Carlson: ‘You Don’t Hear As Much About The Scrutiny’ Of Pelosi Because Conservative Women ‘Get More Attacks’
Carlson: ‘You Don’t Hear As Much About The Scrutiny’ Of Pelosi Because Conservative Women ‘Get More Attacks’
On Fox and Friends this morning, the hosts discussed a recently released Fox News poll that measures the favorable opinions that Americans have about former Alaska governor Sarah Palin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The poll found that 47 percent of respondents had a favorable opinion of Palin while only 28 percent had a favorable opinion of Pelosi.
“Also, 61 percent of you feel that governor Sarah Palin, former governor, has been treated unfairly by the mainstream media,” commented Steve Doocy. Co-host Gretchen Carlson suggested that Pelosi’s numbers are low even though she doesn’t get much “scrutiny” because “if you’re a conservative woman, you get more attacks“:
CARLSON: It’s interesting because even though that number shows that Pelosi has a much higher unfavorable rating, you don’t, you don’t at least hear as much about the scrutiny of Nancy Pelosi as you did about Sarah Palin. And that may go back to that whole age old argument that if you’re a conservative woman, you get more attacks than if you have liberal points of view.
Watch it:
The contention that the media treats conservative women worse than liberal women is conventional wisdom on the right. But Carlson’s claim that scrutiny of Nancy Pelosi is under the radar is surprising considering her own network’s often times downright mean treatment of the first female speaker of the House:
– On the November 10 edition of Fox and Friends, for instance, radio host Laura Ingraham said that “Pelosi basically did everything except sell her own body” to pass health care reform.
– On Nov. 4 on the O’Reilly Factor, Dennis Miller said Pelosi had a “sub-reptilian intellect” and likened her face to a “lizard laying on a hot rock.”
– On October 30, Fox and Friends laughingly re-enacted protesters calling for Pelosi to “burn in hell.”
– On October 21, Bill O’Reilly mocked Pelosi, saying, “If there wan’t Botox involved, with all due respect, there might have been more expression” on her face.
– On August 6, Glenn Beck joked about putting poison in Pelosi’s wine.
– On May 20, Hannity guest Jay Thomas said, “I think if you waterboarded Nancy Pelosi, she wouldn’t admit to plastic surgery.”
– On May 19, Dennis Miller called her a “train wreck” and a “shrieking harridan magpie.”
On Fox, a progressive woman like Pelosi doesn’t just get “scrutiny,” she gets insults.
- Comments
- 99
Rupert Murdoch denies he said Obama made a racist comment.
Rupert Murdoch denies he said Obama made a racist comment.
Earlier this month, News Corp. president Rupert Murdoch said that President Obama made “a very racist comment” when Obama inserted himself into the July spat between Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Officer Jim Crowley. Murdoch also said Fox News host Glenn Beck “was right” to say Obama is a “racist” with a “deep-seated hatred for white people.” Today on Capitol Hill, Media Matters’ staffers asked Murdoch to be more specific about what “racist” comments Obama allegedly made, but Murdoch denied he had made the charge:
MMFA: Mr. Murdoch, can you be more specific about what racist comments the President allegedly made?
MURDOCH: I denied that absolutely. I don’t believe he’s a racist.
“But you said that he made racist statements,” the staffer noted as Murdoch walked away. Watch it:
Doocy’s fuzzy math: Senate health bill costs ‘close to a trillion dollars.’
Doocy’s fuzzy math: Senate health bill costs ‘close to a trillion dollars.’
