Rove Claims Stock Market Is Dropping Because Obama Hasn’t Named His Treasury Secretary Yet
Rove Claims Stock Market Is Dropping Because Obama Hasn’t Named His Treasury Secretary Yet
Yesterday, stocks plunged for the second straight day, bringing “the Dow’s two-day drop to 873 points, or 10.6 percent, its worst two-day percentage loss since October 1987.” On Fox News last night, former Bush adviser Karl Rove tried to pin the blame for the drop on President-elect Barack Obama.
Though he admitted that there had been bad economic news yesterday, Rove questioned “how much of it is the news of the day.” “I mean, how much of it is that, and how much of it is the market saying, You know what? The economy is not in a good place and we’re looking at the future, and how much confidence should we have in the team that’s coming to make the economy better any time soon?,” said Rove.
He then suggested that the problem was that Obama hadn’t named his Treasury Secretary yet:
ROVE: Well, I got to tell you, I’m a little bit surprised. If the number one issue facing the country is the economy, then it strikes me the new administration, the president-elect, would be putting a lot of emphasis on getting a Treasury secretary and an economic team in place in order to signal to the country what he’s going to do.
But instead, we’ve seen a leak about the secretary of state. We’ve seen pretty serious rumors about who’s going to be attorney general, pretty serious rumors about who’s going to be head of HHS, Health and Human Services, who’s going to be Homeland Security counsel — Homeland Security department chief.
Watch it:
Though some economic analysts believe it would be helpful for Obama to name his econ team, it is laughable for Rove to blame the market’s problems on Obama. Indeed, the market is much more likely reacting to yesterday’s “grim economic data,” which included “a 16-year high in weekly unemployment claims and the failure of Congress to reach a deal to help U.S. automakers.”
Rove says the market is “trying to look four months, six months, a year in advance.” That may be so, but anyone hedging their bets is probably much more concerned about the economic outlook released by the Fed on Wednesday — warning “that a recession believed already to be underway could last until mid-2009 or later” — than who Obama picks to head the Treasury Department.
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O’Reilly: Internet has a well-known liberal bias.
O’Reilly: Internet has a well-known liberal bias.
Summoning the mythical boogeyman of the Fairness Doctrine — which would require broadcasters to provide a variety of political views on publicly-owned airwaves — Fox News host Bill O’Reilly warned last night that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “wants total control” over radio airwaves and would seek to reinstate the policy. He claimed that the media features far more liberal voices than conservative, citing newspapers, NPR, and…the Internet:
O’REILLY: A good case can be made there are more liberal voices in the media than conservative voices. The newspaper industry is certainly left. So is the Internet. NBC News almost completely liberal. So is PBS, so is NPR.
Watch it:
Just seconds later, O’Reilly contradicted his fearmongering: “The good news is the Fairness Doctrine will never happen.”
Fox News chief Roger Ailes signs up for five more years.
Fox News chief Roger Ailes signs up for five more years.
Rupert Murdoch’announced today that Fox News’s top executive, Roger Ailes, has signed a five year contract extension with News Corp. “Roger has done a remarkable job building FOX News into a force in journalism and built a great asset for News Corporation,” said Murdoch in a statement. Ailes said that he looks “forward to carrying out Mr. Murdoch’s legendary vision in the future.”
‘Kristol Ball’ Breaks: Stevens Will ‘Hang On In Alaska,’ McCain Will Conquer The ‘Path To The Presidency’
‘Kristol Ball’ Breaks: Stevens Will ‘Hang On In Alaska,’ McCain Will Conquer The ‘Path To The Presidency’
Yesterday, Anchorage mayor Mark Begich was declared the winner in Alaska’s tight U.S. Senate race, defeating Ted Stevens’s hopes of coming back for a seventh term. Stevens conceded earlier today. A big part of Stevens’s downfall was his conviction in October on seven felony charges for making false statements.
