The Sad State Of Politics: Hall Of Fame Hypocrisy From Allen West

A new ad was released today by a Super PAC supporting Patrick Murphy of Florida. Murphy is running to challenge Wackadoodle Allen West for Florida’s 16th congressional seat. The ad features West in boxing gloves figuratively bashing the people his policies bash literally every day.

After being contacted by Breitbart News, West made a comment condemning the ad as “reprehensible” and complained that “It plays on stereotypes and fear to divide Americans.” Amongst his objections was that the ad portrayed him punching a senior citizen. West went out of his way to note that the women was white. Funny how these conservatives reject any allegations of racism as unwarranted displays of victimization, unless they are the ones making the allegations. West on to say…

This ad reflects the sad state of politics in our Republic with those who seek to destroy a person’s character to cover for their lack of intellectual ability and integrity.

Allen WestWow. That’s coming from the guy who accused half the Democrats in Washington of being communists; the guy who said that Goebbels would be proud of the Democratic Party; the guy who has repeatedly referenced Nazis to describe his opponents; the guy who was reprimanded, fined, and nearly discharged dishonorably for engaging in torture.

The Breitbrats also made a point of criticizing the Super PAC that released the anti-West ad. they noted with disdain the possibility of collusion with the Murphy campaign. That’s something the Romney campaign has also taken up with regard to an ad released by a pro-Obama Super PAC. It would be nice if these disingenuous blowhards would actually step up and oppose these Super PACs rather than just whine when one aims at their pet politicians. But since the right has consistently defended these PACs, they have no moral grounds for complaining about them when they are the target.

Fox Nation vs. Reality: Obama Selling Amnesty?

The issue of immigration is one that the Fox Nationalists relish in demogoguing. They publish numerous stories that are openly racist, as has been thoroughly documented. Here’s just such a story that was designed to inflame prejudice with its utterly dishonest skewing of the facts:

Fox Nation

The headline composed by the mental deficients at Fox Nation is wholly untrue. Not only is amnesty not a part of the administration’s program, nothing in it is for sale.

In truth. President Obama directed the Department of Homeland Security to exercise prosecutorial discretion so that innocent children who were brought to this country by undocumented parents are not unduly punished while a more comprehensive solution is negotiated with Congress. The program does not provide amnesty. The fee to apply for this program is intended to offset costs, but can be waived on a case by case basis for applicants unable to pay.

None of those facts stopped Fox from deliberately misrepresenting the matter in way that leads their dimwitted audience to presume that the administration is peddling citizenship to foreigners who come here to steal our jobs. It appears that Fox picked up the story from the juveniles at Breitbart News where John Nolte published an article that implied that Obama’s goal is to mint new voters. Never mind that the immigrants partaking of this program will not have voting rights because they will not be citizens.

Nolte also made a point of adding a note at the end of his column complaining that the author of the article he referenced at ABC News didn’t use the derogatory adjective “illegal” to refer to the program’s potential participants. Apparently Nolte gets upset when people are not sufficiently racist for him.

Fox News And Right-Wing Media Lie About Military Access To Voting

Yesterday Fox News featured a story about the availability of early voting in the state of Ohio. As can be expected, Fox utterly mangled the truth in order to portray Democrats in a negative light.

The issue at hand was Ohio’s law that permits members of the military to engage in early voting up until the Monday prior to the election, while all other Ohioans have a deadline of the previous Friday. Democrats objected to this situation as it discriminates against certain voters and is almost certainly a violation of the Constitution’s “equal protection” clause. They filed suit in order to extend the early voting privilege to all citizens.

War on VotingTo be clear, the goal of the suit was to allow every Ohio citizen to vote early up to the Monday prior to election, not to restrict the military by taking away those three extra days. It’s a position consistent with Democratic efforts to make voting as easy as possible. Republicans, on the other hand, have been conducting a War on Voting that includes curtailing early voting, placing new regulations on registration gathering, and voter ID laws that are proven to disenfranchise millions of eligible voters in order to prevent fraud that they can’t even show exists.

Nevertheless, the conservative media jumped on this story, sensing an opportunity to misrepresent the facts and smear Democrats. Breitbart News began with a wholly dishonest article that proclaimed…

“it’s unconscionable that we as a nation wouldn’t make it as easy as possible for members of the military to vote. They arguably have more right to vote than the rest of us.”

