DO SOMETHING: Turn Off Fox

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Many of us already know that Fox News is biased -- but it's actually much worse than that. For years they have used lies, distortions, and race-baiting to divide this country. Recently, it's gotten downright dangerous. Earlier this summer, a heavily armed man got into a gun fight with police after he was pulled over on his way to kill people at the Tides Foundation[1] -- an obscure non-profit that Glenn Beck regularly demonizes on his Fox News TV show.[2]

Fox News is bad news for America -- and it spreads, and is legitimized, partly through TVs in public places.

That's why I've joined the TurnOffFox campaign -- the first part of a larger campaign to diminish the influence of Fox. It's about educating people about Fox and getting it turned off in stores, restaurants, and other public places.

Will you join me? It takes just a moment to declare your own household "Fox free", and at the same time appeal to public establishments in your community to stop playing Fox. And you'll get a FREE Turn Off Fox sticker when you do. Click here:

http://colorofchange.org/turnofffox/?id=2026-910062

No other news organization that's considered legitimate consistently wages smear campaigns based on lies and race-baiting. But for years Fox News has done exactly that, and the pattern has only gotten worse since Barack Obama entered national politics.

Here are just a few examples:

-- A frequent Fox guest, Jesse Lee Peterson, said that the majority of Black people have poor moral character, and cited "what they did to the dome" after Hurricane Katrina as evidence.[3] Peterson has also used his platform on Fox to claim that 90% of Black people are racists -- against Whites.[4]

-- In a case of naked race-baiting, Fox host Glenn Beck called President Obama a "racist" who had a "deep-seated hatred for White people or the White culture."[5] Earlier that week, Beck claimed that the President's health insurance reform proposals were a form of "reparations" designed to "settle old racial scores."[6]

-- Fox host John Stossel argued that the public accommodations section of the Civil Rights Act -- which prevents businesses from discriminating based on race, sex, and other factors -- should be repealed.[7]

-- Fox News hosts Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity were the first to air deceptively edited and incomplete video of Shirley Sherrod's remarks to the NAACP.[8] The video made it seem like Sherrod was confessing to using her position at the USDA to discriminate against White farmers, when she was really talking about the importance of overcoming prejudice. Sherrod lost her job over this misrepresentation, which Fox enthusiastically repeated without seeking the facts. Fox has since tried to pretend it had nothing to do with this smear -- but Fox is the number one reason these kinds of distortions and smears have any part in our national dialogue.

The examples above aren't even a tenth of Fox's vicious lies and smears, and over the years they've just gotten more brazen.

The goal of Turn Off Fox is to reduce the number of public TVs showing Fox News, while spreading the word about Fox's poison (and how it works) to those who don't know.

Signing up for the campaign is just the first step. We make it easy for you to tell us about businesses playing Fox. If you're willing to talk with them, we'll provide you with straightforward materials that explain why they shouldn't be a party to what Fox is doing. And if there are businesses you know that want to tell the world they would never play Fox, you can help them declare themselves a "Fox-free zone."

As businesses Turn off Fox and stand up as Fox Free, and as we encourage our friends and family to do the same, we'll help make clear, to people across the country, what Fox is about. And we'll reduce their ability to do harm.

Please join me in signing up for the TurnOffFox campaign:

http://colorofchange.org/turnofffox/?id=2026-910062

Thanks.

References

1. http://bit.ly/a5F7kW
2. http://mediamatters.org/research/201007290032
3. http://mediamatters.org/research/200510030005
4. http://bit.ly/c060C0
5. http://mediamatters.org/research/200907300019
6. http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200907230040
7. http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201005200033
8. http://mediamatters.org/blog/201007200060

DO SOMETHING: Murdoch - Glenn Beck "was right" about Obama?

Last week, when asked about Glenn Beck calling President Obama "racist," Rupert Murdoch, chairman of Fox News Channel's parent company (News Corp) said "if you actually assess what he was talking about, |Beck| was right."[1]

On Tuesday, after his endorsement of Beck's race-baiting started to draw attention, Murdoch claimed, through a spokesperson, that he didn't mean he agrees with Beck.[2] It's ridiculous -- what else could he have possibly meant?

Murdoch calls the shots at Fox News, and he's just made it clear that Fox's problem with race starts in his office. Now that he's been caught, he's trying to play dumb -- he doesn't want to be held accountable for Beck's rhetoric, but he won't denounce or stop it either.

It won't work, if we stand up. Join me in telling Murdoch he has a choice -- he can stand by the fact that he agrees with Glenn Beck; or he can tell us why he doesn't and what he's going to do about it. If enough of us call him out, we can create a powerful conversation about Fox's race-baiting that will help us hold them accountable at the highest level.

Please join me in signing the petition to Murdoch, and ask your friends and family to do the same:

http://www.colorofchange.org/murdoch/?id=2026-910062

While Beck is the worst offender on the Fox News Channel, the network has a long, deep history of engaging in inflammatory racial rhetoric: attacking Black leaders, Black culture, and Black institutions.[3,4,5] And a number of Murdoch's recent business decisions suggest that he is consciously building a media empire -- at Fox News and elsewhere -- that attracts viewers by appealing to racial fear and paranoia.

A month ago, Murdoch put Don Imus (fired from MSNBC for his infamous "nappy headed hos" comment)[6] back on television on the Fox Business Network. And a few weeks ago, Murdoch personally fired Marc Lamont Hill -- one of Fox News' few black commentators -- in response to a racially charged smear campaign led by a News Corp shareholder, who said Hill has "reputation of defending cop killers and racists."[7]

Holding Murdoch, Beck and Fox News accountable

When Murdoch publicly endorsed some of Glenn Beck's most inflammatory comments, it seemed he was making it very clear that he approves of Fox's race-baiting. Now, apparently after realizing how damaging it would be for him to publicly support the rhetoric that cost Glenn Beck 80 advertisers, he's trying to backpedal. But Murdoch is not willing to distance himself from Beck either. He knows that he could face a backlash from Fox's viewers if he appears critical of the racially charged programming that attracts many of them to the network in the first place.

So Murdoch wants to have it both ways -- he wants to build a network that makes money by pandering to racial fear and paranoia, but he doesn't want Fox to be seen as cable's home for race-baiting.

We can't let him get away with it. Murdoch made a mistake by speaking too openly about what he and his media organizations stand for. He rarely makes mistakes like this, and we need to seize the opportunity to expose Fox's problem with race.

It starts by demanding that Murdoch explain what he meant, and be clear about whether or not race-baiting is part of the program at Fox. He may or may not respond, but if enough of us speak out, we can create a conversation that makes it clear who is ultimately responsible for Fox's race-baiting. It's just one step in starting to bring some accountability to the leadership of Fox News and News Corp -- but it's an important one.

Join me in calling out Rupert Murdoch, and ask your friends and family to do the same. It just takes a minute:

http://www.colorofchange.org/murdoch/?id=2026-910062

Thank you.

References:

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsboAwzj7aY
2. http://tinyurl.com/y8fhg4n
3. http://mediamatters.org/items/200412230012
4. http://mediamatters.org/items/200602090003
5. http://mediamatters.org/items/200510030005
6. http://tinyurl.com/mdtn4x
7. http://tinyurl.com/yzx7xyd

Other Resources:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnNyEKAZIO4
http://tinyurl.com/y964vmb

DO SOMETHING: Urge Dems to Stay Off Fox

It's about time Democrats stood up to FOX! The White House communications director said FOX is a "wing of the Republican Party...let's not pretend they're a news network."

To draw attention to its biased coverage, President Obama will not appear on FOX for the rest of this year.

I signed a petition urging Democrats to support President Obama's stance by staying off FOX as long as he does. Can you join me at the link below?

http://civic.moveon.org/foxobama/?r_by=17603-1835426-oAQ4m.x&rc=confemail

Peace from Brooklyn!

DO SOMETHING: Glenn Beck.. nuff said!

Excuse me one sec, y'all.... (looks at cartoon) BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAA
Okay, now to the serious stuff -

As you may know, right-wing talk show hosts have been bringing race-based fear mongering into the mainstream, but FOX's Glenn Beck has taken it to another level.

I signed ColorOfChange.org's petition to stop Glenn Beck's lies and distortions, and so far, 62 major companies have stopped their ads from running on his show. These companies have decided they don't want to be associated with Beck's race-baiting.

But Beck is only stepping up his fear-mongering, so we can't stop now. We have to make sure advertisers keep leaving, and stay away from his show.

Will you take a stand and be counted, and invite your friends and family to do the same? It takes just a moment:

http://www.colorofchange.org/beck/hold/?id=2026-910062

This summer, Beck said:

This president has exposed himself as a guy over and over and over again who has a deep-seated hatred for white people... this guy is, I believe, a racist.

That statement fits into a pattern of rhetoric from Beck designed to stoke racial paranoia and fear. He has claimed that President Obama has a "reparation appetite" and a desire to use his policies to settle old racial scores. Beck's overall plan is to create an atmosphere in which the White House can accomplish nothing, and he's carrying it out by preying on race-based fears and mobilizing hate. Beck relies on dishonesty, distortion and exaggeration, and he is embarking on character assassinations of Obama administration officials with whom he disagrees.

