I KNOW WHAT THEY WANT
It’s a plot! A PLOT I tell you! I have finally uncovered the plan behind it all. It’s a SECRET PLAN that THEY don’t want you to know about! I’m sure my life is at risk, but I have to impart the knowledge I have uncovered. I have been unable to get a full night’s sleep for the past week. I’ve found myself wide awake at 4 o’clock in the morning… tossing and turning… but THEY are out there, and they are conspiring against us. Big Government! The second cousin twice removed on your mother’s side of Big Brother! They want to take all our money. They want to spend all our money. They want to give all our money to the sick, the needy, the unemployed, and then more to the sick… and once they have put our children’s children’s children’s children into massive debt… then they are going to kill us all.
Okay… I was not joking about not being able to get a full night’s sleep all this week. Almost every night, at around four o’clock in the morning, I found myself wide awake. I am at the end of my second or third full week of my FOX NEWS diet—could my sleeplessness be pure coincidence? Maybe, as a friend suggested, I might be the victim of a nighttime vampire visitation, or I could be the subject of alien abduction/experimentation—hmmm? How far off is that suggestion?
The reality is that this past week was the most trying. I felt beaten down by the incessant negativity that was beaming out the television. I found it impossible to blog, and have not really wanted to turn the TV on—not to watch Fox News, and haven’t even been tempted by any other source of news. Fine! I’ll admit that I wanted to watch the all day marathon of DESPERATELY REAL AND SURGICALLY ENHANCED HOUSEWIVES OF ORANGE COUNTY, but I resisted! Fortunately, Deb is addicted to the Olympics, and it has been on in the background whenever she is home. I would leave the room whenever any news updates appeared on screen.
I just have not been able to bring myself to watch FOX News this week. MY DVR is overflowing with shows that I have recorded—and the prospect of watching all that I have recorded is making my fingers tremble over the keyboard. I have stuck with my original plan for the month—Fox News or nothing. Nothing seems to have won out.
So, could this be the insidious plot of the evil overlords at FOX NEWS? Could the ranting, the attacks, the derision of anything resembling progress all be smoke and mirrors? Maybe it’s not just about ratings and enraging the masses to take action against the current administration. Maybe they are attempting to numb our brains to point of apathy. It seems to be working on me.
Really… can any sane individual absorb the massive amounts of negativity transmitted by FOX… be lectured to by Bill O’Reilly…listen to the repeated diatribes of Glenn Beck… the cutesy/snarky asides of Fox & Friends… the plasticized sneers of Greta Van Susteren… could anyone do this day after day and not have their minds warped on some level?
FAIR AND BALANCED?
I expanded my FOX NEWS diet beyond Bill O. and Glenn B. in search of NEWS.
First up was Bill Hemmer, who I remember from back in his CNN days. Now he is the co-host of America’s Newsroom with Martha MacCallum. There is some actual news scattered through their show, but Hemmer seems to struggle with barely containing his disdain for Obama administration and its policies. I found the show less informative than I hoped for one with such an illustrious title.
On the record with Gretchen Von Susteren has come CLOSE to pissing me off as much as Sean Hannity’s show, but not so much. I find her reporting style to be relatively one sided, and find it incredibly distracting to look at her non-moving face. She spends most of her shows interviewing the right, and is clearly giving them a platform to take shots at the Democrats.
Here is the tricky thing about FOX NEWS—something unknown to the progress liberal elitists like me—there is actual news coverage buried in the middle of their day long right wing propaganda. I am not kidding, have not been brain-washed (yet), and I do not think this a false-memory implanted by alien abductors. FOX NEWS BROADCASTS NEWS!
This was a genuine surprise to me. Fox News network is not ALL about Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannnity. I begrudgingly stumbled across some actual NEWS programs, and—dare I say—some real REPORTERS. I came across at least two reporters who are unwilling to just blindly report inaccurate quotes, even when coming from the right side of the aisle, as facts. This stunned me.
Fox Reports with Shepard Smith was the real stunner for me. It is an hour long newscast at 7pm that seems to do a decent job of—covering the news! Shepard Smith—who’s radio announcer voice bugged me at first—does a decent job of keeping his own opinions out of the reports for the most part. He covers national, international, political and human interest stories with—dare I say—a fair and balanced style.
Smith covered everything from Healthcare, to the New Orleans Saints super-bowl win, to a pretty touching tribute to Jack Murtha , and he did with a fair-handed style I had not seen on Fox up until now. There was some pretty straight forward reporting of BOTH sides of the aisle by Catherine Herridge and Major Garrett. Both of these reporters refuted erroneous comments by Republican members of the house. Again, I was stunned. This is a show I could see myself watching in the future—beyond this month.
So, maybe it is not an overarching plot by the FOX OVERLORDS, and maybe I am not having my life-force drained through vampirism or alien experimentation—OR maybe the overlords ARE alien vampires, and I am just the first victim to come to the realization?
Help me before I watch again!!!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Saturday, February 13, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
By The Way...
Anyone lurking should feel free to sign in as a registered user. Go ahead! All the cool kids are doing it! Thanks!--Howard
One Week Later...
