Media Matters: Glue? Check. Protractor? Check. No. 2 pencils? Check. Insane reaction to president's back-to-school speech? Check.
It's that time of the year again. Parents are busy preparing their children for the first day of school while children are busy holding on to every minute left in their precious summer vacation. But, out in the distance, an ominous threat is looming. That threat has a name ... gulp ... and it is ... whimper ... President Barack Hussein Obama.
Following news this week that Obama will speak directly to students next week in a special "back to school" address, media conservatives went absolutely apoplectic, calling Obama's forthcoming speech "indoctrination," as Fox News' Glenn Beck put it.
Beck's comments were only the tip of the iceberg in right-wing outrage. Others compared it to "brainwashing," communist China, and the Hitler Youth. Some (yes, Beck was of course among them) went as far as encouraging parents to keep their children home from school on the day of Obama's speech. Filling in for Rush Limbaugh, Mark Steyn said the president's speech was part of a "cult of personality" though not on the scale of Kim Jong Il or Saddam Hussein. Steyn also claimed that Obama's speech was based on the view that education exists to make kids "good subjects" of big government. Over on Lou Dobbs' radio program, guest host Chris Stigall pulled back the curtain on this smear ever so slightly when he said that he "didn't say the message was bad," just that he didn't want Obama to talk to his kid alone. Then there was Michael Savage, the third most listened to radio host in America, who put it this way: "Hitler had the Hitler Youth, and Obama would like to have the Obama Youth."
Of course, Fox News was hyping the outrage. On The Live Desk, Fox commentator Andrea Tantaros flexed her intellectual heft, saying of the president's speech: "They do this type of thing in North Korea and the former Soviet Union ... very cultish." Fox & Friends hosted a parent who plans to "keep kids home" from Obama's "indoctrination" speech, while the network's right-wing website TheFoxNation.com asked visitors "Will You Keep Your Kids Home the Day Obama Speaks to Schools?" I'm actually surprised the options for answers weren't "yes" and "absolutely."
Perhaps it would be helpful at this point if we actually discussed what exactly Obama plans on telling students during his speech on September 8. Well, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan sent a letter to school principals last week describing Obama's speech as being about "the importance of education" and "persisting and succeeding in school." Duncan also offered "classroom activities" to "engage students and stimulate discussion on the importance of education."
How absolutely communisty of Obama! How dare he subject our children to such indoctrination. If our kids take his advice, they might, they might end up in college, and we all know how liberal our colleges and universities make our once-wholesome boys and girls.
Sigh.
In all seriousness, Obama is hardly the first president to directly address students in the classroom. NBC's Kevin Tibbles noted that George H.W. Bush broadcast a speech to classrooms nationwide in 1991, while Fox News' Wendell Goler noted that both Bush and Ronald Reagan (you know, the one and only Gipper that the right always wants to win one for) broadcast speeches to classrooms nationwide.
Simply put, the freak-out over Obama's planned speech is due to baseless fears, stoked by conservatives in the media, that he will use the platform as an opportunity to push his agenda on unsuspecting students. Ironically, that is exactly what Reagan did two decades ago during his classroom speech. In fact, during Reagan's November 1988 address to classrooms, he spoke of the American "vision of self-government" and the need "to keep faith with the unfinished vision of the greatness and wonder of America," but in the middle of the speech, the president went off on a tangent about the importance of low taxes.
With each passing week, it becomes more apparent that the conservative media will take anything Obama does and twist it beyond comprehension.
Other major stories this week
Conservatives boycotting WorldNetDaily
How far out there is the right-wing website WorldNetDaily? So far out that many of its fellow conservatives are not only disassociating themselves from it as fast as they can, but are actively figuring out how to boycott it. Just ask Jon Henke at The Next Right, who noted WND's embrace of the claim that the federal government is building concentration camps for U.S. political dissidents and wrote this week: "In the 1960's, William F. Buckley denounced the John Birch Society leadership for being 'so far removed from common sense' and later said 'We cannot allow the emblem of irresponsibility to attach to the conservative banner.' The Birthers are the Birchers of our time, and WorldNetDaily is their pamphlet. ... No respectable organization should support the kind of fringe idiocy that WND peddles. Those who do are not respectable."
