Olympics

CANCEL CULTure: Fox News Attacks Olympic Athlete for Exercising Free Speech

Posted by on June 28, 2021 at 3:01 pm. 3 Comments :

The emergence of a new buzzword in Fox News is always a treasure trove of asininity. And as their embrace of their new and thoroughly contrived concept of “cancel culture” has spread across their airwaves, Fox News has proven that they are the foremost abusers of it.

Fox News, Censorship

Fox News has courageously stood up in opposition to the injustices suffered by esteemed, albeit imaginary, Americans like Dr. Seuss and Mr. Potato Head. Because of Fox, they now represent the class of victims who have been “canceled” by systemic intolerance of cartoon characters and plastic toys.

However, no one is more guilty than Fox News of “canceling” real people who dare to go against the grain of whatever narrative Fox News happens to be espousing. Just ask all of the Republicans censured and cast aside for their perceived disloyalty to Donald Trump. Or check with the American companies that Trump has targeted for boycotts.

Now we can add to those casualties Olympic hopeful Gwen Barry. Upon winning a bronze medal in the recent Olympic trials, Berry took the opportunity to express her commitment to social injustice. That act of free speech earned her a mention at the White House daily press briefing. The Fox News White House correspondent, Peter Doocy, chose to use his privileged position to focus on an issue that he believes far outweighs the other petty concerns of the President of the United States, such as the resurgent COVID pandemic, or the Florida condo catastrophe, or how the pending infrastructure bill will impact the economy and jobs. Nope, Doocy wanted to know about this:

Doocy: This weekend Gwen Berry, who represents the United States as an Olympian on the hammer-throwing events, won a bronze medal at the trials, and then she turned her back on the flag while the anthem played. Does President Biden think that is appropriate behavior for someone who hopes to represent Team USA?”
Psaki: I haven’t spoken to the President specifically about this. But I know he’s incredibly proud to be an American, and has great respect for the anthem, and all that it represents, especially for our men and women serving in uniform all around the world. He would also say, of course, that part of that pride in our country means recognizing there are moments where we as a country haven’t lived up to our highest ideals. And it means respecting the right of people, granted to them in the Constitution, to peacefully protest.

Was it really necessary for Doocy to ask that particular question? Did it advance the public’s knowledge of matters that actually affect them? Didn’t he know that the obvious answer would be a defense of the Constitution? Is he really that stupid? (Don’t answer that).

And if that weren’t enough, Fox News had already addressed this critical subject on their early morning program, Fox and Friends. Co-host Ainsley Earhardt put the question to Republican congressman Dan Crenshaw:

Earhardt: [Berry] turned her back on the flag during the anthem, and she also put a black t-shirt over her face that said “activist athlete.”
Crenshaw: We don’t need anymore activist athletes. She should be removed from the team. The entire point of the Olympic team is to represent the United States of America. That’s the entire point. It’s one thing when these NBA players do it. We’ll just stop watching. But now the Olympic team? And it’s multiple cases of this. They should be removed. That should be the bare minimum requirement, is that you believe in the country representing.

So Crenshaw doesn’t believe we need “anymore activist athletes.” That implies that we have some already and that the quota has met. Which leaves one to wonder exactly how many activist athletes we need? And if we’ve exceeded that need, are the rest just canceled/removed?

Crenshaw makes the bizarre assertion that “The entire point of the Olympic team is to represent the United States of America.” Most people probably thought it has something to do with athletic competitions. And he makes a distinction between the Olympics and the NBA because you don’t have to watch basketball. Does he think that watching the Olympics is legally mandated? Plus, he’s being profoundly disingenuous because he wouldn’t support the free speech of professional athletes either. Just ask Colin Kaepernick. And Fox News can tell you something about their demands on NBA players to “Shut Up and Dribble.”

Finally, Crenshaw is asserting that a peaceful gesture of protest amounts to not believing in your country. That’s the opposite of the truth. Wanting to improve your country is an act of patriotism. If Berry didn’t care about America, she wouldn’t have felt compelled to make any statement at all. It’s the protestors who love America. It’s the “love it or leave it” types who refuse to acknowledge the nation’s flaws who really don’t care.

And that’s precisely what’s wrong with the attitude of Crenshaw, Fox News, and their audience. The same people who are offended by a woman of color peacefully protesting by turning her back to the flag, have actually defended violent protestors who used the flag as a weapon against police officers at Trump’s January 6th insurrection.

The Crenshaws and Foxists of the world wear blinders that keep them satisfied with America as it is. Don’t bother to resolve problems or help those who are not enjoying the full spectrum of the nation’s benefits. And to hell with anyone who thinks we can do better. Contrary to what Fox News and Crenshaw believe, that is not the true spirit of America.