Of course, it is the Democrats who are trying to make it as easy as possible for everyone to vote. And the notion that the military (or anyone) has more right to vote than anyone else sounds like something from an autocratic dictatorship that would place powerful elites above ordinary citizens.

Fox News picked up the story from Breitbart and discussed it with a partisan panel who regurgitated the false premise that Democrats were seeking to take something away from our military. The segment began with anchor Shannon Bream saying…

“If President Obama gets his way, the special voting rights of some of America’s finest will be eliminated. The campaign is suing to keep members of the military from having extra time to cast their ballots in one key battleground state.”

Wrong again. They are suing to give everyone extra time. During the discussion Charles Krauthammer even injected the assertion that soldiers need more time because the demands of their duties in war zones like Afghanistan prevent them from going to the polls. Krauthammer is supposed to be the intellectual on Fox News, but that comment is just plain stupid. Surely he must know that early voting is only available to people who are actually in the state. There are no polling places in Afghanistan, early or otherwise. Soldiers who are out of the country vote by absentee ballot and this issue doesn’t affect them in any way.

Having climbed up the Right-Wing Noise Machine food chain, Mitt Romney chimed in with his contribution to exacerbating this phony outrage:

“Any effort to impede the right of our military members, overseas or here domestically in voting, would be an extraordinary violation of the trust we should have for those who serve so valiantly.”

He’s absolutely right. That’s why it’s absurd to be making a federal case of this since what he is implying has not occurred. Romney has simply joined the ranks of those who will shamelessly exploit fabricated controversies to advance his own self-interests. And he’s not alone. Perhaps the most painfully embarrassing example of this sort of exploitation is Florida wackadoodle congressman Allen West. Here is what West posted on his Facebook page about this matter:

“As a retired Army officer I am appalled at the Obama administration’s actions to bring a lawsuit against the State of Ohio for the early voting privileges it extends to our Men and Women serving in uniform. To have the Commander in Chief make our US Servicemen and Women the target of a political attack to benefit his reelection actions is reprehensible. The voting privilege extended to these Warriors who represent the best among us should not be a part of the collective vision of this inept President who is more concerned about his reelection than sequestration. As a Combat Veteran, for this President to unleash his campaign cronies against our Military is unconscionable…..how dare this President compare the service, sacrifice, and commitment of those who Guard our liberties not as special and seek to compare them to everyone else. Barack Obama is undeserving of the title Commander-in-Chief.”

Oh my. How dare the President compare soldiers to everyone else. It’s almost as if the President has respect for both the military and for all the citizens of this country – the teachers, factory workers, architects, firefighters, entrepreneurs, cab drivers, homemakers, etc. West is aghast that members of the military are not canonized and the rest of the American people subjugated to their superiority. Ironically, West is the last person to argue for the superiority of the military seeing as he was reprimanded, fined, and nearly discharged dishonorably for engaging in torture. He was a disgrace to his uniform and has no moral standing to question the President’s role as Commander-in-Chief.

The position of Democrats in this matter is consistent with their goal to make voting easier for every citizen. To the extent that members of the military may face difficulties in getting to the polls, the same is true for nurses, policemen, and workers struggling to hold down two or more jobs to make ends meet. And the three extra days just happen to include the weekend that makes the added convenience so significant for working people.

If the polls are to be kept open until the Monday prior to election day, why not let every voter use them? That’s the question that Republicans, and the the right-wing media, cannot answer without sinking into craven hypocrisy. What exactly do they think is so horrifying about letting everyone vote?

The answer is that they assume that more military voters will swing right (an assumption they may regret), and that the working people who would benefit from the additional time are Democratic voters. So the equation is simple: Republicans want to stack the deck for the GOP and suppress their opponents. That’s where the real voter fraud is in America.

[Update:] Romney camp can’t substantiate their lie. Politico reports that: Romney’s spokesman, Ryan Williams, in an interview Saturday could point to no place in Obama’s lawsuit that seeks to restrict the rights of military voters.

