Fringe News Network

Following up on my earlier blurb about Chuck Todd lamenting the amount of people believing lies about health care reform that have been propogated by right wingers, of course the devil is in the details:

FOX vs. CNN/MSNBC: Here’s another way to look at the misinformation: In our poll, 72% of self-identified FOX News viewers believe the health-care plan will give coverage to illegal immigrants, 79% of them say it will lead to a government takeover, 69% think that it will use taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions, and 75% believe that it will allow the government to make decisions about when to stop providing care for the elderly. But it would be incorrect to suggest that this is ONLY coming from conservative viewers who tune in to FOX. In fact, 41% of CNN/MSNBC viewers believe the misinformation about illegal immigrants, 39% believe the government takeover stuff, 40% believe the abortion misperception, and 30% believe the stuff about pulling the plug on grandma. What’s more, a good chunk of folks who get their news from broadcast TV (NBC, ABC, CBS) believe these things, too. This is about credible messengers using the media to get some of this misinformation out there, not as much about the filter itself. These numbers should worry Democratic operatives, as well as the news media that have been covering this story.

Its great to see the acknowledgement at the end of the role the media has played in allowing this kind of misinformation to get out there. But the bigger point is that while just about every news outlet has done a shitty job of covering health care reform and pushing back against the lies, its also obvious that FoxNews has to be not only not pushing back but PROMOTING these lies meant to scare people over health care reform. You would be hard pressed to find the kind of consensus that their viewers have believing lies compared with people believing the Earth revolves around the Sun. I am beginning to believe that they are brainwashing people or something because at this point I can't believe anybody can call them fair and balanced with a straight face. And its disgusting that they are doing this over one of the major issues of our times just so the GOP can get some kind of political advantage.

Then again, they are who we thought they were...

Nothing But A Southern Party Party Party

There is another nugget in the Research 2000 polling on health care. In response to the question:

Which of the following do you consider to be the most accurate reflection of the health care reform plan being considered by President Obama and Congress? (ROTATED): A government take over the entire health care system OR The government will provide a non-profit health insurance option to compete with private firms.

Because the whole "government takeover" is a GOP argument you would expect for self identified Republicans to agree with that framing of the issue. Interestingly enough Republicans were the only demographic in the whole poll where the people choosing "government takeover" outnumbered those choosing "competition".....save one.

In the South 45% of respondents accepted the "government takeover" framing of health care reform versus 28% who accepted the "competition" framing. That has to be disconcerting to the GOP because the truth is, if this polling is correct, they have once again been preaching to the choir. It doesn't really help them at all to have the only people to agree with them on the "government takeover" messaging be the people who are already faithful Republican voters.

Oh and one more thing, considering how miserably this messaging has failed, I think GOP leaders might want to ask Frank Luntz for a refund.

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?

Ha Ha Very Funny Muthafucka

I wonder how many people want to be on the side of assholes like this who think its funny to joke about cancer and suicide because to them that's teh proper way to protest health care reform.



Yeah GOP, this is what the fuck you have become. A bunch of unhinged, fringe, bottom feeders with no class.

Fringe Worthy

It is both ridiculous and hilarious that elected members of Congress are so cowed by their fringe base that they have to run away (sometimes literally) from admitting that President Obama is a natural born citizen.

Trust me, after they lose again next year its only going to get worse.

Birther Bill Co Sponsor On Hardball

This is vintage Chris Matthews, smacking around the nutjob Republican Congressman for pandering to his wacky, birther base. Gotta love it!!!




Fringe ideology is the new black for the GOP.

Their Fringe Is Now Their Base

One of the biggest problems with the shrinking Republican Party is that the majority of people who no longer identify themselves as Republican were the moderates of the party. What that means is that what used to be the fringe of the party is now quickly becoming the base. For instance most people consider the "birthers" to be the fringe of society. However as this clip and other reporting from CQPolitics shows the birthers are now becoming accepted in the mainstream of the GOP.

And these are the people that Republicans will feel the need to kow tow to for years to come. That's just another reason not to take the GOP seriously anymore.

Eat Your Heart Out Sarah Palin

I thought the crowds at her rallys were bad but compared to the tea baggers some of Sarah Palin's fans look intelligent.