This is a loss for Stevens, but it is also a loss for Fox’s beloved Kristol Ball. On election night, Bill Kristol bravely predicted not only would Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) win the presidency, but Stevens would win re-election to the Senate. He also dismissed Stevens’s ethics violations, calling them “seven counts of something-or-other”:
WALLACE: Bill? Your surprise for Election Night.
KRISTOL: Ted Stevens, the 40-year incumbent in Alaska, recently convicted of seven counts of something-or-other, hangs on in Alaska. The voters of Alaska are loyal to their man. They don’t believe some D.C. grand jury. (Laughter.) Stevens hangs on, which helps Republicans keep the Democratic margin in the Senate reasonable.
And of course, since John McCain is going to take that narrow path to the presidency, let me add, he’ll be there to stop that Democratic Congress with overwhelming majorities from doing all the damage –
Kristol acknowledged that Stevens was “behind a lot in the polls,” but said, “I just sense that the Alaskans might want to not take the word of a D.C. grand jury.” Watch it:
The Kristol Ball of course, has had a less-than-perfect record during this campaign season. Perhaps that’s because the man behind it is still trying to perfect a more elementary skill: fact-checking.
Transcript: More »
Fox News Blog Edits Out Homophobic Barney Frank Joke From Transcript Of ‘Red Eye’ Host’s Monologue
Fox News Blog Edits Out Homophobic Barney Frank Joke From Transcript Of ‘Red Eye’ Host’s Monologue
In a “Greg-alogue” video posted today, Greg Gutfeld, the host of Fox News’ late-night show Red Eye, launched a frivolous attack on Center for American Progress President and CEO John Podesta. “If you believe in progressive ideas, you’ll believe in anything, including alien conspiracies,” said Gutfeld.
In the course of his mocking diatribe, Gutfeld also inserted an off-color, homophobic joke about Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA):
Look, I don’t dispute that aliens exist, but there are more urgent matters to deal with, other than wrinkly creatures with a knack for anal probing.
But enough about Barney Frank. I couldn’t resist.
Watch it:
Though the transcript of Gutfeld’s joke is included on the Red Eye website, FoxNews.com scrubbed it when it posted Gutfeld’s commentary on its Fox Forum blog. Instead, the blog posting has Gutfeld saying “wrinkly creatures with a knack for cavity searches”:
Conservatives have recently increased their use of homophobic jokes to attack Frank. On Fox last week, Dennis Miller and Bill O’Reilly joked that Frank “might want to be arrested.” The week before, right-wing radio host Lars Larson encouraged his listeners to vote for “Barney Fag.”
Terrorist fist jab: 1, E.D. Hill: 0.
Terrorist fist jab: 1, E.D. Hill: 0.
In June, Fox News anchor E.D. Hill infamously called a fist pound between Barack and Michelle Obama a “terrorist fist jab.” Hill’s remarks were met with widespread criticism and ridicule, and shortly afterward, Fox canceled her nightly news show. Hill also eventually apologized for her remarks. TVNewser now reports that Fox News has refused to renew Hill’s contract. Hill has been with Fox News for nearly 11 years. Watch her “fist jab” remarks here:
Greta Gushes That Palin ‘Stole The Show This Week’ At The RGA Conference
Greta Gushes That Palin ‘Stole The Show This Week’ At The RGA Conference
For months, Fox News host Greta Van Susteren has been one of Gov. Sarah Palin’s (R-AK) biggest fans, conducting more intimate interviews with her than any other member of the media. Van Susteren’s most recent series of interviews with Palin revealed little beyond what to do when a mama moose attacks, how many caribou Palin has shot, and what household crafts the Palin children like best.
As News Hounds noted, Van Susteren continued to gush over Palin last night, devoting a segment to showing how popular the Alaskan was at the Republican Governors Association (RGA) convention this past week:
VAN SUSTEREN: The election may be over but governor Sarah Palin is not going anywhere. Senator McCain’s running mate continues to dominate headlines. Governor Palin stole the show this week at the GOP governor’s conference. […]
VAN SUSTEREN: Not that we measure necessarily who is going to be the best president by whose got the most cameras chasing himself or herself. But when you saw those other governors down walk the hall, Governor Crist and Governor Pawlenty, did they have the paparazzi following them? […]
VAN SUSTEREN: You know something interesting, Patricia, I don’t remember ever the national media going to one of these Republican Governor Association meetings. Maybe they do, but I just don’t ever remember. Do you know if your paper ever covered one before?