HUMILIATION: Breitbart News Tries To Blame Democrats For Dark Knight Shooting

When it comes to integrity and journalistic ethics, Breitbart News ranks somewhere between the National Enquirer and the Tehran Times. It makes Fox News look like PBS. And they can be expected to sink to ever greater depths of depravity when a story emerges that permits them to dial up the sensationalism and political rhetoric to eye-bleeding levels. The tragic Dark Knight shooting in Aurora, Colorado, was such a story.

On the morning after the shootings all the news networks were engaged in an endlessly repetitious barrage of a limited set of facts and a boundless pool of speculation. It didn’t matter what channel you turned to, you would hear the same recitation of the number of fatalities and injuries, interviews with frightened witnesses, and reminiscences of Columbine. Consequently, there was a determined effort on the part of the reporters to uncover something – anything – that was new or interesting.

In the course of their investigation, ABC News discovered that there was a man associated with the Aurora Tea Party who had the same name as the shooting suspect. They prematurely reported that fact without first verifying whether they were the same person.

George Stephanopoulos: I’m going to go to Brian Ross. You’ve been investigating the background of Jim Holmes here. You found something that might be significant.
Brian Ross: There’s a Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colorado, page on the Colorado Tea party site as well, talking about him joining the Tea Party last year. Now, we don’t know if this is the same Jim Holmes. But it’s Jim Holmes of Aurora, Colorado.
Stephanopoulos: Okay, we’ll keep looking at that. Brian Ross, thanks very much.

ABC quickly corrected the report, but not before enduring some withering, and deserved, criticism. And it should be noted that, from the start, they acknowledged that all they had was speculation and that they were continuing to investigate. That’s not a proper justification, but it’s also not the same as making an outright accusation, which is what much of the right-wing media is saying.

Breitbart News leapt on this misstep with an article falsely charging “HUMILIATION: ABC News Tries To Blame Tea Party.” There was no attempt on the part of ABC News to blame anyone. They were following a lead and went to air before affirming it, but that’s not an assertion of blame. Breitbart’s column, by the notoriously addle-brained Joel Pollak, goes into hysterics over what he believes is an outrageous insult to his favorite extremist fringe group.

However, what makes Pollak’s pompous theatrics all the more ludicrous is that he immediately perpetrated the very same crime to which he took so much offense.

Breitbart News

Pollak’s article very directly accused the shooter of being a registered Democrat. He rambled through a list of supposed evidence that he never bothered to authenticate and arrived at a conclusion that he deemed certifiable. The only problem is that he was completely wrong – a state of being with which he must be comfortable by now. As it turns out, Pollak also had the wrong guy and the the suspect was not registered to vote at all.

So after castigating ABC for reporting incorrect information, Breitbrat Pollak did the same thing but took over five hours to make a correction. And even that was a weaselly effort that sought to explain away his incompetence by claiming that there was new information. Also, unlike ABC, Pollak included no apology for his gross error and slander of Democrats. But then that’s the sort of unprincipled, pseudo-reporting that is the hallmark of the Breitbart legacy.

Video Mangler James O’Keefe Strikes (Out) Again

James O'KeefeOn some level you have to admire the spunk of crocumentary maker James O’Keefe. It seems that no matter how many times he releases a video project that is quickly debunked, making him the object of ridicule, he bounces back and releases another unphased.

In the latest episode, O’Keefe sought to portray a couple of union reps as willing to support a fraudulent effort to create useless make-work jobs. The video was posted on Breitbart News, where O’Keefe is the official videographer. As usual, O’Keefe grossly misedited the video to make it appear that something untoward was occurring. Instead, he made himself appear to be a stammering dolt. The union reps, John Hutchings and Ronald Tocci, were openly skeptical of what O’Keefe was proposing. They wondered whether O’Keefe’s operation was remediating toxic soil or otherwise serving a useful purpose. O’Keefe responded…

O’Keefee I: There are people who have seen merit in what we’re doing, actually from the more green circles.
Tocci: But why would they see that, besides the jobs that they can create, what are you doing for the environment?
O’Keefee I: Well, Basically what we want to talk to you guys about…
Tocci: I’m not knocking it. It’s just I gotta understand it.
O’Keefee I: You know…I mean…basically there’s not…alright, people do see merit in what we’re doing somehow. Especially from…and they’re having people that have been wanting to provide their resources in terms of providing federal and local funds for us. And getting…you know…
O’Keefee II: (Interrupting) We’re putting people to work. We’re keeping people employed. You know.

