Thanks To Fox News: Human Intelligence Is On The Decline

Posted by on May 27, 2013 at 9:02 am. 6 Comments :

Imagine my surprise to find a story on Fox Nation, the lie-riddled community web site of Fox News, about the decline of human intelligence. Was this an attempt to convey the results of an academic study, or are they just bragging?

Fox Nation

The article refers to a study done at the University of Amsterdam that concludes that westerners have lost 14 IQ points on average since the Victorian Era. The study’s author surmised that a number of complex factors led to the conclusion that was based on tests of visual reaction times. The tests reflect a person’s mental processing speed which correlates to IQ. Among the explanations offered for the brain drain were the migration of populations to densely packed cities and a tendency for more intelligent women to choose to have fewer children.

Not surprisingly, the Fox Nationalists utterly misconstrued the study’s findings. Their linked source for the story was an article on the conservative blog, Townhall, where the web editor dismissed the science behind the research and offered his own opinion that the decline in IQ was caused by MTV and video games. Somewhere along the way he missed the fact that the reported decline occurred over a period of more than a hundred years, which makes his hypothesis focusing on modern television and technology a pretty good example of a dumbed-down contemporary human.

The rejection of science is not unusual for conservatives who persistently refuse to accept the scientific community’s nearly universal consensus on things like evolution and climate change. That may explain why scientists themselves veer away from conservative associations. A study by the Pew Center for the People and the Press revealed that “most scientists identify as Democrats (55%), while 32% identify as independents and just 6% say they are Republicans.”

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Furthermore, if there is a decline in intelligence, it is most starkly evident in the Tea-publican Party. A report published by (of all places) Fox Business, surveyed the nation’s academic profile and found that the ten states with the best educated citizens were all “blue” states, while nine of the ten worst educated were “red” states (and eight of those were in the south).

Fox Business

The decline of western intelligence, according to the Amsterdam data, has been in the works for many decades. It would be interesting to conduct another version of this research that measures IQ in the United States since 1996, the year that Fox News debuted. Numerous studies have already documented the fact that Fox News viewers are more ill-informed than consumers of other media. In fact, one study demonstrates that the more one watches Fox, the more misinformed one becomes. Of course, being ignorant or misinformed is not the same as lacking intelligence. But it has the same effect on electoral outcomes and, consequently, public policy.

So whether Fox viewers are stupid or ignorant is immaterial. The important thing is to continue to provide a counterbalance to the propaganda Fox spews and rescue citizens from their deceitful disinformation that only benefits the wealthy, right-wing elites who Fox was created to serve.

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Fox News Throws Out Benghazi With Yesterday’s Scandal Trash

Posted by on May 26, 2013 at 10:00 am. 8 Comments :

Remember way back to those forgone days when spring was nascent and Benghazi was blooming like kudzu on crack? All the way back to the first week of May 2013, a time of carefree apoplexy over impetuous and exploitable tragedies. The old-timers will recall just how vibrant and fulfilling it was for the demagogues and scavengers who feast on scandal, but whose appetite has now moved on to fresher carcasses.

Used Scandals
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Those days are now faint memories. All those week or two ago, when outraged conservatives in the press could think of nothing other than the horror that took place some eight months earlier in a remote Libyan outpost, are like whispers on the lips of ghosts.

It seems incomprehensible that there were once such emphatic calls for Barack Obama’s impeachment due to the Libyan attacks; that pundits envisioned him being driven from office; that Watergate analogies spread like a plague. Because in recent days there has been hardly a mention of any of it. Fox News, who was blanketing their airwaves with Benghazi Fever a week ago, have all but ignored the story this week. Having failed to ignite a fire under Obama’s presidency, the Benghazi affair has been consigned to the garbage heap of history. Along with such other notable pseudo-scandals as Solyndra, Fast & Furious, gun confiscations, the climate change hoax, Sharia Law, death panels, pallin’ around with terrorists, and the Kenyan nativity, Benghazi has been picked clean by the vultures of the Tea-publican prairie, and having concluded that there is no meat left on the bones, they see no reason to stick around.

That is not to say that the rightist mobs have abandoned their mission to destroy Obama. They have just refocused their attention on a younger, prettier scandal peeking out from behind the skirts of the sultry Internal Revenue Service. This is now the new gate-suffixed controversy that demands immediate impeachment hearings and affiliated witch trials.

The ease with which the Wingnut Inquisitionists shift from one hysteria to another reveals something foundational about their character. It is obvious that they couldn’t care less about the patriots who died in Benghazi or their grieving families. They don’t care about the policies that impact the security of Americans in foreign territories. They only care about how tragedies such as these can be exploited politically, and when it becomes apparent that their political punch has petered out, they can’t abandon them quickly enough.

So it’s off with Benghazi and on to the IRS – for now. Rest assured that this too shall pass as soon as the Obama-bashers realize that they can’t hang this one around his neck either. So even the legitimate concerns raised with regard to the abuse of power and politicization of the taxing agency will go unanswered. Without an Obama angle, Fox and their GOP benefactors see no reason to pursue it. They would rather not waste their time cleaning up the IRS – or securing diplomatic embassies, or mandating universal background checks for assault weapons, or stimulating the economy and creating jobs, or performing any of the other functions of governing – unless it could lead to toppling Obama.

One thing you can say for them is that they have a single-minded devotion to purpose. And their purpose has nothing whatsoever to do with serving America or its people. Their purpose is, and has always been, to deep-six a president they never considered legitimate; who was never patriotic enough, Christian enough, smart enough, or white enough.


FLASHBACK: Before Fox News Attacked The IRS, They Embraced It To Attack Media Matters

Posted by on May 24, 2013 at 4:42 pm. 7 Comments :

In researching the recent controversies over the IRS and its alleged targeting of conservative non-profits, I stumbled across an article I wrote two years ago that unveils yet another blatant hypocrisy from Fox News (as if more were necessary to make the point). The current programming on Fox is dedicated almost non-stop to hammering the Obama administration for the misbehavior of low-level IRS staff. The story has even supplanted their previous pet scandal, Benghazi. And despite making broad accusations of complicity by the President, they have failed to provide even a smidgen of evidence that he had any role in the way that non-profits were selected for review.

That simple fact, however, has not stopped Fox from launching a sustained campaign of outrage aimed at the IRS, which they now regard as a totalitarian agency bent on destroying America and freedom. But it was not always thus. Not too long ago, Fox News was happy to use the IRS as a cudgel against their own perceived enemies. They embarked on mission to wipe the watchdog group Media Matters off the face of the earth. It was a weeks-long effort that included dozens of broadcast segments explicitly recruiting their viewers to file falsified complaints challenging the tax-exempt status of Media Matters. In the process they brought in pundits, and lawyers, and even their in-house “Psycho Analyst” to paint a disparaging portrait of the organization and its founder.

Fox News - Media Matters

The irony of Fox using the IRS to harass a non-profit organization just because they disagree agree with it will surely be lost on everyone at Fox and everyone who watches it. Below is the article re-posted in full because it is still as relevant today as it was then. Actually more so, with the addition of Fox’s newly minted contempt for the IRS.

Media Matters Has Fox News Scared And Desperate

[July 11, 2011] In the untamed jungle that is cable news, there is a ferocious and predatory beast stalking the terrain. Anyone who has encountered Fox News in the wild can attest to the spine-chilling threat imposed by the pseudo-news network. And now Fox News has the scent of new game.

The Fox News pack is on the prowl for the media watchdog group, Media Matters, against whom they have recently initiated a sustained assault. In the past two weeks they have featured over 30 stories with the express purpose of challenging the group’s right to exist. Fox has assigned network stalwarts like Bill O’Reilly, Bret Baier, Charles Krauthammer, James Rosen, Ann Coulter, Dick Morris, and Bernie Goldberg, to the mission. This is an unprecedented, broadly distributed attack by a major media enterprise against a non-profit group they regard as an adversary.

This latest batch of complaints stem from comments made last March by Media Matters founder, David Brock. He was quoted in Politico as saying that the organization was shifting its focus toward Fox News to one of “guerrilla warfare and sabotage.” Giving Fox the benefit of doubt, one might conclude that it’s only fair that Fox defend itself from such an overt declaration of war. The only thing that might refute that perspective is – reality.

