From Krugman at the New York Times

...

Now, for the most part, the likes of Fox News and the R.N.C. haven’t directly incited violence, despite Bill O’Reilly’s declarations that “some” called Dr. Tiller “Tiller the Baby Killer,” that he had “blood on his hands,” and that he was a “guy operating a death mill.” But they have gone out of their way to provide a platform for conspiracy theories and apocalyptic rhetoric, just as they did the last time a Democrat held the White House.

And at this point, whatever dividing line there was between mainstream conservatism and the black-helicopter crowd seems to have been virtually erased.

Exhibit A for the mainstreaming of right-wing extremism is Fox News’s new star, Glenn Beck. Here we have a network where, like it or not, millions of Americans get their news — and it gives daily airtime to a commentator who, among other things, warned viewers that the Federal Emergency Management Agency might be building concentration camps as part of the Obama administration’s “totalitarian” agenda (although he eventually conceded that nothing of the kind was happening).

But let’s not neglect the print news media. In the Bush years, The Washington Times became an important media player because it was widely regarded as the Bush administration’s house organ. Earlier this week, the newspaper saw fit to run an opinion piece declaring that President Obama “not only identifies with Muslims, but actually may still be one himself,” and that in any case he has “aligned himself” with the radical Muslim Brotherhood.

...

read more at the NYT

German prosecutors have decided to take no action against an artist who created a garden gnome raising its right arm in a Nazi salute.

They say the gold-painted gnome was mocking the Nazis rather than promoting their return.

However, the prosecutors in Nuremburg, Bavaria, warned against any attempt to copy the idea behind the exhibit.

Nazi symbols and Hitler salutes have been illegal in Germany since the end of World War II.

Artist Ottmar Hoerl, 59, became embroiled in the row when one of his "Nazi" gnomes was put on display at a Nuremburg art gallery earlier this month.

It may in the end have little impact on the bottom line of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, but a fast-gathering boycott by some of America's best-known conglomerates of Glenn Beck, a conservative commentator on his Fox News channel in the US, is beginning to take on embarrassing proportions.

The baby-faced Beck joined Fox News in January and has quickly established himself as one of the network's stars by feeding the political prejudices of its mostly conservative audience. Indeed, his daily assaults against President Barack Obama and, in recent weeks his healthcare plans, have helped Fox achieve record ratings.

But Beck, who moonlights on the comedy circuit, stepped on too many sensibilities a few weeks ago, however, when he suggested that Mr Obama has a, "deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture". He went on: "I'm not saying that he doesn't like white people. I'm saying that he has a problem. This guy is, I believe, a racist."

Spearheading the advertisers' boycott of his daily programme is an African-American online political group called Color of Change. Some 145,000 of its members signed a petition asking Beck's advertisers to stop supporting him and the response has been impressive.

see toon at top...

By FRANK RICH

...

Beck frequently strikes the pose of an apocalyptic prophet, even insisting that he predicted 9/11. This summer he also started warning of domestic terrorism in the form of a new Timothy McVeigh. On this, one fears he knows whereof he speaks. For all our nation’s unfinished business on race, racism is not Obama’s biggest challenge during our unfinished Great Recession. He — and our political system — are being seriously tested by a rage that is no less real for being shouted by a demagogue from Fox and a backbencher from South Carolina.

G'day Gus,

Isn't the "Nazi Salute" merely a copy of the Roman Emperor’s?  And the Nazi banners and marches a copy of the Americans with troops the width of the roadway they use?  A show of power?

What I am trying to say here Gus is that the demands by the Zionists with respect to the removal of freedom of expression, merely because it offends them personally, actually supports the theory that they consider themselves the "untouchables"?

I originally came into this debate about occupied Palestine - because of the way the Zionists had cast aside the principles of the U.N. Charter and common decency for a time now exceeding 60 years.  They have acted consistently with terrorism, lies, deceit, guile and contempt for right and wrong.

It actually beggars belief that these centuries’ old procedures of claiming that anything that is not conducive to their independent military plans (while they interfere with others) self pity (while they deny even a modicum of that to their chosen enemies) and Nazi/Apartheid policies (which they are repeating even  as we write) - should be punished.

All decent human beings will be increasing their sympathies to the victims of the Zionists – as it should be.  A contemporary world, misguided by the U.S. principles of “blame your enemy for doing what you are really doing yourself” is hopefully being exposed by people having access to sites such as this.

And I steal John’s quote of Emile Zola ...
If we shut up truth & bury it under the ground, it will but grow, & gather to itself such explosive power that the day it bursts through, it will blow up everything in its way.

