In response to the rumors about a possible Sarah Palin / Glenn Beck ticket for the 2012 presidential election, Beck had the following sexist remark to say last week:

BECK: I don’t think things are hoots. I don’t. I don’t think it’s a hoot. I would never use the word hoot, and I respectfully ask that every time my name is brought up she would stop using the word “hoot.” [...]

No, no I’m just saying — Beck-Palin, I’ll consider. But Palin-Beck — can you imagine, can you imagine what an administration with the two of us would be like? What? Come on! She’d be yapping or something, and I’d say, “I’m sorry, why am I hearing your voice? I’m not in the kitchen.”

Original Story

The following wonderful piece of parody arrived via email… Enjoy!

November 24, 2041

WASHINGTON — Government-sponsored health care was on the minds of angry conservative “tea party” protesters in the nation’s capital yesterday, as former TV host Glenn Beck led a “Hands Off My Public Option” rally on the mall.

The 77 year-old Beck, who was banned from the airwaves in 2014 after pouring what he thought was water over an intern as part of an on-air gag, only to discover after lighting a match that it was, in fact, gasoline, said the new president “needs to keep her cockamamie paws off our universal coverage.”

“Thirty-two years ago, Republicans fought tooth and nail for health care reform with a public option,” said Beck, choking back tears. “We fought for it and we bled for it. And we’re here to tell the president that any cuts or rollbacks will be met with a fury like she’s never seen. We surround you, Madame President!”

Protesters held up signs with slogans like, “Only Hitler would take away my pubic [sic] option” and “Don’t tread on my cradle-to-grave gov’t coverage” as they marched to the steps of the U.S. Capitol for a rally. D.C. officials estimated the crowd size at 5,000. Organizers disputed that, claiming that attendance “easily topped a couple million.”

Liberals responded to the rally by pointing out that, in fact, the Democratic Congress passed health care reform with a public option in late 2009 against unified Republican opposition, and the bill was signed by former President Barack Obama. It was subsequently strengthened in 2019 and 2024. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that improving efficiency and introducing competition to the health care industry has resulted in savings of over $4 trillion.

“There’s a reason Democrats have won every election since 2008,” said Senator Al Franken (D-MN), who voted for the original bill and is now serving his sixth term. “It’s great that Mr. Beck and his followers enjoy having access to affordable government health care, but let’s not rewrite the history books. Oh, and by the way, it’s worth noting that the president has every intention of strengthening the public option further, and hopes that the twenty Republicans in the Senate will climb on board. Frankly, I’m not sure why these protesters are out here marching except to vent their frustration over losing yet another election.”

Beck noted that health care is now the number-one issue with the Republican base, whose median age is 67 according to the latest U.S. Census figures.

There was only one confirmed injury, which occurred when guest speaker Bill O’Reilly, 92, tripped over a fire hydrant while lunging at Senator Franken with his walking stick. He was treated and released at the scene. No charges were filed.

The source was not cited in the email – if you know where it’s from, please drop a comment.

White House Press Secretary under George W. Bush and current Fox News contributor Dana Perino needs a history lesson on 9/11. While trying to classify the Ft. Hood shooting as a terrorist attack, Perino makes the crazy assertion that “we did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush’s term.”

With the new “zero tolerance” policy for errors, Sean Hannity surely corrected Perino, right? Wrong.

PERINO: And we had a terrorist attack on our country. And we should call it what it is. Because we need to face up to it so that we can prevent it from happening again.

HANNITY: I agree with you. And why won’t they say what you just so simply said?

PERINO: They want to do all of their investigations. I don’t know. All of the thinking that goes into it. But we did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush’s term. I hope they’re not looking at this politically. I do think we ought it to the American people to call it what it is.

Actor Viggo Mortensen, well known for his roll as Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, sat down with Mother Jones to discuss his latest film, The Road. During the interview, the issue of people comparing Obama to Hitler was brought up. Here’s what he had to say:

VM: …It’s amazing to me that Glenn Beck can be on the cover of Time, and there can be a whole article about him basically saying, “Well, you know, he’s controversial.” It’s like, No, he’s a dangerous idiot who needs the help of a good psychiatrist! But these are also guys who make money and they like the attention. Rush Limbaugh, for example, knows he’s lying his ass off, but he doesn’t mind making $50 million a year.

MJ: We had an in-house debate about how to cover these guys: The upshot was that you don’t follow their antics, but you’ve still got to cover them.

VM: You gotta do it honestly. It doesn’t mean you have to start swearing and using their tactics, but I think you have to call them on it. If you let them go with it they’ll go and go and go. They are bullies. But like all bullies, if you stand up to them they’re not so strong.

Original Story

The Fox News’ local Chicago affiliate used some fuzzy math to show the division of favorability between the leading GOP candidates for nomination in 2012, Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney. The poll, on which the pie chart below was based, shows Palin with 70%, Huckabee with 63% and Romney with 60%. Folks, that’s 193%.

Not only is the math wrong, but the basis of the chart is wrong – the poll was not asking for respondents’ favorite candidates, but rather favorable ratings among Republicans for each candidate, separately.

Original Story

Organizing for America director Mitch Stewart has come under attack by the trio from Fox & Friends over a comparison they made involving Sarah Palin and terrorists.

Here is their discussion (emphasis added):

DOOCY: All right, meanwhile, as we talk about those Gitmo guys, you know who’s really dangerous? Is it Khalid Shaikh Mohammed? Is it –

KILMEADE: Major Hasan?

DOOCY: — any of those guys? No. There’s an organization out there called Organizing for America, which is Barack Obama’s online group. And one of the guys in charge of that is saying that something that is really dangerous is the Sarah Palin book tour.

CARLSON: Well, apparently, because they are trying to create, you know, a firestorm again. She’s an easy target, and so now she could be more dangerous than any terrorist out there. In the meantime, there’s all that confusion, too. You remember that other book was coming out at the exact same time that looked just like her book, except it’s called Going Rouge? There it is. You know, it’s very confusing. It looks very similar, so apparently some people are being confused by the two books.

KILMEADE: Harper Collins has taken out money to put out ads together so people know how to order the right book. But I’ll tell you one thing. This is why I think, tactically and politically, they should fear Sarah Palin. This book sale –

DOOCY: Absolutely.

KILMEADE: — and her popularity are so much bigger than even her supporters could imagine.

DOOCY: Right. And so it’s a little payback from Harper Collins, because they didn’t like the idea that, rather than Going Rogue, there was this Going Rouge book out. So people who type in Going Rouge will actually be redirected to buy the actual book. And that organizing group from the Barack Obama organization, what they’re doing is they’re trying to raise half a million dollars to, quote, “push back against Sarah Palin and her allies.” Push back.

Here’s the email sent by Stewart that references Palin & her book tour:

Click to enlarge

Note that the email does not contain any reference to terrorists, or terrorism, whatsoever. That is all a figment of the Fox & Friends collective imagination.

Original Story

While discussing Al Gore’s book, An Inconvenient Truth, with British filmmaker and climate change skeptic Phelim McAleer, the following inaccurate exchange took place:

HANNITY: Well, [Gore's] claiming that this court decision actually, you know, favored his point of view, that is absolutely false.

MCALEER: That is false.

HANNITY: Explain.

MCALEER: Well, the court case, it was a lengthy hearing, maybe a month of hearings, there was nine aspects of An Inconvenient Truth they looked at and they found nine significant errors or exaggerations.

Hannity’s “absolutely false” claim, obviously meaning that the court did not favor Gore’s point of view whatsoever, is incorrect. Justice Michael Burton, actually stated that it is substantially founded upon scientific research and fact.” And:

I have no doubt that Dr Stott, the Defendant’s expert, is right when he says that: “Al Gore’s presentation of the causes and likely effects of climate change in the film was broadly accurate.”

Original Story

In the wake of getting caught using incorrect and misleading video footage twice in about a week, Fox News has issued a memo that emphasizes a new “zero tolerance” policy regarding “on-screen errors.” Two recent events that prompted this, of course, are the Sarah Palin book signing coverage using 2008 election footage and the use of 9/12 protest footage during a segment on the Bachmann rally.

Here is a copy of the memo (emphasis added):

We had a mistake on Newsroom today when a wrong book cover went on screen during a guest segment, the kind of thing that can fall through the cracks on any day with any story given the large amount of elements and editorial we run through our broadcasts. Unfortunately, it is the latest in a series of mistakes on FNC in recent months. We have to all improve our performance in terms of ensuring error-free broadcasts. To that end, there was a meeting this afternoon between senior managers and the folks who run the daytime shows in which expectations were reviewed, and the following results were announced:‪ Effective immediately, there is zero tolerance for on-screen errors. Mistakes by any member of the show team that end up on air may result in immediate disciplinary action against those who played significant roles in the “mistake chain,” and those who supervise them. That may include warning letters to personnel files, suspensions, and other possible actions up to and including termination, and this will all obviously play a role in performance reviews. So we now face a great opportunity to review and improve on our workflow and quality control efforts. To make the most of that opportunity, effective immediately, Newsroom is going to “zero base” our newscast production. That means we will start by going to air with only the most essential, basic, and manageable elements. To share a key quote from today’s meeting: “It is more important to get it right, than it is to get it on.” We may then build up again slowly as deadlines and workloads allow so that we can be sure we can quality check everything before it makes air, and we never having to explain, retract, qualify or apologize again. Please know that jobs are on the line here. I can not stress that enough. I will review again during our Monday editorial meeting, and in the days and weeks ahead. This experience should make us stronger editorially, and I encourage everyone to invest themselves one hundred and ten percent in this effort.

Original Story

It’s getting cliche to say another day, another Fox News “mistake,” but that’s what Fox News is claiming now that they’ve been caught, yet again, using old footage from past events in stories run for current events.

Just recently Jon Stewart aired part of a Sean Hannity report about the Bachmann rally in which FNC used footage from the 9/12 protest in Washington DC that helped them portray the event as having a larger attendance than it really did. Now, Fox News has been caught using year old election footage in a story about Sarah Palin’s book signing when Fox News host Gregg Jarrett stated that Palin is “continuing to draw huge crowds while she’s promoting her brand new book. Take a look at — these are some of the pictures just coming into us.”

Fox News claims that this is a “production error” and that “serious discipline action” will be taken. It’s rare that anyone at FNC will admit to any wrongdoing, but this is the second time in about a week that the same “mistake” has occurred. Keep in mind that Fox has gone to court to protect their right to lie. So, the chances that this was a mistake and that they even care are probably equal – slim to none.

Crooks and Liars’ John Amato is filing an FCC complaint against Fox News for its misleading segment. You, too, can contact the FCC.

Original Story

Update: A “production error” was made and the wrong video was used in this post. This has been corrected and “serious discipline action” will be taken – I’ll slap my own wrist. Thank you, I’ll be here all week…

Read More

The Anti-Defamation League has released a special report titled, “Rage Grows in America: Anti-Government Conspiracies.” The focus of the report is on Glenn Beck, including his participation and furthering of anti-government conspiracy theories.

The most important mainstream media figure who has repeatedly helped to stoke the fires of anti-government anger is right-wing media host Glenn Beck, who has a TV show on FOX News and a popular syndicated radio show. While other conservative media hosts, such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, routinely attack Obama and his administration, typically on partisan grounds, they have usually dismissed or refused to give a platform to the conspiracy theorists and anti-government extremists. This has not been the case with Glenn Beck. Beck and his guests have made a habit of demonizing President Obama and promoting conspiracy theories about his administration.

[...]

These kinds of claims from Beck create an intersection between the mainstream and the extreme. They play an important role in drawing people further out of the mainstream, making them more receptive to the more extreme notions and conspiracy theories.

The article lists examples including Beck encouraging his audience to read Hitler’s Mein Kampf, comparing Obama to Hitler, claiming Obama wants to create a “civilian national security force,” calling Obama “dangerous,” and promoting the idea of FEMA consentration camps.

Showing that the misinformation we’re used to seeing from Fox News starts at the top, Media Matters for America has put together the following list showing recent falsehoods from News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch.

