Monday, April 5, 2010

Media Matters Keeps an Eye on Fox News

Posted by Will Moredock on Mon, Apr 5, 2010 at 3:00 AM

Media Matters is a great all-purpose source for watching the shenanigans of the right wing media. They will call it like they see it and — unlike so many in the mainstream media — they are not intimidated by Fox News. Here's part of what they wrote about the "Conservative Woodstock" of Tea Party nuts who gathered in Searchlight, Nevada, last week. Read the whole piece at http://webmail.aol.com/31226-111/aol-1/en-us/Suite.aspx


But, alas, even after all of Fox's fevered promotion and coverage, "Conservative Woodstock" it was not. As Boehlert noted: "Woodstock's approximate attendance: 500,000. Searchlight's approximate attendance: 8,000." I'm sure Fox isn't feeling too defeated, though. There's always April 15.

Not to be outdone by his Fox friend Sarah Palin, Fox's resident "rodeo clown" Glenn Beck spent the same day hosting his "day-long American Revival for 8,000 die-hard fanatics." There, Beck touted his "100-year plan" for the nation, as well as a "budget" for America devised by experts he promised to roll out in the weeks to come, complete with tax reductions down to a rate of 12 percent.

To combat all of those pesky accusations that the right-wing media has been inciting the fringe to violence, Beck made sure to add this jewel into his monologue:

"Get God on your side, and then pick up a hammer...with non-violence, take your hammer and POUND that truth every day and everything that doesn't fit, toss it out! We have the truth. ... [W]ith non-violence, be the anvil of truth every single day!"

And here is what Media Watch's Eric Boehlert said about the right wing media complicity in right wing violence following the passage of healthcare reform. Read it all at http://mediamatters.org/columns/201003300001?lid=1105716&rid=44132808


By skimming over the unpleasant details, Fox News talkers did their best to trivialize the illegal, terrorist threats made against elected officials. In fact, they were glad Democrats received voice mails like that.

And yes, it's been the rationalizing that's been so disturbing to watch — the way the GOP Noise Machine fervently excused last week's violent behavior and eagerly tried to shift the blame onto the victims of the intimidation, and then demanded to know what the big deal was.

I mean, who hasn't had the line on a propane tank outside his house slashed by vandals? This stuff happens all the time, right? Didn't scores of members of Congress, immediately following the vote in 2002 to authorize the invasion of Iraq, find their office windows shattered by flying bricks hurled under the cover of darkness by nasty anti-war libs? Didn't they receive a steady stream of specific death threats and watch as relatives (and even their children) came under attack? Doesn't this kind of harassment and intimidation come with the territory, and hasn't it always been pushed out and legitimized by mainstream media outlets?

Um, not in America. But that may be changing as Fox News fuels the hate and does its best to provide cover and refuge for those supporting the intimidation campaign, as Fox News and the rest of the right-wing media rationalize the wave of political violence and do their best to shift the blame onto the targets — onto the victims — while always avoiding responsibility. (Did anyone on the left suggest Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) was to blame when a YouTube nut job posted a threat against his life?)

Note how so many embraced the frightening notion that because conservatives didn't like health care reform, the violence was expected and nobody should have been surprised because Democrats, by passing the bill (i.e. desecrating the Constitution), pushed people too far. "So why are people angry?" asked Fox News' Steve Doocy last week. "Maybe because they didn't want this bill?"

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Comments (15)

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The far-left and liberals are just pissed Fox is kicking the butt of every left-angled news outlet...CNN, MSNBC, and the 3 networks...this is nothing more than whining and crying by the liberals...

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Posted by LC Dawg on April 5, 2010 at 6:27 AM

Media Matters for America is widely recognized as a propaganda front for leftwing billionaire George Soros!
Much of Barack Obama’s socialist agenda and ideas for the United States comes directly from Soros and in turn through his network of leftist funded organizations. Is it any wonder they are notorious for taking things out of context, and twisting it to fit their needs.

