In an apparent attempt to censor the President as he engaged in an informative and conciliatory question and answer session with GOP members, FOX News decided to cut off transmission and divert the discussion. This does not inspire trust in news, but represents yet another example of how FOX News manipulates the truth and engages in lies and deception to further their political agenda.
Appearing for the first time on ABC’s “This Week,” Ailes said that Beck’s often over-the-top rhetoric was politically legitimate, even if it ruffled a few feathers.
Reminded by Huffington Post’s Arianna Huffington that Beck has warned of “slaughter” and a “killing spree” for those not on board with the Obama administration’s agenda, Ailes insisted that the reference wasn’t to this president but rather to murderous dictators.
“Well, he was talking about Hitler and Stalin slaughtering people, so I think he was probably accurate,” he said. “I think he speaks English, I don’t know. But I don’t misinterpret any of his words. He did say one unfortunate thing that he apologized for. But that happens in live television.”
Ailes was wrong. Beck’s reference was, indeed, to Obama.
UPDATE:
Here is Beck warning of a possible impending “slaughter” in November 2009:
I told you yesterday, buckle up your seatbelt, America. Find the exit — there’s one here, here, and here. Find the exit closest to you and prepare for a crash landing. Because this plane is coming down, because the pilot is intentionally steering it into the trees!
Most likely, it’ll happen sometime after Christmas. You’re gonna see this economy come up — we’re already seeing it, and now it’s gonna start coming back down again. And when you see the effects of what they’re doing to the economy, remember these words: We will survive. No — we’ll do better than survive, we will thrive. As long as these people are not in control. They are taking you to a place to be slaughtered!
Why did the Democrats lose this week in Massachusetts? Brave New Films put this question to Celinda Lake, pollster for the Coakley campaign, and Stephanie Taylor from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. Forget the conventional wisdom about moving to the center versus moving toward the base: both parties have been bought and paid for by corporate special interests, Lake argues, and consequently, the Tea Party Patriots have become a more popular political force than either the Democratic or the Republican Party:
The Democrats didn’t lose the Massachusetts Senate race this Tuesday. They lost it over twelve long and agonizing months ago, well before anyone even knew there would be a Massachusetts Senate race in January of 2010.
To put a rough date on it, this race was lost for the Democrats sometime between the 2008 election and the inauguration, whenever it was that the Obama administration made the fateful decision not to challenge Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, AIG and the rest of the white collar criminals that drove the U.S. economy into the ground, and chose instead to appoint Wall Street’s most prominent boosters and apologists to his economic advisory team. It was compounded when the White House and the Democratic Congressional leadership spearheaded a healthcare reform strategy rooted in the false notions that the opponents of reform are operating in good faith, that legislation directly challenging the profit motives of one of the biggest industries in America can be achieved by consensus, and that the era of political partisanship is over. And as the Afghanistan war grows ever more disastrous, the political swamp the Democrats find themselves in today will become an inescapable quagmire, in the 2010 midterms and beyond.
When voters look at the Obama administration and the Congressional Democrats today, they see little of the ‘change’ they cast their ballots for last November. On healthcare, the White House has been outmaneuvered, out-organized, and outmatched by the health insurance industry from the very beginning, while the Democratic leaders in Congress have allowed the will of the caucus’ majority to be flouted and marginalized by a handful of industry-bought pretenders like Ben Nelson and Joe Lieberman.
Failure over healthcare reform has been a shortcoming of political competence. Worse for the perception of voters in Massachusetts and elsewhere are the cases of the foreclosure crisis and re-regulation of the financial industry. In these cases, the administration has taken a timid stance, abdicating responsibility and even defending the status quo. These were failures not of competence, but of moral leadership. The upshot of this state of affairs in the minds of voters is the continuation of business as usual in Washington DC.
Ted Kennedy’s seat was lost this Tuesday not because voters abandoned Obama’s call for change, but because they continue to embrace it. The truth is that the mainstream of the Democratic leadership has forfeited its claims to that mantle. Voters continue to seek change, but they have found that the solution is not so facile as simply electing Democratic majorities to the House and Senate.
Obama famously instructed us that we are the change we are seeking. That message resonates now more strongly than ever, but only because we have discovered, to our dismay, that it is not to be found in Congress or the White House. This is the lesson coming out of Massachusetts this week: change will come, but its catalyst will not be found in Washington DC. It will have to come from us.
New Yorkers are starting to get acquainted with their new neighbor, former Tennessee Congressman and bank executive Harold Ford, Jr.
So who is the REAL Harold Ford, Jr.?
Well, for starters, he’s a staunch opponent of abortion rights. He also disapproves of marriage equality for gay couples, opposes public safety laws to keep guns off the streets, and blames immigrants for America’s problems. Doesn’t sound like much of a New Yorker, does he?
Of course, now that he’s living in Manhattan instead of south of the Mason-Dixon line, Ford is remaking himself as a pro-choice, pro-gay, pro-gun control progressive. But unfortunately for Harold, this is the age of the internet, and you can’t just walk away from your past statements. That’s why we compiled this video of the REAL Harold Ford, Jr., to introduce New Yorkers to their latest carpetbagger.
Join the fast-paced team at the helm of Brave New Foundation’s Cuentame’ , the exciting, innovative bilingual Facebook project at the cutting edge of the Latino community! Cuentame’ frames what’s going on in culture, history, arts and news, activism and more from our collective past, present and future. Jobs include:
Basic online research: organizations, news clips, archival video and photos, logging video footage, transcribing interviews, and translating interviews.
Skills Required
Bilingual (Spanish English).
VERY Facebook literate.
Strong sense of the Latino community’s interests, concerns.
Excellent written verbal skills.
Attention to detail.
Positive, can-do, fast-paced team member.
Working knowledge of Final Cut Pro a plus.
We will train if other skills are needed.
Administrative
A fast-paced film production / distribution nonprofit with its eye on public affairs / politics / civic engagement, Brave New Foundation has immediate opportunities for volunteer interns to help out in various departments including Administrative / Operations and Production.
Skills Required:
Basic office skills
Internet savvy
Microsoft Office Suite (especially Excel, MS Word)
Post Production
The Post-Production Department seeks career-track interns to assist in digitizing footage, outputting to tape, DVD authoring, basic Final Cut Pro editing, as well as compiling research and presenting reports.
Reports to: Lead AE / Post Supervisor
Technical Requirements:
Basic hands-on knowledge of Final Cut Pro
Familiar with the process of posting videos to YouTube and other online websites
Familiar with DVD Studio Pro & Soundtrack Pro
Familiar with multiple video formats & codecs
Familiar with operating DVR / Tivo decks
Recommended: Basic knowledge of Adobe Photoshop
Other Requirements:
Detail-oriented and organized
Self-starter, proactive, and uses time efficiently
Excellent research / report writing skills
Strong knowledge of Microsoft Excel; FileMaker is a plus
Tech-savvy: able to learn new programs quickly
Documentary Production
Documentary production team is seeking an enthusiastic intern to assist with various aspects of production, including: Online Research (e.g. archival photos, video, etc.) and fact checking, logging footage and transcribing interviews
Reports to: Producer
Required skills
Excellent online research
Good writing / typing
Good organization
Generalist with good disposition
Applicants familiar with Final Cut Pro Plus
“Rethink Afghanistan” National Screenings Coordinator
The National Screenings Coordinator will connect and work with volunteers across the country who are organizing local screenings of this hard-hitting documentary in community centers, homes, churches / temples, theatres, political headquarters, schools, offices, etc. It’s a great gig for someone who loves the excitement (and details!) of grass roots community organizing and wants to get involved on a cutting-edge national project that’s making impact from Congress to living rooms across America.Tasks include tracking Congressional impact.