WND founder and editor Joseph Farah responded to news of the conservative boycott against supporters of his "news" organization in the expected way -- by demonstrating why conservatives would want to boycott WND in the first place.
In his September 1 column, Farah dismissed Henke as "this fellow I have never known nor associated with nor even heard of." Farah then went on to spin Henke's post, suggesting he was moved to support a boycott solely "because of an article he read in the Boston Herald last week." In fact, it's clear from Henke's post that the Herald article was merely the last straw, not the entire rationale.
It is refreshing to see a conservative blogger of Henke's caliber standing up to the likes of Farah and WND. I just hope he has his long-form birth certificate on hand, because it's only a matter of time before Farah sends his slobbering, paranoid attack dogs errrr ... reporters after him.
Time to change the locks? Beck to receive "key to the city"
According to Seattle's KOMO News Radio, the mayor of Mount Vernon, Washington, Bud Norris (mvmayor@ci.mount-vernon.wa.us), will "give the key to his city to conservative talk show host Glenn Beck on September 26."
You read that right. A key to the city for a man who, among other things, asked his listeners this week to pray to stave off Satan-like "perversion" of the country. A man who suggested this week that the Obama administration would use the bombings of a Canadian pipeline to justify a takeover of oil companies. This week, he also warned "regular Democrat[s]" that the "über-left" is about to smother you with a pillow." Then, of course, there are his infamous comments from late July that Obama has "a deep-seated hatred for white people" and that "this guy is, I believe, a racist."
If Glenn Beck is going to get a key to anything, it should be his own small, private room with white padded walls. I suppose we'd need to get the key back, though.
As for his comment about Obama being "racist," here's an update. According to a press release from ColorOfChange.org: "Eleven new companies whose ads were recently seen during Beck's program ... have pledged to ColorOfChange.org to take steps to ensure that their ads don't run on Beck's show. Fifty-seven companies have now committed not to support Beck's show."
This week's media columns
This week's media columns from the Media Matters senior fellows: Eric Boehlert explains why Glenn Beck and Fox News can't escape the "racist" trap; Jamison Foser discusses how the conservative media have taken a strong stand against ... learning; and Karl Frisch looks into the world of Lou Dobbs and his hate groupies.
Greg Lewis brings us "The arrogance and misinformation persist, even when Limbaugh is away" in The Friday Rush, a review of Limbaugh's radio shows over the past week.
This weekly wrap-up was compiled by Karl Frisch, a senior fellow at Media Matters for America. Frisch also contributes to County Fair, a media blog featuring links to progressive media criticism from around the Web as well as original commentary. You can follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube or sign up to receive his columns by email.
The behavior of Republicans and the corporate media demonstrates that reality is stranger than fiction. Even the so called progressive/liberal blogosphere has jumped the shark with their attacks on President Obama. It helps to know that they are corporately funded, too. I loved the 1980's. I'm not that particularly fond of 1984, though.
Hey, what about all those "Public Service Announcements" they broadcast on television at all hours of the day, telling us decent Americans not to smoke pot, drive drunk, consume too much high fructose corn syrup or use the word "gay" in a derisive context? I mean, "Public Service"? Sounds like a commie plot to me.
One more scary FACT: you know who else held "camps"? Pol Pot. Case closed.
There are a few smart conservatives, or at least there were when conservatism was a little more than "destroy, destroy, destroy". Why are the stupid ones on TV?
There are a few smart republican politicians. But big business installed a moron who crashed the market and obliterated consumers' purchasing power. What gives?
But unfortunately, there are plenty of people still operating primarily from their "reptilian brain" mainly reacting from primitive survival instincts and selfish self-interest. So Their messaging sticks with those folks.
Then there is appeal to patriotism and shameless manipulation of those higher emotions such as love of country and giving one's life for a higher cause. One has to really discern who the little weasels are behind the curtain, creating wars and other murder for greed and power.
