Why Do Tea Baggers Idolize Ayn Rand?

Posted by on May 24, 2011 at 2:46 pm. 40 Comments :

I have never really understood how the Evanga-publicans, Tea Baggers, and Foxpods could have taken Ayn Rand to their hearts. She is a despicable proponent the most extreme brand of selfishness and Narcissism. (Hmm…maybe it’s not so hard to understand after all). And she is an avowed, nearly militant, atheist. How does that jibe with the Christo-centric rightist movement in America?

The answer, of course, is that it doesn’t. Rand’s philosophy would be abhorrent to conscious religious conservatives. The problem is that so many of them are closer to catatonic than consciousness. Thankfully, most Americans are more aware and have dismissed Rand and her breed of mean-spirited egoism. The recent film version of her “Atlas Shrugged” was a monumental failure, creatively and financially.

But that doesn’t mean that her fans are non-existent or immaterial. So it was nice to see this video from the American Values Network and the accompanying documentation of Rand’s dementia:

From the American Values Network web site:

Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged has been among Amazon’s top 20 best sellers for much of the past year. This year she’s outsold Billy Graham, Joel Osteen, Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life, and The Shack combined! Rep. Paul Ryan–the Republican choice to address the nation following the State of the Union and author of the Republican budget–credits Ayn Rand as the reason he got in to politics, and he requires all his staff and interns to read her books.

So who is Ayn Rand, and why this spike in interest in her teachings? Ayn Rand has resurfaced in recent years as the philosopher championed by the Tea Party and many prominent Republican leaders. But, as conservative evangelical icon Chuck Colson recently pointed out, Ayn Rand’s strong atheism, absolute rejection of Christ’s teachings, and goal of replacing religion with her belief system stands in total opposition to all that which America’s faith community holds most dear.

And a few quotes from Rand:

“I don’t approve of religion.”

“[Faith] is a sign of a psychological weakness. . . I regard it as evil to place your emotions, your desire, above the evidence of what your mind knows. That’s what you’re doing with the idea of God.”

“What I am fighting is the idea that charity is a moral duty and a primary virtue.”

“It must be either reason or faith. I am against God for the reason that I don’t want to destroy reason.”

Feel free to pass this on to anyone you know who has been suckered in by this freak.

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Understatement Of The Year: Sarah Palin Is An Idiot

Posted by on May 23, 2011 at 7:50 pm. 2 Comments :


In an article published in New York Magazine, Roger Ailes, CEO of Fox News is reported to have told colleagues that he thinks Sarah Palin is an idiot and unhelpful to the conservative movement.

Really? Gosh, we never knew. But to be fair, there was a lot more of interest in that article than the sensational headline that is getting all the attention. I’ll have an article at Alternet soon (and here at News Corpse in a day or two) about how Fox News has sabotaged the Republican Party, but in the meantime, here is a brief summary of some of the more salient facts in the NYMag article:

  • Ailes thinks Sarah Palin is an idiot (a given).
  • Ailes threatened to fire Glenn Beck as talks over his departure broke down.
    “…as with everything concerning Glenn Beck, the situation was a mess, simultaneously a negotiation and a therapy session.”
  • Ailes was upset that he could not elect a president.
    “the Fox candidates’ poll numbers remain dismally low.”
  • Ailes tried to recruit Chris Christie to run for president.
    “…he fell hard for Christie, who nevertheless politely turned down Ailes’s calls to run.”
  • Ailes is the GOP kingmaker.
    “You can’t run for the Republican nomination without talking to Roger.”
  • Ailes threatened to quit in 2008.
    “Ailes confronted Murdoch after he learned Murdoch was thinking of endorsing Obama in the New York Post.”
  • Ailes is a true believer in the lunatic theories his network broadcasts.
    “Ailes told Axelrod that he was concerned that Obama wanted to create a national police force.”