If this is war, it is one wherein Fox is the aggressor. Fox News initiated their attacks long ago with aggressive and false assertions that cast Media Matters as hacks, anti-American, violent, and communist. They alleged that George Soros was pulling their strings long before Soros ever made any contributions the group. Fox stalwarts like Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck engaged in rhetoric so hostile that it inspired actual physical attacks against Media Matters and their progressive allies. This video (courtesy of Media Matters) was posted two years ago and illustrates the hostility harbored across the Fox platform long before Brock’s recent comments:

The new and highly coordinated offensive by Fox asserts that Media Matters has violated the terms of their tax-exempt status by setting their sights on Fox. They quote from the IRS rules governing non-profits that state that…

“…501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office.”

On the basis of that criteria, Fox News argues that Media Matters is in violation and should have their tax-exempt status revoked. However, in order for that to be valid, Fox would have to admit that they are a political operation so that attacks on Fox News would qualify as opposition to political campaigns and/or candidates. Without that stipulation there is no violation on the part of Media Matters. So Fox is, in effect, conceding their role as a Republican mouthpiece. Shocking, I know.

Contine reading →


Andrea Tantaros Of Fox News Wants You To Punch Her In The Face

Posted by on May 24, 2013 at 3:56 am. 12 Comments :

Fox News pundit and co-host of “The Five,” Andrea Tantaros, stepped forward on Thursday to make a brave announcement outlining her position on the free exercise of democracy.

Fox News - Andrea Tantaro

In a discussion about … Oh what the hell, it doesn’t matter what it was about. It always ends the same way with whichever interchangeable right-wing yakker belching out something similar to what Tantaros said: “This is Obama’s America! It’s like the Soviet Union.”

That’s right. America is exactly like the Soviet Union. You almost can’t tell them apart. Remember when Soviet voters elected a Black Russian to the presidency? And if the USSR was known for anything it was the freedom that people like Tantaros have to criticize the government and its leaders. But Tantaros went further to declare that Obama…

“…said he would change the country. He said it. He said it. He said it. And a lot of people voted for him. And if you see any of those people today, do me a favor. Punch them in the face.”

Now that is Tantaros’ America. And it’s nothing at all like the Soviet Union. After all, Obama said he would change the country, which just about every candidate for president says. When was the last time you heard a candidate promise to keep everything exactly as it is right now? Then Tantaros notes that a lot of people voted for Obama. Well, actually a decisive majority. It’s called democracy. So that right there earns them a blow across the chops. How dare they express their popular choice for leadership?

But lest we caught up in rhetorical trivia, let’s examine Tantaros’ remarks from a philosophical perspective. What she is saying is that it is appropriate to physically assault those with whom you have political disagreements. If someone votes for a presidential candidate who you don’t like, punch them in the face. If they dispute your contention that global warming is hoax, kneecap them with a baseball bat. And just to make sure they can’t continue advocating for Marxist welfare like Social Security or Medicare, pour some acid down their throat.

Since Tantaros co-hosts a daily program on Fox News, we can rest assured that she holds these views in the fairest, most balanced way possible. She certainly would not assert that these remedies to political debates be reserved for only one side. Therefore, it’s safe to assume that she would be totally OK with her ideological adversaries employing these same debate tactics on her.

To be perfectly clear, I am not advocating that anyone assault Tantaros or anybody else. But that’s only because I’m not a sanctimonious, rage-aholic a-hole. I’m just pointing out the logical conclusion to her own argument. Thereafter, people can make their own decisions. After all, this is Tantaros’ America.


CONFIRMED: Fox News Hack James Rosen Is A Political Operative, Not A Journalist

Posted by on May 23, 2013 at 11:33 am. 56 Comments :

The First Amendment holds a place of unique reverence in the hearts of Americans. Rather than focusing on a single issue, its authors packed it with critical constraints on the federal government that encompass rights pertaining to speech, association, religion, and the press. It is a mouthful of freedom that justifiably deserves special attention. However, like everything in the Constitution, it is not absolute and it requires interpretation to be understood and implemented.

With regard to recent events concerning Fox News, and its alleged reporter James Rosen, the question as to whether there was a violation of the First Amendment’s freedom of the press has roiled the media and spurred condemnation from across the political spectrum. However, no matter what one thinks about the propriety of a government agency examining the phone records of a purported journalist, James Rosen does not deserve to be regarded as one.

In the government’s affidavit supporting their request for a search warrant, a passage in the document reveals that Rosen had stepped far outside the boundaries of journalism. His activities were those of a political operative with a specific agenda that was openly hostile to the official foreign policy of the United States. And Rosen pursued that agenda with an intent to obtain classified materials that he knew was impermissible for him to possess.

Fox News - Rosen Affidavit
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Breaking down the pertinent parts of this document, Rosen begins by admitting in an email to his accomplice, State Department analyst Stephen Jin-Woo Kim, that he is not seeking to uncover government corruption or malfeasance. [Note: in these communications Rosen used the alias “Alex,” and gave Kim the name “Leo.”] Rosen stated plainly that his interest “is breaking news ahead of my competitors.” That is a self-serving, market-driven motivation that removes any of this from comparisons to Watergate or any other whistleblowing type of activity.

The next relevant passage is Rosen’s statement saying “I’d love to see some internal State Department analyses.” That is an overt solicitation for classified information for which Rosen has no security clearance to observe, and that would (and did) subject Kim to criminal liability for disclosing state secrets. It is one thing for a government insider to voluntarily drop internal documents over the transom, but quite another for a “reporter” to deliberately coax such information from a vulnerable associate. That is more like the behavior of an agent of espionage. Elsewhere in the affidavit, Kim told FBI investigators that Rosen had used flattery and appeals to his vanity in order to elicit the secret data that Rosen later published.

But the most damning affirmation of Rosen’s complicity in unethical, if not unlawful, behavior is this passage wherein he makes a startling confession:

“Let’s break some news, and expose muddle-headed policy when we see it, or force the administration’s hand to go in the right direction, if possible. The only way to this is to EXPOSE the policy…and the only way to that is with authoritative EVIDENCE.”

Rosen’s admission that he was seeking to “force the administration’s hand” in a direction that he believes is not “muddle-headded” is undeniable proof that he was acting as an operative, and not as a journalist. If Rosen thought that the government’s policy was wrong, he could certainly say so without retribution. If he thought that the government was engaged in wrongdoing, he could certainly pursue and disclose evidence of that. But to seduce a government employee to illegally transfer classified documents in order to alter government policy merely because he disagrees with it, and absent any corruption or controversy, is a purely political act.

The facts enumerated in the affidavit clearly reveal improper behavior and intent on Rosen’s part. And it is not difficult to see why the judge, a Reagan appointee, concluded that there was probable cause to grant the request to examine Rosen’s phone records.

As I said at the beginning of this article “No matter what one thinks about the propriety of a government agency examining the phone records of a purported journalist, James Rosen does not deserve to be regarded as one.” And it is not coincidental that Rosen works for Fox News where political advocacy, not journalism, is their core mission.

Fox has been working non-stop since their inception to “force the hand” of government, and not in a good direction. Don’t forget that the CEO of Fox News, Roger Ailes, was a political operative for Richard Nixon and other ultra-rightists before he took the reins of a cable news network. And his boss, Rupert Murdoch, has spent decades exerting undue influence over governments around the world. Are the pieces beginning to fit together now? Fox News is not, and never has been, news.

[Update] Through much of this contrived controversy, Fox has maintained that they were shocked to discover that one of their “reporters” had been the subject of an FBI investigation. Now CNN reports that Fox was informed of the subpoena for Rosen’s records three years ago. So pretending to be surprised is just another gimmick to sensationalize their fake reporting.


Have “Scandals” Sparked A New Tea Party Revival?

Posted by on May 22, 2013 at 3:18 pm. 8 Comments :

It’s as predictable as Glenn Beck’s tears. As soon as a president appears to be weakened by attack, the media pounces in a feeding frenzy hoping to score a kill. Some do it out of partisan animus. Some do it for personal glory. But either way it’s a bloodcurdling spectacle that contains scant morsels of actual substance.

In the present festival of feasting, many in the press are asking the same question: Have the scandals plaguing the White House created an opportunity for the moribund Tea Party to mount a revival? Take a look at a selection of the headlines:

  • Scandals revive Tea Party, threaten Obamacare – Boston Herald
  • Tea Party revival – World Magazine
  • Will the IRS scandal revive the Tea Party? – The Week Magazine
  • IRS scandal revives tea party – CNN
  • IRS scandal: Reinvigorated tea party eager to seize moment – Christian Science Monitor
  • Tea Party Looks To Gain Momentum In IRS Scandal Aftermath – Huffington Post
  • Back from the dead – WorldNetDaily

That last one from WorldNetDaily is particularly notable because it presumes that the Tea Party has been dead, which is not something that WorldNetDaily ordinarily admits.

To answer the burning question of the day, let’s examine how the Tea Party responded to the scandal outbreak. With lightening-fast reflexes, the Tea Party Patriots organized protests across the country to “Rein in the IRS.” And their legions of followers stepped up to speak truth to power. There were 30 of them in Topeka, 70 in Phoenix, 100 in Tampa, 30 in Kansas City, 11 in Tallahassee, 100 in Chicago, 50 in Denver, 6 in Helena, and 50 in San Bernardino where they also spoke Hitlerian rhetoric to power. In the nation’s second biggest city, Los Angeles, the Teabaggers showed up 13 strong.

Tea Party

WOW! If this isn’t a demonstration of just how engaged and relevant the Tea Party is, I don’t know what would be. Clearly they have the political punch of a drunken gerbil. Nevertheless, the media will continue to prop them up as if they were actually influential. The press will ignore factual data like that presented here and fluff the baggers excitedly in the hopes of producing a climax of contrived controversy.

The truly depressing part of this is that the failure to recognize the impotence of the Tea Party will only embolden the minority fringe caucus of the Republicans in congress and encourage them to persist in their obstructionist strategy that has been so hurtful, divisive, and regressive socially and economically.

In a few weeks this will all have been forgotten and, if recent polling is any indicator, the President will be more popular than ever, and the GOP congress will hit new lows. In the meantime, it’s going to be a summer of frustration as little progress is made on the real problems that plague our nation. Too bad.

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STFU: Fox News Lacks Moral Authority On The DOJ’s Leak Investigations

Posted by on May 22, 2013 at 5:18 am. 14 Comments :

There have long been complex debates about the propriety of government inquiring into private information in the course of criminal investigations. And the potential for harm to national security further complicates issues that test constitutional principles. However, ever since the Supreme Court ruled in 1971 that the publication of the Pentagon Papers was not actionable, it has been recognized that the press cannot be legally constrained from reporting information it receives from government insiders, even if those sources are improperly disclosing classified data.

The core legal concept here is that the source may be a legitimate target of an investigation for violating laws protecting classified data, but that reporters are simply doing their jobs. If a journalist is not suspected of having broken a law, he cannot be subject to invasive inquiries. Consequently, it may be entirely permissible to subpoena the phone records of a leaker, but not the reporter to whom he leaked.

Given the still incomplete record of what occurred with the Associated Press and Fox News, the Justice Department appears to have overstepped its bounds in examining the phone records of journalists. If it turns out that the journalists acted unlawfully (i.e. solicited classified data in exchange for cash or other favors), that would implicate the reporter as a co-conspirator, but as yet there is no evidence of that. And absent any such exception, the DOJ needs to come clean, acknowledge its mistakes, reaffirm its commitment to the law, and punish those responsible for the gross prosecutorial abuse.

That said, it is utterly ridiculous for Fox News to display such furious indignation over these events considering their past with regard to far worse behavior. The Washington Post, CBS News, and pretty much any other news organization can and should pursue this story aggressively, but Fox really needs to shut the fuck up.

