In keeping with the cantankerous mood I find myself in these days, let’s discuss Chris Matthews. About a month ago Matthews dissed his colleagues at MSNBC by saying that he was the only one on the network inviting opposing opinion. In the case of Keith Olbermann, that may be true. However in Keith’s defense, his show has always been about skewering untruths generally from the other side. Yes, Fox and Limbaugh are often targeted, but it doesn’t mean what he says is less factual. His show is not about debate, it's more about setting the record straight. Rachel Maddow asks conservatives on daily and is often refused because they know their factless rhetoric will not go unchallenged. David Frum, Nancy Pfotenhauer, Tim Phillips and recently Richard Cohen were verbally eviserated trying to use that technique. Granted, it gives other conservatives pause appear, but her aim is true and it’s why she has a growing fan base. That said, former Bush speech writer Mark McKinnon is a frequent guest and I’m confident Colin Powell is among those who would appear again if asked. The lesson is to be honest and not falsify objectives so the debate can continue. Now there’s Ed Schultz who has really seemed to take personal offense to some of Matthews recent comments. He really seems to be a guy 'mad as hell who isn't going to take it anymore' - from anyone! His show is formatted in a very similar way to Chris’, yet once the battle has begun and no one can hear a thing, he shuts them down and redirects as needed. Having opposing opinions all screaming at the same time doesn’t do the viewers a bit of good, but that's what Matthews show promotes. Schultz has just as many "righties" on as Chris. I guess the difference is, that Chris recycles BFF's like Tom DeLay who should be in jail and Nazi Pat Buchanan. It just strikes me a bit odd that Matthews has decided to make a right hand turn and trash his colleagues just as it became evident that the Comcast deal was “on”.
When the Stupak Amendment (yes, that again) passed the House HCR bill in early November, Matthews hosted Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-CO) of co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus. She had circulated a letter which had about 40 signatures of House Democrats who say they will oppose the health care bill if it's used to restrict abortion rights. He badgered, interrupted and was downright rude to her for the entire interview. She had appeared on Rachel’s show the night before so I knew what her goal was, but anyone watching Matthews wouldn’t have heard a thing. Matthews’ conservative Catholic upbringing was on display for all to see. In his world, women do not have the right to decide what happens within their own bodies. He kept talking over her about how taxpayers don’t want their money to go towards abortions. I emailed his show and told him I didn’t want mine going to unjust wars either. Like I always say, “You can’t be pro-life and pro-war”. I find it odd how many people can’t see that.
Last week, this is what Matthews said about the far left as he calls us. You know, those who had the biggest impact on Obama’s election. "I don't consider them Democrats, I consider them Netroots. And if I see they vote in every election, or most elections, then I'll be worried. But I'm not sure they're regular, grown-up Democrats. I think a lot of these people are troublemakers who love to sit in the back seat and complain. They're not interested in governing this country. They never ran for office, they're not interested in working for someone in public office. They get their giggles out of sitting in the back seat and bitching." Daily KOS founder Markos Moulitsas fired back, "In 2003, when Bush landed his plane in the aircraft carrier, and spoke in front of the banner that said, 'Mission Accomplished,' Chris Matthews had an entire show based on that event, and he said everybody knows that we won the war, except a few critics. Well, I was one of those few critics. People like me in the Netroots were some of those critics. And it turns out that we were right and the Beltway conventional wisdom was wrong. And once again, we're in a situation where people like Chris Matthews don't learn from these mistakes. They're trapped in this bubble and they think that they know better. If Chris Matthews is worried about us working, and if he thinks that we're not Democrats, then he really should be worried, because he's got a thing coming."
Markos Moulitsas Slams Chris Matthews on "The Ed Show."
I've never heard him insult or dismiss Dick Armey's Teabaggers. I guess the lack of diversity in those crowds has gone unnoticed by him. To give that group of bigots more credibility than activist organizations like Moveon.org, Democracy Now or even Daily Kos is a tell tale sign of where Matthews true allegiances lie. He didn't mention how Armey's D.C. luncheon was cancelled last week because no one signed up to attend. You can bet had it been a cancelled lucheon for someone on the left, it would've been included in "Sideshow".
Showing posts with label matthews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label matthews. Show all posts
Monday, December 21, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
Has Obama Become "Compromised" Trying to "Compromise" With His Opponents?
Wednesday night, Keith Olbermann kind of stole my thunder with his Special Comment on the latest version of HR-3590, the Senate Health Care Reform bill. It was essentially a big “eff you” to Obama. He was correct on every point. Obama has continuously thumbed his nose at those of us who supported him, preferring to woo the right and conservative Democrats. Everytime the left rises in any kind of opposition to any proposed bill, he sends attack dog Rahm Emanual to tell the "liberals" to shut up. In my opinion he thinks we’ll support him in the end anyways, so he doesn’t care about how we’re feeling about one disappointment after another. This so called “health care reform” has magnified what a weak leader our President is turning out to be. I guess it was kind of silly of me last November 4, 2008 thinking I was voting for Obama/Biden. It turns out I was actually voting for Lieberman/Snowe. It's become painfully obvious over the past several months who holds the real power. It has actually been sickening to watch the alternating coddling the two of them have received from Democrats. I believe this administration is underestimating the degree that we're paying attention. They seem genuinely surprised that we actually expected them to be different. They better start realizing the damage they're doing or they're heading for one and done.
