Pinch me, because I must be dreamin'...

(And I'll probably type the above an infinite number of times between now and the middle of 2009, at the earliest)

Sorry for all of the recent inactivity on here - I've had one of the busiest and exhausting weeks in recent memory. Anyway, back to politics...

It seems that there's at least one journalist over at Fersatz News who has a shred of credibility, and his name is Sheppard Smith. Check out the exchange in the video above between Smith and Nick DiPaolo:

DiPaolo:...the MSM being so in the tank for Obama...

Smith: Oh, please. That's preposterous. The MSM reflected what was happening in this nation. It did not drive it. The blogs didn't drive this movement, the media didn't drive this movement. Barack Obama did not lose this election. It was his to lose. It was not John McCain's to win. The Republicans had no shot unless the Democrats gave it to them and they didn't and to blame the media is a cop out and ridiculous....

DiPaolo The MSM has been liberal since its inception. It's years and years of pounding...

Smith: How did George Bush win twice?

DiPaolo: I don't know. Karl Rove is a genius.

DiPaolo misses two key points: 1. Both elections were stolen, and 2. If Karl Rove is such a genius, then why didn't McCain's Swiftboating of Obama prove feckless? The answer is simple - America wasn't falling for it this time.

Maybe, just maybe, the GOP meme of blaming the media for all bad news and events that are unfavorable to Repubes will die with Obama's victory. Okay, now I am dreaming, but this strategy has been in play since the days of President Nixon, who so hated and despised the media.

And I guess that DiPaolo must have been asleep while the media raked Obama over the coals about these topics:

1. The bogus madrassa story (endlessly pimped by Fersatz News until debunked by CNN and some other networks)
2. William Ayers
3. ACORN (porn for Republicans)
4. His alleged ties to anti-Israel radicals
5. Insinuations that he isn't a US-born citizen
6. "Lipstick on a Pig" and the associated accoutrements shouted about by McCain and his enablers
7. Jeremiah Wright (for eight straight days on Fox, MSNBC, CNN and just about every other major news network when the story first went "national" after weeks and weeks of pimping by Fox, Limbaugh and Hannity)
8. The smear about Obama's aunt the weekend before the election
9. Then there's Rashid Khalidi - another phony guilt by association story that failed to stick just days before the election
10. One of my favorites (these are in no particular order) - McCain huffed that Obama hadn't been to Iraq and that he hadn't been to Afghanistan in years; once Obama went, then McCain and conservatives whined about Obama's press coverage, saying lamely that Obama was taking a "victory lap"
11. And who in the hell can forget Joe the Plumber, the Kato Kaelin of the 2008 campaign. I'll have much more on Joe a bit later.

###

What's more, up until a few years ago, McCain used to joke that the media was "his base." I guess I'd feel that way, too if the press ran up the flagpole whatever I decided to call myself without questioning it, i.e. - Maverick, Straight Talker, etc.

I have to agree with Sheppard here - the media wasn't necessarily rooting for Obama - it was merely reporting just how inept the McCain campaign was. When Sarah Palin wasn't even able to answer basic foreign policy questions, while asserting that being able "to see Russia from Alaska" gave her foreign policy expertise, then McCain and Palin merely got the coverage they deserved.

What's more, there was plenty that the media failed to explore - Sarah Palin's known links to the independent Alaska movement, McCain's many flip flops on a variety of issues, etc.

But, hey, whatever - who's whining? Not me - McCain got whupped. But, that's not going to stop the right from whimpering like babies for weeks (months? years?) on end. I'm getting a particular kick out of listening to Hannity, O'Lielly, Rush, Drudge and the rest all scrambling to discredit Obama, because for the next four years (and hopefully eight), they will have nothing better to do. They don't have ideas of their own - they merely want to tear Obama down. I hope the president-elect and his team will be prepared for it.

I know I am and will be.

As I've told countless friends and acquaintances since election night - our work is not over - it's just beginning.