Thankfully, my week was capped off by the big Tea Party Convention with Sarah Palin giving the keynote speech. All day today I have looked in on coverage, interviews and commentary about how Ms.Palin got them all fired up, and—if my mental and physical health allows-- will be writing about her soon. Meanwhile, this might be the incentive I have needed to keep me moving forward.
I think I was beginning to feel beaten down by FOX, and the incessant negativity they beam out into the air waves. One week’s worth of this FOX diet has made this endeavor feel weightier than it seemed when I flippantly said I could do it as part of my Face Book status update. Watching FOX has become an aerobic activity for me, and has given me cause to call upon Zen breathing exercises I learned in my martial arts classes over the years. I watch Bill O’Reilly, or Glenn Beck, or even their hourly news updates, and I can feel my chest contract and my pulse race. So, I force myself to breathe deeply, slowly, and remember that I am an outside observer. Things come under control, and I am to view the shows objectively. Six days of this has become come close to being exhausting, and certainly a chore, but it has brought about a few insights. But first…
A Typical Day
As I said, I couldn’t throw myself into the deep-end of the pool, and decided to pick and choose amongst what Fox has to offer. My focus for the first week was the Fox & Friends, Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck—hmmm? Maybe this WAS the deep end?
Morning Tea
Earlier I have given my opinions about FOX & FRIENDS, and have seen nothing to change my mind—this is a show that slips back and forth between light morning fare and pretty biased coverage of hot topic political issues. For example, this week I watched:
An interview with Rush Limbaugh in which he said that the best thing that could happen to this country would be if President Obama’s agenda failed.
A segment on Super-Bowl food and drink recipes.
A “fair and balanced” debate on terrorism which began with the question, “Are we LESS safe?”
The 4 Troops, combat veterans singing patriotic songs.
“Terror in the Sky” continuing coverage of the Nigerian “Underwear Bomber” with an accent on the criticism of the Obama administration for charging him as a criminal instead of an “enemy combatant.” This was one of the first times I was tempted to check in on some “real news” to find out what was really going on.
A piece on a cat who is supposed to be able to predict who will die at nursing homes.
Steve Doocy presented a story about a school in Berkley, Ca that is cutting funding from “advanced” science labs. I watched as he kept referring to it taking from the “white students” and benefiting “black students.”
Coverage and interview with the MTV reality series “The Buried Life”
Continued coverage on healthcare reform, and how it just isn’t needed. Today they presented a story about the Premier of New Foundland, Danny Williams, coming to the United States to have heart surgery. There was lots of joking amongst the three hosts about how this proves that the U.S. has the better healthcare system. All I could think of was, “Thank goodness this guy could AFFORD our healthcare!”
Bill O’Reilly
Honestly, Bill O’Reilly has been a relative surprise to me. Prior to watching his show, I saw him as a cartoon super-villain (an area in which have some degree of expertise) who was the symbol of all things I despised FOX.
The surprising thing was that he just didn’t make me as angry as I thought he would—at least not for long.
I find his bloviating annoying and his incessant interruptions of his guests frustrating (though I can think of at least one MSNBC anchor does that) enough to cause me to suggest he drop the whole “fair and balanced” moniker. But he turned out to NOT be the caricature right-wing republican-party shill/ super-villain I was expecting.
I was surprised to hear him(and later Glenn beck) disavow the “birthers”—the fringe elements of the country who believe President Obama was not born in the United States. I was further surprised to watch him criticize the far right wing of the Republican party. So, I have already learned something while watching FOX news. I had a few assumptions about Bill O’Reilly, and just by watching his shows they have been put to rest.
Toward the end of the week I had a welcome breather from my experiment—or at least the illusion of one— when John Stewart, of the Daily Show, was interviewed by Bill O’Reilly. Stewart continues to impress me with his quick wit and assessments of current events. Mr. O’Reilly seemed respectful of Stewart, and it was fun to watch the back and forth banter between the two. It seemed like there were a few times that O’Reilly tried to get Stewart to criticize the Obama administration, and Stewart was having none of it. Asked for a mistake that Obama was making, Stewart replied, “He has decided that Congress is an equal branch of government,--huge mistake."
I thought it was a great interview, and did not seem to be typical of the stuff I have seen O’Reilly do. He was treating Stewart as an equal. Normally O’Reilly is all about instructing his audience about the truth according to Bill O’Reilly. He presents himself passionately about his convictions, and appears dismissive of any other point of view.
Even though John Stewart called O’Reilly the “voice of reason” on FOX, I still believe his show is anything but “fair and balanced”, and that he comes across as a bully.
This leads me to…
GLENN BECK
I am fascinated by Glenn Beck.
And now I am disturbed that I even wrote those words. I would suggest that anyone who has not watched a Glenn Beck performance—and it does come across like some of bizarre performance art—check out his show.
