Fox Nation vs. Reality: Who’s Praising Communist China?

Posted by on August 2, 2012 at 11:04 am. 1 Comments :

The Fox Nationalists have demonstrated their aversion to the truth on so many occasions it’s hard to keep an accurate count. Now, in response to an new ad by Massachusetts senate candidate Elizabeth Warren, they have not only lied, but exposed their latent unpatriotic tendencies as well.

Fox Nation

To state bluntly that “Elizabeth Warren Praises Communist China” is a thoroughly manufactured falsehood. She never did anything remotely of the kind. What she did was advocate for the importance of America remaining competitive on an international basis and not permit China to take the lead. Here is what she said:

“We’ve got bridges and roads in need of repair, and thousands of people in need of work. Why aren’t we rebuilding America? Our competitors are putting people to work, building the future. China invests 9 percent of its GDP in infrastructure. America, we’re at just 2.4 percent. We can do better. We can build a foundation for a strong new economy and get people in Massachusetts to work right now.”

The Fox Nationalists have a decidedly shallow grasp of world affairs. They think that lamenting America falling behind on matters critical to international competitiveness is the same as praising a political system of government. Were these same conservatives outraged when Reagan, and other cold warriors, argued that the U.S. was falling behind the Soviet Union militarily and, therefore, they were praising Russia’s communism? And more recently, did they hammer Newt Gingrich as a commie-symp when he said last January that “You cannot compete with China in the long run if you have an inferior infrastructure.”

For Fox News, and its conservative benefactors, to criticize Warren for these comments is akin to advocating for America to succumb to foreign competitors. A better headline for Fox’s article might have been: “We’re #2. Conservatives Celebrate the U.S. Coming in Second to China on Infrastructure Development.” In effect, it’s conservatives who are acceding to China’s superiority – not the other way around.

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The Alaska Mistake Mouths Off: Sarah Palin Finally Responds To Dick Cheney

Posted by on August 1, 2012 at 10:12 am. 1 Comments :

Sarah PalinIt took 72 hours, but Sarah Palin has finally responded to the blunt assessment of her by former Vice-President Dick Cheney. Palin visited the friendly territory of Fox News, and her old pal Greta Van Susteren, to swing back at Cheney who told ABC News that her selection as John McCain’s running mate was “a mistake.” Cheney does have a gift for understatement.

In the course of the interview Palin went out of her way to insult Cheney by saying that his remarks about her were the result of his having been “convinced” of a “false narrative” by “the lamestream media.” Cheney may be many things (many terrible, frightening things), but he does not tend to swallow prepackaged media presentations. Rather, he is more likely to invent them himself. Nevertheless, Palin tossed out her usual word-salad saying…

“Here’s where the mistake would have been, Greta, I believe. It’s had I not answered the call. I was honored to get to run for Vice President of the United States alongside Senator John McCain. I was honored to accept the nomination from the GOP.”

Palin seems to think that the mistake Cheney referenced was that she accepted the VP nomination, rather than McCain offering it to her in the first place. That sort of incoherent misunderstanding validates Cheney’s opinion of her. But Palin wasn’t finished. She went on to glorify herself and the sacrifice she undertook to become a major party candidate for vice-president.

“It would have been a mistake to have hunkered down, just lived that luxurious, if you will, comfortable lifestyle in Alaska.”

Of course, we now know that Palin gleefully exploited the notoriety she attained from the nomination. She peddled her books and speaking engagements. She signed a multimillion dollar deal with Fox News. She starred in laughably inept reality TV programs. She increased her net worth many times over, yet recalls wistfully her “luxurious” lifestyle in Alaska. Is anyone really buying this tripe?


The Hilariously Incompetent Campaign Of Mitt Romney And Friends

Posted by on July 31, 2012 at 2:41 pm. 4 Comments :

All the signs of utter collapse are starting to show. Mitt Romney’s campaign is stumbling its way through the election season with embarrassing gaffes and blatant obfuscation. The American people know quite well that Romney is desperately trying to hide his record and run on attacks on President Obama.

The problem for Romney, however, is that he isn’t even doing that very well. Take for instance this allegedly anti-Obama video produced by the Romney backers at the Restore Our Future PAC:

Setting aside the few seconds at the end when they regurgitate the dishonest and out-of-context soundbite of Obama saying “You didn’t build that,” the rest of the ad is a listing of accomplishments that Obama can be proud of. Democrats should thank the PAC for promoting these achievements of the Obama administration. They should also thank Fox Nation for featuring it at the top of their web site. The ad is far more pro than anti Obama.

