Where On Earth Are the Liberal Lunatics on Television?
The outcry over Ann Coulter's freak show culminated in a segment on NBC Nightly News acknowledging the fact that she went "over the line." Excuse me, but she's crossed the line dozens of times before. Yet, as Media Matters informs us,
1. On NBC: "Tony Blankley said that the reporting of the alleged massacre by U.S. troops of civilians in Haditha "is already being used by the opponents of the president" as a "blood libel," a term that has most frequently been used to accuse Jews of murdering non-Jews, especially children, and using their blood to make Passover matzoh, and that "the over-reporting of it by a gleeful media is more damaging to the country than any other single fact."
2. On CNN: "Glenn Beck devoted the opening monologue of his CNN Headline News show and first guest interview to an attack on illegal immigrants, suggesting that they are "try[ing] to conquer our culture." Later, Beck said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "sounded ... a lot like Michael Moore" in a letter to President Bush and suggested that an appropriate punishment for convicted 9-11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui would be having sexual relations with syndicated columnist Helen Thomas and actress Bea Arthur, "with David Hasselhoff singing." (This from a person who called hurricane survivors in New Orleans "scumbags" and said he "hates" 9-11 families.)
3. On MSNBC: "Chris Matthews advocated moving U.N. to World Trade Center site so that another terrorist attack would "force these guys to choose sides." (Matthews also suggested that alleged Haditha victims were "part of the bad guys" and posited "patriotic reasons" for an alleged cover-up.)
4. On NBC: Ann Coulter toyed with Matt Lauer, whose 'run-in' with Coulter over her fetid remarks about the 9/11 widows ended with Lauer saying, "always fun to have you." (My first response to that was yes Matt, it's "fun" to give a platform to someone who urinates on 9/11 victims and their families.)
It took me all of five minutes to dig up these examples. Can someone please tell me where I can find progressive counterparts to these circus acts?
The media's wholesale cave-in to rightwing pressure is an ugly sight. And it gets uglier by the day. Coulter's smiley-faced slander is just part of a larger pattern and it's disingenuous for Brian Williams to pretend that she finally went over the line. Thanks to major media outlets giving a platform to Coulter and her ilk, there is no line.
As I wrote yesterday,
"Coulter has a long history of engaging in hateful rhetoric and misinformation, and yet Today still hosted her, giving her book free publicity and a degree of credibility it doesn't deserve. Indeed, this was the third time in eight months that Coulter has appeared on Today."Take a look at the outlandish comments and outright filth emanating from rightwing-friendly voices on major television outlets:
1. On NBC: "Tony Blankley said that the reporting of the alleged massacre by U.S. troops of civilians in Haditha "is already being used by the opponents of the president" as a "blood libel," a term that has most frequently been used to accuse Jews of murdering non-Jews, especially children, and using their blood to make Passover matzoh, and that "the over-reporting of it by a gleeful media is more damaging to the country than any other single fact."
2. On CNN: "Glenn Beck devoted the opening monologue of his CNN Headline News show and first guest interview to an attack on illegal immigrants, suggesting that they are "try[ing] to conquer our culture." Later, Beck said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "sounded ... a lot like Michael Moore" in a letter to President Bush and suggested that an appropriate punishment for convicted 9-11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui would be having sexual relations with syndicated columnist Helen Thomas and actress Bea Arthur, "with David Hasselhoff singing." (This from a person who called hurricane survivors in New Orleans "scumbags" and said he "hates" 9-11 families.)
3. On MSNBC: "Chris Matthews advocated moving U.N. to World Trade Center site so that another terrorist attack would "force these guys to choose sides." (Matthews also suggested that alleged Haditha victims were "part of the bad guys" and posited "patriotic reasons" for an alleged cover-up.)
4. On NBC: Ann Coulter toyed with Matt Lauer, whose 'run-in' with Coulter over her fetid remarks about the 9/11 widows ended with Lauer saying, "always fun to have you." (My first response to that was yes Matt, it's "fun" to give a platform to someone who urinates on 9/11 victims and their families.)
It took me all of five minutes to dig up these examples. Can someone please tell me where I can find progressive counterparts to these circus acts?
The media's wholesale cave-in to rightwing pressure is an ugly sight. And it gets uglier by the day. Coulter's smiley-faced slander is just part of a larger pattern and it's disingenuous for Brian Williams to pretend that she finally went over the line. Thanks to major media outlets giving a platform to Coulter and her ilk, there is no line.
As I wrote yesterday,
"The toxic mix of a rightwing machine bent on destroying an institution that serves as a check on government abuses and that institution's eagerness to please those very same destroyers is singularly dangerous to the functioning of our democracy. For once, I'd like to know if [reporters] have the pride and dignity to stand up for their profession and their personal integrity."
posted by Peter Daou at 6/07/2006 10:07:00 PM
8 Comments:
"The media's wholesale cave-in to rightwing pressure is an ugly sight."
Explain what you mean by right wing pressure to make the media "cave-in.."
How does that work?
"Can someone please tell me where I can find progressive counterparts to these circus acts?"
Start with Air America. More fun than a barrel of monkeys. Tune in to Keith Olberman..(unfortunately his ratings are so low, he might not be around much longer)..Of course, Larry King is still there for all to enjoy..So many more, so little bandwidth.
See a tongue-in-cheek visual depicting "The New War On Terror: Afgh-Ann-A-Skank"...here:
www.thoughttheater.com
That damn liberal media keeps pointing out what an unhinged bitch Ann Coulter is with verifiable quotes and facts.
Damn the liberal media!
Ann Coulter is a fraud and a hustler. She will say or do anything that brings in speaker fees or book sales.
Ann Coulter is all about Ann Coulter. She worships at the altar of the mighty dollar, nothing else.
The best way to get rid of parasites like Coulter is to ignore them.
Ann Coulter isn't fit to talk about the 9/11 victims or their surviving spouses. She is intellectually and emotionally incapable of understanding their situation and what they feel. It is obvious she has never been in love or been loved.
She has no dignity, no self respect, no class - she is what she spews, slime and venom, mixed with bigotry and hate. I suspect this hatred comes from her own self-hatred as a human being. I mean look at the legacy she will leave - she will be shamed forever. She has sold her reputation and her name, for what? She doesn't realize when her usefullness is done they will throw her overboard like all the others.
A pathetic person, who will eventually spend her final years as a lonely, isolated person because of the disgusting and vile person she chooses to be now.
Air America can't touch Coulter. There is no equivalent of Coulter on the left. That's where the whole debate should start. The RWNM is in a class by itself and yet it drives the corporate media agenda. That's a fascinating story but since the first rule of journalism is not to talk about journalism, we won't be reading about it.
Dear Anonymous:
Please site specific example where the talent at Air America advocated the assassination of a Supreme Court judge, or lamented that Timothy McVeigh didn't blow up the Wall Street Journal, or made racist, sexist, and anti-semitic comments.
In other words, please back-up your assertion that the aforementioned liberals and moderates have behaved the way Coulter does on a daily basis.
As for your comment about Olberman's ratings? You don't have your facts straight. Hardly surprising since you're a right-wing extremist.
In the first quarter of 2006, Olberman's rating skyrocketed upwards by 41%, while O'Reilly's plummeted by 24%.
And here's Olberman himself, setting the facts straight.
Thanks for playing, Anonymous. BUH-bye.
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