That reminds one of the recorded speeches of such peaceful people as Ben Gurion, Golda Meir and that humanitarian Lieberman.

Netanyahu and his cohorts should consider that their rape and murder of the Palestinians may forever be remembered in the pages of non-Jewish history, even to a point which may expose the shameful part of it that they so deceitfully claim as only their “Holocaust” – not a Holocaust against humanity itself – just them!  Fair dinkum.

Any decent citizen of this world of ours must have an opinion of what is right or wrong?

Cheers mate. God bless Australia. NE OUBLIE.

Yes the apologists for the zionists are attacking Obama as much as possible with "communist, socialist and liar" adjectives...

Beck being one of them...

But as he's allowed to spruik his views as he should be, we are also allowed to sell our wares of "moderation", justice, equality and compassion for those who are in the firing line.

Historically, the Palestinians in camps and in Gaza are in the same boat at the American Indians and the Australian Aborigines... So history depicts these struggles in broad brushes "the brave courageous honorable Indians", the "weak, poor, primitive and spiritual aborigines" (although not put in those awful words exactly, but that's the gist), the Palestinians get brickbats for being "terrorists". We won, they lost is our motto...  So the Palestine invaders, the Zionists, take the same high moral road of previous conqueror such as the Romans in ancient times, the Poms in Australia and the mix bag of Poms and Europeans in the US...

The morality of the fable is not in our favour and the Zionists know it, so they get away with murder...

Interestingly, Noel Pearson, Aboriginal leader, advocates a campaign to expose our "sins" — especially that of not caring enough (or none at all) — not unlike the jewish propaganda that at every opportunity reminds us of the Holocaust... In the case of the Aboriginal people it's not to raise guilt in our hearts but make sure we do not forget their difficult existence and that, one day, we might do something purposeful that works.

From the Guardian

War has officially been declared after months of skirmishing.

First to the front was Fox News' latest star, Glenn Beck, who laid out the battle plan with a map, a couple of toy tanks and a plastic attack helicopter.

"What a bunch of warmongers we have in the White House. America is fighting the war in Iraq, they're fighting in Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden, al-Qaida, the Taliban. And now these people have taken on another enemy: Fox News," said the anchor who once wept out of patriotic fervour as he introduced Sarah Palin.

"I want to show you right where the enemy is located," Beck added as he circled Rupert Murdoch's Fox News headquarters in green ink on a map of New York. "This is the enemy, America!"

Like many wars, it wasn't hard to see this one coming, but the formal declaration of hostilities still caught almost everyone off guard.

----------------

see toon at top and visit the man who darkens the skies as he decides where the sun shines...

From the Washington Post

Then it was time for the keynote speaker, the wildly popular Fox News host Glenn Beck. "I voted Republican almost every time," he said, and "I don't even know what they stand for anymore. And they've got to realize that they have a problem: 'Hello, my name is the Republican Party, and I've got a problem. I'm addicted to spending and big government.'"

The audience in the Marriott Wardman Park gave a huge cheer.

"But as of yet I haven't heard anyone say that," Beck added. "All they're talking about is: 'We need a big tent. We need a big tent. Can we get a bigger tent? How can we get a big tent?' "

"What is this, a circus?" Beck asked.

----------------------

a circus it is — with a audience of clowns... see toon at top

It deteriorated from there. Massa suggested that Beck "stop calling fellow Americans names . . . socialist, communist, whatever the case may be." He also told the conservative audience: "You can't show up at a 'tea party' rally and claim that the entire budget deficit happened this year."

And Massa, though he brought a chest X-ray to document his illness, had nothing to support his hints that Democratic leaders had made corrupt bargains and used thuggish tactics. "Name names," Beck pleaded. "Show us where to throw the dirt."

But no matter how many times he was asked -- Anything new? Actionable stuff? Anything specific? -- Massa came up empty. "I don't know how to be specific," he said.

In the show's waning minutes, Beck surrendered. "America, I've got to shoot straight with you," he said, looking into the camera. "I think I've wasted your time. I think this is the first time I have wasted an hour of your time, and I apologize for that."

Seems Massa's dalliance with the right was to be a one-night stand.

---------------------

see toon and read comments from top...

Avatar director James Cameron has launched an astonishing attack on the American right and one of their principal cheerleaders, Glenn Beck. The Oscar-winner let rip in a scathing outburst in which he described Beck as a "fucking asshole" and a "madman", called his ideas "poisonous" and challenged him to a debate on politics and the environment.

Cameron chose the announcement of the home-video release of his 3D blockbuster to go on the offensive against the talk-radio shock jock and Fox News commentator. And he left journalists in no doubt that he stands right behind Avatar's environmental message - denouncing climate change deniers as "boneheads" and declaring that his main aim in life was now "saving the world".

The pair first crossed swords in 2007 when Beck attacked Cameron's documentary The Lost Tomb of Jesus, which questioned the resurrection and claimed that the ancient Tomb of the Ten Ossuaries belonged to Jesus's family. After seeing it Beck said that many people believed Cameron was "officially running for antichrist".

-----------------------

Gus: we're a bit more polite but not much so about Glenn Beck...

But the real culprit here is none other that our Mr Rupert Murdoch who in a stroke of perverse genius funded the film Avatar... while pushing the Genn Becks of this world to the newsfront... Go figure... No... we know: we know Murdoch wants to control ALL THE NEWS, good, bad, indifferent and he may not care much about the stuff as long as he is the one dishing it out and supports the cheesecake of the day till he decides to remove it for profit... Now you know.

There's no room for fence-sitters in the increasingly cut-throat world of commercial talkback, writes Sue Javes.

Julia Gillard has already moved quickly to differentiate herself from Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister. Talkback radio may well be another point of difference. Despite his hungry pursuit of the daily news cycle, Rudd never went on Sydney radio's dominant program with Alan Jones. His deputy occasionally did and was greeted warmly as "Jules".

It's interesting to reflect on what part talkback radio played in the deposed PM's downfall. It's probably not too far from the truth to assume that Rudd, the intellectual who wrote long essays on political theory for The Monthly magazine, would have been as disdainful of right-wing radio personalities as they were of him.

Steve Price, who spent eight years doing talkback for 2UE before returning to Melbourne this year, says if Rudd had paid as much attention to the talkback audience as his predecessor, John Howard, things might have been different.

delayedAds.push(function(){ FD.addExternalReferralsAd($merge(FD.baseAd, { id: "adspot-300x250-pos-3", iframeId: "adspot-300x250-pos-3-iframe", params: $merge($merge(FD.baseAd.params, { pos: 3, aamsz : "300x250" }),getAdParams("300x250")) ,addSmall: true ,smallText: "Advertisement: Story continues below" }) ); } );

"When John Howard wandered around in his tracksuit, you'll notice he always had his headset on listening to talkback radio. That's how he gauged the mood," Price says. By comparison, he says, Rudd was in Canberra surrounded by 30-year-old media advisers supplying his feedback.

Sydney talkback audiences are largely shared between 2GB and the ABC, with 2UE struggling in their wake. But while the ABC has a natural audience for its "on the one hand; and on the other" approach, 2GB has cornered the commercial market with its classic "take no prisoners" line.

Right now, 2UE is at a challenging set of crossroads. Having lost its traditional talkback base with the departure of Alan Jones and Ray Hadley and the retirement of John Laws, the station now struggles in the ratings with presenters who are comparatively less opinionated and much more middle-of-the-road. Convention suggests they will only become competitive again by taking 2GB on at its own game and finding the next Jones or Hadley.

According to former US talk-radio executive Dan Shelley, right-wing leanings are essential to be a success in commercial talk radio but the key ingredient is the ability to make us, the listener, angry.

----------------------

ANGRY???? Blast these right-wrongers!!! They tell porkies with crappy rabidity in their skewy delivery! Angry? You want angry??? If you watch the John Stewart show, you'll often see in magnificent colours how a Glen Beck massage the truth by ignore it entirely!!! Here, the equivalent in Aussieland, Alan Jones often tells his porkies with an ounce of truth in them... so we think he knows what he's talking about... He spruiks some doozies!!!!. But guess what, he gets the best ratings for doing so... Angry??? You want angry???

Social activists and civil rights leaders, among them the Rev. Al Sharpton, are planning marches and demonstrations -- including the unveiling of a nearly four-story-tall original sculpture on the Mall -- on Aug. 28 to coincide with a rally organized by Fox News personality Glenn Beck.

Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally, with former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin among the scheduled speakers, will take place on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, 47 years to the day after Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech there.

The conservative talk show host announced in November that he wanted to reveal a "100 year plan for America" at the Lincoln Memorial. More recently, he said that the purpose of his Aug. 28 event is to restore the country's "values" and to pay tribute to military families.

"There will be absolutely no politics involved," he said.

------------------

Gus: Another sociopath at work... Saying "There will be absolutely no politics involved" is of course total crap crap... Just the act of having a rally there IS POLITICS!!!! See toon at top...