Week In Review: The Horror Of Shoddy News, Part One.
As some of my readers know, this blog was put on hiatus last week so yours truly could enjoy a much needed vacation (even if it was for a measly 4 days). While I was away, I stayed at a beautiful resort (read: hotel) in Pine Knoll Shores, NC. The beach was wonderful, the sunshine was just right, and the beer was plenty. But…being unfamiliar with the local radio stations, I didn’t know where to tune into for Pacifica Radio, Air America, Thom Hartmann, the BBC, or even the last resource of the newshound, NPR. You know those nights at the bar when you desperately need to get laid and all the women have left and there’s only one nasty tub of a whale left drinking some cheap peppermint Snapps? That’s NPR…the bottom of the barrel.
To make the situation worse, absolutely no internet. Let’s be honest. If you need to get the latest going-ons at Roger Dan’s ranch in Tupelo, Mississippi, you can find it on the web if you look long enough. But take that away, along with all radio, and then what do you have?
Enter the nightmarish world of cable news: I sometimes forget why I’m so glad I don’t watch TV. While I was on vacation the choices were MSNBC, CNN, and of course, Fox News. I literally couldn’t believe the complete crap these stations run. I have heard many a con explain that Fox News is “fair & balanced” and that CNN is some sort of lefty news. What the hell are you people talking about? I literally couldn’t tell a damn bit of difference between ANY of these stations. In fact, I mistaked CNN for Fox for 20 minutes at one point. The only difference between CNN and Fox News is that Fox is more prone to have sit down interviews with a couple of nitwits giving their opinion about subjects they know jack shit about.
For example: I was watching this program called “Cavuto on Business”, which was the usual shtick of a group of radical conservatives and a host screaming at a middle-of-the-road nobody. The nitwit line up was a particularly mouthy Dagen McDowell hosting, with Ben Stein and six other jackasses that nobody’s ever heard of. Can you guess the subject of this little nitwit fest? It was “Assassinating dictators instead of fighting costly wars”.
The subject started as a response (rather a defense) of Pat Robertson’s asinine comments earlier in the week that the US should just go ahead and assassinate the “strong arm dictator” of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez. We start off with big mouth Dagen:
Dagen McDowell: Assassinate dictators instead of fighting costly wars? Was Pat Robertson on to something? Last week Pat Robertson said why fight a war that will cost billions of dollars when you can just kill the dictator. Tom, does Pat Robertson have a point?
Tom Adkins: You bet he does. But Pat Robertson opened up his big mouth and screwed it up. Now that he’s said it, the option is off the table.
Are you following along? “Assassinating dictators” is more cost efficient then those expensive wars. Now it was Ben Stein’s turn.
Ben Stein: Assassinations are a very bad idea…But, interestingly enough, George Stephanopoulos suggested the very same thing about Saddam Hussein and no one raised their voice about that. This is really a story about the incredible discrimination against conservatives in the media. A conservative can say something perfectly sensible and everybody will jump all over him…A liberal says the very same thing and no one lays a finger on him.
Are we understanding now? The major media just HATES conservatives, that’s why a conservative like Ben Stein can tell you this…via the media. And if you didn’t catch the hidden message, Hugo Chavez is one in the same as Saddam Hussein. Then it was Bobo Dietl’s turn.
Bo Dietl: Go watch the National Geographic documentary on 9/11 and remember what happened on that day. Also remember that after the Cole was bombed, they wanted to take out bin Laden. We are losing Americans everyday in this fight against terrorism. We have to do what we have to do. If we find out that Chavez has any connection to these terrorists at all, I think we should really do it. The CIA is there and they should be doing their job secretly.
Remember gentle viewers when 9/11 happened and Bush was so popular? You’ve got to be thinking that the cons are missing those days dearly. And the count? That’s 2 votes for assassination, and one against, and 2 votes for Robertson, and zero against, coupled with a defense of Bush’s war in Iraq. The conversation continues:
Jim Rogers: Let me ask you guys, what would happen if someone assassinated President Bush?
I’m guessing at this point it would be like New Year’s Eve in Times Square.
Tom Adkins: The next day we’d invade that country and take out their leaders.
Jim Rogers: What kind of policy is that?
Tom Adkins: It’s called victory.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
Bo Dietl: I’m talking about getting the evidence you need and doing things subversively. There was a guy who was assassinated in Egypt. There was a prime minister assassinated in Israel. Things happen like that.
What have we learned children? That things....happen like that. Unfortunately, assassinations can’t always be so happy and cheerful.
Jim Rogers: If we kill Chavez, we’re going to make a lot of enemies.
Tracy Byrnes: We can’t go out there and whack this guy. We are not John Gotti.
Too bad. We’re not John Gotti, and we’d make a lot of enemies. But wouldn’t it be sooo cool if we did! Bobo Dipshit marches on:
Bo Dietl: We’re not talking about Chavez specifically. I don’t see enough evidence there to whack him. You find out what he’s about. He’s giving away oil for $40 a barrel to Cuba and Dominican Republic, so he’s doing good things too. Let’s not whack him right away. But we should watch him.
Are you following? Chavez should be “whacked”, but not quite yet. You’ve got to wait for your biscuits to properly brown before you can take them out of the oven and give them a good whacking. Of course, Chavez is brown enough already, so we might as well get on with it, right?
Somehow, in this entire nitwit fest, none of these folks managed to mention the irony of Robertson’s comments. Robertson claims that God speaks through him, but for some reason God forgot to tell him about the 6th commandment, “Thou shall not kill”.
A sharper mind might notice that throughout this entire discussion, the legitimacy of Robertson’s comments are not questioned, with the sole exception of Tom Adkins saying that “you bet” it is. Meanwhile, the legitimacy of assassinating Chavez is completely on the table.
Unfortunately for Fox’s “balance” Ben Stein let the cat out of the bag.
Ben Stein: Bin Laden was a well-known terrorist, thug, and murderer. Mr. Chavez is the constitutionally elected head of a sovereign state.
Dagen McDowell: But the Bush administration did denounce what Robertson said.
See how quickly the host, big-mouthed Dagen, changed the subject? This is what the “fair & balanced” network does not want you to know. Hugo Chavez is NOT a “strong arm dictator”, a weak armed dictator, or a dictator by any measure of the book. He is the twice elected democratic President of Venezuela, who managed to survive several “recall” elections staged by the United States, not the mention a failed military coup, again staged by the United States. All in all, Chavez’s Presidency has more legitimacy (not to mention popularity) to his people then George W. Bush has of his own. But you will not hear that at Fox.
To make the situation worse, absolutely no internet. Let’s be honest. If you need to get the latest going-ons at Roger Dan’s ranch in Tupelo, Mississippi, you can find it on the web if you look long enough. But take that away, along with all radio, and then what do you have?
Enter the nightmarish world of cable news: I sometimes forget why I’m so glad I don’t watch TV. While I was on vacation the choices were MSNBC, CNN, and of course, Fox News. I literally couldn’t believe the complete crap these stations run. I have heard many a con explain that Fox News is “fair & balanced” and that CNN is some sort of lefty news. What the hell are you people talking about? I literally couldn’t tell a damn bit of difference between ANY of these stations. In fact, I mistaked CNN for Fox for 20 minutes at one point. The only difference between CNN and Fox News is that Fox is more prone to have sit down interviews with a couple of nitwits giving their opinion about subjects they know jack shit about.
For example: I was watching this program called “Cavuto on Business”, which was the usual shtick of a group of radical conservatives and a host screaming at a middle-of-the-road nobody. The nitwit line up was a particularly mouthy Dagen McDowell hosting, with Ben Stein and six other jackasses that nobody’s ever heard of. Can you guess the subject of this little nitwit fest? It was “Assassinating dictators instead of fighting costly wars”.
The subject started as a response (rather a defense) of Pat Robertson’s asinine comments earlier in the week that the US should just go ahead and assassinate the “strong arm dictator” of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez. We start off with big mouth Dagen:
Dagen McDowell: Assassinate dictators instead of fighting costly wars? Was Pat Robertson on to something? Last week Pat Robertson said why fight a war that will cost billions of dollars when you can just kill the dictator. Tom, does Pat Robertson have a point?
Tom Adkins: You bet he does. But Pat Robertson opened up his big mouth and screwed it up. Now that he’s said it, the option is off the table.
Are you following along? “Assassinating dictators” is more cost efficient then those expensive wars. Now it was Ben Stein’s turn.
Ben Stein: Assassinations are a very bad idea…But, interestingly enough, George Stephanopoulos suggested the very same thing about Saddam Hussein and no one raised their voice about that. This is really a story about the incredible discrimination against conservatives in the media. A conservative can say something perfectly sensible and everybody will jump all over him…A liberal says the very same thing and no one lays a finger on him.
Are we understanding now? The major media just HATES conservatives, that’s why a conservative like Ben Stein can tell you this…via the media. And if you didn’t catch the hidden message, Hugo Chavez is one in the same as Saddam Hussein. Then it was Bobo Dietl’s turn.
Bo Dietl: Go watch the National Geographic documentary on 9/11 and remember what happened on that day. Also remember that after the Cole was bombed, they wanted to take out bin Laden. We are losing Americans everyday in this fight against terrorism. We have to do what we have to do. If we find out that Chavez has any connection to these terrorists at all, I think we should really do it. The CIA is there and they should be doing their job secretly.
Remember gentle viewers when 9/11 happened and Bush was so popular? You’ve got to be thinking that the cons are missing those days dearly. And the count? That’s 2 votes for assassination, and one against, and 2 votes for Robertson, and zero against, coupled with a defense of Bush’s war in Iraq. The conversation continues:
Jim Rogers: Let me ask you guys, what would happen if someone assassinated President Bush?
I’m guessing at this point it would be like New Year’s Eve in Times Square.
Tom Adkins: The next day we’d invade that country and take out their leaders.
Jim Rogers: What kind of policy is that?
Tom Adkins: It’s called victory.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
Bo Dietl: I’m talking about getting the evidence you need and doing things subversively. There was a guy who was assassinated in Egypt. There was a prime minister assassinated in Israel. Things happen like that.
What have we learned children? That things....happen like that. Unfortunately, assassinations can’t always be so happy and cheerful.
Jim Rogers: If we kill Chavez, we’re going to make a lot of enemies.
Tracy Byrnes: We can’t go out there and whack this guy. We are not John Gotti.
Too bad. We’re not John Gotti, and we’d make a lot of enemies. But wouldn’t it be sooo cool if we did! Bobo Dipshit marches on:
Bo Dietl: We’re not talking about Chavez specifically. I don’t see enough evidence there to whack him. You find out what he’s about. He’s giving away oil for $40 a barrel to Cuba and Dominican Republic, so he’s doing good things too. Let’s not whack him right away. But we should watch him.
Are you following? Chavez should be “whacked”, but not quite yet. You’ve got to wait for your biscuits to properly brown before you can take them out of the oven and give them a good whacking. Of course, Chavez is brown enough already, so we might as well get on with it, right?
Somehow, in this entire nitwit fest, none of these folks managed to mention the irony of Robertson’s comments. Robertson claims that God speaks through him, but for some reason God forgot to tell him about the 6th commandment, “Thou shall not kill”.
A sharper mind might notice that throughout this entire discussion, the legitimacy of Robertson’s comments are not questioned, with the sole exception of Tom Adkins saying that “you bet” it is. Meanwhile, the legitimacy of assassinating Chavez is completely on the table.
Unfortunately for Fox’s “balance” Ben Stein let the cat out of the bag.
Ben Stein: Bin Laden was a well-known terrorist, thug, and murderer. Mr. Chavez is the constitutionally elected head of a sovereign state.
Dagen McDowell: But the Bush administration did denounce what Robertson said.
See how quickly the host, big-mouthed Dagen, changed the subject? This is what the “fair & balanced” network does not want you to know. Hugo Chavez is NOT a “strong arm dictator”, a weak armed dictator, or a dictator by any measure of the book. He is the twice elected democratic President of Venezuela, who managed to survive several “recall” elections staged by the United States, not the mention a failed military coup, again staged by the United States. All in all, Chavez’s Presidency has more legitimacy (not to mention popularity) to his people then George W. Bush has of his own. But you will not hear that at Fox.
posted by Alva Goldbook at 10:02 PM
4 Comments:
-charmaine-says:
After reading this post, I remember why I don't watch TV, as well.