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How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Offensive Article By FOX Exec Deleted Because it ‘Does Not Reflect the Values of FOX News’

Posted by on February 9, 2018 at 1:22 pm. 2 Comments :

On Wednesday Fox News published an article about the United States Olympic team that took a surprisingly negative tone. And the author was no back-bencher on Fox’s roster. It was John Moody, the Executive Vice President and Executive Editor for Fox News. Apparently he was upset by reports that the U.S. athletes represented a broader scope of diversity than in the past.

Fox News Moody

Moody’s column was a thinly veiled defense of bigotry and unapologetically titled, “In Olympics, let’s focus on the winner of the race — not the race of the winner. The message he was putting forth was that because of the diversity, there must have been some unsavory manipulation to favor athletes who were not straight and white. That allegation, of course, was never supported by any facts in the article. It was simply Moody’s suspicion based on remarks by an Olympic Committee official praising this year’s team. The article began with an uninhibited display of prejudice:

“Unless it’s changed overnight, the motto of the Olympics, since 1894, has been ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger.’ It appears the U.S. Olympic Committee would like to change that to ‘Darker, Gayer, Different.’ If your goal is to win medals, that won’t work.

“A USOC official was quoted this week expressing pride (what else?) about taking the most diverse U.S. squad ever to the Winter Olympics. That was followed by a, frankly, embarrassing laundry list of how many African-Americans, Asians and openly gay athletes are on this year’s U.S. team. No sport that we are aware of awards points – or medals – for skin color or sexual orientation.”

Not only was Moody flaunting his noxious hatefulness with the disparaging reference to being “Darker, Gayer, [and] Different,” he whined about the USOC official being proud of America’s team. And nowhere in the official’s comments did he suggest that anything but skill and talent would result in the award of medals. The entirety of Moody’s complaint was wrapped up in his personal biases.

After the article was published, it drew an onslaught of well-deserved criticism from the public and many of the organizations that represent the groups that Moody was insulting. So yesterday Fox News deleted the article. They left no explanation or apology in its place. It was simply gone. Well, except for the fact that nothing is ever really “gone” on the Internet, and the article can still be found here thanks to the Web Archive. And Fox News was later forced to comment when the Hollywood Reporter contacted them to find out what happened. A Fox News spokesperson said that “John Moody’s column does not reflect the views or values of FOX News and has been removed.”

Really? The opinions of the Executive Vice President and Executive Editor for Fox News don’t reflect the views and values of the network? If Moody doesn’t reflect those values, than who does? He is literally the person who decides which views are aired on Fox News, and which aren’t. He tells his producers and hosts what to cover each day and how to frame the coverage. And if there is one thing that is unmistakable, it’s that his views in this matter are identical to everything you see on Fox News regarding American diversity. Just watch a few minutes of Tucker Carlson, or Sean Hannity, or Laura Ingraham, or Fox and Friends (if you can stomach it).

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

For some background on Moody, last year he penned a column praising French presidential candidate, and leader of France’s neo-Nazis, Marine Le Pen. Moody even favorably associated Le Pen with Donald Trump. He called her “France’s Trump” and “the candidate closest to Trump in ideology.” And make no mistake, he considered that a compliment to both. So it’s impossible to separate him from the disgusting hate speech that he disgorged in his latest column. Even if Fox News deletes it. Moody is unalterably the personification of the network’s views and values, no matter how badly they might want to distance themselves from this.

Fox News Conservatives Suddenly Opposed To Free Enterprise

Posted by on July 12, 2012 at 12:16 pm. 1 Comments :

A few days ago the kiddies at Fox & Friends went all limp because of a report that the American Olympic team would be donning berets as part of their official apparel. Steve Doocy and the others on the curvy couch were aghast that our athletic heroes were being forced to wear unpatriotic chapeaus from France that made them look foolish. But the Foxies apparently forgot that berets are also worn by some other Americans:

Fox Nation

Now the outrage at Fox continues as reports reveal that the Olympic uniforms are being manufactured in China. Conservatives across the media landscape are slamming the decision to outfit our athletes in clothes produced by the same communist nation that produces almost all of the clothes that the rest of us wear – as well as our computers, cars, televisions, etc.

So now the right-wingnuts are in a frenzy because of the off-shoring of sports apparel. However, the Olympic Committee is privately funded. The decision to manufacture the uniforms in China was made solely by the Ralph Lauren Company for purely financial reasons. The Committee could have required sponsors to source all Olympic manufacturing in the U.S., but that would be the sort of “regulation” that conservatives adamantly oppose.

The evils of regulations are a core principle of the Republican Party and the right. But when they can exploit some purely partisan pseudo-patriotism in order to induce mouth-frothing anxiety from their glassy-eyed followers, then all of a sudden regulations are the American Way.

So which is it, Teapublicans? Blind adherence to pure free enterprise, or rational policies that advance the interests of all Americans? If you choose the former than STFU about Chinese-made Olympic wear. If you choose the latter than stop pretending that unfettered free enterprise is a sacred rite that cannot be defied.