I hereby pledge to America to...LIE

The Party of "No" has come out recently (not like Mehlman) with a Pledge to America. Their new heralded pledge is nothing new, and echoes almost in its entirety Gingrich's "Contract with America" circa 1994. The pledge goes into detail concerning the economy, health care, the stimulus bill, small businesses, and of course, taxes.

I will outline a few gross LIES spread by the GOP.

According to the document, the PTA states that jobs in the government sector are exponentially increasing, while private sector jobs are suffering severe losses. Hardly true, in fact, not even remotely true. Jobs in the government sector have steadily decreased while the private sector has gained 763,000 jobs. So, their claim of some omnipotent government that is expanding at ravenous rates never before seen...is FALSE.

It then goes on to claim that jobless claims are "continuing to soar." Again, you've been mislead. Jobless claims are down 8% from their worst levels.

It says Obama’s tax proposals would raise taxes on “roughly half the small business income in America,” an exaggeration. Much of the income the GOP is counting actually comes from big businesses making over $50 million a year.

I must ask if the GOP's PTA is to spread misinformation to the masses? If that is their pledge, than they have succeeded. I would call this nothing more than a desperate attempt to oust their democratic opponents.

CNN knew of WAR CRIMES?

I spend a lot of time on my blog pointing out the obvious fallacies and irresponsible journalism from Fox News, but I felt that I needed to balance it out a bit.

It is being reported (obviously not by CNN) that they possess a video PROVING War Crimes in Iraq by American soldiers. The only problem is, CNN owns the tapes and refuses to air them or release them.

Michael Ware, a prominent war correspondent in Australia, says he witnessed American soldiers executing a teenage boy by shooting him in the back of the head. According to Ware, the young Iraqi posed absolutely no threat to U.S. forces. This story comes shortly after U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan were accused of creating a "Death Squad" that killed Afghans for fun, then dismembering their bodies for "trophies." What I want to know is when these soldiers will be tried, and convicted as War Criminals.

Also, I want to know why CNN feels the tape is too graphic for the public to view. They wouldn't necessarily need to show it on TV, but could release it online, and with some sort of disclaimer. I can only hope WikiLeaks can somehow get a hold of the tapes.

The American public MUST be aware of the atrocities we are committing over there! We are not winning over hearts and minds, but rather killing them for sport.

So, we obviously need ne plans for Iraq/Afghanistan...something like: GET THE HELL OUT! There should be outrage with CNN, until they release the tapes. I know for me personally, I will stop watching their channel, and visiting their website until the video is released. I have plenty of other options to get my news.

Fair and Balanced?

Fox and Friends can't even seem to get the pictures of people correct, let alone the facts!

Keep in mind that below are the actual images of the people they are discussing. Irresponsible journalism at its finest. They talk about Reddicliffe as having an "ax to grind-" but why stoop so low as to physically alter the appearances of people?

Oh, and another thing! Quit bragging about how many people watch your show. Unfortunately, that only means we now have a less informed public courtesy of your irresponsible journalism.

Why Can't the Media Get the Number Correct?

The man who championed the phrase "Gold, God, and Guns" held his rally this weekend. However, its been difficult to surmise the actual amount of people at the event. So, why is figuring out this number so difficult? I understand that its nearly impossible to count each and every person, nor is it even practical. But I would have to assume that someone made a big error in their calculations. Estimates ranged from (probably the correct) 87,000 to 500,000. Beck himself was quoted saying the event pulled in "300,000 to 650,000" people.

So how could there be such disparities between different news sources? Well, the fact is, Glenn Beck's "Restoring America" rally was highly political in nature. Beck had no idea when he originally planned his rally that it fell on the 47th Anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. This alone is enough to politicize an event. MLK surely would have found himself on Beck's "blackboard" rants on his TV show for advocating social and economic justice. Beck, who often describes himself as a history buff, should have known that August 28th, is a very important day in American history. Though the theme of his talking points overall may not have been political (good riddance), this rally has made a quite a splash in the political realm . It is no secret that Beckonians have a real hatred towards Obama, and his administration. These people coming out in support of Glenn Beck, and his hysterics (though the numbers are significantly less than hoped for) shows their distrust for Obama and their hope to "restore" America. Whatever that may mean.

So will we ever know exactly how many people attended Beck's event? Most likely not. But I can assure you, that the man who had the real dream, and the real fortitude to carry out his dreams, gathered many more Americans, and his ideas were embraced by more than just white middle/upper class men.

Anti-muslim Rally at Ground Zero

Misinformation from Murdoch's Empire

It's no secret that Fox News distorts the truth. Sure, maybe other media outlets do it to some degree, but Fox News has made a business of it. A BIG business - with a $700 million dollar profit in 2010!

Murdoch's News Corp gave the Republican Governors Association (RGA) a million dollar donation. As if we didn't already know that Fox was simply an arm of the GOP, this donation erases any doubts.

By not adhering to ANY of the traditions of objectivity by journalists, Fox News has been able to spread lies, and propaganda to its simple minded market. It is a sad reality that, in order to grab new viewers, Fox News has stooped so low.

I would have to assume that Fox News has had a major influence on the American people who believe President Obama is a Muslim.

Create a Spectacle

I am assuming that most people in class saw this while coming into the Social Science building for our Mass Media in Politics Class.

What I found most interesting, was not their hate-spewing message, or their overall nutty views, but rather seeing the extreme far-right in motion. As a whole, the right-wing evangelicals are a force to be reckoned with. Not only are they loud, obnoxious, and boisterous, but they vote.

The man holding the "Homo Sex is Sin" sign was patriotically dressed, with pictures of revolutionary war heroes, while others video-taped the entire spectacle.

What also came to mind, was the idea that in order to sell news, or to conjure up more viewers, there seems to be a need to be more sensationalist than the others. I do not feel like many of the students watching subscribed to their views, but they did create quite a scene. Much like the battle between William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, which gave rise to yellow journalism, many news outlets feel the need to "one-up" each other. Much like these guys are hardly speaking the truth, nor are many of the media outlets.