(image courtesy of Mediaite)

It's no secret that CNN is tacking hard right, trying to pick up Fox News viewers. Hiring the likes of Bushie, Fran Townsend, and more recently, bringing right wing extremist "blogger" Erick Erickson on board and of course, their inexplicably positive coverage of the ongoing sham known as the Tea Party Express.

Tommy Christoper at Mediaite posted a story on April 4th respectfully refuting some claims made by C&L's Karoli, that CNN was actively pimping the tea party movement:

Upon closer inspection, however, it appears that while the effect of CNN’s coverage may be to promote the Tea Party Express, that’s not the intent. I think CNN is looking for another kind of gold in them thar Tea Party hills.

Fair enough. He disagreed with Karoli's opinion, but he kept digging and what do you know -- it appears that CNN is actively reaching out to far right propagandists like Newsbusters, touting how "fair and balanced" they really are:

A few days ago, I took a look at a Crooks and Liars post that suggested CNN was “pimping” the Great American “Tea Party Express PR and Propaganda Tour.” While I agreed with much of the post, I didn’t think CNN’s motivation was to promote the Tea Party tour, but rather, to be in the right place at the right time when something juicy happens.

As it turns out, reporting by conservative Newsbusters seems to confirm elements of liberal Crooks and Liars‘ thesis, or at the very least, that CNN is trying to have it both ways.

Apparently, CNN has become so desperate to boost ratings and attract Fox viewers, that they've actually stooped to wooing conservative bottom feeders like Michelle Malkin. (warning, link goes to her site) Christopher also posts an e-mail sent to Newsbusters from someone at CNN attacking their lefty critics:

“Clearly our critics from the left don’t think we should be covering the Tea Party movement in the way we are and clearly CNN thinks it’s a legitimate and important story.

If anyone from Newsbusters is interested in this angle – let me know.”

Well, this CNN employee is right - we lefties would definitely prefer that they not cover an illegitimate, astroturfed group of white, angry, racist fringe lunatics and militia nuts as though they were a legitimate, grass roots political organization. What next? Will CNN hire Charles Dyer as a "military analyst?"

Karoli posted a story about a frothing Florida doctor who is telling Obama supporters to seek treatment elsewhere, on Friday. On Saturday, Alan Colmes had the displeasure of interviewing said doctor and found out that the man doesn't even know the details of the health care reform bill:

Dr. Jack Cassell, the Orlando urologist who put a sign on his door letting patients know he doesn’t want to have to treat them if they are Obama/health care reform supporters, was on my radio show Friday night, but didn’t seem to know much about the health care bill he’s criticizing.

Cassell: Hospice cuts in 2012…Does the government want people to die slowly?

Colmes: Do you really think the government wants people dead?

Cassell: Well I think that they’re cutting all supportive care, like nursing homes, ambulance services…

Colmes: What to you mean they’re cutting nursing homes?

Cassell: They’re cutting nursing home reimbursements

Colmes: Isn’t what they’re cutting under the Medicare plan what was really double dipping; they were getting credits and they were getting to deduct them at the same time.

Cassell: Well you know, I can’t tell you exactly what the deal is.

Colmes: If you can’t tell us exactly what the deal is, why are you opposing it and fighting against it?

Alan has audio of the interview, you can find it here. Cassell is a typical, under informed nutter who doesn't know any better than to spew this crap without knowing any of the details. Behold your garden variety teabagger. Well done, Mr. Colmes, thank you for exposing this hack for what he is. If this interview is any indication of Cassell's intellect, I fear for his patients.

(image and more courtesy of Salon)

The heat is on Fox News' Sean Hannity and Oliver North for their Freedom Alliance charity and most notably, Hannity's so called "Freedom Concerts." The concerts raise millions of dollars a year, but thanks to a little scrutiny from all political sides, we've learned that the Fox News' celebs aren't giving much of those millions to the people who are supposed to get it - the children of fallen soldiers. These disturbing revelations have now caught the eye of the non-partisan watchdog group called Charity Navigator, and they have downgraded their rating of Freedom Alliance to a less than impressive status:

Patriotic donors cannot say they weren't warned: The four-star rating of Freedom Alliance by Charity Navigator, an independent and nonpartisan Web site that rates charitable organizations, has dropped precipitously from four stars to two stars. The abrupt downgrade occurred within two days after Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed complaints against the Freedom Alliance with the Federal Trade Commission and the Internal Revenue Service, alleging consumer fraud and abuse of tax-exempt status.

The complaints also named Fox News personalities Sean Hannity and Oliver North Jr., who run Freedom Alliance and the Freedom Concerts that have raised millions of dollars over the past decade.

The four-star rating that Freedom Alliance formerly enjoyed, according to Charity Navigator's Web site, indicates that a charity is "Exceptional" and "Exceeds industry standards and outperforms most charities in its Cause." By contrast, a two-star rating means that a charity "Needs Improvement" and "Meets or nearly meets industry standards but underperforms most charities in its Cause. Read on...

