Olbermann Features News Corpse On Countdown

Posted by on August 18, 2010 at 9:44 pm. 9 Comments :

On yesterday’s broadcast of Countdown on MSNBC, host Keith Olbermann featured a story about News Corpse. I couldn’t be more proud.

Actually, it was a story on the $1 million donation from Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp to the Republican Governor’s Association. Although I did report on this unprecedented bankrolling of GOP candidates by a major pseudo-news organization, Countdown’s segment was an interview of Media Matters’ Eric Burns on the subject.

It was an informative and entertaining discussion that hit on most of the salient points. I would have liked it if they had also pointed out that some of the funds received by the RGA would likely be stuffed right back into Murdoch’s pocket via ads they purchase on Fox News and in the Wall Street Journal, but in the end I was just jazzed to see my web site name on the screen for several minutes.

Keith should be grateful that I am not as litigious as Murdoch, whose company is presently harassing the folks at Skype because they think the name is “confusingly similar” to their Sky satellite television service. I’m still waiting for Murdoch to come after me.

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Fox News Refuses To Discuss GOP Donation

Posted by on August 17, 2010 at 3:12 pm. NO Comments :

When former White Director of Communications, Anita Dunn, said that Fox News was an arm of the Republican Party, she was merely articulating a fact that was known to many for years. And now that it has been revealed that Fox’s parent company, News Corp, made a $1,000,000 donation to the Republican Governor’s Association, there can be no more doubt. But it gets even worse as reported by Sam Stein at The Huffington Post:

In a brief interview with the Huffington Post, Nathan Daschle, the executive director of the DGA, said that he has tried on numerous occasions to go on Fox News to discuss the donation made by News Corp. None of his entreaties have been answered as of 3:30 p.m on Tuesday.

“We haven’t gotten a single phone call or email returned. We want to engage in a discussion with them about this,” Daschle said. “But they didn’t even respond.”

The story further details that emails were sent to numerous Fox producers on several different programs, but no one responded. I wouldn’t assume that there will be no coverage of this story at all in the next few days, but it will be coverage after Fox has had time to develop their spin and formulate an attack strategy to blame the “liberal” media for the whole affair.

It’s typical that Fox News is presently consumed with a non-story about a non-mosque that is not at ground zero, but doesn’t have time to even respond to the head of the Democratic Governor’s Association on an unprecedented matter that concerns the network itself.


Glenn Beck Refudiates Glenn Beck And Opposes His Own Rally

Posted by on August 17, 2010 at 9:52 am. 2 Comments :


Once again Jon Stewart has embarrassed the Conventional Media by conducting better research and placing current events in more relevant context. This time the subject is the New York City non-mosque that is being planned for not-ground zero. Here is what Beck had to say about America’s role in motivating the 9/11 terrorists, compared to his dumbfounded (with an emphasis on the “dumb”) outrage at remarks by Imam Feisal Rauf:
 

Glenn Beck, 8/10/2010: What did this “moderate” say just a few days after 9/11? Well of course what all moderates say, quote:

Imam Feisal Rauf, 9/30/2001: Glenn Beck, 4/15/2010:
I wouldn’t say that the United States deserved what happened, but United States policies were an accessory to the crime that happened. Did we deserve 9/11? No. But were we minding our business? No. Were we in bed with dictators and abandoned our values and principles? Yes. That causes problems.

What this tells us is that Beck is at least as guilty of radical hyperbole as Rauf. Beck believes that a cultural center two blocks from “hallowed” ground should not be permitted due to Rauf’s allegedly extremist views. But using the same logic, Beck should cancel his “Deploring Honor” rally at the Lincoln Memorial which is just across the Potomac from the Pentagon, another “hallowed” site of 9/11 terrorism. Beck’s views are no less extremist than Rauf’s, and no less an insult by Beck’s standards.

And it isn’t the first time that Beck has insulted the victims and survivors of 9/11. He previously said “I didn’t think I could hate victims faster than the 9/11 victims.” That was a reference that also insulted the victims of Katrina whom he called “scumbags.”

