White House Press Secretary Dana Perino admits that she is not cut out for hard hitting journalism in this clip from Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace today. No kidding.
Even more remarkable is that Perino reached this conclusion when she found herself unable to interview the mother of a child murder victim. Yet, Perino seemingly has no problem whatsoever defending the man responsible for the deaths of thousands of children on a daily basis. WOW!
Fox 'News' admits to propaganda! Maybe the mouthpiece of the right wing propaganda machine felt compelled to come clean after Ann Coulter recently outed the company.
I chose the wrong law school in 1995 but so did the entire country. I know this because Pat Robertson's Regent University School of Law was not an accredited law school until 1996 and few would ever bother attending a non-accredited law school. Clearly even becoming accredited didn't do much to inspire applicants as three years later 60% of the graduating class failed the bar exam on the first attempt. Yikes! Guess there is a reason Regent is ranked a "tier four" (the worst possible) law school by US News & World Report.
All of which explains why more than 150 Regent University alumni have been hired by the Bush administration to fill those positions that used to go to Harvard, Yale and Stanford alumni. One such hire was the now infamous Monica Goodling, Regent class of 60% failure rate, who was apparently responsible for firing and appointing US attorneys. From the New Republic website:
"It used to be that high-level DOJ jobs were generally reserved for the best of the legal profession. . . That a recent graduate of one of the very worst (and sketchiest) law schools with virtually no relevant experience could ascend to this position is a sure sign that there is something seriously wrong at the DOJ."
But it gets better. One 2004 graduate describes being interviewed for a job as a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department (imagine Pat Robertson working in the Civil Rights Division). Certainly the recent Regent grad channeled Robertson when, during the interview, he answered that the worst Supreme Court decision in the last 20 years was the striking down of a law against sodomy because it violated gay people's civil rights. The Regent student goes on to explain in the school's newsletter, that he knew he answered correctly when one of the interviewees agreed with him calling the decision "maddening". Luckily he got the job since it was the only offer he received after graduation.
Of course, there is not so much something wrong at DOJ but with the Bush administration as a whole. And the hiring of 150 Regent University graduates with negligible experience is a symptom of the problem. As is the US attorney scandal. As is the funneling of hundreds of millions of dollars to the right kinds of faith based organizations. As is Tom Delay's redistricting of Texas. As is the vast election shenanigans that have sent tens of GOP faithful to prison despite the packing of the attorneys and the courts! As are the e-voting efforts that led to both Bush victories. As is the K-Street Project. As is getting rid of habeas corpus. As is the invasion of privacy to read the email and listen to phone calls of all Americans. And none of it is about al-Qaeda or terrorists. Instead it is about the realization of Karl Rove's dream - a one party state.
And at the rate Rove is succeeding in filling the ranks with loyal Bush supporters and simultaneously tearing down our Democracy, we may not need a 2008 presidential election. And impeachment remains "off the table."
O'REILLY IN IRAQ MASHUP: IS HE THE NEW BOB HOPE? O'Reilly takes on the negative media coverage in Iraq, dares anyone to produce somebody tortured by the US and walks away with Bob Hope comparisons. All in a day's work for "The Big Man".
FOX NEWS AND THE O'REILLY FACTOR ARE RACIST. See this post.
BILL O'REILLY CULTURE WARRIOR MASHUP. Probably my best.
THE PERVERT FACTOR MASHUP. 7 minutes of bikini clad, beer bonging, spring breakers culled from 16 minutes of spring break coverage over two days (3/22 & 3/23 2007). O'Reilly states that he had to cover the topic which does not explain the minutes devoted to girls shaking their rumps or exposing their breasts. Also, thrown in for good measure, is O'Reilly explaining that while he may not have been a freak, he made the most of his bachelor hood. Wink wink!
BUSH EMPLOYS SUPERMAN TO SAVE L.A. TOWER. ABC investigative reporter Brian Ross appears on The Factor to explain that valuable intelligence gained from torturing Khalid Sheik Mohammed led to the breakup of a cell planning to fly an airplane into L.A.'s tallest building. Despite the fact that Ross was 100% sure of this, had he taken the time to check Wikipedia, he would have seen that Mohammed was arrested a full year after the plot was broken up. Thus, the only plausible explanation was that Superman was employed to reverse time in order to break up the terrorist cell before it struck L.A.
PROTECTED OR UNPROTECTED SEX MASHUP
Hypocritical O'Reilly at his best. In the same show he questions why an 18-Year old would appear on national television and subject himself to ridicule for revealing he had sex with his 30-year old teacher, O'Reilly badgers his guests and a school principal for not revealing whether two sixth graders had protected or unprotected sex.
O'REILLY FACTOR STATE SPONSORED MASHUP. O'Reilly and Geraldo have no idea what they are saying.
BILL O'REILLY SELLING PROPAGANDA MASHUP. O'Reilly criticizes a guest for buying the propaganda that America tortures despite making that very case with Brian Ross a few months earlier.
BILL O'REILLY vs CELEBRITY BUSH HATERS! MASHUP. Celebrities are, by far, O'Reilly's favorite topic of conversation and he spends close to a quarter of his show covering them. In this mashup he is particularly upset with the Bush hating celebrities and even threatens to go see "them" unless they knock it off. However, O'Reilly hardly lives up to his bluster as he then proceeded to kiss Roseanne's ass in the next segment despite her outspokenness about the Bush administration.
JEOPARDY WITH BILL O'REILLY. O'Reilly lies about his position on the death penalty among other things. Also see this video of O'Reilly stating that Saddam got what he deserved.
BILL O'REILLY'S SUPERBOWL CAPITALISM MASHUP. Juxtaposition of O'Reilly's positions with some Bible versus.