And they also use a bunch of ubiquitous blonds in mini skirts and affable doofus types useful tools like David Brookes to help soften their nasty, flinty backside. Give them a skosh of soft padding, if you will.
True, their message is often stupid, crude, idiotic and imbecilic. But throw in a few people they can hate and rally against because of racism, fear or whatever, and the devils are manufacturing consent within a certain crowd that should know better if they used the brains (and heart) they were born with.
It's sad and downright chagrinning.
And since you brought up the short stop, please be aware that even though I have him on a pedestal so I can look up his kilt, he doesn't speak for JJ. ;-)
Then with Iraq they just changed their minds. It was a "good" message that "stuck" with the people and "appealed to patriotism" and "love of country".
Being good at something means that you do it well, not that you do whatever you want and are handed the results.
Their supposed media-manipulation skills are again a matter of doing anything and being handed the results. It's as if I were a judge at a talent contest and I pick my son as the winner no matter what. Was my son good at manipulating me?
Does the media (excluding Fox) understand that they are making fools of themselves and destroying whatever little remained of their credibility?
I actually appreciate that they're making it easy to identify the nut cases. When I was a kid growing up we all knew the John Bircher down the block by the sticker on his car.
No doubt they miss the good 'ole days, when BushCo could just raise the terror alert to whip people in line. Just having Dick Cheney as VP was enough terror for me...
Y'all reichwingers stay classy now, heah?
They need a NOTE from the parents to be allowed to watch the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES speak? These people are not sane. It can't be said any other way. They are deranged. Nuts. Not thinking straight.
I'm interested to hear what percentage of students turn in an opt-out.
With this issue though, the far-right has once again redefined what it takes to be on the fringe. The "Birther" and "Tenther" movements no longer seem as crazy now, do they? It's all relative I guess...
http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/rma/lowres/rman3816l.jpg
While we are on the subject why do we need all these minority named origination's?? If we had the Caucasian league of something we would be called racists.
Get of the race baiting and if you were born in the USA YOU ARE A AMERICAN and leave the other labels off- PLEASE.
I'm just old enough to remember hearing the term "N****r lover" on occasion when I was in grade school in the late 60s/early 70s.Not often, but heard it on the playground, aimed at those who didn't hate enough. I know it was just the kids of racist parents parroting, but it showed up once in a while.
Shortly after Obama was nominated,somebody brought up the election at work. A Republican co-worker explained to another that I was an "Obama lover".It sounded weird at the time , but didn't really register. I'd never heard anybody called a "Clinton lover" or a "McCain lover".
The guy who said it is about 10 years older than I am, in his mid-50s. I didn't realize until later what he had really said. Something he probably said comfortably when he was a kid, but cleaned up through decades of that darned "political correctness" stifling his speech.
But, as many conservative posters here would point out, he didn't say anything about race.
Also like this from your link, Snoop;
“I am not going to compare President Obama to Hitler. We’ll leave that to others and you can form your own opinions about them and their analogies. … However, we can learn a lot from the spread of propaganda in Europe that led to Hitler’s power. A key ingredient in that spread of propaganda was through the youth,” wrote a blogger at the AmericanElephant.com blog
Well, thanks for not doing... uhhh.. what?
The idea that school children across our nation will be forced to watch the President justify his plans for government-run health care, banks, and automobile companies, increasing taxes on those who create jobs, and racking up more debt than any other President, is not only infuriating, but goes against beliefs of the majority of Americans, while bypassing American parents through an invasive abuse of power.
This unbelievable gibberish was spoken by, not one of our usual right-wing media crazies like Beck or Savage, but by Jim Greer, the chairman of the Florida Republican Party, i.e., someone with actual political power and influence.
And when Obama's speech comes and goes and none of Greer's haywire predictions come off, do you suppose that he and a long line of other wingnuts will get on the air to give a mea culpa for their ridiculous paranoia?
Well, we'll just have to see, won't we?
I'm sure he's just some fringe loony, possibly even a leftist plant.
I saw another good one on Fox this morning. That guy who looks like he works at a 50s soda fountain (Cal Thomas ?) got to close out the subject of Obama's "Stay in school" speech with a very matter-of-fact, straight-faced explanation which was that parents are reasonably concerned about their children having "Hugo Chavez style propaganda" forced on them.