Also, today the Romney campaign released a new ad entitled “Believe In Our Future.” The ad made some peculiar points, such as quoting Bill Clinton, something that will not go over very well with the Republican base. The quote merely complimented Romney’s business resume, but left out the fact that such experience does not transfer over to management of government. In any case, can you imagine GOP voters standing up and cheering for a candidate that the ad is implying is endorsed by Bill Clinton?

What’s worse is the segment of the ad that says that Romney has the “Best jobs record of any Massachusetts governor in a decade.”

Mitt Romney Jobs Record

What a pathetic overreach. Massachusetts has had only two governors in the last decade – Romney and Democrat Deval Patrick. Romney’s tenure was, by every measurable standard, a miserable failure. He added $2.6 billion to the state’s deficit, and by the end of his term the state was 47th out of fifty in job creation. Patrick began his term in 2007, at the start of Bush’s Great Recession. So Romney’s point appears to be that his lousy jobs record was better than the one of his successor who served during the worst economic collapse since the Depression. Is that the best argument he can make?


Romney Press Aide Tells Press To ‘Kiss My Ass’

Posted by on July 31, 2012 at 12:51 pm. 3 Comments :

It appears that Mitt Romney’s absence of diplomacy has trickled down to his staff. Rick Gorka, whose job is to work with the press covering the Romney campaign, lashed out at reporters today telling them to “shove it” and to “kiss my ass.”

The incident that set off this temper tantrum occurred when Romney was leaving an event in Poland and reporters called out questions to him. Gorka objected to the inquiries but was met with complaints that Romney has not answered questions from the press corps during the campaign trip.

That’s when Gorka went off and cursed at the people he is supposed to be charming. Nice strategy. However it is fully consistent with the cloddish and insulting etiquette of his boss.

Over at Fox Nation they reported the incident with a headline reading: Romney Aide Scolds Pesky Reporters.

Fox Nation

Oh those pesky reporters asking their questions and everything. What a nuisance. Especially for a campaign that has been unprecedented in their lack of transparency and access to the media. Romney has refused to release his tax returns; has evaded all inquiries about his off-shore bank accounts; won’t talk about his tenure at Bain Capital, has virtually ignored his term as governor of Massachusetts; will not comment of the millions of taxpayer dollars he took to fund the 2002 Olympics; and now his press aide is cussing at reporters because they had the audacity to ask questions.

And this is what Fox demeans as pesky. Funny…they didn’t have that problem when Neil Munro of the Daily Caller shouted questions at President Obama while he was in the middle of a speech.


And The Olympic Gold For Freestyle Stupidity Goes To Dick Morris Of Fox News

Posted by on July 31, 2012 at 11:15 am. 2 Comments :

Dick Morris has done it again. I wouldn’t cover this ignorant gasbag if it wasn’t so much damn fun. He has absolutely nothing of substance to say and what he does say is certifiably bonkers.

Dick Morris

Last night on the Sean Hannity program on Fox News (not exactly a Mensa gathering either), Hannity introduced his theory that Bill Clinton would be a drag on President Obama’s reelection campaign:

Hannity: You know Bill Clinton better than anybody else. Now here is a guy that I suspect, before all is said and done, is gonna, in his own way, undermine Barack Obama’s reelection chances.

First of all, Morris has not had any relationship with Clinton for sixteen years, since he was fired when it was revealed that he had allowed a toe-sucking prostitute to listen in on conversations with the President. That’s the sort of character that compelled Fox News to hire Morris. In response to Hannity, Morris said this:

Morris: I guarantee you, Sean, based on what I have heard from third parties or I have spoken to that William Jefferson Clinton is going to cast his ballot for Mitt Romney. However, he’s going to open his mouth for Barack Obama because his wife is hostage. They have her under lock and key as secretary of state, and he is scared that Obama will lose and blame him if he undermines Obama. So he will do everything he asks him to do and then he will jab him whenever he can.

Of course. It’s so obvious. Right after Clinton officially nominates Obama at the Democratic convention he’s going to rush off and vote against him. As if denying Obama that one vote will counter all the positive PR his convention speech will produce. Morris thinks that a life-long Democrat is prepared to vote against a Democratic incumbent for president based on what he’s heard from third parties.

The business about Hillary, however, is the truly idiotic part of this. Morris seems to think that making a woman the most powerful diplomat in the world is equivalent to tying her up in the back room of a flop house. And if Clinton is so worried about being blamed for an Obama loss why would tell anyone that he that he is voting for Romney? Particularly anyone who would actually speak to Dick Morris.