BILL O'REILLY'S LOVE ON THE ROCKS MASHUP. This one is just weird. O'Reilly seems to be having some problems at home and he likes Jennifer Aniston. This is a good companion piece to the spring break mashup at the top where O'Reilly claims to have been a bit wild in his youth. Here he wonders what one (him) is supposed to do when they are irrational about wanting sex too often.
Glenn Beck, the CNN hate-monger, interviews the newly elected, and first ever Muslim member of Congress, Keith Ellison (D-MN) in this seriously offensive clip. While making it clear that he is not accusing Ellison of working with our enemies, Beck asks Ellison for proof that he is not working with our enemies. Just in case viewers were not buying his rhetoric, Beck allows that he knows Muslims and has even been to mosques which supposedly evidences his neutrality on the subject.
As disgusting a man as Beck proves himself day after the day the real problem here is CNN. How does management allow such a hate-monger to be a representative of the corporation? And how do on air personalities like Wolf Blitzer, Paula Zahn, Larry King and Anderson Cooper not take public stands against such programming?
Worse, Richard Parsons, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CNN's parent company Time Warner, is African American. Does he think the daily racist, frothing at the mouth, antics of Beck do not have real world consequences that make life more difficult for people of color? If so, I encourage Parsons to read about the California man, said to be inspired by hate-mongers Anne Coulter and Michelle Malkin, who was arrested this week for sending fake anthrax letters to more than a dozen celebrities and politicians.
And how does Parsons face members of the various boards he sits on involved with advancing minority opportunity like those at Howard University and the Apollo Theatre Foundation? For that matter, how do the boards of such institutes allow Parsons to continue serving when he enables the hate they are working so hard to overcome?
It all comes down to accountability. When Parsons is asked to leave a board or two maybe he realizes his mistake. Why shouldn't Wolf and the other on-air personalities be directly asked about their personal feelings regarding Beck on air by guests legitimately concerned with such programming? There will always be hate-mongers but they do not need to be given such forums. And those that allow or enable such activity need to be held accountable if we want change.
Jack Cafferty goes a long way towards proving that this Rolling Stone article, which claims ours is the worst Congress ever, is true. It is really shocking how depraved so many members of Congress can be. Do they not have husbands and wives and family and friends that they must go home to? How do they look them in the face?
The United States of America was the bastion of liberty and freedom, the defender of democracy and good in an evil world. Founded on the principles of freedom of speech, press and religion the US quickly became the envy of the world. And now, that great country that was ranks a paltry 53rd in the Reporters Without Borders Worldwide Press Freedom Index.It is clear that President Bush's strategy is working. He has stated hundreds of times that the terrorists hate us because of our freedom. And now that we rank behind such freedom loving countries as Mozambique, Serbia and Montenegro, South Africa and El Salvador, there is little reason for the terrorists to do us harm. I suppose the President and Congress will quickly repeal the Patriot Act and stop domestic spying on Americans. This is great news.
Catching up on some reading this weekend I came across a fascinating New Yorkerarticle on Rupert Murdoch from the October 16th issue. Quite literally a modern day Kingmaker, Murdoch has top government officials from the US, England, Australia and beyond sucking up to him at every turn because of his enormous influence. But it is not all depressing. Murdoch does not come across as the staunch partisan one would expect from the man behind Fox News and The Weekly Standard. Instead, he seems partisan only to tax cuts, media consolidation and defense spending, while feverishly opposed to labor and welfare.
So he's conservative. But, he refuses to join either of the "clubs", has supported liberals on more than a few occasions and recently threw a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton who "has been a good senator...tireless[ly] working for the people of New York...was very impressive when she came in for breakfast...was very, very gutsy originally on the war in Iraq" and "has amazing energy." While Murdoch has succeeded in making the Fox News guys nervous, he says a Hillary endorsement is "unlikely." That endorsement, will more than likely find its way to the "great American" John McCain.
Certainly Murdoch finds value in picking front runners just as politicians find value in winning his approval. In fact, since Murdoch will let his hundreds of editorial staffs around the country and globe know his choice for president, it is probably a political necessity to kiss his ass. Because even if the Democrat candidate loses Murdoch's endorsement, he or Hillary will certainly need Murdoch to call off the Swift Boaters to have any chance.
Just one of about twenty five pictures taken by Arlen Parsa of The Daily Background during President Bush's million dollar fundraising stop in Chicago yesterday. Who even knew that protests follow the President around the country and around the world when he travels abroad? Must be that damn liberal media working its magic.
FAIRness & Accuracy In Reporting has released a study on PBS's NewsHour with Jim Lehrer that is indicative of the mass media as a whole. PBS is generally considered the most liberal main stream media outlet while Jim Lehrer has always received high marks for evenhandedness and serious news reporting. Yet, as the FAIR study evidences, NewsHour skews heavily right with Republican guests outnumbering Democrats by 2 to 1. Considering that everything in the MSM is likely to the right of NewsHour, here are a few more startling statistics:
Public interest groups accounted for just 4 percent of total sources. General public—"person in the street," workers, students— accounted for only 14 percent, while current and former government and military officials totaled 50 percent of all sources
Male sources outnumbered women by more than 4-to-1 (82 percent to 18 percent). Moreover, 72 percent of U.S. guests were white males, while just 6 percent were women of color
At a time when a large proportion of the U.S. public already favored withdrawal from Iraq, "stay the course" sources outnumbered pro-withdrawal sources more than 5-to-1. In the entire six months studied, not a single peace activist was heard on the NewsHour on the subject of Iraq.
Pat Buchanan throws around the word “FLAMER” like it is going out of style in describing Mark Foley and then proceeds to accuse Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton of links to NAMBLA. Before it's all said and done, others on the panel pick up on and use the flamer term, Scarborough accuses Hastert of basically lying and states that Mark Foley was using the page program as a sex farm.