Eyes On Fox News Network

“We report, you decide.” Another one of those cute little marketing slogans Fox News uses. It’s just like their more famous one, “fair and balanced.” Which is to say it’s pretty much bunk.

Media Matters ran a small little report that I’m a bit late to the party on about yet another attempt by Fox News to stoke the flames in the “ground zero mosque” controversy. What grabs me about this example of the right-wingers on the curvy couch spinning the issue like a top isn’t the talking points they use but their technique.

Media Matters does a pretty good job of explaining it. The “we report, you decide” folks toss out both sides of the issue. Well, sort of. They expound upon an inflammatory statement Imam Rauf made about America killing more innocent Muslims than al Qaeda. Then they say he’s said nice, positive things they probably like. It’s in his book. Go look it up yourself. Obviously, Fox & Friends has no interest in providing any counter-balance themselves.

Is the quote out of context? They do play a clip of State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley claiming it’s out of context though Mr. Happy’s… Steve Doocey’s snide inflections make it clear how to interpret that. Why does Steve seem so confident the statement is in context? Well, best I can tell he’s taking Pamela’s word for it. Curious Fox News which boasts endlessly of having great research teams can’t dig up the truth on this and present it to the audience.

Media Matters goes on to show screen shots where subsequent lower thirds make the decision for the fanboys saying stuff like “IMAM’S EXTREME VIEWS” and “RADICAL REMARKS.” A nice touch for those who need their opinions chewed a bit for them before they swallow it whole.

So we have Fox & Friends only mouthing the criticisms that make their argument and reinforcing them with lower third spin. How much worse can their crap journalism get? Well, check out their source. It’s a right-wing blog run by the not too subtle Pamela Geller. Wikipedia describes Pamela as an “anti-Islamic political activist.” So we not only have Fox News not doing serious journalism in researching this story but they’re treating as serious journalism the opinion of someone probably more radical than the target of their criticism.

I mean in the 2nd sentence of her ‘reporting’ she’s screeching the Cordoba House is going to be “an Islamic supremacist mega mosque at Ground Zero.”

Of course, the right-wing attacks on the Cordoba House have nothing to do about religion. Fox News quoting “anti-Islamic activists” as gospel is merely coincidental.

You want to see how radical right Fox News is? Check out their sources.

September 1st, 2010
Categories: Fox & Friends . Author: sknabt . Comments: No Comments

I have ignored Fox Nation thus far. However, after reading Dan Gainor’s ridiculous crap on the “ground zero mosque” I couldn’t resist. Dan Gainor is “The Boone Pickens Fellow” over at Media Research Center run by right-wing evangelist Brent Bozell. You’ll recall, Media Research Center and Bozell get their voices heard by Fox News because they’re liberal-bashers beating up on any media outlet not pushing a conservative agenda. Which is to say they don’t go after Fox News making them useful idiots for Roger Ailes.

What grabs me about “Journalists Have Bad Case of ‘Americaphobia’” is it’s the poster child of the beat around the bush outrage I previously blogged on. What’s Dan upset over? Well, he doesn’t really come out and tell us though it’s obvious there’s something lurking in the shadows.

A while back I witnessed a woman at a town hall meeting ranting about the silent majority being mad they weren’t being listened to by Washington. Okay, we’ve heard this story before. Then she turned around and started talking about how Democrats like President Obama need to be a “true American.” I love this example because it’s so typical of the Tea Party. You’re not listening to me or tolerant of my views. How do I know? Because there’s only one way to think: like I do. In this same vein Dan coins the word “Americaphobia” to smear the media not telling a strictly conservative narrative as un-American.

Recall, only liberals are politically correct with their carefully chosen phrases to keep our blood pressure low by minimizing cultural issues. Yet the right uses politically correct phrases for the opposite effect: to raise blood pressure. So it’s natural that Dan brow beats the AP for discontinuing the use of the phrase “ground zero mosque.” Well, isn’t this a case of them pointing out the fact it’s outside the boundaries of what was typically considered “ground zero” until the right got their panties all in a wad over this mosque?