They just don't seem to care anymore.
I remember a long time ago, many many months ago, when if someone criticized our "War President" it was tantamount to treason. We just shouldn't do that, just think of how it would affect the morale of Our Troops?
Ah, how times have changed. Now it's apparently OK to say that Our Troops are out there fighting for Hitler or Hugo Chavez- at least it must be OK, because I don't see anyone in the media condemning it.
No. No. They are already saying that their outrage will have forced the president to temper his message. They are already claiming "victory" on this issue.
He turned to me, with a completely and totally serious look on his face, and said this, "You're telling me that you're going to vote for that NI****! I would NEVER vote for a NI****!"
So, unlike your example, mine actually came out, and said it, 2 times to me.
I told him that if I ever heard him use that phrasing again, we'd have a serious issue, and one that we'd take up with the HR manager, as I didn't agree with his racist take on the man who later became our President, and also, didn't agree with his racist attitude.
I'd gone and voted, grabbed some dinner, and stopped off at a place where I like to have a beer now and then. It's a sports bar type of dive, with a lot of TV's, and the election results were coming in.
I'm not in some Secessionist rural Dixie area, I'm in Southern California,admittedly in pretty Republican Orange County.I usually vote near poll closing time, so it's 11pm east coast time.
The election was called for Obama, and the first response I heard was from a guy at the bar. Not some old timer, a kid in his late 20s, maybe thirty, I was sitting at a table 10 feet from him.
And his comment on the election results was three words, two of which I can't print here. The first started with an "F", the third with an "N", as in "F--- that N---".
I started to get up to ask him what the hell was wrong with him, but I think I was exhausted from the "conversations" I'd been having with acquaintances and co-workers over the preceding year.
I just hit that "Why bother?" point.
OT, but I just saw that Van Jones stepped down.As Middle Left mentioned above, the rightys will claim victory for forcing Obama to dumb down his school speech to meet their PC guidelines, and Van Jones will be another imagined victory for the pablum gummers who know that throwing enough tantrums and spreading enough BS will get them some attention.
I try to be realistic (as I'm sure Obama's administration feels they're being), and understand that there are a few million people in this country who are frightened by all of the wrong things, but it gets so boring having to have our politics conform to the comfort zone of dullards.
Being an American voter sometimes feels like going out to dinner and a movie with a group that includes too many who consider McDonalds and a Chuck Norris flick the ultimate night out.
Great post.
Why has the speech been a secret and it took them until now to release any of the transcript?
Why does it have to last an hour and a half? If all he has to say is read a book, stay in school and your future will be brighter why does that take that long?
When most school districts in my area know nothing of this event I am a bit leery, either the districts are telling the truth or they are lying, in the case of the later if they are lying who and why are they lying?? think of that!
I would appreciate a chart or timeline that traces the origination and dissemination of this absurd interpretation of a basic back to school speech. That it appeared in so many media outlets in such a short period of time is remarkable. Perhaps MMFA could give the poor sod who has to listen to Limbaugh a break to make this timeline.
As to the propagandist, there has to be some guy being lauded in R circles for originating this propaganda, right? I imagine he's getting congratulatory calls from Karl Rove.
What's amazing is that the right wing noise machine will instantly march in step - right off a cliff. We just need to get them a bigger cliff.
Fortunately, they're making it easy to identify the nuts.
You right-wing neanderthals are pathetic! You are bugs! You are the rust on a smooth metal surface!
I have never before seen such an ignorant bunch of morons and racists in my 39 years of life!
President Obama is going to speak to your children about the importance of staying in school, learning to your fullest potential and you dumb asses are having a heart attack over this?
THIS? This is what America has come to? America now must pander to the lowest form of humanity? In the form of right-wing religious school boards and parents who are to damn stupid to know whats best for for their children, let alone themselves!
To all you right-wing thugs... you make me sick and I have no use for your kind... and yet, I find myself still willing and having no problem defending your rights to make complete and total a$$%oles of yourselves!!
I see this sickness getting worse before Tuesday and then well beyond it over the next few years (probably long past that as well)
What's wrong? Are people no longer sleeping and allowing the progressive movement to slowly change the "fundamental transformation of America to take place"?
Your posting is nothing but a bunch of intolerant anger throwing nothing but accusations around & nothing to back it up. Why do you think the right wing religious school boards would have anything to do with it? Where do you get this info; or is it another Assumption? peolpe who don't want their child to have to listen to the speech during school hours are ths "lowest form or humanity"? Really? I thought that would be a pediphile-crazy me!!
Because of you user name & you statement of defending i am assuming you ar military or police. For that I am truly thank ful & grateful. I was once affiliated with the military myself & have nothing but respect to all branches, but I have to admit this posting lacks the historical merit I would expect from someone who is supposed to defend the constitution.
Personally i like they way our school district is handling the situation. If you want you child to participate in the webcast sign the permission slip. If you do not wish for you child to participate don't send the form & your child will continue with their normal classes. This way it leaves it up to the parents to decide what it best for their children & not infringing on another's right to participate if they desire.
Let's remember one thing. Children are at school to learn the basic academic subjects. It's the PARENT'S role to determine what is best for that child & the PARENT's role to renforce the importance of staying in school. My 12yr old will be going to his usual class on Tues because he has been in school for 3 wks now, he would miss his favorite class, adn say's he doesn't need President Obams to tell him he needs to stay in school. That's not moronic, racist, right-wind religious, or lowest form of humanity, it's called Liberty!!
Oh, that's right, he must be vetted because HE'S BLACK. And we can't have the evil black man talking to our children.
Here's the view from my corner of the world:
http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2009/09/political_concerns_preempting.html
Also, why are we targeting K-6 grade levels and not 6-12. According to reports I have uncovered, our children grades K-6 are equal to if not ahead of the worlds education groups. Where we start to fall behind is our grades 6-12. I would think the President would leverage his power of the office on the areas of greatest trouble. Instilling hope, vision, focus on goals, and the ability to succeed against all odds just as President Obama has done. Missed opportunities in my opinion.
Last note. I had no issues with our President speaking to our young people, until I saw the agenda that was released by our Education department. It focus was around our youngers relationship around our government. I have major issues around that specific theme.
It's good to remember who owns these media outlets and what their political views tend to be.
I do feel sorry for their kids because they must live with their racist nutcase parents and their poor influence and decision-making.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34243342@N06/3894268169/sizes/o/
STAY AWAY FROM ME WHEN I PUT MY TUNG IN MY CHEEK YOU COMMANIST!
The bottom line here is that 20+ years of propaganda have taken their toll. We have thousands of radio stations around the country shouting Democrats=Bad, Republicans=Good, 24x7. Plus Fox. Both efforts are funded by the uber-rich, with, I'm sure, payola involved on the radio side. Then the mainstream takes up their RNC talking point "controversies" with no regard for the truth.
I'm sure it's just coincidence that all of this benefits traitorous US-based international corporations.
Bottom line is that until and unless we put something like the Fairness Doctrine back in place, the wingnuts will drive the debate, and the American people will lose, again and again.
With Clinton, the method of attack tapped into morality.
The common denominators here: 1) Republican spin and attack machine - 2) complicit and enabling media outlets - 3) an easily manipulated populace who is largely unaware of HOW they are being manipulated, and largely lacking self-awareness.
To combat, we need to raise the level of discourse, by exposing the players, their interests and process of manipulation.
Fox has been one of the most damaging and worst additions to this country, and dismantling that outlet would be a great start - in the meantime, continued exposing of figures like Rush, Beck, and Dobbs works.
Stupid? Maybe. That's one theory to explain the unexplainable behavior. Maybe the reason certain people buy into these irrational Obama stories isn't because they are stupid or even irrational. They latch onto them because they dare not say what's really on their mind. Obama is black. These "issues" allow them to express what they can not express out loud.
Why wouldn't they want their kids to listen to a talk by Obama? Because he's black and they don't their kids picking up on his "niggra" ways or even thinking that it's acceptable. They are trying to keep their kids away from such influences.
Why continue to push to see Obama's birth certificate even though he published it on the Internet for all to see? Because no "niggra" has any right to be president and no amount of evidence can change that for them. They don't care that he published his birth certificate because that's not what it's about.
How is it that anyone can believe that Obama is Muslim although he is not and has never been Muslim? It is because he has no right to be president in the first place and if tagging him as a Muslim helps in that regard all the better. If that doesn't stick then he is a socialist/liberal/fascist/ communist/leftist goon bent on destroying all that good and free. And there is no point in arguing about any of this because the real problem -that Obama is black- can't be said out loud and these things are just a surrogate for a conversation they can't have.
Healthcare? They don't know what that may entail, but they know that Obama wants it and they aren't going to have anything to do with "niggra" healthcare. Individual points and issues may rise and get shot down, but it doesn't matter. They know what they know and know what they feel and it isn't about healthcare.
I normally detest identity politics, but rack my brain as much as I can to avoid it I have to face facts. If you want to call these people stupid or irrational you certainly can, but I've listened and some of them are very well spoken and quite rational. Suppose we accept that these are not irrational people just to see where that leads. Then what? What explains their irrational behavior and loony rhetoric?
If you assume they are just normal everyday, well, racists who cannot express their racism then what they are doing and saying makes sense. It is not irrational. That's why they pump up fantastic bizarre issues that make no sense to non-racists and that defy any and all evidence that contradict them. That's because these "issues" are only a substitute for what they can't say out loud. It's all about having a half black person as president which they see as illegitimate, not because of his policies of which they remain largely ignorant and don't care about, but because of Obama himself. Making this assumption then the actions make more sense. They real problem isn't what the say about this or that "issue." It's about what they can't say. It's about "niggras"
Admittedly there are a whole raff of people who have piled onto this craziness that aren't especially racist. They are mainly opportunists lacking principles at all good or bad with their own aims . However, I am quickly coming to the conclusion that it is racism that is the main fuel for the madness. Otherwise these people could just say what they mean instead of needing to latch onto these blatantly absurd indefensible ideas to express what they feel.
Judging by the vote for Obama in the election these people are very much in the minority, not even enough numbers to tip the election. But damn, they are noisy bastards. We ought to recognize them for what they are and stop trying to make sense out of what they are saying. It's not important. It's what they can't say that is the problem. Their problem. Not ours.
"This is not about Obama's color - it is pure politics. Any Democrat would be similarly smeared."
That's true. The Clintons were smeared unmercifully. But it's one thing for propagandist to spew loony accusations and it's another for rather large numbers to latch on to them to the point where they take the effort to go to meetings to disrupt them. Because there seems to be nothing too loony to latch onto I am being forced to conclude that this anti-Obama madness is fueled by something more fundamental than the crazy "issue" of the week. It is fuel by an underlying racism.
These people are passionate. They aren't faking it. And I don't believe for a moment that it is the "issue" at hand that's got them so worked up. It's clear they were deeply troubled before the "issue" was ever presented to them. In any case the "issue" seems to change every week. It's doubtful that these people have any interests in governmental policies at all or know anything about them. They showed little interest before Obama was elected. Their problem is with Obama being president. He's half black and they see him as illegitimate. They all but say so, but they can't say so. Instead they eagerly latch on to these absurd ideas to express their feelings,not the ideas themselves. That's why the ideas don't matter and the evidence that contradicts them don't matter. They are using them to express something they can't say out loud. They reject the idea of having a black man as their president. And they reject it with a passion to all those who hold such beliefs.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112622675
At no point, is there any context. You're left thinking Obama was the first president ever to address our nation's kids.
Even worse, the two people NPR interviewed who are against this, Barbara Cargill & Neal McCluskey, are hardcore right-wingers. Just do a Google search on them!
Here's what the San Antonio Express-News reported Cargill as asking to someone being considered for the local school committee on Social Studies:
Not quite sure what fits this woman's definition of 'patriotism' but why would anyone bring on such a loon to discuss the topic?
Disgraceful.