Fox To The Right Pt 1: VP Shine's "We Hate Obama!"

And It All Started With A Lapel Pin!

Fox News Declares itself the Voice of Opposition to Obama
Submitted by jmeasley on Mon, 03/23/2009 - 23:27.
Jason EasleyPolitics & TV

During an interview with NPR today the senior vice president for programming at Fox News, Bill Shine called his network the voice of opposition to the Obama administration. So much for the fair and balanced slogan, but at least FNC is now being honest about its intentions.

...NPR’s David Folkenflik points out that FNC’s ratings are up since the election of Obama. In terms of ratings, Fox is way ahead of CNN and MSNBC.

A Pew Research survey done last year found that MSNBC and CNN split the Democratic viewership. Fifty one percent of CNN’s viewers are Democrats, and 45% of MSNBC viewers are Democrats. Only 18% of viewers on each of these two networks are Republicans.

As a business strategy, declaring themselves the voice of opposition to Obama is smart. If anything it will push their ratings even higher among Republicans. At least maybe FNC will stop pretending that are an objective network.

Fox News has never pretended that they were "fair and balanced" as far as their "News" was concerned. Reporting on the wearing of a lapel pin as the campaign set off, liberal Alan Colmes (who gave up his stint on "Hannity and Colmes" presumably because he couldn't stand Hannity or Fox's tilt far to the right) points out how ridiculous and hypocritical it is for anti-Obama people even to be discussing something like the lack of a flag lapel pin. (Watch it below).

Now Shine did say "Obama administration policies", but we all know that the emnity will be towards Obama himself, his staff, his advisors, his Cabinet and, yes, even his family. Fox will interview Ann Coulter(geist) countless times about her takes on Michelle Obama's style, charisma, etc. Bill O'Reilly will now be able to call out Obama with slightly racist undertones because he knows he won't be fired. No matter what success the Obama administration meets with, it will be "Nobama" all the way with Fox. There will not be one positive thing mentioned about the President.

As I've said before, Fox "News" is not journalism. It is Hearst "You-provide-the-pictures-I'll-provide-the-war" journalism. The problem with that kind of power, as Hearst himself proved, becomes toxic and, eventually, irrelevent.

Now, the problem is, how long will the American public be subjected to "Faux News"? And what will it take to make us all sick of "Obamattacks"? Malia and Natasha better be shipped off to an "undisclosed location" for at least four years.

Just a thought.

Jindal and The Ideology of Preemptive Strikes

Well, Republicans Really DO Believe In
PREEMPTIVE STRIKES!

As someone much wiser than I once said: "This is why the letters "W" "T" and "F" were invented:

La. Gov. Jindal urges GOP to stand up to Obama

(Associated Press)

WASHINGTON – Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal again found himself carrying the Republican mantle opposite a primetime appearance from President Barack Obama on Tuesday, saying Republicans must be ready to defy the president when they disagree with his policies. He also joked about his widely panned response to Obama's address to Congress last month.

"We are now in the position of being the loyal opposition," Jindal said at a Republican congressional fundraising dinner that only by coincidence fell on the same night as Obama's news conference. "The right question to ask is not if we want the president to fail or succeed, but whether we want America to succeed."

But NOT if we want Republicans to succeed, evidently. Just who's idea was it to have Jindal make his "preemptive" speech anyway? Is the Republican party so bent on destroying Obama that they will lose all reason at picking a spokesperson? Couldn't they have waited a little while (like a year or two).

Right now, all the Republicans seem to have is VENGEANCE; no economic crisis plan, no plans for foreign policy (unless "shoot everything that moves" is a plan), no plan for distressed homeowners, no plan for the unemployed or the uninsured.

Just pure vengeance.

And right now, all the Republicans are actually offering is:

OR WORSE YET:

Just a thought.

Republicans Want THE SNEER To Go Away!

Look At It! Wouldn't YOU?!!

(From ThinkProgress)

Former Vice President Dick Cheney has refused to stay out of the political spotlight since leaving office, giving high-profile interviews to CNN and Politico. Last night, The Hill reported that congressional Republicans are telling him “to go back to his undisclosed location and leave them alone to rebuild the Republican Party without his input”:

Rep. John Duncan Jr. (R-Tenn.) said, “He became so unpopular while he was in the White House that it would probably be better for us politically if he wouldn’t be so public…But he has the right to speak out since he’s a private citizen.”

Oh, for an Amendment to the Constitution!

Ask yourself: Why the hell is Dick Cheney still "dickin' around" in politics and governmental affairs? Why hasn't he just asked for a desert island to retreat to? Dan "No-brain" Quayle at least had the decency to fade into the past and write books nobody would read (simply because nobody believed he could write!). Al Gore took up a cause fiercely and won a Nobel for it. What the hell is Nobel going to give Cheney a prize for?