Last night, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) released the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, legislation which merged the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee’s bill with the Finance Committee’s bill. According to preliminary analysis from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the joint legislation will cost $848 billion over 10 years and reduce the deficit by $130 billion over 10 years. This morning on Fox & Friends, host Steve Doocy added the gross total cost of the coverage provisions to the amount by which the bill would reduce the federal budget deficit ($130 billion, but Doocy used an earlier estimate of $127 billion) to argue that the bill would cost taxpayers “close to a trillion dollars.” Watch it:
While expanding coverage to 31 million Americans would cost $848 billion over 10 years, the cost of these coverage expansions would be more than offset by a combination of new revenue and spending changes. After the $848 billion is paid off, the bill invests the remainder — $130 billion — into deficit reduction. Doocy is double-counting the cost of the bill to taxpayers. Imagine the following scenario: you drive to the supermarket and purchase a gallon of $10 laundry detergent with a $20 bill. According to Doocy’s logic, the cost of your detergent is not $10, but rather $30!
Fox issues on-air apology for misleading footage of Palin crowds.
Fox issues on-air apology for misleading footage of Palin crowds.
Following ThinkProgress’ report yesterday that Fox News had recycled old file footage of Sarah Palin rallies to assert that she is currently getting huge turnouts on her book tour, the network issued an on-air apology this afternoon. Fox’s Happening Now co-host Jane Skinner said it was mistake, but didn’t explain how it happened:
In the tease before the segment — the tease to commercial — we told you how those people were already lining up to meet Palin. The problem is, we didn’t actually show you the video we were referencing. Instead, we mistakenly aired what’s called file tape of Sarah Palin. We didn’t mean to mislead anybody in that tease. It was a mistake. And for that, we apologize.
Watch it:
The Swamp reported earlier that Fox News may take “serious disciplinary action” against control room staffers over the incident. The on-air apology made no reference to such action.
Fox acknowledges ‘production error’ and promises ‘disciplinary action’ for misleading Palin footage.
Fox acknowledges ‘production error’ and promises ‘disciplinary action’ for misleading Palin footage.
Yesterday, ThinkProgress first reported that Fox News aired old file footage of Sarah Palin rallies to claim that she’s “continuing to draw huge crowds while she’s promoting her brand new book.” Host Gregg Jarrett presented the video with commentary that suggested the footage was “just coming in.” (Watch it.) Media Matters noted that one of the scenes was from a Nov. 1, 2008 Palin rally in Florida. Crooks and Liars’ John Amato filed an FCC complaint for passing on “false information” to the public. By day’s end yesterday, Fox released this statement responding to the controversy:
“This was a production error in which the copy editor changed a script and didn’t alert the control room to update the video,” Michael Clemente, senior vice president of news at FOX, sad this evening. “There will be an on-air explanation during Happening Now on Thursday.”
Citing unnamed sources, The Swamp reports Fox is planning to take “serious disciplinary action” against those “responsible behind the scenes in the control room.”
Fox News displays old campaign footage to claim Palin is getting ‘huge crowds’ at her book signings. (Updated)
Fox News displays old campaign footage to claim Palin is getting ‘huge crowds’ at her book signings. (Updated)
This afternoon, Fox News host Gregg Jarrett proudly announced that Sarah Palin is “continuing to draw huge crowds while she’s promoting her brand new book. Take a look at — these are some of the pictures just coming into us.” But the pictures that the network chose to display on-air appeared to be old file footage of Palin rallies from the 2008 presidential campaign. Individuals in the crowd are seen holding McCain/Palin signs, and others are holding pom-poms and cheering wildly. “There’s a crowd of folks,” an enthused Jarrett observed, referring to the old footage. Watch it:
The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart recently caught Fox News’ Sean Hannity displaying crowd shots from a rally earlier this year to claim that a recent GOP health care protest drew a larger audience than it actually did. Hannity later acknowledged that he “screwed up.”
