters for America. By defining its mission as a monitor of conservative bias in the news, Media Matters has earned the undying enmity of Fox News. In the course of their persistent barrage of slander aimed at Media Matters, Fox has called the founder, David Brock, (without substantiation) a dangerous, self-loathing, mentally ill, drug user. Fox was so frightened by Media Matters that, in the week prior to publication of their book The Fox Effect, Fox News broadcast no fewer than a dozen derogatory pieces in a preemptive strike with segments on their most popular programs, including The O’Reilly Factor, Hannity, Fox & Friends, etc. It was the sort of blanket coverage they usually reserved for a natural disaster, a declaration of war, or a lewd TwitPic of a politician. Fox’s anti-Media Matters campaign even included solicitations on the air (more than 30 times) by Fox anchors beseeching their viewers to file complaints with the IRS challenging Media Matters’ tax-exempt, non-profit status.

These are just a few of the more notable instances when Fox has engaged in pronounced public wailing after taking flack from a critic. But it’s an almost daily occurrence for Fox to slap back at a politician, pundit, or even a celebrity, who utters something that Fox regards as unflattering. Just ask Bill Maher or Nas or Sean Penn. For a network that touts its powerfulness, Fox News behaves with the sort of tender sensitivity that is generally associated with sniveling weakness. They wildly lash out at critics and stubbornly refuse to acknowledge mistakes or accept responsibility when errors are pointed out. It is, to say the least, undignified, unprofessional, and immature, but it is the Fox way.