Political Ruminations

Morning Quote: Michael Wolff, Murdoch Biographer

Calling the Murdoch name “toxic”, Rupert Murdoch's biographer, Michael Wolff, predicts that  the Murdochs  will not have jobs within their own company within 60 days, and that the company will have to disinvest itself of the newspapers they own:

“I think actually the Murdochs have to and will step out of not only day-to-day running, but they won't have jobs within the company. To restore credibility and to restore trust to this company, the newspapers have to go and the Murdochs have to go I think at the end of the day, what we have here is that the Murdoch name is toxic. I think that this company, its shareholders, its directors, its other managers will want to get as far away from that name as possible.”

Via Sullivan

Murdoch’s Tabloid Punks Mainstream Media

In the realm of the bizarre and stupid, did you happen to see the media blitz about the mom who was purportedly giving her 7-year-old daughter Botox injections? I did, I fell for it, and I was utterly furious at the mom, yelling at her on my television during an ABC broadcast.

Watch:

Today we learned that it was a scam, a hoax, a media invention. Media punking media. You’d think that the media would learn to investigate more carefully. From TMZ via Chris Weigant, emphasis mine:

TMZ has obtained a sworn declaration written by Sheena Upton, who claims she was recently approached by the British tabloid, The Sun, and asked "to play the role of Kerry Campbell" for a story called "I Give My 8-Year-Old Daughter Botox."
Upton now confesses The Sun paid her $200 adding, "I was provided with the story, instructions and a script to follow for a recorded interview."
After the story ran in The Sun, Upton says she was approached by "Good Morning America" and "Inside Edition" and claims she was offered  "a large fee" to appear on camera.  She went on both shows and re-told her story.
After the interview, child welfare officials took Upton's daughter away.
Upton now admits in her declaration, "The truth is I have never given my daughter Botox, nor allowed her to get any type of waxing, nor is she a beauty pageant contestant."
Upton says professionals agree with her declaration, because on May 17, she took her daughter to the UCLA Medical Center and says, "After my daughter received a full medical exam, the results indicated that she has not ever received treatments including Botox or other such injections."
We're told the UCLA reports were forwarded to child welfare officials, who then returned Upton's daughter to her, with the provison that a cousin would stay with her and the child for the time being.

I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that the owner of “The Sun” is none other than Rupert Murdoch, also the owner of the much despised right-wing message machine, Fox Network.

Jon Stewart Eviscerates Fox News, No. 210

Stewart does an epic takedown of Fox News, arguably, in my opinion, the best takedown of Fox he’s done to this date.

Watch:

The Daily Show - Tone Def Poetry Jam
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Watch Part II:

Beck Says Media Matters Not Responsible for His Exit From Fox

Yeah, and I feel sure that StopBeck had nothing to do with it either. [/end sarcasm]

Watch:

Beck (from the April 5 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program) :

[If I leave Fox News} don't you ever believe that [Media Matters caused a victory].

For those of you who are just now finding out that Beck and Fox will be parting ways later this year, here’s the scoop from News Hounds. And The New York Times version.

VIDEO: Who is Secretly Buying Our Elections?

Chilling. And as someone else said [can't remember exactly who], this election is for all of the marbles. VOTE.

 

Silly Dumb Little People........the GOP Thinks You Don't Care Who's Funding Them

Whoops! [emphasis mine]

It has become an article of faith among certain Beltway inside-game commentators that there’s no way the Dem attack on secret money funding elections could ever have a prayer of working. Surely the issue is too esoteric, too process-y, and too removed from voter concerns about the economy to resonate.

But a new poll commissioned by MoveOn, and done by the respected non-partisan firm Survey USA, strongly suggests that the issue may indeed matter a good deal to voters after all.

The poll finds that two thirds of registered voters, or 66 percent, are aware that outside groups are behind some of the ads they’re seeing. This makes sense, since the issue has dominated the media amid the battle over the huge ad onslaught against Dems funded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Karl Rove’s groups.