What we are currently looking at is a bill with no cost control. The insurance companies can’t deny you coverage for a pre-existing conditions, but they can charge you what they want. Isn't that great? There's no cap on premiums, but there's a cap on benefits! To top it off, you have to have insurance bought from the "insurance cartel!" So this has turned into a big gift to private insurers by handing them at least 30 million new customers. Way to go Obama, that’s not exactly the “change” we were looking for. The current position is something Obama actually chastised Hillary Clinton for during their respective campaign's. In 2012, I will vote for Obama again if he’s still the Democratic nominee, but only because we can’t leave the chance that Republicans will fill any more Supreme Court vacancies as they become open. It won’t be with excitement next time, unless he works very hard to right the ship. So far, he's been disappointing. Please take time to watch Keith’s outstanding spot on Special Comment:
After all this, we still have to wait for House Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to meld the two bills together. The bill in the House at least has a Public Option to compete with private insurance, but it also has the Stupak Amendment, further restricting/obstructing a woman’s right to chose a safe and legal medical procedure. But don’t worry guys, you can still get ED supplements in both bills. The good ol' boys in Washington need be able to perform at a moments’ notice. I can't tell you how angry I am that these guys don’t feel a woman has the right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy (it's not accomplished without help), but we better damn well not infringe their rights to have a "drug induced" erection…so when she's ready, you're ready...lasting as long as four hours...if loss of hearing or vision occurs, call a doctor. I do have to ask; Is it really that important guys? The Senate version doesn’t contain anti-abortion language as I write this, but Nebraska Conservadem Ben Nelson is working on it. He claims he won't vote for a bill without it. I'm going to have to put some trust in Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) on this one. She has been adament and consistent with her position that this is supposed to be about affordable health care, not circumventing a woman's right to choose. This should be simple, if you don’t believe in abortion don’t get one. However, making it virtually impossible to obtain a legal procedure because you personally have a problem with it is crossing the lines to women's rights. This country is letting religious beliefs dictate everything we do and I’m sick of it. The Catholic Church meddled in on this debate as well by having secret meetings with members of congress. The Hyde amendment from 1976 already disallows public funding for the procedure, but nooo that wasn’t enough – they added Stupak. What these guys are aiming for, is any insurance company who gets any federal money (which is almost all of them) will not be allowed to offer that service, even if a woman has her own insurance that she paid for. Somewhere along the way, this country began regressing on basic rights and I’m really afraid of where we’re going with the zealots getting louder and wielding more power. Let's start getting seperation of church and state in order. The next time the Catholics or the Mormons get involved in policy, strip them of their tax exempt status, until they see the errors of their ways. Then make them re-apply for it with a very long drawn out process. Let them see what it's like to have something taken away from them. I know -- it's a pipe dream of mine that will never happen.
Quick Thoughts: Thumbs up to MSNBC...mostly. Outstanding coverage from Olbermann and Ed Schultz for attempting to hold Obama accountable to campaign promises on health care. Ed's radio and tv shows have both covered the debate extensively and he's become a strong voice for a strong public option. Schultz was appearing on Morning Joe Thursday morning when he heard both Mika Brezinski's and Joe Scarborough's Blackberry's start ringing. Apparently they were getting complaints from the White House due to Schultz and fellow guest Arianna Huffington's blistering commentary and wanted the hosts to tone it down. I guess this White House expected MSNBC to behave as Fox did through the Bush years, as lapdogs. Also, great news for The Rachel Maddow Show whose overall ratings for the year were up 15% over 2008. While Rachel uses a gentler approach than the guys, she has been hammering the administration on numerous campaign promises since April. Even though the three aforementioned like Obama, they're doing their jobs in a non-partisan way. Chris Matthews continues to be the weak link in the evening line-up. Ever since his "thrill down my leg" comment, he's gone way to the right and insults liberals on a nightly basis. I guess he feels that's the way to redeem himself. I was never a fan, but now he's completely unwatchable....
I'm liking Al Franken (D-Minn.), more and more. When Lieberman's 10 minutes of yammering were up Thursday, this is what happened next; "I'm sorry. The senator has spoken for ten minutes," Franken the chamber's presiding officer, told Lieberman. "I wonder if I could ask unanimous consent for just an additional moment," Lieberman said. "In my capacity as the senator from Minnesota, I object," said Franken. Good for Al. I've heard enough from Benedict Arnold for a lifetime. To actually state that he didn't want the Medicare buy-in for people 55-64 because "liberals like it too much" said all you needed to know about this prick....
As Sarah's World Turns: The Toronto Sun Reports that Sarah Palin has been booted from Canadian Hospital fundraiser. Apparently the Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation received many angry calls and emails from people saying they wouldn't donate to any event in which she has a role. She will come to town raise money for a local children’s charity instead. See what having educated citizens does!...A Salt Lake City Costco where Palin was to attend a book signing removed all tomatos from the shelves to lessen the chance of a copycat tomato throwing incident as happened a couple weeks ago in Minnesota. That was brilliant, really. I wonder if it occured to them to remove the eggs too... While in Salt Lake, the diva's legend grew. Palin's entourage requested local hairdresser Rhonda Halliday do an emergency hair session. Halliday arrived at the hotel and had her car valet parked. After being ushered to a room and given some instructions (don't talk to Palin unless she talks first) she did Palin's hair while the Wasilla quitter chatted with her family. Then, the Queen's party left to get to the book signing at Costco on time. Halliday was the last one out of the room because she had to put her equipment away, then watched as they all drove off without anyone mentioning payment or a tip. When the valet attendant got her car, he said that would be $10. She said she was with the Palin party and assumed they would take care of parking. That was news to him, so she had to fork over the $10. I guess she should've just been honored to be in her majestry's presence, that was payment enough... Palin also annoyed leaders of the Utah Republican Party when she didn't have time for them during her stop in Salt Lake City. I'm sure if they offered her a few bucks, she would've gladly found the time. She sure knows how to win friends and influence people. Yup, she's going to make a fine Presidential hopeful!
Keep the pressure on!
What we are currently looking at is a bill with no cost control. The insurance companies can’t deny you coverage for a pre-existing conditions, but they can charge you what they want. Isn't that great? There's no cap on premiums, but there's a cap on benefits! To top it off, you have to have insurance bought from the "insurance cartel!" So this has turned into a big gift to private insurers by handing them at least 30 million new customers. Way to go Obama, that’s not exactly the “change” we were looking for. The current position is something Obama actually chastised Hillary Clinton for during their respective campaign's. In 2012, I will vote for Obama again if he’s still the Democratic nominee, but only because we can’t leave the chance that Republicans will fill any more Supreme Court vacancies as they become open. It won’t be with excitement next time, unless he works very hard to right the ship. So far, he's been disappointing. Please take time to watch Keith’s outstanding spot on Special Comment:
After all this, we still have to wait for House Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to meld the two bills together. The bill in the House at least has a Public Option to compete with private insurance, but it also has the Stupak Amendment, further restricting/obstructing a woman’s right to chose a safe and legal medical procedure. But don’t worry guys, you can still get ED supplements in both bills. The good ol' boys in Washington need be able to perform at a moments’ notice. I can't tell you how angry I am that these guys don’t feel a woman has the right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy (it's not accomplished without help), but we better damn well not infringe their rights to have a "drug induced" erection…so when she's ready, you're ready...lasting as long as four hours...if loss of hearing or vision occurs, call a doctor. I do have to ask; Is it really that important guys? The Senate version doesn’t contain anti-abortion language as I write this, but Nebraska Conservadem Ben Nelson is working on it. He claims he won't vote for a bill without it. I'm going to have to put some trust in Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) on this one. She has been adament and consistent with her position that this is supposed to be about affordable health care, not circumventing a woman's right to choose. This should be simple, if you don’t believe in abortion don’t get one. However, making it virtually impossible to obtain a legal procedure because you personally have a problem with it is crossing the lines to women's rights. This country is letting religious beliefs dictate everything we do and I’m sick of it. The Catholic Church meddled in on this debate as well by having secret meetings with members of congress. The Hyde amendment from 1976 already disallows public funding for the procedure, but nooo that wasn’t enough – they added Stupak. What these guys are aiming for, is any insurance company who gets any federal money (which is almost all of them) will not be allowed to offer that service, even if a woman has her own insurance that she paid for. Somewhere along the way, this country began regressing on basic rights and I’m really afraid of where we’re going with the zealots getting louder and wielding more power. Let's start getting seperation of church and state in order. The next time the Catholics or the Mormons get involved in policy, strip them of their tax exempt status, until they see the errors of their ways. Then make them re-apply for it with a very long drawn out process. Let them see what it's like to have something taken away from them. I know -- it's a pipe dream of mine that will never happen.
