As part of the “culture war,” Bill O’Reilly must be a commissioned officer in the anti-choice storm trooper division. In “looking out for us,’ he knows what’s best for women and as such, is very concerned about their reproductive organs.
His dismay about the demise of the white, Christian, male power structure indicates that he would love to go back to those halcyon days when big daddy knew best, and submissive mommy stayed home, baked cookies, and had nice, white babies; the good old days when uppity women, who denied their mission as mothers, bled to death or were maimed for life as a result of back alley abortions and “homemade” remedies for unwanted pregnancy (served em right, eh, Bill?); those happy days when women accepted the “shame” of an unintended pregnancy, dropped out of school, and gave their babies up for either adoption in a nice white home, or not so nice orphanages where abuse ran rampant.
Because the late Dr. Tiller (and the women who accessed his service) defied Bill’s 50’s world view, Bills continues his justification of his jihad against Tiller and those stupid, silly women who have late term abortions.
On yesterday’s (6/4/09) Your World, Fox News contributor Tucker Carlson joined host Neil Cavuto to discuss the good news that Wal-Mart is hiring 22,000 workers “without any government stimulus at all.” Rather than analyze or investigate the circumstances of the hires, Fox used the news to take a swipe at the Obama administration – and America’s workers – by suggesting that this had proved the government stimulus package was unnecessary. The “fair and balanced” segment featured a host and guest with, essentially, the same opinion.
Andy Cobb (you can read more about him here) found inspiration in our post about Glenn Beck’s incest fantasy, which he delved into at great length in his book, The Real America. Now Cobb has brought Beck’s words to life!
Glenn Beck threw a sanctimonious hissy fit yesterday when a representative from ACORN had the nerve to suggest he is afraid of black people. Of course, Beck and Fox can demonize ACORNandminorities all day long, but my, how sensitive Beck’s widdle feewings get when the tables are turned. In the clip, Beck angrily brags to his audience (which he always self-importantly addresses as “America”) that he threw out guest Scott Levenson of ACORN for saying, during the commercial break, that Beck is afraid of black people.
Interestingly, Beck seems to have understood that as an accusation that he hates black people. But if it was really as ridiculous an accusation as Beck claimed, wouldn’t he have just dismissed it without getting upset? And if it’s so important that Beck wanted to address it, why not have the guy back and prove him wrong to “America?” Meanwhile, Beck’s record of hostilities to ACORN and people of color is well documented. No amount of self-righteous posturing is going to erase it.
Hey, kids! Do you ever get tired of Fox News’ crops? I don’t mean the food they might be literally growing, in Glenn Beck’s Doom Room, in preparation for Imminent Socialist Panic. I’m talking about the way they manipulate video to make it look like people are just straight up saying the opposite thing they actually said. Well, it’s been bothering the media critics at Media Matters For America for some time, and they have, for a long time, been cataloging “examples of Fox News hosts and correspondents cropping comments by progressives and Democratic political figures in a manner that misrepresents them.” A new mash-up video offers some side-by-side examples of what they’re talking about.
Oh, those family values folks at Fox News! On yesterday’s (4/30/09) Live Desk, Trace Gallagher and Julie Banderas were all agog over the prospect of Miss California, Carrie Prejean, speaking at the National Press Club on behalf of the conservative National Organization for Marriage. But Fox was obviously more interested in her view than her views. Because about a minute after Prejean started speaking, the screen split and a still photo of Prejean in a bikini, about twice the size of the real Prejean, appeared. It remained for the rest of the clip, about two more minutes. With video.
Before Prejean spoke, the banner on the screen read, “Miss CA speaks about supporting traditional marriage.” Fox News called its video “Following her Faith.” But clearly, Fox had something besides marriage and faith on its mind.
Media Matters put together a must-see compilation of the right-wing media’s fearmongering about swine flu. Michelle Malkin, Glenn Beck, Neil Boortz, Bill O’Reilly, Michael Savage and the Fox News crew are always eager to manipulate the news to support their hate-filled xenophobia, so the swine flu epidemic has really kicked their anti-immigrant rhetoric into overdrive. The winner for the most absurd (and dispicable) attack I’ve heard so far has come from Savage, who claimed this was a terrorist attack planted in Mexico by Islamic fundamentalists.
At AlterNet, Joshua Holland gets into the dangers of the right-wing media using this crisis to peddle their hateful rhetoric.
Fox News has reason to rejoice as President Obama marks the media-manufactured milestone of his first 100 days in office. The conservative cable network’s ratings are sky high under the new Democratic president. Yes, it looks like it couldn’t be happier serving as “the voice of [Obama's] opposition,” to paraphrase Fox News senior vice president Bill Shine.
Not surprisingly, Fox’s success as the president’s “opposition” stands in stark contrast to the way Americans now view Obama. According to the latest ABC News/Washington Postpoll, Obama enjoys the “best job approval rating at this point in 20 years,” with 69 percent of Americans approving of the job he’s doing. Further, the poll found that “half of Americans now [say] the country’s headed in the right direction,” as opposed to the scant 19 percent holding that view just before Obama’s inauguration.
So, what gives? Apparently, Fox’s definition of “fair and balanced” has nothing to do with the practice of good journalism — where fairness means truth and balance means exploring all sides of an issue. No, it is only offering up the “yin” to America’s “yang.”
Janeane Garofalo just laid it out. Made it plain. I totally agree with her that what’s at the heart of these protests and name-calling is fear of a black president. IMO, all this ballyhooing calling Obama “fascist” and “socialist” and “communist” adds up to a bunch of ignorant, frightened white people (and that’s all there was at these poorly attended tea parties it was plain to see) who, en masse, see a big black man who happens to be president crossing the street near their collective cars and have decided to roll up their windows and lock their doors. And call the cops. Terms like socialism and collectivism equal nothing more than a ridiculous, sad and unjustified fear that: “A black man is president and he’s going to take away my money and social privilege and give it to niggers who don’t deserve it. Eeek!”
CNN reporter Susan Roesgen has taken some flack, but she’s my hero. She bravely exposed the hypocrisy, artifice, paradox and poor logic behind what the tea party protestors were saying. She never got an answer to “why do you think Obama is a fascist”? That’s because there is no answer. These people know it’s socially unacceptable to espouse racism openly and so all of this, ALL OF THIS, is an elaborate canard intended to allow expression of fear, ignorance and hatred safely.
It’s helpful to see white people begin to acknowledge this, too. That’s ultimately what will push back the surging tide of hatred because there are still some white people in America (ahem, tea partiers) who only believe other white people when it come to labeling racism. Janeane is so worth watching. Go on girl.
Comedienne Janeane Garofalo held nothing back while discussing the “tea parties” with Keith Olbermann last night. Though the parties’ organizers claim they’re protesting taxes, Garofalo insists they’re nothing but “tea-bagging rednecks” who are simply motivated by “hating a black man in the White House.” She went on to say that participants “will believe anything you tell them, as long as it’s not the truth.” The truth, she claims, “confuses them.”
This might win the award for the best video I saw from yesterday’s teabagging coverage. Good for CNN reporter Susan Roesgen for confronting these idiotic protesters and calling out Fox News for shamelessly promoting them (H/T Jesse).