Did any of that make any sense at all? It was clear that the union guys weren’t buying it. They offered to help get O’Keefe get into the legitimate business of retrofitting homes to meet environmental standards. They also suggested the project be directed at digging on construction sites to identify obstacles or artifacts. They were trying to steer the O’Keefees into some sort of legitimate enterprise. Media Matters put together a helpful video demonstrating O’Keefe’s deliberate deceit.

O’Keefe tried repeatedly to get the union reps to say that they have politicians in their pockets, but they were consistent in saying that they would only be able to get support based on the merits of the project. Everything that O’Keefe attempted to allege was shot down in the nearly hour long raw video that he’s confidant no one will watch. And his efforts to smear the union reps were pitifully unsuccessful. They were interviewed about the hoax later and said…

“We figured they were shysters. We tried to be courteous. They were young kids; first thing that comes to mind is that its young idealists, like Occupy Wall Street. We sized it up even half-way through the meeting when they couldn’t explain what they did with the dirt.”

The Union reps made no promises to O’Keefe, but sent them away insisting that their superior get in touch. So once again O’Keefe has proven nothing but how lame he is. And yet he soldiers on in his pursuit of ever more ridiculous scams.

Not So Breitbart: The Stupidest Defense Of Mitt Romney’s Tax Return Stonewall Yet

If you were waiting for a slam-dunk idiotic justification for allowing Mitt Romney to continue to conceal his tax returns, your wait is over. And the source of this numbskullery is just who you might have guessed.

John Nolte of Breitbart News posted an item today headlined, “Romney Would be Insane to Release More Tax Returns, Unless….” That’s a pretty solid assertion that, pending some surprise revelation, Romney should continue to keep his mouth shut. But wait until you hear the reasoning. Breitbrat Nolte starts out stating that two of his most strongly held beliefs are world peace and that all politicians should release at least the last five years of their tax returns. Then he sets about explaining why he is abandoning his principles.

“I hate war and nuclear weapons and I’m big on transparency in government and even bigger on fully vetting candidates, especially presidential candidates — regardless of party.

“Those are my values and my principles. And in a perfect world, I would currently be standing side-by-side with the media and the Obama campaign demanding Romney release at least five years of his tax returns.

“But I’m looking out my window right now and the rivers are not chocolate and the clouds are not cotton candy and the media is not objective and the President of the United States is not honest. In other words, it’s not perfect.”

So Breitbrat Nolte is declaring that the beliefs he asserts are core to his personal values are expendable if the world is not perfect. The next question, of course, is when has the world ever been perfect? By this standard, Nolte is saying that he never has to abide by any principles at all since they are only operative when the world is perfect. And with respect to the subject at hand, neither does Mitt Romney.

Swiss MittBut Nolte doesn’t stop there. He complains that Romney should not be subject to a “unilateral disarmament,” which he contends would be the result of Romney being more forthcoming with his taxes. He says that for Romney to relent would “hand six feet of oppo-research over to Team Obama.” Except that the unilateral disarmament was already undertaken by President Obama who has released over a decade of tax returns, compared to Romney’s one year. And even that is in dispute as new information shows that he has failed to release pertinent parts of his 2010 return.

Furthermore, Nolte is making the curious argument that turning over tax data to the American people is crazy because it would allow an opponent to criticize it. Well, first of all, it would also allow voters to examine it and develop some confidence in the integrity of the candidate. But we wouldn’t want that, would we. Nolte seems to think that the purpose of releasing such information is purely tactical in a political context. He forgets that the real reason is to inform voters so that they can make better decisions.

Secondly, if Nolte is serious, then he is arguing that candidates should never reveal anything about themselves, because any information could be subject to criticism. By the way, Romney is making this same argument.

In another bit of misplaced loyalty, Nolte believes that releasing his tax returns now might make Romney look weak after insisting so fervently that he would not do so. Once again, Nolte is placing Romney’s electoral needs ahead of those of the people. What’s more, nothing makes Romney look weaker than the cowardice he is displaying by refusing to be honest with the voting public.

