The Infamous Jesse Lee Peterson, AKA, Uncle Ruckus, Is At It Again

The master of self hate, the man who seems to hate his own skin, is back at it again. First, I’d like to thank Field Negro for bringing this to my attention on his blog. The statement below comes from the self-hating “black” man named Jesse Lee Peterson. Peterson has achieved a level of fame thanks to his willingness to go onto conservative television and radio programs or to go on the Internet and make disparaging comments about black people. He is sort of like a racial mercenary who is used by conservative whites to attack black people while they (men like Hannity, Beck, Cunningham, Liddy and others) keep their hands clean and sit back and smile. Peterson is akin to what, during the days of slavery, was a slave catcher. The slave master would send his house slaves (slave catchers) to go and capture runaway slaves while not having to expend much energy and without having to work up much of a sweat. These black slave catchers would do the dirty work to return their people to bondage while gaining modest benefits from the slave master.

With that as the backdrop, here is a statement from Peterson’s group BOND:

“Black Group Comes Out In Support Of Glenn Beck.

BOND Action, Inc., a national cultural action organization, has come out in support of FOX News Channel broadcaster Glenn Beck. Beck has been under attack from the radical left-wing group ColorOfChange.org after he said last month that he believes President Obama is “a racist.”

ColorOfChangeorg was founded by Van Jones; a self-described “rowdy black nationalist.” Jones now serves as White House environmental advisor (“green jobs czar”). So far advertisers including Geico, Ally Bank, and Sargento Cheese have been intimidated into pulling ads off The Glenn Beck Show. “BOND Action, Inc., will be working to expose the source behind the boycott and counter it,” said Founder and President, Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson.

“Glenn Beck is right, Obama is a racist! ” added Rev. Peterson. “Where were the boycotts and outraged activists when President George W. Bush was being falsely maligned as a ‘racist’? This is a blatant double standard. This boycott is an attempt to silence Beck from continuing his expose’ of Barack Obama’s socialist agenda and his radical ‘green jobs czar’ Van Jones.” ColorOfChange.org claims some 33 advertisers have pulled their ads off The Glenn Beck Show, but that number is reportedly exaggerated. ColorOfChange.org has a checkered past. The group reportedly endorsed outrageous statements by rapper Kanye West that former President Bush gave troops permission to go to New Orleans and shoot black people during Hurricane Katrina. Beck’s television program draws more than 2 million viewers and BOND Action, Inc., is calling on advertisers not to cave in to pressure.

Rev. Peterson said, “ColorOfChange.org claims that it exists to ‘strengthen Black America’s political voice’—but it’s clear that they are a left-wing, racist political group that deal in lies. This attempt to silence Beck is an attack on free speech and must be countered.”
BOND Action, Inc. is a 501 (c) (4) cultural action organization, which exists to educate motivate and rally Americans to greater involvement in the moral, cultural and political issues that threaten our great country. Contributions to BOND Action, Inc. are NOT tax-deductible, but are confidential. For more information call (877) WE-ACT-77 (932-2877) or visit www.bondaction.org”>“

Here is a little something about Jesse Lee Peterson:

Here is an excerpt of what Field Negro had to say:

I hate to put the two in the same blog post, but I can’t let today go by without commenting on a disturbing link that my friend, Sharon from Wisconsin, sent me from the New Republic. It involves our old friend, Jesse L. Peterson, and I am so embarrassed and repulsed by this negro (No caps in Negro when referring to him) that I am seriously considering dedicating some funds and time to have a study done on him. (I am serious) I am sure that there is a psychiatric professional who studies the type of behavior that this man exhibits. This level of self- hatred and reprobation is beyond “Stockholm Syndrome”, it is a sickness that knows no words.

Well said, Field.

I think the Field Negro would find a lot of support from those who have been sickened over the years by the vicious racist comments that come from Jesse Lee Peterson over the airwaves. Jesse Lee Peterson has been a disgraceful man (his support and echoing of Glenn Beck’s comments are additional evidence of how over the top he is) over the years by using his black skin as a bit of a shield to attack black people as he takes the dirty shortcut to his pitiful version of fame.

Here are more disgusting words coming from Peterson.

Support Color Of Change Effort Against Glenn Beck’s Race Baiting

Here is an opportunity to support the effort of ColorOfChange to change the inappropriate use of racial politics by Fox News talk show host Glenn Beck to demonize President Obama.

Stop the race baiting

Call on advertisers to drop
sponsorship of Glenn Beck

FOX’s Glenn Beck:

“This president has exposed himself as a guy over and over and over again who has a deep-seated hatred for white people … this guy is, I believe, a racist.”

Beck is on a campaign to convince the American public that President Obama’s agenda is about serving the needs of Black communities at White people’s expense. It’s repulsive, divisive and shouldn’t be on the air.

Join us in calling on Beck’s advertisers to stop sponsoring his show.

Support the ColorOfChange campaign and visit:
http://www.colorofchange.org/beck/

CNN’s Howard Kurtz Properly Points Out Dishonesty Of Glenn Beck, Hidden Agenda

ox News far-right talk show host Glenn Beck has been trashing a man named Van Jones. Media Matters for America has a clip of CNN’s Howard Kurtz posted on its Web site. In the clip, Kurtz points out, however, that Beck is being irresponsible and abusing his platform by not admitting his own hidden agenda in his attack of Jones. Beck has been targeted for boycott by a group (ColorOfChange) that Jones once was affiliated with as co-founder. Beck has been angry about the success of the ColorOfChange boycott and has used his anger to attack Van Jonesand attack President Obama (by attacking Jones and trying to portray him as a black radical). Not to demean Jones, but he serves in a position few people would have much interest in if not for the efforts of Beck who is attempting to again use racial politics to (1) save himself, (2) attack President Obama and (3) portray himself as being attacked by black radicals to appeal to his mostly conservative audience. Beck’s efforts are probably meeting with success since he knows what appeals to his audience at Fox News and on the radio.

Sen. John McCain And Former Vice President Dick Cheney Are At Odds

I don’t always agree with Sen. John McCain, but he is far more credible and a far more respectable individual than Dick Cheney, the former vice president could ever dream of being. Certainly, Sen. McCain (based on his well-documented personal history and his willingness to be more objectively educated on the topic) is far more credible than Cheney on issues having to do with torture.

Here is what Sen. McCain recently had to say as written by Sam Stein, a writer for Huffington Post:

In a strong pushback against claims made by former Vice President Dick Cheney, Sen. John McCain insisted on Sunday that the use of torture on terrorism suspects violated international law, didn’t work, and actually helped al Qaeda recruit additional members.

“I think the interrogations were in violation of the Geneva Conventions and the convention against torture that we ratified under President Reagan,” said the Arizona Republican. “I think these interrogations, once publicized, helped al Qaeda recruit. I got that from an al Qaeda operative in a prison camp in Iraq… I think that the ability of us to work with our allies was harmed. And I believe that information, according go the FBI and others, could have been gained through other members.”

The senator, appearing on CBS’ Face the Nation, offered his assessment just hours after Cheney defended the use of torture during an interview with Fox News Sunday.

Cheney, a long-time torture advocate, is definitely at odds with Sen. McCain, but considering Cheney’s dubious history I think it’s better to side with John McCain.

Check Out Henry Blodget’s Post About Glenn Beck At Huffington Post

Here is an excerpt of what Henry Blodget, as posted by Huffington Post, had to say about how Fox News should handle Glenn Beck for his stupid and irresponsible comments about President Obama:

It’s no surprise that advertisers are running for the hills after Glenn Beck’s idiotic remarks about President Obama. Fox should now take the appropriate step and fire him.