I’m not saying Dan isn’t without his evidence of a liberal media conspiracy:

“In the past month, ABC, CBS and NBC evening news shows intereviewed Muslims 10 times for their mosque stories. Nine of those interviewed supported the mosque. Only one Muslim opponent was quoted.”

That’s an average of 3 Muslim mosque backers per network per month. I’m probably sticking my neck out here but I’ll hypothesize there’s at least that many Fox News hosts daily carrying the right-wing’s water on this story. I’m sure Bozell’s media watchdog web site Newsbusters is right on it. Well, maybe not.

“So let’s call it what it is – jihad. An out-and-out pro-Islamist assault on American values. In a term they might understand, it’s Americaphobia.”

I suspect here Dan’s arrogance runs so deep he equates “American values” with “conservative point of view.” But even if we accept the premise you’ve got to be a conservative to be a real American what “values” is he shilling? Anti-terrorist? Is the media pro-terrorist and embracing Imam Rauf because he’s a terrorist? Even though Dan bashes Rauf for not condemning Hamas, I don’t even think he’s drunk enough of the spiked Kool Aid to claim Rauf is a terrorist or an enabler of terrorism. Is the media being anti-Christian? Does the “The Boone Pickens Fellow” at a major right-wing media watchdog think the mainstream media can only be “fair and balanced” when it favors Christianity over Islam? I’m left speculating because Dan’s clearly hiding something.

What could be so awful? The evidence points to Dan and his right-wing ilk smearing Muslims with a mighty wide brush. Is the lesson here that imams across American need to take a pledge to vote a straight Tea Party ticket or face the wrath of being accused of being symbols of anti-Americanism?

August 29th, 2010
Categories: Commentary, Fox Nation . Author: sknabt . Comments: 6 Comments

Assuming Glenn Beck’s chalk board doesn’t kill him before the big event today, it looks like Glenn Beck will create the next George Washington. Do you think Colbert is having any fun with any of this?

August 28th, 2010
Categories: Commentary . Author: sknabt . Comments: 1 Comment

Via Raw Story comes this amusing story of a young Bill O’Reilly sitting in during a screening of a porno movie then going out to dinner with the director. How do we know? Well, Bill wrote an article about it. Did I mention there’s folks smoking pot all around him and he doesn’t jump into a santimonious screed?

We knew Bill thought he was both “bold and fresh” based upon his self-serving writings portraying himself as a slice of Americana that at times is likely more of a make-up job than fact (oh, that’s punny!). Like his “hardscrabble” childhood. Sorry, Bill, but Huck Finn didn’t go to a private college without financial aid.

However, I didn’t realize Bill was that “bold and fresh.” Well, considering the Andrea Mackris lawsuit maybe he was.

Now, this story dates back to 1974. People change. They change a lot over that many years. However, O’Reilly is so phony the skeletons have to be pried from his closet. His America’s daddy “culture warrior” persona is carefully groomed on the air and in his writings. Bill’s sanctimony is as fake as is his daily claims to host the “no spin zone.”

The only question remaining is how deeply the spin runs.

August 27th, 2010
Categories: Commentary . Author: sknabt . Comments: No Comments

“Fair and balanced” Fox News is picky about the stories it runs. News Corp giving $1 million to the Republican Governor’s Association? I’ll put it this way. They don’t share the passion for it as they did blasting ACORN. Well, the “fair and balanced” hypocrisy doesn’t get any worse than their coverage of former RNC chair Ken Melman coming out of the closet. Did Fox even cover it at all?

August 26th, 2010
Categories: Fox News . Author: sknabt . Comments: 2 Comments

Back in 2006, Imam Rauf and Glenn Beck sat across from each other on Good Morning America. Based upon the wild-eyed reaction of right-wingers on Fox News and elsewhere today to the building of the “Ground Zero Mosque,” you’d think Imam Rauf was some crazed radical screaming “death to America.”