Finally, Nolte offers some peculiar advice to Romney. He suggests that Romney should agree to release some of his tax returns only after securing concessions from Obama for things that have nothing to do with taxes. For instance, one year of tax returns for documents about Fast and Furious. In other words, he is advocating holding Romney’s taxes hostage for political ransom.

This may be the stupidest part of all. Obama has no incentive whatsoever to comply with such demands. In fact, his incentive would be to laugh in Romney’s face. Here’s why: If Obama refuses to pay Romney’s ransom, then Romney declines to release any more tax data. But the only person that hurts is Romney as he takes more heat for his arrogant reticence to level with the American people. Romney is already getting hammered for not releasing his taxes, so why would Obama be inclined to put an end to that? The best thing Romney could do to trip up Obama would be to get his taxes out and curtail the controversy (unless what’s in the tax returns would cause more damage than that being done by withholding them – which seems likely at this point). Otherwise, Obama looks stronger for standing up to Romney’s ultimatum, and Romney looks shadier for continuing to stonewall.

The question now is – is Romney stupid enough to take advice from Breibrat Nolte?

Not So Breitbart: Biden Does NOT Address Empty Seats, Nor Jeremiah Wright

The mental deficients at Breitbart News have done it again – twice.

Breitbart News

The picture above shows a packed house at the NAACP conference for the appearance by Vice-President Joe Biden. The speech was well received with the crowd even booing when he announced that he was wrapping up.

Nevertheless, the Breitbrats found a photo that was tweeted prior to Biden’s arrival and decided to post that with an article that said that “Biden Addresses Empty Seats at NAACP Convention.” Obviously, that was not true. The larger photo of an enthusiastic crowd was taken by an actual reporter from Reuters. Not surprisingly, the mysterious editors at Fox Nation (who Fox refuses to identify) re-posted the Breibrat item as if it were certifiable news.

In addition to the false assertion of an empty hall, the Breitbrats sought to portray their fabricated story as a “misstep for a presidential campaign unable to find its footing.”

“The low turnout could be due to weather, as Hawkins suggests, or perhaps it could have been in protest because the NAACP was snubbed by Obama. Or, maybe people didn’t feel it imperative to hear America’s Grandpa ramble on about how much he learned in a Reverend Wright’s church.”

Of course, neither the weather, nor an alleged snubbing, prevented the conferees from attending in force. But what’s worse is the reference to Rev. Wright. That bit was cribbed from Michelle Malkin. As it turns out, Biden was not referring to Jeremiah Wright at all. It never occurred to these goofballs that there might be more than one Rev. Wright in America.

Andrew Breibart’s ghost must be so proud of these idiots.

Not So Breitbart: The Idiot’s Guide To Obama’s Fundraising

The intellectual reputation (or lack thereof) at Breitbart News took another hit this weekend with an embarrassingly moronic article that attempts to analyze a fundraising appeal from the Obama campaign. It’s remarkable how one’s brain can turn to mush when consumed by an irrational hatred for one’s adversaries.

Breitbart Article

The article, by William Bigelow, was headlined, “Obama Campaign E-Mail: ‘We’re Falling Behind.'” It revealed the contents of an email seeking donations from Obama supporters. Breitbrat Bill surmised from this that…

“The Obama campaign is so frightened at this point that they have taken an unprecedented step. They’re telling the truth.

In the latest of the ‘personal’ e-mails that the Obama campaign is sending out, they don’t sugarcoat their appeal for money with saccharine stories about Obama shoveling snow for his wife, or working hard late into the night. They panic.”

There you have it. The Breitbrat’s proof that Obama is panicking is that his campaign refrained from soliciting donations the way all other candidates do: with stories about shoveling snow. I’m sure you’ve seen a million of them. Instead, Obama’s request focuses on the need for donors to pitch in because…

“For the first time in modern American history, the incumbent (that’s us) will get outspent in a re-election campaign — by some estimates as much as 3-to-1. Over the last 10 days of this month alone, GOP outside groups will spend $20 million attacking President Obama on TV.”

