Jon Stewart Returns from Vacation to Discuss Ferguson: Race/Off

Brilliant, as usual.

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,The Daily Show on Facebook

In Case You Missed It: Bill O'Reilly's Interview with President Obama

All things considered, I don't think this was too bad. I think Bill O'Reilly interrupts far too often, per usual. And his laundry list of FOX "News" outrages and conspiracy theory points was a tad obvious. But I think President Obama acquitted himself well, and handled it without losing his cool. There will be some liberals (like me) who wonder why he'd even submit to a non-journalist like O'Reilly, and there will be many conservatives who will hate Obama regardless of his answers. But there will also probably be some people who will see through some of the FOX "News" crap. At least I hope so.
 

The Fake, Annual, War on Christmas

I've written on this subject many times in the seven holiday seasons I've been blogging. And I'll continue to, considering how it keeps cropping up as though it's a legitimate "problem." In reality, the "War on Christmas" is a manufactured outrage, a complete nonsense story that has been an unlikely success story for Bill O'Reilly, FOX "News," Sarah Palin, and others in Right Wing World.

Contrary to the claims, there is no organized effort to shunt Christmas to the sidelines, and if there were it would likely be a) by Christians, offended by the crass commercialization of the holiday, and b) considered a complete failure by now. With the backward creep of "Black Friday," and the appearance of Christmas trimmings starting to appear in August in some places, Christmas is more visible than it ever has been.

In my opinion, the success of this faux crisis came about in a perfect storm of a number of elements:
- Conservative outrage over challenges to religious displays on public property.
- Conservative paranoia toward the ACLU, atheism, "secularism," and diversity.
- Conservative antipathy toward anything deemed to be more "inclusive" or sensitive to other beliefs.
- Occasional overboard actions or reactions by individual school administrators or jurisdictions. A declaration that the word "Christmas" be struck or replaced from a musical program, and the like. Outliers depicted as a trend, in other words.
- The tendency of conservatives to feel like a victimized minority, even though they're statistically part of the majority (read: heavily white and Christian).
- A strange confluence between the "Put the Christ back in Christmas/reason-for-the-season" sort, and the prosperity gospel, "greed-is-good" modern-day conservative base, resulting in an orgy of consumerism that must be labeled CHRISTmas!
- A populace with a limited memory, and the difficult-to-pin-down origins of the perennial "Seasons' Greetings" and "Happy Holidays" phrases.

O'Reilly claims that those two phrases were a plot, in the last 10 years or so, to supplant the word, the concept, the holiday of Christmas. This is of course, preposterous. I'm 47, and have a good memory. I know for certain that both phrases were being used in the early 70s. I'm positive they go further back. Back then, the only controversial wording was "X-Mas," and even that is misunderstood (the "X" is actually a cross, folks). So right off the bat, we know that O'Reilly is blowing smoke: the phrases have been on greeting cards and in ads for decades now. I have a program from our school winter musical, in festive, snow-capped letters, reading: "1978 Winter Holiday Concert!" That's 35 years, Bill, and it included Hava Nagila.  [Story continues below]



So, we should be able to conclude that there is no conspiracy, and if there were, it isn't working. But let's flip it, shall we? Why should we take O'Reilly's side, and be forced to say "Merry Christmas" from late November until (presumably) New Year's? Why "merry" and not "happy," "festive," "joyous" or "groovy?" Why does the Christmas holiday--one day, incidentally--get to override every other holiday (and holiday party, and gift exchange, and work gathering, and Thanksgiving and Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa and New Year's Eve), with the insistence that "Merry Christmas" is the only proper and legitimate greeting? It's preposterous, as well as a little too precise when you want to wish someone a happy holiday season, rather than just the one day.

I'm no longer Christian, but I was raised one. I still celebrate Christmas, and when I can, take off the whole week. I'm not offended by the phrase "Merry Christmas," and believe me, most people aren't. Not even Jewish, Muslim or atheist people. People taking offense are almost entirely fabricated, part of this phony-baloney "war." You might find a nutty activist, trying to ban the word in some Podunk school system in Backwater, Pennsyltucky.  But not a movement. FOX "News" is fighting a straw man. . .snow man?


 

War on Christmas, Darling (A Rocky Mountain Mike Song Parody)

How'd I miss this one? Thanks, Mike!