Perhaps the most profoundly disturbing item in this list is that Ailes is recruiting candidates for the GOP. How can the head of an alleged news network have that sort of political role? What if he succeeds in persuading Christie, or someone else, to enter the race? How could his network cover the campaign with any impartiality? Not that they would anyway, considering that half of the Republican field is on the Fox payroll, but this would blow any pretense of being “fair and balanced” out of the water. No wonder Rupert Murdoch’s own son-in-law said of Ailes…

“I am by no means alone within the family or the company in being ashamed and sickened by Roger Ailes’s horrendous and sustained disregard of the journalistic standards that News Corporation, its founder and every other global media business aspires to.”

Ouch!

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Fox News To Hire Judgment Day Preacher Harold Camping

Posted by on May 22, 2011 at 10:22 am. 15 Comments :

Pray for Fox NewsWith his latest prediction of Armageddon behind him, Judgment Day Preacher Harold Camping is looking forward to his new position at Fox News as a politics and religion commentator. The announcement of this addition to Fox’s roster of pundits came this morning from Fox Vice President and Washington managing editor Bill Sammon:

Sammon: We are pleased to begin what we believe will be a long and fruitful relationship with this distinguished observer of American culture, religion and society. Harold has a keen insight into current affairs and a connection to America’s faith-based community. He also has a predictive track record that fits squarely with the team at Fox News.

Sammon is quite correct in that assessment of Camping’s history of forecasting. He is at least as accurate as the stars on the network. For instance:

  • Bill Kristol predicted in 2003 that “American and alliance forces will be welcomed in Baghdad as liberators.” In 2008 he predicted that “Barack Obama is not going to beat Hillary Clinton in a single Democratic primary.”
  • Glenn Beck predicted an economic collapse in November of 2009 and warned his viewers to “find the exit closet to you and prepare for a crash landing. Be prepared, it’s coming. Most likely after Christmas, you’ll start seeing the effects of what they are doing to the economy.” The Dow is up 25%, and unemployment down 10% since then.
  • Newt Gingrich’s prediction about a post-Iraq war was that “once you don’t have Saddam Hussein in Iraq […] the Syrians will start backing down and the Iranians will start backing down.”
  • Dick Morris predicted the candidates for the 2008 race for president would be Hillary Clinton vs. Condoleezza Rice.
  • Sarah Palin predicted that the result of passage of the health care bill would mean that “my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s ‘death panel.'”
  • Cal Thomas Predicted that “euthanasia is coming. You can call them death panels. That’s exactly what they’re going to be.”

A couple of weeks ago a study was released that showed that most pundits are only right in their prognostications about 50% of the time. The numbers were even worse for conservative pundits who, according to the researchers, were wrong more often than liberals.

Camping, a popular Christian radio broadcaster, could flow smoothly into Fox’s lineup. He shares most of the editorial slant favored by the network’s veterans. When reached for comment he said…

“What? Fox News? Oh yeah. Me and Roger [Ailes, CEO of Fox News] had lunch and discussed the return of Jesus. The world is ending, you know? What date is it? Could someone shut the window?”

That’s why Camping should fit right in with the rest of Fox’s commentators. There is certainly nothing in his past that would indicate that he would lower Fox’s average for accurate forecasting. He might even be a good replacement for the departing Glenn Beck. His areas of interest (politics, morality, the end of all human existence) match closely Beck’s favorite subject matter. In fact, with a little make up, Beck’s audience may not even be able to tell the difference.


FLASHBACK: Glenn Beck’s Armageddon Prediction For August 22, 2006

Posted by on May 21, 2011 at 10:49 pm. 1 Comments :

Having survived the Rapture of May 2011, let’s take a look back at an End Times prediction by evanga-pundit Glenn Beck from 2006:

Look, everybody is talking about politics today, and we will, too, later on in the program. But first, I want to talk about something much more important. August 22nd — it is the day that Israel might be wiped off the map, leading to all-out Armageddon.

August 22nd could be the day that makes people who are the most skeptical about my World War III theory say, “Holy mother of God, what’s happening?” August 22nd could be the day that agnostics get down on one knee and start to pray, “Sweet Jesus, are you coming today?”