The death knell of Rendell's credibility

When I hear Ed Rendell say things like this, I can't help but wonder just what in the world happened to the guy I so enthusiastically voted for twice to run Pennsylvania. I backed him because he did such a magnificent job as a two-term mayor of Philadelphia, mostly, but that success has not translated into his stewardship of our state.

Quite frankly, I'm not all that impressed with what he has done as governor. He's brought legalized gambling to our state. Ho Boy! Quite frankly, if state Republicans had come up with any sort of formidable candidate in '06 to run against him, I would have considered voting that way, but Lynn Swann was a total joke of a candidate who has accomplished zero in elected office. (I'm still amazed that Republicans thought that just because Swann won Super Bowls as a Pittsburgh Steeler that he would be somehow miraculously be embraced by Pennsylvanians and swept into office. Morons.)

Anyway, Rendell has unabashedly backed HRC to be president, which is certainly his right, but, judging by the footage above, he's been drinking the Hillary Kool-Aid. Fox News, doing a good job of covering Democrats? What a transparent, idiotic attempt to make Obama look bad. Fox has not only done a horrific job "reporting" on Obama (Anyone remember the bogus Madrassa story?), but it's been none-too-kind to the Clintons, either.

Perhaps Rendell has been spending too much time on Philadelphia sports talk shows, and not enough time watching the actual news to really know what's been going on. Whatever the cause of it is irrelevant, though; at any rate, his credibility is all but shot with me.

Picking the Fox scab, & finding lots of pus

What's been going on for over a year is now beginning to pick up steam - the Swiftboating of Barack Obama. There is so much crap and misinformation floating about on the Internet now, and I just hope Obama's campaign (or Hillary's, if she is the nominee) acts swiftly (pardon the pun) to refute the lies and misinformation. Anyway, the people over at Fox Attacks have put together a number of insightful videos that are great montages of the attacks against Obama over the last year and a half or so by Fox and its talking heads.

Evidence of Fox's smear campaign against Obama is not hard to unearth - the difficult part is documenting it all, since there's so much of it: the bogus madrassa story, lies about his not putting his hand over his heart during the Pledge of Allegiance, and his egregious offense of not wearing an American flag lapel pin every minute of every day, and so on. In many ways, Fox and its disciples are like the ocean tides - it just keeps on coming. But that doesn't mean the truth should remain hidden behind the network's blatantly obvious partisan and biased reporting.

This one's a blast from the past - Part I from February '07...

(I know I just posted Part I last week, but in case you missed it (or even if you didn't), it's worth another look.)

My personal favorites from Part I:

"Barack Obama in a bathing suit!"

"...The network America trusts for fair and balanced reporting." *Snicker*

All of the "he's a black candidate" crap, as well as the fact that Obama is "surrounding himself with white people."

"Barack... HUSSEIN... Obama"

"He is, get this... a cigarette smoker" [Emphasis in Original]

"Apparently when he was a little boy, he attended a Muslim school, a madrassa... THIS... IS... HU-YOOGE!" [Emphasis in Original]

"We're gonna be the headquarters for the 2008 election..."

Um, yea, maybe the '08 headquarters for intellectual midgets and right wing neo-cons who want to practice cognitive dissonance by listening to O'Lielly blathering about the Nazis, or Sean Insanity blubbering endlessly about Obama's middle name. I don't know many people outside of those categories who take Fox seriously. But, there are enough people who do for it to be necessary to refute these distortions and outright lies.

And here's Part II, just released by Fox Attacks...

Yep, the latest installment has some pretty good highlights, too. Here are my favorites, in no particular order:

"He's a 'half-rican' anyway..." Really? This Rush Limbaugh-ism is so overtly childish and racist it defies description, but I'll try. Of course, some would say, "but Obama is!" but that doesn't necessitate bringing it up. For instance, I don't hear anyone calling Limbaugh "Limbephant" because of his pachyderm-like appearance. Bringing up Obama's ethnicity, that he's half black, is the same reason that all Fox announcers never miss an opportunity to say "Barack HUSSEIN Obama"; it's to exploit people's fears and prejudices about race and religion, PERIOD.

