Right-Wing News Isn't Really News

Fabrications often pass for news these days and the borderline personalities who express dangerously silly opinions on air contribute to a surreal atmosphere that inhibits sensible political discourse. Worst of all a potentially treacherous conglomerate of candidates may win in November with a lot of help from our least reliable news sources and newly empowered corporate donors.

The Opposition’s favorite talking points are headlining once again no matter how indefensible or low-minded they may be. And many voters, led by false political gods, are supporting politicians whose policies in no way serve their interests; others are just happy to have their prejudices and hatred legitimized in the public square. Typically the cry goes up that the country is beset by a “liberal” press.

In the New York market, however, Rupert Murdoch owns Fox News, The New York Post, The Wall Street Journal, the Fox News Network and other properties worth over $50 billion. His News Corp group recently donated a million dollars to the Republican Party, a stunningly partisan move for a news group. Only the foolish believe the “fair and balanced” mantra that attaches to his Fox cable enterprise. Currently the intellectually challenged teams at Fox have been railing against Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Tala for contributing to the proposed Muslim Center near ground Zero ignorant of or choosing to ignore the fact that the prince is one of Murdoch’s most important business partners.

What makes all of this especially disturbing is that the right will persist in its virulent condemnation of more reasonable news outlets as too liberal and insinuate that the planners of the Muslim center are cohorts of the 9/11 terrorists, an insult to people who practice the Islamic faith and to thinking people of all faiths. For their part, few Republicans are willing to disavow the hatred spilling onto the streets of New York and across the air waves, for whatever serves their political ends is allowed to fester like the rumblings in their midst that the president is a secret Muslim.

As the song goes, “you’ve got to be carefully taught to hate and fear” and having once internalized that lesson the mindset is hard to break. All sorts of excuses and reasons are given for opposing the Center but there’s an overriding agenda. When Newt Gingrich says no more mosques here until there are churches in Saudi Arabia, and other politicians call Islam a false religion it’s clear that Ground Zero is a politically-motivated ploy, more shameful even than the actual protestors inspired to act by partisan fanatics.

It shouldn’t really be that hard to see through the flim-flam artistry of seasoned political wags. Everyone ought to have caught on by now.  Joe Scarborough says Democrats were hard on George Bush right from the start too, saying he had no legitimacy. But that’s what happens when the Supreme Court appoints a president. It’s a false argument to suggest equivalence between questions about the Bush election with the constant attacks directed at this president and the sheer mendacity that accompanies them.

Tea Partiers say they want to take the country back, but their slick managers want to take the country backward and invent a set of facts to support their stubbornly held tax-cutting platform and national security rhetoric. The Obama administration proposes to retain the Bush tax cuts except for top earners. Republicans insist this plan will hurt small business owners though few of them fall into an income category that would be affected. And  when legislation to help small businesses was introduced in Congress before the August break Republicans in the Senate refused to allow debate - - the usual SNAFU.

A guest on Tuesday’s Washington Journal, J. O. Freire, Associate editorial page editor at the Washington Examiner said that Tea Party candidates are ridiculed sometimes as being a bit “nutty” but really they’re just normal people responding to other normal people. Uh, would that apply to Sharron Angle’s assertion that black is the color of evil? What’s to be done with all those ‘little black dresses’ in millions of women’s closets or the attire of men at those, gasp, black tie affairs? Who knew there might be something sinister about such things?

Will the country’s future be entrusted to people who are just a little bit nutty and not too bright or dissemblers who haven’t a clue about how to shrink government or cut taxes without adding to the deficit? Talk is cheap, the adverse effects of poor choices aren’t.