So what if Fox News is conservative? asks Matthew Cooper. That’s no excuse for the White House to completely shun it: “If the White House can reach out to the Iranians and North Koreans, for gosh sakes, they can talk to Shepard Smith.”
Conservative commentators
Flat-screen TVs, conscription and the Left: dangerous liaisons?
Given the Left-liberal orientation of most people attending the Festival of Dangerous Ideas, the Rightward slant of the topics seems distinctly odd.
Women of American Conservatism: the calendar
Ousted Miss California Carrie Prejean, blogger Michelle Malkin, Republican Michelle Bachman and all your other favourite female right-wingers have come together for the Great American Conservative Women 2010 calendar. Saucy.
America: how the lunatics took over the asylum
Birthers, teabaggers, town hallers, speech-to-schools scaremongers… the certifiably insane have officially taken over America’s political discourse. How did things get so crazy, so quickly? Is it fear driven by the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, or is Obama himself to blame?
Glenn Beck: a loud, mad Fox phenomenon
Few commentators are dividing US public opinion right now as much as Fox News’ Glenn Beck. Advertisers are boycotting, but ratings are soaring. Tea Partiers love him, the left hate him, and the pundits love to hate him. But is he hurting America by fueling his fans’ fears?
Rush Limbaugh: “We need segregated buses”
Controversial US commentator Rush Limbaugh has given his own special take on the hot issue of race in America: “We need segregated buses … This is Obama’s America.”
The story behind the Sotomayor story
How old video footage dug up by one man of then-Supreme Court Justice nominee Sonia Sotomayor ended up running unquestioned on every major news network across the US, unfairly shaping the entire nation’s public perception of the judge. A case study in churnalism.
Guy Rundle: NRO finds possible evidence of anti-Semitism in 1930s Germany
“Has there been anti-Semitism on the political right?” asks NRO editor Jonah Goldberg. A complex question… unless the topic in question is ‘Germany in the 1930s’.
How the pundits got it oh so wrong on Afghanistan
Given the almost universal recognition that the Afghanistan campaign has become a bloody mess, it’s worth revisiting some of the pundits who initially sold us the war.
Guy Rundle: Devine diagnoses the “narcissism epidemic”: blame parents
In the SMH, Miranda Devine weighs in on the “narcissism epidemic” as documented by, surprisingly, social psychologists. Her diagnosis? Blame the parents.
Why the Right rule Twitter
Lefties may rule the blogosphere, but conservatives have the territory of Twitter firmly in their grasp, according to CNN, due to the medium’s success at pushing single, concise issues and ideas like “death panels”.
Why neocons love Jon Stewart
Comedian-cum-political commentator Jon Stewart may be a rusted-on leftie, but he’s a intelligent one who favours discourse over cheap digs. New York Mag explains why the conservative commentators are lining up for a chance to match wits with the liberal pin-up boy.
Andrew Bolt the Comic Dog
The Oz is graphing the number of words spoken by panelists on the ABC show Q & A to show that surprise surprise the Tories do badly out of it, but the words ratio they should really be looking at is on Andrew Bolt on Insiders, says Guy Rundle.
Reader’s Digest turns right
In an attempt to find a contemporary niche, Reader’s Digest is moving in a decidedly conservative direction: “I love my family, I love my community, I love my church.”
Rush and Newt are winning the media culture wars
If you doubt that there is a conservative inclination in the media, consider how much noise is created when Rush Limbaugh sneezes or Newt Gingrich tweets, says E.J. Dionne Jr
US radio shockjock changes mind on torture after being waterboarded
US radio shockjock “Mancow” tested waterboarding to prove it isn’t torture. He lasted six seconds, and now says it’s “absolutely torture”.
Guy Rundle: The Right fall into line over the GFC
The Australian went into the freezer the other day and dragged out … Giles Auty.
Right-wing radio host banned from Britian
Controvertial right-wing US radio host Michael Savage has been banned from entering Britain on the grounds that he is a “hate promoter”.
NRO’s 100 days symposium
Conservative commentators evaluate Obama’s performance so far.
Plimer’s Heaven and Earth: a conservative coup?
The attention paid to climate-change sceptic Ian Plimer’s book, Heaven and Earth, is a cute insight into the way conservative commentators are starved for shreds of evidence to support their theories.
What does a free Kosovo mean to America?
The fireworks are going off across Kosovo as the people of this ethnic Albanian nation celebrate their independence from Serbia. Europe’s newest nation has a population that is 92% Albanian. The vast majority are of nominally Muslim faith. Should the US be scared of this development? Irfan Yusuf writes.
Debunking Windschuttle’s benign interpretation of history
The Weekend Australian of 9-10 February brought news that the intrepid history warrior, Keith Windschuttle, bane of leftist historians, now has “the facts” about the stolen generations. It is another instance of Windschuttle taking information and skewing it to fit his particular political and cultural agenda writes Naomi Parry.
It’s not just what the leaders say, it’s where they say it
Yesterday saw an announcement from John Howard about aid to autistic kids. It was quickly matched by Kevin Rudd. Ho hum, you might say. But where the leaders are actually making the announcements is also very important, writes Mark Bahnisch.
Media Matters / Thursday, 12 November 2009
Fox News presenter Sean Hannity has been caught out airing misleading footage during a story about an anti-health care reform rally to make the event look far more successful than it actually was. The investigative reporter with the scoop? The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart.