ERRORS AND NO FACTS

Business as Usual at Fox News
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The Shirley Sherrod case further deepens Fox News Channel's credibility problem -- which is a good thing for the Obama Administration.
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I won't do it again. I promise!
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Trust me on this one. Just as soon as a Fox News Channel political commentator announces that the earth is flat – and one way or another, Fox will indeed “break” that story – the first thing anyone in America who swears by Fox will do is instruct their children not to stray too close to earth’s edge. Then immediately after, they’ll unleash an attack on the conservative-hating egg-heads of the liberal media for ignoring the flat earth story in favor of all that reporting on the “global warming hoax.”

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Hyperbole? No doubt. But only if we’re talking about the word some Fox News viewers would use to characterize any report that warns of climate change. After all, consider the following:

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Spook Juice for the Conspiracy-Minded

PERCEPTION IS REALITY

My perception of reality has been shaped, in part, by a near transcendent fascination with odd "coincidences," juicy cover-ups, furtive conspiracies, and mind-boggling mysteries. You know, the kind that stretch way beyond the often easy-to-debunk urban legends. I have vivid memories of being so thoroughly captivated, at age nine, by the mysterious and still-unexplained disappearance of Joan Risch that I established my own unofficial, one-kid search for the Lincoln, Massachusetts housewife. I spent a more than a week engaging Keystone Cops kind of search for clues to her disappearance -- in fields, back alleys and abandoned buildings of my Boston neighborhood over 25 miles away!

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Israel's Shame

Palestinians Suffer for the Sins of Others

Palestine's Future - Children of the Deheishe Refugee Camp, 1995

By Anthony Barnes / July 2010

"We enthusiastically chose to become a colonial society, ignoring international treaties, expropriating lands, transferring settlers from Israel to the occupied territories, engaging in theft and finding justification for all these activities. Passionately desiring to keep the occupied territories, we developed two judicial systems: one - progressive, liberal - in Israel; and the other - cruel, injurious - in the occupied territories. In effect, we established an apartheid regime in the occupied territories immediately following their capture. That oppressive regime exists to this day." -- Former Israeli Attorney General Michael Ben-Yair, 2002

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My boyhood occurred during an era when Jewish delicatessens, not McDonald's or Burger Kings, were the norm in many neighborhoods of Boston, particularly mine – Roxbury – which, until the late 1960’s, was a predominantly Jewish enclave. So, as it turned out, my earliest exposure to persons of the Jewish faith was largely a product of my fondness for the outstanding kosher hot dogs my friends and I regularly devoured at Max Andrews. “Max-Ann’s,” as we called it then, was a Jewish deli located on Blue Hill Avenue in close proximity to the Nation of Islam’s Temple No. 11, whose minister at one time, Louis Farrakhan, graduated from the school I later attended – Boston English, the nation’s oldest public high school.

At that time, even if out of sheer ignorance I accepted a crass, stereotypical description of what Jews looked like – white people with large noses – I was far more clueless as to what a Jew actually is. Perhaps not surprisingly, in that context, Jewish-ness, if you will, sort of flew under the radar. It held little, if any relevancy to me. That is, until Carl Zidel helped make it relevant. But more about that later.

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BIN LADEN'S FLUNKIES

Doesn't the GOP-backed Tea Party movement's "take back my country" crusade essentially make its followers defacto allies of Osama Bin Laden?

BY ANTHONY BARNES
When Republicans gripe about what they perceive as the Obama Administration's failures, for example, its inability in little over a year to completely revive the economy, Democrats often respond by citing the severity of the economic catastrophe left behind by the previous administration.

What generally follow is more Republican caterwaul about the Democrats' constant finger-pointing back to the bygone Bush era. Blaming Bush for the nation's present economic condition, insists Republicans, amounts to little more than a whiny cop-out -- something akin to a sour grapes attitude coming from within, of all places, the ranks of the winners. In dealing with similar matters, the Republicans' position is: "Let's not talk about the past; the Bush era is over," followed by charges that Democrats now controlling all branches of government would rather avoid responsibility for failing to resolve one of America's major problems by insisting that at least for now, the buck halts at the cowboy booted feet of George W. Bush.

Recently, amidst the uptick in acts of political terrorism linked to the Tea Party Patriots, a movement which has apparently discovered a way to be both anti-government and pro-GOP, many Democrats began complaining about the Republicans' tepidly-conveyed effort to encourage an end to these acts, some of them having occurred during March's anti-health care reform demonstrations on Capitol Hill, and which in general have included death threats; smashed windows; severed gas lines; brandishing nooses; threats of violence; spitting at members of Congress; racial epithets; and engaging in anti-gay behavior. Ultimately, Republicans simply brushed aside the Democrats' complaints by not surprisingly -- talking about the past.

"There was all kinds of very threatening tones and language used (against Bush during his terms)," equivocated Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele during a March interview with Sean Hannity. "So, you know, I think people just need to understand it and put it in context."

Steele's artless circumvention of the issue offers a great illustration of the GOP's prevaricatory modus operandi. It's the sustained practice of the politics of expediency by the GOP that for some, conjures thoughts about the potential for danger ahead, not just for the Republican Party, but for the nation as a whole. At issue is the Republicans' unwillingness, obviously out of sheer political expediency, to directly and forthrightly address important matters, combined with their willingness to shamelessly toggle between support for opposing legislative positions based on pure self-interest. It is a disposition that has helped generate from the GOP, a steady stream of knee-jerk reactions and approaches to virtually every issue of major importance going back to the Clinton Administration.

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TIGER'S FOLLY

Among Tiger Woods' failures was his inability to live up to standards set by others

by Anthony Barnes


Cult of Personality, or Master of Deceit?