See how desperate they are? They have adopted an approach that warns supporters about the risks of being outspent in an election. They also remind people of the dangerous repercussions of the Citizen’s United ruling that allows wealthy donors and corporations to anonymously give unlimited amounts of money. And they are abandoning the traditional solicitation that Breitbrat Bill must think goes something like this:

“We are up to our armpits in cash and are trouncing our opponents in the fundraising race. Our side has already accumulated a 3-to-1 advantage over the other guy and we have plastered the media with advertising. So even though we have taken to spending our excess campaign funds on gold watches and 4-star hotels, please dig deep and send us more money with which to line our pockets.”

The stupidity of Breitbart’s complaint is nearly pathetic. All campaigns appeal to donors by impressing them with the need to raise funds in a competitive contest and the necessity of staying ahead of your opponent. But this simple truth strikes Breitbrat Bill as evidence of panic. Is this really the best they can do?

Also, here’s a bonus bit of boob-headedness. Breitbrat Ben Shapiro Tweeted this morsel of wisdom yesterday: “And yes, what is happening in Egypt IS largely Obama’s fault.”

Breitbart Egypt Tweet

Of course, Obama, the consummate community organizer, was able to motivate millions of Egyptians to take to the streets in protest against a dictator who had clung to power for 40 years. Then Obama succeeded in forcing Mubarak from office, leading the way to the first free elections in decades for the Egyptian people.

Thanks for giving Obama credit for all of that, Ben. Even though you obviously prefer the former state of tyranny to the free choice of democracy, you are big enough to grant the President the credit he is due.

Breitbart Wins! The Most Epically Idiotic Article On The Internet – This Week

The World Wide Web is a cornucopia of Olympian ignoramusi. The field ranges from hollowed out heads in suits like Jonah Goldberg, to asylum escapees like Ted Nugent, to pitiful has-been bimbos like Victoria Jackson, to messianic delusionaries like Glenn Beck. With such an abundance of talentless charlatans like these posting staggeringly asinine missives online, the competition for Most Epically Idiotic Article On The Internet is stiffer than Mitt Romney at a gay bar four hours after overdosing on a bad batch of Viagra.

Leave it to Breitbart’s John Nolte to sink to the occasion and compose a work of astonishing stupidity. The title of Nolte’s opus, “Why the Media Hates and Fears Super PACs,” pretty much gives away the fundamental foolishness of his premise. The media is perhaps the biggest beneficiary of Super PACS (more on that later). But foolishness is the hallmark of Nolte’s career. Take for example this article wherein Nolte advocated murdering the mother of a young actress:

Breitbart's Penis Envy

Breitbrat Nolte begins his incoherent rant with a typical bashing of the press as liberal, despite all the evidence to the contrary. With no substantiation whatsoever, he called the media “a gaggle of left-wing operatives disguised as journalists.” Nolte goes on to assert that the media fears the Citizens United decision handed down by the Supreme Court because the media is in the business of the “furthering of leftist causes.” Notice how he refers to the media as a single-minded entity shuddering frightfully at the thought of Citizens United. He makes no effort to document that assertion. But finally, Nolte gets around to what he regards as the core of the problem:

“[T]he media is objecting to free and unlimited political speech – the very thing protected by the very first Amendment. The media’s outrage that there are now no longer restrictions on how much money a company or individual can spend to further a political cause, is the same as expressing outrage that that most sacred of American rights – unlimited political speech – is no longer limited by a tyrannical government.”

Of course. The media is “outraged” that individuals and corporations can now spend unlimited amounts of money on ….. MEDIA! Where does Nolte think that the hundreds of millions of dollars that he concedes will be raised and spent is going to go? By far, the biggest share of that bounty will be spent on advertising in the media. The very same media that Nolte refers to as an amorphous singularity that is united in opposition to Super PACs. So obviously the media is beside themselves with rage. Their secret plot to advance socialism is way more important to them than the windfall in unprecedented profits. Anyone can see that.

Well, anyone that suffers from the same moronic myopia of Breitbrat Nolte, whose grasp of the particulars of the Citizens United decision is utterly confused. Nolte does not seem to understand that the decision opened the funding floodgates to allow unprecedented levels of unaccountable contributions that are tantamount to giving wealthy individuals and corporations permission to buy election outcomes. He describes it as a “First Amendment victory,” but it is a victory for dollars, not for voters. It changes the dimensions of democracy from “one man, one vote,” to “one dollar, one vote,” because now free speech comes with a price tag that only the wealthy can afford. How can the average citizen’s voice be heard when it is competing with Exxon or Karl Rove’s American Crossroads?