 

Could Sean Hannity Be Replaced on FOX "News?"

Image from source,
NewsCorpse

Oh, I know they'd just shift him somewhere else, most likely. He's still their second-most watched show, though I really can't believe it is out of anything other than viewer habit. But Sean Hannity has had a berth at 9 pm (6 pm Pacific) on the FOX "News" Channel since its debut. Unless Bill-O the Clown is departing, and Sideshow Sean is getting his plum spot, there would be no way to look at such a move as anything but a demotion.

[Excerpt]

Megyn Kelly Nabs Sean Hannity’s Timeslot On Fox News – Per Drudge

daytime anchor Megyn Kelly is set to move to primetime when she returns from maternity leave in September. At the time of the announcement there was no indication of which current primetime host would be ousted. . .

Read more at: News Corpse

Dipping a Toe into FOX News, It Hasn't Changed

FOX "News" has pretty much been banished in my household by the Other Half. I can get away with FOX "News" Sunday--since that is on regular FOX TV, I usually zip through it on DVR, and frequently turn it off before it even ends--but the likes of Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly are effectively banned.

Not that I ever liked them, oh no. I considered it opposition research; basically just a way to keep tabs on what the wacky Right Wing World is up to. Occasionally, when the Other Half is away, I'll sneak in a show, just to see what they're saying. Friday's experiment consisted of part of On the Record with Greta Van Whatsername and The O'Reilly Factor. On Greta's show, things were exactly as I remembered them: Greta running exceedingly rightward-canted segments, interviewing heavily-skewed rightward-canted panels, and short of a few leading questions, staying somewhat above the fray. I suspect that she's in it for the dough. But I was not hit with anything I wasn't expecting.

The Factor was a different story. Bill-O was away this week, so there was a blonde lady in his chair, and oh, what an unpleasant woman! The picture you see here is what she looked like through almost all of the episode, either a scowl-frown or a snarly smile. I'm wondering, "who is this woman?" Most of the blonde foxbots are a little more pleasant, even if they're basically chewing over the same material! And though O'Reilly's motto of "The No-Spin Zone" has always been as laughable as "Fair & Balanced," it would be a bald-faced lie, applied to this lady.

Monica Crowley is her name, I found out later. Virtually the entire show was about SCANDALS! Specifically, President Obama's second term scandals, such as they are. They're still peddling Benghazi, still harping on each of the scandal-ettes that have cropped up since, and hammering them home. To be fair, so was Greta, and based on the advertising on both shows, so is the rest of the network. Apparently, all the time. There was some push-back from the token "liberal" guests, but they were summarily dismissed, and the thick layer of contempt was practically visible. While I found Greta's show to be a bit groan-worthy, I found Crowley's version of The O'Reilly Factor to be so over-the-top, it was practically parody.

And while the Democrat the article below highlights was perhaps not the best defender the President could have had, I have to ask, who was he? Dick Harpootlian? Who? Yet, I'm sure he's held up as balance. Harrumph. Sure, this experiment was not on one of the FOX "News" hard news programs, but one of the opinion ones. I've found little difference in my sampling over the years. I can say this, I can't imagine--even if my sympathies were with conservatives--that I could enjoy watching this stuff all the time. It's no wonder tea baggers are always so frothing mad about something.

[Excerpt]
 
Monica Crowley Slams Dem. Activist: Obama Can’t Face Press Because That ‘Only Works If You’re Not Guilty’




O’Reilly Factor guest-host Monica Crowley fought with former South Carolina Democratic Chairman Dick Harpootlian Friday night over whether the mess of scandals around the Obama administration is destroying the president’s credibility or merely distracting the right from policy. . .

Read more at: Mediaite

Sam Seder: Conservative Radio Host Wants Bill O'Reilly Hanged for Marriage Stance

Here's Deace with his motto, and a quote from the Huckster. Ugh.

One nice thing about having your own blog is reporting on the little things that bug you. Or the big things.  One of the things that bugs me is a radio host named Steve Deace out of Iowa. Now, I live in Nevada, so this really should be completely off of my radar, right? Except for a few degrees of separation, little filaments that connect A to B, or maybe M in this case.

