Frank Rich Carries the Baton forward from Krugman

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Friday I steered you to Krugman. Tonight, add Frank Rich to the mix. Finally, we are seeing the opinion writers of trad med take a long overdue stand against the media which not only enable, they egg-on their rightwing followers into violent acts.

The examples are legion of how the establishment media have played along with the hatemongering tactics, giving the cover of their brand [MSNBC-Buchanan, anyone?] to the vilest of hate speech.

Oh, and as long as we're doing examples, Frank Rich ably takes on Fox, Limbaugh and the rest of the Usual Suspects, but how about stuff like NBC and Matt Lauer? I thought Letterman's joke was a stupid joke, too. But I also spoke out about Limbaugh's jokes about Chelsea Clinton back in the day. But in their $$$$-focused eyes, giving Sarah Palin a platform to shovel her insinuations against Letterman was probably some convoluted way to tear down Conan's competition at a critical time. Never mind that it tears down public discourse.

Meanwhile, you have hatemongers like Jon Voight with the seal of approval of Mitch McConnell and the rest of the Confederacy of ReTHUGS making not so subtle comparisons to assassinated historic leaders.

Frank Rich applauds Shep Smith, but the rest of the Fox screeders continue

Prairie Recommends: Krugman on the Big Hate

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We talk about it all the time here in the progressive blogosphere. But today, Krugman brings it out front and center in the New York Times. The rightwing hatemongering media machine, folks like Murdoch Media, The Washington Times, the AEI, the Heritage Foundation, the Limbaugh-O'Reilly-Hannity-Beck alliance that screeds and distorts and twists and eggs-on until we see a dead doctor, a dead security guard, family men both.

What do these purveyors of hate and division tell these victims' families? Not our fault? Politics ain't beanbag? What do they tell their own families, once the front door closes and it's just them theirownselves and their mirrors. Do they like the look of what they see? Really, Mary?

The tactics of hate. It's just words. Ask Frank Luntz, he'll tell you. Wordwhoring is the be-all-end-all, the policy doesn't matter, the truth doesn't matter, just who gets their side "out there" first and loudest. Right, Cokie?

The thing about the Big Hate is, once it gets the blessing of Teh Village, the Establishment, the "mainstream" then those folks are just as culpable. Turning a blind eye, a deaf ear, an oh, pish-posh, let's just keep it mysterious doesn't distinguish you from the vilest of the hate culture. Does it, Peggy?

Or maybe just ask the folks at Buchenwald...those who lived right next door.

Salute to Krugman for standing up to hate today...here's just a bit of what he has to say:

one important thing that the D.H.S. report didn’t say: Today, as in the early years of the Clinton administration but to an even greater extent, right-wing extremism is being systematically fed by the conservative media and political establishment.

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supposedly respectable news organizations and political figures are giving aid and comfort to dangerous extremism.

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Yes, the worst terrorist attack in our history was perpetrated by a foreign conspiracy. But the second worst, the Oklahoma City bombing, was perpetrated by an all-American lunatic.

crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette

UPDATE: A Letterwriter in the Minneapolis Tribune notes a darker side--the RNC itself is part of incendiary speech tactics, given the cynical use of Jon Voight and his inflammatory words at their GOP dinner. Some Confederacy you're pallin' around with these days, Sister Sarah.

Rush Bites Corporate Hand

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Maybe it's merely Rush Limbaugh's temper tantrum, but his current call for boycotting General Motors, seems to me, should give Comcast and all his advertisers serious pause.

Everyone knows about the Magic $400 million...Rush's contract. Clear Channel's* ditch.

But not content to thrash around attempting to discredit President Obama's economic policies or SCOTUS appointment or...hmmmm, has he turned on Bo yet?...Rush more and more is attacking his own.

He wants Obama to fail. But if Obama fails, the country fails.

He wants everybody to boycott GM. And if GM fails, jobs and small businesses by the thousands fail.

Rush didn't get his way in the last election. He's ranting and fuming and bouncing up and down, fat globules following. Wanting his enemies to fail, wanting his friends to fail, wanting everybody to fail. Joining him in his twisted, self-destructive little world that all the glittery dollars and Gulfstreams cannot put a polish on.

