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You are here: Home / Politics / Media / Strange days

Strange days

by DougJ|  November 11, 20092:32 pm| 107 Comments

This post is in: Media, Assholes, Good News For Conservatives

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Does anyone else think it’s strange the most important figure in American media is an eccentric right-wing Australian billionaire? And that one of the other most important (probably the second most important within wingnut media) figures is a Korean cult leader?

This is weird, right? It’s not just me being a Pat Buchanan nationalist, is it?

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107Comments

  1. 1.

    Davis X. Machina

    November 11, 2009 at 2:35 pm

    Hey, Murdoch’s an eccentric, right-wing American billionaire — he bought his citizenship fair and square with real money, because he loves America, and not because of any possible restrictions on foreign ownership of various and sundry, no you betcha.

  2. 2.

    MikeJ

    November 11, 2009 at 2:37 pm

    Is Murdoch the final judge for the cutest dog contest? Aren’t they announcing something tomorrow?

  3. 3.

    Incertus

    November 11, 2009 at 2:37 pm

    We outsource everything now. (Insert birther joke here.)

  4. 4.

    DBrown

    November 11, 2009 at 2:39 pm

    The loony moony has been around far longer than the Ausie down under tea bagger want-a-be but since that nutcase and self proclaimed king of the world, we must accept his leadership over all repug-a-thugs… or at least those who get a pay check from his rag.

  5. 5.

    cleek

    November 11, 2009 at 2:39 pm

    not all foreigners are evil, you know – only those who don’t vote Republican.

  6. 6.

    MoeLarryAndJesus

    November 11, 2009 at 2:40 pm

    And don’t forget that prick Arnaud de Borchgrave, who is some sort of Belgian princess or something…

  7. 7.

    dfd

    November 11, 2009 at 2:40 pm

    Ultimate Mogul Cage Match!!!!
    Rev. Moon v.s. Rupert Murdoch
    This Sunday on Pay Per View

  8. 8.

    srv

    November 11, 2009 at 2:41 pm

    Is there any Republican paper or think-tank that actually supports itself?

  9. 9.

    r€nato

    November 11, 2009 at 2:41 pm

    Murdoch is threatening to delist News Corp. content from Google searches.

    O noes! Please, Mr. Murdoch! Liberals would HATE it if FoxNews.com articles couldn’t be found with a Google search!

  10. 10.

    EconWatcher

    November 11, 2009 at 2:42 pm

    If you think it’s funky here, look at Italy. As I understand it, Berlusconi basically has a media monopoly, uses it to promote himself to head of state, and uses his elected position (until recently) to assure prosecutorial immunity for all of his business dealings–including those of his media monoply. Nice.

    When you look at it that way, maybe we don’t have it so bad.

  11. 11.

    Tuffy

    November 11, 2009 at 2:42 pm

    Dougj, you over-estimate the Moonie Times’ influence.

  12. 12.

    SpotWeld

    November 11, 2009 at 2:44 pm

    Yeah, “wierd” left the picture a while ago.
    It saw what we did to irony and thought it was a good time to get.

  13. 13.

    Norman Rogers

    November 11, 2009 at 2:44 pm

    How long have you hated America?

    Seriously, it’s not weird. America embraces the weird. America sucks up to weird. America loves weird like it loves nothing else. America is where weird comes for leisure time and discreet shopping.

  14. 14.

    lonesomerobot

    November 11, 2009 at 2:45 pm

    let’s be honest: i’m more australian than rupert murdoch is. i was born in the country AND still retain my citizenship there. rupert murdoch renounced his australian citizenship in order to own the large percentage of media outlets that he does in this country. it’s illegal for foreign citizens to own over a certain slice of the media pie in america. so rupert murdoch is an american, as much as michelle malkin and that guy who won the nyc marathon this year.

  15. 15.

    bemused

    November 11, 2009 at 2:45 pm

    How many rightwingers even know that the Wash Times is owned & run by Rev Moon? They only follow Fox/Rush & wingnut papers/blogs which I doubt have ever mentioned that paper is a Moonie outfit. I bet they have no idea.
    “You do know that the Wash Times is owned by Moonies, don’t you?” would be a great question to ask an obnoxious R relative or coworker & see if he/she is thrown for a loop.

  16. 16.

    trollhattan

    November 11, 2009 at 2:45 pm

    The natural course of delicious semi-unfettered capitalizzm will, I suppose, lead us to a significant PRC media presence here. First hire: Jonah Goldberg, who will argue the Tibetians are librul nazi facists who threaten our freedoms.