"People are literally passing out at Obama rallies." First of all, I haven't heard that, but if it's true, it's almost as if the talking heads at Fox are jealous of Obama's surging popularity. Even if it is true, it still contrasts pretty nicely to McCain rallies, where people pass out because they haven't had their afternoon nap. Okay, that was low, but hopefully you get my point.

"...the kind of popularity that Chairman Mao only dreamed of." Which is it? Is he a Muslim or a communist? Maybe both? I haven't heard of many Muslim Communists, but I guess the do exist. Far-right Repubes really need to come up with better material than calling someone a communist; that's so, um, 1950.

"Will President Obama blame America first?" This was in the aftermath of Michelle Obama having the temerity to say that she wasn't proud of her country. In the aftermath of this, it also became an "issue" that Obama doesn't consistently wear a "flag lapel pin." (the faux "necessity" of wearing something representing an American flag reminds me of something else [at right], at the risk of inciting Goodwin's Law.) Obama has sagely pointed out on numerous occasions that you "don't have to wear a lapel pin to be patriotic," and he's absolutely right. Brit Hume's assertion that outright displays of patriotism for the Obamas is "a little icky" is, sadly, exactly the type of churlish comment I've come to expect from a once-respected journalist. I really wonder how these people at Fox look at themselves in the mirror every morning - making no doubt hundreds of thousands if not millions to intentionally distort, deceive and lie. I couldn't do it.

However, my personal favorite from the above vid - the "Jeremiah Wright" mention by college drop-out Sean Hannity. I guess it's not enough that Obama has repeatedly distanced himself from and denounced Wright's controversial comments. Since when does a church member follow or believe everything that his/her member of the clergy practices or preaches? It's ridiculous. For example, the pastor of the church I went to when I was young had a sexual affair with a young staffer, and as a result, his wife divorced him and he was kicked out of my church. Does that mean I support or believe in adultery? No. Put differently, should certain Catholic congregation members be accused of supporting or condoning pedophilia because their priest has a penchant for altar boys? Please. This is simply a sad, pathetic, transparent attempt to find dirt on Obama - sadly, this "controversy" seems to "have legs" as the saying goes, in the non-Fox mainstream media - it's been all over the news lately, including NBC News, Time Magazine, CNN, etc. Here's hoping that Americans who think for themselves (non-Fox viewers) will see it for what it is - a network with an agenda that will stop at nothing to smear Obama. It's Bill Clinton all over again. Sadly, many will believe what they see and hear on Fox.

Our soldiers are dying in Iraq, there are a record number of mortgage foreclosures, oil is trading above $110 a barrel & our economy is collapsing, yet Fox wants to insult its viewers with tales of what Obama's pastor said years ago? I just don't believe these "Karl Rove" tactics are going to wash in 2008. I pray I'm right. But, Democrats cannot and must not take anything for granted - there are millions who believe all of this stuff. Speaking of Rove, is it ANY SURPRISE that Fox has hired this guy? The "network" really is a disgrace.

I find it astounding, but not surprising, that Repubes consistently whine and complain about the "librul media" (Bush pronunciation) when the highest rated cable news network is Fox, and one of the most visited Websites on the 'Net, and definitely the most visited political site, is the Drudge Report. Both of these propaganda media drive the rest of the media - Tim Russert taking his cues from Fox News in Part II above is a stark example of this.

And the Russert example above is not an exaggeration - it happens all the time. There are numerous examples of stories that first appear on Drudge, and it quickly makes its way into the rest of the media, reported as news.

By the way, guess which current federal office holder holds the record for Meet the Press appearances - it's John McCain, with 52 appearances. The media must be librul, right?

Yet, despite these truths, even some smart people drink the Fox Kool-Aid. I received this e-mail from one of my best friends yesterday about Obama:

Coming Home to Roost

Jeremiah Wright = Swift Boating 2008

As I said in my last e-mail - Obama needs to somehow sidestep his 20-year relationship with this time bomb, and even if he does, this one is not going away. What was a whisper is not being shouted from major networks.

First, he mentions "Swift Boating 2008" as if it's a good thing. My ill-informed friend no doubt has not seen the video comparison above, nor has probably seen any of the Democratic debates. Even if he has, his mind has no doubt been polluted by the intellectually dishonest snake oil salesmen at Fox, and its disciples.
~~~
However, the best interpretation of just what Fox, Roger Ailes & Rupert Murdoch are up to comes from the aforementioned Fox Attacks in a recent blog entry:

I had a very disturbing talk with my dad about Barack Obama.

I was on the phone with my parents telling them about the video I was working on, FOX ATTACKS! Obama Part 2: Spreading the Virus, and brought up how FOX (Sean Hannity, in particular) has been desperately trying to create a connection between Louis Farrakhan and Barack Obama because a magazine founded by Obama's pastor, Jeremiah Wright, and run by Wright's daughters recently gave Louis Farrakhan an award. I told my parents how Hannity went from saying the magazine gave Farrakhan the award to claiming Wright gave him the award (which he didn't) to saying that Obama "associated" with Farrakhan (which he hasn't). Hannity would mostly use these "stories" so he could rattle off some of Farrakhan's most offensive comments and mention Obama in the same breath, effectively linking the two in the minds of FOX viewers. He just wants to say, "Obama — Farrakhan — racist — anti-Semite" over and over again until they are linked, just as FOX did with "Iraq — Al Qaeda — 9/11 — terrorism" in the run-up to the Iraq war.

Of course, Hannity almost never mentions that Obama has repeatedly denounced Farrakhan's racist, anti-semitic, and inflammatory remarks, has called for more cooperation between the black and Jewish communities, has spoken before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), and has been defended by the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and other prominent Jewish organizations. But Hannity doesn't want his viewers to know this. He just wants them to have a vague impression that Obama is an anti-semite and a black separatist.

When I mentioned this example to my parents, my dad said, "Wait, didn't Louis Farrakhan give Obama an award and Obama accepted it?" When I told him that this was completely off, he said, "Oh, I guess I must have heard it wrong."

Somewhere, Sean Hannity, Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch are poking holes in an Obama voodoo doll, laughing.

Obama advocating children safety = sex education for 5-year olds?

Oh yea, about the madrassa story... Here's a refresher from Fox Attacks. This is also a pretty good piece detailing how Barack Obama supposedly advocates birth control and condoms for five-year olds, when all he was really saying was that five-year olds should be educated about the dangers of child predators and pedophilia. Notice in the clip that they show on Fox, how there's a cut in the footage right before Obama says, "I think it's a good idea."

Does this really fool anyone, other than elderly Republican voters who will believe anything they see on GOP TV? The sad answer is Yes, it does undoubtedly resonates with some people.

Think petitions don't matter? Watch this...

This is proof positive that petitions really can make a difference. I'm glad the leadership of the Democratic Party woke up and realizing that Fox does not deserve equal billing with the rest of the news networks.

Fox is free to peddle its propaganda, but that doesn't obligate any Democrat to participate.

I've read plenty about Republicans' decrying the cancellation, but where were these same people when Bush and Cheney were calling a New York Times reporter a "major league asshole" (caught on camera) or when Cheney banished an NYT reporter from Air Force Two over the paper's coverage?

Fox is merely getting what it deserves. The "network" has already made sport out of trashing and smearing Democrats in this young campaign. Anyone remember the phony Barack Obama Madrassa story?

Bravo to MoveOn and to everyone who signed the petition. Let's hope that Howard Dean and the Democrats have used up their "stupid move" for the year.

Another beautiful Fox News screenshot

I'll never tire of pointing out the hypocrisy and idiocy of Fersatz News. One never has to look very far, either. The only problem is deciding which pieces of disinformation to comment on. But, here at Count Me Blue, I'm the decider, and I'll decide what Fox News pieces are most worthy of scorn. And this one is right up there with the best of them.

Obama's original quote was "I think that nobody wants to play chicken with our troops on the ground."