Quick Thoughts: Thumbs up to MSNBC...mostly. Outstanding coverage from Olbermann and Ed Schultz for attempting to hold Obama accountable to campaign promises on health care. Ed's radio and tv shows have both covered the debate extensively and he's become a strong voice for a strong public option. Schultz was appearing on Morning Joe Thursday morning when he heard both Mika Brezinski's and Joe Scarborough's Blackberry's start ringing. Apparently they were getting complaints from the White House due to Schultz and fellow guest Arianna Huffington's blistering commentary and wanted the hosts to tone it down. I guess this White House expected MSNBC to behave as Fox did through the Bush years, as lapdogs. Also, great news for The Rachel Maddow Show whose overall ratings for the year were up 15% over 2008. While Rachel uses a gentler approach than the guys, she has been hammering the administration on numerous campaign promises since April. Even though the three aforementioned like Obama, they're doing their jobs in a non-partisan way. Chris Matthews continues to be the weak link in the evening line-up. Ever since his "thrill down my leg" comment, he's gone way to the right and insults liberals on a nightly basis. I guess he feels that's the way to redeem himself. I was never a fan, but now he's completely unwatchable....
I'm liking Al Franken (D-Minn.), more and more. When Lieberman's 10 minutes of yammering were up Thursday, this is what happened next; "I'm sorry. The senator has spoken for ten minutes," Franken the chamber's presiding officer, told Lieberman. "I wonder if I could ask unanimous consent for just an additional moment," Lieberman said. "In my capacity as the senator from Minnesota, I object," said Franken. Good for Al. I've heard enough from Benedict Arnold for a lifetime. To actually state that he didn't want the Medicare buy-in for people 55-64 because "liberals like it too much" said all you needed to know about this prick....
As Sarah's World Turns: The Toronto Sun Reports that Sarah Palin has been booted from Canadian Hospital fundraiser. Apparently the Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation received many angry calls and emails from people saying they wouldn't donate to any event in which she has a role. She will come to town raise money for a local children’s charity instead. See what having educated citizens does!...A Salt Lake City Costco where Palin was to attend a book signing removed all tomatos from the shelves to lessen the chance of a copycat tomato throwing incident as happened a couple weeks ago in Minnesota. That was brilliant, really. I wonder if it occured to them to remove the eggs too... While in Salt Lake, the diva's legend grew. Palin's entourage requested local hairdresser Rhonda Halliday do an emergency hair session. Halliday arrived at the hotel and had her car valet parked. After being ushered to a room and given some instructions (don't talk to Palin unless she talks first) she did Palin's hair while the Wasilla quitter chatted with her family. Then, the Queen's party left to get to the book signing at Costco on time. Halliday was the last one out of the room because she had to put her equipment away, then watched as they all drove off without anyone mentioning payment or a tip. When the valet attendant got her car, he said that would be $10. She said she was with the Palin party and assumed they would take care of parking. That was news to him, so she had to fork over the $10. I guess she should've just been honored to be in her majestry's presence, that was payment enough... Palin also annoyed leaders of the Utah Republican Party when she didn't have time for them during her stop in Salt Lake City. I'm sure if they offered her a few bucks, she would've gladly found the time. She sure knows how to win friends and influence people. Yup, she's going to make a fine Presidential hopeful!
Keep the pressure on!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Fox: They Distort, They Decide (that viewers are too dumb to notice)
On Faux Newz, the fairly unbalanced channel, boot-licking, Sean Hannity had a big week ignoring major gaffes by his guests. First came Sarah Palin who was trying to show off her foreign policy knowledge, responding to a question by Hannity on how we should handle the nuclear threat posed by Iran. It didn't take long for it to become abuntantly clear that she doesn‘t know the difference between Iraq and Iran.
Can you believe that there are actually some Americans who think that she‘s qualified to be president? This woman clearly is not ready for national politics. What is clear is that she wants to make a ton of money on her book tour and clearly will on the backs of her lower middle class supporters who believe she's the real deal and will plunk down their hard earned money (please watch video at the end of this paragraph to watch an example of her supporters). The sad thing is, I'm willing to bet most of them won't read anything except the back cover, the inside of the dust jacket and probably look through the 16 pages of color photos. The thing about the video above is Hannity sitting there like the president of her fan club and not at least nudging her that she's got her countries mixed up. If she just misspoke once, I could see him giving her a pass, but after several times in 1:03, he ends up looking just as ignorant as she does. There's several things about her popularity that are disturbing. The fact that she doesn't know the difference between Iraq and Iran makes me think she has no understanding of world events. The fact that she doesn't know the difference between a continent and a country makes me think she flunked geography. Her word salad speaking ability makes me think she flunked english. The fact that she didn't know "under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954 makes me think she flunked history. The fact that it took her over a year to figure out what she reads makes me think fellow wingnut Dick Armey finally told her what to say. The fact that she had no clue what Charlie Gibson was talking about when he asked her, her opinion of the Bush Doctrine which makes me think McCain's handlers flunked vetting. Scariest of all, many of her supporters are willing to vote for her because they find her attractive or that she's an average person...just like them. On her attractiveness, that's subjective. While I don't find her offensive to look at, the minute she opens her mouth, the ugliness is impossible to ignore. As far as her being "just like them"...what the hell is wrong with these people?! I don't want my president to be average or just like me. We saw what eight years of having a guy who folks thought they could have a beer with got us. I want my president to be way above average, maybe even a Harvard Law School graduate. I don't want to be able to beat our president in a debate about policy!