  17. 17.

    r€nato

    November 11, 2009 at 2:46 pm

    @EconWatcher:

    that’s all pretty accurate, and it’s a testament to the failure of the Italian left that they can’t beat this guy.

  18. 18.

    Zifnab

    November 11, 2009 at 2:48 pm

    This is weird, right? It’s not just me being a Pat Buchanan nationalist, is it?

    Also symptoms of the corporate media. The guys screaming “America! America! America!” loudest are the ones getting foreign paychecks.

    I don’t think it’s a coincidence that you’ve got folks lying their asses off about the Constitution, the nationality of the President, and the contents of any given piece of legislation, all taking money from people with no nativist affection of the the US.

    This is about as Fifth Column as it gets. Following the GOP playbook, it’s not surprise to see these guys labeling everyone else as Fifth Columnists.

  19. 19.

    r€nato

    November 11, 2009 at 2:48 pm

    @bemused:

    especially if they are ‘born again’ or some other fundie flavor.

    Moon asserts he is the Messiah, right? How can any ‘fundamentalist’ square that with their own dogma?

  20. 20.

    Cat Lady

    November 11, 2009 at 2:49 pm

    Given the rightwing fucktards enumerated in the last post, I’d say where right wing media is concerned, “weird” has become a feature and not a bug.

  21. 21.

    Zifnab

    November 11, 2009 at 2:50 pm

    @Tuffy:

    Dougj, you over-estimate the Moonie Times’ influence.

    So does the NYT, the WaPo, ABC, NBC, CBS, Reuters, the AP, FOX, Newsweek, Time Magazine, Forbes, Bloomberg, the Nightly Business Report …

    The moonies got what they paid for.

  22. 22.

    beltane

    November 11, 2009 at 2:50 pm

    Well, if you thought a pluralistic democracy was a force for evil in the world, this is the way you would go about eliminating it. Hiding totalitarianism under a cloak of “freedom” and flag is highly effective. To introduce fascism in its more familiar form of some uniformed, gun wielding generalissimo would be too obvious, better to go with the sexed-up blond pod women you see on Fox.

    Let’s face it: our country has become something straight out of a bad movie. A really bad movie that never ends.

  23. 23.

    licensed to kill time

    November 11, 2009 at 2:52 pm

    @r€nato:

    Murdoch is threatening to delist News Corp. content from Google searches.
    __
    O noes! Please, Mr. Murdoch! Liberals would HATE it if FoxNews.com articles couldn’t be found with a Google search!

    Heh. I heard he is also thinking of charging for content/access to FoxNewsCorpse stuff. It would be sweet indeed to have teabagger bucks going down the Foxhole drain leaving that much less to fund the inevitable tea party candidates.

  24. 24.

    El Cid

    November 11, 2009 at 2:52 pm

    It’s only weird if you think there’s something wrong with making an investment in right wing media which pays off with many more times your original investment in tax cuts, favorable government programs, subsidies and regulations.

  25. 25.

    bemused

    November 11, 2009 at 2:54 pm

    @r€nato:
    Moon was crowned as Messiah or some damn thing at a Capitol building a few years ago, attended by legislators. Now that was a shining moment is american history.

  26. 26.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    November 11, 2009 at 2:55 pm

    You are being awful mean to Jake Tapper’s sister organizations, aren’t you?

  27. 27.

    AhabTRuler

    November 11, 2009 at 2:56 pm

    A really bad movie that never ends.

    No, because even a really bad movie wouldn’t be as banal.

  28. 28.

    Zifnab

    November 11, 2009 at 2:57 pm

    @r€nato:

    Moon asserts he is the Messiah, right? How can any ‘fundamentalist’ square that with their own dogma?

    Whoa, whoa, whoa. Are you suggesting that fundamentalist Christians would embrace convenient hypocrisy for immediate financial or political benefit in an attempt to push an unrelated theocratic agenda?

    Unpossible!

    When Moon starts supporting civil liberties for minorities, gays, and women, when he pushes for higher taxes or taxes on religious institutions, when he openly and loudly opposes the death penalty or the brutal and expensive military actions in foreign countries, when he propagandizes for renewable energy rather than fossil fuels or public health care rather than private insurance – THEN his Messiah complex becomes an issue. Not a minute before.

    The only “Messiah” the fundies recognize right now is President Darky McHitler.

  29. 29.

    Scruffy McSnufflepuss

    November 11, 2009 at 2:59 pm

    Don’t forget, Alexander Hamilton was one of the Founding Fathers. He was sort of the late 18th century equivalent of Murdoch, only much smarter and less evil.

  30. 30.

    Midnight Marauder

    November 11, 2009 at 3:02 pm

    @Zifnab:

    So does the NYT, the WaPo, ABC, NBC, CBS, Reuters, the AP, FOX, Newsweek, Time Magazine, Forbes, Bloomberg, the Nightly Business Report …
    The moonies got what they paid for.

    Exactly. It’s not DougJ who’s overestimating the Washington Times. He’s just acknowledging the reality, which is that a newspaper with a circulation less than some regional papers, somehow has reporters and editors all over the media landscape on a regular basis. There’s nothing legitimate about the paper to begin with, so every time someone affiliated with the Washington Times appears on television, or one of their articles is referred to by a legitimate media outlet, it’s a huge net plus for them.

    The fact that the shakeup going on over there is even a story–and that the Unification Church didn’t walk away years ago from their multi-billion dollar negative investment–is remarkable in and of itself.

  31. 31.

    Dr. Loveless

    November 11, 2009 at 3:05 pm

    OT, but y’all might want to send this kid some good wishes to offset the deluge of wingnut bile that has undoubtedly begun to descend on him.

    http://www.edgesanfrancisco.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=&sc3=&id=98884

  32. 32.

    Citizen_X

    November 11, 2009 at 3:05 pm

    Oh, and not only is the Moonie Times management in turmoil because of royal discord amongst Dear Father’s sons, now they’ve brought in armed guards to seal off the management floor. Guess they’re afraid of a case of armed Sacked-Manager-Rage.

    If Moonie bigwigs go postal, can we change that saying to “going Moonie?”

  33. 33.

    EconWatcher

    November 11, 2009 at 3:06 pm

    @r€nato:

    Well, as I understand it, the main party of the Italian left waited until about ten years ago to dump the Hammer and Sickle from their emblem. So I think they have issues…

  34. 34.

    Bubblegum Tate

    November 11, 2009 at 3:08 pm

    @r€nato:

    Supposedly he’s been doing that for a while, to which Google keeps responding, “What’s stopping you?”

  35. 35.

    kth

    November 11, 2009 at 3:08 pm

    Imagine for a second if the New York Times were owned by a cult leader from Korea, and CBS owned by a lefty foreign-born billionaire (say, George Soros!). You’re goddamn right it would be a major issue if the shoes were on the other feet.

  36. 36.

    Bubblegum Tate

    November 11, 2009 at 3:09 pm

    @Dr. Loveless:

    What a cool kid. I feel so bad for him that he’s going to have the Freepers, teabaggers, Malkin’s WInged Monkeys, etc. making his life a living hell.

  37. 37.

    R-Jud

    November 11, 2009 at 3:10 pm

    @Scruffy McSnufflepuss:

    Don’t forget, Alexander Hamilton was one of the Founding Fathers. He was sort of the late 18th century equivalent of Murdoch, only much smarter and less evil.

    Judging from his portraits he was also pretty hot. Unlike Rupey.

  38. 38.

    Midnight Marauder

    November 11, 2009 at 3:10 pm

    @Dr. Loveless:

    OT, but y’all might want to send this kid some good wishes to offset the deluge of wingnut bile that has undoubtedly begun to descend on him.
    http://www.edgesanfrancisco.co…..8;id=98884

    And this is in Arkansas?! Surely, this is some kind of experimental Onion article, no?

  39. 39.

    Zifnab

    November 11, 2009 at 3:14 pm

    @EconWatcher:

    So I think they have issues…

    They have Mussolini Redux as their opposition candidate. I don’t care if they drove around the street waving flags of Stalin and speaking Russian. If they’ve got a popular agenda and competent officials, they should be railroading the opposition at the local level at the least.

    The problem with the Italian government right now is a lot like the problem with the Russian government – who else you gonna vote for? Get some trusted mayors, some populist parliamentarians, and some wonkish progressives in the fight. Otherwise, don’t come crying because they elected Kang and not Kodos.

  40. 40.

    Citizen_X

    November 11, 2009 at 3:15 pm

    @Bubblegum Tate: Call up Anchor Baby on the Rageline! I want a report on this kid’s counters stat!

  41. 41.

    Zifnab

    November 11, 2009 at 3:16 pm

    @R-Jud: Rupert Murdoch is 80 years old. When 80 years old you are, look as good you will not.

    Alexander Hamilton was too busy getting shot in the face by Aaron Burr (the 18th century Dick Cheney) to really hit the scary grampa stage of his life.

  42. 42.

    trollhattan

    November 11, 2009 at 3:17 pm

    On a related note: Rupert’s minion vs. Comedy Central:

    http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/hannity-to-address-protest-video-questions-tonight/?hp

    Popcorn time!

  43. 43.

    GReynoldsCT00

    November 11, 2009 at 3:18 pm

    @r€nato:

    that would be quite the public service!

  44. 44.

    Brachiator

    November 11, 2009 at 3:20 pm

    @r€nato:

    O noes! Please, Mr. Murdoch! Liberals would HATE it if FoxNews.com articles couldn’t be found with a Google search!

    Apparently, Murdoch is going Galt, but it won’t just be with Fox News:

    The media mogul in charge of News Corp. Ltd. (NWSA-Q12.500.020.16%) is now escalating his war against the Internet monolith in a way that no other executive has – by preparing to pull papers such as the Journal, the New York Post and The Times of London off the search engine.

    To pull the Times of London is no small deal. The short term effect is to reduce the number of news resources available on the Web.

    There could be more of this in the future, and it could lead to serious distortions in the perception of news coverage. Say, for example, more newspapers pull their online stories from the InterTubes, but Fox News ramps up its availability.

    Ironically, I think the result of Murdoch’s move will be to hasten the demise of physical newspapers and spur the rise of web news sources totally unconnected to current media — until they get bought out.

    The pending buyout of NBC by Comcast may also threaten to further shrink news and media outlets.

  45. 45.

    Blunder Down Under

    November 11, 2009 at 3:21 pm

    Rupert Murdoch is a Brown Eyed Mullett!!!

    Had to go here for that:

    http://www.koalanet.com.au/australian-slang.html

    R.M. is pretty much one of Australia’s most toxic exports.

  46. 46.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    November 11, 2009 at 3:21 pm

    @trollhattan: Wow. The Daily Show writers will be able to take a break since the shows will start writing themselves for a while.

  47. 47.

    Calouste

    November 11, 2009 at 3:24 pm

    @Dr. Loveless:

    Pledging allegiance in school has kind of been out of fashion in Western Europe since 1945. Well, maybe not in Spain until 1975.

  48. 48.

    Scruffy McSnufflepuss

    November 11, 2009 at 3:29 pm

    @R-Jud:

    Judging from his portraits he was also pretty hot. Unlike Rupey.

    Yeah, but we’ll never know whether he paid those artists a little bit extra to brush up his nose a little bit or something. I’m sure if Rupert could manage to get every photograph ever taken of him airbrushed, we’d all think he was a handsome guy, too.

  49. 49.

    R-Jud

    November 11, 2009 at 3:30 pm

    @Zifnab:

    Rupert Murdoch is 80 years old. When 80 years old you are, look as good you will not.

    Fair enough. FWIW, I am not lookist or ageist– one of my most rewarding relationships was with a guy several years okay, decades my senior, who was funny and warm and smart but not really hot at all– picture Dick Cheney, only thinner, and with a soul.

    Still, after a brief search, I cannot find any evidence that Murdoch ever approximated Hamiltonian goodness, even in his prime.

  50. 50.

    maus

    November 11, 2009 at 3:32 pm

    The guys screaming “America! America! America!” loudest are the ones getting foreign paychecks.

    The same ones praying for Detroit to fail.

  51. 51.

    slag

    November 11, 2009 at 3:34 pm

    He’s white and not European. What’s the problem?

  52. 52.

    maus

    November 11, 2009 at 3:38 pm

    @Norman Rogers: America embraces the hate. America sucks up to hate. America loves hate like it loves nothing else. America is where hate comes for leisure time and discreet shopping.
    ”

    fix’t.

  53. 53.

    MacsenMifune

    November 11, 2009 at 3:39 pm

    Doug you feel the same way some, emphases on some, Germans felt when some Austrian peasant started calling the shots.

  54. 54.

    Violet

    November 11, 2009 at 3:45 pm

    @r€nato:

    I saw that yesterday and about fell out of my chair laughing. Does Rupert not know how teh interwebz work? He’s going to hide his content from the most used search engine and the charge for whatever people can find? Talk about taking your bat and ball home…

  55. 55.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    November 11, 2009 at 3:50 pm

    @Cat Lady:

    I’d say where right wing media is concerned, “weird” has become a feature and not a bug.

    I believe it was HST who coined the phrase “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro“. Too bad he didn’t live to see Orly Taitz on the TV. HST would have loved every minute of it.

  56. 56.

    Fight Club

    November 11, 2009 at 3:58 pm

    I have this dream where there’s a cage match in which Rupert Murdoch gets a butter knife and Google gets a chainsaw. Now that’s pay per view gold.

  57. 57.

    Beauzeaux

    November 11, 2009 at 4:03 pm

    America does not embrace the weird. America tolerates the weird, or simply looks the other way when palms are greased with vast amounts of money.

    Japan embraces the weird. They cultivate it. They prize it.

  58. 58.

    ksmiami

    November 11, 2009 at 4:08 pm

    All I know is that Murdoch is a sick MOFO and a small, petty, mean man, but then again that describes like 95% of the current GOP. Hmmm…

  59. 59.

    Rhoda

    November 11, 2009 at 4:09 pm

    At one point 45% of Americans believed in death panels.

    I am not surprised.

    We are stooopid.

  60. 60.

    licensed to kill time

    November 11, 2009 at 4:17 pm

    @ThatLeftTurnInABQ:

    I believe it was HST who coined the phrase “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro“. Too bad he didn’t live to see Orly Taitz on the TV. HST would have loved every minute of it.

    Gosh I miss Hunter. He would have creamed the teabaggers, committed poetry with Palin, plasticized Beck for posterity. And made us all laugh like frenzied hyenas on a two week binge. He bought the ticket, took the ride.
    R.I.P. HST.

  61. 61.

    LoveMonkey

    November 11, 2009 at 4:19 pm

    No sale Doug. Compared to William Randolph Hearst and Remember the Maine(tm), your Australian guy is just a wannabee. His cable news network attracts on average less than one percent of the population.

    As for the Rev. Moon, he is the proud owner of a completely failed newspaper that wouldn’t even exist today as a going concern if it weren’t being fed money.

    With these guys in the cockpit, your boogieman media sat by while this country elected a black president with a muslim-sounding name only 7 years after 911.

    Yawn. Just another version of your continual troll of your own blog.

  62. 62.

    Martin

    November 11, 2009 at 4:19 pm

    @Beauzeaux:

    Well, I think the distinction is that the Japanese apply style to their weird. The US is, unfortunately, a relative desert of style and class, so our weird tends to come off more like some kind of collective mental illness rather than something worth embracing.

  63. 63.

    ppcli

    November 11, 2009 at 4:21 pm

    It’s not unique to the U.S. British papers have been controlled by a series of foreigners for almost a century.
    Canadians Max Aitken (= Lord Beaverbrook), Roy Thompson (= Baron Thompson of Fleet) and more recently Conrad Black (= Lord Tubby of Westmount), plus Aussies like Murdoch and Czech Capn’ Bob Maxwell.
    .
    Rich people want influence where the action is. That used to be London and now it’s the U.S. One of the easiest ways to get that kind of influence for an outsider is to buy up control of information flow.

  64. 64.

    JGabriel

    November 11, 2009 at 4:21 pm

    The Purity Spiral(tm) continues:

    Republican leaders in a South Carolina county have censured their own U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham for working with Democrats on a climate bill and other legislation. … The party resolution passed Monday says Graham has weakened the Republican brand.

    Noted, though it’s hard to see how it could be made any weaker after Bush/Cheney.

    .

  65. 65.

    Norman Rogers

    November 11, 2009 at 4:23 pm

    @maus: Oh, bah. As if.

    America embraces weird like it is nobody’s business. Our culture is wrapped around small, weird, oddly shaped people and our love of all things weird is why everyone wants to come here and watch our films and listen to our music and play our video games. Japanese weirdoism is pretty bland, actually, Aside from Hello Kitty and manga, what do they really have?

  66. 66.

    joes527

    November 11, 2009 at 4:33 pm

    @Fight Club:

    I have this dream where there’s a cage match in which Rupert Murdoch gets a butter knife and Google gets a chainsaw.

    Two men enter. One man leaves.

    I _wish_ NewsCorpse would flip google the bird. There is no question about who would be the loser in that exchange.

  67. 67.

    Funkhauser

    November 11, 2009 at 4:36 pm

    I submit Joseph Pulitzer, Hungarian-born immigrant.

  68. 68.

    arguingwithsignposts

    November 11, 2009 at 4:41 pm

    Aside from Hello Kitty and manga, what do they really have?

    Really? Bland? We have people from America who fetishize japanese culture as well. I can’t recall their name right now, but there’s lots of freak in Japanese culture. Not to mention, they have some great filmmakers and weird cult movies (think “Old Boy”). And I do believe several of those video game systems were developed by the Japanese, amirite.

    So, not so much.

  69. 69.

    licensed to kill time

    November 11, 2009 at 4:47 pm

    More Washington Times wisdom:

    Now the latest emerging talking point is that U.S. Army bases need more guns and that, according to today’s WashTimes editorial, basically everyone at Ft. Hood should be walking around with a loaded pistol, if they want.
    __
    UPDATED: And just so you know, according to the WashTimes, the Ft. Hood shooting was all Bill Clinton’s fault. That’s how the Times couches its rhetoric, which allows the editorial to directly attack Clinton (instead of the Pentagon) for allegedly instituting gun control measure on military bases. But the larger premise is unmistakable: the WashTimes know better how guns should be handled on bases than do military commanders.

    MoonieTunes.

  70. 70.

    arguingwithsignposts

    November 11, 2009 at 4:47 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Note the attempt at false equivalency by the NYT blogger, talking about the “Earlier” tag at the top of the teabag footage, and how a commenter smacks that stuff down:

    “Earlier” was on all the footage (even the same day’s rally footage).

    Doh!

  71. 71.

    Martin

    November 11, 2009 at 4:49 pm

    @JGabriel:

    So, 100% pure opposition is the self-described ‘GOP brand’ these days. Nice to see that everyone is on the same page.

  72. 72.

    arguingwithsignposts

    November 11, 2009 at 4:51 pm

    Wha?!?! Is our BoB commenting at the Times?

  73. 73.

    Calouste

    November 11, 2009 at 4:53 pm

    @Norman Rogers:

    —
    Aside from Hello Kitty and manga, what do they really have has actually made it to mainstream America?

    Fixed for ignorance.

  74. 74.

    LoveMonkey

    November 11, 2009 at 4:55 pm

    The poor Washington Times. Several executives get fired, their top editor is MIA, security is beefed up, the family that owns the church that owns the paper is a mess, staffers fear for the safety of their jobs, confusion reigns and the very survival of the paper is in question.

    TPM. Or, this …. read ’em and weep.

    The Washington Times is basically dead. Outside the self-referential world of the mediablogorrheasphere, and the bubble of the Beltway, it is completely irrelevant now. Like Tony Blankley’s heretofore-enormous ass, it is now a shadow of its former self.

    But here, it’s the pride and joy of “the second most important” in the all-powerful world of “wingnut media.”

    Next, an article about the scary impact of the powerful Reader’s Digest on American minds.

  75. 75.

    licensed to kill time

    November 11, 2009 at 4:59 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    Big news: Latte-drinking readers of the outrageously biased leftist house organ, The New York (Treason) Times, are critical of Fox News…
    Leftist class clown Jon Stewart found that background videos used on Fox were from different days.. wow, will he be getting a Pulitzer?
    — Bob

    Not enough creepy flat affect vibe.

  76. 76.

    Midnight Marauder

    November 11, 2009 at 5:00 pm

    @Norman Rogers:

    Japanese weirdoism is pretty bland, actually, Aside from Hello Kitty and manga, what do they really have?

    Bland? The Japanese? Clearly, you haven’t seen too much from Japanese culture then. Besides all the batshit crazy game shows they have, all I have to say is this:

    Tentacle erotica

  77. 77.

    Linkmeister

    November 11, 2009 at 5:02 pm

    @Beauzeaux: If you want confirmation of that, read Charlie Pierce’s newly-published “Idiot America.” Part of his thesis is as follows:

    1. Any theory is valid if it sells books, soaks up ratings, or otherwise moves units.
    2. Anything can be true if somebody says it on television.
    3. Fact is that which enough people believe. Truth is determined by how fervently they believe it.

  78. 78.

    Norman Rogers

    November 11, 2009 at 5:03 pm

    @Calouste: Bwah! Good one.