The manure spread by Morris is high grade bullshit. And it’s something he does frequently. Take for example his 2008 book “Condi vs. Hillary,” which contained his astute prediction for the 2008 race in the title. That didn’t exactly pan out for him, did it? From the introduction to the book:

{T]here is no doubt that Hillary Clinton is on a virtually uncontested trajectory to win the Democratic nomination and, very likely, the 2008 presidential election. She has no serious opposition in her party […]

The stakes are high. In 2008, no ordinary white male Republican candidate will do. Forget Bill Frist, George Allen, and George Pataki. Hillary would easily beat any of them. Rudy Giuliani and John McCain? Either of them could probably win, but neither will ever be nominated by the Republican Party.

So Morris got the Democratic nominee wrong, despite his conviction that there was “no doubt.” He also got the Republican nominee wrong. And the Republican who Morris said could not be nominated, but would win if he were, was nominated but actually lost. Is there any way he could have been more wrong?

And now Morris delivers that sort of analysis on Fox News. It is perfectly aligned with the low bar for intelligence and reason that Fox sets for their pundits and anchors. And anyone who watches and believes this tripe deserves the howls of ridicule they will receive when they are inevitably proven to be as stupid as Morris et al.


IMPLOMACY: Mitt Romney Goes To Israel And Insults Palestinians

Posted by on July 30, 2012 at 8:32 pm. 4 Comments :

After insulting the British, Mitt Romney jetted off to the Middle East and promptly insulted Palestinians. The frequency with which Romney creates international incidents is more than slightly suggestive of his unfitness to serve as president. And his proclivity for such gaffes begs for a new word to describe his imploding diplomacy, which I am calling “Implomacy.”

This time Romney was attempting to praise Israel as a prosperous and productive nation, but in his inimitably derisive manner, Romney approached the subject from a direction that portrayed Palestinians as inferior culturally.

Romney: Culture makes all the difference. […] As you come here and you see the GDP per capita, for instance, in Israel which is about $21,000 dollars, and compare that with the GDP per capita just across the areas managed by the Palestinian authority, which is more like $10,000 per capita, you notice such a dramatically stark difference in economic vitality. […] And as I come here and I look out over this city and consider the accomplishments of the people of this nation, I recognize the power of at least culture and a few other things.

Let’s set aside for the moment that Romney badly misstated the economic facts. According to the World Bank, in 2011 Israel’s GDP was $31,000 per capita, compared to just over $1,500 in the West Bank and Gaza. But the bigger problem with Romney’s remarks is that they are an affront to people who do not have control over their economy. Israel enforces severe restrictions on the territories inhabited by Palestinians. Granted, they may have good cause considering the threat of attacks that have originated from those territories, but the resultant economic conditions can hardly be attributed to any cultural shortcomings on the part of the Palestinian people. The inappropriateness of Romney’s comments are evident if you take the same comments and replace the names of those involved. For instance…

As you come here and you see the median household income, for instance, in Beverly Hills which is about $96,000 dollars, and compare that with the median income just across town in Watts, which is more like $25,000, you notice such a dramatically stark difference in economic vitality. […] And as I come here and I look out over this city and consider the accomplishments of the people of this nation, I recognize the power of at least culture and a few other things.

Would Romney suggest that the residents of Watts are culturally inferior? Or Harlem? Or Mississippi? Does he notice a “dramatically stark difference” in the vitality of residents of Greenwich, CT, as compared to those in West Virginia?

If Romney were to have said something along these lines he would have certainly forfeited the votes of those communities. The problem with his doing it in Israel is that, were he president, he could fatally harm the efforts to bring the region to a negotiated peace. As it stands now, how willing do you think the Palestinians would be to trust Romney to be a fair dealer in future peace talks?

This is not a trivial political dust-up. Lives hang in the balance. And Romney is proving that his hamfisted boorishness is too dangerous to take a chance on. He continues to make us wonder who means by “us.”

Mitt Romney

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Mitt Romney’s Shocking Confession: I Am Unqualified To Be President

Posted by on July 30, 2012 at 12:02 pm. 3 Comments :

It’s not often that a candidate for president will publicly declare that he doesn’t consider himself to be qualified for the office he is seeking. But that is precisely what the putative Republican nominee Mitt Romney has just done.