Then came Hannity's interview with former Press Secretary Dana Perino who President Obama recently nominated to serve on the Broadcasting Board of Governors, an independent agency responsible for overseeing the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and other non-military broadcasts sponsored by the federal government. What the hell is he thinking? In a discussion on Hannity's show, Perino claimed that President Obama was playing politics by refusing to describe the massacre at Fort Hood as a terrorist attack. "We should call it what it is," she said. "We did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush's term." Is she kidding?
One again, did you notice the lack of correction from Hannity or Stuart Varney? I know the Bush Administration tried to pin 9/11 on Former President Clinton for 7 years and 3 months, but do they actually believe that people don't remember who was sitting in a Florida kindergarten classroom being read "My Pet Goat" by 5 year olds on September 11, 2001? A few months later, five people were killed in the anthrax attacks. Clearly, conservatives want to call the Fort Hood murders, terrorism so that they can claim there was a terrorist attack on Obama's watch and use that for campaigning by saying he's weak on national security/defense. The thing is, by definition, terrorism is the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes. I don't think what Major Nidal Hasan did accomplished any of those things. Even though we know that Hasan had exchanged several emails with a radical Yemeni American cleric, there's also a paper trail of him not wanting to be deployed to kill Muslims. This is a disturbed man who should've been removed from the military two years ago, who snapped and belongs behind bars for the rest of his life. Yet, Perino went on to say "I hope they're not looking at this politically. I do think that we owe it to the American people to call it what it is." So who is actually playing politics with this tragic event? Do the right thing Mr. President, recind that nomination from this spin machine.
Is Fox so sure of it's complete mastering of brainwashing their loyal sheep that they get more brazen as time moves on? In 2004, they actually won a lawsuit by using the defense that they didn't need to use facts as they are an infotainment channel! The "fair and balanced" catch phrase they flash repeatedly has always represented a subliminal message to their weak minded viewers. As time has moved on, the lies have gotten more outrageous, which led to the White House calling them out for what they are. Former White House communications director Anita Dunn said, "Let's not pretend they're a news network, Fox News often operates almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party. What I think is fair to say about Fox, and certainly the way we view it, is that it really is more a wing of the Republican Party." And White House senior adviser David Axelrod added that they're "not really a news station", their viewers were outraged, infiltrating left wing blogs while brandishing their ignorance about the fact that their favorite channel doesn't use facts! I saw countless copied Nielson ratings posts about how many viewers were watching them as if to prove that the estimated 3 million angry, undereducated fools determined the pulse of the country. My standard gas on the fire response is, "that's because the Faux sheep need to have their bigotry and ignorance justified on a daily basis. Liberals are confident enough in their beliefs that we don't need daily reassurance." Furthermore, none of them seem to realize that these are not "hard numbers", but an estimate based on 25,000 Nielson homes out of 114,000,000 U.S. homes. Who watches the most tv? Angry, white, middle-aged conservatives. As the saying goes, "You can have your own opinion, but you can't have your own facts." The next comparison is always "MSNBC does it too." Not exactly. MSNBC isn't promoting progressive rallies, like Fox did with several conservative "Teabagger" events. Fox sponsored and sent their nighttime anchors out to multiple locations to cover the "grass roots" events. The closest thing MSNBC has done via Olbermann's Countdown is assist the National Association of Free Clinics in getting donations for free health care clinics to underprivileged areas. Let's see, one station chose to support anti-Obama rallies (let's just be honest here), the other channel chose to help those less fortunate. Indeed, MSNBC has three hours of liberal commentators with Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow and Ed Schultz, who are increasingly focused on the dual task of holding President Obama to a progressive agenda and criticizing his detractors. MSNBC also has three hours of conservative talk with Joe Scarborough and daily guest, nazi Pat Buchanan, who are focused on criticizing the President and defending his assailants! Chris Matthews is a conservative Democrat, so I laugh when the right calls him liberal. They haven't figured out that not all Democrats are liberal just because all Republicans are conservative. The rest of the MSNBC news line-up is a mixed bag of hopefuls along with Andrea Mitchell (Mrs. Alan Greenspan). Fox counters with supposed liberal Alan Colmes who everyone knows is a joke, except their loyal viewers. Even Colmes is in on it which makes his sellout all the more disgusting. He makes the exact case that Fox wants to promote, that Democrats and/or liberals are weak and he's paid quite handsomely for it. The bottom line is that Fox is right wing propaganda 24/7.
Palin Punked By A Comedian...Again
Once again, I thought the body of my article was complete, but this is too good to not report. Canadian Comedian Mary Walsh is the co-creator and star of "This Hour Has 22 Minutes", a nightly news parody show in the same vein as "The Daily Show." She arrived in character, as conservative Marg Delahunty to the Borders in Columbus, Ohio where Palin was signing books. It's bad enough that Fox favorite pin-up doesn't want to see our health care system improved, now she's venturing into Canada's health care system telling Walsh that "Canada needs to dismantle its public health-care system and allow private enterprise to get involved and turn a profit!" In addition to those comments, Walsh said, she found it equally bizarre that no one was allowed to ask Palin any questions at the book-signing. "It was great fun, but also very strange," Walsh recalled. "We're in a bookstore, at a public event, in a place one would think was a bastion of free speech. And no one was allowed to ask questions. What are they afraid of?"
Quick Thoughts: The best line of the week from an unknown commentator on Huffington Post, “If Sarah Palin ever wins the presidency, Canada will have to build a wall on it’s southern border.”... “The Wrap’s” Dylan Stableford quotes a Fox News insider as saying Bill O'Reilly had a "hissyfit" over the fact that Hannity's interview with Palin would air first, so he released a teaser of his Palin interview on his YouTube channel, a move Stableford characterized as "going rogue" and a "pre-emptive strike. You know, with the Republicans eating their own, it really is fitting that the egomaniacs at Faux would follow suit. Get the popcorn, this could be fun!... Bat shit crazy Michele Bachmann and Palin will be speaking at the National Tea Party Convention in Tennessee in February. "Press will be allowed in a designated section of the lobby of the convention only and will not be allowed inside the convention, there will be no media allowed for the banquet with Sarah Palin." I don't know about you, but it makes me wonder what they're hiding... Howard Dean thinks that Joe Lieberman should give up his chairmanship of Senate Homeland Security Committee if he can't bring himself to oppose a Republican filibuster of health care reform legislation. Never mind letting him give it up, Harry Reid needs to issue an ultimatum and stick with it. "You caucus with the Democrats, you're with us or you're not. Here's the price"... Speaking of Joe, after ignoring several requests from Rachel Maddow to appear on her show after stating he'd welcome a serious policy debate, I love that blogger Mike Stark found him in person and asked him to debate Rachel and his response was, "No, no, she's got a point of view". Does he not understand that a debate is a discussion of opposing views? Sitting around with his like minded pals on Fox Sunday isn't a debate. Heck, she even offered him a shake and a cookie!... Rush Limbaugh and Glenn "he's a hoot" Beck (twice) called Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu a prostitute and hooker for allowing discussion of the health care reform bill. So Christian of them. This sexist attitude is one of the reasons why the GOP should continue to struggle to attract a majority of female voters. Imagine had Olbermann called Palin or Bachmann one of those things. The right would've organized a campaign to get him fired. While Keith has his fun with those two with their ineptness politically, he's never stepped over that line. The cons don't think their side has a line. So Sarah, Michele or Carrie Prejean, where's your outrage? Where's that double-standard?... Lou Dobbs is considering a Senate run in New Jersey. How big does your ego have to be to think being an opinion commentator makes you qualified for office? The police refuted his claims of gun shots at his house. They've determined that the gunshots were from hunters nearby and not an attack on he and his wife. Lou figured it was a great way to get publicity and maybe some sympathy. Right wingers never want to hear facts. They get in the way of a perfectly good lie... A funny thing happened as I was finishing this up on this Thanksgiving evening, Beck put to rest any rumors of one possible "dream team" ticket. On his radio show today, Beck said he was absolutely ruling out the possibility of running for office with Saracuda at the top of the ticket. It also appears that his true opinion of the former governor was expressed. BECK: I don't think things are hoots. I don't. I don't think it's a hoot. I would never use the word hoot, and I respectfully ask that every time my name is brought up she would stop using the word 'hoot.' No, no I'm just saying -- Beck-Palin, I'll consider. But Palin-Beck -- can you imagine, can you imagine what an administration with the two of us would be like? What? Come on! She'd be yapping or something, and I'd say, "I'm sorry, why am I hearing your voice? I'm not in the kitchen." ...ouch...
If you want to listen in entirety, here's the clip: Beck Turns Down Ticket With Palin, Makes Sexist Remark
Until the next time...