Watching the first episode of the Glenn Beck show was painful. A typical show is Beck, a blackboard, a screen behind him, and an hour of his talking, mugging, preaching, screwing up his face as he leans into the camera, citing “facts”, raising his eyebrows, and pleading with the viewers to listen to what he can teach them about how the government—the Obama administration in particular—will cause the end of America and threaten your children’s future. My mouth fell opened the show with a quote from Benjamin Franklin :
"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety"
I was surprised that he used this quote in regard to the Obama administration. Prior to this I had only heard it in regard to the Patriot Act under the Bush/Cheney regime. I then watched Beck talk to his viewers through the cameras lens for what seemed to be forever. When he finally broke for a commercial I was exhausted and thought, “Well that show is over!” Unfortunately, when I looked at the clock, only 15 minutes of his hour long show had passed. He continued along with his essential question, presented after the Franklin quote, “How secure is the freedom of your children?” His saying to the camera, “there is not enough Zoloft in the world to make me happy!” seemed very telling.
What followed was 45 minutes of attacks on Obama’s budget, unions, red-tape and college football—and “science”. Yes, he used air quotes to refer to the science of Global Warming. It was a conspiratorial rant of the first order in which he outlined (on his blackboard) Obama’s strategy for “taking over the country”, and how we would all “lose our freedoms.”
It wasn’t quite like watching a train wreck, and I really did come to appreciate what he does. In an insane way it is like watching a madman—posing as the only voice of reason--perform for the audience about how crazy everyone else is for not seeing what he sees.
I found it impossible to get angry at him, or the things he says. At the end of that first hour I wanted to watch more. I thought it would be impossible for him to keep it up. I was wrong. He does this night after night, and week after week. I was relatively impressed by this feat, until I started to remember those paranoid schizophrenics I would see sitting in the corner of subway stations. They would be scribbling page after page in college ruled notebooks. Notebooks were stacked in their shopping carts. The pages were filled with the gibberish of their fevered and damaged brains.
One night he opened the show—and went all Dan Brown/DaVinci Code—and had a photo of the Statue of Liberty and an artist’s rendering of the Colossus of Rhodes on the screen. He spent a bit of time drawing comparisons between the two. Without going into the details of his diatribe, he was drawing comparisons between the Statue of Liberty and an ARTIST’S RENDERING of a statue of which all traces disappeared close to 2,000 years ago. Even a quick search of the internet turns up dozens of artist’s renderings. He found one that suited his needs, and presented it as fact. This is what he does—he inserts just enough possible truths into his rants that one is left thinking, “Hmm? Maybe…” That is what all conspiracy theorists do.
The only deviation from his standard format was the one night in which Beck interviewed Bill O’Reilly. It was less an interview than a promotion for their two man show, A Bold Fresh Tour— which appears to be a two man stand-up routine that Beck and O’Reilly are performing around the country.
In the course of the interview, journalist Joe Klein’s name was mentioned. O’Reilly said he was not sure why Klein demonizes FOX. Beck responded, “He never watches us.” O’Reilly, “Sure he looks in… but you give an opinion, I give an opinion… so what?” O’Reilly went on to say that the overreaction to Beck is fascinating, “You’re just a guy who gets paid a lot of money to give an opinion. They FEAR you.”
IF he is as popular as he claims to be. IF people are listening to him, and trusting what he says as being based on anything resembling fact. IF he continues to call for a revolution… perhaps he Glenn Beck should be feared.
Next: A little more O’Reilly, a little more Beck, the Anti-Christ, Ms. Palin, and my discovery of actual NEWS on FOX.
I think I was beginning to feel beaten down by FOX, and the incessant negativity they beam out into the air waves. One week’s worth of this FOX diet has made this endeavor feel weightier than it seemed when I flippantly said I could do it as part of my Face Book status update. Watching FOX has become an aerobic activity for me, and has given me cause to call upon Zen breathing exercises I learned in my martial arts classes over the years. I watch Bill O’Reilly, or Glenn Beck, or even their hourly news updates, and I can feel my chest contract and my pulse race. So, I force myself to breathe deeply, slowly, and remember that I am an outside observer. Things come under control, and I am to view the shows objectively. Six days of this has become come close to being exhausting, and certainly a chore, but it has brought about a few insights. But first…
A Typical Day
As I said, I couldn’t throw myself into the deep-end of the pool, and decided to pick and choose amongst what Fox has to offer. My focus for the first week was the Fox & Friends, Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck—hmmm? Maybe this WAS the deep end?
Morning Tea
Earlier I have given my opinions about FOX & FRIENDS, and have seen nothing to change my mind—this is a show that slips back and forth between light morning fare and pretty biased coverage of hot topic political issues. For example, this week I watched:
An interview with Rush Limbaugh in which he said that the best thing that could happen to this country would be if President Obama’s agenda failed.
A segment on Super-Bowl food and drink recipes.
A “fair and balanced” debate on terrorism which began with the question, “Are we LESS safe?”
The 4 Troops, combat veterans singing patriotic songs.
“Terror in the Sky” continuing coverage of the Nigerian “Underwear Bomber” with an accent on the criticism of the Obama administration for charging him as a criminal instead of an “enemy combatant.” This was one of the first times I was tempted to check in on some “real news” to find out what was really going on.
A piece on a cat who is supposed to be able to predict who will die at nursing homes.
Steve Doocy presented a story about a school in Berkley, Ca that is cutting funding from “advanced” science labs. I watched as he kept referring to it taking from the “white students” and benefiting “black students.”