If Beck were consistent he would immediately announce that his August 28 rally has been canceled or moved to a less sensitive location farther from the Pentagon. He simply cannot tolerate having the graves of our brave soldiers being defiled by the likes of himself. It’s time for him to rebuke himself and decline any further association with himself and his television and radio programs. Glenn Beck is an extremist who hates America and Glenn Beck should have nothing to do with him.

Update: Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren agrees:

On August 28th my colleague Glenn Beck is going to lead an event on the mall in Washington, DC. It is the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech. The event is causing much controversy …some support and some don’t support and some are even furious and upset. Yes he has a First Amendment right to do it…but what about the wisdom of it? Remember…the Muslims in NYC have a First Amendment right to build a mosque but most Americans don’t want it…and you have to ask the wisdom of the Muslims to push the issue. Just because you have the right to do something does not mean you should. My view? No mosque at ground zero and Glenn should move his event.

Van Susteren was taking so much flack from the FoxBots that infest her blog that she had to post a disclaimer walking back her remarks and claiming she was just “raising a question.” Of course, that isn’t true. She explicitly stated that her view was that Beck should move his event.


Fair And Balanced Fox News Funds GOP

Posted by on August 16, 2010 at 11:56 am. 6 Comments :

A report from Business Week reveals that Rupert Murdoch is keen on electing Republican governors. His News Corp donated a million dollars to the Republican Governors Association in June.

Fox News GOP TeaThis is a significant contribution to a partisan electoral committee. There are 37 governorships on the ballot this year. Democrats currently hold a majority of state houses, Republicans hope reverse that. And since this is census year, the control of state governments can have a huge impact on the make up of Congress for the next decade by managing the redistricting process.

It should come as no surprise to political observers that partisans on both sides are lining up to support the party they regard as most sympathetic to their views. Unions will back Democrats. Wall Street and Oil companies will back Republicans. But what makes this unique is that the media are supposed to be unaffiliated politically. How can they produce unbiased coverage of electoral issues while they are spending millions to benefit one side. Can we really expect them to be critical of the GOP when they are bankrolling their campaigns?

Not that Murdoch’s news enterprises have ever produced unbiased coverage in the first place. His Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, Fox Radio, etc., have made it their business to advocate on behalf of the GOP for years. Their anchors and reporters routinely bash Democrats and liberals. But the funds they are providing to the RGA will result in further Democrat bashing which Fox News will dutifully report on the air. And no doubt the RGA will allocate a considerable amount of their advertising budget to Fox News and other Murdoch entities. So Murdoch is effectively putting that money right back in his own pocket while advancing the goals of Republican candidates.

This is one of the most disturbing consequences of the modern media environment where giant corporations have been permitted to control so much of the press. They are devoted only to their own fiduciary interests as opposed to the public interest. Their international stature means that have no loyalty to any particular nation including the United States. Yet they can provide virtually unlimited funding to influence elections that impact the lives of millions of actual citizens who cannot hope to match that kind of political philanthropy. And with the recent ruling in the Citizens United case, these corporations can now expand their charitable largess to federal campaigns. Congressman Paul Hodes and Senator Chris Dodd have each introduced legislation in their respective chambers to reverse Citizens United, but there is still much work to be done.

What Can You Do?

  • Support Congressman Alan Grayson who has introduced a package of bills designed to “Defend Our Democracy.”
  • Sign on to the Pledge to Protect America’s Democracy sponsored by People For the American Way and Public Citizen.
  • Move to Amend the Constitution to establish that money is not speech, and that human beings, not corporations, are persons entitled to constitutional rights.
  • Support The DISCLOSE Act to combat the new, unregulated corporate influence over elections.
  • Join the Fair Elections Now campaign to end corporate funded elections.
  • And get aboard the Free Press movement to reform the media, save the Internet, and restore independence, diversity and local representation in the media.

If we don’t succeed in returning control of our elections and our media to the people, we will continue to see perversions of democracy like that which News Corp is engaging in. Media corporations can’t serve the public while simultaneously financing partisan politics and padding their bank accounts, all at the public’s expense.

Update: For reference, the RGA also received donations (pdf) from wingnut billionaire David Koch ($1,000,000), GE ($105,000), Comcast ($50,000), Time Warner ($25,000), and SEIU ($100,000) Does Glenn Back know about that last one?

The DGA received donations (pdf) from AFSCME ($1,000,000), GE ($105,000), Comcast ($100,000), Time Warner ($35,000), and SEIU ($325,000), but $0.00 from News Corp.

Note that many organizations, including unions and media companies, play both sides of the fence. But News Corp is the only media enterprise that contributed to just one party. Fair and balanced my ass.


Sunday Funnies: Fuck Tea

Posted by on August 15, 2010 at 2:42 pm. 8 Comments :

The Agenda Project brings us a delightful and lilting smack down of the most over-hyped, non-movement since Heaven’s Gate.

I dare you to get that chorus out of your head the rest of the day. This is the sort of catchy jingle you might get if Karen Carpenter were reincarnated as a lefty activist. I’m sure it will set off some fireworks in the Tea Bagger’s domain where the profanity alone would bring on the vapors. And the Culture Warriors, from Sarah Palin to Bill O’Reilly, will come utterly unglued and declare this a harbinger of the decline of western civilization.

Stay tuned for the upcoming cover by Justin Bieber or maybe Lady Gaga.


Dumbass Of The Day: Erick Erickson

Posted by on August 14, 2010 at 1:31 pm. 1 Comments :

Congratulations are in order for Erick Erickson of RedState and CNN. He has run away with today’s Dumbass Award despite many deserving contestants. Here is a series of Tweets from Erickson that lowered him to the depths of depravity:

How exactly do our founding principles require the President to support a mosque at ground zero?

People citing freedom of religion as the reason Obama says our founding principles *demand* he support the mosque are not that bright.

Paging the Church of Satan: Our founding principles demand Barack Obama support your rights to human sacrifice. Carry on.

Paging random religious sects that still practice polygamy: our founding principles demand Barack Obama support group marriage.

Paging Islamofascists: Our founding principles demand Barack Obama support Jihad.

First of all, Dumbass, The mosque is NOT at ground zero. It is three blocks away. Secondly, our founding principles include the free exercise of religion. You may not think that supporting the First Amendment is bright, but that’s just your dumbassedness clouding what remains of your reason.

Finally, your comparison of constructing a legal building to human sacrifice, polygamy, and terrorism, all of which are against the law, demonstrates how worthy you are of this award.

Congratulations Dumbass.

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America Hates The Media – Thank You Fox News

Posted by on August 14, 2010 at 12:39 pm. 5 Comments :

A new survey by the Gallup organization reveals that Americans have all but given up on old media services like newspapers and television. Only about 25% of respondents say that they have a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in either. This puts the legacy media on a par with perennially hated institutions like banks, HMOs and congress.

It isn’t difficult to surmise the reason for this deep distrust. While the media has long been held in low esteem, there was a noticeable decline that began in the mid-1990s. Since that time confidence has dropped about 30%. And just as a point of interest, Fox News launched in 1996.

There isn’t really anything coincidental about it. Fox News has always had as its purpose the discrediting of news as an institution. I made the case for this last year in Fox News Confidential: The Truth Behind Its Secret Mission:

The real mission of Fox News is [cue trumpets] to so thoroughly tarnish the practice of journalism that majorities of the public would recoil in disgust at all of it. Murdoch and Ailes knew that the introduction of a single cable network would have a difficult time enshrouding the whole of the mediasphere in their veil of lies. So rather than try to change people’s minds, they would endeavor to poison the relationship that people have with the press.

Mission accomplished. By trivializing journalism with tabloid-style sensationalism, and diluting its authority with speculation and hyperbolic opinion, Fox has succeeded in producing large majorities of the American public who are now repulsed by the “mainstream” media that barges into their homes every day. The lies Fox News spews are secondary to the campaign of defamation that they launched against the media as a whole. As a result, their fictional accounts of current events are more enduring because people are paying less attention overall.

The saddest part of this scenario is that the non-Fox media have essentially cooperated with Fox’s disparagement of them. Rather than defend themselves and the integrity of their profession, they went along and allowed Fox to create the negative impressions that are now dominant in society. Even worse, they actually helped to reinforce those impressions.