What’s more, an overwhelming 84 percent say they have a “right to know” who’s bankrolling the ads. And crucially, the poll also found that the issue is resonant when linked to the economy. A majority, 53 percent, are less likely to think a candidate who is backed by “anonymous groups” can be trusted to “improve economic conditions” for them or their families. People don’t believe these groups are looking out for their interests.

I guess we no longer need to wonder why Karl Rove, the Chamber, and the Republican media want the Left to stop talking about their secret little fundraising pacs.

h/t Oliver Willis

Krugman: So the Ministry of Propaganda has, in effect, seized control of the Politburo

Or, put another way, Fox Network has seized control of our political apparatus, and is using it to take this country to a very bad place. A scenario first predicted by those living in countries where Rupert Murdoch played his games prior to targeting us, such as the UK. Krugman:

A note to Tea Party activists: This is not the movie you think it is. You probably imagine that you’re starring in “The Birth of a Nation,” but you’re actually just extras in a remake of “Citizen Kane.”

True, there have been some changes in the plot. In the original, Kane tried to buy high political office for himself. In the new version, he just puts politicians on his payroll.

I mean that literally. As Politico recently pointed out, every major contender for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination who isn’t currently holding office and isn’t named Mitt Romney is now a paid contributor to Fox News.

Scary stuff. I will admit that it causes me to think about the regimes of other times. Krugman goes on to point out an undeniable truth about American conservatism. Emphasis mine.

Arguably, this shouldn’t be surprising. Modern American conservatism is, in large part, a movement shaped by billionaires and their bank accounts, and assured paychecks for the ideologically loyal are an important part of the system. Scientists willing to deny the existence of man-made climate change, economists willing to declare that tax cuts for the rich are essential to growth, strategic thinkers willing to provide rationales for wars of choice, lawyers willing to provide defenses of torture, all can count on support from a network of organizations that may seem independent on the surface but are largely financed by a handful of ultrawealthy families.

And what does speaking out against the malevolent network bring you if you are an employee? Ask David Frum.

As the Republican political analyst David Frum put it, “Republicans originally thought that Fox worked for us, and now we are discovering we work for Fox” — literally, in the case of all those non-Mitt-Romney presidential hopefuls. It was days later, by the way, that Mr. Frum was fired by the American Enterprise Institute. Conservatives criticize Fox at their peril.

So the Ministry of Propaganda has, in effect, seized control of the Politburo. What are the implications?

Disheartening, to say the least.

Of Course We Knew That Rupert Murdoch Was a Fan of the GOP

People are acting like we didn’t actually know Murdoch’s political affiliation, and some have expressed surprise upon learning that Rupert Murdoch aka News Corp., made two very large political contributions to the GOP recently. Some have even been heard to say "now we know his political affiliation".

I mean, please. It isn't like we didn't know that Murdoch, the-creepy-man- who-probably-was-the-inspiration-for-Scream, supports Republicans. Just watch Fox Network on any given day. The affiliation is clear as day, if only from the lies and talking points gleaned from the right wingnuts. This "revelation" shouldn't surprise anyone.

News Corp., the parent company of Fox News, contributed $1 million this summer to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the business lobby that has been running an aggressive campaign in support of the Republican effort to retake Congress, a source close to the company told POLITICO.

It was the second $1 million contribution the company has made this election cycle to a GOP-aligned group. In late June it gave that amount to the Republican Governors Association.

The parent companies of other media companies such as Disney (which owns ABC) and General Electric (which owns NBC) have also made political contributions, but typically in far smaller chunks, and split between Democrats and Republicans. [……]

In this clip from Countdown, Keith Olbermann names Murdoch 'Worst Person' for his two blatantly political contributions to the GOP. Now that, I can get behind. The clip starts at 1:54.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

In closing, I can’t forget to thank our right wing SCOTUS for their activist ruling on Citizen’s United, which of course, made it possible for corporations to throw unlimited megabucks at specific parties or politicians.

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