"The Nobel Prize for Pure, Unmitigated World Contempt" goes to Richard 'The Sneer' Cheney."

Do we have to applaud?

Democrats have wanted him to go away for the last 8 years. Now Republicans want him to go. Next: the trusted NRA will take him to the Mexican border - at gunpoint.

Just a (delightful) thought.

Joe Sixpack (aka Sarah Palin) vs The Volcano (Mt. Redoubt)

Imagine an eruption FIVE TIMES IN ONLY TWO HOURS!

Last night, at 10:30 PM, Mt. Redoubt in Alaska erupted. Actually, it erupted five times within two hours. Its plume was 50,000 ft. high. Although 103 miles southwest of Anchorage, the ash could settle in Anchorage if winds shift from north to northwest. With that ash, the chemical words that come up most often are: chlorofluorocarbon pollution, radiation balance, acid rain, carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid.

And the political name that could come up is: Sarah Palin. Isn't it rather scary thinking of Sarah Palin in charge after a disaster?

From Anchorage Daily News:

Ash is not expected in Anchorage or Wasilla at this time, the Weather Service said.

An ash cloud is headed up the Susitna Valley west of Willow and is expected to arrive in the Talkeetna area around 3 a.m., said Dave Stricklan at the Weather Service's Anchorage office.

“It looks like (Anchorage) might dodge the bullet,” Alaska Volcano Observatory geophysicist Peter Cervelli said.

We should hope so, but what about any people directly north of the eruption?

Wikipedia:

In 1990 The eruption also caused an airliner to have all four engines die after it flew into a cloud of volcanic ash. Damage from the eruption was estimated at $160 million, the second costliest volcanic eruption in United States history.

Hmmm. $160 million. How much did Sarah refuse from the stimulus package that would go to education? Maybe God's telling her something! Will the Alaska state legislature support her, saying "Go Sarah, Go - in 2012!" Or will they just say to her: "You gotta be kidding, Palin, we need all the goddamned money we can get right now!"

So far, there are three villages directly affected: Skwentna, Trapper Creek and Talkeetna, total population of all three: 1306. Since she has been criticized extensively for paying no attention to depressed and distressed areas of Alaska, I wonder of Palin will break down and send a fruitb asket. Or maybe she'll have Thomas Muthee exorcise evil spirits from the area. You can rest assured that Palin will weigh if a photo op is worth any largesse the governor dishes out. How will it help her in 2012? How would she do during a catastrophe like Katrina but with a volcano as the culprit? Would she like to fly over the houses covered in ash.? Would she slap the back of the Alaska FEMA-like agency head and say,

"You're doing a heckofa job, ah, whoever you are." ?

Just a thought.

UPDATE: As of 7:28PM, Redoubt erupted AGAIN, making it the sixth eruption and possibly the most dangerous: the plume of ash reached its highest point at 60,000 feet.

(Anchorage Daily News)

High-elevation winds above 40,000 feet are beginning to veer toward Anchorage, but no ash is expected to fall on Alaska's largest city at this time, Bob Hopkins, the meteorologist-in-charge of the National Weather Service office in Anchorage, said.

"Eight miles up -- that's going to stay there," Hopkins said. "But that will affect aircraft at that altitude."

It's the lower-elevation winds between 10,000 and 20,000 feet, currently blowing north by northeast, that are most likely to carry ash to the ground, Hopkins said.

Is George Bush Coaching Michael Steele?

Maybe, Maybe Not - He's Very Busy Writing His "Book" While Learning His ABC's At The Same Time!

Today, Michael Steele gave evidence to the fact that he doesn't know much about the Constitution:

(HT: Think Progress)

This morning, RNC Chairman Michael Steele came out of isolation and guest-hosted Bill Bennett’s Morning in America. During the program, a caller asked Steele about the constitutionality of the 90 percent bonus tax passed by the House yesterday. The caller said that he believed that the tax was unconstitutional because “the first amendment…specifically states that a law cannot be passed to specifically target a person or a group of people.”

And Steele said: "Right!"

CALLER: And we’ve got a president who is supposedly a constitutional scholar.

STEELE: Right. Right.

Even non-scholars of just about any discipline would tell you that the First Amendment is not about targeting specific people:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

By now, we know that Michael Steele beats Joe Biden for gaffes. It seems impossible that The Republican National Committe could not have known about this man's past faux pas. Then again, Sarah Palin... Steele's gaffes seem almost staged. Could he...? Nah. Bush is too busy writing his book "Connect The Dots" no wait, it's something about his being The Decider:

President Bush has signed a book deal with Crown to publish his memoir, tentatively titled “Decision Points.” The deal is worth a reported $7 million — a hefty sum, but it pales in comparison to the rumored $11 million Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) might fetch.