No, here we have Glenn Beck saying “it’s Germany 1938″ as he encourages us all to think “insane thoughts.” Glenn, you need a match to go with that gasoline? The allegedly radical imam? Oh, he’s trying to decouple religion and politics to defuse the situation.

August 26th, 2010
Categories: Commentary, Glenn Beck . Author: sknabt . Comments: No Comments

When I say I don’t get the New York Muslim Community Center, dubbed “Park51,” flap I’ll get all the usual stereotypes hurled my way. Oh, I’m a terrorist hugger. Oh, I’m a radical atheist thumbing my nose at a nation dedicated to Christianity. You know the drill.

It’s not lost on me the fact radical Muslims were behind the 9/11 attacks or the reason for our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet, there’s an estimated 700 million to 1.5 billion Muslims in the world. What’s an estimate of the membership of al Qaeda? Low thousands? We’re not at war with Islam. Not even a significant chunk of it.

Which appears to me roughly the argument Time made by asking the question on its cover “Is America Islamophobic?” Personally, I’m as tired of the term “Islamophobia” as I am “Islamofascist” tossed like grenades by the left and right respectively to generate hot button talking points. Still, the point remains the amount of drama surrounding the “Ground Zero Mosque” seems way overwrought.

Fox News is a great enabler of this agitation with all their culture war crap. Conservatives like to pound their chests about America being a Christian nation. Lucky for everyone else, I suppose, they tolerate Muslims at all. I guess all’s well until they stray from their place and wander within a few blocks of “ground zero.”

Conservatives’ arguments are the typical shotgun approach of blood pressure raising soundbites that really don’t amount to much under scrutiny. A mosque is a symbol of occupation like an animal marking its territory. Yet, then they’ll argue they don’t care about mosques anywhere but Park51 is the exception because it’s just too close to “ground zero” for comfort. As long as those two statements aren’t made in the same breath they almost makes sense. Well, not even then.

There’s the whole “hallowed ground” soundbite contradicted by the soundbite of strip clubs and other unsavory businesses nearby that’s hardly satisfying to me. Closer to home is the real estate angle of the extent of “hallowed ground.” The “Reflecting Absence” memorial is being constructed at great cost where the Twin Towers stood. However, much of the site is being reconstructed for commercial use. Symbolism like making a building 1776 feet tall aside, the “open for business” sign is getting hung up for the many towers going up at the site of the attack. Are mosques more offensive than business as usual capitalism?

Fox & Friends had some Joe the Plumber clone on named Andrew Sullivan complete with a red, white and blue hard hat. For the Fox crowd patriotism isn’t real unless you wear it on your sleeve… or head in this case. His angle wasn’t location but size. Keep it hidden. Just slap some paint on the existing building. What if we make the sign out front really tiny, Andrew?

I won’t even go into the hardcore right-wing hatemongering. On to my video.

Laura Ingraham gets to sit in the big chair. O’Reilly’s chair. She doesn’t waste the opportunity to slam the aforementioned issue of Time. She starts out the gate talking about there was no post-9/11 violence against Muslims. Laura, there’s this thing called Google. You can find stuff with it. Aw, never mind.

After showing recent positive statements by Daisy Khan, wife of the man behind the mosque, Laura shows a 9 year old tape where the same Imam Feisal Rauf says the 9/11 attack is a reaction by radical Muslims to actions of America. He clearly adds this doesn’t justify the attacks. There’s no doubt much of the Muslim world interprets America’s actions differently than we do ourselves. Heck, Time points out the obvious irony that the flap over the “Ground Zero Mosque” is a perfect example of this:

“If anything, this browbeating of a moderate Muslim empowers the narrative promoted by al-Qaeda: that the West loathes everything about Islam and will stop at nothing to destroy it.”