Picture this: Fox News is going nuts about a couple of dozen reporters having their phone records examined by law enforcement officials seeking information about someone suspected of leaking national security secrets. Bear in mind that there was no wiretapping, listening in, or recording of any conversations, just a listing of the calling histories. And even that was not done until after having received permission from a judge. Over that Fox is shouting “SCANDAL” at the top of their lungs.

But there is nary a peep about other Rupert Murdoch-owned entities hacking into the phones, email, and computers of hundreds of private citizens, royals, celebrities, politicians, and even a kidnapped schoolgirl who later turned up dead. That unambiguously criminal activity resulted in dozens of arrests and the shuttering of the highest circulation newspaper in England. Fox not only soft-peddled this historically scandalous story, they openly suppressed it on their own air:

Fox News has been devoting unprecedented airtime to the DOJ story, while engaging in wild and baseless speculation to associate the White House with allegedly improper activities. But their feverish obsession with tarnishing the President and others makes a mockery of journalistic ethics. When Fox devotes equal time to the still ongoing scandal in their own house, then they might be taken seriously when they report on the bad behavior of others.


So F**king What? Fox News Suffering From Judge Dread

Posted by on May 21, 2013 at 1:46 pm. 12 Comments :

Fox News is putting all judges on notice that if they are ever criticized by Fox News, they can no longer be regarded as impartial.

This is a rather monumental upheaval for the judiciary, because Fox has criticized hundreds of judges. In fact, they have made it a cornerstone of their editorial philosophy that the judiciary (along with the media, academia, and most other social institutions) is hopelessly liberal. Fox’s Bill O’Reilly frequently sends his ambush unit (producer Jesse Watters) out to harass judges when a legal outcome does not meet with his approval, whether or not the judge had anything to do with it. And now Fox is providing cover for their own reporter by alleging some vague conspiracy between a judge and the Department of Justice.

Fox Nation

So F**king What?

The first thing that makes this item so supremely asinine is the fact that the judge upon whom Fox is casting aspersions was appointed to the Federal District Court by Ronald Reagan and confirmed by a senate run by a Republican majority.

The source for Fox’s piece also has a less than credible reputation. The story was posted on the web site of the notorious political clown, Herman Cain. It addressed a ruling by Judge Alan Kay that permitted detainees at Guantanamo Bay to meet with their lawyers, something the Bush administration was improperly prohibiting. Author Dan Calabrese wrote that…

“Fox News quoted extensively on the air from Kay’s ruling in the case of Salim Muhood Adem v. George W. Bush. I have not seen the segment, but knowing Fox News – particularly on issues like Gitmo in the post-9/11 years – I think it’s a pretty safe guess that they weren’t quoting Kay’s ruling as a means of praising his decision.”

Seriously? Calabrese is admitting that he has no idea whether or not Fox actually criticized Kay because he hasn’t seen any criticism himself. He is simply assuming that Fox was critical because it would be consistent with their well-known political leanings. Acknowledging Fox’s biases may be the only honest part of Calabrese’s article. However, it does not satisfy any standard of proof that Fox slighted Kay, sparking a grudge that he has allegedly held for seven years so far.

To suggest that an independent jurist who was put on the bench by Reagan has joined a conspiracy with President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder to criminally prosecute a Fox News hack is further evidence that Fox’s paranoia gauge has flipped completely off the scale. Their best efforts to topple Obama have collapsed into a pile of rotting rubble, while Obama’s approval ratings have risen in the midst of supposed scandals. That paradox is driving the right wild and causing them to concoct ever more fantastical fables.

So soon after an election that was an epic embarrassment to Republicans, they seem to have learned nothing and are continuing to live in a world of rightist delusion. No one but reality-challenged disciples of Glenn Beck and Alex Jones will believe the outrageously nonsensical tripe that Fox is spewing. And even while some of the more moderate wingers are cautioning their comrades to lay off the crazy juice, Fox continues to pour it on by the gallon. If this is their strategy for political success in 2014 or 2016, all I can say is “Bring it on.”


Fox Nation vs. Reality: Who’s The IRS Targeting Now?