Nolte’s whining that the media has been enforcing a liberal tyranny over the nation and is enraged by new competition from the Super PACs created by Citizens United ignores the fact that the media themselves are participants in the rush to exploit the Super PAC phenomenon. Every major media corporation (Time Warner, General Electric, Comcast, Viacom, Disney, News Corp) already has their own. And they are spending heavily to advance their interests over those of the people. But Nolte has trouble with the concept of facts to begin with, as is apparent in this example from his article:

“Fact : In 2008, you heard almost no media outcry against all of that ‘outside money affecting elections.’ Today, that’s all you hear, especially after a Republican victory like the one last week in Wisconsin.

First of all, Nolte needs a remedial course in identifying facts. He cannot assert as fact that “you” heard nothing in 2008 about outside money. How could he know what you heard? Secondly, his main point as to the “media outcry” on campaign finance completely ignores that actual fact that fundraising by independent groups has long been a huge topic of discussion. It resulted in the passage of the McCain–Feingold Act in 2002 that put restrictions on certain types of contributions and spending. That act was still in effect in 2008, but was largely overturned in 2010 by Citizens United. If Nolte didn’t hear people talking about outside money in 2008, it’s because his ears were stuffed with right-wing bias and the smears and tangential trivialities that he helped to promulgate (i.e. Rev. Wright, Anthony Weiner).

Nolte makes an extraordinary leap in logic to assert that media companies are de facto Super PACs and that they have always been “allowed to spend unlimited amounts of money to push a political agenda.” But Nolte is not talking about any actual PAC activity. He is asserting the premise that any money spent collecting or reporting news is identical to spending for political advocacy. That’s because Nolte believes that all news is the work of the left-wing gaggle mentioned above. He writes that everyone from the Today Show to Saturday Night Live are “shill[s] for leftist causes.” Therefore, he sees the advent of Citizens United as a leveling mechanism.

“Thanks to ‘Citizens United,’ though, what you now have are mainstream media corporations forced to compete on a level playing field with other individuals and corporations, who can now spend as much money as MSNBC and Politico and The Washington Post, etc. to affect the outcomes of our nation’s politics.

“And this is why the media so loathes ‘Citizens United’ and those beautiful super PACs that have blossomed as a result.”

And therein lies the heart of Nolte’s Epic Idiocy. He actually sees Super PACs as “beautiful,” a blossoming bouquet of wholesome, corporate goodness. In fact, he veritably tingles at the thought of corporations being able to affect the outcomes of elections. Who wouldn’t want corporations – soulless entities whose only purpose is to increase shareholder wealth – to decide everything from how are children are taught, to the state of our environment, to Wall Street regulatory policy, to when, and with whom, we go to war? Nolte’s lust for allowing unaccountable corporations to assume control over the most profoundly personal aspects of our lives is downright perverse. It is also a nearly textbook definition of fascism.


And it’s a perversion rooted in ignorance because the backbone of his thesis is utterly false. It should come as no surprise that a web site called “News Corpse” is not suffering from a naive affinity for the press. But the stated mission of this site recognizes that the problem with the media is that it has evolved into an incestuous family of a few giant corporations whose interests lean more toward their own welfare than the welfare of the public they serve or the nation that protects their independence. The problem with the media is that it IS composed of giant, multinational corporations that exploit their market power and their influence over government.

It is difficult to comprehend how Nolte can harbor such a schizophrenic viewpoint wherein he worships corporations, but despises the media which are, in fact, corporations. He makes no sense in castigating the whole of the media for bitterly opposing Super PACs (for which he provides no evidence), even while they have formed their own and are projected to earn billions of dollars from the advertising headed their way. His opinion can only be described as twisted by a paranoid neurosis that prevents him from observing reality as it is.

It is that blindness that has created a monumental obstacle to rationality and earns Breitbart’s John Nolte the award for the Most Epically Idiotic Article On The Internet. And due to his puerile dimwittedness and cognitive ineptitude, this will surely not be the last time he will be so (dis)honored.