Coverage and interview with the MTV reality series “The Buried Life”
Continued coverage on healthcare reform, and how it just isn’t needed. Today they presented a story about the Premier of New Foundland, Danny Williams, coming to the United States to have heart surgery. There was lots of joking amongst the three hosts about how this proves that the U.S. has the better healthcare system. All I could think of was, “Thank goodness this guy could AFFORD our healthcare!”
Bill O’Reilly
Honestly, Bill O’Reilly has been a relative surprise to me. Prior to watching his show, I saw him as a cartoon super-villain (an area in which have some degree of expertise) who was the symbol of all things I despised FOX.
The surprising thing was that he just didn’t make me as angry as I thought he would—at least not for long.
I find his bloviating annoying and his incessant interruptions of his guests frustrating (though I can think of at least one MSNBC anchor does that) enough to cause me to suggest he drop the whole “fair and balanced” moniker. But he turned out to NOT be the caricature right-wing republican-party shill/ super-villain I was expecting.
I was surprised to hear him(and later Glenn beck) disavow the “birthers”—the fringe elements of the country who believe President Obama was not born in the United States. I was further surprised to watch him criticize the far right wing of the Republican party. So, I have already learned something while watching FOX news. I had a few assumptions about Bill O’Reilly, and just by watching his shows they have been put to rest.
Toward the end of the week I had a welcome breather from my experiment—or at least the illusion of one— when John Stewart, of the Daily Show, was interviewed by Bill O’Reilly. Stewart continues to impress me with his quick wit and assessments of current events. Mr. O’Reilly seemed respectful of Stewart, and it was fun to watch the back and forth banter between the two. It seemed like there were a few times that O’Reilly tried to get Stewart to criticize the Obama administration, and Stewart was having none of it. Asked for a mistake that Obama was making, Stewart replied, “He has decided that Congress is an equal branch of government,--huge mistake."
I thought it was a great interview, and did not seem to be typical of the stuff I have seen O’Reilly do. He was treating Stewart as an equal. Normally O’Reilly is all about instructing his audience about the truth according to Bill O’Reilly. He presents himself passionately about his convictions, and appears dismissive of any other point of view.
Even though John Stewart called O’Reilly the “voice of reason” on FOX, I still believe his show is anything but “fair and balanced”, and that he comes across as a bully.
This leads me to…
GLENN BECK
I am fascinated by Glenn Beck.
And now I am disturbed that I even wrote those words. I would suggest that anyone who has not watched a Glenn Beck performance—and it does come across like some of bizarre performance art—check out his show.
Watching the first episode of the Glenn Beck show was painful. A typical show is Beck, a blackboard, a screen behind him, and an hour of his talking, mugging, preaching, screwing up his face as he leans into the camera, citing “facts”, raising his eyebrows, and pleading with the viewers to listen to what he can teach them about how the government—the Obama administration in particular—will cause the end of America and threaten your children’s future. My mouth fell opened the show with a quote from Benjamin Franklin :
"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety"
I was surprised that he used this quote in regard to the Obama administration. Prior to this I had only heard it in regard to the Patriot Act under the Bush/Cheney regime. I then watched Beck talk to his viewers through the cameras lens for what seemed to be forever. When he finally broke for a commercial I was exhausted and thought, “Well that show is over!” Unfortunately, when I looked at the clock, only 15 minutes of his hour long show had passed. He continued along with his essential question, presented after the Franklin quote, “How secure is the freedom of your children?” His saying to the camera, “there is not enough Zoloft in the world to make me happy!” seemed very telling.
What followed was 45 minutes of attacks on Obama’s budget, unions, red-tape and college football—and “science”. Yes, he used air quotes to refer to the science of Global Warming. It was a conspiratorial rant of the first order in which he outlined (on his blackboard) Obama’s strategy for “taking over the country”, and how we would all “lose our freedoms.”
It wasn’t quite like watching a train wreck, and I really did come to appreciate what he does. In an insane way it is like watching a madman—posing as the only voice of reason--perform for the audience about how crazy everyone else is for not seeing what he sees.
I found it impossible to get angry at him, or the things he says. At the end of that first hour I wanted to watch more. I thought it would be impossible for him to keep it up. I was wrong. He does this night after night, and week after week. I was relatively impressed by this feat, until I started to remember those paranoid schizophrenics I would see sitting in the corner of subway stations. They would be scribbling page after page in college ruled notebooks. Notebooks were stacked in their shopping carts. The pages were filled with the gibberish of their fevered and damaged brains.
One night he opened the show—and went all Dan Brown/DaVinci Code—and had a photo of the Statue of Liberty and an artist’s rendering of the Colossus of Rhodes on the screen. He spent a bit of time drawing comparisons between the two. Without going into the details of his diatribe, he was drawing comparisons between the Statue of Liberty and an ARTIST’S RENDERING of a statue of which all traces disappeared close to 2,000 years ago. Even a quick search of the internet turns up dozens of artist’s renderings. He found one that suited his needs, and presented it as fact. This is what he does—he inserts just enough possible truths into his rants that one is left thinking, “Hmm? Maybe…” That is what all conspiracy theorists do.
The only deviation from his standard format was the one night in which Beck interviewed Bill O’Reilly. It was less an interview than a promotion for their two man show, A Bold Fresh Tour— which appears to be a two man stand-up routine that Beck and O’Reilly are performing around the country.