• falsely characterized Sean Hannity as being an “academic”;

• falsely characterized Glenn Beck as being “purely Libertarian”;

• falsely claimed nobody on Fox News had ever compared Obama to Stalin (i.e. “No, no, no, not Stalin”);

• falsely suggested Fox News’ ratings shot up after its public dispute with the Obama administration began last month;

• falsely claimed that administration officials agree that Fox News has been “absolutely fair” in its White House reporting;

• falsely claimed the White House just doesn’t like “two of our [Fox News] commentators”;

• falsely claimed Fox News’ television competitors “only have Democrats” on to debate the issues;

• falsely claimed Obama had made a “very racist comment”; and

• falsely implied that The O’Reilly Factor, Your World With Neil Cavuto, and Fox & Friends, among others, are not “commentary” shows.

Bill O’Reilly and Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) President J. Richard Cohen talked about Lou Dobbs this summer and in the course of their discussion a bet was (sorta) made. Now that Dobbs has been canned, it appears O’Reilly should pay up…

O’REILLY: CNN is never going to fire him, you know that…

COHEN: I’m not quite as cynical as you are Bill. I think that if enough people speak out, CNN will listen and be more responsible in the future.

O’REILLY: You wanna bet?…I’ve got ten grand for Habitat for Humanity on the table if you wanna bet me.

COHEN: How about ten grand for the Southern Poverty Law Center?

O’REILLY: But I’m not going to take your money. There’s no real bet there — he’s not going to get fired.

Cohen posted on the SPLCenter blog, “You lost the bet. Time to pay up!” Later on in the post, he stated, “I think that if you’ll stop spinning for a moment, you’ll agree that in the court of public opinion, you lose.”

Original Story

As far as the 9/11 trials go, when it doesn’t support his view, Bill O’Reilly doesn’t care about the Constitution. At least, that’s what he told Fox News‘ Judge Andrew Napolitano. In response to Napolitano’s accurate assertion that the Constitution provides the right to be tried in the location where the crime was committed, O’Reilly stated, “I don’t care about the Constitution!”

O’REILLY: So why is he entitled to come to New York City to be tried in the civilian criminal court if he’s arrested in Pakistan?

NAPOLITANO: Because the document you don’t want me to talk about says when the government is going to prosecute you, it must do so in the place where the alleged harm was caused.

Here is Article 3, Section 2 of the United States Constitution:

The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.

Original Story

A new page for “Fox News Haikus” has been added to FNB, which started with the the one originally posted here.

Here are some examples:

Fox can dish it out,
Their attacks on Obama,
But Fox can’t take it.

A Fox News fanboy,
Always demands truth and facts,
But never provides.

Please add your own haiku in the comments on this post, on the haiku page, via Twitter, or on Reddit.

Rupert Murdoch wants Google to not index his online properties, thus decreasing exposure and traffic to those web sites. Here’s how you can help to not visit his properties by adding these sites to your .hosts file located at C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\Etc\

127.0.0.1   askmen.com
127.0.0.1   broadsystem.com
127.0.0.1   dj.com
127.0.0.1   dailytelegraph.com.au
127.0.0.1   fijitimes.com
127.0.0.1   fox.com
127.0.0.1   foxbusiness.com
127.0.0.1   foxnews.com
127.0.0.1   foxtel.com.au
127.0.0.1   fuel.tv
127.0.0.1   fxnetworks.com
127.0.0.1   gcbulletin.com.au
127.0.0.1   heraldsun.com.au
127.0.0.1   hulu.com
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127.0.0.1   myfoxatlanta.com
127.0.0.1   myfoxaustin.com
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127.0.0.1   myfoxchicago.com
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127.0.0.1   myfoxhouston.com
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127.0.0.1   myfoxphilly.com
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127.0.0.1   mynetworktv.com
127.0.0.1   myspace.com
127.0.0.1   natgeochannel.co.uk
127.0.0.1   nationalgeographic.com
127.0.0.1   newsint.co.uk
127.0.0.1   newsoftheworld.co.uk
127.0.0.1   newsphotos.com.au
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127.0.0.1   thesundaymail.com.au
127.0.0.1   thetimes.co.uk
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