Dismantled

Rachel Maddow did the Lord's work tonight.  I imagine FoxNews is gonna be in full defensive mode tomorrow.

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Damn I need a cigarette!!!

Calling A Duck A Duck

God bless Anita Dunn for calling FoxNews out for what they are and not allowing Howard Kurtz's cowardly water carrying ass to distort the truth in her message. FoxNews has called themselves the loyal opposition, its time to stop pretending they are anything but.

All Death All The Time On FoxNews

Its a wonder to me that the FoxNews viewers don't pull their own plug after watching this kind of vitriol.





That's what you call indoctrination folks.


(h/t Greg Sargent

FoxNews Fringe Party

In theory I really don't have a problem with there being a right leaning or conservative news cable network. If they wanted to present the news with a rightward slant I think they should have every right to do that and it wouldn't probably hurt the Republican Party if that were to happen. But where FoxNews goes wrong is their embrace of the fringe elements of the conservative movement in their psycophantic support of the GOP. They seem to believe that if they validate even the wildest most incoherent arguments on the right, then they will hurt Democrats which in turn will help Republicans. Its most obvious, of course, with their night time programming, but even their supposedly "straight news" shows embrace this philosphy of validating their fringe elements.

Unfortunately for them, their tactics are backfiring not on them but the GOP. Don't get me wrong, FoxNews has a strong following and they absolutely own the ratings for cable news. But their audience is much more homogenous and unwilling to watch other channels to entertain an alternate view of the issues. And in turn they are so convincing that their audience believes them which has increaasingly taken them out of the mainstream.

Just look at this nugget from the new Research 2000 poll.

While nearly a third of Republicans say they do believe in the death panels, only eight percent of independents believe in them.

And while only a minority of Republicans, 43%, is willinging to say they don’t believe in the death panels, an overwhelming majority of independents, 76%, reject the idea. That’s a spread of 33%.

Dems, of course, are even further away from Republicans on this. But the key finding here is that huge gap between GOP and indy opinion on what constitutes, well, factual reality. It’s yet another data point supporting the notion that the deepening isolation of Republicans is a major political story right now.

This kind of polarization on different issues comes from somewhere and I can guarantee you that FoxNews is a prime suspect. Its not enough for them that they oppose an issue on philosphical grounds. No, they have to find a way to scare people into being on their side and rejecting the Democrats. The only problem of course is that both the Democrats and the Independents now dwarf Republicans in party ID. And more and more people are fleeing from the GOP. So you can expect that as FoxNews continues to help lead Republicans off a cliff, that more and more people will jump off the crazy train and come back to rational society.

But hey, at least FoxNews will keep their high ratings, right?

Hannity Hates YouTube

And the Huffington Post, and MediaMatters and just about any other fact checking website.

Only the most devoted cultist could possibly take Sean Hannity seriously.


Update: Great video work here by Jed Lewison of dailykostv!

Jon Stewart On Scheuer

This clip isn't even funny and I don't believe Jon Stewart wanted it to be.

Osama bin Laden Needs to Attack America

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Jason Jones in Iran

The question is why isn't every cable news station and news outlet denouncing this clown today? We have to rely on Jon Stewart to police this kind of crap?! What the hell is up with that?

Oh and for those who might want to give Scheuer the benefit of the doubt, he doubled down on hoping for an attack today on Alan Colmes' radio show.

Right about now I am hoping for an attack on HIS ass!

The REAL Palin Story

I wasn't impressed with the Sarah Palin story in Vanity Fair yesterday. Most of it was rehashed stuff that politics junkies like me already had seen reported other places. The rest of it was stuff that I think common sense would have allowed you to believe without the need for the story. The people who support Palin are never going to read that article and change their mind about her and the rest of us which is the overwhelming majority of the country don't need to know any more "dirt" to turn us off from Sarah Palin.

However the fallout from the article is really worth paying attention to. This GOPolitico article detailing the attacks and counter attacks that were launched after the article was published is pretty interesting reading. The primary reason is that Bill Kristol's role as Sarah Palin's primary promoter and sponsor is being exposed to the masses. And the by product of that is that every "news" organization whom employed Kristol during the election season including the New York Times and of course FoxNews as having allowed blatant propaganda to be disseminated through their organization without ever forcing Kristol to divulge his ties to the McCain campaign.

Ok and I will admit that there is a "juicy soap opera" feel to it also that is pretty compelling. I don't know that anybody has improved their profile any more than Steve Schmidt since the election came to a close. The guy helped to run one of the worst, most inept presidential campaigns in history and yet after the election he started to speak truth to power. He has been frank about what the GOP needs to do to change their political fortunes and it doesn't involve just using the words "freedom" and "socialism" more. And he has also of course come out in support of gay marriage. Something that, of course, would have been a lot braver move had he done it during the campaign, but still better late than never, right?

Well after how he conducted himself in the GOPolitico documented, drama filled back and forth, I can only see his star rising even further.

Bill Kristol, not so much.

Well I am not going to excerpt from the article because I have major issues with GOPolitico has a news organization, however if you like to watch the GOP implode right before your very eyes, I would say click on the link and go crazy.

Its Not The Torture, Its The Pictures

FoxNews says we did not torture on the one hand, but on the other hand releasing pictures of us torturing is going to hurt our national security. One can only wonder what the color of the sky is on the planet they live on.