In an interview with ABC News this weekend, Romney was asked about his stubborn refusal to make his tax returns public, as almost every candidate for president has done since his own father set the precedent over forty years ago. Romney’s response was a typically arrogant expression of his sense of privilege wherein members of his elitist caste are not subject to the rules that the rest of the riff raff have to live by:

Romney: “I don’t pay more than are legally due and frankly if I had paid more than are legally due I don’t think I’d be qualified to become president,”

Once again Romney has stuck to his position that he doesn’t believe that the American people are worthy appraisers of his fitness for office or that they are entitled to ascertain whether he has had any shady dealings or conflicts of interest. And with a financial portfolio as vast as Romney’s, conflicts are difficult to avoid.

But what’s really interesting is his self-assessment about what qualifies one to be president. According to Romney the criteria includes whether or not you ever overpaid your federal income taxes. Unfortunately, Romney’s determined defiance to reveal his tax returns prevents us from applying his own criteria so that we make a judgment as to his qualifications.

However, another source has emerged that may settle the question. Ben Domenech, of the ultra-rightist web site RedState, has discovered what Romney is really hiding. The truth, according to Domenech, is that Romney did overpay his federal taxes. Domenech, citing “people who were familiar with the veep vetting process for McCain in 2008,” said…

“We know he turned over more than two decades of returns to the McCain campaign during the veepstakes vetting process. What was in them? Mitt’s taxes were complex, but clean. He overpaid his taxes.”

There you have it. The only people other than Romney’s accounting staff who have seen his tax returns have affirmed that Romney overpaid. Romney believes that such overpayment of taxes is a disqualification for the presidency. That might explain his obstinance with regards to being honest with voters about his taxes. He doesn’t want them to know that he is an unqualified hack by his own standards.

For the record, I don’t buy for minute that Romney overpaid his taxes. That’s a transparently biased polishing of his record by a far right-wing toady who opened his big mouth before Romney laid out his silly principle of overpayment. Now it has doubled back to bite him in the ass. But the controversy illustrates just how tone-deaf Romney is about the tax return issue. Voters need to know that their president is not a crook (h/t R. Nixon), but Romney will not provide the documentation necessary for us to make an informed judgment. It’s clear that Romney has made his own judgment as articulated by conservative George Will (along with eighteen other prominent conservatives):

“The costs of not releasing the returns are clear, therefore he must have calculated that there are higher costs in releasing them.”

Exactly. And that’s why the American people need to know more about Romney before they can ever take his candidacy seriously.


New Fox News Promo Asks: Everyone Should Vote? Answers: No

Posted by on July 27, 2012 at 12:03 pm. 10 Comments :

In a promotion for a new John Stossel program on Fox News, the viewer is asked whether “everyone should vote.” That question, which by itself belittles the traditional American value of Democracy and civic participation, is followed by a loud game show style buzzer and a big red circle with a line through it – the universal symbol for the negative.

So once again, Fox is taking a position in favor of shrinking the electorate. It’s a position that is consistent with their campaign to help states purge their voter rolls of undesirable voters like minorities, seniors, students, and the poor. The evidence of their determination to undermine free elections is overwhelming. The vast majority of those on the purge lists of states like Florida and Pennsylvania are citizens who would be likely to vote Democratic. And just this morning a report revealed that the former head of the Florida Republican Party admitted in a court deposition that the party openly discussed plans aimed at “keeping blacks from voting.”

Conservatives have long had an aversion to full participation in Democracy. They believe that the right to vote is extended too generously to members of society that they don’t happen to like. Here is a brief sampling of their recent remarks on the subject beginning with Stossel himself:

John Stossel (Fox News): “Let’s stop saying everyone should vote.”

Matthew Vadum: “Registering [the poor] to vote is like handing out burglary tools to criminals. It is profoundly antisocial and un-American to empower the nonproductive segments of the population to destroy the country.”

Rush Limbaugh: “If people cannot even feed and clothe themselves, should they be allowed to vote?”

Judson Phillips (Tea Party Nation): “If you’re not a property owner, I’m sorry, but property owners have a little bit more of a vested stake in the community than not property owners do.”

Steve Doocy (Fox News): “With 47% of Americans not paying taxes – 47% – should those who don”t pay be allowed to vote?”

Republicans know they can’t win elections honestly, so they plot to steal elections by preventing, discouraging, and obstructing legitimate citizens from voting. And this new program on Fox is further evidence of their brazen disrespect for Democracy.


Fox Nation Tries Out New Misquote Of Obama For The Romney Machine

Posted by on July 26, 2012 at 2:22 am. 15 Comments :

The folks at the Romney campaign, and their PR reps at Fox News, must have been pleased with the phony controversy they created by deceitfully editing President Obama’s remarks. Their dishonest portrayal of the President as dismissive of the efforts of business developers successfully exploited the short attention spans of many media pundits while simultaneously stimulating the drool glands of conservative dittoheads.

So satisfied with their reality distortion, they are already testing a new iteration on the Fox Nation web site: “Obama: Our Union Isn’t Perfect”

Fox Nation

Consistent with their modus operandi, the Fox Nationalists have excerpted an out-of-context snippet from a speech Obama delivered to the National Urban League. The rhetorical surgery creates a deliberately false impression of the President’s views. In this case, the intent is to malign Obama for insulting America which, of course, he never did. Here is a more complete segment of Obama’s remarks where he was recalling his work on behalf of low-income families in Chicago:

“I confess the progress didn’t come quickly, and it did not come easily. Sometimes it didn’t come at all. There were times where I thought about giving up and moving on. But what kept me going day in and day out was the same thing that has sustained the Urban League all these years. The same thing that sustains all of you. And that is the belief that in America, change is always possible. That our union may not be perfect, but it is perfectible. That we can strive over time, through effort and sweat and blood and tears until it is the place we imagine. It may come in fits and starts, at a pace that can be slow and frustrating, but if we are willing to push through all the doubt and the cynicism and the weariness, then yes, we can form that more perfect union.”

The far-right wingnuts who manage to squeeze something derogatory out of these words are fundamentally dim-witted. They are the sort of patriopathic zealots who can’t comprehend that nothing, including America, is perfect. And despite their glassy-eyed flag-lust, they are not even aware that it was our founders who set the nation on a course to perfect the union. They even wrote it into the Constitution.

Obama’s speech was an indisputably positive expression of the limitless scope of opportunity that America represents. It was an affirmation of our nation’s unique ability to grow and to heal despite all obstacles. Yet the gloomsayers at Fox managed to dial up their pessimism and animus and extract something so utterly contrary that it bears no resemblance to the meaning intended by the President.

It is that ability to detour so sharply from the obvious that makes Fox Nation such a productive factory of falsehoods. And it should surprise no one if this warped wording becomes the subject of Mitt Romney’s next lie-riddled advertisement. After all, Fox is the testing grounds for Romney’s campaign of manufactured outrage. You might call it his hissy fitness center.

Check out Jon Stewart’s brilliant take on the subject:



Fox And Friends Exploits Children To Advance Their GOP Agenda

Posted by on July 24, 2012 at 11:45 am. 11 Comments :

This morning on Fox And Friends, host Brian Kilmeade conducted an interview that demonstrated the lengths to which Fox will go to distort reality and pander to the ignorance of their audience. The segment featured two adorable girls, aged 7 and 4, who Kilmeade exploited in a most disturbing manner.

Fox News

The subject of the interview was the sidewalk enterprise the girls had set up selling lemonade. But Kilmeade perverted that classic American endeavor into a political attack on President Obama. His creepy inquisition of the kids furthered the Fox-generated lie that the President had insulted small business owners by recognizing correctly that they benefit from the collective contributions of society. And Kilmeade recruited these children to advance his dishonest political smear.

Kilmeade: These two girls built their lemonade business not only without government help, but without any help. […] How do you feel about the president saying that you needed help to start this business?
Clara Sutton: I would say that’s rude because we worked very hard to build this business. But we did have help. Our help came from our investors, our dad and step-mom, along with other friends and family.

When an alleged “news” network asks a 7 year old about the political implications of a presidential speech, you know they are either reaching in desperation for a new angle from which to attack a political foe, or they are conceding that their audience isn’t capable of understanding anything above the level of child.

Even so, Clara’s answer affirmed that she required help to build her business, contradicting the premise of Kilmeade’s question. The only parties whom she credited were her family, but, as a 7 year old, she can be forgiven for having neglected to give credit to the government entities that provided the sidewalk where she located her business, the water she used in her product, the streets her customers used to drive to her stand, the safety provided by law enforcement, and the deduction she represented on her parents tax returns.

Expecting a child to grasp the complexities of a political argument may be a little much to ask. That’s particularly true when the adult asking the question has deliberately lied in his presentation. No doubt the case being made by Fox was eagerly assimilated by their audience who probably can’t comprehend at a level much beyond that of young Clara, but the attempt to corral a child into a partisan debate is disgusting and exploitative. But what’s really sad is that it is not surprising that Fox News would sink to such despicable depths.

Update: Added video.