Fox Nation Readers Viciously Attack Stevie Wonder Using Race, Joke About His Blindness

The great Americans who post comments on Fox Nation’s Web site, the blogging cesspool that is a product of the Fox News empire, have a new target: entertainer Stevie Wonder.

Here is what is written to get things started:

Grammy award-winning musician Stevie Wonder said President Barack Obama’s popularity has been decreasing because “people are afraid of change.” Regarding health care reform, Wonder said people are “bickering over something that we should have had a long time ago.”

“I think as far as his [Obama's] popularity decreasing, I think it’s because people are so used to, they’re so afraid of change and I think you have politics playing too much a role in what should be a natural, given that health care in this country needs to be improved and that’s just a reality,” Wonder told CNSNews.com in an exclusive interview before his performance at a benefit concert for the Maya Foundation, a Washington D.C.-based non-profit group that raises money for special education programs in private schools

Now, let us take a look at some sample comments from some of the readers:

Obama Approval Down ‘Cause People “Afraid Of Change”
Is he blind or something? He sure can’t seem to see the damn truth. If he could see whats happening around him he’d have a different view about how things are.

Here’s another:

Stevie should just stick too singing, otherwise shut up.
All ya gotta do is open your eyes and look around at what’s happening.

More classy words from Fox Nation:

Another black entertainer/sports star that doesn’t know what he’s talking about and should keep his mouth shut.

There’s more:

Stevie, I love your music, so, shut up and sing.

Lets keep it going:

I AM NOT stevie………………….I heard your music and Smokey Robinson and Ray Charles and the Commadors and on and on and on.
I was NEVER afraid of change. WE faught for the right to have change when we defeated Germany and Japan and Korea and so on…………….I have NEVER been afraid of change.
Change is ALL around us….around us ALL!
Maybe stevie it’s because you have NEVER seen our FLAG wave in the wind….sung God Bless America or shed tears when a Flag covered coffin passes
by.
ONE thing we the people are NOT afraid of is change………………………………………
BUT
when we are given the choice to be SOLD out vs being PROUD…GIVE me the PRIDE in country over the offering of our gov now.
YES……………stevie…..we can HAVE change…….even in music…….or do YOU NOT remember that hit YOU had that ALL of us loved.
BUT……………………..this change is UN FIT for human consumption!
NOT even good music can MAKE us hum along!
I ……………… WISH…………………you could see what I wrote about above…but until that changes for you………give me WAHT I know and WHAT I LOVE!

And the last few:

Since Stevey wonder is blind, I will give him the benefit of the doubt that he’s only physically blinded, not ideologically blinded, as is all the Obama-ites are..

Poor Stevie blind as a bat in all ways.

Too bad Stevie can’t see what Obama is doing to this counttry…

Well, by now you get the picture.

You can see how viciously these good Americans who love Fox News attack a blind man.

Being A Black Conservative Is OK, But Being Pimped By Glenn Beck Is Foul

First and foremost, I have no problem with black people or anyone else who is a conservative on the political landscape.

But, when I saw a group of blacks taking part in a sort of black conservative summit on Fox News, I nearly threw up. I nearly vomited as I saw that Fox news right-wing nut Glenn Beck was leading this little forum. Frankly, I think it’s cool that black conservatives should have a forum and not be silenced due to intimidation. Sometimes unfairly (though not always), blacks who are conservatives are branded as sellouts by the majority of blacks who tend to support left-wing politics.

But, in all honesty, watching Glenn Beck lead this discussion involving black conservative turns my stomach. These black conservatives were used as props by Glenn Beck (even though I do think black conservatives should be heard from a lot more).

Seriously, can someone tell me where Kanye West was and why he did not emerge from the crowd or from back stage to grab someone’s microphone and bring this televised sham to a screeching halt?

It would have been perfect Kanye to interrupt.

I’ve heard some people refer to this as a town hall meeting and I’ve heard others refer to it as a plantation gathering.

One of the biggest problems I have with these black conservatives is they are legitimizing Glenn Beck and his divisive rhetoric. Obviously, not all black men and women have to support President Obama anymore than all white people had to support President Bush or President Clinton. But, to take a forum like this, on a network as divisive (especially racially) as Fox News is a slap in the face to a lot of black people who are sick of the racial politics being played by Republicans.

It’s a shame these black Republicans will not speak out – AND STRONGLY – against the hateful and racist images we’ve seen at these tea party protests. By not speaking out, black conservatives are essentially endorsing the racist and hateful images we’ve seen directed at President Obama. You don’t have to support President Obama, politically, to say “no” to racism at these tea parties and the racial politics being used against black people by even conservative Republican politicians.

I could certainly feel a lot more respect for black conservatives if they stood up against the racism, homophobia and more coming from the far right and the racial politics being played by a good number of Republicans.