FOX has a horrible track record on pushing racist propaganda, but Glenn Beck appears to be taking the network to an even lower standard. He's trying to divide and distract America when we should be coming together and talking about issues that really matter--like health care and the economy.

The good news is that we have the power to stop this. Over 175,000 people have joined this campaign, and 62 advertisers have already stopped their ads from being run during Beck's show. Please help keep the momentum building.

http://www.colorofchange.org/beck/hold/?id=2026-910062

Thanks.

Here are some links to more info:

"Beck: Obama has 'exposed himself as a guy' with 'a deep seated hatred for white people'"
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200907280008

"Glenn Beck: Obama agenda driven by 'reparations' and desire to 'settle old racial scores'"
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200907230040

The Way I See It: Right Wing-ers Vs. Obama

I indulge in watching political commentary as much as I can stand: Keith Olbermann (love him!), Rachel Maddow (love her!), Bill Maher (he has his moments!) and Chris Matthews (ehhh)... I watch them all to get informed opinions and to gain perspective about the current political environment. And while my own personal commentary tends to lean more towards Jon Stewart's (meaning: sarcastic), I had a revelation about right wing pundits and bloggers (forgive the slang) hatin' on President Obama. And to do so, please allow me to offer an analogy from my own life experience.

A few years ago, I went on a job interview at a well known textile designer here in NYC... I don't exacly remember what the job was for, but I believe it was something administrative, like office assistant. I might've even been a customer service job... who knows? I arrived at the interview a few minutes early and was greeted by a gentleman, who introduced himself as the designer and offered assistance to me, thinking I was a buyer, presumably.

When I explained that I was here for an interview, he introduced me to his office manager, and I was asked to have a seat in front of her desk. I sat there for almost 30 minutes as she typed on the computer, ate a buttered roll, and chit chatted with various employees who were wandering around the showroom. Well after the buttered roll was consumed, she invited me to pull my chair up and join her at her desk, which I did.

She leans in and asks me, "You did know you were coming in for an interview today, right?", I said yes, I was fully aware of this matter. She then asks me if I would consider some advice, to which I also said yes...curious where all of this was going. She then proceeded to tell me that she will not be interviewing me today because my "appearance" was unsuitable for a job interview. She said that my resume and cover letter both indicated that I was a professional woman, and my appearance does not match.

I kindly said that I begged to differ. She asked me in based on my resume and cover letter which are definitely the sign of a intelligent, professional woman. And since I was the author of the cover letter and the resume reflects my personal work experience and qualifications that it most certainly matched, as it was me (and my "appearance") that worked the jobs and gained the experience. I thanked her for her time and advice and left, head held high.

I started walking as I left the building.... I walked all the way to Columbus Circle, silently crying and feeling utterly helpless. As I hit 59th Street, the smell of freshly ejected horse maneur snapped me out of my sadness when I was hit with the realization that every word that woman said to me was utter utter HORSESHIT!!!

There was nothing wrong with my appearance: I was dressed in a suit which was clean and freshly ironed. I had my nose ring in (but so did three other employees that I witnessed there) and it wasn't certainly my size because there were women employed there as big as me. I realized that her problem with my "appearance" wasn't something that could be changed: my skin color. Not that I would want to change it in the first place.

In today's litigous society people can't really go out and say, "We don't like you because you're [fill in the blank]", because they will end up getting sued, boycotted, and publically persecuted. So they have to really find something to focus on as a flaw. Thus my "appearance".

I think a lot of the commentators (please note that not once in this post did I include every right wing blogger or commentator in my statements) who take offense to President Obama taking his wife out to the theatre, being photographed unbeknowst to him with his feet up while talking to the Prime Minister of Israel, getting a dog not from a kennel but from another family in consideration of his child's allergies (and I wont even get into the whole "Birth-ers" hoopala)... they are basically saying, "I do not like the fact that we have a African-American President with a Muslim name and we are going to make it very hard for him every step of the way.

Lyrics to a song I'm working on, still in progress:

They can't call him the n-word, so they call him a facist.
They can't call him the n-word, so they call him a socialist.
They can't call him the n-word, so they call him a pawn.
They can't call him the n-word, so they ring the alarm.
They can't call him the n-word, so they call him unpatriotic.

Janeane Garofalo hit it right on the head when she said that most of the Tea-Baggers were racists and bigots who were just angry that a black man was in the WHITE House. The outrage at her statements put me in mind of Hamlet (which I paraphrase), me thinks thou doth protest too much!!!!





LMAO @ Janeane: "You can tell these type of right wing-ers anything and they'll believe it... except the truth" I see it exactly the same way!