It’s one thing to attack a president’s policies. It’s another to brand the president a racist and say that his decisions are motivated by a secret loathing of more than half the country:

This president has exposed himself as a guy over and over and over again who has a deep-seated hatred for white people … this guy is, I believe, a racist.This is the sort of rhetoric and attitude you might expect at a bigoted religious revival or KKK meeting. It’s not the rhetoric or attitude you expect from the host of a talk show broadcast by one of the world’s largest media companies.

I don’t know that I would necessarily say Beck should be fired, but his dangerous rhetoric has to be brought under some kind of control. It’s obvious that Fox News leans heavily to the right (politically speaking), but there has to be some standards of journalistic integrity adhered to on the network conservatives trust.

The Glenn Beck Sucks Blog Updates On Sponsorship Losses

The far-right nut Glenn Beck, who made unbelievably stupid and racial comments about President Obama(comments that defy even unreasonable logic) has had even more sponsorships pull out of his dreadful, integrity-challenged show (although, admittedly, it is popular among the far-right numb skulls). Glenn Beck calling anyone racist is like O.J. Simpson saying he is searching for the real killers.

This is from The Glenn Beck Sucks Blog:

The Thursday Glenn Beck show was the same right-wing propaganda as Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, so I did not review it. But I do have more good news. SpendOnLife.com has pulled all of its advertising from FoxNews.com and ended their relationship with them. So they not only pulled their ads from the Glenn Beck show, they are off of FOX altogether.

And more good news, ten more advertisers have pulled their ads from Glenn Beck’s show, including DirecTV. This brings the total up to 48 companies who have pulled out so far. The companies who said they will pull their ads are: Applebee’s, Bank of America, Bell & Howell, DirecTv, General Mills, Kraft, Regions Financial Corporation, SAM, Travelers Insurance and Vonage. They have pledged to take steps to ensure that their ads don’t run on Beck’s show.

Three of the latest defections — Travelers Insurance, Bell & Howell and DirecTv — join the list of advertisers who claim to have already placed Glenn Beck’s program on a “do not air” list, but whose ads have been seen on Beck’s program, apparently against their wishes.

“We could not be happier with the results of our campaign so far,” said James Rucker, Executive Director of ColorOfChange.org. “All 48 companies that have distanced themselves from Glenn Beck should be applauded for their stance.”

“We are still reaching out to companies whose ads we see during Beck’s nightly program,” Rucker continued. “Based on the fact that many of the recent ads on Beck’s program are for gold coins and News Corp properties, it looks like Fox News Channel is struggling to place advertisements on Beck’s show.”

Hopefully these sponsors will be able to spark Fox News to encourage some kind of change from their out-of-control host.

Far-Right Bill O’Reilly Tries To Help Even More Far-Right Glenn Beck

Far-right Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly brought in one of the few people he would have to turn to the right and use binoculars to see, the nutty Glenn Beck.

This is an excerpt from The O’Reilly Sucks Blog:

Next up was Glenn Beck, Billy had Beck on to cry about the liberals who are attacking him. Beck said he dont care, and called them communists. O’Reilly mentioned Van Jones and the colorofchange group, but never once mentioned that 36 sponsors have pulled their ads from the Glenn Beck show. They just ignored it like it never happened, then claimed it was only liberals who are mad at Beck. Earth to Billy and crazy Glenn Beck, when 36 major Corporations pull their ads from your show, including wal-mart, Sprint, Farmers Insurance, and UPS, etc. it’s more than just liberals mad at you.

Andnot once has O’Reilly ever mentioned why those sponsors have pulled their ads from the Beck show, because Beck called Obama a racist who hates white people.So they ignore all the facts to claim that only liberals are mad at him. Hey guys, wal-mart is hardly a liberal company. O’Reilly even said the left is against freedom of speech, and they just want to shut him and Beck up. Which is just ridiculous, and total right-wing lies. The left supports free speech 100%, all we want from you right-wing stooges is for you to tell the truth, and stop putting out all the right-wing propaganda and lies. We dont want to shut you up, we just want you to tell the truth. So we report on your lies, and that is not violating your free speech rights in any way.

O’Reilly called Van Jones anti-American, then admitted he knows nothing about the man. Beck called him a communist, and repeated the same crap he reported about him on his Tuesday show. Beck even talked about the Obama FCC diversity czar, he claims the man is a radical who wants to limit how many kids you can have, and that he is going to shut down all the right-wing talk radio shows. Which is all lies, none of that is going to happen, but O’Reilly sat there and agreed with Beck like it was true. Finally beck said he feels sorry for the Kennedy family, but that he did not agree with Ted Kennedy on anything.

It shows how sad things are that these cable news commentary shows have hosts interviewing other hosts so they can promote each other and use a little help to advance their extremist agendas. O’Reilly seemed to have Beck on to do little more than to help the ridiculous talk show host try to rehabilitate his damaged image in the wake of his insanely-nutty and racial charges against President Obama that has caused sponsors to distance themselves.

Did Glenn Beck Challenge Muslim Congressman To Prove He’s Not A Terrorist?

Glenn Beck, not necessarily known for being a champion of diversity and inclusiveness, is shown here in this disturbing video raising questions about Congressman Keith Ellison based on him being a Muslim. This video seems to give insight to Beck’s feelings about Muslims as much as he tries to claim that there is no prejudice in him toward people who are Muslims. He uses the Muslim equivalent to the old “I am not racist … I have black friends” defense.

Glenn Beck Makes Fun Of A Person’s Handicap

That great American Glenn Beck has fun making fun of a woman’s handicap. The compassion-challenged Beck never misses an opportunity to make fun of someone’s handicap while people in the background laugh him on.

Disrespectful Sean Hannity Takes Cheap Shots At Ted Kennedy After His Death

Fox News far-right bigot Sean Hannity (who has woefully little respect for humanity) went on the attack against Sen. Ted Kennedy not long after Kennedy’s death by pulling up old news and by using the far right’s favorite smear … calling people socialist.

Media Matters for America:
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200908270045

Follow Up To Florida Girl Wearing The Anti-Islam Shirt

Think Progress added this update to the story about the Florida teenager who was sent home from her high school for wearing a hateful shirt that read: “ISLAM IS OF THE DEVIL.”

15-year old Emily Sapp, one of the high school students sent home for wearing the shirt, was asked whether she knows any Muslim children. “I’ve met Muslim children, but I don’t actually have any contact with them at the moment,” she said. “I don’t know why that is – I guess we’ve just never become friends.” Watch the video here.

Maybe the shirt and the attitude behind it are among reasons why.

Far-Right Nut Andrew Breitbart Rips Ted Kennedy On Twitter Following Senator’s Death

Think Progress has been following a disturbing story involving far-right commentator Andrew Breitbart, who has been ripping Sen. Ted Kennedy since his death early on Wednesday.

Here is an excerpt from the Think Progress story:

Over the course of the next three hours, Breitbart unapologetically attacked Kennedy, calling him a “villain,” “a big ass motherf@#$er,” a “duplicitous bastard” and a “prick.” “I’ll shut my mouth for Carter. That’s just politics. Kennedy was a special pile of human excrement,” wrote Breitbart in one tweet.

Here is another excerpt to show you how far out in right field this guy is:

When a fellow conservative tweeted to Breitbart asking him not to treat Kennedy like they believe some on the left treated the passing of Tony Snow and Ronald Reagan, Breitbart responded “How dare you compare Snow & Reagan to Kennedy! Why do you grant a BULLY special status upon his death? This isnt lib v con.” Despite his claim that his attacks weren’t about “lib v. con,” Breitbart repeatedly justified them in ideological terms.

Way to keep it classy.

This is part of the reason the right is becoming increasingly marginalized.

Rep. Lynn Jenkins Thinks Republicans Need … A Great White Hope?

These town hall meetings are becoming dangerous in more ways than one. As you can see in this video obtained by Think Progress, any person with a camera can catch you saying something you’d probably like to have back. Need some evidence? Ask Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS), who made the following comment (last week) while trying to encourage some conservatives to stay positive and stay focused on great things she feels her side of the political spectrum can still accomplish.