Van Susteren’s guest, Patricia Mazzei of the Miami Herald, tried to insist that other “rising stars” of the GOP also attracted considerable media attention, but she failed to deter van Susteren from her Palin-mania. Watch it:
It’s not surprising that Palin received considerable media attention last week, since it was one of her first public appearances since the election. However, there was plenty of evidence that many Republicans don’t see her as the rising star that Greta does. Many governors have publicly been reluctant to embrace Palin as a 2012 candidate, saying that she is not the “future of the party.” Others were even reluctant to say whether she helped the McCain ticket in the election.
Additionally, on Thursday, the RGA announced its new leadership lineup, featuring big names such as Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. Missing from that list? Palin.
Fox News’ Ailes: ‘I defend the United States, Israel and the Constitution.’
Fox News’ Ailes: ‘I defend the United States, Israel and the Constitution.’
Fox News chairman Roger Ailes describes his mission in life:
“I stand up for what I believe. I don’t back off. I’ve been that way for 40 years. That’s the secret to my success. I have thick skin. I don’t care what people say about me,” he said.
“I defend the United States, Israel and the Constitution.”
No word on whether Ailes listed those in order of priority.
Dennis Miller: Liberal women hate Sarah Palin because ‘she has a great sex life.’
Dennis Miller: Liberal women hate Sarah Palin because ‘she has a great sex life.’
On the O’Reilly factor last night, Dennis Miller declared that liberal women hate Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) because “she has a great sex life”:
She’s a great dame. People are fascinated by her because the Left hate her. I think the Left hate her — mostly women on the Left hate her — because to me from outside in it appears that she has a great sex life, all right? I think she has non-neurotic sex with that Todd Palin guy. … I think that snow mobile looks like mechanized foreplay to me and that’s why people are fascinated.
Watch it:
Male pundits seem obsessed with Palin’s sex life. In September, a CNBC host admitted, “I want her laying next to me in bed.” Throughout the campaign, conservatives constantly praised Palin’s good looks, with Rush Limbaugh frequently referring to her as a “babe.” (HT: Gawker)
Bill O’Reilly and Dennis Miller make homophobic jokes about Barney Frank.
Bill O’Reilly and Dennis Miller make homophobic jokes about Barney Frank.
Last night on the O’Reilly Factor, Dennis Miller said President-elect Obama should “flatten these punks at AIG.” When O’Reilly suggested Obama should arrest Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), Miller laughed and said, “Barney might want to be arrested.” O’Reilly laughed and then acted disgusted by the idea of homosexuality. Watch it:
The right wing frequently attacks Frank for being gay. Just last week, right-wing radio host Lars Larson encouraged his listeners to vote for “Barney Fag.”
Potholders, Caribou, And Snow Machines: Greta’s Hard-Hitting Interview With Sarah Palin
Potholders, Caribou, And Snow Machines: Greta’s Hard-Hitting Interview With Sarah Palin
After refusing interviews throughout her three-month campaign for Vice President, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) is now embarking on a “redemption tour,” throwing herself back into the public eye, including an interview with NBC’s Today show and a speech and press conference at this week’s Republican Governor’s Association meeting. Fox News’s Greta Van Susteren devoted two full nights to a backstage interview with Palin.
It was Van Susteren’s second interview with Palin, not including her earlier trip to Alaska for a lengthy — and awkward — interview with the “First Dude,” Todd Palin. Greta’s new interview with Palin passed along such valuable nuggets as what to do when a mama moose attacks, how many caribou Palin has shot, and what household crafts the Palin children like best. Watch highlights of the two-night interview:
Palin also told Greta that she only asked for Todd’s opinion on whether to accept the VP slot at McCain’s suggestion. After McCain formally offered the job to her at his Sedona ranch, he had to remind Palin to consult her husband before agreeing:
PALIN: Just looking right in my eyes and saying, Are you ready for this? Would you like to do this? And I said, I would be honored to run with you. Absolutely. […]
VAN SUSTEREN: Todd wasn’t with you. Did you call Todd then?