The Responsibility Of Cable News

Great video from Media Matters



(h/t Oliver Wills)

GOP = Fringe Of America

I have offered the opinion before that today's Republican Party is now run by the fringe of America. We used to be able to kind of laugh off something some far right kook said but the problem is now those far right kooks actually hold positions of power in the GOP. Whether its Michele Bachmann in Congress or Mark Sandford on the state level or Rush Limbaugh who as a radio host seems to have the most power in the Republican Party of anybody. Well I know some people think that its just not true and that there are moderates in the party who will lead it back to prominence but increasingly the evidence is just stacking up in my favor. Check out this official questionaire posted at the official RNC webpage and tell me this is in any way, shape, or form "moderate".

Just a few examples:

1. A recent national poll reported that nearly 25% of Americans want the government to pass more socialism. Do you agree or disagree?

4. Do you oppose so-called "card-check" legislation, which eliminates secret ballot elections during unionization drives and puts workers at risk of intimidation by labor bosses?

6. Should Republicans in Congress oppose the new wasteful government spending programs passed in the recent "stimulus" bill by the Pelosi-Reid Democrats designed to "spread the wealth"?

8. Should we do everything we can to block Democrats who are trying to shut down conservative talk radio with the so-called "fairness doctrine"?

9. Should we resist Barack Obama's proposal to spend billions of federal taxpayer dollars to pay "volunteers" who perform his chosen tasks?

11. Should bureaucrats in Washington, DC be in charge of making your health care choices instead of you and your doctor?

1. If Barack Obama tries to gut the USA PATRIOT Act and other important laws that promote the safety and security of all Americans, should Republicans in Congress fight back?

5. Do you think U.S. troops should have to serve under United Nations' commanders?

7. Should we fight military-cutting efforts in Congress, such as the proposal from liberal Barney Frank to slash the Pentagon budget by 25%?

8. Even though Barack Obama pledged to meet personally with the likes of Raul Castro, Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, should Republicans continue to focus on supporting democratic movements in oppressive states like Cuba, Venezuela and Iran?

Now again, this isn't a spoof. Someone sat down and took time out to actually come up with every single one of those ridiculous leading questions. I just wonder why they didn't include something like "Do you oppose President Obama's plan to allow him to sleep with underaged white girls once a week while smoking crack?" The RNC should be ashamed to have this posted on their website. But they aren't because in the immortal words of Coach Denny Green "They are who we thought they were".
Its about time everyone just started accepting that fact.


(h/t Benen)

Please Please Please Keep These Fools Talking

I keep hearing from conservatives that Eric Cantor is their new shining star. If by that they mean that he is out of touch, tone deaf, and pretty damn stupid I would say they have a point.

President Obama’s impending reversal of the restrictions on embryonic stem cell research is meant to distract from the economy, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) suggested Sunday.

“There’s a reason it’s coming up this week,” Cantor said during an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union." “Why are we going and distracting ourselves from the economy? This is job No. 1, let’s focus on what needs to be done.”

President Obama is set to sign an executive order on Monday that would reverse limits on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research established early in the Bush administration.

“Let’s take care of business first – people are out of jobs,” Cantor, an opponent of embryonic stem cell research, told the network’s John King. “And again, there is a reason why all of this is happening right now.”

What are there, like 5 people in the country who don't support stem cell research at this point? And for people dealing with family members with special needs how much do you think they appreciate being told overturning the ban on stem cell research funding is just a "distraction from the economy". If there was ever going to be a book written about how to maintain political irrelevance and ensure it for years to come it would probably be based on everything the GOP is doing these days. What would possess him to even speak on an issue that he is totally out of step with most Americans on?

About Those 25 Million Listeners

Apparently the notion that Rush Limbaugh now has 25 million listeners is a result of some pretty fuzzy math. Keith Olberman took a look at the numbers and made the case last night that its more like 2 or 3 million listeners. Take a look.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

So the Congressional Republicans are trying their best to appeal to at most about 4 million people who listen to Rush Limbaugh and Limbaugh himself whose approval ratings are lower than President George W Bush's ever were. When you put it in that context it all makes sense. It also is instructive on why the Republican Party is going to get rolled again next year. When the fringe of the country and your party is driving your agenda then you are going to get killed at the ballot box. Of course it could be imagined that the fringe is actually the mainstream of the Republican Party now.