What I’m about to tell you nobody else is going to tell you. Honestly, it gave me great pause today, because it’s verging on the edge of insanity. It really is. With that being said, the source is so good there’s no way I can’t tell you this news.

Let me make this clear. This is not my theory, and I hope that it’s wrong. Princeton University’s Professor Bernard Lewis, this guy, look him up. He has been called the most influential post-war historian of Islam and the Middle East. He is suggesting that Iran’s Islamic end-of-times prophecies could be fulfilled on August 22nd. This August 22nd, 13 days from now.

August 22nd is, in the Islamic calendar, the date that Saladin, a 12th-century Muslim warrior, entered and conquered Jerusalem. It is also the date when Mohammed flew up to the furthest mosque, a.k.a. Jerusalem, then to heaven and then back again.

So to Muslims, I guess, August 22nd is like Christmas and Thanksgiving and New Year’s all rolled up into one. Here’s where it gets truly frightening: My theory all along has been that Iran has caused the current chaos in the Middle East to divert attention away from their nuclear program and stall for time.

President Ahmadinejad has repeatedly stated that he wants to personally bring back the 12th imam by destroying Israel. That’s Armageddon.

With that in mind, what must Beck be thinking by scheduling his upcoming event in Jerusalem for August 24? Does he still think the date is significant? Is he being deliberately provocative? Does he think he can launch the Apocalypse himself? After all, he has said of this event that “the very gates of Hell are going to open up against us.” and that “this may be it for our generation or for all mankind.”

I don’t know, I’m just asking. Have a nice summer.


Join Glenn Beck In Jerusalem For A Special Presentation of Armageddon

Posted by on May 20, 2011 at 5:30 pm. 15 Comments :


[Below are excerpts from Glenn Beck’s VISIT JERUSALEM web site. You can read these selected segments here or click the link above for the complete experience.]

Join Glenn In Jerusalem
Coming this August, Glenn Beck is inviting you to join him on a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to the holiest of lands – ISRAEL.

If you listen to Glenn on the radio, or watch him on TV, you already know that he is a stalwart supporter of the people and nation of Israel, and their role in the fate of mankind. He is an almost solitary voice advocating for a stronger partnership with the United States and in opposition to any proposal that would recognize the sovereignty of the Palestinian heathens occupying Israel’s West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Restoring CourageGlenn knows that Israel is an essential component of God’s plan for the world. He knows that without Israel there will be no Apocalypse. Therefore it is a vital duty for all Christians to protect Israel so that it can be destroyed and God can raise the faithful up to Heaven.

Glenn stands alone in his commitment to the glory of God and his Divine Will. He takes pride in his condemnation of apostate Jews like Nazi-collaborator George Soros. He courageously took on the Jewish Reform movement (the largest denomination of Jews in America) and exposed them as being no different than radical Islamists. He has featured books by renowned scholars like Elizabeth Dilling despite critics who would snub her writing just because of her overt anti-Semitism and Nazi sympathies.

Yes, Glenn stands alone, but he stands for you. And this is your chance to stand with Glenn, and therefore with God. There’s going to be a lot of standing going on. So know where you stand and what you stand for and where God wants you to stand and what your standing is in His plan. Because God won’t stand for anything less.

Why Restore Courage?
Last August Glenn held a rally in Washington, D.C. to Restore Honor. Before that amazing day there was precious little honor to be found. Now just look at all the honor overgrowing America like a hormonal kudzu. Now Glenn has recognized the critical absence of courage here at home and in the Mid-east’s notoriously coward-ridden nation of Israel. But Glenn, having received instructions from God, is here to Restore Courage or die trying. Here is what Glenn has had to say about this divine mission on which he is about to embark:

  • When I first had this idea, what I saw in my head was a global shockwave. It will ripple across the earth.
  • Possibly for the first time in man’s history, God will remember and make note of what we do there.
  • This is a life-changing, life-altering event.
  • This will be a pinnacle moment in your life. It will define you. In the end it will define you.
  • I want you to know, the very gates of Hell are going to open up against us.
  • It will be expensive to get there. It might be dangerous.
  • Will my event hurt foreign policy of the U.S.? I damn well hope so now.
  • If Israel falls the western way of life falls. That’s not hyperbole.
  • This may be it for our generation or for all mankind.
  • I will stand, I will speak, and in the end, if it be His will, I will die right alongside my brother.

It could not be any clearer. This is a holy pilgrimage to Heaven’s doorstep. This is your opportunity stand with Glenn as he is crucified before the all-seeing eye of television. Yes, you can be there with him as history is made, and maybe ended.


[There’s More! Click here to go to the VISIT JERUSALEM web site for complete details. You will learn about Glenn’s guests and sponsors and what it will set you back to attend. Share it with your friends and family, and conceal from that guy down the street that you never really liked.]


Fox News’ George Soros Conspiracy Continues To Crumble

Posted by on May 19, 2011 at 2:23 pm. 5 Comments :

Last week Fox News published an article by Dan Gainor of the ultra-rightist Media Research Center that purported to reveal a web of connections between George Soros and the mainstream media. The article failed completely in its mission. As I wrote last week:

“On the Fox News web site today, Dan Gainor, a VP at the ultra-conservative Media Research Center, wrote an op-ed that asked, ‘Why Don’t We Hear About Soros’ Ties to Over 30 Major News Organizations?’ The answer, as it turns out, is because there aren’t any such ties. […] Gainor has utterly failed to support his thesis. Not only does Soros have no control over these organizations, but they aren’t even the big media powers Gainor describes them as.”

Today Fox News published part two of Gainor’s series. Not only did he continue to fire blanks, he actually revealed information that implicates the right in a vast media conspiracy.

Most of part two was a rehashing of part one with even fewer specifics. The threads in the alleged web Gainor is weaving merely tie Soros to some media organizations that are also funded by many other people and groups who seek to advance the state of independent journalism. And while pointing out the connections, Gainor never discloses anything sordid resulting from them. There isn’t even a hint of some effort to slant their reporting or engage in biased coverage. So the only conclusion is that Soros donated money to a number of reputable organizations that have demonstrated their integrity and that Gainor is apparently opposed to that, as are most conservatives. The last thing they want is news that is truly fair and balanced.

One area where he provided some new information was in identifying a few more of the “major” news organizations for whom Soros is supposedly the puppet master. There is just one thing wrong with these revelations. They are also affiliated with news organizations on the right:

  • The Center for Investigative Reporting lists Rupert Murdoch’s Times of London as an affiliate.
  • The Center for Public Integrity is connected to the Associated Press, of which Murdoch is a member of the board of directors.
  • The Lens is affiliated with WVUE-TV in New Orleans, a FOX affiliate.
  • The Texas Tribune’s founding investor was T. Boone Pickens.

That last affiliation is particularly notable because Gainor is the “Boone Pickens Fellow” for the Media Research Center, and that Pickens himself is an MRC trustee. So Gainor’s job at the MRC was endowed by the same man who bankrolled one of the media enterprises connected to Soros and that Gainor says is irredeemably leftist.

Uh oh. That means that Gainor himself is connected to Soros and this whole series of articles must be a plot orchestrated by Pickens, Murdoch, Soros, and probably President Obama and the Muslim Brotherhood. Be afraid.

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Bernie Sanders Ambushed By Ignorant Human Events Editor

Posted by on May 19, 2011 at 11:36 am. 13 Comments :

Sen. Bernie Sanders appeared at a signing event recently for his book “The Speech: A Historic Filibuster on Corporate Greed and the Decline of Our Middle Class.” In accord with the neanderthal tactics of right-wing journalism, Jason Mattera showed up pretending to be an autograph seeker.

Mattera is not your run of the mill, immature, ignorant, Internet videographer (ala James O’Keefe). He is also the editor of the uber-con magazine, Human Events. Mattera proudly posted the video of his encounter with Sanders apparently with the impression that he proved some point:

In this video, Mattera embarrasses himself by asking a singularly stupid question: “How does an avowed socialist go about selling a book?” What Mattera fails to understand is that there is no prohibition on bringing books or other products to market under many implementations of socialism. Is he really so dumb that he is unaware of the thousands of books available by and about socialists? Perhaps someone should turn the tables and ask Mattera “How does an avowed capitalist go about collecting Social Security, attending college on GI or Pell grants, driving on interstate highways, or eating food that has been inspected by the USDA?”

Then Mattera lands what he seems to believe is his finishing blow by asking where the profits from the book will go. Sanders advises him that they will be donated to the children of Vermont. But Mattera snidely implies that this isn’t true because the charity hasn’t been selected yet.

All in all, Mattera’s video shows him to be uninformed and arrogantly dismissive. Yet he is so proud of his shoddy performance he posts it publicly for all to see and laugh at. The truly sad part of this is that since he is the editor of Human Events, how much more out of touch are the losers he supervises?


Lessons In Right-Wing Media Relations

Posted by on May 19, 2011 at 1:55 am. 4 Comments :

If you were paying attention to conservatives in the press today you would have received an advanced course their trademark obfuscation and flim flam.

Let’s begin with Newt Gingrich’s masterful recovery from an embarrassing fumble. After dissing fellow Republican Paul Ryan’s budget proposal as “radical, right-wing, social engineering,” Gingrich attempted to blame the media for quoting him correctly. When that fell flat he pivoted to a full mea culpa, apologizing publicly and personally to Ryan. But the piece de resistance was his declaration to Greta Van Susteren on Fox News that “any ad which quotes what I said on Sunday is a falsehood.”

Bravo. Gingrich has just invented the “if you quote me you’re lying” defense. It is so brilliant that even after he is ridiculed for it he can use it again to warn the media not to quote what he told Susteren either. This is a groundbreaking achievement in PR spin that even surpasses Jon Kyl’s infamous “not intended to be a factual statement.”

Jerome CorsiNow let’s move on to Jerome Corsi, author of a book with the world’s worst release timing: “Where’s the Birth Certificate? The Case that Barack Obama is Not Eligible to be President” This insightful work of political intrigue just happened to come out shortly after the titular certificate of birth (not that the question hadn’t been answered years ago anyway). But to make matters worse, Corsi was bumped from the Sean Hannity show reportedly because the “issue is no longer in the news cycle.” That’s right-wing talk for “we can’t sell this bullshit anymore.” Watch your head, Corsi, because when you’ve lost Hannity, the next stop in that barrel is the bottom.

Finally we have the queen of media whimpering, Sarah Palin. Despite having sworn off of criticizing the press weeks ago, her bashing continues unabated. In an interview with Sean Hannity (who apparently thinks that she is still in the news cycle) she attempts to defend Gingrich and advises her conservative comrades to steer clear of the “lame-stream media.”

“Candidates need to get their message out through the new social media. Don’t even participate in that goofy game that’s been played for too many years with the leftist lame-stream media.”

I couldn’t agree more. Republicans and other conservatives should sequester themselves in the realm of social media, talk radio, and Fox News. No more pandering to Meet the Press or the Washington Post. Just update your Facebook status with a policy paper on national security. Then Tweet your positions on the economy and health care. I’m sure any respectable Republican could do that in 140 characters or less given that they don’t have to worry about using facts or reason.

In order for this to work, however, the media has to reciprocate. For as long as Palin and other right-wingers confine themselves to conservative media and Internet platforms they control, the rest of the press must ignore them right back. That means no coverage of their Tweets or Facebook posts or interviews with Rush Limbaugh or Steve Doocy. Although exceptions may be granted for mocking the inevitable gaffes and malaprops they will generously provide.