Hannity has denied allegations that he's milking the charity for his personal, creature comforts and I'll let he and Oliver North speak for themselves. Having said that, the fact that Charity Navigator has downgraded them means they have looked at the numbers and have found cause for concern.

The corporate media has been doing their best lately to draw false equivalencies in their coverage of the recent spike in right wing violence in America. Grasping at any little straw, pundits like MSNBC's Pat Buchanan have even gone so far as to use the Rodney King riots to show how "the left is just as bad." Now, Newsbusters has taken things a notch lower:

Liberals in the media have been busy parading around Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center to bash the right. As befits his organization's MO, Potok, pictured right in a file photo, has done the best he can to link recently-arrested militia members to the Tea Party movement and conservatism generally.

Potok's job may have just gotten a bit harder, and the liberal media may need to find another way to discredit their political opponents. It turns out most of the militiamen were active voters, and at least one was a registered Democrat. Party registrations for the rest are not yet known.

Jacob J. Ward, 33, of Huron, Ohio, voted as a Democrat in the 2004 and 2008 primary elections. He also voted in 10 other elections since 2000. Party affiliation in Ohio is determined by which party's ballot they requested in the most recent primary election.

This amazingly bad article mercifully ends with this belly laugher:

Well that should put to rest the notion that these people were somehow affiliated with or influenced by mainstream conservatives.

Well, there you go. One of these nuts was a registered Democrat so the entire group is actually a bunch of flaming LIBS! No right wing influence here, no siree! Give me a f*&king break!

Hmmm...wasn't some big celebrity entertainer urging his Republican fans to switch parties so they could vote in Democratic primaries back in 2008? Oh yeah, that was Rush Limbaugh. Even if Ward wasn't doing Limbaugh's bidding, and was, at one time, an actual Democrat, his membership in the Hutaree tells me that his real politics had moved hard to the right.

Al Snyder's son died in Iraq in May of 2006. Members of the rabidly anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church picketed his son Matthew's funeral, causing immense personal, emotional pain for him, his family and their friends.

Snyder won a $5 million civil lawsuit against the church and the Phelps family, but it was recently tossed out of a federal court. To add insult to injury, the court has now ordered Snyder to pay all of the church's legal fees:

BALTIMORE — Lawyers for the father of a Marine who died in Iraq say a court has ordered him to pay legal costs for the anti-gay protesters who picketed his son's funeral.

The protesters are led by Fred Phelps of Westboro Baptist Church. Albert Snyder of York, Pa., had won a $5 million verdict against Phelps, but it was thrown out on appeal.

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed earlier this month to consider whether the protesters' provocative messages, which include phrases like "Thank God for dead soldiers," are protected by the First Amendment.

Lawyers say Snyder already is struggling to come up with the fees associated with filing the brief with the high court. Read on...

I really hate to waste Mr. Amato's bandwidth on these despicable people, but Mr. Snyder needs our moral support as well as help with legal costs. I hope he doesn't pay one thin dime to these people, but he'll need lawyers to help continue the fight. There is a legal fund set up for him, if you'd like to show him some love, you can do so by clicking here.

(video originally posted here 10/29/09 - more on this below)

Topeka — As President Barack Obama signed into law health care reform, the Kansas House rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that was aimed at blocking the federal legislation.

The measure received a 75-47 majority Tuesday but fell short of the two-thirds majority — 84 votes — necessary in the 125-member House to put a constitutional amendment before voters.

The reforms “will take us down the path of socialism,” said Rep. Brenda Landwehr, R-Wichita.

But Democrats criticized the proposed state constitutional amendment, saying that federal health reform will be decided on U.S. constitutional issues regardless of what states approve. They also argued that the state amendment would constrain the Legislature from making health insurance changes sought by consumers. Read on...

This is great news for the residents of Kansas, but could spell trouble for the Representatives who voted against it. I think it would be wise for each member of the Kansas House who voted against this amendment to ask for increased security both at work and at home. I don't suggest this just because Democrats are being targeted by right wing extremists nationwide, but because it appears at least one Kansas militia nut has been following this issue very closely. After further research of the above video I posted last year, it seems the man who gave the interview and posted it - gunnyranger2 - is a well-armed militia member who isn't shy about speaking his mind on YouTube and showing off his arsenal. (parts of video are NSFW)

As hate radio, corporate right wing media and GOP politicians ramp up the violent rhetoric against Democrats, the nutjobs who follow them like zombies are becoming more and more unhinged and posing a threat to society. Case in point - a man so enraged by seeing an Obama/Biden bumper sticker on a car that he repeatedly rammed his SUV into it, while a 10 year old girl was inside:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A Nashville man says he and his 10-year-old daughter were victims of road rage Thursday afternoon, all because of a political bumper sticker on his car.

He said Harry Weisiger gave him the bird and rammed into his vehicle, after noticing an Obama-Biden sticker on his car bumper.

Duren had just picked up his 10-year-old daughter from school and had her in the car with him.

"He pointed at the back of my car," Duren said, "the bumper, flipped me off, one finger salute."