Maybe in the boardrooms and marketing depts of major corporations they're having a good laugh at the way Rush is stickin' it to the Dems and Obama.

Or maybe, finally, they're starting to say, hey, wait a minute...what if he started talking like that about...us?
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[h/t Niemoller]
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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette

*corrected by PS

Who Are the Most Terroristic Threats to America?

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Given that Fox News mouths have decided to double-down on Bill O'Reilly's repugnant, inciteful hatemongering, perhaps it's time to ask this question:

Who are the worse terrorists inciting hate against America?

Osama bin Laden and Zawahiri?

Or Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch?
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You decide.
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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette

Prairie Recommends: Bob Herbert on the Fading Species

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The hysterical hyperbole from the bulbous blowhards of the rightwing Republi-THUGS keeps getting more and more outrageous, as Bob Herbert sums up today regarding the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.

Could we hope that these puffed-up self-important gasbags may at long last overblow their hot air so much that they just explode into the stratosphere never to be seen again?

Likely not, since the Mortal Combat media is only too eager to give these sumbitchez plenty of airtime for their rantings.

The Southern Strategy has become the Latina Strategy. You know...hot-blooded, raaadical, not quite one of "us." Yep, the us vs. them strategy is in full play.

Make note, fellow Americans. Next time it could be rants against an Asian American. Or any ol' smear they can develop against someone they can paint as part of some group of "other."

I must warn the little ol' Norwegian-American ladies serving coffee at the Sons of Norway Lodge. They could be next. What are those long skirts concealing, anyway?
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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette

Imus Calls Rush Tactics "Insipid"

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The rightwing screederama danced in collaboration with the shallow stenomedia against Sonia Sotomayor last week, centered around a quote pulled out of the context of her thoughtful speech—heck, it was pulled out of the full sentence, even.

You know the one: "...wise Latina woman...."

This morning, Imus, musing with his cohorts back in New York from his Imus Ranch for Kids with Cancer in New Mexico, described the idiocy of the attacks on her as reverse racist as "insipid."

Maybe it's the clear fresh air away from the Eastern Corridor that festers between and among the Beltway and Broadway and Wall Street crowds—we've been known to have a bit of that here in the heartland as well.

Kudos to Imus for cutting through the rabble-rants of the rightwing Usual Suspects: Limbaugh, Laura Ingraham, Hannity, Rove and all the rest of the predictable sand-throwers.

The GOPasaurus [h/t dKos] media may be on a collision course with death throes [oh, yes, it is....], but it still makes a stink. Good on Imus for cutting through the thunder to point out there's no "there" there. And why is NBC still, as late as yesterday's Nightly News, still perpetuating the false clipping of Sotomayor's words?

Tuesday, Debra Dickerson will be an Imus guest. I'll be watching on RFD-TV, you can catch it on radio, tv or online livestreamed.

[Do your own google homework, it's summer and I'm not link-making]
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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette

Her good doctor

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Today a good man, a good doctor was murdered by a rightwing fanatic, a—yes—domestic terrorist.

Dr. George Tiller was beloved by his community, his patients, because he was far more than the shallow stereotype label, "abortion doctor," we've come to expect from the cynical politicians who trade in emotional manipulation and the shallow stenographers of the media who let the Rethug blast faxes dictate their reporting.

We've seen the tradmedia fall in line this past week as they let Rush and Newt dictate their news coverage on Sonia Sotomayor.

Will we see the same distortion and half-truths about Dr. Tiller in the news coverage this week?

Perhaps the breathless coiffed anchorbots and their producers and corporate owners should take a look at another big story this week, the GM bankruptcy, and realize that business as usual is the road to business-end.

It'd be nice to hear the full story reported on Dr. Tiller and his cold-blooded killer and those who incite such acts. Instead of the verbal wrestling that is some phony "fair and balanced."

Maybe a class action lawsuit against the inciters would get their attention. It worked for the Southern Poverty Law Center against Tom Metzger. Maybe it's time to hit these media hatemongers where it hurts the most...in their wallets.
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crossposted at firedoglake's Oxdown Gazette