Day: 6/25/2012

Fox Nation Asks About Obama’s White Girlfriends – Again

Posted by on June 25, 2012 at 2:39 pm. 2 Comments :

Why is Fox Nation so obsessed with President Obama’s college girlfriends, and particularly their race?

Fox Nation on Obama's White Girlfriends

The article referenced above links to an item in the British newspaper, the Daily Mail. It discusses excerpts from a biography of Obama by David Marannis. And while it never answers the question in the headline, it does assert unsupported allegations of racial motivations in his love life.

“The U.S. president and his First Lady sometimes seem so well-suited to each other that it’s hard to imagine there ever having been any woman in his life other than the formidable Michelle, whom he met while working for a Chicago law firm in 1989. Obama has reinforced this notion by making only fleeting mention of ex-girlfriends in his carefully calibrated memoirs.” […]

“Time and again, Obama, who has had to fight hard to convince other African Americans of his ‘black credibility’, appears to have burnished his radical credentials, not least by playing up the roles of black people in his life and playing down the roles of the white. And nowhere is this more apparent than in his romantic life.”

Suggestive phrases like “fleeting mention” are designed to insinuate that there is something sinister and secretive in Obama’s past. But how many of George Bush’s old flames can you recall? And were any of them black? More importantly, when have you ever heard anyone even ask about the former girlfriends of any president prior to Obama? It seems that only Obama’s romantic history is of interest to these folks. Just like Obama is the only president ever asked to produce a birth certificate.

Why are these matters of significance with regard to Obama and no one else? Isn’t anyone curious about who Romney courted before hooking up with Ann? Surely he had a fling or two while he lived in Paris proselytizing for the Mormon Church and avoiding military service in Vietnam.

There is very little in the Daily Mail article that is new, and much of it was revealed by Obama himself in his own autobiography, Dreams From My Father. However, this fixation on the youthful romances of Obama is a recurring theme with right-wing racists. The fetish extends to authors on Breitbart News and NewsBusters, along with numerous other conservative bile dispensers. Last year Fox Nation posted this thinly disguised racial attack on Obama.

Fox Nation White Women

There seems to be a recurring theme that involves the old fear that white racists have of virile African men defiling their pure Caucasian virgins. And the Fox Nationalists never seem to get tired of invoking it. Similarly, I never get tired of posting this:

Graphic Evidence Of The Bigotry In Fox News Coverage Of The Arizona Supreme Court Ruling

Posted by on June 25, 2012 at 11:30 am. 1 Comments :

Today the Supreme Court issued its ruling on the controversial Arizona law against undocumented immigrants. It was a partially mixed decision, however, any objective appraisal would have to note that three of the four major components of the law were struck down, and the fourth (the most controversial part requiring law enforcement to inquire as to the legal status of people they have reason to believe are undocumented) was upheld, but severely limited.

Fox News covered this ruling in its uniquely racist way by tailoring the story to different audiences. On Fox News Latino the headline accurately reported that the “Court Strikes Down Most of AZ Immig Law.” However, on Fox Nation they went with the misleading, “U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Controversial Part of Tough Arizona Immigration Law.” Even Fox News was more balanced by saying that “Supreme Court Reigns In Arizona On Immigration.”

Fox News on Arizona Ruling

So once again Fox panders to their Latino audience on the web site aimed at them, while slanting steeply in the opposite direction on Fox Nation, the community of such rancid bigotry that Fox had to close the comments section for fear of the vile postings that frequently occur. Obviously, Fox knows its audience.

Not So Breitbart: The Idiot’s Guide To Obama’s Fundraising

Posted by on June 25, 2012 at 10:43 am. 1 Comments :

The intellectual reputation (or lack thereof) at Breitbart News took another hit this weekend with an embarrassingly moronic article that attempts to analyze a fundraising appeal from the Obama campaign. It’s remarkable how one’s brain can turn to mush when consumed by an irrational hatred for one’s adversaries.

Breitbart Article

The article, by William Bigelow, was headlined, “Obama Campaign E-Mail: ‘We’re Falling Behind.'” It revealed the contents of an email seeking donations from Obama supporters. Breitbrat Bill surmised from this that…

“The Obama campaign is so frightened at this point that they have taken an unprecedented step. They’re telling the truth.

In the latest of the ‘personal’ e-mails that the Obama campaign is sending out, they don’t sugarcoat their appeal for money with saccharine stories about Obama shoveling snow for his wife, or working hard late into the night. They panic.”

There you have it. The Breitbrat’s proof that Obama is panicking is that his campaign refrained from soliciting donations the way all other candidates do: with stories about shoveling snow. I’m sure you’ve seen a million of them. Instead, Obama’s request focuses on the need for donors to pitch in because…

“For the first time in modern American history, the incumbent (that’s us) will get outspent in a re-election campaign — by some estimates as much as 3-to-1. Over the last 10 days of this month alone, GOP outside groups will spend $20 million attacking President Obama on TV.”

See how desperate they are? They have adopted an approach that warns supporters about the risks of being outspent in an election. They also remind people of the dangerous repercussions of the Citizen’s United ruling that allows wealthy donors and corporations to anonymously give unlimited amounts of money. And they are abandoning the traditional solicitation that Breitbrat Bill must think goes something like this:

“We are up to our armpits in cash and are trouncing our opponents in the fundraising race. Our side has already accumulated a 3-to-1 advantage over the other guy and we have plastered the media with advertising. So even though we have taken to spending our excess campaign funds on gold watches and 4-star hotels, please dig deep and send us more money with which to line our pockets.”

The stupidity of Breitbart’s complaint is nearly pathetic. All campaigns appeal to donors by impressing them with the need to raise funds in a competitive contest and the necessity of staying ahead of your opponent. But this simple truth strikes Breitbrat Bill as evidence of panic. Is this really the best they can do?

Also, here’s a bonus bit of boob-headedness. Breitbrat Ben Shapiro Tweeted this morsel of wisdom yesterday: “And yes, what is happening in Egypt IS largely Obama’s fault.”

Breitbart Egypt Tweet

Of course, Obama, the consummate community organizer, was able to motivate millions of Egyptians to take to the streets in protest against a dictator who had clung to power for 40 years. Then Obama succeeded in forcing Mubarak from office, leading the way to the first free elections in decades for the Egyptian people.

Thanks for giving Obama credit for all of that, Ben. Even though you obviously prefer the former state of tyranny to the free choice of democracy, you are big enough to grant the President the credit he is due.

Mitts And Hisses: Rupert Murdoch Has Lost All Touch With Reality

Posted by on June 25, 2012 at 4:37 am. 3 Comments :

The allegedly “fair and balanced” Fox News Channel’s patriarch, Rupert Murdoch, has revealed his preference in the presidential contest, as if it was ever in doubt. Yesterday, however, he made it clear that he favors Mitt Romney, even though he’s concerned that Romney isn’t being sufficiently dickish. Murdoch Tweeted:

“Easy for Romney to spell out restoration of the American Dream and bash incompetent administration. But not a word.”

Rupert Murdoch Tweet

There is so much wrong with that brief belch of bluster that it’s hard to know where to begin. Let’s start with the fact that the man who runs the company that hacked into the phones of thousands of people, including politicians, celebrities, and a murdered schoolgirl, has no business calling anyone else incompetent. Especially when that horrific and criminal activity, which has already resulted in dozens of arrests and resignations, was deliberately covered up at the highest levels of the company’s management.

Secondly, Murdoch doesn’t bother to define his notion of the American Dream. Presumably it involves being made a citizen by an act of Congress so that you can buy a television network, rather than having any affinity for the values of the country you are merely exploiting for profit. It certainly does not involve the patriotic principles of shared sacrifice, equality, and justice for all.

Thirdly, It is thoroughly inappropriate for the head of a so-called “news” enterprise to advocate “bashing” a political candidate. Murdoch is, in effect, offering campaign advice to the candidate he supports. But his advice is purely style over substance. He is not helping to shape policy or strategy. Rather he’s pushing the candidate toward more hardball tactics. And for anyone who thinks this is reaching too far, note that this morning on Fox & Friends the cast of cartoon characters who host the show took exactly the same position in a segment that promoted White House critics goading Romney into taking a more aggressive posture against the President. That coordination of themes was just a coincidence, right?

Finally, Murdoch complained that Romney has said “not a word” with respect to the American Dream or bashing the President. Is Murdoch in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s? That’s pretty much all that Romney has talked about. Can anyone forget his dreamy exaltation of America that nearly made the wrod lose all meaning?

Romney: I believe in an America where millions of Americans believe in an America that’s the America millions of Americans believe in. That’s the America I believe in.

Romney has perfected a sort robotic America worship that can only appeal to an emotionally stunted Tea Partier. His campaign slogan is Believe in America (well, that and We’re not Stupid) And when he isn’t salivating over America, he is berating Obama. Romney has hardly been gentle in his assaults. He routinely castigates the President as a failure, in over his head, and a hater of free enterprise.

All of this makes you wonder how Murdoch would have Romney alter his approach. Romney already avoids substantive policies like the plague – at least those he isn’t flip-flopping around. Does Murdoch want Romney to adopt the dementia of birthers, or the paranoia of those convinced that Obama is a Manchurian Muslim bent on delivering America to the communists? Romney’s entire campaign is already composed of nothing but obsequious pseudo-patriotism and pummeling Obama. Yet somehow Murdoch doesn’t see any of it – or enough of it. That should be a troubling sign to his doctors, his family, and his colleagues at Fox News.