Asked and Answered

They're talking about President Obama's activities on the 9/11 anniversary. It would be funny if it weren't quite so pathetic. (And I'm not talking about the part where he didn't know the Cronkite memorial.)

Fox Nation Victorious; Claims of "Fair & Balanced", Not So Much

Guess whose claim of being "Fair & Balanced" rolled over and sank with all hands?

Need more?

• FOX Nation Victory! Senate Removes 'End of Life' Provision
  
• FOX Nation Victory! Congress Retreats on 'Plane-Gate'
  
• FOX Nation Victory! Congress Delays Health Care Rationing Bill
  
• FOX Nation Victory! Anti-Tea Party Reporter Dumped By CNN
  
• FOX Nation Victory! Obama's Drive for Climate Change Bill Delayed!
  

A Convenient Omission

Shockingly, this isn't true. Details here, where we do climate....

Victory?

I love the smell of hubris in the morning.

This Is Some Scary #!*$

No jokes today.

Since Barack Obama's inauguration, nine people in the United States have been the victims of ideological murder by extreme right-wing individuals. By "ideological murder," I mean that these crimes had no personal component; they were motivated solely by ideological considerations.

• Keith Luke, 22, is charged with the murder of two Cape Verdeans and the rape and attempted murder of a third in Brockton, MA, on January 21. Police say that Luke planned to "kill as many Jews, blacks, and Hispanics as humanly possible."
  
  
• On April 4, Richard Poplawski, an apparent racist who believed that shadowy forces control the government, strapped on body armor and murdered three Pittsburgh police officers.
  
  
• On May 30, Shawna Forde and two others entered the home of Raul Flores in Phoenix, claiming to be police officers, and shot Flores and his nine-year-old daughter to death, while also wounding Flores's wife. Forde is associated with Minutemen American Defense, an extreme anti-immigration group.
  
  
• On May 31, abortion rights activist Scott Roeder allegedly murdered physician George Tiller, one of the few remaining US doctors willing to perform late term abortions.
  
  
• On June 10, white supremacist James von Brunn entered the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and opened fire with a .22 rifle, killing museum guard Stepehn T. Johns.
  

With this as background, look what happened on Fox Nation when Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) announced that she was going to refuse to answer 2010 census questions because ACORN will be "in charge of going door to door and collecting data from the American public" (which is categorically false):

Becha I don't [answer the questions]! Becha they hear click, pop, and drop!

Not unless they have a bigger gun than I have. We Texans don't play the roll over and give in game.

I will not fill it out and will run any Accorn people off my property.

BEWARE OF DOG...NO ACORNS ALLOWED.

ACORN will get to meet my black lab if you show up at my door for the census.

Come on by ACORN. My dogs need the training. You had better get issued police dog training pads. From how it looks I'm not alone and you WILL need them!

It's my property and I have the right to say who is allowed on it. I also, have the right to post a sign advising THAT YOU ARE NOW IN RANGE, PLEASE HOLD STILL.

I guess that's the best job they can get under this dictator? Anyone who helps him cheat to win again will get what's coming to them.

JUST MAKE SURE YOU SICK YOUR DOG ON THEM OR ANSWER THE DOOR WITH YOUR GUN IN YOUR HAND.

And, lest anyone think that these are all just blowhards, here are two posters who are proud of what they have already done:

When the census person aka Acorn rang my doorbell my 3 german shepards were not happy - to say the least. I just pointed to the dogs and smiled. The Acorn dropped some notice and ran.

I am already in posession of my third notice for failing to cooperate with federal census takers targeting renters. When I asked if they were ACORN employees the feigned ignorance... as though they had never hear of it before.They told me the interview would take about 20 to 30 minutes. I told them it will take me less than two for them to record the information I'm willing to provide. I was marked "uncooperative". I put the butch "b!tc#" (attitude) out and told her to leave the property immediately.

These two unfortunate workers, who were most likely just verifying addresses in preparation for the mailing of census forms next March, almost certainly had no connection to ACORN whatsoever. It's far more likely that they've never heard of ACORN than that they were "feigning ignorance."

And so it has begun already. This is the result of a relentless campaign of ACORN innuendo, half-truths, and falsehoods by conservative media and, sadly, politicians like Bachmann. And if something does happen to a census worker, the media and such politicians will have a difficult time explaining away their role in creating the atmosphere that caused it.

You couldn't pay me enough to be a census worker in 2010.

Boo

This one's going to be real short. I don't think any additional comment will be needed.

President Obama today spoke about health care to an AMA convention in Chicago. According to the Chicago Sun-Times:

Though many doctors and Republicans say Obama's health reforms would lead to "socialized medicine," 2,200 members of the American Medical Association rose to their feet in nine standing ovations for Obama Monday, clapped at all his applause lines and only booed him once. [All emphasis added]

OK, you got the part about nine ovations and one booing, right? Good. Without further ado, here's Fox Nation's take on this. Surprise!

See that? No additional commentary needed.

(But aren't you just shocked—shocked!—that FN didn't report it like this?)

Oh Say, Can You Believe This?

A change of pace. This one isn't about Fox Nation, it's about the people who comment there.

Today's Washington Post contained a little op-ed piece by columnist Michael Kinsley regarding the national anthem. He's not crazy about it. It's very hard for most people to sing:

"The Star-Spangled Banner" is notoriously unsingable. A professor of music, Caldwell Titcomb of Brandeis, pointed out years ago in the New Republic that its melody spans nearly two octaves, when most people are good for one octave, max. The first eight lines are one enormous sentence with subordinate clauses, leaving no really good place to take a breath. There are far too many mandatory leaps off the high board (". . . what so PROU-dly we hail . . .").

He doesn't much like the lyrics either ("there is only one reference to any value commonly associated with America: 'land of the free.'"), but in any event, he'd like to use a different tune. He suggests "God Bless America", "America", "America the Beautiful", "This Land is Your Land", and a handful of others. Now, let's note some things he's not saying:

• America sucks.
• We should abolish the national anthem.
• I hate America and I want to destroy it.
• I'd prefer "Alice's Restaurant".

Well, here's what FN makes of this:

So, OK, that's pretty dumb, but, as I said, this one isn't about FN itself. I've gathered together for your entertainment the merest smattering of the jolly comments from the FNatics. Enjoy.

The only thing that should change is what country he lives in.

Is he a communist? My gosh, next the Dems will be banning apple pie and baseball because they are too American! Maybe Mr. Kinsley would like a "vacation in Soviet Russia?" [Ed.: News of the collapse of Soviet Russia eighteen years ago apparently a bit slow to reach this neighborhood.]

As if this loser knows what it is like to fight for this country if indeed this is his country.

I suggest that we all contribute to a fund and use the money to send these weird, anti-american, flag and country haters to someplace they would fit in. Cuba, Palestine, Sudan, Egypt, Somalia, Borneo, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran are a few of the places that come to mind. [Ed.: Borneo?]

I do not understand people who have lived in our nation, been recipiants of all we have, and still want to destroy America.

It is a small minority who follow the "cool" crowd who always have to denigrate, debase and vilify our nation and its customs and traditions. These types of people are always among us; we call them misfits.

There is now other way to describe these People in power at this time as anything but "MONSTERS". [Ed.: "These People in power" includes newspaper columnists?]

Is this guy a citizen? He is an excellent entrant for our waterboarding contest!

There is only one thing that needs to go and that is 0bama and his gang of criminals.

Why don't all you people who don't like the USA the way it [is] leave and start your own country. Then you can do things anyway you want. You can even have Obummer as Ruler.

send them all to some island far from Us and let them build the Country they want socialism, full control. Take all the atheist with them.

(Reply:)And let the Great Armed forces of our once great nation, like the Navy and the AIR FORCE, use that island for target practice.

This anthem is part of our heritage. What do the liberals want a "rap" anthem???

Liberals are all stupid, so should this suggest by a Liberal surprise anyone. This is just another thing the Left would like to cram down our throats. Frankly, Kinsley needs to be sent to Gitmo on the next plane.

Well, you get the gist. It is apparently not possible to disagree with FNatics on anything without causing them to blow a gasket.