John McCain's Pinocchio Nose: A Republican Symbol

The American people surely remember our inspectors in Iraq who said Iraq had no WMD stockpiled and ready to use against america or transferred to terrorists as George Bush said and in fact gave as the reason for the war and invasion of Iraq.  They also articulated that Iraq had no WMD at any time during Bush's term in office.  It is also easy to remember after our inspectors issued their report Bush and the neocons started to give other reasons for the invasion and occupation.  In other words, they told lies.

 

John McCain continued those lies on 8/26/08 according to a Fox News ticker which quoted McCain in answer to a comment by Obama.  McCain said the war in Iraq was to liberate that country --- just another lie by a neocon on why we went to war.  The neocons believe if they keep repeating the same lie over and over, sooner or later the people will believe the lie as fact.  Pretty soon Mr. McCain's pinocchio nose will be touching the ground.  The so called "straight talking express" has died a tragic death.

 

The past has always been a key to the future.  Over 50 years ago, President Harry Truman said the Republicans were a bunch of damn liars.  Well, 50 years later, they still are.  President Truman was not a seer nor did he have ESP, he just recognized a Republican liar when he saw one.  Some things never change.

Texas, Ohio, and Rhode Island: 3 Out of 4 Isn't So Bad

Senator Clinton's victory in the above states have set the stage for the final showdown for the Democratic nomination going into these final primaries. 

 

It was not only a great win for Senator Clinton, but a great win for the American people, because these victories proved talking about the issues and solutions were more important to the country than a message of change that has yet to be defined.  Senator Clinton has talked about the issues and what she would do if elected President since day one.  

 

Journalists and pundits on MSNBC, Fox News, and some on CNN were openly talking about Clinton dropping out the race after the primaries Tuesday night.  They did not even give her a chance and were openly supporting and pushing her opponent.  Mike Barnacle said on Morning Joe this past week that journalists should not be in the business of urging candidates to drop out.  Rather, they should stick to their jobs of reporting the news.  He is so right, but journalists as a whole will never change.  Just remember Yogi Berra's golden rule, " It ain't over till its over".

 

This has been a great Democratic race and there should be no rush to conclusion just because the Republican nominee is already chosen.  The people have a right to have their voice heard and when the general election rolls around, the Democratic nominee will be strong and prevail.

 

Lets see how television journalists handle the rest of the Democratic primaries.  I will be willing to bet their presentations will continue to be negative concerning Senator Clinton. 

MSNBC---Becoming the Next Fox News?

I have commented in the past how certain people in the main-stream media try to pass their individual opinions off as fact and distort what people say in order to push their own ideology in an attempt to influence the American people.  The nation is already well aware of the neocons at Fox News, who revel in their own schemes.

 

Now we find out, during this Presidential primary season, that MSNBC's Chris Mathews and Keith Olberman have been emulating the Fox News crew in trying to shape people's opinion concerning the candidates who are seeking their party's nomination.  It is growing more and more obvious concerning the Democratic candidates.  They have already chosen sides and stack the news with inaccurate and one-sided stories about the candidate they have decided is not worthy of their party's nomination. 

 

Many of their journalist friends, who appear on their shows as guests, just go with the flow of the host and offer nothing in the form of true journalism or an opinion of their own.  Facts and truth have escaped Mathews and Olberman.  Their time is spent wallowing in their own vomit and their chosen candidate.

 

David Shuster has been suspended because of a crude remark he made concerning a candidate's daughter, instead of living up to his responsibility as a news journalist.  Olberman had to apologize on air not to long ago for an inaccurate quote, and Mathews has had to do the same thing.  If MSNBC had any respect for the people's right to know the facts, they would order Olberman to put himself, Mathews, and Shuster on the screen next time he shows the segment dealing with the world's worse, worser, and worst.  These 3 supposed journalists have no shame.  MSNBC needs to step up to the plate and provide the American public with fair and balanced coverage of this election so that the American people can make an educated vote concerning whom our next President will be.  

Fox and Bill O at it Again

Just when you think Fox News can't get any lower, they do. It all started last week on The O'Reilly Factor. Bill O claimed that the "liberal media" was somehow avoiding the truth about how the war in Iraq is going. He claims that the "liberal media" is making the war seem worse than it actually is. He cited so called factual reports that claimed zero Americans were killed in Iraq last week.

That, as you can guess, was a lie. The truth is that, sadly, 6 of our brave men and women lost their lives in Iraq last week. There is a reason the "liberal media" was not talking about it-----because maybe the "liberal media" likes to present facts.

The next night, Bill O apologized, citing that there was a mistake in the information he received. Not that I believe O'Reilly; I'm sure what he said was said for his partisan purposes, but whatever. Lying to make his Republican friends look good and right on all the issues is nothing new for Bill O. But then this story hit a new low.

After Bill O has publicly apologized and acknowledged that he was wrong, Fox used this same information again. This time it was on Fox and Friends. Maybe one time can pass as "just a mistake", but when it happens twice, especially after the mistake had been acknowledged, it is no mere coincidence.

The truth is, that while people on Fox claim that "us liberals" don't care about our troops, I think the exact opposite might be true. The "liberal media" tells the American people the truth. There is nothing rosy about the Iraq War. People are being killed needlessly over there. By Fox making up their own facts and pretending that all is going well is unfair to the American people who are looking for the facts. It is especially unfair to those 6 who lost their lives that week. They were basically thrown to the side by Fox in order for them to make themselves and the GOP look good.

***I would also like to say, on a side note, that I'm sick of Republicans calling the media "liberal". I mean, seriously, liberal??? There is only one show where I can see a clear liberal bias as far as the news stations are concerned, and thats Keith Olberman. I mean, for crying out loud, we have a whole channel of nothing but GOP conservatives. Talk Radio is dominated by Conservative voices. So I wish before Republicans would criticize the media for being too liberal, they should look at the facts. But then again, it seems like saying the truth and giving the facts is considered being "liberal" to Republicans. Apparently their new synonym for truth is "liberal". So if I, and others, are "liberals" because we give the American people the cold hard facts, then I'm glad to be called "liberal".***

Fox News: The Tragic Network (a special editorial by John Lucia)

It seems that every day the Fox News Network is promoting going to war with Iran. Their ticker that moves cross the television screen carries statements from neocons and others who propose striking Iran. They interview the neocons who clamored for war in Iraq and now want their adventure to extend over to Iran and other middle east countries.

They try to inflame the issue by injecting Israel as being threatened by Iran. However, Israel is a country that has WMD and can surely take care of themselves.

People who promote war, especially news networks, care nothing about our men and women in uniform who bear the hardships of war. They promote war from their ivory towers far from the battlefield. I wonder how many journalists with the Fox News Network wore the uniform of their country generations war?

Those who promote war would sell their soul to the highest bidder. They are a tragic people who put their ideology first and their country last. That says it all. Fox News programs are tilted toward divisive issues. They do that to mislead the American people. President Clinton once said Republican's use divisive issues to try to win elections. The Fox News Network is the spin capital of cable television. Fox purposely tries to mislead the country and its people have no shame. They represent the worst in television journalism.

The battle for prime time: a Review of cable opinions shows

The top 3 cable news channels all have their pluses and their downs. Then there is Fox News, or as Keith Olberman and myself like to say, Faux Noise. Here is my reviews of their prime time opinion shows and the network overall.

-CNN: CNN itself doesn't really have an "opinion" show, but rather shows that have guests who talk their opinion. Their best program has to be the Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer. Its features quick segments on the top news stories of the day while also featuring segments where political experts such as Carville, Huffington, Crowley, and more give their views on the hottest political news. Lou Dobbs is a terribly boring host. To be honest I could never watch his show for more than 5 minutes. Speaking of boring, Larry King needs to retire. His show brings nothing to CNN. While his interviews used to be sharp and crisp, he rarely follows up on anything his guests say and to top it all off, he rarely remembers their name. Then is Anderson Cooper. While an okay host, again he just doesn't add any spice to the mix. His monotone voice and needless stories just aren't what today's audience needs. CNN is like the CBS evening news, obviously catering to the older, traditional crowd.

-Headline Prime: Well there are really only two opinion shows on Headline Prime. Glen Beck is a bumbling right-wing idiot who sucks up to the base of his party like no one else's business. I'm surprised he hasn't been offered a contract by Faux Noise. His fear tactics are right in line with those of the GOP, in fact, a few months ago he and his guests talked about this current Iraq/Iran conflict causing the end of the world if we aren't careful. Than there's Nancy "Good Night Friend" Grace. What can I say about her? Comedy, pure comedy. Good for a laugh. Especially her frequent guest Susan "I rhyme everything I say" Moss. I would assume these two shows appeal to crazies.

-Speaking of crazy, we have Faux Noise. To be honest its kind of hard for me to review them based on opinions, because there is no opinion with them. Its "I'm right, you're wrong". Its right-wing bias taken to the extreme. And the kind of Faux Noise...the "Worst Person in the World" himself, Bill O. I really don't know how people watch this and make this the #1 "news" channel.

-Then there is the fastest growing news channel, MSNBC, my personal favorite. It has opinion shows, yet has diverse opinions. Tucker Carlson provides the conservative view. Chris Matthews provides the moderate view, and Keith Olberman gives his liberal opinions. Its a good mix and not to mention there is even further diversified opinions within the shows. Tucker usually features one republican and one democrat on the panel. Hardball with Chris Matthews has the daily Hardball Debate between a democrat and republican, similar to the crossfire days, and Countdown with Keith Olberman usually has all moderate guests, some leaning right, others leaning left. And then we have Dan Abrams, the male Nancy Grace. Easily MSNBC's worst show, they should give Allison Stewart or David Shuster their own show in that slot.

So the verdict:
1) MSNBC for its diverse opinions and sharp, energetic, and passionate commentators.
2) CNN by default. Not as bad as the following two, and if you like more calm, traditional shows, then CNN is for you.
3) Headline Prime's Glen Beck is enough to make this network go sour quickly, add in Nancy Grace and you have a network
thats would finish last on this countdown if I didn't have to rank Faux Noise.
4) Faux Noise, the reason should be clear.