PALIN: Well, before I said yes. That was Senator McCain’s recommendation. He says, Why don’t you call your husband and find out, you know, if he’s good with this also. I called Todd, and Todd, too, was no hesitation. He was like, Absolutely. This will be good. Yes, do this. And just good confirmation that, of course, we were to say yes.
Hume: Bush has put America on an ‘amazing’ foreign policy path.
Hume: Bush has put America on an ‘amazing’ foreign policy path.
Reflecting on his final days as Fox News’ Washington managing editor, Brit Hume tells the Miami Herald’s Glenn Garvin that when people look back at the Bush era, they “will be a lot kinder to this president than the current scribes are being.” “It’s really turned out to be a very consequential presidency,” said Hume, adding that Bush has put America on an “amazing” foreign policy path:
Even the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which is widely regarded as terrible White House bungling, is a much more complex story than that which eventually will be told. And while people are understandably focused on the length and the casualty count of the war, at some point they’ll consider the policy path on which this president has placed us. It’s a very different one, and an amazing one. We’re pushing for democracy everywhere, not just playing ball with friendly dictators as we did in the Cold War.
One thing that Hume is right about is the fact that historians currently view Bush’s presidency as “a combination of many negative factors.” According to CNN, historians currently say that “incompetent” will most likely be the word used to describe Bush.
Explaining the job of a real journalist, Shep Smith mocks Hannity.
Explaining the job of a real journalist, Shep Smith mocks Hannity.
Last week, Fox News host Shepard Smith pressed Joe “the Plumber” Wurzelbacher for suggesting that a vote for Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) would be a vote for the death of Israel. Obviously disgusted by the Republican-endorsed attack, Smith called the claims “frightening.” As a guest on Bill O’Reilly’s show last night, Smith explained that a real journalist “who holds truth dear” has to fight against the “dangerous” lies told during a campaign:
SMITH: And I think that some of this disinformation, some of the lies that show up on the Internet, are dangerous. And those of us who hold truth dear, it’s our job to set the record straight.
O’REILLY: OK, but you work for the FOX News Channel, which is the most unfair channel and is always trying to get the Republicans elected. So you can’t be doing this stuff. You can’t be challenging Joe the plumber and Ralph Nader. […]
SMITH: That’s Sean Hannity’s job.
Watch it:
When O’Reilly tried to put himself in the same journalistic category as Smith and Brit Hume, Smith clearly didn’t buy it, joking that when he hears criticism of Fox News’ bias he replies, “Are you only watching that O’Reilly cat?”
O’Reilly throws down the gauntlet in the War on Christmas.
O’Reilly throws down the gauntlet in the War on Christmas.
No time of the year is more merry for Bill O’Reilly than the “Christmas season,” because he can then go to war with his nemeses, the so-called “secular progressives.” Last year, he kicked off the season on Nov. 9, with a story on a decision by the Fort Collins, Colorado City Council to forgo traditional Christmas decorations. Though he hasn’t found his first outrage of the year yet, he’s getting ready. For the past two nights, O’Reilly has been offering bumper stickers reading “We Say Merry Christmas” to anyone who orders his book off his website:
This year, O’Reilly is also evidently acknowledging Hanukkah, telling his viewers last night that his website has plenty of merchandise for the “Christmas and Hanukah season.”
Rove: Obama Hoodwinked America Into Electing A Progressive President
Rove: Obama Hoodwinked America Into Electing A Progressive President
Last night on Fox’s Hannity and Colmes, Karl Rove argued that President-Elect Barack Obama ran a “center-right” campaign, but that if you “dig in” you can uncover the radical socialist that the right-wing warned the country about during the campaign:
ROVE: Let’s make it clear: He ran a center-right campaign. He said –
COLMES: Center-right? He was accused of being a radical socialist.
ROVE: Well, if you dug in.
Watch it:
In today’s Wall Street Journal, Rove argued similarly that Obama ran a center-right campaign that fooled a center-right electorate into supporting him:
It is a tribute to his skills that Mr. Obama, the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate, won in a country that remains center-right.
Despite Rove’s claims, Americans were not somehow hoodwinked by the Obama campaign; they knew Obama was a progressive — and they supported him for it. In fact, internal McCain polling showed that a vast majority of Americans knew exactly what Obama’s agenda was, as Mark Salter told Politico:
Our polling showed that more than 60 percent of voters identified Obama as a liberal. Typically, a candidate is not going to win the presidency with those figures. But I think the country just disregarded it. People didn’t care. They just wanted the biggest change they could get.
Indeed, Obama and other progressive candidates were elected this week not in spite of their progressive stances on key policy issues, but because of them. As The Progress Report observed yesterday, “Obama ran on the most progressive platform of any presidential candidate in at least 15 years, including a promise of universal health care coverage, a dramatic transformation to a low-carbon economy, and a historic investment in education.”
UPDATE: Fox News’s Brit Hume, speaking with Laura Ingraham today, repeated the claim that Tuesday’s vote actually proved America is still a “center-right” country. He claimed that Obama didn’t “break the lock” that Republicans have had on the presidency but merely “picked the lock.” Listen here:
Kristol Attacks Anonymous McCain Aides Dishing To The Press As ‘Paranoid’ And ‘Disloyal To John McCain’
Kristol Attacks Anonymous McCain Aides Dishing To The Press As ‘Paranoid’ And ‘Disloyal To John McCain’
With the final election results in, the traditional finger-pointing and back-biting of the losing campaign has set in at a furious pace. Last night, CNN’s Dana Bash reported that “three senior McCain advisers” were saying that senior foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann had been fired from the campaign last week for “trashing” other campaign staffers:
One of the aides tells CNN that campaign manager Rick Davis fired Scheunemann after determining that he had been in direct contact with journalists spreading “disinformation” about campaign aides, including Nicolle Wallace and other officials.
Scheunemann, campaign manager Rick Davis and top adviser Mark Salter denied that he had been fired. McCain press aide Michael Goldfarb told Bash this morning that while Scheunemann wasn’t dismissed, he was essentially excommunicated by the McCain staff:
However, Goldfarb did concede that Scheunemann’s campaign e-mail was cut off, and his blackberry was taken away late Friday. Goldfarb admits that senior McCain aides were mad at Scheunemann, and wanted to fire him, but he insists they stopped short of that, and instead simply turned off his campaign communication.
McCain aides claim Scheunemann was providing “a constant stream of poison” to New York Times columnist Bill Kristol, who has also been accused of advising Sarah Palin behind the campaign’s back. On Fox & Friends this morning, Kristol attacked the campaign’s anonymous back-biters as “paranoid” and “disloyal to John McCain.” Watch it:
Though Kristol never mentioned Scheunemann, he appeared to hint at why the aide’s “campaign e-mail was cut off.” Talking about the last days of the campaign, Kristol said that some staff “were going through other campaign workers’ emails…to try to see who was allegedly leaking stuff, negative stuff.”
Fox’s Carl Cameron: Palin ‘didn’t understand that Africa was a continent.’
Fox’s Carl Cameron: Palin ‘didn’t understand that Africa was a continent.’
Today, Fox News’ campaign reporter Carl Cameron unloaded some startling undisclosed reports of Sarah Palin’s incompetence that he had been given off-the-record on the condition they not be released until the conclusion of the campaign:
CAMERON: There was great concern in the McCain campaign that Sarah Palin lacked a degree of knowledgeability necessary to be a running mate, a vice president, and a heartbeat away from the presidency.