Who are these people, and why are they allowed to show their ignorance on what is purported to be a 'news' station?
Bo Dietl, looks for all the world like a Mafia sandwich-gopher. And, in making statements like this one, "let's not whack him right away", talks like one, too.
Ben Stein, silly gameshow host (any fans of Ben Stein's Money out there?), was the smartest guy in the room? What does that say about the rest of the clown act?
Degan McDowell? Never heard of him.
"We are not John Gotti." I'm so happy they had quick-witted talking head Tracy Burns there to remind them of this fact. There's no telling what sort of trouble they might have gotten themselves into.
I'm surprised CNN is still on the air. They've replaced anyone with even a semblance of actual reporting ability with the likes of Kagan and O'Brien. Wolf Blitzer and Lou Dobbs are obviously no sympathizers of anyone not very, very pale.
I've been attempting to watch today, to get news about the hurricane. It's almost an exercise in futility, so I've given up on them. I'm getting more real news on the internet.
After the selling of the Iraq invasion, and covering for the administration's lies, I don't know how anyone can call the MSM "liberal". I believe it's merely a campaign to push the media further and further to the right.
-charmaine-
Miami,
your link trailed off the page. that's why you use html tags.
by the way, chuckie johnson who does little green footballs is basically a racist, he pretty much admits to it.
Miami,
All you have to do is type the following:
“”, type what the like is such as “Little Green Footballs”, and then type “”. When you post it will look like this: Little Green Footballs If you need any more help with html code, take a look at this site. You’re welcomed.
I’ve seen Chuckie’s piece, and as usual, he basically pokes fun at grieving mothers. You and him must feel like two cockroaches in a pod.
I’ve never heard of Neil Rogers. Denying poor blacks kids private school vouchers is racist? When did this subject come up? Isn’t the racist thing in underfunding the urban public schools, and leaving the ghettos in which they live a hellhole? Those white politicians have no problem making sure downtown D.C. is very well funded with nice and shiny marble monuments. Are there any nice and shiny marble monuments for the black residents in poor South East D.C.? Not only is there no monuments, but there aren’t decent houses, much less decent jobs. SE DC looks more like a war-wrecked third world country. Is it any wonder that this kind of environment creates nothing but a class of poor jobless people whose best hope for a decent income involves a life of crime?
And speaking of affirmative action, we’ve only had it for a few decades. Blacks lived in slavery for 500 years, and as 2nd class citizens for a hundred years more. Perhaps you might want to wait to criticize the legitimacy of affirmative action sometime around the year 2605.
Cindy Sheehan is not trying to win over the chicken hawks, she is trying to galvanize the American people. Guess what? It’s working. Bush’s approval ratings are (again) at a record low, this time lower than Nixon’s at the height of Watergate. While Bush continues to claim that this is a war worth fighting (despite that Iraq is now an Islamic state), you certainly don’t see anyone in the Bush family signing up for this “noble cause”. Cindy’s question has been simply this: “What noble cause did my son die for? And if it is so noble why aren’t your unemployed daughters enlisting.” Bush has refused to answer this question for more than a month, and that more than anything is tells us everything we wanted to know.
Miami, I hate to have to point this out to you again, but read the first words of the 1st amendment of the Constitution. It says that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”. That’s the separation of church and state right there. And what does this have to do with white schools and black schools?
Instead of giving black kids vouchers for private schools which in turn defunds the public school system overall, hurting all kids), why not simply FUND the damn urban schools? School vouchers are nothing more than a privatization scheme that would result in all children being forced to PAY for their K-12 education. Those very same poor black kids will be forced to stay out of school since they cannot afford it, making the situation worse. This country once had a totally private education system and the result was that most children did not bother to finish the 4th grade. No matter how you measure things, returning to the 1900 is NOT progress.
Miami, the difference between the Jews and blacks were that the Jews were paid reparations.
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