At the heart of conservative populism is phony, exaggerated patriotism which is more boast than true love of country. Childish my religion is better than your religion chest thumping sure to build walls. Blatant nativism. Which gets us back to the “Ground Zero Mosque” which is really called the Cordoba House. As Time notes:

“Cordoba House, named for the city in Spanish Andalucia where Muslims, Jews and Christians once co-existed for centuries in an extraordinary flourishing of culture and science. In these times, the richness and diversity of Muslim experience, in the U.S. and elsewhere, seem far from the minds of most Americans.”

August 25th, 2010
Categories: Commentary, The O'Reilly Factor . Author: sknabt . Comments: 3 Comments

You be the judge.

August 23rd, 2010
Categories: Commentary, Glenn Beck . Author: sknabt . Comments: 2 Comments

I’ve watched Fox News today a bit. The theme of the day is the proposed construction of a mosque in New York City near the Twin Towers terrorist attack site. The protesters are out so Fox News is all over it like a cheap suit. As I type this the segue is that they’re going to interview the 2 men behind the protests. But first they ran a news story where the lower 3rd read “HOMEGROWN TERROR THREAT RISING AS GROUPS RECRUIT AMERICANS.” Yes, boys and girls, before we talk about the mosque controversy we need a reminder from Fox News that al Qaeda has infiltrated middle America. This was followed by a story on a nuclear Iranian threat.

I was going to blog on their coverage but then I came across this Jon Stewart video. His satire covers the massive hypocrisy of the Foxies better than I ever could. Plus, I don’t have time to put much time into this post. Did I mention I earlier saw Fox News run down some “radical” Muslim in a parking lot? Putting all this together I’m so traumatized I’ve got to go find my key to my underground bunker.

What does any of this have to do with the title of this post? Watch the video and it’ll all make sense. That’s got me more afraid than ever. Even Fox News, the beacon of hope in America, it appears has fallen prey to radical Muslim terrorist infiltration! Trust no one!

August 22nd, 2010
Categories: Commentary . Author: sknabt . Comments: 2 Comments

The first mention of Ben Quayle I bumped into was an Associated Press story. Ben Quayle, son of former Vice President Dan Quayle, is running for Congress in Arizona. The son of Quayle appears to be a comical train wreck. The article made me immediately curious on how Fox News would cover this story. Would they be as enthusiastic in highlighting his warts as they are of Democrats? To answer that question you need examine some issues.

The son of Quayle is new to politics but he’s already made a huge stir. Apparently, his family name recognition isn’t enough in a crowded field so he ran a campaign ad that President Obama is the worst president in American history to grab attention. That much worked.

However, he probably didn’t need to spend the money. Nik Richie at the TheDirty.com claims that the son of Quayle posted on his web site using a porn star’s name as his alias. He and Nik would go club hopping in pursuit of the hottest girls in Scottsdale and blog on it. One memorable quote is “my moral compass is so broken I can barely find the parking lot.” It’s a nice quote from a Republican hopeful running a family values campaign.

Forgetting the Dirty.com flap, the son of Quayle’s family values campaign hit another bump. He sent out a mailer with him playing with two children where he gushed he hoped to raise his family in Arizona. One problem. He’s recently married and has no children leading to accusations he’s “renting kids” for his ads.

RedState.com has other dirt on him.

Given all this background how do you think Fox News handled the story? If your answer is the “fair and balanced” network led with the President Obama is the worst president ever issue with glee and showed much less enthusiasm with all the rest, congratulations! You win the prize! In fact, the “fair balanced” folks over at Fox News who, for example, revel in the gaffs of Vice President Joe Biden skipped over all of the son of Quayle’s warts except for helping him sweep the Dirty.com mess under the rug.

August 15th, 2010
Categories: America Live, Fox & Friends . Author: sknabt . Comments: 4 Comments