    I went looking for my copy of “I think I’m turning Japanese” but it must have gotten thrown out with my copy of “China Girl.”

  79. 79.

    Martin

    November 11, 2009 at 5:05 pm

    @licensed to kill time:

    No tractors, natural law, hairy armpits, reference to pizza topping costs, or why Obama had an inadequate childhood – none of the really important BoB issues.

  80. 80.

    JM

    November 11, 2009 at 5:07 pm

    Big news: Latte-drinking readers of the outrageously biased leftist house organ, The New York (Treason) Times

    … are not the ones who faked the video.

  81. 81.

    Stan Black

    November 11, 2009 at 5:15 pm

    No, you’re not applying the Buchanan shade over this window of weird. It is weird.

  82. 82.

    bemused

    November 11, 2009 at 5:16 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts:
    Referring to BoB as “our” BoB is very disturbing. I think we all have a BoB (uncle, bil, dad) in our families & that’s all anyone should have to pretend not to know.

  83. 83.

    Mark S.

    November 11, 2009 at 5:16 pm

    What is the Reverend Moon’s IQ?

  84. 84.

    licensed to kill time

    November 11, 2009 at 5:17 pm

    @Martin: Right. Also no 7 Liberal Arts, oil shale, wind mills don’t work or scary links to surreptitious pics of women he’s stalking. Scary how we have absorbed the BoBmind…

  85. 85.

    arguingwithsignposts

    November 11, 2009 at 5:20 pm

    @bemused:

    Referring to BoB as “our” BoB is very disturbing. I think we all have a BoB (uncle, bil, dad) in our families & that’s all anyone should have to pretend not to know.

    Look at it in the sense of “our collective cross to bear,” because he won’t leave or shut the hell up. Even with the pie filter.

  86. 86.

    Cat Lady

    November 11, 2009 at 5:20 pm

    @ThatLeftTurnInABQ:

    Maybe in a few years Taibbi will fill HST’s shoes, but in the meantime he’s got the journalism covered, and Shatner can be on the Palin poetry beat.

  87. 87.

    dfd

    November 11, 2009 at 5:24 pm

    @licensed to kill time: The deified Rev. Moon has an IQ of 147, one point less than Glenn Beck.

  88. 88.

    dfd

    November 11, 2009 at 5:26 pm

    oops, responded to the wrong post. My bad.

  89. 89.

    bemused

    November 11, 2009 at 5:27 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts:
    You make a good point. He just won’t go. At least with my relatives & friends, we tacitly agree to leave 99% politics out of the conversations. I’ll never forget the Christmas day when my brother walked in the door making Bush jokes not knowing my other brother & sister in law were very firm republicans.

  90. 90.

    Stooleo

    November 11, 2009 at 5:31 pm

    OT Hey, Did you know that Orly Taitz has a blog.

  91. 91.

    licensed to kill time

    November 11, 2009 at 5:32 pm

    @dfd:

    The deified Rev. Moon has an IQ of 147, one point less than Glenn Beck.

    Where’s the certs? Fax them to John Cole immediately or I call foul!

  92. 92.

    licensed to kill time

    November 11, 2009 at 5:34 pm

    @Stooleo:

    Careful, there has been malware associated with that site. (Other than the mental malware from Taitz’ brain).

  93. 93.

    russell

    November 11, 2009 at 5:42 pm

    As I understand it, Berlusconi basically has a media monopoly, uses it to promote himself to head of state, and uses his elected position (until recently) to assure prosecutorial immunity for all of his business dealings

    You forgot to mention his army of miniskirted spokesmodels.

  94. 94.

    Zifnab

    November 11, 2009 at 5:43 pm

    @LoveMonkey:

    His cable news network attracts on average less than one percent of the population.

    Murdoch’s cable news channel might have a scant 3-5 million viewers nightly. But his stories get picked up and propagated across all the other networks. Same with the WaTimes. It’s the Swift Boaters writ large and run day after day after day.

    @LoveMonkey:

    With these guys in the cockpit, your boogieman media sat by while this country elected a black president with a muslim-sounding name only 7 years after 911.

    They made GW a viable candidate in 2000, and they certainly didn’t hurt his election chances in 2004. Sure, the media hasn’t been batting 1.000, but right now we’re arguing over exactly how much welfare the insurance companies deserve in the health care bill. And the two front Asian land war trundles on, with no end in sight.

    Change is long and slow in coming. Don’t pretend the media hasn’t had a heavy hand in that.

  95. 95.

    Midnight Marauder

    November 11, 2009 at 5:50 pm

    OT, but just when you thought Wolf “-$4500 on Celebrity Jeopardy in real life” Blitzer couldn’t be any more of an incompetent toolbag, he goes and does some shit like this:

    Wolf Blitzer Questions How Hasan’s Lawyer Can Represent ‘Someone Accused Of Mass Murder’

    Blitzer suggested his question about representing Hasan came from people who heard he’d be interviewing Galligan. “They asked me, how could a retired U.S. military officer, a full colonel, go ahead and represent someone accused of mass murder? And I want you to explain to our viewers why you’re doing this.”

    Galligan did: “I fully appreciate the importance of ensuring that everybody has a fair trial.” The rights that I’m asking be accorded to Major Hasan are the rights that service members live and die for.

    That wasn’t quite enough for Blitzer. Before the interview ended, the CNN anchor said of Hasan, “I’m sure he will get a much fairer hearing than those 13 Americans who were brutally gun downed the other day. I’m sure he will get all of the rights that are applied by the military code of justice.” Galligan bristled. “The difficulty that I have, of course, is when people end discussions with me with references like the one that you just made.”

    It’s his fucking job, Wolf. I know, that’s a strange concept to a putz like you. What, are you going to spend tomorrow chastising all the military lawyers who worked for the Worst of the Worst prisoners from Gitmo as being traitors?

    What a fucking putz, this guy.

  96. 96.

    Comrade Darkness

    November 11, 2009 at 5:58 pm

    @MikeJ: Yeah, they say they are. Good luck to Bitsy. If I burn a milkbone on an altar and offer it to the constellation Sirius do you think that will help?

  97. 97.

    noncarborundum

    November 11, 2009 at 5:59 pm

    @Midnight Marauder: Clearly Blitzer does not understand the principles of the American justice system. In addition, anyone who uses the English language in a professional capacity should be fired on the spot for coming out with the phrase “gun downed”. Also.

  98. 98.

    Demo Woman

    November 11, 2009 at 6:05 pm

    OT.. A friend of mine son’s wants a laser pointer. He’s stationed in Iraq and wants a newer model with a green beam or something for presentations. I asked my techie son and he scoffed cuz why would someone still use laser pointers.
    Does anyone know brands that might be functional?

  99. 99.

    aimai

    November 11, 2009 at 6:09 pm

    I’m old. I refused to say the pledge of allegiance when I was nine or ten over the Vietnam war.

    aimai

  100. 100.

    Beauzeaux

    November 11, 2009 at 6:16 pm

    Japanese weirdness exceeds American weirdness by a wide margin. For example, take a look at some wonderfully weird Japanese toys.

    I still miss a very strange Japanese game show called “Feeling Couple” that used to air here in Los Angeles. It was something like a hybrid of The Dating Game and Jackass, only much stranger and more Japanese.

  101. 101.

    Neutron Flux

    November 11, 2009 at 6:18 pm

    @Midnight Marauder: This Wolf person you refer to has been dead to me for over two years. I am much better off for it.

  102. 102.

    Comrade Darkness

    November 11, 2009 at 6:18 pm

    @Demo Woman: Think Geek is generally a good source for stuff like that.

  103. 103.

    Demo Woman

    November 11, 2009 at 6:37 pm

    @Comrade Darkness: thanks

  104. 104.

    LoveMonkey

    November 11, 2009 at 7:00 pm

    right now we’re arguing over exactly how much welfare the insurance companies deserve in the health care bill.

    Yes, even Harry Truman was afraid of Rupert Murdoch!

  105. 105.

    Chuck Butcher

    November 11, 2009 at 7:01 pm

    As a thought problem, because empirical evidence isn’t there:

    Is the Republican Party of today a media construct rather than a political entity? IOW are it’s policies and candidates a function of media construction or are the political?

  106. 106.

    LoveMonkey

    November 11, 2009 at 7:15 pm

    @Chuck Butcher:

    Both, Chuck. The GOP today is a patchwork coalition of unlikely bedfellows, and at the same time, it rides on the wheels of this thing called the “conservative movement” which has never actually existed in the sense that it changed the country the way the progressive movement has changed the country. The conservative movement is mostly a myth, eh? Remember, I live here in Arizona, and even here, it’s hard to find the results of the thing.

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