“Republicans are struggling right now to find the great white hope,” Jenkins said to the crowd. “I suggest to any of you who are concerned about that, who are Republican, there are some great young Republican minds in Washington.”

Uh, this is one where you’d hit the reset button it was a video game.

Here is a follow-up statement to her remarks (which her spokesperson insists weren’t about race):

Mary Geiger, a spokesperson for Jenkins released this statement:

“There’s no doubt the Republican Party has gone through some dark and challenging times in recent years, but thankfully bright young leaders have stepped up to lead the party into the future and she hopes to be a part of it. That was the intent of her comments — nothing more and nothing less. Congresswoman Jenkins apologizes for her choice of words.”

Here is another excerpt from a story published in the Topeka Capital-Journal:

Mary Geiger, a spokeswoman for Jenkins, said the reference to a great white hope wasn’t meant to denote a preference by Jenkins for politicians of a particular “race, creed or any background.” Jenkins was expressing faith fellow GOP representatives in the House would be key players in returning Republicans to a leadership role in Washington, Geiger said.

Maybe it wasn’t about race and maybe it was about race. I tend to think she just had one of those slips that happen from time to time when you’re speaking in public and you say something trying to inspire an audience. It’s obviously a statement she would like to have back, but probably not something she should be bashed too harshly for.

The Roller Coaster Of Polls

As a person who loves college sports, I have an understanding as to why people are so mesmerized by the concept of polls and rankings and other things of that nature.

But, then again, sometimes I simply don’t get it.

I’ve always been amused by people who track poll after poll after poll after poll looking for even the slightest change to write stories and commentaries about the shifting winds of change.

Yes, one minute you’re high and the other minute you’re low.

I bring this up after reading a story by CNN:

NEW YORK (CNN) — Over the course of this summer, President Obama’s approval ratings have plummeted among independent voters — the largest and fastest-growing segment of the American electorate.

In May, 66 percent of independents approved of Obama’s job performance, according to the Gallup Poll.

By August, Gallup showed the president was supported by 49 percent of independents, a collapse during the health care debate that reflects independents’ dislike of deficit spending, the growth of big government and one-party control of Washington.

It’s a particular problem for Obama because post-honeymoon perceptions are hardening in ways that are counter to his core campaign promise to bridge partisan divides.

People get so caught up in poll hype. President Obama has tried to push through an ambitious agenda early in his presidency while also trying to turn around an economy that was nosediving not all that long ago (something a good number of people seem to have forgotten).

President Obama has tried to do a lot very early in his presidency (maybe too much too soon). But going through the emotional roller coaster with these polls just seems plain silly some of the time (maybe most of the time).

Two Far-Right Bigots (O’Reilly And Beck) Talking About People Being Anti-American Is Just Dumb

It’s funny to watch two far-right nuts like Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck attack this guy Van Jones and attack Rev. Jeremiah Wright (as a way of attacking President Obama as being associated with black radicals so they can try to scare people). This approach failed miserably in the presidential campaign of 2008, but biased individuals like the dishonest O’Reilly and the reckless Beck are sitting there as if their closets are in order bashing people for being anti-American (it’s the modern-day version of calling people communist). Oh, wait, they invoked the word “communist” in their segment, too.

I wonder if O’Reilly harshly grilled Beck about his nasty comments about President Obama:

BECK: This president has exposed himself as a guy, over and over and over again, who has a deep-seated hatred for white people, or the white culture, I don’t know what it is.

Sean Hannity For President? … The Ego Has Landed

Far-right conservative Fox News host Sean Hannity is beginning to let some fo the talk from some of fellow conservatives go to his head a little bit.

Media Matters for America had this headline above one of its video clips:

Hannity: “I would run for office at some point in my life”

He is too much of an extremist, he has too many skeletons in his closet and would have no ability to even within the same area code of bipartisanship.

But, that being said, in the right district there might be enough right wingers he might be able to make a candidacy for something.

Media Matters for America:
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200908270001

Florida Student Sent Home For Hateful And Racist Message

Just in case you didn’t think anti-Muslim racism and anti-Islam hatred continues in the United States of American then you have been asleep at the wheel. A Florida high school student came in with a hateful T-shirt and was sent home by the school. This is a highly disturbing story I initially spotted on the Web site Think Progress where it initially caught my attention. The hateful, bigoted message on the shirt (as you can see in the photo) reads “ISLAM IS OF THE DEVIL.”

“Students have a right of free speech, and we have allowed students to come to school wearing clothes with messages,” Wittmer said. “But this message is a divisive message that is likely to offend students.” [...]

He said there also has to be equal treatment of different faiths.

“The next kid might show up with a shirt saying ‘Christianity is of the Devil,’” Wittmer said.

This kind of speech is hateful, bigoted and the school district was proper in its decision to send these individuals home to hopefully think about the ridiculous nature of their actions and their clothing choices. This is a dangerous time in our society where hate, bigotry and racism can spark unspeakable acts of violence. In the years since 9/11, the anti-Islam and anti-Muslim hate has only grown stronger in this nation. The good people of this country have to decide that they are going to stand up against this kind of hatred that creates a hostile environment for people.

Here is a passage with a quote from the young lady in question:

Wayne Sapp’s daughter, Emily Sapp, 15, was the student sent home from Gainesville High on Tuesday. Both Faith and Emily Sapp said it was their decision, not that of their parents, to wear the shirts to school in order to promote their Christian beliefs. Emily Sapp said the “Islam is of the Devil” statement was aimed at the religion’s beliefs, not its members.

“The people are fine,” she said. “The people are people. They can be saved like anyone else.”

Sadly, Emily simply doesn’t get it.

While trying to excuse herself from the disguised racism that is virtually unmistakable, she is trying to say it’s just about religion. However, condemning an entire religion (which is up for interpretation since some would say the same things about Christianity. That too is wrong) is no less hateful, stupid or wrong than condemning an entire race.

Think Progress:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/08/26/islam-devil-shirt/

The Gainesville Sun:
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090825/ARTICLES/908259940/1002/NEWS01?Title=More-students-wear-Islam-of-the-Devil-shirts-to-school

Death Of Ted Kennedy Is A Sad Time For America

Today is a sad day as many Americans are waking up this morning and learning about the death of Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, who lost his long battle with brain cancer. Sen. Kennedy was a fiery leader who certainly had his share of ups and downs during a long political career. As with all people, we will remember the good times as well as the challenging times for the long-time senator. As one who fought for everyday people, few could challenge his record. Sen. Kennedy never stopped fighting for and advocating for hard-working Americans and was a tireless leader for his justice and fairness for people.

America has lost a great leader and the Kennedy family has lost a great family man.

This is an excerpt from a CNN article:

Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, the patriarch of the first family of Democratic politics, died late Tuesday at his home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, after a lengthy battle with brain cancer. He was 77.

“We’ve lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever,” a family statement said. “We thank everyone who gave him care and support over this last year, and everyone who stood with him for so many years in his tireless march for progress toward justice.”

President Obama learned about Kennedy’s death at 2 a.m. Wednesday, according to a senior administration official. Obama later called Kennedy’s widow to offer condolences.

In a statement, Obama says: “An important chapter in our history has come to an end. Our country has lost a great leader, who picked up the torch of his fallen brothers and became the greatest United States Senator of our time.”

The Politics Of Fear Are Spiraling Out Of Control For Conservatives

The politics of fear, divisiveness, ugliness, anger and hatred sadly were hallmarks of the failed presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin.

The fear, divisiveness, anger and hatred McCain and Palin attempted to harness, to build a successful campaign toward the White House, failed and merely set the stage for a level of anger we’re seeing today that should put a chill down the spine of this country. Hateful extremist conservatives have ratcheted up the hatred to seemingly the highest political DEFCON-type levels and have directed their disproportionate and misguided anger at President Barack Obama. Many of these same far-right conservatives, who were in full attack mode against President Clinton, then fell back into a soft zone defense during the President Bush years are now running a fastbreak of hate, anger and division against President Obama.