"I've committed adultery in my heart many times. I've looked on a lot of women with lust," -- Jimmy Carter

Obviously, when it comes to women, had Tiger Woods mimicked the style of another man who carried the unforgiving burden of a saintly persona -- former President Jimmy Carter -- and simply committed adultery in his heart, the public reaction to Woods' "transgressions" would have been vastly less sanctimonious. Of course, we now know that the outwardly collected and seemingly well-centered Woods went ahead and tapped into his prodigious libido both before and during his marriage, an action that more closely mimicked the style of another former president -- Bill Clinton.

As a result of this revelation, occurring in this era of a web-connected universe, in the tweet of a Twitter, Woods morphed from likable living legend to lecherous lothario; from squeaky clean to creepy debaucher. In the eyes of many, it was lovable Ned Flanders who woke up next to Elin Woods this past Thanksgiving morning, and loathsome Glenn Quagmire who returned to bed alone that night.

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BABES in TOYLAND

If FOX reported news accurately, would its current defenders remain believers?

by Anthony Barnes

Fox News Corps. Chairman Roger Ailes

Prologue:
As a progressive, I fancy myself as a person who not only relishes, but respects a well-thought out and forthright challenge to my point of view. I also consider it important to attempt to understand what drives the philosophy of the conservative movement. At one time, I presumed that Fox News Channel would be a network overflowing with valid expressions of the conservative perspective. I anticipated that it would eventually become a primary resource for furthering my knowledge in that area.

However, I eventually found that wallowing through a steady stream of Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity distortions and partaking in the shell-shocked lunacy of Ollie North; of bearing witness to G. Gordon Liddy's "crazy uncle in the basement" shtick or sitting through far too many sessions of disingenuous faux punditry from a collection of insipid political "analysts" known as the Fox All-Stars -- is a collective experience that does very little to help one obtain a better understanding of conservative principles.

Although I originally tuned in to the Fox News Channel seeking further insight into the conservative philosophy, unfortunately what I found was not genuine compare and contrast viewpoints designed to give validity to concepts that comprise conservative thinking, but instead a nearly continuous stream of very thoughtfully-crafted distortions of alternative points of view.

Over time it became evident that a desire for greater recognition of conservative thought could not be fulfilled by Fox. Eventually, a conclusion was reached that whatever it is that Fox is "selling" is not true conservatism. At least I hope it isn't.

But what was even worse was the rapid discovery that Fox News Channel's reputation for distorting news and committing "errors" that always seem to negatively impact groups supporting positions opposed by the GOP, is certainly not the result of something as minor as incompetence within the Fox News editing department's quality control unit. What emerged was an inescapable presumption that it is all likelihood intentional.
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OBA-MENON!

Barack Obama approaches MLK/Mandela status

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by Anthony Barnes

"Rosa sat so that Martin could walk; Martin walked so that Barack could run; Barack ran so that our children can fly."

Some Election Day 2008 observations.

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The Standard Refrain: Egregiously long lines awaiting the civic-minded. If I thought I was going to get a jump on folks by showing up at the polls earlier than any other time in my voting life, it turns out that by showing up at 7:15 am., I was just in time to be late. The line, maneuvering along at a decidedly un-snail-like pace, was the longest I'd seen at this location since Bush/Kerry -- and I've been voting there since Bush/Dukakis.

Hope: The level of sheer, undiluted energy that persisted at my polling spot, a public school, also seemed evident around every polling location I happened upon as I made my way to work after voting. It was quite distinctive and in flagrant contrast to the dour aura that seemed to define the high-turnout Election Day in 2004 between Bush and Kerry. There is clearly a palpable difference in spirit when millions of people gather to vote for a candidate -- in this case Barack Obama -- rather than against someone which seemed to be the force that drove Kerry voters to the polls in 2004.

Witnesses to History: A group of middle school students, both black and white, clearly awestruck by the sheer volume of voters and the easily discernible energy we produced are sneaking peeks at the crowd from a classroom window above. After briefly disappearing for a few moments they re-emerged with a hastily-written "Obama" sign fashioned out of notebook paper.

The Act: A mother, accompanied by her pre-teen daughter, proceeds from the polls with arms wrapped around one another's waist. Their glowing, black faces both exhibited Publisher’s Clearinghouse winner-type smiles, seemingly out of satisfaction, pride, accomplishment, and hopefully, from a clear understanding of the historic nature of the act they'd just carried out. Shortly after that scene, a similar one was noted as an older cane-wielding African-American woman slowly exited held ever steadier by the additional assistance of her adult son. They both carried the same look of satisfaction, glory and accomplishment exhibited by the mother/daughter duo. Meanwhile, a very young mother, perhaps scarcely out of her teens and pushing a stroller, quietly awaited her turn while occasionally fidgeting with her infant daughter. She was later overheard saying this was her first time voting.

Some observers might suggest that these otherwise routinely innocuous events extend, on this occasion, beyond the realm of the noteworthy in the minds of many African-Americans and other minorities. They would be right. Taken in a certain context, they seem to illustrate the uniquely historical nature of a paradoxically subliminal, yet overt coming of full circle.

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Examined further, they reveal a reinvigorated and more clearly-defined generational/historical lineage that was strengthened, if not rediscovered through the participation of millions of African-Americans in an endeavor that many had come to accept as audaciously unthinkable regardless of the generation from which we came of age: a bona fide opportunity to consider a compellingly pertinent African-American from among other presumably similarly-qualified candidates for the highest office in the land.

As we all now know, these evident Obama supporters awoke the following morning to the maximal satisfaction of knowing that because of their November 4, 2008 endeavor, the audacious was no longer unthinkable. With their help in addition to that of millions of other African-American voters nationwide, Obama had won in an electoral landslide.

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Black President!

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