Two Weeks In

Time Flies When…
The experiment is moving along, and I seem to be suffering minimal physical, emotional and mental distress. I do seem to be suffering from increased/free floating background stress levels, and I definitely have not been sleeping well. I find some elements of FOX NEWS best tolerated with a glass of ice water diluted with lots of bourbon.

For the most part I am finding it a little exhausting—the FOX viewing—NOT the drinking. I tend to do my watching in little mini-marathons. I record most of the shows on my dvr (so that Deb does not become a casualty friendly fire) and then watch in 3 or 4 four hours stretches either real early in the morning, or late at night. Then I supplement it all with “news break” during the day, and watch their live broadcasts.

I still can’t shake the feeling that I am missing out on “real news”. I have this nagging sensation that there might be things occurring in the world of which I am not aware simply because the FOX editorial teams might not find it news worthy.

As promised, this past week I swam the entire length of the FOX pool, diving in a little deeper, and occasionally trying to avoid the “warm” spots—yeah, I’m talking about YOU, Hannity! I find myself seeing the FOX narrative from broader perspective, and seeing the entire organization a little less as caricature and punch line material. Still, I am not ready to drink the Kool-Aid yet. Mostly because it appears to have a yellow tinge that I can’t help but believe has come from the warm spots in the pool.

First: Defending Fox

Not me--not yet at least. THEY seem to spend an awful lot of air-time—O’Reilly in particular—defending themselves. Bill O’Reilly, and his frequent contributors—Carl Rove and Dennis Miller amongst them—cite recent ratings, polls and just “the facts” that FOX is the most watched and trusted news organization out on the air.

I listen to them say that “nobody is watching them” in reference to the network news, MSNBC, and CNN, and I get a little angry. I am not “nobody”. My friends are not “nobody”!

Bill O’Reilly likes to throw the term “folks” around quite a bit in terms of how much “folks” trust he and Glenn beck. Somehow we are supposed to believe that THEY are just plain “folks”?

WHO ARE THESE "FOLKS"?

“Folks” is such a warm word that conjures up images of hard working people, wearing flannel, working 9-5, and sitting around a table eating pot-roast with the family. It reminds us of “Leave It to Beaver” “Lassie” and maybe “The Brady Bunch”—though, I would think that Alice and Sam-the-butcher were more likely folks than the Brady’s.

To listen to FOX NEWS commentators you would have to believe that if you are not in lock step with the far right of the Republican party you are incapable of being one of the “folks”. Liberal – progressives are certainly not “folks”. They are “the enemy” according to Beck. I listened to him say that “the progressive movement is the disease.”

So, who are the “folks” that they are talking about? Liberals can’t be folks. I’m not sure ANY Democrats can be “folks”. Certainly no one in New York City—or or the entire state of California—can be “folks”. Too much education, not Christian, believe in healthcare reform, don’t watch FOX—and you aren’t “folks”.

I resent the implication that Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck, or any of the other highly paid FOX NEWS workers ARE “folks” or have any grand insight into what “folks” want. FOX NEWS wants their viewership to believe that they are just reporting about the things that are important to the “folks”—all of whom watch FOX. I think that is a bit deceitful. I think that FOX NEWS finds tiny embers of concern, potential hot button issues, and then they fan those embers, pour on a little gasoline, and report it as NEWS.

Now the Tea Party—they are “FOLKS” according to FOX. Supporters of Sarah Palin—are they “folks”? You betcha’!

SARAH PALIN FOR PRESIDENT

If FOX has anything to say about it—and they do—Sarah Palin will be the first corporately run candidate for President of the United States. Ms.Palin—I cannot bring myself to refer to her as Governor Palin, because I believe the customary honorific should be reserved for those who actually finish a job—appeared as the keynote speaker for the Tea Party convention last weekend. FOX spent the week following up on extensive coverage of Ms.Palin’s performance, her interview Fox’s Chris Wallace, with the “liberal media” coverage, and her potential run for President.

I sat through it all.

I watched the Chris Wallace interview several times. I watched the Fox coverage of Ms. Palin’s keynote speech. I remain more than unimpressed—now with Wallace(Mike has got to be disappointed) and still with Palin. Wallace fawned, and even asked her for a “you betcha” at the end of the interview. It would have been sad except that she said she WOULD run for President if she thought she was needed.

Yikes!

I really don’t care that she wrote crib notes on the palm of her hand. The problem is not with the word on her hand, it is every word that comes out of her mouth. I continue to see nothing there. Truthfully, I think she counts on her ignorance, and wears it as some sort of bizarre badge of honor.

I caught part of Glenn Beck’s interview with her a while back, and I watched her not even be able to answer softball questions tossed to her by someone who idolizes her—believe me they all idolize her over at FOX to the point of drooling. Beck, O’Reilly, Wallace and Hannity all get a slack-jawed glint in their eyes whenever they mention her name. And when she appears before them… it’s just a little sad.

I watched Palin rile up the Tea Party audience by asking, “How’s that hopey changey thing working out for you?” She went to say that the country needs a “Commander-in-Chief, not a Professor of Law in chief!” She then went on to say that America “needs another Revolution!”

Really?

I guess we should have gone all “mavericky” instead of even daring to hope for change. I haven’t seen enough change, but I am still hoping.

And what is it with the far right and intelligence? There is one minimal requirement I look for in a President—it is not a wink, a finger shoot, or a golly-shucks attitude and accent. I want the President of the United States, the Commander-in- Chief, the person with his finger on the “button”, the person in charge of one of the largest economies in the world, to be at least MORE intelligent that I am. Trust me—that is not aiming HIGH! I want someone who IS very intelligent, clear-headed, NOT mavericky, and who can clearly communicate ideas to the American people without sounding like they are reciting a 9th grade memorization recital.

I would dismiss her as a moron, but I think everyone needs to look at her seriously, or we will wind up with worse version of the Bush years. The Tea Party supports her, and much more importantly, FOX NEWS idolizes her! The only bright side is that she doesn’t seem too good at finishing what she has promised, so let’s hope that she quits BEFORE she even runs.

To be continued…

This one has gone on a little long, so I will continue later. I want to talk about Hannity, Von Susteren, and some FOX NEWS that seems to actually be NEWS!

But I leave you with the words of William Shakespeare from Hamlet…

To be or not to be – that is the question:

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles

And, by opposing, end them. To die, to sleep

No more – and by a sleep to say we end

The heartache and the thousand natural shocks

That flesh is heir to – ‘tis a consummation

Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep

To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub,

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,

Must give us pause. There's the respect

That makes calamity of so long life.

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,

Th’ oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,

The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,

The insolence of office, and the spurns

That patient merit of th’ unworthy takes,

When he himself might his quietus make

With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear,

To grunt and sweat under a weary life,

But that the dread of something after death,

The undiscovered country from whose bourn

No traveler returns, puzzles the will

And makes us rather bear those ills we have

Than fly to others that we know not of?

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,

And thus the native hue of resolution

Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,

And enterprises of great pitch and moment

With this regard their currents turn awry,

And lose the name of action.—Soft you now!

The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons

Be all my sins remembered.

THAT was my 9th grade memorization recital. I don’t believe I was able to get more than halfway through it, and I definitely could not do it today. Probably too much time spent with bourbon, water, and warm spots in the pool.