Breitbart Bites: A Tea Party At Disneyland With Junkfood And Chili Peppers

Breitbart News has an arduous task as it seeks to produce a daily menu of moronic musings to satisfy their dimwitted readers. It seems a near impossible mission to continually churn out the quantity and quality of idiocy that they somehow manage to maintain. Here are a few recent examples of the prime cuts of cretinism that have graced their puerile pages.

Breitbart Bites

Ray Bradbury: Science Fiction Legend; Tea Party Patriot
The news that Ray Bradbury, author of classic books such as Fahrenheit 451 and The Illustrated Man, passed away Wednesday surely stirred pangs of grief and memories of inspiration for millions. But for the Breitbrats it was a morbid opportunity to polish their egos by sponging off of the reputation of a beloved storyteller. These parasites can’t even set aside a time to mourn without attempting to turn the occasion into a partisan political affair. At 91, Bradbury had a long life and expressed a wide variety of views. In his later years he did tend to lean to the right, but he never associated himself with the Tea Party. For the Breitbrats to assert that after his death is not unlike the disturbing Mormon practice of Baptizing Jews posthumously.

Disney Kneels Before The State: Bans ‘Junkfood’ Ads
To today’s conservatives, the worst thing that any business can do in the age of Obama is to align itself with any initiative whose purpose is the well-being of society and it’s inhabitants. That’s the cliff Disney stepped off of when, in partnership with First Lady Michelle Obama’s campaign for children’s health, they unveiled plans to keep junk food ads off of their child-focused TV networks, radio stations and Web sites. To the Breitbrats, when a business chooses to refrain from indoctrinating kids with unhealthy messages, it is not the free market at work, but a capitulation to a tyrannical government. Breitbrat John Nolte begins his advocacy of Big Mac brainwashing by denying the existence of the very real problem of child obesity. But then he launches into a surprising justification:

“The left’s rebuttal is always the same: Well, we have to pay the health care costs for the obese.

Yes, we do, but the cost of liberty is not always fair — but it’s worth every damn penny.”

Get it? Nolte favors passing on the costs of treating illnesses resulting from obesity and malnutrition to society-at-large. Sounds like universal healthcare (aka socialism) to me. He thinks it’s perfectly OK for all of us to pay for the consequences of behavior that will drain the nation’s treasury if that behavior was freely chosen by the patient. And he shudders at the thought of people being informed about their health choices, even if the person is only ten years old. At the same time, he opposes paying for medical care for those unfortunates who might randomly develop kidney disease or multiple sclerosis or any number of other illnesses that are not behavior driven. That’s because he values liberty so highly that even socialism is justified to preserve our right to totally screw ourselves up.

Chili Peppers Rally For President Kardashian
The Breitbrats like to see themselves as trendy fashionistas who are hip to the scene, man. That’s likely an emotional reaction to their having been such pathetic outcasts in their youth. So now, in adulthood, they strive pitifully to fit in with what they think is cool. The result is an attempt to ridicule President Obama by arbitrarily associating him with a Kardashian. And as if that weren’t lame enough, they go on to insult the Red Hot Chili Peppers who provided free entertainment to thank Obama campaign volunteers for their service.

Breitbrat Christian Toto derides the Red Hot Chili Peppers as “aging punksters.” OK, the Red Hots aren’t 20-somethings, but my guess is that Flea would kick Toto’s tail in a contest to see who rocks harder. What’s more, when the most prominent rocker in the Romney is camp is Ted Nugent, a senior citizen has-been with a gun fetish, you might want to lay off the age jokes. Nugent spends his weekends at state fairs on nostalgic reunion tours, while the Red Hots fill stadiums and still chart hits. This one is currently at #17:

In these few items the Breitbrats have thoroughly demonstrated that they are shameless partisan hacks, incoherent hypocrites, and wretchedly feeble culture critics. No wonder their model of obsession-fueled, juvenile journalism (i.e. “vetting” the President) is such a sorry failure. Somehow they have managed to make Andrew Breitbart’s laughably weak and transparently biased blog conglomerate even dumber and less consequential.