See, I'm what some call "gay married," (though I just call it married), and my husband was born and raised in Iowa. Also, though I went to school in Ohio, one of my classmates became a conservative pastor in Iowa. Through Facebook, I became reacquainted with the pastor, and through him I became acquainted with Steve Deace. All of this Facebooking happened during the time when Iowa approved same-sex marriage, and began marrying gay couples. The pastor, the radio host, and other inter-connected "friends" got very vocal in this public forum about repealing marriage equality, with the "LUV: Let Us Vote!" campaign, spearheaded by the ultra-creepy perennial failed candidate Bob Vander Plaats. They also mounted a successful repeal of three of the judges responsible for the decision.

The Deace kids at the creation museum. Scary!
From SteveDeace.com

I'm not much of a shit-stirrer on the subject, or at least I try not to be confrontational. But when I see something that really rubs me the wrong way, I sometimes can't help interjecting. This usually leads to a very lengthy back-and-forth, and I often have trouble just dropping it. It's difficult to discuss anything strictly on its merits because the ridiculousness and insulting tangents thrown at me can be a bit dizzying. But I often get kudos--usually privately--from people reading the interaction. And so, that's nice. The funny thing is, the people who post the incendiary remarks in the first place often bow out early, leaving the arguing to their friends and/or congregation.

Bill O'Reilly said gay marriage foes need
a better argument than "Bible thumping."
Steve Deace really didn't like that.

It is safe to say that I've ruffled some feather with both Deace and the pastor, and neither is very good at arguing marriage equality, because they are incapable of separating church and state in their minds (Deace even proudly displays photos of his family at the Creation Museum on his Facebook page, making me wonder if he has any reasoning skills at all). And I have to wonder what drives these overtly religious people to focus so strongly on gay people anyway. It leads my mind to all sorts of speculation, but that's neither here nor there.

All of that is a very long way to go to say that I'm a fan of Sam Seder, of The Majority Report, a show he used to have on Air America Radio with Janeane Garofalo. And Seder has discovered the inanity of Steve Deace, and the over-the-top reaction Deace has to anyone who disagrees with him on the topic of gay marriage. And I just thought I'd share. Take it, Sam. . .

Rachel Maddow Turns 40

Image from source, AfterElton

I've long been a Rachel Maddow fan, since her Air America Radio days, as part of Unfiltered with Lizz Winstead and Chuck D. Unfiltered was political, but was also part comedy show which is sort of what Rachel still does, having a knowing, impish snark layer on top of serious topics. I miss some of her old bits, like Poking the Underbelly (doink!), but I've remained a fan through her rise on MSNBC to becoming their top star. I know that FOX "News" fans* look down their noses at Maddow and her network, and I kind of get it. They see the flip side of their favorite "news" source. I emphatically don't see it that way, but I get it.

What I don't get is having any affection for, or kinship with media figures like Sean Hannity or Bill O'Reilly. They have prickly (ahem) personalities and confrontational, irascible styles. Plus, Hannity is a moron, but that's not my point. My point is that while I don't feel any loyalty for a corporate entity like MSNBC or Comcast, I do feel a great deal of affection and kinship for Rachel Maddow. She's the kind of person I'd love to have as a friend. So, happy birthday, Ms. Maddow! May your next 40 years bring much more success!

[Excerpt]

Happy 40th Birthday, Rachel Maddow! Here Are A Few Great Clips Of Her Greatness
Happy 40th birthday to Rachel Maddow, the one person who makes talk show hosting seem like an awesome, important extension of the Fourth Estate. We can toast her for her fabulous commentaries and consummate sense of class, but let's take a moment to remember she has been totally out of the closet since the minute we'd first heard of her, and she's remained stalwart and smart about LGBT issues ever since. . . 

Read more (with video) at: AfterElton


*On a side note, I'd like to make a suggestion to FOX "Fans" who comment on stories about Maddow. Get some new material. Virtually any internet story about her--if it gets right-wing commentary, and they usually will--contains these types of comments: a) she looks masculine and/or is a guy ("so why is a guy named Rachel?") b) calling her Mad Cow or Man Cow, c) making a crass lesbian joke. Seriously guys, you always act like you're the first one to crack these "jokes," and you also seem to think you're hilarious. It's tired, it's unoriginal, an it comes back around to that meanness that seems to radiate from Right Wing World, the same meanness that makes O'Reilly and Hannity so unlovable.