Today, far-right conservatives are attacking with reckless abandon.

As a nation, we witnessed this dangerous emotion throughout last year’s presidential campaign during several rallies put together to support McCain and Palin.

To his credit, near the end of the presidential campaign, it seemed McCain recognized the hatred had begun to spiral beyond control into a dangerous territory.

But, on Tuesday in his home state of Arizona, McCain recently got another whiff of the hatred that was sparked during his campaign. McCain attempted to tell his people that the president respects the constitution, but that he and other Republicans simply had differences of opinion as to how to guide the country. Whether or not that is the simple basis for the anger is debatable, but what is hardly debatable is the angry response that popped McCain upside the head.

“Wait a minute. Wait a minute,” he told the crowd in Sun City, Airzona. “He is sincere in his beliefs, we just happen to disagree. And he is the president. And let’s be respectful.”

A questioner had asked whether Obama realized that the spending priorities his administration is pursuing are “against the Constitution.”

“Doesn’t he know that we still live under a Constitution?” the attendee asked.

“I’m sure that he does,” McCain responded. The crowd, thinking the response was a joke, laughed along.

“No, no. I am serious. I am sure that he does and I’m sure he respects the Constitution,” said McCain.

Shouts of “No” came from the crowd.

“I really do,” McCain pleaded. “I am absolutely convinced of it. I just believe, my friends, that there is a fundamental difference in philosophy and about the role of government. That is why we have competition for public office and competition amongst parties, and competition about different ideas and vision for the future of America. I’m convinced the president is absolutely sincere in his beliefs.”

Moderate conservatives have allowed (by not standing against it strongly enough) this hateful rhetoric (using code words like socialist, socialism, Nazi, Hitler and more) to sow the seeds of hate and hostility and portray the president (as we’ve seen with this ridiculous birther campaign pushed by far-right nuts) as “not one of us.”

This kind of talk is dangerous and is taking this country where it should not want to go.

Color Of Change Press Release On Sponsors Dropping Glenn Beck

OAKLAND, Calif.—Facing increased pressure from ColorOfChange.org members, 16 new companies have pledged not to run additional ads on Fox News Channel’s Glenn Beck Program. Thirty-six companies have now committed not to support Beck’s show since ColorOfChange.org launched its campaign three weeks ago.

The defections come as ColorOfChange.org members mobilized last week against corporations who still refused to pull their ads from Glenn Beck by placing thousands of phone calls to company executives. By the end of the week, three of these companies – Clorox, Lowe’s and Sprint – had pledged not to run additional ads; Red Lobster and Vonage have not yet responded.

The new companies distancing themselves from Beck include Airware Inc. (makers of Brez anti-snoring aids), Ancestry.com, AT&T, Blaine Labs Inc., Campbell Soup Company, Clorox, Ditech, The Elations Company, Experian (creator of FreeCreditReport.com), Farmers Insurance Group, Johnson & Johnson (makers of Tylenol), Lowe’s, NutriSystem, Sprint, The UPS Store and Verizon Wireless. They join twenty other companies who previously pledged not to run additional ads on Glenn Beck. The moves come after the Fox News Channel host called President Obama a “racist” who “has a deep-seated hatred for white people” during an appearance on Fox & Friends.

Comments from advertisers recently distancing themselves from Beck:

“…Sprint ads appeared as part of a broader rotational package of advertising purchased on the Fox Network,” said Kathleen Dunleavy, a Sprint spokesperson, in an email to ColorOfChange.org. “They were not specifically targeted to the Glenn Beck Show nor should they air during this program going forward.”

“…I wanted to let you know that we have taken steps to make sure that [Sprint] will not be advertising on the Glenn Beck show,” Dunleavy later reiterated in a phone message to ColorOfChange.org.

“While we will continue to advertise on news programming, including FOX News, there are certain programs on the FOX Network that do not meet Lowe’s advertising guidelines, including The O’Reilly Factor and Glenn Beck Program,” said Meliski Cox, a spokesperson for Lowe’s, in an email to ColorOfChange.org.

“Per our advertising standards, we don’t advertise in programs that display exploitive sex or violence, treat ethnic, religious, or political groups in a disparaging manner, present facts inaccurately or distort them to blatantly partisan advantage, and treat individuals or groups in a demeaning manner”, said Adam Oberweiser, a spokesperson for Clorox, in a phone message to a ColorOfChange.org member. “We have had limited advertisements on the Glenn Beck Program in the past, however the statements he made during that show would not adhere to our programming standards. Furthermore, we will not be advertising on his program in the future since he did violate our own advertising standards.”

“We have addressed the issue,” said Rich Hallibran, a spokesperson for The UPS Store, in a phone message to ColorOfChange.org. “You will not see our ads on The Glenn Beck TV program.”

“We are no longer advertising on Beck’s program,” said Susan McGowan, Senior Director of Public Relations at NutriSystem, Inc., in an email to ColorOfChange.org. “You can now include us with the other companies that have stopped advertising.”

In a phone conversation with ColorOfChange.org, a spokesperson for AT&T, Daryl Evans, said that their company already had Beck’s program on a ‘Do Not Air’ list for their ads, and if an advertisement was seen during ‘Glenn Beck’ it was placed in error. Evans pledged to call Fox News and correct that error.

In a phone conversation with ColorOfChange.org, Marcy Smith, Director of Advertising for Experian Consumer Direct, confirmed that due to the number and frequency of complaints they have received, they have specifically asked Fox News to pull any of their ads from Glenn Beck’s program and distribute their ads to other shows in the rotation.

“We obviously neither condone nor endorse Mr. Beck’s comments,” said Anthony Sanzio, a Campbell Soup Company spokesman, in a phone conversation with ColorOfChange.org. “We were not pleased when we heard them [the comments] and they certainly don’t reflect the views of this company. We have no advertising currently slated for Mr. Beck’s program and don’t have any plans for the future.”

“In light of the consistency of comments that are made, we don’t plan to advertise there in the future,” Sanzio continued. “We have communicated to our media buying agency that we will not be advertising on that show.”

“Thank you for bringing this to our attention,” said Marc Monseau, Director of Corporate Communications for Johnson & Johnson, in an email to ColorOfChange.org. “These advertisements ran on Glenn Beck as part of a rotational advertising package on Fox News, and I have shared your thoughts with those in our organization responsible for making those rotational buys. We have now informed the network to not include it in our rotation moving forward.”

In a phone conversation with ColorOfChange.org, Jim Gerace, Vice President of Corporate Communications for Verizon Wireless, confirmed that they added Beck’s show to its “Do Not Air” list based on Beck’s controversial track record. “We, on our own, looked at where we’re spending our advertising,” Gerace said. “We made a decision that we don’t want to be advertising on that program for a lot of reasons.”

“We hear your concerns and are no longer advertising on the Glenn Beck show,” said Cindy Thomas, Chief Marketing Officer for Ditech, in a phone message to ColorOfChange.org.

“Ancestry.com buys television advertising on many networks, including Fox News, but does not sponsor any specific content or program,” said Mike Ward, Public Relations Director for Ancestry.com, in an email to ColorOfChange.org. “However, once this issue surfaced, we instructed Fox News to exclude our advertisements from the Glenn Beck program.”

“I wanted to let you know that AirWare Inc., the manufacturer of Brez anti-snoring aids, has instructed its advertising agency to insure that none of our advertisements run on the Glenn Beck show,” said David Green, Director of Public Relations for AirWare, Inc., in an email to ColorOfChange.org. “Because of the way TV advertising is purchased, company executives were not aware in advance that our ads would be running on the show.”

“We have requested that the ads not appear on the Glen [sic] Beck show,” said Dr. Robert Blaine, President and CEO of Blaine Labs, Inc., in an email to ColorOfChange.org. “Our contract is essentially a, ‘fill in where there is empty space’, [sic] and lately, I guess there has been a lot of empty space on the Beck show due to your organization. Our new contract comes up sometime in September and that show will be stricken from the rotation. We do not support [G]lenn [B]eck and do not support his show.”

“What we did last Thursday was our advertising department requested of Fox News Channel that they no longer place a portion of our ads on the Glenn Beck Program [sic],” said a spokesperson for Farmers Insurance Group in a phone message to ColorOfChange.org.

“Just want to let you know that we will no longer be advertising on that [Glenn Beck’s] program,” said David Silver, a spokesperson for The Elations Company.

Last week, ColorOfChange.org began emailing the 150,000+ people who signed their initial petition, asking them to call five major advertisers who continued to refuse to pull their ads: Clorox, Experian (creator of FreeCreditReport.com), Lowe’s, Red Lobster and Vonage. Members utilized background materials prepared by ColorOfChange.org during their calls, and had access to a calling tool that made it easier to report the result of each conversation. Hours after members began making calls, Lowe’s contacted ColorOfChange.org, pledging not to run additional ads on Beck’s programs. Clorox followed suit Thursday, and Experian did the same on Friday.

Color of Change:
http://colorofchange.org/beck/more/release-36.html

News Hounds Points Out More Hate At Fox Nation

The Fox Nation Web site has become a safe haven for the trafficking of racist ideology since its inception. News Hounds is again on the case as it people have spotted yet another instance of racism from individuals leaving comments being tolerated on The Fox Nation Web site.

This time, the target appears to be U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles).

Hateful Fox Nation Now Compares President Obama To Don Corleone

The hatred erupting from Fox News and Fox Nation is only growing with time.

Check out this image to see the latest hate coming from this right-wing propaganda machine of anger.

Think Progress Writer Amanda Terkel Discusses The Right Wing’s Attempt To Smear Mark Lloyd

Think Progress writer has a compelling blog posted today about the attempts of those to the far right of the mainstream attempting to smear a man named Mark Lloyd, who is the FCC Chief Diversity Officer/Associate General Counsel. Since the far right is so dominate in the talk radio media, conservatives have been watchful and eager to attack anyone who they even remotely think could be in the way of right-wing talk radio continuing its dominance.

Here is an excerpt from Terkel’s blog at Think Progress:

Since the FCC appointed Mark Lloyd as the agency’s Chief Diversity Officer/Associate General Counsel on July 29, conservatives have made him their new target in the ongoing campaign to baselessly warn about the reemergence of the Fairness Doctrine. The most absurd attacks have come from pundits like right-wing radio host Michael Savage, who has called Lloyd a “neo-Nazi” and “piece of garbage” intent on closing down “conservatives in the media.” He said that Lloyd’s title — Chief Diversity Officer — is “code word for the KGB.”

Such hateful words from Michael Savage is nothing new as he is known to attack people (especially minorities) while standing in defense of pretty much anything white and conservative.

Terkel highlights an attack from Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who seems to be right in line with what Savage is thinking:

Simply put, I strongly disagree with Mr. Lloyd. I do not believe that more regulation, more taxes or fines, or increased government intervention in the commercial radio market will serve the public interest or further the goals of diversifying the marketplace. I am concerned that despite his statements that the Fairness Doctrine is unnecessary, Mr. Lloyd supports a backdoor method of furthering the goals of the Fairness Doctrine by other means.

Typical far-right talk from a far-right senator who is well outside the mainstream in a party that clearly is a diversity-challenged one.

Terkel works hard to put everything into context for her readers.

Check out her blog:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/08/22/mark-lloyd/

Fox News Provides Comforting Platform To Santorum Who Compares President Obama To Hugo Chavez

Here is a nice catch by News Hounds that helps illustrate the hypocrisy of Fox News in terms of how it treats President Obama. Fox News, whining about mild criticism (depending on whether or not the following comments are put into context) from President Obama in isolated comments he has made about the media. Fox has been working hard to be the network of opposition and obstruction to President Obama and this current duly-elected administration that is leading the United States of America.

Here is an excerpt from the News Hounds blog about an exchange between Greta Van Susteren and Rick Santorum as Santorum compares President Obama to Venezuela President Hugo Chavez:

The segment began with Van Susteren playing a montage of Obama’s comments about cable news. Each clip was from a different setting:

- Referring to media coverage after Sarah Palin’s nomination for vice president in 2008, Obama said, “Cable was 24 hours a day (saying) Obama’s lost his mojo.”

- Speaking to his supporters, Obama said, “Instead of being preoccupied with the polls and with the pundits and with the cable chatter, what you guys consistently did was you just kept on working.”

- “They don’t want to be constructive, they just want to get in the usual political fights back and forth. And sometimes that’s fed by all the cable chatter on the media.”

- “I’ve got one television station that is entirely devoted to attacking my administration… That’s a pretty big megaphone.”

- “I don’t find most of the cable chatter very persuasive… It feels like WWF wrestling. Everybody’s got their role to play.”

Santorum reacted by saying, “This is an attack on Fox. This reminds me of what Hugo Chavez is doing down in Venezuela, trying to shut down the voice of opposition in the media. This is not good.”

Santorum took the president’s comment about Fox News out of context.

This is all old news, but naturally host Van Susteren (who is no liberal as proven by her spectator status in regard to the smear) and hardcore right-wing extremist Rick Santorum leave on the table no opportunity (large or small) to attack President Obama. And, as you might expect, he is once again compared to a leader (who is considered a dictator) from a foreign country. It fits right into the theme of the far right to paint President Obama as extremist, as socialist, as not one of us, as different, as exotic … so on and so forth.

The work of Fox News, to mischaracterize and demonize our president and commander-in-chief continues.

Will The Real Bill O’Reilly Please Stand Up

If Bill O’Reilly Was A Rapper …

Leave It To Far-Right Nuts To Come Up With Something So Stupid

Perhaps only the far-right nuts in our society could possibly bring themselves to qualify a gay Jewish man (Rep. Barney Frank) and a biracial man (President Obama) as Nazis.

Thanks to Jon Stewart for pointing that out and giving us a glimpse of what the less-than-stellar Fox News person Griff Jenkins is all about.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/20/jon-sterwart-gives-props_n_263878.html

Crooks And Liars Blog Mentions Far-Right Nut Who Went After Rep. Barney Frank

This is an excerpt from a blog entry on the site Crooks and Liars (referencing the political activist who invoked hateful rhetoric and hateful images of President Obama to make a pointless point).

Bill O’Reilly did an interesting thing last night when he reran that footage of Barney Frank castigating that woman carrying an Obama-as-Hitler sign at his town-hall meeting on health care: He completely omitted the fact that the woman who Frank was castigating was in fact a member of the far-right Lyndon Larouche cult.

All O’Reilly could muster was to mention that the woman was “a political activist.” But that’s like calling a Great White Shark a fish.

No, right-wingers like O’Reilly have been eagerly airbrushing out the existence of right-wing extremists from their worldviewfor some time now, embodied by their reaction to that DHS bulletin. But it’s getting harder and harder to do all the time now.

Because, as we’ve noted, the far-right extremists are bubbling up everywhere in supposedly mainstream conservative circles these days — particularly at the tea parties and their associated health-care protests.

More Fox News Bias Used To Attack Rep. Barney Frank

The latest on Fox News to attack Rep. Barney Frank without putting the full exchange into context is Andrew Napolitano. If you just heard Napolitano, you would think Frank held this town hall meeting just to yell and scream at people in the audience. As usual, however, Fox News takes what happened out of context to smear Rep. Frank and, in general, Democrats.