Palin On Muslims In The Military After Fort Hood: ‘I Say, Profile Away’
Palin On Muslims In The Military After Fort Hood: ‘I Say, Profile Away’
After the tragic shooting at Fort Hood by Major Nidal Malik Hasan, who reports now indicate had some contact with a radical Islamic cleric, Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey expressed concern over “a backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers.” Predictably, some conservatives have called for a crackdown on the American Muslim community, including those serving in the military. Now, in an interview with her hagiographer, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin has called for increased profiling of Muslims in the military:
She commented on the trail of evidence linking the alleged Ft. Hood shooter, Maj. Nidal Hasan, to militant Islam. “There were such clear, obvious, massive warning signs that were missed,” she said. “This terrorist, even having business cards” that identified him as an “SoA” or soldier of Allah. Palin blamed a culture of political correctness and other decisions that “prevented — I’m going to say it — profiling” of someone with Hasan’s extremist ideology. “I say, profile away,” Palin said. Such political correctness, she continued, “could be our downfall.” If the upcoming investigations into the attack reveal bad decision-making on the part of senior officials, Palin continued, those officials ought to be fired.
In an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, which is set to air in full tonight, Palin predicted the backlash that would come from her embrace of profiling. “Because I use the word profile, I’m going to get clobbered tomorrow morning,” said Palin. “The liberals, their heads are just going to be spinning, they’re going to say, ’she is radical, she is extreme.’” Watch it:
“I say profiling in the context of doing whatever we can to save innocent American lives, I’m all for it then,” concluded Palin.
SPLC president tells Bill O’Reilly to pay up $10,000 Dobbs bet.
SPLC president tells Bill O’Reilly to pay up $10,000 Dobbs bet.
Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) President J. Richard Cohen appeared on Bill O’Reilly’s show this past summer and called on CNN to fire Lou Dobbs over his inaccurate immigration reporting. O’Reilly advised Cohen to stop wasting his time. O’Reilly was so sure Dobbs would never be fired from CNN that he seemed willing to bet Cohen $10,000:
O’REILLY: CNN is never going to fire him, you know that…
COHEN: I’m not quite as cynical as you are Bill. I think that if enough people speak out, CNN will listen and be more responsible in the future.
O’REILLY: You wanna bet?…I’ve got ten grand for Habitat for Humanity on the table if you wanna bet me.
COHEN: How about ten grand for the Southern Poverty Law Center?O’REILLY: But I’m not going to take your money. There’s no real bet there — he’s not going to get fired.
Watch it:
In an open letter addressed to O’Reilly that was posted yesterday, Cohen states “You lost the bet. Time to pay up!” Granted, O’Reilly’s commitment to the bet was tepid, at best — but Cohen points out that “in the court of public opinion, you lose.” In an interview with Dobbs on his show last night, O’Reilly suggested that Dobbs’ departure had nothing to do with responsible journalism, and more to do with CNN not wanting to offend the President. O’Reilly also urged Dobbs to “come back on a semi-regular basis.”
O’Reilly Upset Over 9/11 Trials: ‘I Don’t Care About The Constitution!’
O’Reilly Upset Over 9/11 Trials: ‘I Don’t Care About The Constitution!’
Since Attorney General Eric Holder announced his decision to move five Guantanamo Bay detainees — including Khalid Sheikh Mohammad — to New York for civilian trials on charges related to the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, Fox News personalities have been up in arms. Karl Rove called it a “long-standing plot” by the Obama administration’s “left-wing lawyers who do not love America.”
But last night on Fox, the network’s top legal analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano — who has been known to disagree with Fox’s right-wing narratives on legal issues — disputed that view, citing the constitutional right to be tried in the place where the crime has been committed. “I don’t care about the Constitution!” host Bill O’Reilly responded. The debate continued:
O’REILLY: So why is he entitled to come to New York City to be tried in the civilian criminal court if he’s arrested in Pakistan?
NAPOLITANO: Because the document you don’t want me to talk about says when the government is going to prosecute you, it must do so in the place where the alleged harm was caused.
Later in the program, Fox analyst Brit Hume said he’d “been scouring the columns of various people opining about this to see if somebody makes a good argument for doing it,” adding, “And I really haven’t heard one.” Hume then noted Napolitano’s opinion and said, “I’m not certain I agree with that.” Watch it:
Holder’s “bold and principled” decision was “a victory for the rule of law and the American system of justice,” the Center for American Progress’ Ken Gude said.
“If you are accused, you get to know what you know what you are accused of, you get to face your accusers, and you get to defend yourself in court, and then you face a trial and a conviction. This is who we are as a system,” said Tom Andrews, director of the National Campaign to Close Guantanamo. “The Taliban? You can get a trial and a beheading in a few hours. That’s not our system of justice.”
Read more about Holder’s decision in today’s Progress Report.
Dobbs: Sarah Palin Has ‘Left A Lot To Be Desired’
Dobbs: Sarah Palin Has ‘Left A Lot To Be Desired’
In an interview on NBC’s Today Show this morning, host Matt Lauer sought former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs’ opinion of Sarah Palin and her presidential prospects. Dobbs — whose rumored next step is said to be a run for political office — provided a critical assessment of Palin as a potential presidential candidate. Dobbs stated that Palin is certainly “staking out her territory,” but he refused to endorse her:
LAUER: Is she [Palin] staking out an early claim for the Republican nomination in 2012?
DOBBS: Well she’s certainly the front-runner in terms of her popularity in the Republican party and therefore, de facto, it seems to me Matt she’s staking out her territory.
LAUER: Is she someone if the election were held today Lou, would you consider voting for her?
DOBBS: Would I consider voting her? Frankly based on what I have seen, personally no. … I think the woman had a brilliant address at the Republican convention last year. I think uh, since then, she’s left a lot to be — uh, I’ll put it this way — desired as a person who’s seeking votes.
Watch it:
Ironically, Daily Show host Jon Stewart joked last week that Dobbs is “going Palin, going rogue” by abruptly leaving his job at CNN to supposedly “engage in constructive problem solving.”
In an interview with Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly last night, Dobbs indicated that his downfall at CNN curiously started when Barack Obama became president. Dobbs confirmed that he will remain an active figure in the public arena. O’Reilly in turn invited Dobbs to make “semi-regular” appearances as a contributor on The Factor.
Report: Dobbs to appear on The O’Reilly Factor next Monday.
Report: Dobbs to appear on The O’Reilly Factor next Monday.
On Wednesday, when CNN anchor Lou Dobbs announced his resignation for the network, speculation began about whether he would join the Fox Business Network. Fox put out a statement saying that they had “not had any discussions with Lou Dobbs for Fox News or Fox Business.” But Daily Finance’s Jeff Bercovici reported last night that Dobbs first big post-CNN interview will be on Fox News with Bill O’Reilly:
The network is set to announce that Dobbs will be a guest on Monday night’s edition of Bill O’Reilly’s show, DailyFinance has learned. Warm feelings between the two men goes back to last summer, when O’Reilly publicly defended Dobbs against critics who wanted him fired for repeatedly showcasting the claims of “birthers” who allege President Obama wasn’t born in the U.S. Dobbs offered to be interviewed on The O’Reilly Factor then, but quickly backed out, prompting speculation that CNN had ordered him not to appear on a competing network.
Monday’s appearance could be a make-good for that…or it could be a not-so-subtle signal that Dobbs is inclined to sign on with Rupert Murdoch’s legions, as many believe he will. (On his radio show today, callers were reportedly urging Dobbs to do just that.)
As Bercovici notes, O’Reilly has defended Dobbs on the air multiple times. Dobbs has replied by calling him “a stand up guy.”
Hannity admits he ‘screwed up’ by using old footage to increase the size of Bachmann’s tea party.
Hannity admits he ‘screwed up’ by using old footage to increase the size of Bachmann’s tea party.
On Tuesday night, The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart called out Fox News’ Sean Hannity for using images from the 9/12 rally in Washington to make it seem as though Rep. Michele Bachmann’s (R-MN) “house call” rally attracted a larger crowd last Thursday. On his Fox show last night, Hannity confessed that he “screwed up,” claiming that it was “an inadvertent mistake.” “It pains me to say: Jon Stewart was right,” said Hannity. Watch it:
Media Decoder’s Bill Carter notes that “Hannity did not address specifically how the mistake came to be made.”
Fox News Regular Bo Dietl: ‘Ten Years Ago, [Katie Couric] Looked American. Today, She Looks Oriental’
Fox News Regular Bo Dietl: ‘Ten Years Ago, [Katie Couric] Looked American. Today, She Looks Oriental’
On Monday during an appearance on Don Imus’ radio show, which is simulcast on the Fox Business Network, former George H.W. Bush appointee and Fox News regular Bo Dietl used sexist and racist language to attack CBS News anchor Katie Couric. “Katie Couric, the cougar,” said Dietl. “If she gets her eyes done anymore, she’s going to look like a split face.” As Imus meekly attempted to defend Couric, saying “she’s fine,” Dietl unleashed a derogatory rant about Couric:
DIETL: She looks like a Halloween cartoon. She’s got her eyes pulled so far, she’s starting to look Chinese herself. Enough with these face lifts, alright Kate. And enough with the young guys Katie. You’re over the top baby. You’re over fifty. Start going out with guys your own age. This cougar stuff don’t work.
After some cross talk, Imus tried to get Dietl to “leave Katie Couric alone.” But as Dietl approached the end of his rant, Imus offhandedly called Couric “a rodent” as he tried to end the conversation:
IMUS: I’m just saying that if she wants — leave Katie Couric alone. She’s fine.
DIETL: Oh no no no. You like her eyes the way they look?
IMUS: She looks fine to me.
DIETL: They’re getting smaller and smaller.
IMUS: She looks fine.
DIETL: Ten years ago, she looked American. Today she is an oriental.
IMUS: She is a rodent. Leave her alone.
DIETL: She doesn’t like you either pal. She never stuck up for you.
Watch it:
This isn’t the first time that Dietl and Imus have had a racially-charged discussion live on the air. In May 2008, after Dietl said that then-President Bush should fly to Saudi Arabia to talk to “those little hamel humpers over there,” Imus replied, “It’s, uh, ‘camel humpers.’” An advocate of having law enforcement “go out to the Muslim communities,” Dietl, who is a birther, has referred to Muslims as “Aba Dabba Doos.”
Dietl has appeared on Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly and Neil Cavuto’s Fox News shows and is someone for whom Fox News CEO Roger Ailes personally vouches. “I have known Bo Dietl both personally and professionally for many years,” says Ailes in an endorsement letter posted on Dietl’s website. “He does excellent work and personally is a man I trust.”
Liberal Professor Marc Lamont Hill Appears On O’Reilly’s Show After Murdoch Said He Had Been Fired
Liberal Professor Marc Lamont Hill Appears On O’Reilly’s Show After Murdoch Said He Had Been Fired
Last night on the O’Reilly Factor, host Bill O’Reilly brought on Marc Lamont Hill and Mary Katharine Hamm to talk about Iran’s nuclear weapons program. He introduced Hamm as a “Fox News analyst” and called Hill — who was filling in for NPR reporter Juan Williams — a professor from Columbia University.
What was interesting about Hill’s appearance was that it was his first one in nearly a month — since he was supposedly fired by Rupert Murdoch. From a report by the Live Feed on Oct. 16:
Rupert Murdoch continued Fox News Channel’s duel with the White House on Friday while also announcing the termination of the network’s left-leaning analyst Marc Lamont Hill. [...]
Murdoch also said that Hill has been fired. He revealed the move after a shareholder had raised the question of how Hill was hired, citing his “reputation of defending cop killers and racists.”