Lawrence O'Donnell Rewrites O'Reilly vs. Limbaugh

I don't usually post two clips from the same show in a row, but this one is too sweet to resist. And yes, we're still on the gay marriage subject. Don't worry, there will be other topics soon, and this one will back-burner until June. Probably. Anyway, enjoy this terrifically enjoyable dressing down of both Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh. Who apparently hate each other!

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Ridiculous "Conservative" Arguments Against Marriage Equality

I put "conservative" in quotes on this intentionally, because I don't believe some of the outlandish statements to particularly fit the definition. It's just that the people saying them happen to be prominent people who self-identify as conservative. Most of them are using a form of the slippery slope argument, which is a logical fallacy. One of the big ones. It's even called that. Forget that in order to enter into a marriage contract, both parties have to be legally consenting adult humans, these folks seem to think that legal same-sex unions will lead to all sorts of implausible pairings.

Image from source, Media Matters

I'd first like to say how nice it is to have my husband (legally married for 5-years to The Other Half) compared to a dog, a donkey, a turtle, a cantaloupe, a minor child and a harem. At least in this batch, he's spared being compared to an inanimate object, usually a couch or a toaster. But oh! The things our marriage is supposedly going to cause! The destruction of marriage. Stock market collapse. Naziism. Legalized child rape. Smiting by God. Legalized underaged incestuous marriage. And my personal favorite, sexual anarchy!

I'd just like to point out a couple of things: first, for a political philosophy that is hemorrhaging  membership, insulting a quickly growing politically popular movement is probably not the best way to go. It isn't just insulting, it's also coming off as utterly batshit crazy. Secondly, my marriage isn't the only one out there, there are thousands of married same-sex couples. Some of us have been married since 2004. That's nearly a decade, and none of this slippery slope nonsense has come to pass. Anti-marriage equality folks like The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) are still arguing as though gay marriage is a hypothetical situation that hasn't happened yet. But guess what: we're here, we're queer, we're BORING.

[Excerpt]

30 Of The Most Offensive, Idiotic, And Bizarre Conservative Arguments Against Marriage Equality

As the Supreme Court hears arguments this week on the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8 and the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), conservative media figures have responded with their usual vitriol. Rush Limbaugh led the way by telling his listeners that the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment was never intended to have anything to do with "gay marriage or animal marriage." Limbaugh later expanded on a caller's argument against marriage equality by pondering, "at some point who's to say that you cannot have sex with a child. . ."

Read more at: Media Matters

FOX "News" Tumbling in Demo Ratings

Image from HuffPo

I'm frankly relieved that FOX "News" is starting to take a ratings hit. I knew that some conservatives would cling to FOX like a blankie after the "surprise" losses they suffered in November. But it was so counter-intuitive, seeing as how FOX had been spinning a web of lies and false hope for months, hell, years. It's not like their agenda didn't come before facts all along. Still, they managed to construct a false narrative that fooled even their "experts" like Karl Rove and Bill O'Reilly, even Mitt Romney himself. So, why would even FOX fans feel motivated to watch the channel, after having been hoodwinked? The curtain was pulled back, and the great and powerful OZ exposed (how fitting that Rupert Murdoch is an Aussie!). So, it is comforting that at least some of them have seen the light.

[Excerpt]

Fox News Ratings Hit 12-Year Demo Lows In January Cable News Figures

At the end of each month, cable news ratings are released to the public. And, like clockwork, Fox News dominates the top 13 or so programs, far outstripping its competitors. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

Jon Stewart: FOX "News" Chaos on Bullshit Mountain!

The FOX "News" reaction to the secret Mitt Romney "47%" tapes was a bit choppy and self-contradictory. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart nails it again. Hilarious and spot on.

People Who Live in Glass Showers Shouldn't Throw Loofahs?

Thanks to Stupid Monkey Planet for reminding me to post this clip from Thursday's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell. In it, Lawrence reminds FOX "News" star Bill O'Reilly that he really has no place making fun of  Rep. Anthony Weiner, when O'Reilly has his own embarrassing sex scandal.

