Sunday, December 23, 2012

Photo of the Day

You know NRA Chief Executive Officer Wayne LaPierre is losing political ground when the conservative New York Post slams him. New York Post Rupert Murdoch supports gun control laws.

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Monday, December 17, 2012

Quote of the Day

"Terrible news today. When will politicians find the courage to ban automatic weapons? As in Oz after similar tragedy."

Rupert Murdoch, December 14, 2012, on Twitter.

I can guarantee that no one one Fox News will complain about that tweet.

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Thursday, January 19, 2012

Thoughts on SOPA Protest

I am quoted by Eric Deggans in his article on the SOPA protest yesterday.


"The blackout scared (legislators)," said Michael Hussey, editor of the Tampa Bay area political blog Pushing Rope, who paticipated in the protest. "It worked."


Marco Rubio didn't suddenly become a champion of the internet. Congress was flooded with angry emails and phone calls. Online web sites Google, Wikipedia and Facebook made people aware of the overreach of SOPA, and the Senate bill PIPA. Rubio and other Republicans weren't worried that web sites could be shut down for only providing a link to a web site that provided a link to pirated material. (Guilty by link assiociation.) Congress was worried about angry constiuents with pitchforks.

The internet is a powerful form of communication that the members of Congress have no understanding of. Billions of Americans use Google every day. The search engine reaches more people then a Republican talking to Rush Limbaugh on AM radio.

SOPA would require Facebook and Twitter to delete every questionable link that may lead to pirated material. Someone can just say that Twitter and Facebook lead to pirated material. No burden of proof is needed. It is literally impossible to go through the internet and delete every link. I have a hard enough time monitoring spam comments left on this blog. This just goes to show how clueless Congress is.

Rupert Murdoch hysterically attacked internet companies for lobbying Congress against SOPA and PIPA. Murdoch has given massive amounts of money to Republicans. Murdoch's hypocrisy is not surprising. If you don't think that Murdoch would not use SOPA to crush his internet competitors then you are in denial. Mudoch was just forced to pay 37 people for his company News of World hacking private phones. Murdoch uses technology in the most Orwellian of ways.

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Saturday, July 16, 2011

Quote of the Day

"BREAKING: After his apology failed to tame controversy, Murdoch plans to run full-page 'FUCK YOU ALL' ads across UK."

Andy Borowitz

Murdoch might actually do just that.

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Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Harlem Gospel Choir Pulls Out of Glenn Beck Performance

The Harlem Gospel Choir pulled out of appearing in a simulcast film rendition of Glenn Beck's book The Christmas Sweater - A Return to Redemption. The Choir said they the decision was made for financial reasons. James Rucker, executive director of Color for Change told the New York Daily News he informed the Choir of Beck's past controversial statements.


Rucker said the choir's director, Allen Bailey, was hesitant at first.

"They said they didn't know about Glenn Beck," Rucker said. "Their first reaction was, 'Maybe he's a redeemed man.'"

Rucker sent the choir excerpts from some of Beck's shows, including one where he said President Obama "has a deep-seated hatred for white people."


Beck has lost advertisers for his accusation that President Barack Obama is a racist. I said before that Beck makes no financial sense for Fox News. New Corp owner Rupert Murdoch shares Beck's insane belief that Obama is a racist. I wonder if Beck and Murdoch believe Obama hates his own white mother. I like to see the media ask them that question.

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Thursday, November 12, 2009

Rupert Murdoch Accuses Obama of Racism



News Corp owner Rupert Murdoch backed Glenn Beck's claim that President Barack Obama is a racist. Mudoch gave an incoherent defense of Beck. Murdoch went further by claiming Obama made a racist statement about "blacks and whites." Murdoch doesn't bother to cite Obama's allegedly racist statement. That might be because the statement doesn't exist.


Rupert Murdoch: "On the racist thing, that caused a [unintelligible], but [Obama] did make a very racist comment about blacks and whites and so on, which he said in his campaign he would be completely above. And that was something which perhaps shouldn't have been said about the President, but if you actually assess what he was talking about, [Beck] was right."


Mudoch also denies that Fox News on-air talent has compared Obama to Joseph Stalin.


Rupert Murdoch: "No, no, not Stalin, I don't think. I don't know who they -- not one of our people."


