Faux Outrage from FOX "News" Over Boston Bomber in Rolling Stone

Image from source, NewsCorpse

Okay, let me see if I can wrap my brain around this "scandal." Rolling Stone--long a blend of pop culture, rock 'n' roll and political journalism--has a picture of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Bomber--on their cover. The picture is totes adorbs as the kids say, with DT all fluffy-haired and scruffy and cute. He looks a bit like one of my nephews. And because Rolling Stone is seen as a liberal magazine, this is seen as. . .glamorizing a killer? Okay, I can see that raising the ire of some, maybe even causing a bit of a flurry at newsstands (as much as there still are such things).

But since FOX "News" has turned this into their latest 24/7 outrage, it must be another left/right divide kind of story, and because FOX "News" is the chief antagonist, it must also have a bit of a bullshit quotient to it. Thanks to Mark, the blogger at NewsCorpse for once again saving me from having to do any actual research. Of COURSE there's a bullshit quotient. In fact, FOX Nation--the ugly, nasty internet brother of the cable channel has used the exact same photo, as far back as April 19. Surprise!

In Rolling Stone's defense, the blurb calls him a monster. And artistically, the juxtaposition of a harmless looking teenager against the story of what he really is, works. It's only the context of being "On the cover of the Rolling Stone!" that you can call this a glamorization, to my way of thinking. And I guess we'd just have to comb through their past covers before squawking about this one. But that's just me.

[Excerpt]

OUTRAGE! Fox News ‘Glamorized’ Boston Bomber Three Months Before Rolling Stone

For a network that perpetually displays an “Alert” graphic regardless of whether they are reporting on a car bombing in Afghanistan or the opening of a Hooters in Tacoma, it is not surprising that Fox News’ hair-trigger Outrage Detector is stuck on “Apocalypse Now.” The standard facial expression of a Fox anchor at any given moment is an eye-bulging, jaw-dropping, sweat-dripping, fright mask of horror. . .

Read more at: NewsCorpse

FOX Nation is So Predictable

During the slow news days between Christmas and New Year's, there was a "big" story on the cable news that was pretty silly. A video camera caught a shot of a child sticking its hand in President Obama's mouth. It was just a silly thing that's probably happened to countless people, and likely wouldn't even have been a story, if more were going on.

Image source: NewsCorpse

But, I remember telling The Other Half about this story. And then I said, "FOX News will probably run it with the caption, 'Obama attempts to eat baby.'" I wasn't too far off, was I? And before you say, "That's FOX Nation, not FOX News," I'd like you to show me the distinction. Uh-thankyew.

As a side note, I'd like to report that while conservative humor is still pretty impenetrable, at least this one passes for slightly amusing. But predictable.

More from the Front of The War on Christmas™

Spoiler alert: Bush's cards didn't mention Christmas either.
Image from NewsCorpse

I was just debating whether I should run my old War on Christmas™ post from the early days of the blog, revamp it, or rewrite it entirely. And then I stumbled upon a post by the wonderful News Corpse, and decided I'd put mine off, and excerpt his!

[Excerpt]


The Annual Fox News Tradition Of Bashing The Obama’s Holiday Greeting 

It’s that time of year again. The time when winter’s chill nips at your nose and poinsettia blooms abound. The time when children’s laughter echos through the streets and families come together for joyous feasts. And the time when Fox News lambastes the President and his family for not celebrating the holiday in the manner that they think good American, Christian, patriots ought to. . .

Read more at: News Corpse

FOX Nation Reacts to Bill Maher "Hating" Republicans

Ever been to FOX Nation? It's a far-right internet outpost not unlike FreeRepublic, only it's got the FOX brand on it. Odd that a "fair and balanced" "news" channel has its own, huge partisan web site. It's also odd that it's FOX Nation, like it is its own country or something. I've always said that right-wing world was its own alternate reality, and now they've got their own alternate reality country.