By the way, can we please get a little perspective on this Weiner thing? A picture of underpants does not really (ahem) rise to the level of sex scandal, does it? Especially when it hasn't been proven that this photo was actually sent by the Congressman. I don't care if it's actually a photo of him. Who knows, maybe his new wife snapped a pic of some "morning wood," and he really was hacked.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Jon Stewart Schools Bill O'Reilly

Jon Stewart takes Bill O'Reilly to task on The O'Reilly Factor on FOX "News," regarding the "Common" non-troversy. Enjoy.

FOX "News" Shows Fake Footage for Wisconsin Protests

Palm trees. In Wisconsin.

SNL: Bill O'Reilly's Interview with President Obama

When I saw that Russell Brand (who?) and Chris Brown (who? that guy who beat up that chick?) were the host and musical guest on Saturday Night Live this weekend, I thought the episode would suck. It wasn't half bad, at least as SNL goes. And don't kid yourself, even in it's highest highs, SNL has always been uneven.  The "cold open" this week was a riff on Bill O'Reilly's Super Bowl sunday interview with President Obama. It was pretty funny, and spot-on in its criticsims. But Jason Sudekis hasn't got his O'Reilly impersonation very accurate. I can't think of many who really could, though I'll bet Darrell Hammond would have come closer. Still, it's a dig at FOX "News," and a funny one, so it is blogworthy.

The Politics of Fear

There are times when fear is a motivator. There are times when fear is justified, and where reacting to it can save your life. But fear is a very unpleasant state, and not all fears are rational, justified or necessary.

One of my favorite political commentators/pundits is Randi Rhodes, a liberal talker. She's got a loud New York accent, and is quick to either laughter or irritability. If you are a conservative, you probably react to her name--if you know of her at all--with derision and scorn. But you've probably never listened to her, outside of an out-of-context clip on the internet. Randi is a somewhat out sized personality, and is not for every taste (even if you're a liberal/progressive). But she is somewhat unique in this area: she tells you not to trust her. Seriously. She says that she knows the company she keeps on AM talk radio, and that you should trust none of it. Question everything, and do your homework.

That's quite a bit different from someone like Rush Limbaugh, who tells you that you need listen to no one else, he'll do the work for you. Right? And one of the big points Randi has been making of late is that her political opposition on radio and tv are exploiting fear. This is not new of course, but it is perhaps more prevalent right now. She said--and I agree--that if your favorite politician, tv personality or radio host spends the bulk of their time trying to make you afraid of something. . .there's probably something wrong.

Think about it for a second. Picture Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Mark Levin, Bill O'Reilly, Michele Bachmann. About what percentage of the time to they spend trying to scare you about something?  Think about what you're watching and listening to, and analyze it with a little objectivity, please. That's all I'm asking. Don't buy everything you hear lock, stock and barrel (to use a favorite right-wing gun metaphor). Consider that just maybe there is an agenda behind all the fear.

Here's an example of blatant fear mongering from the most recent election cycle. Do you see through it?

FOX "News" is Mad: The A-Hole Team

Image from DC Comics (Click to embiggen)

Thanks to Stupid Monkey Planet for finding this. And a little help from anyone who can tell me who the second guy is? Is it Steve Douchey Doocey?

Source: DC Comics/Mad Magazine

Bill O'Reilly: That Man is an Idiot

Bill O'Reilly recently made a fool of himself. This is not particularly unusual. But this time he's making himself more a fool than he was originally by digging deeper. Previously, he claimed he could prove the existence of God by the regularity of the tides. Nothing else could prove tides. When people pointed out the gravity pull of the moon, Bill-O came up with this video response:



To which I say: Bill! Venus and Mars do have the sun! The same sun as us! Venus doesn't have a moon, but Mars has two! More than the strangeness of his questions is the strangeness of his speech while doing so, where he sounds like Rain Man.

The argument between atheism/agnosticism and religion will be waged for a long, long time. But O'Reilly will not win it with his smug--but oddly childlike--reasoning.  But he's right in one respect: it takes more effort to be a non-believer. You have to think, reason, study and deliberate. That is harder than just accepting a religion on faith alone. "They said it, it must be true. End of discussion." is very easy.

Jimmy Kimmel: How the Bill O'Reilly Stole Christmas

The Grinch would be proud. . .