As C&L rightfully points out, even including the word "nobody" would have been better than this blatant, intentional distortion of Obama's quote. Considering the network's track record, it's undeserving of the benefit of the doubt.

But, then again, Obama attended a madrassa in Indonesia, HIS MIDDLE NAME IS HUSSEIN, and he smokes!, so he must not be fit for the White House.

A blatant distortion?

I retort, you decide.

Fox smear 101: a montage of Obama love

I posted this some time ago, but it's worth posting again for a number of reasons:

1. Fox, specifically people like Sean Insanity, will do just about anything to try and make Barack Obama look bad. Wait, excuse me, it's Barack HUSSEIN Obama. Can these people possibly be any more childish? This is behavior fit for a playground.

2. This video is a reminder of what political activism can do. I'm not saying that Fox Attacks or any other one organization or event single-handedly caused the Democrats to pull out of the Nevada Democratic Primary Debate that was scheduled for this August, but Democrats signing petitions, sending e-mails, and voicing their extreme displeasure at the whole idea in the first place most certainly played a major role in the party's decision to cancel the event. The only question I have now is, what were the Democrats thinking in the first place?

In recent days, I've heard some argue that cancelling the even on Fox News deprives the Democratic candidates of a chance to reach out to a new audience of voters. There is some validity to that, I suppose, but I feel the overriding concern here is the network's continuing, systematic effort to paint Democrats in an overwhelmingly negative light. And I you think I'm serving up steaming b.s., watch the video clip above, again.

3. Since the bogus "Madrassa" story about Obama, the presidential candidate has shunned Fox News, and that's led some conservatives to decry the "censorship." That's pure, unadulterated bullshit.

Does anyone remember Dick Cheney kicking the New York Times off of his plane for a time when he didn't like the coverage he was getting? Most who criticize Obama's decision conveniently forget Cheney's activities.

Another example - anyone remember Cheney and President Bush caught on camera calling a reporter from the New York Times "a major league asshole"? I do.

Way back in 2000, during a September campaign appearance in Chicago (from Salon.com):

Then Bush spotted New York Times reporter Adam Clymer, who has been with the paper since 1977, serving as national political correspondent during the 1980 presidential race, as polling editor from 1983 to 1990 and as political editor during the successful presidential campaign of Bush's father in 1988.

"There's Adam Clymer -- major league asshole -- from the New York Times," Bush said.

"Yeah, big time," returned Cheney.

###

Yea, Democrats are the only ones who take steps against media coverage they don't like.

Right!

Dems dump Fox debate for Ailes joke

So, the Democrats have finally wised up - there will be no Democratic debate on Faux News this August. I have no idea what the Democrats were thinking in the first place by agreeing to cosponsor a debate on Fox. Can anyone imagine the likes of Sean Hannity or Chris Wallace asking unbiased, relevant questions to Democratic candidates for president? I can't, either.

Roger Ailes, the head of Fox News, made some jokes on Friday night about Barack Obama and the Democrats. One in particular caught the ire of Democrats nationwide, in particular the party's leadership.

The joke by Ailes came during a speech to the Radio and Television News Directors Foundation First Amendment Dinner. The joke underscores a sophomoric dig that Republicans like to take at the popular Obama - making fun of his name by comparing it to terrorists.

"It's true that Barack Obama is on the move," said Ailes. "I don't know if it's true that President Bush called [Pakastani President Pervez] Musharraf and said 'Why can't we catch this guy?'"

No one ever accused me of being unable to take a joke, but Fox's digs about Obama's name are getting old, fast: Calling him "Osama" and never missing the opportunity to say his middle name, "Hussein", for example, has got to be getting on Obama's nerves, and hopefully voters as well.

Less than 24 hours later, the Democratic National Committee announced a pullout of the August debate on Fox News. I don't know what's more entertaining - Ailes trying to do stand-up comedy, or the networks's reaction following the announcement.

Ailes' jokes in the video above speak for themselves - this guy is about as funny as cancer. The hilarious Fox statement:

"News organizations will want to think twice before getting involved in the Nevada Democratic Caucus, which appears to be controlled by radical fringe out-of-state interest groups, not he Democratic Party," said Fox News Vice President David Rhodes.

I think Rhodes is off his meds.

John Edwards also played a part in the Democrats' pulling out of the Fox debate, announcing on Thursday that he would not participate in the debate, citing Fox's participation in the debate as part of the reason.

Who can blame Edwards? Ann Coulter slanders him, and Fox has her on immediately thereafter, treating her like some sort of folk hero.

Note to Fox execs - if you want to continue this charade of "fair and balanced," don't put a hate monger on your network less than 72 hours after she makes uncouth, hateful remarks about a Democratic candidate for president.

It appears that MoveOn.org played a pretty big role in the cancellation, too, and that doesn't sit too well with Republicans, or Ailes, who took a swipe at the political organization and Edwards during his speech Friday night, saying pressure groups were now urging candidates "to only appear on those networks and venues that give them favorable coverage."

That doesn't quite capture it, Rog. MoveOn's campaign to get the debate cancelled is called free speech. Also, who can blame Edwards and Obama for dissing Fox after the treatment they've received from the network thus far in the campaign, even at this early stage? You don't have to go far to dig for examples, either: the phony madrassa story about Obama's childhood school, the network saying "Barack Osama" by "mistake" on more than one occasion, hosts deriding Democratic candidates at every turn, etc.

I'm for a free and open press, but when thinking about this, I put myself in the shoes of Edwards and Obama - why would I give Fox any attention when there are numerous other media outlets to use? That's just being smart.

Of course, this is all part of Fox's modus operandi - slam Democratic candidates, and when they fight back, hide behind a free press and cry wolf. I ain't buying it, and I can only hope moderate voters don't buy this crap, either.

Only time will tell - 308 days until the Iowa Caucus.

Check out FNC's Obama, um, "coverage"

Happy Sunday morning - I thought I'd share a sage video clip to start off the day. It's a pretty good montage of the sewage Fox News has been pushing about Barack Obama, and it's only February 2007, folks. In this clip, we get such Earth-shattering events as the bogus and thoroughly debunked Madrassa story, Obama's cigarette habit, and photos of Obama in a bathing suit. Obama in a bathing suit is newsworthy?!? Christ, I didn't know Britney Spears is running for president!

Without question, media "coverage" of the candidates can and will get a whole lot worse before 2008, which only makes me relish the fight and challenges ahead for all of us.

I'm getting that 2004 feeling all over again, and it gives me goosebumps. For me, '04 was an incredibly empowering year, (At left, attending a John Kerry Love Park rally) and I put my activities where my mouth was, spending lots of time at phone banks, rallies, going door-to-door and spending the last seven days before the election working full time for the Kerry campaign in Bucks County, Pa. It was bittersweet, but I'd do it all again, and I plan to during the '08 presidential election. (Although I doubt I'll be able to take a week off from work, wherever I'm working or wherever we're living, and by then I hope it's sunny Southern California. Maybe a personal day or two and some weekend work, and of course, blogging! ;o)

Anyway, I found the video above from a Website called Fox Attacks. The site and the clip above really are worth 10 minutes of your time. These are the same people who brought us OUTFOXED: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism. If you haven't seen that movie yet, I strongly urge you to do so; when you rip the Fair and Balanced scab of Fox News, you uncover a lot of puss. (To see the trailer for OUTFOXED, scroll down the right side of my home page until you get to movie trailers - take a look.)

Anyway, I love the video above, and I love what the people at Fox Attacks are doing. These are the kinds of sites I'm working on visiting and writing about - sites that urge and help you do something, instead of just blabbering on and on and whining about the current state of affairs. (And I'm guilty of more than a little of that.)

On Fox Attacks, you can sign a petition, watch videos like the one above (and others), and take action against advertisers who insist on advertising on Fox Noise Channel. I don't know about the effectiveness of some of this stuff, but I know it's better than just complaining.

It's empowering.