Once he started driving again, down Blair Boulevard, towards his home, he said, "I looked in the rear view mirror again, and this same SUV was speeding, flying up behind me, bumped me."

Duren said he applied his brake and the SUV smashed into the back of his car.

He then put his car in park to take care of the accident, but Weisiger started pushing the car using his SUV.

Duren said, "He pushed my car up towards the sidewalk, almost onto the sidewalk." Read on...

I don't think it's a matter of if, but when, one of these nutjobs are going to seriously injure or kill a Democratic politician or citizen. Apparently, that's what it will take before we see some form of crackdown on the violent propaganda being thrown around by Republican politicians and their media outlets.

Remember what happened to the last American who was labeled a "baby killer" by the right? Yeah, he's dead...

(Hackery begins around the 3:47 mark)

As the right went apoplectic in anticipation of the health care reform vote, Fox News did their level best to muddy the waters in their coverage from Washington on Sunday. The desperation is reaching such heights, I'm almost embarrassed for them...almost.

Many thanks for the video and more from News Hounds:

Fox News didn’t just insert video of health care protesters to take away from the moment of Rep. Bart Stupak’s press conference announcing that he had reached a deal with the Obama administration and, as a result, would be supporting the health care reform bill that was now all but certain to pass. Fox also added audio to make it sound as though the protesters were part of the event, threatening to drown him out.

Apparently, right wing blogger Debbie Schlussel has been upset with Fox News' Sean Hannity for some time. Back in 2007 she claimed that he plagiarized some of her work, and she's been nipping at his heels ever since. She's now stepped up her attacks and is accusing him of using more money from his Freedom Concerts to fly around on private jets and expensive SUV's than he gives to the children of wounded and deceased soldiers:

For the last several years, Sean Hannity and the Freedom Alliance “charity” have conducted “Freedom Concerts” across America. They’ve told you that they are raising money to pay for the college tuition of the children of fallen soldiers and to pay severely wounded war vets. And on Friday Night, Hannity will be honored with an award for this “Outstanding Community Service by a Radio Talk Show Host” at Talkers Magazine’s convention.

But it’s all a huge scam.

According to its 2006 tax returns, Freedom Alliance reported revenue of $10, 822, 785, but only $397,900–or a beyond-measly 3.68%–of that was given to the children of fallen troops as scholarships or as aid to severely injured soldiers.

Freedom Alliance’s 2007 tax returns aren’t much better. Out of $12,459,317 it raised that year, only $895,347–or just 7%–went to seriously wounded troops and scholarships for fallen troops. 53% went to expenses, including $1,464,627 in postage and $1,151,428 in printing. $604,995 went to “professional fees” and “consultants.” Out of millions paid for Freedom Concert tickets and raised in fundraisers by Hannity listeners, only $596,500 went to college scholarships for soldiers who died in battle, and only $299,897 went to horribly injured troops. 208 student children of the fallen got an average of $2,868 apiece for tuition, though many got only $1,000 or less. 382 soldiers with serious injuries got an average of $785 each. Read on...

Ed Schultz covered this on his radio show today and others are starting to take notice. Can you imagine the outrage if this was Rachel Maddow's charity? Fox News would be running a 24/7 jihad against her and MSNBC. I will reserve passing full judgment as all the facts aren't known, but Mr. Hannity needs to get out there and refute them asap.

The right has always had their boogeymen, and "Hollywood" has always been an easy catch-all target for them. At last night's Oscar Award ceremony, the movie Hurt Locker won numerous awards, and because the movie showed American soldiers in a positive light, the idiots at Fox News determined that the film and it's director are champions for Republican causes. (warning: link goes to Fox News)

So had you just about given up on Hollywood, regarding the movie capital as simply a collection of hopeless la-la land liberals--or worse, as an elitist gaggle of heartland-bashing snobs? OK, but guess what: Hollywood hears you. They feel your pain, or at least they worry about their own pain, if people don’t buy tickets and DVDs. As we shall see, Hollywood can adapt. Show business, after all, is a business.

If I might be permitted a point of personal indulgence here, I will say I predicted it. Here in the Fox Forum last month, I wrote, “In terms of the big prize itself, ‘Locker’ has the edge.” And the reason cited was that the Iraq war is safely over, it seems, and Bush is out of office, and so now Hollywood can “afford” to honor the sacrifice--and, yes, the glory--of the war without giving aid and comfort to the political enemy:

Because we know that all non-Republicans absolutely LOATHE our troops. The Fox writer admits later in the story that he has no idea what Bigelow's politics are -- which serves as yet another example of the shoddy faux journalism we see from them.

It really makes my blood boil when these rats claim to somehow be more patriotic -- when in fact, historical record and fact shows that propaganda outlets like Fox News aided the Bush administration in the run up to the invasion of Iraq, and supported Cheney, Rummsfeld and others, who used and abused our troops and gutted our military. Republicans have repeatedly voted against increases in veterans benefits for years, and care little about the soldiers themselves. The damage these awful, greedy people have done to our military and our country will take generations to repair.