Dislike President Obama all you want, but I call on black conservatives to come out and strongly denounce the hate coming from the far right.

The problem is black conservatives run away from race (practically yelling and screaming).

Many are in the racial denial stage.

The unwillingness of conservative blacks to confront such issues does little to solve so much of what continues to divide us.

I will leave you with this from the great blog The Field Negro who named the blacks who were in the audience and a part of the panel as “House Negroes Of The Day” on his blog site. Here is an excerpt from a blog entry by FN:

Still, I am glad for you folks and the fact that you got your shine on. Just be careful where that shine is coming from. (I once represented a guy who was on an episode of Cops. I am just sayin.) If you think Glen Beck is really your friend and that he really has your best interest at heart, go on and represent on his show. It might make you famous. Hell, you might even get a gig on Radio Rwanda. If, on the other hand, you are just trying to get your shine on, there has to be a better way. You don’t want to be just props to further someone’s agenda. Where did I hear that before? Oh yeah, I think it was “Gump” over at Crooks & Liars. Gump doesn’t sound so scared to me.

“Let’s bring in a bunch of blackies as props to further an agenda. It really doesn’t get much more racist than this segment. What’s even worse is these people willing to sell out their culture for conservatism. They know history and the truth when it comes to conservatives. I wonder how much cash Murdoch gave these people to stage this disgusting display.
This would be like me appearing in a segment about the mafia supporting conservatism because my ancestry goes back to Sicily. Fucking pathetic.”

Stop it Gump, those are my cousins you are talking about. You pick on one of us, you will have to pick on us all. They were not “props”, they did it for their people. They did it for America.

It’s too bad someone else could not have hosted such a forum. It could have been far more meaningful.

Tea Baggers Want to Send Home European Immigrants?

The speaker is Robert Erickson, and he had some interesting things to say about illegal immigration, but I don’t think people got what he was saying until it was too late and by then they had already been apparently suckered.

A Disgusting Cheap Shot From Washington Times Editor Emeritus That Targets President Barack Obama’s Mother

The far-right rag, the Washington Times, has a column written by Wesley Pruden that takes a hard and disgusting shot at the mother of President Obama. It’s more evidence of the lengths to which these right wingers will go to attack President Obama in any way they can imagine. It’s no surprise that this kind of trash would be published in a toilet-like publication like the Washington Times, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be called out. There are far too many people who would read the Washington Times and not be able to filter out the extreme prejudice in its messages.

Here is how Pruden starts his column in the Washington Times:

A little traveling, like a little learning, can be a dangerous thing. Barack Obama on the loose in a foreign land is enough to frighten protocol officers and embarrass the rest of us.

Here is an excerpt of what Pruden wrote as captured by Media Matters for America:

So far it’s a memorable trip. He established a new precedent for how American presidents should pay obeisance to kings, emperors, monarchs, sovereigns and assorted other authentic man-made masters of the universe. He stopped just this side of the full grovel to the emperor of Japan, risking a painful genuflection if his forehead had hit the floor with a nasty bump, which it almost did. No president before him so abused custom, traditions, protocol (and the country he represents). Several Internet sites published a rogue’s gallery showing how other national leaders – the prime ministers of Israel, India, Slovenia, South Korea, Russia and Dick Cheney among them – have greeted Emperor Akihito with a friendly handshake and an ever-so-slight but respectful nod (and sometimes not even that).

Now we know why Mr. Obama stunned everyone with an earlier similar bow to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, only the bow to the Japanese emperor was far more flamboyant, a sign of a really deep sense of inferiority. He was only practicing his bow in Riyadh. Sometimes rituals are learned with difficulty. It took Bill Clinton months to learn how to return a military salute worthy of a commander-in-chief; like any draft dodger, he kept poking a thumb in his eye until he finally got it. Mr. Obama, on the other hand, seems right at home now giving a wow of a bow. This is not the way an American president impresses evildoers that he’s strong, tough and decisive, that America is not to be trifled with.

[...]

But Mr. Obama, unlike his predecessors, likely knows no better, and many of those around him, true children of the grungy ’60s, are contemptuous of custom. Cutting America down to size is what attracts them to “hope” for “change.” It’s no fault of the president that he has no natural instinct or blood impulse for what the America of “the 57 states” is about. He was sired by a Kenyan father, born to a mother attracted to men of the Third World and reared by grandparents in Hawaii, a paradise far from the American mainstream.

That is just disgusting and shows the hatred that exists in the heart of this man, Wesley Pruden.

Media Matters for America:
http://mediamatters.org/blog/200911160068

Washington Times:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/17/pruden-obama-bows-the-nation-cringes/?feat=home_headlines

Fox News Right-Wing Extremist Charles Krauthammer Again Attacks President Obama

I realize that Fox News protocol is pretty much to attack and advance half-truths and falsehoods against President Obama at any and every turn.

This video of Charles Krauthammer, a right-winger zealot disguised as some kind of a political analyst for the network conservatives trust, shows this man’s hatred for the president. This guy, Krauthammer, talks about narcissism (an all too familiar theme for him) with regard to President Obama, but that is code for the president being a little too “uppity” and not knowing his place. He clearly sees President Obama as overstepping his bounds. Considering the way that Krauthammer attacks the president, it seems more than fair to wonder if this is merely politically motivated or if perhaps there is something a little more sinister at play.

Obviously, the Fox News talking point is to try and portray President Obama as being a weak man (hence it’s tired emphasis on the fact that he is greeting fellow world leaders in customary forms). To Fox News, the bow is a sign of weakness (as long as it comes from a Democrat president and especially if it comes from President Barack Obama). To normal human beings, it is a sign of respect for the customs of a culture.

Listen closely in this video. Is Krauthammer now advancing preposterous birther conspiracies with this line of talking:

KRAUTHAMMER: “… Presumably he grew up in and spent some of his childhood in Hawaii and in Indonesia.”

Then, Krauthammer goes on to bash the president for apparently saying he is “the first Pacific president.” Lets see, Barack Obama was born in Hawaii and raised in Indonesia, but apparently that doesn’t count to Charles Krauthammer. This point clearly pisses off the sensitive Krauthammer who goes on to talk about world leaders in one way or another were in the pacific during war-time or were involved in the building of the Panama Canal, etc. He mentions Roosevelt, Taft, Bush and Kennedy.

At one point, in childish fashion, Krauthammer mocks the fact that President Obama had ice cream in Japan with his mother.

Is Krauthammer really that stupid? Is he really that much of a far-right nut? President Obama was likely speaking about being born in Hawaii, in the Pacific, and was perhaps trying to inspire others. Instead, the far-right Krauthammer tries to paint President Obama as slighting these other men. That is just flat-out insane, but it is very Charles Krauthammer.

Then the nutty Krauthammer (with no resistance from the host or fellow panelists) refers to him as “baby Jesus” too in a joking fashion (you could hear laughter among panelists). Yet, more childish antics from a grown man Charles Krauthammer is, presumably. It just shows the hatred that Krauthammer has for our leader of the United States of America and the Commander-in-Chief.

Were George W. Bush still president such talk might be considered anti-American.

Conservatives Like Bill O’Reilly Want Fort Hood To Be Called Terrorist Act To Attack Obama, Muslims

The O’Reilly Sucks Blog generally does an interesting job of analyzing some of the garbage that Bill O’Reilly serves up on his Fox News right-wing show, The O’Reilly Factor. Lately, O’Reilly has been on a mission to have the tragic massacre that went down at Fort Hood a terrorist attack. This is being done for two primary reasons: 1. There is increasing hatred toward Muslims in this nation. 2. If he can call it a terrorist attack then he can later use it to attack President Obama. Frankly, I could really care less what it is called. Whether it’s a massacre or it’s called a terrorist attack means little to the victims and their families right now. Those who want to force a label on it, and particularly those who are trying to have it called a terrorist attack, are trying to exploit this horrific crime to score political points against President Obama.

Consider this lengthy passage from The O’Reilly Sucks Blog:

The TPM was called Military Controversy. The Army denies they were given information about Hasan talking to Al Qaeda. Billy said they must do an investigation. Then he declared once again that the Fort Hood shooting was terrorism, who decided it, he did. Hey Billy, what happened to we report you decide. What’s really sad is O’Reilly played a clip of a couple Fox News analysts saying Obama gave a good speech at the memorial, and that it proves they are not biased against Obama. What a fricking joke, that does not cancel out the other 99% of the time Fox attacks Obama.

Then Dick Morris was on to discuss it. The crazy Dick Morris claims that the Fort Hood shooting was a terrorist attack, and that it happened under Obama so he is done. What a massive idiot he is, it was one man, in the military. It was not a terrorist attack, and anyone who says it is needs to be locked up in a padded room. A terrorist attack is on civilians, this was a man in the military attacking other people in the military. It’s insane to call it a terrorist attack, the man was in the U.S. military for Gods sake.

These right-wing fools like Dick Morris are actually blaming Obama, Morris said Obama allowed it to happen because he is soft on terror. When this guy Hasan joined the military when Bush was the President, and the military is supposed to police their own people, the President has nothing to do with who the military sign up. Obama has nothing to do with it, yet here you have Dick Morris saying it’s Obama’s fault. This is insanity, and O’Reilly let that fool sit there and blame it on Obama. They should call him Dick (Beck) Morris, it was just ridiculous. The people to blame are in the military and the FBI, they let this guy Hasan go on about his business when they knew he could be trouble, so they are to blame not Obama.

Then O’Reilly had Sally Quinn on to discuss the Fort Hood shooting even more. O’Reilly spent the entire segment trying to force her to call it a terrorist act. She would not do it, and said it was complicated. Then at the very end of the segment Billy finally got her to say it was a terrorist act. But she said it in a sarcastic way, just to make O’Reilly happy, she was not being serious, and she was laughing as she said it. Then in the next segment with Ralph Nader O’Reilly said he got Sally quinn to admit it was a terrorist act, and he was serious, when she only admittted it in a sarcastic way, and she was not being serious. She said we should wait until the military and the FBI decide he is a terrorist, Billy said we already know he is, and 90% of the people watching him do too.

Billy had Ralph Nader on to discuss politics and terrorism. Billy asked Nader about the Fort Hood shooting, he wanted to know if Nader would call it terrorism. Nader said he will not call it a terrorist act, he called it a massacre, and said he will let the military decide what it is. O’Reilly is calling it a terrorist attack. Then Nader told O’Reilly he was not invited on to talk about terrorism, he was invited on to talk about his new book. So Billy tried to do a bait and switch on Nader and he would not fall for it. Then O’Reilly asked him again about the Fort Hood shooting, and Nader said he will only call it a massacre.

O’Reilly would not let it go, and kept talking about the Fort Hood shooting, even though Nader said he was not invited on to talk about it. Billy said Nader was dodging the issue, then repeated that statement 2 or 3 times trying to force Nader to answer him, and Nader got a little mad. Then he brought up how O’Reilly was wrong about Iraq, and that led to thousands of innocent people getting killed, so Billy admitted he was wrong and changed the subject real fast, then he told Nader to go ahead and talk about his book. Stupid O’Reilly tried to pull a bait and switch on Nader and he would not bite, haha, good for you Ralph. More guests should do what he did when O’Jackass pulls his bait and switch tricks.

This is an attempt by O’Reilly and his fellow conservatives to begin to build their case for attack President Obama by exploiting this tragedy at Fort Hood. It is deplorable for these conservatives to use this horrible crime for their own partisan purposes.

Rep. Steve King Smears President Obama, Bashes Great City Of Chicago

Rep. Steve King, who is one of the darlings of the far right who hails from the state of Iowa, is on the attack again using all of the old and tired clichés about President Obama, Chicago, the Chicago Machine, gangsters, Rev. Wright, Bill Ayers … yadda, yadda, yadda.

Apparently, Rep. King has no new materials and instead resorts to the same tired and weak attacks against President Obama.

KING: Valerie Jarrett is a product of Chicago politics. This is power politics through Rahm Emanuel and Barack Obama, son and daughter of Saul Alinsky, linked up with Mayor Daley, the one that actually hired Michelle Obama and put her into that link, which may have well been the link that put Barack Obama into that machine. The Chicago Machine, we know what it is. Someone called it gangster government. In Chicago, you have gangster government and Valerie Jarrett’s been in the middle of that. She’s been brokering power for a long time. And the link she has with William Ayers, and other nefarious characters in Chicago tells us what we’ve got in the White House itself. I mean she’s there. There are a number of links directly to Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, Valerie Jarrett, and they go back to Chicago.

This guy is a nut, who is attacking Chicago to score political points with the far right (which he should already have in his back pocket if this talk is indicative of anything).

If President Obama, Valerie Jarrett, Rahm Emanuel, Michelle Obama and others are a product of Chicago politics then does that make Steve King truly representative of Iowa politics?

I certainly hope not, but there are some Iowans who continue to vote for this clown to represent them in front of the citizens of the United States of America.

Here is one of the comments in response to the article:

Equalness4all wrote:

What concerns me is the lack of civility we have in discourse, political and otherwise. I believe that it is healthy to disagree, and argument is a good thing, but hate speech seems to be the rule rather than the exeception. Don’t like someone, call them a name, assassinate their character, spread viscious gossip about them. These things can always be attributed to having heard it from someone else. It is so much easier to protray everybody else as the bad guy than to stand up and offer something for the good of the cause. Mr. King’s double speak is also fascinating, unfortunately he is not alone in doing this. Just look at the quote above. “There are a number of links to Chicago…and they go back to Chicago.” Huh? Really intelligent banter. People in Iowa deserve better, people in the country deserve better.

The people of Iowa may deserve better, but apparently Steve King represents them well enough that they support him and his divisive talk.

Big Hollywood Blockhead Greg Gutfeld Again Attacks President Obama

Greg Gutfeld, who is a regular contributor for the nutty far-right Big Hollywood Web site, has another crime against literature and common sense up on what amounts to an Internet rash. Gutfeld, as he is so apt to do, launches into another foolish attack on President Obama that ends with a childish line that is akin to his boilerplate message.

First, lets start with this chunk:

So President Obama says he’d like to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki – something no sitting U.S. president has ever done. Of course, there’s a reason they haven’t: it could be seen as criticism of a painful decision that ended the bloodiest war in history.

Now, I don’t mind if Obama wants to go, and it’s probably presumptuous of me to criticize him for what he might say there, since he hasn’t gone yet.

But if I didn’t, then I wouldn’t have a Gregalogue, and that’s not fair to me, or to those delightful unicorn voices in my head.

And besides, I can pretty much go by what I’ve seen of Obama already. Fact is, whenever he’s overseas, he tends to translate American success into past arrogance. Plus, I don’t think he’ll go to Hiroshima and say, “We did it to save lives,” because that undermines his whole point about nuclear weapons being evil.

And look at the fall of the Berlin Wall – the most important positive event in our lifetimes – unleashing a march of countries toward freedom. Obama didn’t even go to that shindig. Instead, he offered a video – the kind of thing Britney Spears does when she can’t accept the trophy for best U.T.I. at the MTV awards.

Still, Obama’s speech wasn’t bad. He championed freedom and stuff.

He says of President Obama: “He championed freedom and stuff.” Is that to say that “freedom and stuff” are not that significant to Gutfeld? Gutfeld does not seem to worked up about “freedom and stuff” as much as he is about what he saw as an opening to again attack President Obama. But, it hardly seems like any piece written by Greg Gutfeld (and is about or includes President Obama) would be incomplete without some kind of irrational cheap shot.

But then, he couldn’t resist:

“Few would have foreseen … that a united Germany would be led by a woman from Brandenburg or that their American ally would be led by a man of African descent. But human destiny is what human beings make of it.”

So, President Obama praises the progress and greatness of the United States of America and of Germany and somehow Gutfeld decides to take a shot at him for it.

Then, Gutfeld wraps it up with this:

So, no mention of Reagan or Thatcher – yet he brings up himself?

Maybe staying home isn’t so bad.

And if you disagree with me, you’re probably a racist!

No, Greg, if a person disagrees with you it’s probably because they have a brain and/or because a person is not a far-right freak.

Look, we know that conservatives worship Ronald Reagan (I actually liked Reagan in one or two ways), but we don’t have to kiss his ass at every turn.

So, Gutfeld ends it by essentially saying maybe President Obama should have kept his black ass home since he didn’t suck up to Reagan like Uncle Ruckus from The Boondocks.

WARNING: If you like Ronald Reagan then stop the video after about 30 seconds.

ColorofChange Joins Movement To Get Rupert Murdoch To Stop The Race Baiting

This is a letter ColorofChange is having people send to Rupert Murdoch and others in power at Fox News to demand they stop the race-baiting crap on our airwaves.

Dear Mr. Murdoch:

On November 6th, you clearly stated that you believed Glenn Beck was “right” when he called President Obama a “racist.” Then, on November 10th, through a spokesperson, you stated that you don’t share the same opinion as Beck, or believe that President Obama is a racist.

Which is it, Mr. Murdoch?

Fox News, under your leadership, has had a long, deep history of engaging in inflammatory racial rhetoric: attacking black leaders, black culture, and black institutions. Now you’ve been caught defending the words and behavior of Glenn Beck, the worst of the worst when it comes to race-baiting, whom more than 80 advertisers have abandoned–because of the very comments you endorsed.

Mr. Murdoch, more and more it appears that Fox’s problem with race starts at the top, with you. If you support Beck and others on Fox News using race-baiting, say so. If you have a problem with their tactics, tell us what you’re going to do to make them stop. You can’t have it both ways.

People must stand up against the garbage coming from Beck, Murdoch and many others at Fox News and throughout the Murdoch empire.

ColorofChange petition:
http://colorofchange.org/murdoch/

Join Media Matters For America Effort To Demand A Rupert Murdoch Apology For Agreeing With Glenn Beck Calling President Obama 'A Racist'

"[H]e was right."
-- Rupert Murdoch discussing Glenn Beck's comment that President Obama is "a racist."

In July, Glenn Beck infamously stated that he believes President Obama is "a racist" with a "deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture." These comments played a major role in at least 80 advertisers dropping their support of Beck's television program. Numerous media outlets and personalities rebuked the comments, but Fox News gave Beck a free pass. Why?

Well, the reason is now clear: Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corp., the parent company of Fox News, agrees that President Obama is a racist. This is a new low even for Fox, and one we cannot let stand.

Since Murdoch refuses to rebuke Glenn Beck - we need to hold him accountable and demand that he apologize for his own hateful remarks.

Join us and demand that Murdoch apologize. We'll deliver the signatures to NewsCorp: mediamatters.org/action/murdochapology

In an interview with Sky News Australia, Murdoch said of Beck's notorious comment:

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

A Fox News host calls the President of the United States a racist, and his boss, rather than suspending or publicly rebuking him, says that his employee "was right." We need to hold Murdoch and Fox News accountable for this incendiary, outrageous rhetoric. Please take a moment to sign our petition demanding an immediate apology from Murdoch. When you are done signing, please ask your friends to join our call for accountability.

mediamatters.org/action/murdochapology

Unfortunately, this type of race-baiting is par for the course for Fox News. As we recently documented, Fox News president Roger Ailes spent the better part of his career working as a Republican media consultant, during which time he became known for appealing to racial fears and biases for political gain. Under Ailes' leadership Fox News routinely employs these same tactics in its ongoing campaign to destroy the Obama administration and the progressive agenda. Examples include:

• Hannity just can't "get over" his Rev. Wright obsession. Sean Hannity -- who claimed he "broke the story" about Obama's controversial former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, during the 2008 campaign -- mentioned Wright on at least 45 different episodes of his Fox News show between Obama's inauguration and July 31.

• O'Reilly tease: "[S]hould white Americans be concerned about Judge Sotomayor?" Bill O'Reilly stated, "Next on the rundown: Should white Americans be concerned about Judge Sotomayor? Later, far-left Hispanic group says if you oppose the judge, you could be racist." [The O'Reilly Factor, 7/13/09].

• Rev. Peterson: Obama was elected "mostly by black racists and white guilty people." On Hannity, Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson said, "I think we all agree that Barack Obama was elected by, mostly by black racists and white guilty people." [Hannity, 2/3/09].

Murdoch's comments are simply the latest example of Fox News shredding the last vestiges of its credibility. Fox News is not a news organization; it is an official arm of the GOP,openly advocating against President Obama and the progressive agenda. As the cable network has shown repeatedly, no tactics are too sleazy to further its goal of damagingprogressives. Murdoch has now given his stamp of approval to the idea that the president of the United States is "a racist."

Demand that Murdoch apologize: mediamatters.org/action/murdochapology

Thank you for your continued help in holding the media accountable.

Eric Burns
President
Media Matters for America

To sign the online petition, visit: http://mediamatters.org/action/murdochapology/

RNC Chairman Michael Steele: White Republicans Have Been Scared Of Me

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, Money Mike as some people might call him, is back in the news for his continuing efforts to try and diversify the GOP. Money Mike faces an uphill battle to diversify a party that is becoming increasingly marginalized as extremist talking heads like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck have pretty much hijacked the GOP and stripped it clean of virtually any value to the vasty majority of minorities. In a story published by The Hill, Steele expressed some of the hurdles he has attempted to clear as the first black RNC chair. Steele’s comments were first heard on TVOne’s “Washington Watch” as he was interviewed by host Roland Martin:

MARTIN: But your candidates got to talk to them. One of the criticisms I’ve always had is Republicans — white Republicans — have been scared of black folks.

STEELE: You’re absolutely right. I mean I’ve been in the room and they’ve been scared of me. I’m like, “I’m on your side” and so I can imagine going out there and talking to someone like you, you know, [say] “I’ll listen.” And they’re like “Well.” Let me tell you. You saw in Christie and you saw in McDonnell a door open because they went in and engaged. McDonnell was very deliberate about spending…

MARTIN: Right.

STEELE: I mean, Sheila Johnson was on his team. I mean, that was a big deal. That’s because he engaged her and she helped navigate him through that relationship.

Now, if the GOP is trying to prove it is reaching out to minorities (truly reaching out) then Money Mike’s comments are reckless at best and counterproductive at worst.

Honestly, until high-profile Republican politicians reclaim the party from Limbaugh, Beck and other extremists, it can not expect to be considered a party of inclusion.

Money Mike needs to work hard amongst his Republican politicians to help the GOP mainstream distance itself from the divisive rhetoric of Beck, Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and others and the anti-left and biased reporting on Fox News.

Stuff like this, as chronicled on The Hill, is ineffective:

Shortly after he was elected chairman in February, Steele said that the Republican Party needed to conduct an “off the hook” public relations campaign to attract blacks and Hispanics in “urban-suburban hip-hop settings.” He also said that he would attract minority voters with fried chicken and potato salad.

Money Mike needs to leave that stuff alone.

Black Extremists Protest President Obama; Some Conservatives Label Them ‘Leftists’

Originally, as I heard the story of a group of 200 black protestors marching on the White House, my sense of interested became elevated. Contrary to popular belief, not all black people like President Obama (as you will see below). Perhaps naturally, I wanted to learn a little more about the topic to try and understand the motives of these protestors. It was at that point I saw an Associated Press story that described the protestors as seeing President Barack Obama, the first black president of the United States of America, as “white power in black face.” So, like a good number of people, I shook my head in disappointment. I was not shocked, but I was fairly disappointed with such a march (even though there are marches of all kinds that take place in Washington D.C.) as the one that took place on Saturday.

This group views the president as largely continuing policies it deems to be “imperialist” by nature and symbolic of the way this group seems to view the United States of America.

Here is one quote (of many) that grabs attention from the story:

“We recognize that Barack Hussein Obama is white power in black face,” civil rights activist Omali Yeshitela, chairman of the Black is Back coalition which arranged the protest, called into a megaphone as the group marched outside the mansion’s gates.

“He is a tool of our imperialist enemies and we demand our freedom. And we demand that Obama withdraw all the troops from Afghanistan right now.”

The story goes on to talk about how protestors want the president to pull troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan (among other issues members of this group were upset about). Now, these individuals representing extremist groups are entitled to their Constitutionally-protected opinion, but they are not entitled to our approval.

Here is another passage that is amazing:

Charles Baron, a New York city councilman and former member of the Black Panthers, a Black Power movement in the mid-1960s and 1970s, attacked the president for turning a cold shoulder to the plight of African-Americans.

“We’re not satisfied with him, and… this hope and change rap has not been a reality for black people,” Baron told AFP during the demonstration.

“We are glad that Barack Obama broke up the white male monopoly on the White House, but we were not looking for a change in the occupant of the White House from white to black, we were looking for change in foreign policies and domestic policies,” he added.

“To have a black person exploiting me just like a white person, that’s no easier pain.”

Wow, that is enough to make you want to shake your head and wonder what if anything could possibly satisfy some people.

So, what about the reaction of some people who read this story (people who might have had a different take on the issue). So, I stumbled upon this headline from the blog Booker Rising:

Black Leftist Protesters: “Obama Is White Power In Blackface”

So, again, I became curious. By the way, we should be cautious with those kinds of labels.

The blog entry starts off with this passage:

Decrying U.S. President Barack Obama as “white power in blackface,” hundreds of leftist African-Americans marched on the White House today to protest policies of America’s first black president, and demand that he bring U.S. troops home (hat tip: Robert Oliver). More than 200 people gathered for the first public demonstration by African-Americans against the Obama administration since his historic inauguration in January, and slammed the president for continuing what they described as Washington, D.C’s “imperialist” agenda around the world.

In the words of the ESPN Monday Night NFL Countdown crew, “C’mon, man!”

This is not about left or right. Is a Ku Klux Klan march or a neo-Nazi rally automatically symbolic of right-wing values (because they may share some basic beliefs)? Of course not. I realize there are some who want to desperately show that not all black people love President Obama, but this was the wrong case at the wrong time to make such a disappointing statement.

Saturday Night Live Examines The Bias Of Fox News

Fox News is all over the case as, in the minds of its anchors and brain trust, the 2012 election already has been lost for President Barack Obama thanks to a few isolated elections in New Jersey and Virginia.

Check out this video skit of Saturday Night Live illustrating the far-right bias that exists on Fox News in this priceless clip.

Bill O’Reilly Exploits Fort Hood Tragedy To Attack Dr. George Tiller Again And Defend Himself

Fox News right-wing host Bill O’Reilly refuses to let the murdered Dr. George Tiller, who provided abortions, rest in peace. It’s not bad enough that O’Reilly frequently attacked Dr. Tiller who was murdered in vicious and cold-blooded fashion (at the hands of a cowardly anti-abortion bigot). Now, Bill O’Reilly is callously exploiting the tragic murders at Fort Hood (Texas) to again attack Dr. George Tiller (who was a family man in addition to being a doctor) and portray himself as a victim who is being attacked.

Indeed, Bill O’Reilly continues to attack a murdered man while at the same time he sets himself up as the victim.

As Media Matters for America points out, it seems O’Reilly has ignored the right wing exploiting this tragedy to again launch bigoted attacks on Muslims and others they see as “extremists” in their narrow-minded view of the world. Instead of being balanced and fair, he has used this tragedy to again showcase his far-right bias and use his platform to attack people he sees as liberals.

Barack Obama Doesn't Run In 2009 Election, But Is Declared The Loser By Pundits

President Barack Obama was not running for office in 2009, but somehow conservatives and other media "experts" have been hysterically running around screaming about him taking this huge defeat this week. OK, conservatives won a few isolated local and statewide elections and now Republicans are confident they experienced a political version of Easter this week while President Obama suffered a big loss (even though, as I wrote earlier, he was not running).

Watch here as Jon Stewart, once again, destroys an idiotic argument coming mostly from far-right nuts.

Media Matters for America:
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200911040067

Declaring Victory … Before It’s Over

I find it interesting (even amusing) how a large number of people on Fox (Republican) News Channel are declaring that this week's election results are the beginning of this great renaissance for the GOP and the beginning of the end for President Barack Obama. All day, on the network Republicans love, host after host has been crowing about how great this is for the GOP and how the party is on the way back. We've been hearing stuff words and phrases like "winds of change," "Republican revival" and "blueprint for success" as reported by Media Matters for America. So, tonight I tuned in to watch the O'Reilly Factor and Billy painted this as a smackdown for President Obama (wishful and biased GOP thinking), how people are rejecting him, rejecting so-called big government and going for the things Republicans supposedly stand for. It was all a bunch of laughable nonsense. Look, these elections are fought on the local level and state levels with local and state candidates. It's not about President Obama, President Bush, President Clinton, President Lincoln or President Washington.

Jon Stewart Hammers Fox News For Blurred News/Commentary Line

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Fox News Is No More … Make Way For Fox Commentary

Close your eyes and imagine picking up your newspaper and not being able to distinguish between the “hard” news content and the content on the editorial page. Now, open your eyes and (if you can stomach it) watch Fox News. The commentators and anchors are mostly the same – right wingers lying about being fair and balanced.

Check out this Media Matters for America clip to see how Fox News nutjob Glenn Beck hands the baton of bias off to fake anchor Chris Wallace, of Fox News Sunday.

Rep. Rob Andrews Calls Out Fox News For Bias … Anchor Whines

Rep. Rob Andrews, a Democrat from New Jersey, called out Fox News anchor Gregg Jarrett and Fox News for its bias. Jarrett, following in that Fox News tradition, joined forces with Rep. Marsha Blackburn (a Republican from Tennessee) to essentially advance right-wing talking points and double team Andrews late in the segment as they shouted him down repeatedly as he attempted to make a point. Andrew called out the biased host as he mockingly asked for Fox News to adhere to its phony “fair and balanced” slogan.

Jarrett loses his composure and pouts like a kindergartener.

Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/26/fox-news-anchor-yells-at_n_333501.html

President Obama’s Administration Walks A Tightrope In Justifiable Criticism Of Fox News

President Barack Obama certainly walks a fine line as his administration criticizes Fox News for being the right-wing news organization that clearly it is these days. Frankly, it’s a shame that more liberals do not have the guts to call out Fox News for its far-right commentary and it’s right-wing news (greatly influenced by its far-right commentary). Anita Dunn, David Axelrod, Rahm Emanuel and others from the Obama Administration have made their views about Fox News clear and I find it difficult to disagree with much of what we’ve heard from that trio. But, while the criticism is justifiable, the administration has to be careful not to come across as denying Fox News reasonable access (the kinds of access granted to other networks (this excludes interviews). The administration must be fair to the media in terms of certain kinds of access yet still be up front and honest about its criticisms of Fox News for functioning as Republican operatives.

I thought of this again as I read a column by Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page, who is a legendary figure in the industry:

Surely President Barack Obama and his advisers don’t really think that their feud with Fox News will do anything but enhance the cable network’s viewership. A deeper problem is what the flap reveals about Team Obama, which seems to be more comfortable with campaigning than governing.

I’m not happy about that. It does not fill me with glee to see Fox News star Sean Hannity joyfully replaying Obama’s 2004 come-together speech about how we’re “not red states or blues states” but “the United States of America” and asking where is Obama’s promise now?

I see what Clarence is saying … I really do. But this criticism of Fox News, in my opinion, has nothing to do with ratings. Fox News has high ratings and will continue to have high ratings because it has cornered the market on far-right nuts who believe in moronic conspiracies of the mainstream media ( which is in their minds every news outlet but Fox) being out to get them. As far as Clarence’s point about Sean Hannity, he lacks much credibility and is only a factor in society as an entertainer of far-right conservatives. His program lacks any real value as far as news is concerned and is akin to watching an hour of professional wrestling (though Hannity is not that entertaining).

More from Page:

I don’t agree with Hannity on much. He’s only a tad more serious-minded as a news clown, in my grumpy view, than his colleague Glenn Beck. But, as much as my wife might run from the house when she hears me say it, Hannity’s right on this one.

Sure, it is disingenuous for right-wing pundits to accuse Obama of dividing the country, considering the five-star job they have done in turning us against each other. But if Obama is being judged by a different standard of civility, it is a standard he set for himself. He promised to bridge Washington’s culture wars, not fire them up.

Sure, President Obama did promise to bridge the gap, but doesn’t Fox News also profess to being fair and balanced? At least President Obama has legitimately attempted to bridge the gap while Fox News now essentially is suffering from a full-blown case of O.J. Simpson Syndrome (telling a lie so often you begin to believe it is true).

The adminstration should continue to expose the clear 24/7 bias of Fox News (including on the air, on its Web site and on its blog site The Fox Nation), but not to the point of being distracted too much from the real important and real issues our nation faces.

Clarence Page’s column is hopeful, but no amount of reaching out is going to persuade Fox News to become anything close to fair and balanced.