If the right would actually follow through with this threat, and the “lame-streamers” could resist the temptation to hype every belch some celebrity politician emits, watching TV and reading newspapers could become a lot more enjoyable and educational.


Noxious Irritation: Andrew Breitbart’s True Hollywood Horror Story

Posted by on May 16, 2011 at 5:58 pm. 12 Comments :

How Hollywood Drove Andrew Breitbart To The Mad Hater’s Tea Party

Andrew BreitbartAndrew Breitbart just released his new book, “Righteous Indignation,” that opens a window into his innermost impulses and ambitions. It reveals the complex circuitry of his character that succeeds in being both self-loathing and Narcissistic. Breitbart takes us on his journey from unrequited Hollywood wannabe to Tea Party overlord and along the way establishes that his book might better have been titled “Noxious Irritation.” If anything, his indignation is aimed at a community that he desperately wanted to be a part of, but which wanted nothing to do with him.

Growing up in the Tinseltown suburb of Brentwood, Breitbart developed an early obsession with show business and celebrity. He writes with a palpable glee of having had the same tennis instructor as Farrah Fawcett and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The most trivial association with stardom sent him twirling, as when his family, “once rented out our motor home to John Ritter from Three’s Company. I bragged about it in school for weeks.” But despite his glamorous aspirations, the first forty pages of the book describe a young man seething with self-hatred. And judging from his own account it was deserved. He paints a picture of himself as an ignorant, alcoholic, loser.

Contine reading →


Glenn Beck’s Daughter

Posted by on May 16, 2011 at 4:27 pm. 8 Comments :

Glenn Beck's DaughterAfter much searching I have been able to acquire a picture of Glenn Beck’s daughter. I am making this picture available in the spirit of full transparency, although I hope she never wears any clothing that is actually transparent. Just look at her. Calling her a pig would be insulting to pigs. This is someone who could be justifiably confined to a crawl space in the attic to protect the sensitivities of the rest of civil society.

That said…Please rest assured that the foregoing was meant to be facetious in order to make a point. Last week there was a very public feud between Glenn Beck and the McCain family. It erupted after Beck broadcast a prolonged and insulting segment wherein he mocked John McCain’s daughter for appearing in a public service announcement to bring awareness to skin cancer, which both of her parents have had.

Beck spent much of the segment pretending to vomit into a trash can at the sight of Meghan McCain. He and his radio zoo cronies relentlessly made fun of her appearance without ever acknowledging that she was doing this on behalf of an important charitable cause.

This isn’t the first time Beck has ventured into insulting the children of his political opponents. He and his crew previously attacked the intelligence of President Obama’s eleven year old daughter, Malia, calling her stupid. The outcry following that incident resulted in Beck making this apology:

“I broke my own rule about leaving kids out of political debates. The children of public figures should be left on the sidelines. It was a stupid mistake and I apologize – and as a dad I should have known better.”

Exactly. As a dad, how would he feel if his daughter was mocked and characterized as ugly, fat, and stupid? How would he feel if Keith Olbermann pretended to vomit at the sight of his daughter? And how can he be excused for having done so after his prior antics for which he was forced to apologize?

Remember, this is the same man who once called, on the air, the wife of one of his radio competitors two days after she had suffered a miscarriage and “joked” that “he [her husband] can’t do anything right.”

Meghan wrote a brilliant response to Beck that he ought to take to heart, if he has one. Noting that he has daughters of his own she wrote that…

“There really is no need to make something like my participation in a skin-cancer PSA into a sexist rant about my weight and physical appearance, because I’m going to let you in on a little secret, Glenn: you are the only one who looks bad in this scenario.”

Glenn Beck likes to portray himself as a devout Christian who advocates standing for strong family values. Apparently his idea of values includes repulsive and hurtful insults to people who are performing actual acts of charity. I hope he recalls this incident when one of his daughters comes home crying because they were made to feel ugly by some jerkwad who is just like their dad. But I doubt he has learned anything because he went on Bill O’Reilly’s show Friday and refused to apologize.