Commitment
10 hours / week minimum, weekdays (Monday – Friday, 10 am – 7pm), in our Culver City offices / studios. (After initial training, possible to work remotely off-site)
Required Skills
Basic computer skills (MS Office: Word, Excel, e-mail, internet research)
Smart public relations skills, including phone and written communications
Unless noted, all internships / volunteer commitments are 2 – 3 days / week, Monday – Friday, during office hours (10 am – 7pm) in our Culver City studios / offices. (Half days and off-site work may be arranged depending on the project.)
Need college internship credit? We will work with you and your academic advisor.
To Apply: Please send a resume (noting highest degree of technical skills if required) and cover letter to: volunteers@bravenewfoundation.org
Early last week, Rethink Afghanistan received the honor of being named Most Valuable Multimedia Activism by John Nichols in his yearly recap of “the most valuable progressive activists and organizations of the year” over at The Nation. Here’s what he had to say about Rethink Afghanistan:
Most Valuable Multimedia Activism: Rethink Afghanistan
No intervention with regard to the expanding war in Afghanistan did more to raise public awareness and opposition than the Rethink Afghanistan project of Robert Greenwald’s Brave New Foundation. Greenwald, Jim Miller, Martha de Hoyos and their compatriots dispatched crews to Afghanistan, interviewed returning soldiers, tracked down retired CIA and Defense Department analysts and forged an ironclad case for bringing the troops home. President Obama did not listen, but nearly a million Americans viewed Rethink Afghanistan videos on the Internet, saw the movie in theaters or attended house parties and meetings where it was shown. Along with “A Tale of Two Quagmires,” the revelatory comparison of the US escalation in Vietnam with the escalation in Afghanistan on Bill Moyers Journal, the Rethink Afghanistan project changed minds, stiffened spines and renewed the movement for a sane foreign policy.
Below is a message from Congressman Eric Massa, a strong ally on ending the war in Afghanistan:
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, an occasion to gather with friends and family to celebrate the good things in life. This year however, Christmas Eve is a day of great irony and conflict as our nation prepares to escalate the war in Afghanistan.
This year, Christmas Eve falls on the 3,000th day that U.S. forces have been in Afghanistan, as well as the 30th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of the very same nation.
As a retired military officer as well as a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I know that we cannot turn a blind eye to the lessons of the past. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was a disaster and they proved that you cannot win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people through troop surges, and continued occupation. It is critical to note that while we do not view this as an occupation of Afghanistan, it is clear that the people of Afghanistan view our presence as just that.
If you have a few moments, I ask you to watch this extraordinary video, and then read my blog post on Huffington Post and DailyKos.com. In these blog posts, I explain further how you can help pressure Congress to end this war of occupation.
Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year – and please keep our service members and their families in your thoughts, and prayers now and always.
-Congressman Eric Massa
P.S. If you agree that we should be taking measures to add real security for our country and our allies, please forward this email to your friends and family.
On Tuesday morning, your voice was heard in the United States House of Representatives.
Over 100,000 people signed the petition from Brave New Foundation, Credo Mobile and True Majority calling on Congress to vote against any bill to fund troop escalation in Afghanistan. Yesterday, Congressman Alan Grayson read the petition aloud from the House floor, asking his colleagues to vote NO.
Rep. Grayson’s action was a step forward in demonstrating to Congress our opposition to the war. But we’re far from achieving the groundswell we need to bring the war to an end. Let’s keep the momentum going.
The first step to ending the war is explaining to our friends and family why we need to bring the troops home now. We’ve created a new tool to allow you to send a video to your friends that matches to a specific concern about the war. Send a video to five of your friends today.
Brave New Films is looking for a translation volunteer to join our team! Be a part of Brave New Films’ vision, as well as our new ‘Cuentame’ project created for the Latino community, and share in the exciting experience to make a difference on issues that affect us all.
We are looking for someone who is fluently bilingual (Spanish, English) to be able to translate material and be comfortable writing, reading, as well as speaking both languages. We are looking for someone who can intern at least 15 hours a week. Lend your talent to a great organization that is truly making a difference in people’s lives.
Application Process:
If you are interested in applying for this internship, please email your resume and cover letter to: volunteers@bravenewfilms.org