Media Matters has compiled quotes of Fox News personalities.

Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano


"I'm absolutely calling it a power grab. It's blatantly unconstitutional. If the government can do this, this is central planning, Soviet-style. This is Josef Stalin without the bloodshed."


Glenn Beck


"[F]or the last couple of weeks, I keep seeing these scenes and I'm like, gosh, I've seen these scenes before, and I couldn't remember where it was. This morning, I'm in a meeting and I remember and I said to the staff, "Lenin, Stalin and Hitler." I am not comparing -- and I doubt you are, too -- I'm not comparing what's currently going on in our administration or in Washington on either side with these guys, but I see echoes of the past that frighten me."


What is hysterical is Murdoch and Beck have the audacity to call anyone racist. Fox News has spent this decade bashing Muslims, Hispanics and gays. Bill O'Reilly speaked in racist terms towards Michelle Obama.


"I don't want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless there's evidence, hard facts, that say this is how the woman really feels. If that's how she really feels -- that America is a bad country or a flawed nation, whatever -- then that's legit. We'll track it down."


Fox News went balistic over Sotomayor's "wise Latina" quote. Sotomayor made the remark during her speech at the "Raising the Bar: Latino and Latina Presence in the Judiciary and the Struggle for Representationtic on Sonia Sotomayor's "Wise Latina." Fox News is somehow shocked Sotomayor would bring up her Latina heritage to a group of Latina lawyers. Fox News has publicly supported the Minutemen Project. Minutemen organizer James Gilchrist admitted the group has white supremists in their ranks. Fox News isn't concerned about combatting racism. The network panders to racists for ratings.

Someone must have informed Murdoch that his statement was laughable. Murdoch is doing the dance of shame and backing down.


But News Corp. spokesperson Gary Ginsberg tells POLITICO that Murdoch did not intend to suggest that he had the same opinion as Beck.

“He does not at all, for a minute, think the president is a racist,” Ginsberg said.


My response is bullshit. Murdoch clearly intended to accuse Obama of racism. Murdoch just didn't have the spine to deal with the political fallout.

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Monday, June 08, 2009

Fair and Balanced My Ass



"If we weren’t fair and balanced, we wouldn’t have the number one network in news — by a very wide margin. People believe we’re fair and balanced, and they love us."

News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch, on Neil Cavuto's show.

Cavuto falsely reported Fox News covered the Million Man March. A hard task to do considering Fox News wasn't on-the-air until almost a year after the Louis Farrakhan march. Apparently, Fox News staffers are experiencing the same time travel problems as season 5 of Lost.

The Mark Foley sex scandal became a huge problem for the Republican Party. Fox News ran a picture of Foley labeling the Congressman a Democrat.



There are the emails from John Moody to Fox News staffers. Moody sets a clear mandate on his version of fair and balanced.


We have good perp walk video of Eric Rudolph which we should use. We should NOT assume that anyone who supported or helped Eric Rudolph is a racist. No one's in favor of murder or bombing of public places. But feelings in North Carolina may just be more complicated than the NY Times can conceive. Two style notes: Rudolph is charged with bombing an abortion clinic, not a "health clinic." and TODAY'S HEARING IS NOT AN ARRAIGNMENT. IT IS AN INITIAL HEARING.


Moody makes it clear supporting the Bush administration's position on Iraq is more important than mourning soldiers.


From: John Moody
Date: 4/6/2004

The events in Iraq Tuesday are going to be the top story, unless and until something else (or worse) happens. Err on the side of doing too much Iraq rather than not enough. Do not fall into the easy trap of mourning the loss of US lives and asking out loud why are we there? The US is in Iraq to help a country brutalized for 30 years protect the gains made by Operation Iraqi Freedom and set it on the path to democracy. Some people in Iraq don't want that to happen. That is why American GIs are dying. And what we should remind our viewers.


Moody's fair and balanced journalistic ethics informs him the Left want to see Iraq continue to be under a brutal dictatorship. Exactly who are these people? Moody again tells his worker bees not to mourn the loss of American military personal.


If, as promised, the coalition decides to take Fallujah back by force, it will not be for lack of opportunities for the terrorists holed up there to negotiate. Let's not get lost in breast-beating about the sadness of the loss of life. They had a chance.


Moody's fair and balanced coverage of President George. W. Bush.


"His political courage and tactical cunning ar[e] [wo]rth noting in our reporting through the day"


Fox News hysterically attempted to pass off a Senate Republican Communications Center press release as their own research. If Fox News actually bothered to fact-check the press release the SRCC typo wouldn't have been in the on-screen graphics.

Steve Benen covered Sean Hannity taking a quote from President Barack Obama's speech out of context.


Last night, for example, whining incessantly about President Obama's speech in Cairo, Hannity told Fox News viewers that the president "decided to give 9/11 sympathizers a voice on the world stage." He then showed Obama saying, "I am aware that there are still some that would question or even justify the events of 9/11."


Here is what Obama actually said.


"The first issue that we have to confront is violent extremism in all of its forms.

"In Ankara, I made clear that America is not -- and never will be -- at war with Islam. (Applause.) We will, however, relentlessly confront violent extremists who pose a grave threat to our security -- because we reject the same thing that people of all faiths reject: the killing of innocent men, women, and children. And it is my first duty as President to protect the American people.

"The situation in Afghanistan demonstrates America's goals, and our need to work together. Over seven years ago, the United States pursued al Qaeda and the Taliban with broad international support. We did not go by choice; we went because of necessity. I'm aware that there's still some who would question or even justify the events of 9/11. But let us be clear: Al Qaeda killed nearly 3,000 people on that day. The victims were innocent men, women and children from America and many other nations who had done nothing to harm anybody. And yet al Qaeda chose to ruthlessly murder these people, claimed credit for the attack, and even now states their determination to kill on a massive scale. They have affiliates in many countries and are trying to expand their reach. These are not opinions to be debated; these are facts to be dealt with."


Even conservative David Horowitz admitted "Obama gave a great speech." Obama's speech was well-received in American and the Middle East. Fox News won't report that.

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Sunday, February 15, 2009

Blogging for the Media: Enter At Your Own Risk

Zencomix writes about his experience cartooning for alt-media. Editors gave Dave the pitch "we're giving you exposure." That translates into not being fairly compensated for work. News organizations are discontinuing political comic strips. My experience is Zen Comix brings traffic to Pushing Rope. The second most popular keyboard search on PR's Extreme stats counter is "cartoons." It makes no sense for print and web media to kill a popular feature.

Print media isn't losing money because of comic strips. The lack of advertising revenue reflects the economy and the quality of journalism. Columnist Harold Meyerson details how owner Sam Zell destroyed the Chicago Tribune.


During his first year in journalism, Zell has visited the city rooms and Washington bureaus of a number of Trib publications to deliver obscenity-laced warnings and threats to employees that whatever it was they were doing, it wasn't working. There was too much coverage of world and national affairs, he told Times writers and editors; readers don't want that stuff. Last week, the company decreed that its 12 papers would have to cut by 500 the number of pages they devoted every week to news, features and editorials, until the ratio of pages devoted to copy and pages devoted to advertising was a nice, even 1 to 1. At the Times, that would mean eliminating 82 pages a week.


Corporate owners placed less stock in quality and failed to keep up with the internet revolution. Rupert Murdoch made a mistake ending the Wall Street Journal's online subscription service. Given the WSJ away for free is financially foolish.

Tas wrote about a deal to blog for a media company. Disclosure: I am the blogger ("someone else who the semi-big media site wanted to blog for them") that was negotiating the deal. I don't have anything to add to Tas's post. Except that I stand by everything Tas wrote.

Word of advise to bloggers: want to find out if a media company is being straight. Ask for them to start detailing payment and copyright issues in writing. If they stall (which was my experience) then it is best to move on.

Side note: we won't name the media company. So don't ask.

Update: At one point, the deal was for the media company to host Pushing Rope. My goal was to recruit other progressive bloggers and make PR like AlterNet Peek. At a meeting, I mentioned Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos get ad revenue from political activist organizations. The web editor declared, "We aren't interested in Daily Kos or Talking Points Memo ad revenue!" A media company looking for more internet revenue told me they weren't interested in the ad market of two of the most profitable blogs in America. It took all my willpower not to laugh.

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Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Joe the Plumber's Bogus Use of Nonpartisan

Joe the Plumber told Pajamas TV the Club for Growth, the Heritage Foundation, and the Kato Institute are nonpartisan organizations.

The Federal Election Commission filed a lawsuit against Club For Growth. The FEC lawsuit contends Club For Growth should have filed as a political action committee. Club For Growth raised $21 million in the 2003-2004 election cycle for Republican candidates.

The Cato Institute is funded by tabacco money. News Corp. owner Rupert Murdoch has served on Cato's board.. Cato fellow Douglas Bandow was paid by Jack Abramoff to write favorable to the lobbyist's clients.

The Heritage Foundation's tagline is "Conservative Policy Research and Analysis." Enough said.

Wurzelbacher is being dishonest. This is a guy that blew off a McCain campaign rally and got tagged by Shepard Smith for not knowing what he was spinning.


SMITH: Joe, do you know Barack Obama’s positions on Israel?

WURZELBACHER: Listen, I know you wanna really get some answers on this one, I’m just not gonna help you out here, Shepherd. Let people go out and find, that’s what I’ve been telling people. […] Listen, you don’t want my opinion on foreign policy. I know just enough probably to be dangerous.

SMITH: Yeah, well that’s what I was kinda wondering.


Joe is a clever huckster and Roger Simon and Charles Johnson are gullible enough to pay him. I find it hysterical the Pajamas Media will pay Joe the Plumber, but not conservative bloggers.

Related: Kieran Healy wrote about the madness of Pajamas Media launch. Johnson and Simon decided on Judy Miller as keynote speaker. What a great way to gain instant credibility.

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Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Why People Shoyuldn't Take Bill Kristol Seriously

Bill Kristol penned his latest opus stating that President Bush should ignore Congress and stay in Iraq.


The best strategy for the president is to hold firm. There is every reason to believe that he can survive the current calamity-Janes of the Republican party (does anyone really imagine that a veto-proof majority will form in the Senate this week or next?). This nonsense will pass, Congress will go on recess, and Petraeus will have a chance to continue to produce results--and the president and his allies will have a chance to gain political ground here at home. Why on earth pull the plug now? Why give in to an insane, irrational panic that will destroy the Bush administration and most likely sweep the Republican party to ruin? The president still has a chance to emerge from this as a visionary who could see what the left could not--but not if he gives in to them. There is no safety in the position some in the Bush administration are running towards.


Kristol is really desperate. To say that Republican defecting is "nonsense" is nonsense. If he really believes that Bush can regain political ground on Iraq than I love to see him bet his life savings on it. Otherwise, he is just full of shit. If Kristol would make that wager than he is as delussional as many thinks he is. I'm going with the former.

The bigger question is why should the President or anyone else take advise form the son of neoconservative founder Irving Kristol. He has been wrong on too many occasions to list. Here are a few classics.


"There's a fair amount of evidence that Iraq had very close associations with Osama bin Laden in the past."



"There's been a certain amount of pop sociology in America … that the Shia can't get along with the Sunni and the Shia in Iraq just want to establish some kind of Islamic fundamentalist regime. There's almost no evidence of that at all," he reassured NPR listeners in April 2003. "Iraq's always been very secular."


Kristol on Abu Ghraib.


"...it is insane for this country to be obsessed about a small prisoner-abuse scandal."


Kristol is such a horrible editor that the Weekly Standard has never been able to make a profit. The magazine stays a float because of Ruport Murdoch.


The Weekly Standards lean staff of twenty-- seven was having its editorial meeting around a conference table that owner Rupert Murdoch salvaged from Mirabella, his defunct fashion magazine. Six blocks east at The New Republic, owners Martin Peretz and the New York businessmen Roger Hertog and Michael Steinhardt shrunk; much of the staff voluntarily took a 10 percent salary cut.


I'm not sad to see the New Republic have the same financial problems. TNR also endorsed the Iraq war and demonized people who were against it.

Update: A reason to show why Kristol is dishonest. This is less about securing Iraq and more about securing Congressional seats for the GOP.


Why on earth pull the plug now? Why give in to an insane, irrational panic that will destroy the Bush administration and most likely sweep the Republican party to ruin?


Republicans wouldn't be in this position if they didn't listen to people like Bill Kristol and his neoconsefvative buddies. Kristol wants to continue the bloodshed to maintain power. The man plots with the viciousness of Michael Corleone.

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