Murdoch never said why the network let Hill go. However, the Columbia University professor’s views — such as his defense of White House adviser Van Jones — are often out of step with those of the network’s hosts. Additionally, Hill has been the target of Cliff Kincaid, who works for the right-wing “Accuracy in Media” organization and has been leading a campaign to get Hill fired.
But if his controversial views were the reason he’s no longer a Fox News analyst, then why would O’Reilly still have him on his show? Or was there another reason he was fired?
Late last month, Hill said that he found out he had been fired through a “Google alert.” But on Twitter, Hill still calls himself a “Professor/Activist/Fox News Analyst,” and his bio on his website reads:
Hill has not responded to inquiries from ThinkProgress about his arrangement with Fox.
Hume Corrects O’Reilly’s False Claim That ‘Folks Don’t Want’ The Public Option: It’s Actually ‘Kind Of Popular’
Hume Corrects O’Reilly’s False Claim That ‘Folks Don’t Want’ The Public Option: It’s Actually ‘Kind Of Popular’
Last night on Fox News, host Bill O’Reilly and analyst Brit Hume discussed the prospects for the Senate passing a health care reform bill. After struggling with the terminology for the “public option,” O’Reilly ultimately concluded that “all the polls say” that “the folks don’t want it.”
Hume, a regular Fox News misinformer, surprisingly corrected O’Reilly, noting that Americans actually support the public option:
O’REILLY: They call it, you know, the public sector. What is the –
HUME: Public option, you mean?
O’REILLY: Public option, whatever. The folks don’t want it. … But it looks to me like they have maybe 55 votes to pass it. And that means they could be filibustered and never come up for a vote.
HUME: That’s what it looks like right now. The public option, actually some polls show that the public option standing by itself is not at all unpopular, but it is kind of popular. But that depends on how the poll question is raised. … We don’t need to go into all that right now.
Watch it:
Those trying to derail reform with a public option try to claim that Americans don’t support it. “All the polls now indicate substantial opposition to this particular type of health care reform,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said last night on Fox. But Hume is right. Americans do support the public option, as recent polling shows:
– CNN/Opinion Research, Oct. 30 – Nov. 1: 55 percent support “creating a public health insurance option administered by the federal government that would compete with plans offered by private health insurance companies.”
– Ipsos/McClatchy, Oct. 30 – Nov. 1: 51 percent support the “creation of a public entity to directly compete with existing health insurance companies.”
Other recent polls, such as USA Today/Gallup and Washington Post/ABC News, have found majority support for the public option — results that are consistent with other polling on this question throughout the health care debate this year.
Indeed, large majorities in Connecticut support the public option but Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), the state’s junior independent senator, has repeatedly said he will filibuster any bill that contains a public option. Like Hume, Lieberman doesn’t want to talk about polling support for the public option either, reportedly saying that poll respondents are simply “confused.”
Murdoch: Glenn Beck Was ‘Right’ To Say Obama Is ‘A Racist’ With ‘A Deep-Seated Hatred For White People’
Murdoch: Glenn Beck Was ‘Right’ To Say Obama Is ‘A Racist’ With ‘A Deep-Seated Hatred For White People’
After President Obama inserted himself into the July spat between Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Officer Jim Crowley, Glenn Beck infamously declared on Fox & Friends that Obama “exposed himself” with the incident “as a guy, over and over and over again, who has a deep-seated hatred for white people, or white culture.” Challenged by co-host Brian Kilmeade, Beck claimed that he was “not saying that he doesn’t like white people,” just that he’s a “racist.” Beck’s comments led to a boycott of his program by Color for Change, which has resulted in 81 companies refusing to advertise on his show.
In an interview with Sky News Australia last week, Rupert Murdoch, the owner of Fox News’ parent company, stood by Beck. Though he claimed that Beck probably shouldn’t have said such a thing, Murdoch concluded that “if you actually assess what he was talking about, he was right”:
SPEERS: The Glenn Beck, who you mentioned, has called Barack Obama a racist and he helped organize a protest against him. Others on Fox have likened him to Stalin. Is that defensible?