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Posted by screddawg on April 5, 2010 at 7:27 AM

Perhaps one day the author will report the news in an unbiased manner providing us with the truth, the whole truth,and nothing but, so that his readers can make a mature informed decision based on all the facts,not just the ones that support his cause.

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Posted by truthrus on April 5, 2010 at 8:00 AM

this report is bias but TRUE!

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Posted by ladyQ on April 5, 2010 at 9:09 AM

Obama has no more a socialist agenda than Bush had a fascist one. It's easy to see who watches Faux because everyone repeats the same hyperbolic nonsense. If tv ratings matter that much, how come McCain didn't win? It is not an accurate description of the population. I can just as easily say that the top podcasts tend to be more liberal.

Truthrus, it would be nice to have a neutral place to go where people just read or write what is happening and they leave the opinion part out. Having said that, it's the opinion part that often catches on because people have opinions and they like them to be reinforced.....plus it can be more entertaining.

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Posted by jgpolitico on April 5, 2010 at 9:20 AM

JGPOLITICO, I'm sorry but someone here has been sleeping for the past year and a half. Its not me.
To get to the point we have been told this country is being transformed into a Socialist country.
BO has told us he is fundamentaling changing the Country. I assume he ment he is CHANGING IT TO SOCIALISM BECAUSE HIS SPOKES PERSON, AL SHARPTON, SAID THE VOTERS PUT BO IN OFFICE BECAUSE THEY ALL WANTED SOCIALISM.

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Posted by Taxed Enough Already on April 5, 2010 at 9:37 AM

LadyQ, may be true, but not the whole truth! That is where journalist lack credibility and integrity

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Posted by truthrus on April 5, 2010 at 9:44 AM

Quick Question for anyone out there. The article says the Tea Party people are "nuts". What is it that ,anyone belonginng to the tea party, makes them qualify as a nut? TIA

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Posted by Taxed Enough Already on April 5, 2010 at 10:13 AM

The reason Woodstock drew 500,000 people is because those people don't work for a living.

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Posted by Jason Usry on April 5, 2010 at 11:10 AM

Taxed Enough Already... here's a good litmus test for identifying the "nuts" at Tea Party events. Ask the question "do you think Obama is a US citizen" and see what response you get. Any answer other than yes tells you the person is certifiably nuts.

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Posted by Morbo the Annihilator on April 5, 2010 at 12:13 PM

Ricky, how do you feel about someone voting for a bill that they admitted that they have not read yet?
Talking about certifiably nuts!!!!

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Posted by truthrus on April 5, 2010 at 5:00 PM

Someone once said something like this "when they call you names you have won the arguement."

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Posted by Guy on April 5, 2010 at 6:27 PM

Taxed Enough Already, the word socialism has been tossed around so much and most people have no idea what a socialist country/policies entail. Socialism as a philosophy is no worse than capitalism...it's actually an inherently more altruistic philosophy than capitalism. Al Sharpton was saying that Obama is doing what he said he was going to do during the campaign....there are no surprises...he telegraphed what he wanted to tackle and how he wanted to tackle them.....therefore, socialist or not, it's what the majority of the nation voted for....and in actuality, he's conceded towards the center/right on all big issues. Now for Obama being socialist.....he's not. He's closer on the spectrum than Bush but he is still not there. The health care reform is not socialist....check out the UK's health care system if you want to know what a socialist health care system looks like.

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Posted by jgpolitico on April 5, 2010 at 11:28 PM

The hammer and anvil "taken out of context" was a quote from Gandhi:
Use truth as your anvil, nonviolence as your hammer and anything that does not stand the test when it is brought to the anvil of truth and hammered with nonviolence, reject it.

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Posted by screddawg on April 6, 2010 at 6:47 AM

Will - Criticizing Mr. Graham is, of course, o.k. But name calling isn't. It's just rude and childish! Therefore, let this e-mail serve as official notice that on this date, May 9, 2010, you have been accepted by acclamation for induction into the Proctological Insertion Point Hall of Fame. Congratulations are in order! Details regarding the induction ceremony, etc., to follow.

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Posted by Muscletongue on May 9, 2010 at 4:44 PM
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