Notice a few things:

1. See where the edited video starts and notice what it conveniently omits (the question from the woman with a disgraceful Nazi reference to it)

2. He frames the rest of the biased segment by ridiculously bringing on ”a psychiatrist to talk about Barney Frank losing it.”

3. He makes a weak, token effort to mention the nature of some of the questions, but never showed the context with video footage (at least in this clip).

Here is a more comprehensive video:

Biased Fox News Continues To Ignore Nasty Rhetoric To Attack Barney Frank

This is an entry from Media Matters for America regarding the far-right Fox and Friends program:

Fox & Friends continues to ignore inflammatory question during “back and forth” with “rude” Frank

Check out the Media Matters page for the video and see for yourself how Fox News ignores the hateful rhetoric to attack one of their favorite targets: Rep. Barney Frank.

This Fox News takes out-of-context snippets of a video and use them to smear Rep. Frank as a biased host refers to the congressman as rude (and doing it with a biased guest and no guest with a counterpoint).

Bigoted, Homophobic Rush Limbaugh Makes Nasty Joke About Rep. Barney Frank

Leave it to Rush Limbaugh to make what sure sounds like a disgusting, childish and outright homophobic joke attacking attacking Rep. Barney Frank, an openly-gay member of Congress.

Rush Limbaugh has made what appears to be a joke mocking Barney Frank’s sexuality in response to Frank’s tough stance with a town hall protester Tuesday night.

Tuesday, Frank asked a protesterwho had compared President Obama to Hitler, “On what planet do you spend most of your time?”

On his show Wednesday (via Mediaite), Limbaugh responded, mocking Frank and asking, “Isn’t it an established fact that Barney Frank himself spends most of his time living around Uranus?”

Way to keep it classy Rush. I am sure your many loyal followers must enjoy and condone this kind of bigoted, homophobic attack.

Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/19/rush-limbaugh-makes-gay-j_n_263405.html

Exposing Birther Nuts Is A Good Thing

Any time nuts like Tom DeLay can be exposed for their stupid birther claims works to the advantage of common-sense thinkers who reject this kind of extremism and disguised racism/xenophobia.

Another Great Example Of Bias At Fox News

The hatred we see on the right-wing Fox News channel, directed at anything that isn’t favorable to Republicans, long ago spiraled out of control. It was even more evident when some of the Fox and Friends hosts launched an attack on Rep. Barney Frank (obviously, he’s a democrat) who was trying to respond to some aggressive nuts targeting him during one of these increasingly hostile town hall meeting fiascoes we see more and more in the media.

Here is one part:

STEVE DOOCY: Well, give him credit for showing up. But let’s face it, he was downright rude. Somebody asked him a question –

BRIAN KILMEADE (co-host): Smug.

DOOCY: OK, somebody asked him a question, then he said, “On what planet do you spend most of your time?” And then to somebody else he said, “Trying to have a conversation with you would be like arguing with a dining room table.” Barney, they showed up at the senior center in Dartmouth last night for some answers. Give them some answers, don’t give them attitude.

First, the irresponsible and borderline sinister Doocy flat-out fails to put into context the hateful and ridiculous rhetoric (invoking the word Nazis) that prompted that response from Rep. Frank.

They did not show up looking for answers. Their minds are already made up. They showed up eager to spew right-wing hateful venom.

It’s especially sad because how Doocy and company are whining about Rep. Frank standing up for himself there is an image of Barack Obama as Hitler (apparently that did not spark anger in Doocy, Kilmeade or anyone else on the set).

Note to Doocy and Kilmeade, give us some context.

DOOCY: Meanwhile, a health care confrontation like you’ve never seen before. Congressman Barney Frank starts attacking the same people who put him in office.

FRANK [video clip]: Ma’am, trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table. I have no interest in doing it.

DOOCY: Oh, yeah, he’s a sweet talker. Is this really the way Democrats are defending their plans for health care — referring to them as dining room tables?

No, this is the way Democrats are defending themselves from hateful labels like “socialist” and “Nazi” from far-right extremists.

DOOCY: Well there were some extraordinary other sound bites that he had. At one point, after a person asked him a question, he said, “On what planet do you spend most of your time?” And then he said, to somebody else, “Trying to have a conversation with you would be like arguing with a dining room table.”

Maybe Barney Frank has spent a little too much time in Washington, D.C., away from real people, because real people have real questions. And rather than answers, a lot of those folks up in Dartmouth last night got attitude.

Do real people insult those (and the family of those) who suffered at the hands of Nazis by referring to people who want health care for all people as Nazis?

When you give venomous hate (as we’re increasingly seeing at these town hall meetings) you should be lucky that someone is classy enough to just give back attitude.

Again, Doocy conveniently ignores the context for Rep. Frank’s comments and lets the far-right crazies off the hook for their ridiculous and irresponsible rhetoric.

Maybe Doocy has spent too much time sucking up Republican talking points and has become so far out of touch with the mainstream. Rep. Frank showed a lot of courage doing these town hall meetings and going on Fox News from time to time (in both cases knowing he is going to encounter far-right bias). This garbage from Fox News proves the bias that has become all too prominent at the biased Fox News.

Honestly, I applaud Rep. Frank for taking a stand against this hateful garbage being spewed by these nuts at these town hall meetings.

Childish Bill O’Reilly Resorts To Making Fun Of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Accent

Conservative right-wing talk show host Bill O’Reilly, arguably the face of Fox News, went on the attack against Sen. Bernie Sanders, a democrat. Anders took a little shot at Fox News after he called out the network for what it is: a propaganda machine for right wingers.

Sanders made an appearance on MSNBCwith host Rachel Maddow and made the following comments (as documented by David Neiwert on the Web site Crooks and Liars):

SANDERS: We need to do grass roots organizing. I’ll tell you what else we need to do. We need to understand that it is very, very hard for the president or anybody else to take on, not just the Republican Party – that’s the easy part – to take on all of right-wing talk radio which covers 90 percent of talk show hosts, a whole FOX Network which is nothing more than an arm of the Republican Party.

The thin-skinned and childish O’Reilly rushed to the defense of Fox News by declaring Sanders was wrong, he called Sanders a “pinhead” and made fun of the senator’s New England accent.

Most of us probably stopped doing that after the sixth grade.

Crooks and Liars:
http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/pinhead-indeed-oreilly-doesnt-being

Right Wing Idiots Are Fast Approaching The Point Of Dangerous

The right-wing nuts are becoming angrier and more hostile as time passes on and President Obama is still less than a year into his presidency. Anger and hostility can lead to violence. Code words like socialist (and worse) are words that show just how frightening a path many from the lowest element of our country are headed. The enablers who shrug off the hatred and venom in these town hall protests and tea party protests (much of which masks a form of racism) was evident down a heated town hall gathering in Massachusetts where Rep. Barney Frank, a democrat, was a speaker (on the topic of health care reform).

Here is how Think Progress describes the wickedness and anger from some of these protesters (anger of us many saw coming as it became evident Barack Obama was going to become president):

At one point, Frank asked the crowd: “Which one of you wants to yell next?” Frank then excoriated a woman who asked a question while holding up a picture of President Obama defaced to look like Hitler:

QUESTION: Why do you continue to support a Nazi policy as Obama has expressly supported this policy? Why are you supporting it? [...]

FRANK: On what planet do you spend most of your time? … You want me to answer the question? Yes. You stand there with a picture of the President defaced to look like Hitler and compare the effort to increase health care to the Nazis. My answer to you is, as I said before, it is a tribute to the First Amendment that this kind of vile, contemptible nonsense is so freely propagated.

Well said by Rep. Frank. It’s moronic bigots like this person who confronted Rep. Frank, seething with hatred, who sadly benefit from the amazing freedoms we enjoy in this great country.

They’re more interested in hate (for this new president) than in doing something positive for those in our country who need it so badly.

Sadly, we have to put up with idiots like that so that many more can continue to enjoy freedoms.

AS A SIDE NOTE (you will understand this if you watch the video): I think Rep. Frank would have a better conversation with a dining room table than with that bigoted, hateful moron.

More Racist Imagery From Tea Party Protests

The racism hits just keep on coming as more imagery from tea parties pop up. These were from a poster who left a comment at Media Matters for America.

Below, check out the guy’s shirt and imagine what must have been censored on it …

Non-Whites Tend To Reject Fox News

Reading a story published by the Washington Independent confirms what will likely not be a big shock to a whole lot of people who follow much of what is going on with cable news these days. Fox News performs well as it draws nearly all Republicans/conservatives to its right-leaning broadcasts. Left-leaning MSNBC, as one might expect, runs strong with liberals. CNN tends to be more popular with those who consider themselves independent. I would imagine CNN also gets some conservatives and some liberals who want a bit of a break from the more partisan approach to news that is popular on Fox News and MSNBC.

But, the Washington Independent article opens up a different kind of argument as it discusses who are the viewers who gravitate toward Fox News. Those who appreciate Fox News most tend to be white, Southern and Republican.

The biggest swing region in the poll? The South. In Southern states, 46 percent of viewers say that Fox News is “extremely reliable” or “reliable.” Only 6 percent of them say that of MSNBC, compared to 26 percent who say it of CNN, a huge shift from the days when CNN was derided as the “Communist/Clinton News Network.” And non-white viewers really don’t like Fox. Only 5 percent of African-Americans, 11 percent of Hispanics, and 8 percent of other minorities consider the network reliable, while a majority of every one of those groups trusts CNN and sizable pluralities trust MSNBC.

Interestingly, this research sows that only five percent of blacks, 11 percent of Latinos and eight percent of other minorities consider Fox News “reliable” with respect to its coverage and commentary. Frankly, it surprises me that the number is even that high for Fox News.

Drew Sharp Was Anything But With Michael Vick Column In Detroit Free Press

Detroit Free Press columnist Drew Sharp is a smart man who understands how the media game is played. As a columnist, Sharp and numerous others across this country look for ways to distinguish themselves from a crowded group of competitors hungering for the same thing: a major national platform. Over the years, Sharp has found his angle: He is angry, he takes on the challenge of writing about controversial topics and he goes against the grain with columns that are almost always negative and bashing athletes, coaches, owners and even fans.

This all brings me to Sharp’s column about Michael Vick that was published on Saturday by the Detroit Free Press. I briefly pondered a rebuttal of sorts on Saturday, but something held me back (not exactly sure what it was). But, I changed my mind when I saw CNN’s Howard Kurtz provide Sharp with a platform on the Sunday morning CNN show “Reliable Sources.” Drew went on and, in essence, parroted most of the same lines he had written about in his column about Vick (that included a small taste of the controversial situation that now involves Louisville men’s college basketball coach Rick Pitino.

Here are a couple of excerpts followed by my thoughts:

Philly threw Michael Vick a Milk Bone. Here’s hoping he chokes on it.

This only reaffirms why I ceased being a sports fan a long time ago. It wasn’t worth the duplicity. There should always be a more honorable aim than winning at any cost. Vick’s getting a second NFL life is but another example of our society’s morality of convenience.

If that makes me a “hater,” so be it. At least I know I’m not a hypocrite.

I’m hoping that those who staunchly preached a second chance for Vick will exhibit the same compassion when the next 29-year-old black man leaves federal prison following an almost two-year sentence but can’t run a 40-yard dash in 4.4 time, chuck a football 70 yards or sell a $100 jersey.

Yes, Drew … you are a “hater” as you put it, but that is besides the point.

In general, our society is in favor of second chances for a good number of people who run afoul of the law. I would imagine every day people are released from prisons and get second chances. I highly doubt people like Drew Sharp know or care about many of these people and I doubt even more Drew Sharp would take an opportunity to write about the average person who comes out of prison and is given a second chance. If Michael Vick or some other person emerged from prison and went to work at a fast food restaurant or as a custodian, I doubt Drew Sharp would care, talk about the morality of convenience or winning at all costs. But, the fact that Vick is expected to again achieve fame and financial riches bothers people like Drew Sharp and many others who want to continue to gleefully pile on and further demonize Vick who has paid his price (his debt to society if you will) for his role in heinous crimes against animals.

CNN’s Lou Dobbs Has It Mixed Up

Media Matters for America quotes CNN right-wing commentator Lou Dobbs saying the following:

DOBBS: It’s just killing the left wing in this country that they can’t force CNN to fire me.

No, it’s killing CNN that it doesn’t have the guts to bring under control a right-wing, hysteria-fueling nutjob from spreading garbage on its airwaves.

More Glenn Beck Dishonesty

Here is the latest outright lie from Fox News right-wing talk show host Glenn Beck, as pointed out by Media Matters for America:

BECK: Well, why doesn’t somebody – somebody else besides Major Garrett and Jake Tapper — I mean, I know Major Garrett doesn’t ask the questions at the White House, because he’s never called on. Hmmm. I wonder why. Why doesn’t someone else besides those two call the president out on his blatant intellectual dishonesty. [Fox News' Glenn Beck, 8/12/09]

It’s a flat-out, fully-conscious lie.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and President Obama have called on Garrett (even when he has asked questions that are less than stellar).

Here is some of the evidence:

During his August 3, August 4, August 6, August 7, and August 12 briefings in the James S. Brady press briefing room, Gibbs responded at length to multiple questions that Garrett asked.

Since taking office, President Obama has also taken several questions from Garrett. During press conferences, Obama responded to Garrett’s questions on February 9 in the East Room, March 24 in the East Room, April 4 in Strasbourg, France, and June 23 in the Brady briefing room.

Just another example of Glenn Beck either lying or being inept at the most basic research.

Right Winger Sean Hannity’s Focus Group Kind Of Backfires

Right-wing Fox News talk show host Sean Hannitysupposedly conducted some kind of a focus group. Not all were on message with Hannity. Thus, not all news was good news from the focus group (just imagine if he ran a truly impartial focus group not stacked with a bunch of right wingers predisposed to liking him and shouting down opposing viewpoints).

Guest Calls Out Sean Hannity On Use Of Code Words As The ‘New N-Word’

For quite some time, I’ve been pointing out that hardcore conservatives like Sean Hannity have been using words or terms like “socialist” and “anti-American” to attack people. These words are designed to attack and de-humanize people in the eyes of conservatives and people in middle America who may be a little more easily influenced by what they see on television. Frankly, a lot of people can’t distinguish between opinion reporting (hopefully based on some facts) and news reporting. Fox News has been an expert at blurring the line. But, that part is a topic for another day.

Hannity, and people like him, have cleverly turned words or terms like “socialist” and “anti-American” into verbal weapons. You don’t like liberal policies then you call them “socialist.” Liberals are routinely labeled as “anti-American” by so many conservatives. Think about how President Obama was attacked by conservatives during the campaign and since his election and inauguration. He has been called a socialist, fascist and communist. People have tried to portray him as a hater of America and a hater of white people (the absurd claim made by the idiotic Glenn Beck).

For example, I believe the birther movementis founded on a blend of racism and xenophobia (think about the hysteria for some about illegal immigration).

Now, back to Hannity, who for years has provided a comforting platform to people who have made racist comments about black people (Jesse Lee Peterson, Dog Chapman and Rush Limbaugh to name just a few). In this video, posted by Media Matters for America, Hannity is called out by a gutsy guest for his use of these code words to attack people.

The audience member referred to these code words as the “new N-word.”

The rest of the audience (probably stacked with conservatives) tried to shout the man down, but he made his point.

It’s good to see someone call Hannity out for these kinds of attacks.

