Rush Limbaugh calls for “massive bombing raids,” war with Iran.
Latest Updates: right-wing media RSS
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johnpi
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johnpi
It appears that ‘political correctness’, ie, the effort on the part of well-intentioned Americans to be fair and just and not ascribe collective guilt, is as much a target as Muslims.
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johnpi
Arch-neoconservative Haim Saban is reportedly seeking a 50 percent ownership stake in Al Jazeera, according to Richard Silverstein. He writes, “Imagine the possibility of co-opting Al Jazeera’s Israel coverage. It’s an Aipac wet dream.”
Here’s Glenn Greenwald describing Saban in an article about one of the deeply compromised, warmongering foreign policy ‘experts’ he promotes through the “Saban Center for Middle East Studies,” a Washington thinktank.
The above-the-political-fray [ken] Pollack is employed by the “Saban Center for Middle East Studies” at Brookings — so named because it is funded with many millions of dollars by billionaire Haim Saban, an Israeli-American neoconservative who was a 2004 supporter of George Bush, was a close associate of Ariel Sharon, and spent the 1990s persuading Bill Clinton (with millions of dollars in donations to the Democratic Party) to be more supportive of Israel.
In a 2004 glowing profile, the NYT described Saban as “throwing his weight and money around Washington and, increasingly, the world, trying to influence all things Israeli,” and in that article, Saban told the NYT: “I’m a one-issue guy and my issue is Israel.”
Richard writes, “If the emir of Qatar is seriously entertaining a Saban bid either he’s in financial difficulty or else he’s smokin’ some powerful weed.”
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johnpi
A satirical Internet campaign from leftist critics of Glenn Beck accusing him of raping and murdering a girl in 1990 is gaining wider coverage.
The main site is here. Many of the sites are noting “Beck’s tendency to start with an outrageous claim, and then place the burden of disproof on the ambushed party,” using the example of Beck’s interview with Muslim congressman Keith Ellison.
“What I feel like saying is… Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies. And I know you’re not, I’m not accusing you of being an enemy, but that’s the way I feel, and I think a lot of Americans will feel that way.” – Glenn Beck, to Muslim congressman Keith Ellison.
The ‘turnabout is fair play’ version of this would be:
What I feel like saying is… Mr. Beck, prove to me that you are not a rapist and a child murderer. And I know you’re not, I’m not accusing you of being a rapist and a child murderer, but that’s the way I feel, and I think a lot of Americans will feel that way.”
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johnpi
CNN prime time anchor Lou Dobbs is scheduled to appear at a rally by an anti-immigrant organization, FAIR, that has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
From Media Matters:
FAIR, an organization that has been designated a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center and that has been sharply criticized for its racially-tinged ads, was founded by John Tanton, who has a long history of making racist statements and espousing racist beliefs.
A FAIR press release announced that Dobbs will broadcast his show from the rally and will be joined by 47 conservative talk radio hosts.
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johnpi
Obama has called for a national day of service on 9/11, to initiate a positive tradition on the anniversary.
President Barack Obama is asking Americans to volunteer Sept. 11, making this year’s anniversary of the terrorism attacks the first National Day of Service and Remembrance, organizers announced Thursday.
“Our ultimate goal is to leave a positive legacy that honors the victims and those who rose in service,” said David Paine, president of MyGoodDeed, one of the organizations responsible for the event.
Over at the conservative American Spectator magazine, a right-wing pundit is complaining that Obama is undoing a “‘day of fear’ that helps Republicans.”
Elsewhere, Fire Dog Lake frontpage blogger Tbogg takes one of his commenters to task for some right-wing craziness:
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johnpi
Right-wing bloggers jump on the Fathima Rifqa Bary bandwagon: Over at the rabidly Islamophobic Atlas Shrugs blog, Pamela Gellar has published extensive personal information about the Bary family, including Google maps of their home, their home and business phone numbers, email addresses, and has identified the businesses of other family members.
