Reactions Of Beck And Producer Wreak Of Classism, Callousness And Bigotry

Here's a perfect example of what is increasingly wrong with so many conservatives in our country.

A family home burns down in Tennessee over this $75 fee that the couple did not pay. Instead of putting the fire out and charging the family for services rendered, the fire department essentially allows the house to burn to the ground.

Enter Fox News far, FAR right commentator Glenn Beck and one of his cronies (Pat Gray, a producer for his radio show).

Check out how these two sensitive Americans gently discuss the issue:

GRAY: (mocking Cranick’s accent) Even tho’ I hadn’t paid mah seventy five dollahs I thought dey’d put it out. [...] I wanted ‘em to put it out, but dey didn’t put it out.

BECK: Here’s the thing. Those that are just on raw feeling are not going to understand. [...]

GRAY: But I thought they was gonna put the fire out anyway, but it burned down. Dat ain’t right! [...] What’s the Fire Department for if you don’t put out the fire?! [...] I thought they’d put out mah fire even if I didn’t pay seventy five dollars.

BECK: This is the sort of argument that Americans are going to have.

GRAY: It is.

BECK: And it goes nowhere if you go onto “compassion, compassion, compassion, compassion” or well, “they should’ve put it out, what is the fire department for?” [...] If you don’t pay the 75 dollars then that hurts the fire department. They can’t use those resources, and you’d be sponging off your neighbor’s resources. [...] It’s important for America to have this debate. This is the kind of stuff that’s going to have to happen, we are going to have to have these kinds of things.

One can quickly see the bigotry and classism rearing its ugly head at the hands of these two right-wing knuckleheads who who have no problem joking about this man after his home burned to the ground.

What's next, the police charging a $75 and not stopping thugs from mugging an old lady because she did not pay up?

Lets hope not, but this is s sad commentary on where it seems our society is headed. It's one thing to repossess a car because of nonpayment, but to let a house burn down is disgraceful.

Tennessee Fire Allowed To Burn Shows An Erosion Of American Values

The callousness of some people never cease to amaze me.

We have this story from Tennessee of a fire department essentially watching a family home burn to the ground because the owners did not pay a $75 fee to a nearby fire department.

I agree, it's cheap and to some extent it is gambling with your house and property. But, come on now. If a person is dying in the hospital emergency room ... do you not help the person because they may not have insurance or did not pay their last premium?

Seriously, put the fire out and bill the family for services rendered. For this town and these firefighters to allow that house to burn down runs counter to the American spirit.

It's an example of how far our society has plummeted since the days and weeks after 9/11 when we were all Americans pulling together to help one another.

To allow this home to burn down over $75 is pathetic and disgraceful.

Here are some opinions from the blog Booker Rising, which tends to feature the opinions of black conservatives:

The FOX Business analyst and conservative writes: "Much is being made over the home being allowed to burn to the ground because the owner didn't pay his $75.00 fee to the neighboring town's fire department. The owners of the home in Obion County in Tennessee offered to pay the fee when firefighters arrived, but that offer was turned down. The mayor explained that it's like trying to pay auto insurance after an accident. The family lost three dogs and a cat, along with their doublewide. This is a cautionary tale in so many ways. I think the firefighters should have put out the fire and charged an extra fee after."

More: "Beyond that is the economic reality that speaks to accountability. There are services we all willingly pay for, including police and fire protection. Big government advocates like to leverage those commonsense needs that are met by taxing for massive government spending that flies all over the board, and extends from protecting citizens from foreign and domestic invasion to protecting citizens from harming themselves or exercising creative thought. What is really interesting is why the county doesn't provide firefighters. Obion County has 33,000 residents whose incomes are well above the 2,500 of South Fulton."

Booker Rising response: No sympathy. The owners had enough money to care for three dogs and a cat, then they had enough money to pay the $75 fire department fee and protect their assets. They gambled with their home by choosing not the pay the fee beforehand....and lost big. And by the way, this ain't an example of libertarianism run amok. For one, the fire department is the only game in town. Two, they had no option for folks who want fires put out after not paying the fee. In a free market, such an option would emerge.

This is precisely the kind of libertarian mindset that is ruining this country and putting each person and each family on an island. I take care of my island and you take care of your island. it's like working in an office and everyone is in their silo. It's like walking through a building and seeing trash on the floor and saying "I am not picking that up ... it's the custodian's job and he gets paid to do it." Where's the mindset of helping your fellow person ... even if you need to invoice for services rendered?

Well, like the togetherness following 9/11 ... it apparently has become a passing fad.

Fox News Host Neil Cavuto Exploits 9/11 To Cheap Shot President Obama

Leave it to a Fox News host, in this case Neil Cavuto, to use a 9/11 anniversary to interrupt first lady Michelle Obama's speech and unleash a puzzling cheap shot at President Obama.

Once Again, Harry Reid Looks Weak And All Wrong

Sen. Harry Reid has come out against the building of a so-called mosque in New York near Ground Zero.

I've never been much of a fan of Sen. Harry Reid. Frankly, were he not running against a political nut (Sharron Angle) I would be pulling for his opponent (even a Republican).

But, the reality is that conservatives have put in place a female Tom Tancredo, who simply is too absurdly nutty (OK, maybe she is not quite as bad as Tancredo, but that is not saying much) to be a U.S. senator (then again, who knows what the people of Nevada will do when the time arrives).

This all brings me back to the latest disappointment from Sen. Reid:

The office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada issued a statement saying, "The First Amendment protects freedom of religion. Senator Reid respects that, but thinks that the mosque should be built some place else."

Obviously, the man is in a tough political dogfight, but this is ridiculous. The man is coming down on the side of Sharron Angle on an issue that is little more than bigotry enforced through a sort of peer pressure.

How would Sen. Reid feel if someone said, "We support the right of Asians to eat wherever they want, but we just want them to eat someplace else?"

How would Sen. Reid feel if the people of Nevada said, "We support your right to run for public office, but we want you to do it in some other state?"

Once again, Sen. Reid proves weak and unreliable when it matters most. So often Harry Reid is in a position to do positive things and so often he predictably lets us down.

Lastly, here is what Angle had to say about Reid on Twitter: Nice of you to join us, @HarryReid

That tells you a lot of what you need to know about Sen. Reid.

WTF … Perino: “We did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush’s term”

Dana Perino clearly has spent way too much time in the Bush Administration and speaking out on Fox News. You expect people to be mostly bigoted and generally dumbed down on Sean Hannity’s Fox News program, but this is ridiculous (even by Hannity standards). Perino, a former spokesperson in the most recent Bush Administration appeared to have momentarily lost her mind when she uttered the following stunning words during an exchange on Hannity’s show:

PERINO: And we had a terrorist attack on our country. And we should call it what it is. Because we need to face up to it so that we can prevent it from happening again.

HANNITY: I agree with you. And why won’t they say what you just so simply said?

PERINO: They want to do all of their investigations. I don’t know. All of the thinking that goes into it. But we did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush’s term. I hope they’re not looking at this politically. I do think we ought it to the American people to call it what it is.

WTF?

I am pretty sure her boss George W. Bush was president on Sept. 11, 2001 during the worst-ever terrorist attack on U.S. soil. As the Think Progress article points out, Bush Administration people have been fond of citing how it supposedly has kept America safe from terrorist attacks during the last seven years (of its administration) by conveniently starting history after Sept. 11, 2001. Also, the Think Progress article points out the Anthrax scare/attacks (which I had forgotten about). if Fort Hood was a terrorist attack then were the Anthrax attacks terrorist attacks? This is a combination of partisanship and the stupidity of labels.

All are terrible tragedies and people need to stop exploiting them for political gain.

Back to Perino … I hope Dana will at least clarify her remarks. Say it isn’t so, Perino!

It’s becoming hard to believe President Obama’s administration is offering her a job.

Hmm... maybe she is talking about President George H.W. Bush.

Think Progress:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/11/25/perino-terror-attack-bush/

UPDATE: Someone mentioned the D.C. sniper killings. Was that terrorism?

Don Imus Is Back And Already Taking A Nasty Shot At President Obama

It didn’t take controversial new Fox Business Network host Don Imus long to make his first controversial statement with yet another piss-poor attempt at humor (you’d think he’d have learned something from his situation with the women’s basketball team of Rutgers a few years back). But, the I-Man is still old school, stubborn and with a distinct inability to avoid making idiotic and controversial statements. Imus hosted Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain (arguably the most media-hyped presidential campaign loser in United States of America history) on his show and the two men shared a joke (one in very poor taste in light of how much conservatives whine about comments about former President George W. Bush’s involvement in 9/11). Apparently, Sen. McCain was quite amused by a joke comparing President Obama to the 9/11 attacks:

“Ha ha,” she added dryly, when I told her that Imus, in a discussion with another first-day guest, Sen. John McCain, repeated a “joke” that after 9/11 “President Obama was the second attack on America.” (McCain, on the phone, laughed more heartily.)

As Think Progress points out, Imus must have had his conscience return (if he has one) after making telling the “joke” on the air as he tried to walk back from the comment and weakly offered about the joke that it was “an idiotic thing to say.”

Teabaggers Planning Protests

I saw this headline from a Media Matters for America entry:

Kilmeade predicts that “[t]ens of thousands of people from across the country” will participate in 9/12 protests

By the way, that is right winger Brian Kilmeade, of Fox News, referenced above.

Are right wingers, these tea baggers, really planning to exploit the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001 to launch yet another partisan attack on President Obama?

It sure seems that way.

Media Matters for America:
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200909110001

Ralph Peters, Part Of The Rupert Murdoch Empire, Again Sounds Like An Idiot

Ralph Peters, who is appropriately a columnist for the Rupert Murdoch New York Post was on Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News to join with Bill O’Reilly to help trash President Obama with 9/11 as the weapon.

Here is how the Media Matters for America headline reads:

Ralph Peters claims it’s “shocking” that “eight years after 9/11, we have a president who doesn’t think it was any big deal”

These right wingers are now exploiting 9/11 to attack the president. But, as you will see, this is not the first and only time that those on the far right will use 9/11 to attack this particularly president.

Visit Media Matters forAmerica to check out additional outrageous Peters’ comments:
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200909100060

Some Of These Far-Right Nutty Parents Are Pitiful

Some of these far-right nuts, who find a comforting environment at Fox News, on right-wing programs like the dreadful Fox and Friends. Media Matters for America has a clip of a parent or parents wanting to keep their kids home from school so they will not hear President Obama’s Stay-In-School speech that some of these individuals feel is a form of “indoctrination.” It’s amazing to see how some of these men and women on the extreme right have lost their minds in just a few months of President Obama’s administration and have begun to tag him with labels such as communist, Marxist, socialist, radical, racist, a hater of America, a person who wasn’t born in America and so on and so forth. Now, the president is working to encourage young people to stay in school and prejudiced individuals don’t even like that from Barack Obama.

Here is the headline from Media Matters:

Fox & Friendshosts parent who plans to “keep kids home” from Obama stay-in-school “indoctrination” speech

The one-sided video and Fox’s right-wing lean (not even disguised) is pathetic. As one commenter said, it wouldn’t have mattered if it had been run past the board. If the board had passed it then the cry would have been something along the lines of “the liberal board of education caves into liberal, socialist, Marxist, communist, America-hating, non-American, radical, black, white-people-hating President Obama.”

Media Matters for America:
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200909030011

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

Greg Gutfeld Needs To Wake Up

Right or wrong, a current presidential administration generally blames the previous administration for problems they inherited. In the case of President Obama, he has probably been too nice about the problems he inherited from the previous administration. For example, some officials in the administration of George W. Bush blamed President Bill Clinton’s administration for 9/11. To me, that is laughable since Bush was inaugurated in January and the terrorist attacks happened on Sept. 11, 2001 (and there had been warnings, during Bush’s young administration, about Osama bin Laden).

That leads me to this from a column blog written by Greg Gutfeld:

So in a talk before a local business group, former President George W. Bush finally responded to all the mud thrown at him the previous five months. In the speech, Bush defended his policies regarding enhanced interrogation and rejected the idea of government-run health care. And to top it off, he said the new White House dog sucks.

Well, that dog part isn’t true, but it doesn’t matter. Because I already know how this is going to be played by the media – a group who takes any criticism toward Obama as a personal insult. After all, Obama isn’t just the man. He’s their man. I’m sure right now, Chris Matthews is taking an extra dose of meds to control the “thrill.”

I don’t have any problems with the way President Bush has been critical or expressing his disagreement with President Obama. I think President Bush has been respectful in his disagreement and I find no fault with that. I do find fault with a hack like Vice President Dick Cheney and his approach to trashing President Obama. Cheney’s post-White House behavior is beneath the dignity typically displayed by former presidents and vice presidents.

But, then again, Cheney is at least being consistent.

I think Bo Obama is cool.

Big Hollywood:
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ggutfeld/2009/06/18/daily-gut-bush-speaks/

More Fox News Lies To Paint President Obama As A Muslim

The following is from a story Media Matters for America put together. The story, from the Fox News Web site “The Fox Nation” maliciously mischaracterizes comments from President Obama and plays upon the post-9/11 paranoid fear some people in this country have of Muslims.

A Fox Nation headline stated, “Obama Says U.S. Is a ‘Muslim Country.’ ” However, the blog post to which the headline linked noted that President Obama said, “[I]f you actually took the number of Muslim Americans, we’d be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world.”

President Obama does not say the United States of America is a Muslim country. He is merely explaining that if you look at the number of Muslims in the U.S. that the United States would be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world. It’s an intentional smear designed to play up fears of Muslims and anti-Muslim sentiment coming off the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

This is another good catch by Media Matters.

Media Matters for America:
http://mediamatters.org/research/200906030002