Anyway, when Bill Maher--interviewed by Rachel Maddow on Tuesday night--said of Republicans, "I hate them as much as you do," I knew he was in for some trouble on the internets.  I think he was speaking extemporaneously, and probably would have phrased it like, "I hate their lying as much as you do," since that is what they were talking about. But whatever, he said it, and I knew that right-wing world would be wobbling on its axis.

Funny thing though. In criticizing Maher (and by extension, Maddow) for his overly broad impossible-to-take-seriously jab, the denizens of FOX Nation make very specific, very harsh, easy-to-take-seriously comments. They are nothing if not predictable.

[Excerpt]

Maher to Maddow on the GOP: 'I Hate Them as Much as You Do'



. . .At the end of an almost thirteen minute interview with Rachel Maddow, the comedian said of Republicans, "I hate them as much as you do." 

And here are some of their enlightened responses:
 
"Hey Bill, Drop dead."
 
"Mahr and Maddow both mental midgets, mentality ill and disabled from the neck up. They may be the reason why liberals believe in abortion?"
 
"And we DESPISE Maher and Madcow even more."
 
"I keep looking at these two and I just can't confirm - which one is the male?"
 
"We hate you too midget man. And, your friend Maddow has to be the stupidest bi_ch on television."
 
"The man is a hateful arrogant jew."
 
"So they hate us..........I don't hate them, the Good Lord says love you neighbor.... I just think they are stupid..."
 
Annnnnd scene.

Read more at: FOX Nation

FOX Nation Publishes Onion Satire Piece as Fact

If you've never been to FOX Nation, it is a far-right outpost on the interwebs, kind of like FreeRepublic.com only with the FOX "News" brand name. When it started out, FOX Nation was touted as a place for all political viewpoints, but much like its "fair and balanced" parent, it is frequented by conservatives of the extreme end of the spectrum. FOX Nation has a lot in common with Tea Party Nation.


Also like its parent, FOX Nation seems content to jump right into a story if it supports their preferred narrative, fact checking be damned.

[Excerpt]

Fox Nation readers confuse Onion article with real news

Fox News' opinion website Fox Nation and their readers don't seem to know satire when they see it.  Fox News' opinion website Fox Nation and their readers don't seem to know satire when they see it. . .

Read more at: Raw Story

FOX "News" is Not News

Sorry for the redundant and obvious headline. I just couldn't think of what else to title this piece. After watching my DVR recording of last night's Real Time with Bill Maher, I turned the cable box to 721, which is the HD version of FOX "News." Why? Oh, frack, I don't know.

What I got was FOX News Watch, which sounds like a "straight news" show, but I suppose if you parse the title, it comes down to watching FOX "News", right? That sort of navel gazing is exactly what I found. When the White House's Anita Dunn gave her smack down of FOX "News," the sting must've smarted for a good long time. Because for an entire segment, FOX News Watch talked about nothing else. And their panel discussion group--no different than if it was on Hannity or FOX "News" Sunday--defended FOX's reputation by. . .going after Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann, for one. And by claiming that FOX is news, bookended by opinion shows, and that people know the difference.

Really? OK then, is FOX News Watch a news show, or an opinion show? The segments following the "is FOX real news" bit included, "is Obama being transparent enough?" and then a "was Rush Limbaugh treated fairly by the NFL?" Juan Williams, a token in a couple of ways (sorry), gives a game effort to arguing against an obvious partisan bent, even if he has a blind spot as it pertains to FOX's coverage. The rest--all of them--were arguing from a right-wing standpoint. As on damned near every other FOX program.

As I've said before, if you have eyes, ears and brains, you can see FOX's right-wing bias at any hour of the day. Watch the news crawl at the bottom of the screen. Watch the in-house ads for other programming. Their gamest efforts at "straight news" are even tinged with right-wing bias by their story selection, and framing. Geraldo Rivera's show At Large you would think would be a left-slanting opinion show. But it isn't, not really. The subjects are chosen with a right-wing audience in mind. What's Geraldo covering this weekend? "Is the NFL being fair to Rush?"