The Washington Post apologized for not covering more of the fakery of Andrew Breitbart. CNN bent over backwards to endorse the wacko wing of the right by hiring RedState’s Erick Erickson. MSNBC continues to host disreputable characters like Joe Scarborough and Pat Buchanan. And everybody persists in covering non-entities like Sarah Palin and the Tea Party. With respect to the latter, Sarah Palin just came in fourth (pdf) amongst Republicans in a preference poll for 2012. And the Tea Party registered a measly (pdf) 30% favorable rating with an even smaller percentage (25%) saying they would vote for a candidate with a Tea Party affiliation. Yet these two subjects get wall-to-wall coverage across the media spectrum.

Perhaps if newspaper and television reporters would cover issues that actually address the interests of their audience they would not be so universally reviled. If they could manage to resist the melodramatic minutiae that Fox News has embraced they could recover some of their lost respect. And above all they need to put objectivity and honesty at the top of their agenda, not ratings and revenue.

In other words, if they deliver a product that is informative and useful, and contributes to people’s lives, profits and popularity will follow. If they continue to pursue the Fox model they will only succeed in further damaging their reputation and their prospects for the future. To say nothing about the damage they are doing to a country whose democracy relies on a well-informed population.


Laura Schlessinger’s Problem Is Not The N Word

Posted by on August 13, 2010 at 11:05 am. 90 Comments :

There is a lot of buzz this morning about a discussion on the Dr. Laura radio program where Schlessinger got heated up about what constitutes racist language.

In her response to an African-American caller who was disturbed about comments that she regarded as racist, Schlessinger accused her of being hypersensitive. She went on to justify the use of the “N” word because black comics use it all the time on HBO:

“Turn on HBO, listen to a black comic, and all you hear is ni**er, ni**er, ni**er.”

This has set off a flurry of outrage from offended African-American activists, journalists, and plain old ordinary citizens of every race. I won’t presume to lecture people on what they should or should not be offended by, but I’m not particularly disturbed by Schlessinger’s remarks in the context in which they were used. She is correct in saying that she didn’t call anyone a ni**er, she merely offered an example of how the word is used in a real-life scenario.

I don’t believe that any word should ever be permanently excised from our vocabulary. Words are just collections of letters and their meaning is assigned by the user and the context. I would not want Lenny Bruce or George Carlin to have been silenced for using words that people found offensive. Their application of language actually helped make our society better.

However, I am offended by remarks Schlessinger made on the same program that I find far more offensive than the “N” word. For instance:

“We’ve got a black man as president, and we have more complaining about racism than ever. I mean, I think that’s hilarious.

Hilarious? Schlessinger thinks it’s funny that the election of a black president results in an escalation of racist commentary and behavior. She doesn’t understand how that could happen. She seems to think that racism ended on November 4, 2008, because “Whites voted him in.” It’s all over, stop complaining.

Schlessinger needs to be reminded that some 48 million people voted against Obama. It’s safe to say that some percentage of them were racists. They didn’t go away after the inauguration either. It is the very fact that we have a black president that incites racists to be come more aggressive in their hate. It causes people who are inclined to draw these distinctions to press harder. Which brings us to the next notable remark from Dr. Laura:

“[W]hat I just heard from Jade is a lot of what I hear from black-think.”

Black-think? That is precisely the sort of distinction that is used to divide people. I would be interested to hear what her definition of black-think is – and what makes her an expert on it. It still amazes me how someone so incredibly dense has a platform on radio and TV to demonstrate their stupidity and utter lack of comprehension.

I find both of these comments far more offensive than a simple reiteration of the word “ni**er.” Just like my use of it there, it is intended only to let the reader know what word is being discussed. But the latter remarks are indicative of a more overt expression of racism on Schlessinger’s part. Or at the very least a striking inability to comprehend how race factors into society and relationships. She actually told the caller (whose husband is white) that if she didn’t have a sense of humor she shouldn’t “marry out of her race.” I suppose we should test all the interracial couples in America to make sure they are sufficiently funny.

I hope that Schlessinger’s appalling attitude about racism is brought more into the foreground and is not crowded out of the debate by a couple of incendiary words. Her problem is not a specific word, it is her whole mentality.

Update: In a hilarious bit of melodramatic tantrumizing, Dr. Laura has announced that she will be quitting her radio show at the end of this year. Her reason is that she wants to get her free speech rights back. By shutting down her nationally broadcast platform for speaking??? Um, OK.


Glenn Beck: We Are Only Delaying Our Death

Posted by on August 12, 2010 at 4:23 pm. 3 Comments :

On his radio program today, Glenn Beck laid out a plan for creating economic havoc and bankrupting the country. This exceeds Rush Limbaugh’s famous desire for President Obama to fail. Beck is proposing an action plan to achieve that end.

In a discussion that began with a biblical reference to Ecclesiastes, Beck preached that “To everything there is a season.” and that “This is the season for awakening.” Beck’s awakening is one that calls for Americans to recognize the futility of striving to make America a better country, and instead to let it collapse into ruin:

Beck: For this system to work you’ve got to spend money. But I’m telling you this system will never work. We’re only delaying our death. Let us do what Coolidge did. Let it come down and retool. It led to the roaring twenties.

Beck is expressly advising his disciples to withhold spending. Our fragile economy is thirsting for the consumer confidence that will drive growth, create jobs, and save families, but Beck is telling his viewers to that there is no hope, that “this system will never work.” That advice can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Which, of course, is exactly what Beck wants. He says so explicitly when he calls for “let[ting] it come down.”

There is a great deal wrong with that advice. First and foremost it is an advocacy of failure and hardship. It would cause profound and unnecessary pain for millions. But his justification for this dreadful path is that it could lead to something resembling the roaring twenties. Well, we know how that turned out: The stock market crash of 1929, followed by the Great Depression. This is what Beck is actively engaged in bringing about by misleading his gullible congregation into deliberately making matters worse.

Perhaps he believes that we deserve to suffer; that we have brought this hardship on ourselves. Perhaps he believes that God has forsaken us, and for that we must endure the cleansing pain of a divine fire. He spoke repeatedly of fire on television today, which fits nicely with what he was saying on the radio this morning:

Beck: Is this land less blessed than we’ve all been raised? Well not all of us. Not the Marxists – almost everybody who works at the White House. Are we somehow or another less blessed as a land than we always have been? I think the answer to that one is yes.

So Beck has concluded that America is less blessed, which is another way of saying that God has turned his back on us. Then Beck went full-throttle televangelist, discarding all talk of politics and policy. He sermonized passionately that the only hope for America is to turn to faith. And then he made it an article of faith to attend his revival meeting in Washington DC in a couple of weeks.

All that’s left of Beck’s spiel is hucksterism and lies. He sees himself as the sword of God and the shepherd of his unhinged flock. With every day his appeal to fear escalates. But what’s truly frightening is that he has said that his upcoming rally will be an historical event that will be a turning point for the nation. Now he must feel some pressure to deliver. I wonder what the Hell he is planning (with the emphasis on Hell).


Rupert Murdoch Doesn’t Own Me

Posted by on August 11, 2010 at 10:21 am. 8 Comments :

He thinks he owns the sky. Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp is embroiled in a trademark dispute over the name of its European TV division, BSkyB, which operates under the name Sky TV. It has recently been revealed that News Corp is challenging Skype and seeking to prevent them from using their name and logo. From The Telegraph (a Murdoch owned rag)…

Sky is involved in a long-running dispute with Skype in relation to several trade mark applications filed by Skype, including, but not limited to, television-related goods and services,” the spokesman said. “The key contention in the dispute is that the brands ‘Sky’ and ‘Skype’ will be considered confusingly similar by members of the public.

Really? Then you would think that Murdoch would have a problem with the name of this web site: News Corpse. If adding two letters to the end of the word “sky” is confusingly similar, then why not adding two letters to the end of News Corp?

Some other potential targets of Murdoch’s legal team may include actors Ione Skye and Michael J. Fox. Big Sky, Montana may be at risk as well. And don’t forget that Murdoch also owns the Wall Street Journal, so New York may have to change their street name. In fact, since Murdoch’s global enterprise uses the word “news,” every other company that does so might have to lawyer up, including NBC News and the Dallas News.

But none of these scofflaws are as brazen as I am. Apparently Murdoch is afraid of me as he sits trembling in his penthouse watching his fingernails grow. What other reason could there be for his cowardly silence in the face of what he must regard as obvious infringement?

Yo Rupert…I got your confusingly similar right here. So bring it on you crusty, old, lily-livered, wretch.