Can you believe that there are actually some Americans who think that she‘s qualified to be president? This woman clearly is not ready for national politics. What is clear is that she wants to make a ton of money on her book tour and clearly will on the backs of her lower middle class supporters who believe she's the real deal and will plunk down their hard earned money (please watch video at the end of this paragraph to watch an example of her supporters). The sad thing is, I'm willing to bet most of them won't read anything except the back cover, the inside of the dust jacket and probably look through the 16 pages of color photos. The thing about the video above is Hannity sitting there like the president of her fan club and not at least nudging her that she's got her countries mixed up. If she just misspoke once, I could see him giving her a pass, but after several times in 1:03, he ends up looking just as ignorant as she does. There's several things about her popularity that are disturbing. The fact that she doesn't know the difference between Iraq and Iran makes me think she has no understanding of world events. The fact that she doesn't know the difference between a continent and a country makes me think she flunked geography. Her word salad speaking ability makes me think she flunked english. The fact that she didn't know "under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954 makes me think she flunked history. The fact that it took her over a year to figure out what she reads makes me think fellow wingnut Dick Armey finally told her what to say. The fact that she had no clue what Charlie Gibson was talking about when he asked her, her opinion of the Bush Doctrine which makes me think McCain's handlers flunked vetting. Scariest of all, many of her supporters are willing to vote for her because they find her attractive or that she's an average person...just like them. On her attractiveness, that's subjective. While I don't find her offensive to look at, the minute she opens her mouth, the ugliness is impossible to ignore. As far as her being "just like them"...what the hell is wrong with these people?! I don't want my president to be average or just like me. We saw what eight years of having a guy who folks thought they could have a beer with got us. I want my president to be way above average, maybe even a Harvard Law School graduate. I don't want to be able to beat our president in a debate about policy!
Then came Hannity's interview with former Press Secretary Dana Perino who President Obama recently nominated to serve on the Broadcasting Board of Governors, an independent agency responsible for overseeing the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and other non-military broadcasts sponsored by the federal government. What the hell is he thinking? In a discussion on Hannity's show, Perino claimed that President Obama was playing politics by refusing to describe the massacre at Fort Hood as a terrorist attack. "We should call it what it is," she said. "We did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush's term." Is she kidding?
One again, did you notice the lack of correction from Hannity or Stuart Varney? I know the Bush Administration tried to pin 9/11 on Former President Clinton for 7 years and 3 months, but do they actually believe that people don't remember who was sitting in a Florida kindergarten classroom being read "My Pet Goat" by 5 year olds on September 11, 2001? A few months later, five people were killed in the anthrax attacks. Clearly, conservatives want to call the Fort Hood murders, terrorism so that they can claim there was a terrorist attack on Obama's watch and use that for campaigning by saying he's weak on national security/defense. The thing is, by definition, terrorism is the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes. I don't think what Major Nidal Hasan did accomplished any of those things. Even though we know that Hasan had exchanged several emails with a radical Yemeni American cleric, there's also a paper trail of him not wanting to be deployed to kill Muslims. This is a disturbed man who should've been removed from the military two years ago, who snapped and belongs behind bars for the rest of his life. Yet, Perino went on to say "I hope they're not looking at this politically. I do think that we owe it to the American people to call it what it is." So who is actually playing politics with this tragic event? Do the right thing Mr. President, recind that nomination from this spin machine.
Is Fox so sure of it's complete mastering of brainwashing their loyal sheep that they get more brazen as time moves on? In 2004, they actually won a lawsuit by using the defense that they didn't need to use facts as they are an infotainment channel! The "fair and balanced" catch phrase they flash repeatedly has always represented a subliminal message to their weak minded viewers. As time has moved on, the lies have gotten more outrageous, which led to the White House calling them out for what they are. Former White House communications director Anita Dunn said, "Let's not pretend they're a news network, Fox News often operates almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party. What I think is fair to say about Fox, and certainly the way we view it, is that it really is more a wing of the Republican Party." And White House senior adviser David Axelrod added that they're "not really a news station", their viewers were outraged, infiltrating left wing blogs while brandishing their ignorance about the fact that their favorite channel doesn't use facts! I saw countless copied Nielson ratings posts about how many viewers were watching them as if to prove that the estimated 3 million angry, undereducated fools determined the pulse of the country. My standard gas on the fire response is, "that's because the Faux sheep need to have their bigotry and ignorance justified on a daily basis. Liberals are confident enough in their beliefs that we don't need daily reassurance." Furthermore, none of them seem to realize that these are not "hard numbers", but an estimate based on 25,000 Nielson homes out of 114,000,000 U.S. homes. Who watches the most tv? Angry, white, middle-aged conservatives. As the saying goes, "You can have your own opinion, but you can't have your own facts." The next comparison is always "MSNBC does it too." Not exactly. MSNBC isn't promoting progressive rallies, like Fox did with several conservative "Teabagger" events. Fox sponsored and sent their nighttime anchors out to multiple locations to cover the "grass roots" events. The closest thing MSNBC has done via Olbermann's Countdown is assist the National Association of Free Clinics in getting donations for free health care clinics to underprivileged areas. Let's see, one station chose to support anti-Obama rallies (let's just be honest here), the other channel chose to help those less fortunate. Indeed, MSNBC has three hours of liberal commentators with Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow and Ed Schultz, who are increasingly focused on the dual task of holding President Obama to a progressive agenda and criticizing his detractors. MSNBC also has three hours of conservative talk with Joe Scarborough and daily guest, nazi Pat Buchanan, who are focused on criticizing the President and defending his assailants! Chris Matthews is a conservative Democrat, so I laugh when the right calls him liberal. They haven't figured out that not all Democrats are liberal just because all Republicans are conservative. The rest of the MSNBC news line-up is a mixed bag of hopefuls along with Andrea Mitchell (Mrs. Alan Greenspan). Fox counters with supposed liberal Alan Colmes who everyone knows is a joke, except their loyal viewers. Even Colmes is in on it which makes his sellout all the more disgusting. He makes the exact case that Fox wants to promote, that Democrats and/or liberals are weak and he's paid quite handsomely for it. The bottom line is that Fox is right wing propaganda 24/7.
