On Tuesday’s Your World, guest host Alexis Glick didn’t bother to hide her horror that Wal-Mart had signed a letter endorsing President Obama’s plan to require big businesses to give their employees health insurance. “What in the world is going on at Wal-Mart,” she asked as if the very notion of ensured coverage were an outrage.
As the House vote on the American Clean Energy and Security Act approached this week, prominent media conservatives once again took to the airwaves and displayed their true colors. Criticism of the bill from the right — especially its cap-and-trade provisions — has not been the product of principle, but of misinformation and, at times, willful denial.
On Friday, radio host Rush Limbaugh once again flagrantly denied that global warming exists and continued to advance the shockingly erroneous, comically false argument that under the legislation, “we could be taxed because of the carbon dioxide we exhale.” Thanks, Professor Limbaugh, for another science lesson!
“This bill is about raising taxes and taking away people’s freedom,” Limbaugh continued, before comparing it to a “Soviet-style five-year plan” that is “all based on hoaxes,” a crooked scheme worthy of Bernie Madoff.
The fearmongering continued as Fox News’ Glenn Beck agreed with Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) when she argued of the bill, “You’re either for freedom or you’re not.”
Bill O’Reilly fancies himself a “crusader” in the “Culture Wars,” which we presume is why he aired a segment tonight about the dangers posed to children by the shocking amount of pornography available on the popular video site YouTube. Now, we applaud the Fox News host’s determination to keep pornography away from children, however it’s puzzling why O’Reilly and his producers felt the need to show clips of porn from YouTube during his discussion of the dangers it poses. And not just a single clip, or a quick montage: O’Reilly aired extended montages of multiple YouTube porn clips.
O’Reilly began the segment with a rather strange statement:
“I know a lot of adults don’t go to YouTube, but this is the rage among American children, children as young as six, seven years old.” In fact, we’re quite sure that YouTube is “the rage” among adults as well, but moving on.
His guest was conservative columnist Amanda Carpenter, who started her analysis by explaining exactly what YouTube is. However, the camera quickly turned away from her and went full screen to YouTube porn videos, effectively turning Ms. Carpenter’s description into a voice-over for a porn montage.
Yesterday, after Griff Jenkins botched his day-long attempt to crash an ACORN gathering, commenter Ferg at Daily Kos summarized the high point of Griff’s day:
Fox news guys whines about 1st amendment for 4 minutes while dodging questions about Fox propaganda from Adam, and while standing on a red bath mat in a tuxedo.
What did Griff Jenkins have to show for his work yesterday? Apparently, just this:
The sad reality is: that was the best part of our interaction that Jenkins could highlight to save face. (It was evidently the best part of Jenkin’s entire day that he could highlight…and will highlight again tonight on Glenn Beck.)
But I have to ask: How can it be satisfying to be Griff Jenkins? What on earth motivates someone to stand outside on a bathmat all day waiting for moments like the one above. How do you wake up in the morning and think, “I want to do that again!”
Shepard Smith has spent a good chunk of his time on Fox News today saying how today’s shooting at the Holocaust Museum vindicates the Department of Homeland Security’s report on the threat of right-wing extremists — that birthers and other such conspiracy theorists who vilify President Obama have to stop.
At one point, he focused his ire on a particular group of right-wing extremists — the Fox News viewers who write e-mails to the channel.
“I read a lot of e-mail around here,” said Smith. “And the e-mail to me has become more and more frightening. It’s not a new thing. it’s been happening over the past few months. It’s been happening, you know, to some degree, since the election process went along.”
He then proceeded to read an example of the e-mails, which he collectively described as being “out there in a scary place.”
I seem to recall that Bill O’Reilly got incensed over “hate speech” on liberal blogs. Does he ever read Fox Nation where the latest race baiting thread has a photo of Michelle Obama next to Carla Bruni, the wife of the French President. The Fox Nation readers are invited to “caption” it.
I seem to recall that Bill O’Reilly got incensed about the disrespectful treatment of Sarah Palin in an Emimem video. Does he ever read Fox Nation where racist (and other stupid and hateful) comments about our First Lady are just part of the terrain of a “nation” where ignorance, hatred, and racism are the “American Dream.” Stay classy, Fox Nation!
To see Fox’s history of attacking the Obamas, visit Fox Attacks.
On Thursday, June 4, 2009, Glenn Beck devoted his entire show to attacking ACORN with what seemed to be reruns of past segments. But – lo and behold! – the show also included Beck’s get-together with BFF Bill O’Reilly from May 28 in which they seemed to finally be admitting that their evidence of any ACORN badness is pretty thin. But they didn’t let little details like lack of proof or factual verification stand in the way of a good smear. Beck even threw the Obamas into it, while also admitting it was pure speculation. Rock on!
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.
Sean Hannity once again proves that he’s the guy who put the ‘a’ in moron, this time by pushing the bizarre myth that earlier this week President Obama called the U.S. “a Muslim nation.”
As you can see in the video, President Obama’s actual remarks bear no resemblance whatsoever to Hannity’s false claim.
There was a time when Hannity telling a lie this big was an outrage. Now, however, it’s just sign #4,309 of the complete and utter collapse of the conservative movement as a coherent political force.