MURDOCH: No, no, no, not Stalin, I don’t think. I don’t know who that, not one of our people. On the racist thing, that caused a grilling. But he did make a very racist comment. Ahhh…about, you know, blacks and whites and so on, and which he said in his campaign he would be completely above. And um, that was something which perhaps shouldn’t have been said about the President, but if you actually assess what he was talking about, he was right.
Murdoch apparently isn’t very familiar with the content of the network he owns. Numerous Fox News personalities, including Glenn Beck, have compared Obama and members of his administration to Stalin. Watch it (starting around 16:00):
Earlier in the interview, Sky News political editor David Speers asked Murdoch if “people who switch on Fox News know when they’re getting news and when they’re getting opinion.” “Oh, absolutely,” replied Murdoch, pointing to Glenn Beck at 5 p.m. and Sean Hannity, “a pretty academic conservative,” at 9 p.m. as the only examples of the network’s opinion programming. But as Jon Stewart pointed out last month, Fox only considers its programming to be news from “9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. on weekdays.” “The only people you ever think about when you think about Fox News are not news,” said Stewart. “They’re Fox opiniotainment.”
O’Reilly Goes After Sesame Street: ‘We May Have To Ambush Oscar’
O’Reilly Goes After Sesame Street: ‘We May Have To Ambush Oscar’
During an episode of Sesame Street that was originally broadcast two years ago, a character tells Oscar the Grouch, who happens to be reporting for “GNN” (Grouchy News Network), that she is switching her news viewing loyalties to “Pox News,” adding, “Now there is a trashy news show.”
Right winger Andrew Breitbart’s “Big Hollywood” blog took on the Sesame Street menace this week proclaiming: “Add one more soldier to the Left’s war on Fox News: Oscar the Grouch”:
If Mom and Dad watch cable news, it’s better than 50/50 they watch “POX News.” So what gives? PBS — a network partially funded with my tax dollars — has the right to tell my kids that their parents watch “trashy” news? The message is clear, I can’t even sit my kids in front of “Sesame Street” without having to worry about the Left attempting to undermine my authority.
Thursday night on Fox News, host Bill O’Reilly picked up on Big Hollywood’s rant and couldn’t resist defending his network against the smear merchants at Sesame Street. “Say it ain’t so. Sesame Street trashing Fox News!” O’Reilly complained. After airing the segment in question, O’Reilly said wryly, “We may have to ambush Oscar.” Watch it:
As Big Hollywood itself acknowledged, Fox News wasn’t the only news organization or media personality Sesame Street spoofed. “Walter Cranky,” “Dan Rather-Not,” “Meredith Beware-a” and “Diane Spoiler,” all made appearances on the show. And of course, Oscar’s employer, the “Grouchy News Network.”
Media Matters’ Simon Maloy notes, “It looks like Andrew Breitbart’s BigHollywood.com is looking to dethrone NewsBusters as the premiere source for asinine right-wing media criticism” by documenting “the absurd liberal bias in an episode of Sesame Street that aired two years ago. Just let that sink in for a moment…”
We wouldn’t put it past O’Reilly hit-man Jesse Watters to be staking out Oscar’s garbage can right now.
Fox And Friends Muse About ‘Special Screenings’ And ‘Special Debriefings’ For Muslims In The Military
Fox And Friends Muse About ‘Special Screenings’ And ‘Special Debriefings’ For Muslims In The Military
After news broke yesterday that the suspected gunman responsible for the “horrific outburst of violence” at Fort Hood, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, was Muslim, some commentators began assigning “collective responsibility for the actions of one man” to the Muslim community as a whole. On Fox and Friends this morning, Geraldo Rivera warned against casting “a gloomy cloud of suspicion over all the Muslim G.I.s who serve with great honor”:
RIVERA: I think that the great tragedy of this incident is that it will cast a gloomy cloud of suspicion over all the Muslim G.I.s who serve with great honor and who are an amazing assist to the United States in this conflict we’re having with radical Islam. This will, and also, I remember my dad, just very briefly. When we were growing up there would be a notorious crime and my dad used to gather the family. We used to say, like a little prayer, “please God” that it’s not a Puerto Rican. You know because we had, dealing with so many social pressures and prejudices, dealing with all the rest of it, we didn’t want one of these awful examples to cast aspersion and negativity on our group. And this is the same thing with American Muslims now, specifically American Muslim G.I.s.
