I mentioned to some friends this week that Fox News crazy person Bill O'Reilly maintains his own Enemies List on the web. They assumed that they had misheard me. "Do you mean," they asked, "that someone is keeping a list of all the people and/or groups that O'Reilly has condemned? I'm sure Fox News itself wouldn't actually maintain something like that."
No, you heard me right the first time. Bill O'Reilly maintains an enemies list on his web site, which he calls his Media Outlets "Hall of Shame."
It all started you see in 2005, after Bill invited Al Qaeda to destroy the Coit Tower in San Francisco. Once again, I am not kidding. Criticizing a ballot measure passed by San Francisco voters urging public high schools and colleges to prohibit on-campus military recruiting, O'Reilly declared in November of 2005 that the rest of America should tell San Franciscans that, "[I]f Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it. We're going to say (to Al Qaeda), look, every other place in America is off-limits to you, except San Francisco."
Not surprisingly, O'Reilly's remarks became the talk of the Internet. His reaction was swift: "I’m glad the smear sites made a big deal out of it. Now we can all know who was with the anti-military internet crowd. We’ll post the names of all who support the smear merchants on billoreilly.com. So check with us."
And of course as far as O'Reilly's concerned, if any source quotes his outrageous remarks and criticizes them, that source is "smearing" him.
When the Hall of Shame was first posted later in November, 2005, it only included three names, all of them mainstream media rather than web-based sources: MSNBC, The St. Petersburg Times, and the New York Daily News. The News was presumably chosen because it had the distinction of breaking the 2004 story of O'Reilly's sexual harassment of Fox News employee Andrea Mackris. Referring to the Hall of Shame as O'Reilly's "Enemies List" stems of course from memories of Richard Nixon's Enemies List. Nixon's original list was compiled for him by Charles Colson in 1971. Actor Paul Newman once stated that his inclusion on the list was one of his greatest accomplishments.
Since 2005, O'Reilly's list hasn't grown very much. He also has not, alas, added any web-based news sources or bloggers to the list, despite the fact that he originally promised to do so. The list did make news again this past week when Roger Ebert thanked O'Reilly for adding the Chicago Sun-Times to the Hall of Shame. Ebert observes that the Sun-Times is not looking for the favor of, "a man who turns red and starts screaming when anyone disagrees with him."
Mister O'Reilly, I implore you: add bloggers to the Hall of Shame. I can think of no greater achievement for Joe's Prediction than to one day earn membership.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Monday, April 06, 2009
Victory for Equality and what it means for 2012
My recent posts on gay marriage have proven more timely than I expected. In the space of a few days, Iowa has legalized gay marriage, the Vermont Legislature has voted to let same-sex couples marry, and so has the House of Representatives in New Hampshire.
Loony Iowa Republican Congressman Steve King has demanded that the state legislature now enact marriage license residency requirements so that Iowa does not become "the gay marriage Mecca." This strikes me as an odd attitude, as Iowa can certainly use the money.
So hooray for equality! I have one other observation. Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post made a good point last week regarding the impact that gay marriage in Iowa will likely have on the Republican race for the Presidency in 2012. As much as the rest of the country may hate it, winning the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucus is still critical to winning a Presidential nomination. Gay marriage in Iowa gives a boost to the Republican Party's social conservatives, who will undoubtedly compete to see who can go the craziest demanding that equality be repealed. Given that the Christian Right and the GOP aren't as cozy with each other as they used to be, this is a significant development.
Loony Iowa Republican Congressman Steve King has demanded that the state legislature now enact marriage license residency requirements so that Iowa does not become "the gay marriage Mecca." This strikes me as an odd attitude, as Iowa can certainly use the money.
So hooray for equality! I have one other observation. Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post made a good point last week regarding the impact that gay marriage in Iowa will likely have on the Republican race for the Presidency in 2012. As much as the rest of the country may hate it, winning the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucus is still critical to winning a Presidential nomination. Gay marriage in Iowa gives a boost to the Republican Party's social conservatives, who will undoubtedly compete to see who can go the craziest demanding that equality be repealed. Given that the Christian Right and the GOP aren't as cozy with each other as they used to be, this is a significant development.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Ronald Reagan, liberal Democrat
This is a speech given by Ronald Reagan in 1948 in support of President Truman and of rising Democratic star Hubert Humphrey, who was running for the Senate against incumbent Republican Joseph Ball in Minnesota. Humphrey was a strong supporter of labor unions and of America's growing civil rights movement. Reagan at the time was President of a union himself, the Screen Actors Guild.
If I didn't know this was Reagan, I'd never believe it. Here's an overview of things Reagan says in the speech.
- He criticizes corporations for increasing profits while they let wages stagnate.
- He laments that economic concerns have forced retirees to return to work.
- He condemns Big Oil for price gouging and profiteering. He specifically criticizes Standard Oil. You know it as Exxon. Wow, nothing changes.
- He is critical of the fact that free markets have failed to bring down high prices for consumer goods.
- He condemns the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947. Taft-Hartley is the landmark legislation that dramatically restricts the activities of unions.
- He condemns the Republican Party for failing to adequately support social security.
- He demands government support for low-income housing.
- He condemns tax breaks for the wealthy.
- He is critical of the curtailment of Federal school lunch programs.
I have always heard that as a young man Reagan had supported FDR and the New Deal, but I thought he had already turned to the dark side by the late 40's. Imagine what a great force of good he might have become if he'd stayed a liberal when he embarked on his political career a few years later. An articulate, charismatic spokesman for labor rights, social security, progressive taxation, affordable housing. Imagine what could have been.
If I didn't know this was Reagan, I'd never believe it. Here's an overview of things Reagan says in the speech.
- He criticizes corporations for increasing profits while they let wages stagnate.
- He laments that economic concerns have forced retirees to return to work.
- He condemns Big Oil for price gouging and profiteering. He specifically criticizes Standard Oil. You know it as Exxon. Wow, nothing changes.
- He is critical of the fact that free markets have failed to bring down high prices for consumer goods.
- He condemns the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947. Taft-Hartley is the landmark legislation that dramatically restricts the activities of unions.
- He condemns the Republican Party for failing to adequately support social security.
- He demands government support for low-income housing.
- He condemns tax breaks for the wealthy.
- He is critical of the curtailment of Federal school lunch programs.
I have always heard that as a young man Reagan had supported FDR and the New Deal, but I thought he had already turned to the dark side by the late 40's. Imagine what a great force of good he might have become if he'd stayed a liberal when he embarked on his political career a few years later. An articulate, charismatic spokesman for labor rights, social security, progressive taxation, affordable housing. Imagine what could have been.
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