Posted by on May 20, 2013 at 6:44 pm. 5 Comments :

When a dishonest “news” enterprise is so determined to disseminate misleading information to disparage their enemies, they often get careless and wind up hitting themselves with a sort of journalistic friendly fire. That’s what happened as the editors of Fox Nation rushed to republish a petulant little hit piece from Breitbart News.

Fox Nation / Breitbart

The article by Matthew Boyle (known for his discredited smears that falsely alleged improprieties by Sen. Bob Menendez), took aim at an attorney who represented the United Church of Christ (UCC) when it was being investigated by the IRS for potential violations of its tax-exempt status. The inquiry was prompted by a speech made by then-candidate Barack Obama in 2008.

The Fox Nationalists plastered a lurid headline atop their posting that said “Chief IRS Counsel Bailed Jeremiah Wright’s Church Out of IRS Probe in 2008.” The only thing wrong with that headline is…well, everything. First of all, the attorney, William Wilkins, did not work for the IRS in any capacity at the time. He was in private practice with a firm that specialized in tax matters. Secondly, his client was the UCC, not Rev. Wright’s Trinity United, which was just an affiliate of the denomination. Thirdly, he had no power to bail anyone out. What he did was represent them in the investigation, which he did in a manner that produced a favorable outcome.

This was a thoroughly hollow assault that was contrived by unethical partisans to hurt the President. But how can you blame them? This barrel of lies touched on so many of the phony components of their smear machine, it was just too good to pass up. After all, it had Obama, the IRS, and an old fave, Rev. Wright.

What both the BreitBrats and the Fox Nationalists missed in their haste to bash Obama was the fact that this investigation was another example of the Bush administration deploying the IRS to harass organizations they perceived as unfriendly (i.e. Greenpeace, NAACP, et al). In this case it was a liberal church that invited a Democratic presidential candidate to deliver a speech on faith.

So not only has the right-wing media cabal missed their target by a mile, they inadvertently weakened their case that the IRS is a rogue outfit that exclusively harasses conservatives. Nice work, kiddies.


Hating Breitbart: Producers Think Their Flop Is A Hit

Posted by on May 20, 2013 at 11:26 am. 1 Comments :

Last year’s mega-bomb crocumentary, Hating Breitbart, was such a commercial disaster that the producers launched a laughable campaign to get their fan boys/girls to buy extra copies and send them to people who would immediately throw them in the trash. I’m not kidding!

The BreitBrat producers framed this marketing scam as “offering fans of our movie the chance to ‘sponsor’ an intellectually malnourished member of the mainstream establishment.” What a magnanimous offer that doesn’t in any way rip off dimwits for the enrichment of shlock peddlers. It was such a great idea that I borrowed it myself to move copies of my book, Fox Nation vs. Reality.

Today, however, the BreitBrats have taken another step over the line that divides foolishness from insanity. They put out a press release bragging about what a monstrous success their little failure is: “Andrew Breitbart Biodoc Opens At #3; Digital Sales Strong As Movie Opens Across Multiple Platforms.”

The index to which these geniuses are referring is the one that Amazon posts with every product in their store. It is a volatile gauge that changes by the minute and only measures sales on Amazon. Hating Breitbart may have been at #3 at some point, but it was short-lived and probably the result of a spike from the producers buying copies themselves. At this writing it sits at #13.

For comparison, my book is presently at #9 in Amazon’s Political Advocacy category. But a few days ago it was at #2. Tomorrow it could be #22 or #4, all depending on how it sells in relation to how everything else on Amazon sells.

Fox Nation vs. Reality

The press release goes on to celebrate what they call “a national theatrical release,” with numbers they boast are “pleasing.” But there is no evidence that such a release has occurred. There are no independent box office tallies. And they don’t bother to list any venues or ticket sales data in the release. I’m afraid that, like their Amazon hype, this is all in their heads. Or perhaps they just put together a nationwide exhibition of the film in the living rooms of Tea Partiers where they could include a scrumptious pot luck feast. Then, they could Tupperware-style push more copies of the DVD to gullible viewers.

Most producers sitting on a major flop would try not to attract more attention to their failure. But it seems somehow appropriate that the producers of a film about a loudmouth propagandist would continue shouting even after their project has hit the bottom of the barrel.