In the course of the interview, journalist Joe Klein’s name was mentioned. O’Reilly said he was not sure why Klein demonizes FOX. Beck responded, “He never watches us.” O’Reilly, “Sure he looks in… but you give an opinion, I give an opinion… so what?” O’Reilly went on to say that the overreaction to Beck is fascinating, “You’re just a guy who gets paid a lot of money to give an opinion. They FEAR you.”
IF he is as popular as he claims to be. IF people are listening to him, and trusting what he says as being based on anything resembling fact. IF he continues to call for a revolution… perhaps he Glenn Beck should be feared.
Next: A little more O’Reilly, a little more Beck, the Anti-Christ, Ms. Palin, and my discovery of actual NEWS on FOX.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Time Creeps Along At a Rapid Pace
I have been working on updating the blog all weekend, and my posting keeps getting longer and longer. I am editing it down, and maybe even dividing what I've got into multiple postings. There has been a lot of brain-frying material, and I don't want to inadvertently leave anything out. Overall, I am finding the experience amusing, informative, stressful and cause for real soul searching. I have come to admire a great deal of what FOX does, but little of it currently comes from the presentation of anything resembling the news.
My ban on any other source of news continues, and that is taking a real toll. I am a news junky, and feel as though I have been placed into a very dark room to go through the DTs as I withdraw from all real sources of news. Unfortunately, this has brought me to the conclusion that I have not spent enough time with mainstream(ha!) FOX news-- that I have been too focused on their heavy hitters(O'Reilly and Beck)-- and that I must dive in deeper into the belly of the beast.
What am I thinking?
I analyze FOX's presentation of current events, begin to think of some of the other news sources I have relied on in the past, and know that I will view some of my "old friends" in a far different light.
Last night I had a dream that was very reminiscent of Dr.Zhivago. I was traveling by train through the snow--occasionally having to get out trudging and climbing to next place. “They” were pursuing us. Hmmmph! Can’t help but believe this has something to do with my experiment.
There is an overwhelming theme of “THEM” throughout the FOX presentations. Liberals? Democrats? Progressives? The Obama administration? Who are THEY/THEM? And why do they hate America?
Even though it is painful and exhausting, I will keep this going.
I know I need to post about Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck and SARAH PALIN.
I will.
My ban on any other source of news continues, and that is taking a real toll. I am a news junky, and feel as though I have been placed into a very dark room to go through the DTs as I withdraw from all real sources of news. Unfortunately, this has brought me to the conclusion that I have not spent enough time with mainstream(ha!) FOX news-- that I have been too focused on their heavy hitters(O'Reilly and Beck)-- and that I must dive in deeper into the belly of the beast.
What am I thinking?
I analyze FOX's presentation of current events, begin to think of some of the other news sources I have relied on in the past, and know that I will view some of my "old friends" in a far different light.
Last night I had a dream that was very reminiscent of Dr.Zhivago. I was traveling by train through the snow--occasionally having to get out trudging and climbing to next place. “They” were pursuing us. Hmmmph! Can’t help but believe this has something to do with my experiment.
There is an overwhelming theme of “THEM” throughout the FOX presentations. Liberals? Democrats? Progressives? The Obama administration? Who are THEY/THEM? And why do they hate America?
Even though it is painful and exhausting, I will keep this going.
I know I need to post about Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck and SARAH PALIN.
I will.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
A digression
Plodding along
The week has moved along-- I cannot say a rapid pace, because it has been hard work. I still struggle with the sense that I am missing "real" news as I tip toe through all that FOX has had to offer. I know I will have to get more agressive in my FOX viewing next week, and really try to sample all that they have to offer. I have stayed pretty focused on the morning show, and the opinionators like Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck. I find them-- especially Glenn Beck-- fascinating, and plan on writing a little more about them tomorrow.
But first...
A friend of mine suggested that I take the time, before I get too deep into the experiment, list my thoughts on issues that typically divide the right and left. Given that he was one of the first editors I worked with, I would be a good idea. So, off the top of my head, here is what I believe:
• I believe access to affordable health care should be a right given to every man, woman and child in the richest nation in the world. It is embarrassing, bordering on evil, that this is even a discussion.
• I believe that any member of congress opposed to health care reform should have to give up their own health care benefits.
• I believe the Far Right too often gets to steer national debate while claiming that the media has a “liberal bias”.
• I believe that the Democrats have made many mistakes. BIG mistakes.
• I believe one of their chief, and current, mistakes is calling for HEALTH CARE reform. We need Health INSURANCE reform and Health CARE for everyone.
• I am Pro-Choice. I am NOT Pro-Abortion.
• I will support the death penalty the day the judicial system becomes infallible.
• I believe in government regulation and oversight. Someone has to do it—and no one did for 8 years. How did that work out?
• I believe the term “entitlement” is misleading. Entitlement is when you give tax breaks to the richest in the country, and forget the rest.
• I believe in the separation of church and state. Religion has no place in government, and the government has no place in religion.
• I believe many people use the cloak of Christianity to hide some very un-Christian thoughts, actions and political policies.
• I believe one can be moral without being a Christian.