Palin Punked By A Comedian...Again
Once again, I thought the body of my article was complete, but this is too good to not report. Canadian Comedian Mary Walsh is the co-creator and star of "This Hour Has 22 Minutes", a nightly news parody show in the same vein as "The Daily Show." She arrived in character, as conservative Marg Delahunty to the Borders in Columbus, Ohio where Palin was signing books. It's bad enough that Fox favorite pin-up doesn't want to see our health care system improved, now she's venturing into Canada's health care system telling Walsh that "Canada needs to dismantle its public health-care system and allow private enterprise to get involved and turn a profit!" In addition to those comments, Walsh said, she found it equally bizarre that no one was allowed to ask Palin any questions at the book-signing. "It was great fun, but also very strange," Walsh recalled. "We're in a bookstore, at a public event, in a place one would think was a bastion of free speech. And no one was allowed to ask questions. What are they afraid of?"
Quick Thoughts: The best line of the week from an unknown commentator on Huffington Post, “If Sarah Palin ever wins the presidency, Canada will have to build a wall on it’s southern border.”... “The Wrap’s” Dylan Stableford quotes a Fox News insider as saying Bill O'Reilly had a "hissyfit" over the fact that Hannity's interview with Palin would air first, so he released a teaser of his Palin interview on his YouTube channel, a move Stableford characterized as "going rogue" and a "pre-emptive strike. You know, with the Republicans eating their own, it really is fitting that the egomaniacs at Faux would follow suit. Get the popcorn, this could be fun!... Bat shit crazy Michele Bachmann and Palin will be speaking at the National Tea Party Convention in Tennessee in February. "Press will be allowed in a designated section of the lobby of the convention only and will not be allowed inside the convention, there will be no media allowed for the banquet with Sarah Palin." I don't know about you, but it makes me wonder what they're hiding... Howard Dean thinks that Joe Lieberman should give up his chairmanship of Senate Homeland Security Committee if he can't bring himself to oppose a Republican filibuster of health care reform legislation. Never mind letting him give it up, Harry Reid needs to issue an ultimatum and stick with it. "You caucus with the Democrats, you're with us or you're not. Here's the price"... Speaking of Joe, after ignoring several requests from Rachel Maddow to appear on her show after stating he'd welcome a serious policy debate, I love that blogger Mike Stark found him in person and asked him to debate Rachel and his response was, "No, no, she's got a point of view". Does he not understand that a debate is a discussion of opposing views? Sitting around with his like minded pals on Fox Sunday isn't a debate. Heck, she even offered him a shake and a cookie!... Rush Limbaugh and Glenn "he's a hoot" Beck (twice) called Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu a prostitute and hooker for allowing discussion of the health care reform bill. So Christian of them. This sexist attitude is one of the reasons why the GOP should continue to struggle to attract a majority of female voters. Imagine had Olbermann called Palin or Bachmann one of those things. The right would've organized a campaign to get him fired. While Keith has his fun with those two with their ineptness politically, he's never stepped over that line. The cons don't think their side has a line. So Sarah, Michele or Carrie Prejean, where's your outrage? Where's that double-standard?... Lou Dobbs is considering a Senate run in New Jersey. How big does your ego have to be to think being an opinion commentator makes you qualified for office? The police refuted his claims of gun shots at his house. They've determined that the gunshots were from hunters nearby and not an attack on he and his wife. Lou figured it was a great way to get publicity and maybe some sympathy. Right wingers never want to hear facts. They get in the way of a perfectly good lie... A funny thing happened as I was finishing this up on this Thanksgiving evening, Beck put to rest any rumors of one possible "dream team" ticket. On his radio show today, Beck said he was absolutely ruling out the possibility of running for office with Saracuda at the top of the ticket. It also appears that his true opinion of the former governor was expressed. BECK: I don't think things are hoots. I don't. I don't think it's a hoot. I would never use the word hoot, and I respectfully ask that every time my name is brought up she would stop using the word 'hoot.' No, no I'm just saying -- Beck-Palin, I'll consider. But Palin-Beck -- can you imagine, can you imagine what an administration with the two of us would be like? What? Come on! She'd be yapping or something, and I'd say, "I'm sorry, why am I hearing your voice? I'm not in the kitchen." ...ouch...
If you want to listen in entirety, here's the clip: Beck Turns Down Ticket With Palin, Makes Sexist Remark
Until the next time...
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