Gellar is attempting to challenge the legitimacy of the family’s claim for a court appointed lawyer to represent their interests in Florida in the custody battle over their daughter.
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johnpi
Journalism malpractice: New Yorker magazine’s sun-shiny feature article on hate radio shock jock Michael Savage.
Savage, according to Kelefa Sanneh, is “a marvelous storyteller, a quirky talker, and an incorrigible free-associater.” He’s a “a first-rate host, chatty and solicitous,” and a “political idealist, a sucker for a sob story, and firm believer in the power of friendship.”
All of this prompts Eric Boehlert to ask: “Does he like puppies, too?”
Remember, Savage is the guy who said Arabs were non-humans, called for the deaths of 100 million Muslims, a ban on mosque building in the US, and who said the South Asian tsunami “wasn’t a tragedy” and the affected countries were “hotbeds of radical Islam” anyway, so who cares?
Here’s a pic of the author and subject side-by-side.
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johnpi
The “trial by media aspect” of the Daniel Patrick Boyd case makes for interesting comparisons. Here are a few notes on what different newspapers are saying about Boyd:
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johnpi
300 weapons and 80 bombs: UK media and authorities collude to stifle story about right-wing extremist threat to mosques and Muslims.
In a story that is shrouded in secrecy Counter Terrorism Units (CTU) across the UK have questioned 32 people and carried out property searches at 36 addresses leading to one of the largest seizures of arsenal since the IRA in the 1990’s.
The investigation revealed 300 weapons and 80 bombs, increasing the threat of extreme right attacks on Mosques and Muslim communities. With the exception of two arrests made in May, Leed’s CTU has categorically refused to reveal to The Muslim News further information on the raids and charges brought against the individuals which resulted in 14 arrests.
….Head of Scotland Yard’s Violent Crime Directorate, Commander Shaun Sawyer, speaking at a meeting arranged by the Muslim Safety Forum, spoke of the threats emerging from the far right: “I fear that they will have a spectacular… they will carry out an attack that will lead to a loss of life or injury to a community somewhere. They’re not choosy about which community.”
Muslim Safety Forum Trustee, Shamiul Joarder, told The Muslim News that the reluctance to report on the threat posed by far-right extremism was part of “a concentrated effort by the mainstream media to ensure terms such as terrorist and the fear that results from this are reserved only for Muslims. We welcome Commander Sawyer’s attention towards the rise of the far right but we must ensure that the police now deal with all far right activity robustly otherwise the community will rightly observe double standards are being applied again.”
This is not the first time that actions related to terrorism, defined as violent acts against civilians to achieve a ideological aim, carried out by individuals outside of the Muslim community have been dealt with far less severity from our police forces, courts and mainstream media.
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johnpi
Another report on the mainstreaming of right-wing extremism.
The effect of lavishing so much time and attention on far-right extremism is that their delusions gain credibility and their insanity becomes mainstream. Repeating the talking points of far-right extremists over and over causes them to start to gain acceptance. It’s been established in psychological studies that repeating a falsehood just once makes it more likely that people will remember it and think it’s true — even if you explicitly state that it’s a myth. When the media uncritically repeats the delusions of the far right, they are just causing more and more people to implicitly — and later explicitly — believe those delusions are facts.
Over time, this causes the political and social culture of society to tilt farther and farther to the right. People believe more and more far-right delusions as if they were facts, including delusions about liberalism and liberal political ideas. Falsehoods, distortions, and propaganda get accepted uncritically as truths, shutting off political debate and growth. Is it any wonder that even liberals in America are, in some respects, more conservative than conservative political parties in many European nations?
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johnpi
Earlier, Aziz said he was getting a lot of traffic from people doing Internet searches on “swine flu conspiracy.” Now various right-wing types have jumped on the conspiracy bandwagon: “Could this be a terrorist attack,” “what better way to sneak a virus in this country than to give it to Mexicans,” “they [Mexicans] are perfect mules for bringing this virus into America,” etc.