We are told by folks that she didn’t know what countries were in NAFTA — the North American Free Trade Agreement. That’d be Canada, the U.S., and Mexico. We’re told that she didn’t understand that Africa was a continent, rather than a series — a country just in itself. A whole host of questions that caused serious problems about her knowledgeability.
Cameron also disclosed that Palin “didn’t accept preparation” for the Katie Couric interview. Watch it:
Fox’s Nina Easton: ‘I think there’s a real possibility’ that this is now a ‘center-left’ country.
Fox’s Nina Easton: ‘I think there’s a real possibility’ that this is now a ‘center-left’ country.
This evening on Fox News, host Brit Hume commented, “It has been conventional wisdom for some time, and I certainly thought it was true, that this is a center right country.” He then asked fellow Fox News pundit Nina Easton whether this election mean we are possibly a “center left country.” Easton responded, “I think there’s a real possibility of that, and partly because the nature of the use of government has changed so dramatically over the past year, two years.” Watch it:
Conservatives, fearful that a progressive tide is coming, have been trying to push the claim in recent weeks that “this is a center-right country.” (Watch this video.) As David Sirota has explained, this propagandistic talking point is pure myth.
Doocy mistakenly identifies a random black man as Obama.
Doocy mistakenly identifies a random black man as Obama.
This morning, the Fox and Friends crew was sitting around waiting for Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) to arrive at his polling place. “There he is, he just walked in,” Steve Doocy announced as another African-American man, wearing a casual tan jacket and a hat, walked in. Even Doocy’s co-hosts didn’t believe him. “Was that the back of his head?” asked Brian Kilmeade. “I don’t know,” said Gretchen Carlson. A few minutes later, the real Obama walked in, wearing a dark suit. Watch it:
(HT: HP Eat the Press)
Fearful Conservatives Push New Talking Point: ‘This Is A Center-Right Country’
Fearful Conservatives Push New Talking Point: ‘This Is A Center-Right Country’
Last Friday, Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer called the United States “the quintessential center-right country,” and wondered why it was “poised to reject” Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), “the quintessential center-right candidate.” Last week’s Newsweek cover declared, “America remains a center-right nation — a fact that a President Obama would forget at his peril.”
Ignoring the fact that a progressive majority won back Congress in 2006 — and that Democrats are expected to make dramatic gains in their majority today — conservatives continue to insist that Americans are fundamentally conservative and perpetually wary of Democrats:
FRED BARNES: In a center right country, I don’t think American people really want the liberal agenda. But they may get it anyway because they’re upset during the financial crisis. [Fox News, 10/11/08]
PAT BUCHANAN: The country is center right. As you can tell by the fact Obama’s been moving to the center as fast as he can. [MSNBC, 10/16/08]
JOE SCARBOROUGH: The country is not center left. It is center right. This country is more conservative than it was when we took over in 1994 after two years of calamitous Democratic rule. It is a center-right country. [MSNBC, 10/29/08]
Watch a mashup:
As David Sirota has noted, the idea that Americans are fundamentally conservative is a myth. Indeed, a majority of Americans want progressive solutions to the nation’s problems, supporting universal health care, expanded environmental protections, a higher minimum wage, the availability of safe and legal abortions, federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, and the rights of same-sex couples to be legally recognized. Additionally, a majority opposes the Iraq War.
By insisting that — despite all appearances to the contrary — Americans favor conservatives, the right wing is trying to handicap the progressive agenda before it has a chance of being enacted. But today’s election results are likely to throw an even greater wrench in the “center-right country” myth. The Washington Post’s E.J. Dionne disputed the conservatives’ entire premise, on MSNBC:
I disagree the notion that we are still a center-right country. We may have been a center-right country. But I think what you’re seeing here, John McCain is running very clearly against Barack Obama as a redistributionist and a socialist. And if the country votes for Barack Obama, I think the country will be saying not that they move far to the left, but we’re not center-right anymore. They want some government action to solve some of these problems.
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Is it because they have one standard for what they laughingly call 'straight news' and another one for 'commentary'?
Or is it because people actually complained about Hill?"