Other sums for memoirs:
Bill Clinton - $12 million Hillary Clinton - $8 million Tony Blair - $9 million

Late last year, some publishers were suggesting that Bush hold off writing a book, because of his dramatically low approval ratings. “[G]iven how the public feels about him right now, I think patience would probably be something that I would encourage,” Paul Bogaards, executive director of publicity for Alfred A. Knopf, said.

But let's be honest: Bush can't really afford to wait fifty years. By that time, the $7 million will be worthless.

Most of the comments on the blogosphere haven't been so much about Bush as they have been wondering just who is going to get the odious task of writing it, editing it, and changing history books so that the Katrina disaster will only get a paragraph ("It was fun seeing all that water from a plane.") while other issues will get...nothing. (Read Our previous post about his Presidential Library's Website). It will be interesting to see if the "ghost" will slip in words that George doesn't know, like Afghanistan, Iraq, Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, torture, diplomacy, accountability.

BTW: Does anyone know that George W. Bush actually HAS BOOKS WITH HIS NAME GIVEN AS AUTHOR?

We Will Prevail: President George W. Bush on War, Terrorism and Freedom
George W. Bush on God and Country: The President Speaks Out About Faith, Principle, and Patriotism
A Charge to Keep

You can get the last two for ONE PENNY each. We Will Prevail will cost you much more: 47 cents. Other books favoring George Bush that you can get for ONE PENNY:


Rebel-in-Chief: Inside the Bold and Controversial Presidency of George W. Bush by Fred Barnes
A Matter of Character: Inside the White House of George W. Bush by Ronald Kessler
The Right Man: An Inside Account of the Bush White House by David Frum
A Man of Faith: The Spiritual Journey of George W. Bush by David Aikman



But cheer up, George, the book will make money. You're so solid with the State of Texas (except Arlington, of course) just think how many Texans will read it ...at gunpoint.

Other cheap and interesting George W. Bush books:

The Two Biggest "Hate Crimes" Of All: Prop 8 and Tony Perkins

What Tony Perkins Actually Thinks

Tony Perkins of Family Research Council puts just about everything in quotes: "protect" homosexuals, "decriminalization," "principal of non-discrimination," "sexual orientation," "gender identity," "stigmatization and prejudice," "The Agenda," "Fairness Doctrine," "Hate Crimes," and, of course, "diversity." By putting them in quotes, Perkins stresses that these things either don't really exist or that they're other than how he (the "normal" person) would define them.

All of the above words and phrases came from two missives today: Perkins' daily screed, today's titled "Queer Eye For The State Guy." (For terrible pun-like, nonsensical titles, absolutely nobody beats Tony Perkins) and a donation plea entitled Stand Up To "The Agenda" Now! Both emails are basically conspiracy-theorizing, fear-mongering letters.

The first email points to the U.N. declaration (non-binding) concerning decriminalizing homosexuality. Bush refused to sign it as did African and Arab nations that still have homosexuality on the books as a capital offense. The Obama administration may sign it. Perkins is frightened out of his wits that signing such a declaration legitimizes homosexuality, a "policy already forced on the U.S. by a 2003 Supreme Court decision." (emphasis my own).

The second email possits something Perkins swears is true: "The Agenda." This is a mysterious, secret cabal intent on destroying his America.

As you probably know by now, the Obama-Pelosi-Reid government is moving swiftly to silence you and everyone else who disagrees with "The Agenda" . . . a blueprint of their dangerous vision of an anti-faith, anti-family vision for America. The so-called "Fairness Doctrine" is just the tip of the spear. They'll stop at nothing to strip Christian and conservative Americans of their voices.

And later:

Silencing the moral voices of America is critical for the Left to place America under government control, except when it comes to moral or sexual restraint.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch called Reality:

(From the San Jose Mercury News)

Hate crime cases involving anti-gay sentiment shot up in Santa Clara County last year, a striking increase that a leading prosecutor attributes to controversy over Proposition 8, the voter-approved ban on gay marriage.

Conspiracy theorists like Perkins don't seem quite as formidable as an effort like Prop 8. After all, $40 million is a lot to spend for discrimination. But don't discount him, either. The people who shelled out those millions listened to "somebody."

Just a thought.

The GITMO Victims: A Scandal As Bad As Abu Ghraib!

A "Mosaic" should consist of pieces of tile -

NOT pieces of men!

This is as bad as Abu Ghraib.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Many detainees locked up at Guantanamo were innocent men swept up by U.S. forces unable to distinguish enemies from noncombatants, a former Bush administration official said Thursday. "There are still innocent people there," Lawrence B. Wilkerson, a Republican who was chief of staff to then-Secretary of State Colin Powell, told The Associated Press. "Some have been there six or seven years."

Wilkerson, who first made the assertions in an Internet posting on Tuesday, told the AP he learned from briefings and by communicating with military commanders that the U.S. soon realized many Guantanamo detainees were innocent but nevertheless held them in hopes they could provide information for a "mosaic" of intelligence.

Who knew?