Listen, if FOX "News" were really a straight-ahead news channel, with a few hours of "opinion," and was not an ideologically driven political entity, answer me this. Why is virtually every "defender" or "FOX Fan" a right-winger? Hmmm? And why is FOXNation, the internet offshoot practically a right supremacy, evangelical, tea bagging, birther, deather, tenther, wingnut meeting? Why?

The attempt to defend FOX "News" as a legitimate news gathering organization is laughable. Preposterous. And every "FOX Fan" knows it.

"FOX Nation" Derides Sen.-elect Al Franken as "Stuart Smalley"

While I'm not sure that Senator-elect Al Franken (DFL-Minn.) considers it to be an insult, there can be little doubt that the yahoos at FOX Nation think calling him "Stuart Smalley" is a way to demean him. Stay classy, FOX. And suck it up, Franken will be Senator!

Would YOU Want to Be a Citizen of "FOX Nation?"

One of my least favorite types of sales pitches, is the rapidly edited appeal by several voices, repeating the same phrase: "Together/TOGETHER/together. . .we/WE/We all will prevail. . .all prevail!" It's hackneyed, old, cliched. And when it is a bunch of FOX "News" personalities? Almost unendurable.

Even worse, when it tries to make it look like FOX "News" and the website FOX Nation are fair and balanced like their worn-out motto implies, by using commentators from both sides. But the sides are out of balance to the point of absurdity. From the left, Bob Beckel, Alan Colmes and Juan Williams. From the middle, Greta Van Whatsername! And from the right, Sean Hannity, Bill Kristol, Bill O'Reilly, Ollie North, and Karl Freakin' Rove!!! If you've never been to FOX Nation though, you can be forgiven for believing this ad's intended purpose. Once you've been there, though, you'll never be fooled into thinking it's got any sort of balance at all.

The FOX Nation: Will You Take the Blue Pill?

Image from Huffington Post

I've been seeing a bit of buzz about "The FOX Nation," and didn't pay much attention to it. It sounds like another in a long line of uber-patriotic-sounding things that come out of the conservo-sphere, not worthy of notice. But I kept seeing it, and got curious. Was it some sort of recruitment drive? How does this FOX nation fit in with Hannity's America?

And I think I've figured it out. For the last eight years, Karl Rove and Frank Luntz have been busily creating a false reality. And for the first few, it worked. "These are not the droids you're looking for," they'd say, and despite video taped evidence or transcripts showing the damned droids dead to rights, much of America played along. And FOX "News" played a huge role in keeping this alternate reality going. They were well on their way to their "permanent Republican majority," and then a funny thing happened: actual reality hit America in the face.

We swallowed some whoppers over the years, but eventually a huge chunk of us started saying, "Wait a minute! That's not true!" The Rovian Alternate Reality Machine ground to a sputtering, gasping halt. Until now. Most of us are out of it now, but the 25%-ers, the "base" if you will, craves and misses The Matrix. And The FOX Nation will provide it for them. It's a blue pill in the shape of the USA with a FOX logo on it.

Ironically, their mission seems to be "It's Time to Say NO to Biased Media and Say YES to Fair Play and Free Speech." Which is as Rovian and/or Luntzian a phrase as I can even imagine.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Yes, I'm aware I mixed Star Wars and Matrix metaphors, and that I'm also a geek.

[Excerpt]

Online, Vox Populi Can Roar

Biased media are in the eye of the beholder, and with a site built around such high-decibel stars as Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck, Fox is hoping to leverage its brand online, especially among conservative true believers. "We felt that giving people a real destination to go and express themselves would give them a feeling of belonging," says Senior Vice President Joel Cheatwood. "People feel they're dictated to a lot by the media. . ."

Read more at: Washington Post