As A Fountain Of Misinformation … Sean Hannity Is The Gift That Keeps Giving

On Fox News, and pretty much any other media outlet he has been affiliated with, Sean Hannity has made a career of spreading misinformation and advancing falsehoods. This is a well defended title and that is saying something with the competition Hannity had to fend off to win the title and continues to fend off to maintain it (or at least remain a top contender).

Media Matters is again on the case as Hannity twists the facts to find some way of turning Democrats into the bad people as these far-right nuts (cleverly disguised as good Americans merely exercising their constitutional rights) disrupt town hall meetings motivated by hate, fear and anger. Sure, some of them are good people, but even good people can look hateful with the kind of venom we’ve seen from some of these extremists.

Here is Media Matters laying out its case to refute Hannity.

This is how Media Matters introduces the article:

Asserting that “the Democrats” are the ones “yelling here and calling names,” Sean Hannity claimed that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called health care town hall protesters “Nazis”; that Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer wrote “that they are un-American”; and that President Obama is “telling the American people to shut up.” In fact, none of these claims is true.

Truth has never stopped (or slowed) Sean Hannity.

Financial Times Writer Compares Obama The President To Felix The Cat: Both Are Black And Lucky

Financial Times writer Niall Ferguson kicked off his column in this fashion:

President Barack Obama reminds me of Felix the Cat. One of the best-loved cartoon characters of the 1920s, Felix was not only black. He was also very, very lucky. And that pretty much sums up the 44th president of the US as he takes a well-earned summer break after just over six months in the world’s biggest and toughest job.

In other words (to Ferguson): Obama boils down to black and lucky.

Ferguson concludes his column this way:

Six months in, Mr Obama still has the look of a lucky, two-term president. But that could change if voters become even more disenchanted with the legislative branch and start blaming the president for the looming fiscal train-wreck. The scariest possibility for Mr Obama is that the runaway deficit could leave him with the worst of both worlds: exploding debt and flat-lining growth.

Even Felix the Cat’s luck ran out during the Depression. His creator Pat Sullivan drank himself to death in 1933, baffled that audiences now preferred mice like Mickey and Jerry. President Obama should take note.

As the Roman philosopher Seneca once said, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

The people who cry about luck are the unprepared ones who rarely get it.

Nuts Find A Comforting Platform As Interview Subjects On Fox News

Crooks and Liars has a blog entry about an interview Megyn Kelly conducted on Fox News with regard to these nuts acting like idiots and disrupting town hall meetings. Spare many any weak arguments about freedom of speech. People can exercise their freedom to speak without acting like far-right idiots with no home training.

Here is an excerpt from a Crooks and Liars blog:

You had to figure that the moment you saw that “concerned father” harassing John Dingell at the town-hall meeting on health care in Michigan, he’d be showing up eventually on Fox News. After all, it’s what they do.

Sure enough, he was on Fox’s America’s Newsroom this morning with Megyn Kelly. He was a bit nervous, but he managed to still say some extraordinarily incendiary things — not to mention reveal that he’s a “deather”:

Sola: The harm that is being done is being done by this administration and the Congress. They want to foist on us a health-care plan that they themselves will not take. I challenge Barack Obama, members of Congress — of both parties — if you believe so much in this plan, then you use it on your family before you put it on our families. What you are doing is sentencing our families to death.

We lose the right to life. Old people are discarded. Those who cannot fend for themselves are discarded. There is no liberty under your plan. And that’s the problem — the people have seen it, the people know it, you can’t hide it from the American people anymore.

If I’m a thug, fine. Don’t call my son a thug, and don’t call those old ladies and old men that are senior citizens like I am, thugs, and a mob. We are not. We are American citizens who want one thing: To be heard before you put us down.

It’s too bad these morons can’t carry themselves with a degree of civility and not act like a bunch of crazed thugs (yeah, I said it) busting up meetings while using fear, intimidation and ridiculous scare tactics.

Fox News Watch Has Turned Into Garbage … Reliable Sources Heading In That Direction

“Fox News Watch,” a poor imitation of CNN’s “Reliable Sources” (which has its problems too from time to time), has fallen off the deep end and into a pit of more right-wing propaganda. The show has degenerated into mostly a group of right-wing talking heads coming on and whining about the “liberal media” while turning a blind eye to bias and anything else negative that comes from the right. Listen to the clip as the far-right and oftentimes irrational Jim Pinkerton (who reportedly left the show to go work for Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee before returning) brings race into the issue and then tries to marginalize President Obama by referring to his background as a community organizer (as if that is some kind of a negative label). He then sprinkles a little sugar on it to try and soften it.

I discovered this story at Think Progress:

JANE HALL: That’s true but you can scare people to the point — I mean, I think there’s a difference between…

RICH LOWRY: Who is scaring people about the drug companies and the insurance industry?

HALL: I mean, you have people shouting down U.S. congressmen.

LOWRY: There is scare tactics on both sides.

HALL: If someone hanged an effigy and — and a congressmen having to be escorted to his car, that is not civil discourse.

JIM PINKERTON: Here’s scare tactics.Scare tactics is Rachel Maddow taking the first ten minutes of every show this week to denounce them and call them names and talk about Astroturf. By contrast, Senator Claire McCaskill, Democrat from Missouri, said in her Twitter account, listen, I think this is just real people. That’s the choice. The real terrorism going on is MSNBC and the liberal media.

HALL: Oh, that is so upside down.

PINKERTON: They’re playing liberal snob to white working-class Americans.

This is from a panelist on a show that is supposed to be analyzing the media?

Pinkerton is a far-right nut who struggles to see any good coming from the other side. he uses the line with “liberal snob” and “white working-class Americans” to scare people about this black president. You don’t expect Pinkerton to be challenged much for this on Fox News.

On “Reliable Sources,” Sunday (Aug. 9), host Howard Kurtz provided a platform to S.E. Cupp, a right-wing blogger who repeatedly talked about the “liberal media” as Kurtz hardly challenged his biased guest for spewing right-wing talking points.

I have a fundamental problem with media watchdog shows like ”Reliable Sources” and “Fox News Watch” bringing on biased talking heads. Isn’t it a contradiction to have a show supposedly analysing the media by discussing and debating media-related issues (including issues related to bias) with biased panelists?

Even if you “balance” your panel, you still provide a platform to political ideology (left wingers and right wingers) on shows that are supposed to be designed to hold the media accountable.

Frankly, hosts of these shows need to work harder to find objective panelists or cancel the shows.

This Is Why It's Silly To Consider Sarah Palin As President

Republicans still holding out hope of Sarah Palin coming down for Alaska and rescuing the downtrodden GOP should look elsewhere for its next hero. Once again, the former Alaska governor is at it again bringing her children into politics, using the politics of fear and quoting the nutty Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann. This is a perfect example of the politics of fear. President Obama and the Democrats have not done everything right in trying to sell health care to the nation, but they’ve gotten little help from the fear mongering, Grand Obstructionist Party (the Republicans).

Consider this from Palin, as posted on her Facebook page:

As more Americans delve into the disturbing details of the nationalized health care plan that the current administration is rushing through Congress, our collective jaw is dropping, and we’re saying not just no, but hell no!

The Democrats promise that a government health care system will reduce the cost of health care, but as the economist Thomas Sowell has pointed out, government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.

Health care by definition involves life and death decisions. Human rights and human dignity must be at the center of any health care discussion.

Rep. Michele Bachmann highlighted the Orwellian thinking of the president’s health care advisor, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, the brother of the White House chief of staff, in a floor speech to the House of Representatives. I commend her for being a voice for the most precious members of our society, our children and our seniors.

We must step up and engage in this most crucial debate. Nationalizing our health care system is a point of no return for government interference in the lives of its citizens. If we go down this path, there will be no turning back. Ronald Reagan once wrote, “Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth.” Let’s stop and think and make our voices heard before it’s too late.

Apparently it’s OK for her kids to be thrust into the media (and exploited) when its to her advantage.

Palin is flying off the deep end and sounds even more desperate every time we hear from her.