• I believe torture does not work, is a criminal act, and diminishes our standing as a leader in the world community.
• I believe the actions of our country, and how we are perceived, matter.
• I believe in full and equal rights for all people.
• I am not threatened by gays in the military, gay marriage, or gay people in general. Though, I was once threatened by a girl named Gay Rose when I was 9 years old. She said she would tell my mommy if I didn’t stop teasing her. I stopped.
• I believe I am overusing the phrase “I believe” in this list.
• I believe that the Republican Party appeals to the far right base of their party by focusing on hot-button topics, and distracts their constituency into believing those are most important issue.
• I believe that the Republican Party has done little for the lower and middle classes in many years, and does not deserve their votes.
• I believe the terms “liberal” and “conservative” are misused.
• I believe many politicians who represent themselves as “conservative” are anything but.
• I believe you can be “liberal minded” without following in lock-step with the supposed liberal party.
• I believe fear-mongering is a danger to the health, safety and governance of our country.
• I believe politicians who use fear-mongering as a campaign theme should not be elected.
• I believe television personalities who use fear-mongering as entertainment should not be watched.
• I believe politicians misuse the term “war”. A war on drugs, poverty, and even terrorism…leads us to believe these things can be beaten through sheer force. Wars kill people, destroy buildings, and soemthings even cripple economies. I haven't seen any evidence of them addressing the problems caused by drugs, pvoerty and terrorism.
• I believe the war in Iraq, the lives lost, and the trillions spent was a mistake.
• I believe in gun CONTROL. I have no problem with gun ownership, but also have no problem with waiting periods, records, and restrictions. No one needs a fully automatic weapon to hunt deer, or for home protection.
• I believe in campaign finance reform.
• I sometimes believe we had a third choice on election ballots. Not a third party, but a lever that says, “None of the above”
• I believe the Supreme Court got the campaign spending ruling wrong.
• I believe citizens should have as much equal access to our representatives as highly paid lobbyists.
• I believe the two party system is broken. It does not lead to a truly representative government.
• I believe politicians often forget they are supposed to be representatives, and are not there just to get re-elected.
• I believe Sarah Palin is just a doofus.
It will remain interesting to see if a month in the FOX trenches change any of my viewpoints. So far I am not sensing any movement, but next week I intend to crank it up. I am even toying with a 24 hour FOX news day to wrap it up.
Wish me luck.
Tomorrow: The typical day in my first week with FOX.
The week has moved along-- I cannot say a rapid pace, because it has been hard work. I still struggle with the sense that I am missing "real" news as I tip toe through all that FOX has had to offer. I know I will have to get more agressive in my FOX viewing next week, and really try to sample all that they have to offer. I have stayed pretty focused on the morning show, and the opinionators like Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck. I find them-- especially Glenn Beck-- fascinating, and plan on writing a little more about them tomorrow.
But first...
A friend of mine suggested that I take the time, before I get too deep into the experiment, list my thoughts on issues that typically divide the right and left. Given that he was one of the first editors I worked with, I would be a good idea. So, off the top of my head, here is what I believe:
• I believe access to affordable health care should be a right given to every man, woman and child in the richest nation in the world. It is embarrassing, bordering on evil, that this is even a discussion.
• I believe that any member of congress opposed to health care reform should have to give up their own health care benefits.
• I believe the Far Right too often gets to steer national debate while claiming that the media has a “liberal bias”.
• I believe that the Democrats have made many mistakes. BIG mistakes.
• I believe one of their chief, and current, mistakes is calling for HEALTH CARE reform. We need Health INSURANCE reform and Health CARE for everyone.
• I am Pro-Choice. I am NOT Pro-Abortion.
• I will support the death penalty the day the judicial system becomes infallible.
• I believe in government regulation and oversight. Someone has to do it—and no one did for 8 years. How did that work out?
• I believe the term “entitlement” is misleading. Entitlement is when you give tax breaks to the richest in the country, and forget the rest.
• I believe in the separation of church and state. Religion has no place in government, and the government has no place in religion.
• I believe many people use the cloak of Christianity to hide some very un-Christian thoughts, actions and political policies.
• I believe one can be moral without being a Christian.
• I believe torture does not work, is a criminal act, and diminishes our standing as a leader in the world community.
• I believe the actions of our country, and how we are perceived, matter.
• I believe in full and equal rights for all people.
• I am not threatened by gays in the military, gay marriage, or gay people in general. Though, I was once threatened by a girl named Gay Rose when I was 9 years old. She said she would tell my mommy if I didn’t stop teasing her. I stopped.
• I believe I am overusing the phrase “I believe” in this list.
• I believe that the Republican Party appeals to the far right base of their party by focusing on hot-button topics, and distracts their constituency into believing those are most important issue.
• I believe that the Republican Party has done little for the lower and middle classes in many years, and does not deserve their votes.
• I believe the terms “liberal” and “conservative” are misused.
• I believe many politicians who represent themselves as “conservative” are anything but.
• I believe you can be “liberal minded” without following in lock-step with the supposed liberal party.
• I believe fear-mongering is a danger to the health, safety and governance of our country.
• I believe politicians who use fear-mongering as a campaign theme should not be elected.
• I believe television personalities who use fear-mongering as entertainment should not be watched.
• I believe politicians misuse the term “war”. A war on drugs, poverty, and even terrorism…leads us to believe these things can be beaten through sheer force. Wars kill people, destroy buildings, and soemthings even cripple economies. I haven't seen any evidence of them addressing the problems caused by drugs, pvoerty and terrorism.
• I believe the war in Iraq, the lives lost, and the trillions spent was a mistake.
• I believe in gun CONTROL. I have no problem with gun ownership, but also have no problem with waiting periods, records, and restrictions. No one needs a fully automatic weapon to hunt deer, or for home protection.
• I believe in campaign finance reform.
• I sometimes believe we had a third choice on election ballots. Not a third party, but a lever that says, “None of the above”
• I believe the Supreme Court got the campaign spending ruling wrong.
• I believe citizens should have as much equal access to our representatives as highly paid lobbyists.
• I believe the two party system is broken. It does not lead to a truly representative government.
• I believe politicians often forget they are supposed to be representatives, and are not there just to get re-elected.
• I believe Sarah Palin is just a doofus.
It will remain interesting to see if a month in the FOX trenches change any of my viewpoints. So far I am not sensing any movement, but next week I intend to crank it up. I am even toying with a 24 hour FOX news day to wrap it up.
Wish me luck.
Tomorrow: The typical day in my first week with FOX.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
2/1/10: Baby Steps
The DTs
After much warning, and the heartfelt concern of friends and family, I have decided to proceed slowly and with caution. The hardest part is the immediate and dramatic change in my routine. I have had to eliminate all temptations that are a regular part of my daily life. No checking the NY Times first thing in the morning. No HuffingtonPost.com on my itouch. No NPR. No Morning Joe on MSNBC.No Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, or Rachel Maddow. No DAILY SHOW!!! Damn you, John Stewart and your liberal bias!!!
It was tough, I had to fortify myself with extra cups of tea, put down the iTouch, delete all my liberal news source apps, and steel my nerves for the day ahead. I can't think of the full 28 days. Right now I feel as though I'm in a really horrific 12 step program, and taking my conservative introduction ONE DAY AT A TIME.
I spent a bit of time trying to convince myself that MORNING JOE was fine. Afterall, Joe Scarborough is a self professed Conservative and former Republican Congressman from Florida. I will say-- as much he and I do not see eye to eye on all topics-- his show is "fair and balanced" where others pretend to be. But, conservative or not, the show is on MSNBC, and would not stay true to the spirit of the experiment. For the month of February MSNBC is the enemy camp.
The end result... I am watching, listening to, and reading far less on this first day. Perhaps, when not updating the blog, I will get more writing done.
Side note: Last week I ran out of coffee and, in need of a caffeine fix, brewed a cup of tea. Well, I quite enjoyed it, and have switched over to tea for a while. Seems to be pretty ironic timing. Could I be well on my way to becoming an actual TEA PARTY member?
Diving In
Maybe not quite"diving", because I began the day by gently dipping my toe into the FOX NEWS pool through their morning show FOX & FRIENDS. I get the sense that this show is struggling for an identity. They seem to use "friends" in the same way they use "fair and balanced"-- as though if you report the words and phrases often enough, people will believe it is the truth. Despite the hair, make-up, and teeth the hosts do not often come across as anyone's friends. The show seems to straddle the line between standard morning show fare/light-hearted news items and banter, and forays into more hard-edged news and commentary.
The three hosts( Steve Doocy, Brian Kilmeade, and Alisyn Camerota in for Gretchen Carlson)were perky enough, but there was a snarky edge in their voices every time they mentioned President Obama, the administration, or the "liberal media". I started to play a morning drinking game, and took a sip of my tea every time they used the term "liberal media", but quickly ran out of tea. Thank God this was not in the evening, and I didn't have a bottle of bourbon.
I watched about 45 minutes of the show, and saw a few news segments and two interviews. The first interview was with former Whitehouse Press Secretary, Dana Perino-- and I'm no expert on such things, but someone might point out that Botox is not always our friend-- who I believe spoke about terrorist trials, the Obama administration, health care, and "the will of the people". Honestly, I was so distracted by how little her eyebrows and forehead moved that she started sounding like a Charlie Brown adult to me. Though, I know there was lots of talk about the "liberal media". I will try to pay closer attention in the future.
At 7:13am I learned that the Glaciers aren't melting, so-- you know-- wink-wink, nudge-nudge...Global Warming --hah!
At 7:17 am I learned that the Obama administration is not being as open and transparent as he had promised. I prevented myself from screaming at the scream, "Yeah! Like the previous administration!!!" See... baby steps.
Then there was an interview/ grilling of Peter Orszag, the current Director of the Office of Management and Budget. This was when I started to see the three hosts for what they genuinely were. All three took terms reading "hard-hitting" questions from a teleprompter or index cards. The interview was about President Obama's recently proposed spending freeze-- at one point Kilmeade referred to it as a a "fraud", and showed a clip of a "respected and award winning journalist" backing up the claim of fraud. Orszag addressed them calmly, and pointed out that the journalist was "just wrong". Since the hosts appeared to reading their questions(all of which had a very negative take on the freeze), when Mr.Orszag refuted any point they made-- they had nothing. There was no follow-up. They did not appear to have enough background information, and knowledge of the subject matter, to conduct a genuine interview. So, they just moved on to reading the next question. There was no ability to for these guys to move "off script". None. Zero. Nada.
I am not sure how much I need to watch Fox & Friends--even as part of this experiment-- though I will give it a few more viewings. I have to watch something with my breakfast. I am pretty sure they are going to contribute little to nothing in my quest for conservatism. There wasn't enough there for me to get really angry about, but I do see a distinct and agressive Fox bias to everything they air.
That was it for the first day. I have set up the DVR to record Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck, so I do not have to subject Deb to them.
After much warning, and the heartfelt concern of friends and family, I have decided to proceed slowly and with caution. The hardest part is the immediate and dramatic change in my routine. I have had to eliminate all temptations that are a regular part of my daily life. No checking the NY Times first thing in the morning. No HuffingtonPost.com on my itouch. No NPR. No Morning Joe on MSNBC.No Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, or Rachel Maddow. No DAILY SHOW!!! Damn you, John Stewart and your liberal bias!!!
It was tough, I had to fortify myself with extra cups of tea, put down the iTouch, delete all my liberal news source apps, and steel my nerves for the day ahead. I can't think of the full 28 days. Right now I feel as though I'm in a really horrific 12 step program, and taking my conservative introduction ONE DAY AT A TIME.
I spent a bit of time trying to convince myself that MORNING JOE was fine. Afterall, Joe Scarborough is a self professed Conservative and former Republican Congressman from Florida. I will say-- as much he and I do not see eye to eye on all topics-- his show is "fair and balanced" where others pretend to be. But, conservative or not, the show is on MSNBC, and would not stay true to the spirit of the experiment. For the month of February MSNBC is the enemy camp.
The end result... I am watching, listening to, and reading far less on this first day. Perhaps, when not updating the blog, I will get more writing done.
Side note: Last week I ran out of coffee and, in need of a caffeine fix, brewed a cup of tea. Well, I quite enjoyed it, and have switched over to tea for a while. Seems to be pretty ironic timing. Could I be well on my way to becoming an actual TEA PARTY member?
Diving In
Maybe not quite"diving", because I began the day by gently dipping my toe into the FOX NEWS pool through their morning show FOX & FRIENDS. I get the sense that this show is struggling for an identity. They seem to use "friends" in the same way they use "fair and balanced"-- as though if you report the words and phrases often enough, people will believe it is the truth. Despite the hair, make-up, and teeth the hosts do not often come across as anyone's friends. The show seems to straddle the line between standard morning show fare/light-hearted news items and banter, and forays into more hard-edged news and commentary.
The three hosts( Steve Doocy, Brian Kilmeade, and Alisyn Camerota in for Gretchen Carlson)were perky enough, but there was a snarky edge in their voices every time they mentioned President Obama, the administration, or the "liberal media". I started to play a morning drinking game, and took a sip of my tea every time they used the term "liberal media", but quickly ran out of tea. Thank God this was not in the evening, and I didn't have a bottle of bourbon.
I watched about 45 minutes of the show, and saw a few news segments and two interviews. The first interview was with former Whitehouse Press Secretary, Dana Perino-- and I'm no expert on such things, but someone might point out that Botox is not always our friend-- who I believe spoke about terrorist trials, the Obama administration, health care, and "the will of the people". Honestly, I was so distracted by how little her eyebrows and forehead moved that she started sounding like a Charlie Brown adult to me. Though, I know there was lots of talk about the "liberal media". I will try to pay closer attention in the future.
At 7:13am I learned that the Glaciers aren't melting, so-- you know-- wink-wink, nudge-nudge...Global Warming --hah!
At 7:17 am I learned that the Obama administration is not being as open and transparent as he had promised. I prevented myself from screaming at the scream, "Yeah! Like the previous administration!!!" See... baby steps.
Then there was an interview/ grilling of Peter Orszag, the current Director of the Office of Management and Budget. This was when I started to see the three hosts for what they genuinely were. All three took terms reading "hard-hitting" questions from a teleprompter or index cards. The interview was about President Obama's recently proposed spending freeze-- at one point Kilmeade referred to it as a a "fraud", and showed a clip of a "respected and award winning journalist" backing up the claim of fraud. Orszag addressed them calmly, and pointed out that the journalist was "just wrong". Since the hosts appeared to reading their questions(all of which had a very negative take on the freeze), when Mr.Orszag refuted any point they made-- they had nothing. There was no follow-up. They did not appear to have enough background information, and knowledge of the subject matter, to conduct a genuine interview. So, they just moved on to reading the next question. There was no ability to for these guys to move "off script". None. Zero. Nada.
I am not sure how much I need to watch Fox & Friends--even as part of this experiment-- though I will give it a few more viewings. I have to watch something with my breakfast. I am pretty sure they are going to contribute little to nothing in my quest for conservatism. There wasn't enough there for me to get really angry about, but I do see a distinct and agressive Fox bias to everything they air.
That was it for the first day. I have set up the DVR to record Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck, so I do not have to subject Deb to them.
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