But, as both Raw Story and Media Matters have noted, later in the segment the hosts of Fox and Friends suggested that “special debriefings” and “special screenings” of Muslim soldiers should be considered. “If I’m going to be sticking in an outpost, I got to know the guy next to me is not going to want to kill me,” said Brian Kilmeade. Gretchen Carlson pondered whether the military had been “exercising political correctness in not approaching” Hasan “as seriously as they would have had he not been a Muslim.” Watch it:
Muslim- and Arab-American organizations have loudly spoken against Hasan’s attack. “We condemn this cowardly attack in the strongest terms possible and ask that the perpetrators be punished to the full extent of the law,” said a Council on American-Islamic Relations statement. In a statement, the Association of Patriotic Arab Americans in Military urged “the media, government officials and all of our fellow Americans to recognize that the actions of Hasan are those of a deranged gunman, and are in no way representative of the wider Arab American or American Muslim community.”
Is Glenn Beck Being Treated By SEIU Nurses?
Is Glenn Beck Being Treated By SEIU Nurses?
One of right-wing TV host Glenn Beck’s most frequent targets is the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Beck has in the past repeatedly referred to SEIU members as “thugs” involved in radical leftist conspiracies, even going as far as to say that SEIU president Andy Stern is trying to re-create the Bolshevik Revolution. “When you start to figure out who SEIU is and what they want, you’re not really comfortable,” Beck said last month.
In recent days, Beck has been hospitalized for appendicitis. As Alternet’s Alexander Zaitchik points out, the staff treating the ailing pundit is likely under the auspices of SEIU nurses:
The security-conscious Beck has not disclosed the name of the facility, but it’s a safe bet that it is staffed by proud members of a storied union: New York’s Local 1199, aka United Healthcare Workers East, which belongs to the Service Employees International Union. The SEIU has organized all of Manhattan’s major hospitals, including every facility to which Beck could have conceivably been sent.
Beck certainly isn’t complaining about being treated by nurses who were organized by the union he regularly demonizes. On his Twitter account, he praised the staff that is attending to him:
If it does turn out that Beck’s “amazing” nurses happen to be members of the SEIU, will he retract the statements he has made condemning the union or will he continue on his McCarthyite tirade?
Palin to promote her book with multiple Fox News interviews: ‘Variety is the spice of life.’
Palin to promote her book with multiple Fox News interviews: ‘Variety is the spice of life.’
On her Facebook page yesterday, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin announced that she was “very excited about the upcoming road trip” to promote her book, which will be released later this month. As CNN’s Alexander Mooney notes, Palin “hinted she’d likely sit down with a string of friendly faces during the tour that begins in two weeks.” Indeed, Palin is hoping to do interviews mainly with Fox News hosts and contributors:
We’re in the process of arranging interviews with local and national media. An interview with Oprah Winfrey is already scheduled, and I’m also hoping to have the opportunity to talk with Bill O’Reilly, Barbara Walters, Sean Hannity, Greta Van Susteren, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Laura Ingraham, Dennis Miller, Tammy Bruce, and others, including local Alaska personalities Bob & Mark and Eddie Burke. (Variety is the spice of life!)
As Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) vice presidential running mate in the 2008 election, Palin gave Fox multiple interviews while avoiding other news efforts. Apparently, she plans to follow the same strategy as she promotes her book.
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll