The Fox News Obsession; It’s an exercise in confirmation bias on the Left.

Kevin D. Williamson

"The “Fox News Is Stupid and Evil” article is by now its own genre of journalism, albeit one that almost nobody does very well." . . .

"Other entries in the genre are not holding up well over time, either. The gentlemen-scholars of Alternet gave it their very best with a piece published under the subtle headline “Study confirms that Fox News makes you stupid.” The column contains a bullet list detailing nine outrageous things that Fox News viewers believe in error, which I have reproduced here with my comments in brackets." . . .

"(Given the demographics of cable-news audiences, it’s a safe bet that MSNBC viewers believe in astrology at much higher rates than Fox News viewers.) That the nation is scandalized by conservatives pushing “intelligent design” but not by a federal law mandating subsidies for equally nonsensical quackery has nothing to do with our alleged regard for science and everything to do with the class biases of media people." . . .

Obama’s Last Foreign Policy Chance

 The failure of Obama or Biden to show up in Paris made clear that most of the president’s team can’t be trusted to conduct U.S national security policy and must be replaced—at once.

Gelb Makes Obama A Gelding    "I remember as a mere callow college student when I made out that Jimmy Carter was finished: when liberals turned on him. For example, Ken Bode, then the revered moderator of “Washington Week in Review” on PBS, wrote in 1979 “It’s Over For Jimmy” in The New Republic: “The past two weeks will be remembered as the period when President Carter packed it in, put the finishing touches on a failed presidency” (There’s lots more in this vein recounted in the first volume of my Age of Reagan books.)

"So it shouldn’t surprise us that people are saying Obama’s no-show in Paris last weekend was his “diplomatic Katrina.” More serious is the Daily Beast article out yesterday from Leslie Gelb, who doesn’t come any more Establishmenty(sp) than a Harvard-trained Rockefeller. Gelb, notable for chiefly being boring, is the kind of Establishment figure who usually tut-tuts Republican presidents for being too bellicose. But he thinks Obama is circling the drain on foreign policy:" . . .

The article referred to:
This Is Obama’s Last Foreign Policy Chance by Leslie Gelb
"Here’s why America’s failure to be represented at the Paris unity march was so profoundly disturbing. It wasn’t just because President Obama’s or Vice President Biden’s absence was a horrendous gaffe. More than this, it demonstrated beyond argument that the Obama team lacks the basic instincts and judgment necessary to conduct U.S. national security policy in the next two years. It’s simply too dangerous to let Mr. Obama continue as is—with his current team and his way of making decisions. America, its allies, and friends could be heading into one of the most dangerous periods since the height of the Cold War.

"Mr. Obama will have to excuse most of his inner core, especially in the White House. He will have to replace them with strong and strategic people of proven foreign policy experience." . . .

The Sharpton-Obama Alliance

How the Obama-Sharpton Alliance Began    

 

"Near the end of 2007, Obama confidante Valerie Jarrett met with Al Sharpton in New York City and began to cement a relationship that would eventually make the inflammatory activist the president’s “go-to man” on race, according to multiple sources.

"The backdrop to the incipient Obama-Sharpton alliance was the then-senator’s 2008 presidential campaign, which still hadn’t locked away the black vote, and the political cross-currents created by two other controversial reverends, Jesse Jackson and Jeremiah Wright.

"That tentative relationship has now grown into a full-blown partnership that has vastly increased the once-shunned Sharpton’s influence and prestige and elevated him into a key White House ally at a time of heightened tension over policing and race." ...
  Jillian Kay Melchior writes for National Review as a Thomas L. Rhodes Fellow for the Franklin Center.

Obama Had Sharpton Report Directly To Valerie Jarrett On Situation In Ferguson, Acted As Their Go-Between With Brown Family…  "Rather ironic the “post-racial” president’s inner circle includes vile race pimp Al Sharpton."
... " White House officials enlisted an unusual source for on-the-ground intelligence amid the chaos and tear gas: the Rev. Al Sharpton, a fiery activist who became a household name by provoking rather than pacifying."...

Related:  Black Democrats to gather in Ferguson

A Mayor, A President And Freedom Of The Press

UK Daily Mail posts this video of the Mayor:

 
 Patterico's Pontifications  "Last week, just hours after the massacre in France, the mayor of Rotterdam spoke on national televevision. Moroccan-born Muslim Ahmed Aboutaleb delivered a brief, sharply-worded, no-nonsense message to the Muslim immigrant community in the Netherlands:

It is incomprehensible that you can turn against freedom. But if you don’t like freedom, for heavens sake pack your bags and leave.

If you do not like it here because some humorists you don’t like are making a newspaper, may I then say you can f*** off.

This is stupid, this so incomprehensible. Vanish from the Netherlands if you cannot find your place here.

"Meanwhile, the White House today announced plans to fight the media in printing “anti-jihad” material. Shamefully using the American military as cover, Josh Earnest explained the administration’s intent to stomp on the First Amendment:

President Barack Obama has a moral responsibility to push back on the nation’s journalism community when it is planning to publish anti-jihadi articles that might cause a jihadi attack against the nation’s defenses forces[.]

“The president … will not now be shy about expressing a view or taking the steps that are necessary to try to advocate for the safety and security of our men and women in uniform” whenever journalists’ work may provoke jihadist attacks.

"Earnest justified the plan:

Whenever journalists consider publishing materials disliked by jihadis, “I think there are a couple of absolutes,” he told the reporters.

The first is “that the publication of any kind of material in no way justifies any act of violence, let alone an act of violence that we saw on the scale in Paris,” he said.

The second absolute is the president’s duty to lobby editors and reporters against publishing anti-jihadi information, he said. ”And there is — this president, as the commander in chief, believes strongly in the responsibility that he has to advocate for our men and women in uniform, particularly if it’s going to make them safer,” Earnest said.

–

Obama Declares War on ‘Extremism’ — Are You an ‘Extremist’?

The Right Planet "Do you know what an “extremist” is?  In the wake of the horrible terror attacks on the offices of Charlie Hebdo in France, Barack Obama is speaking very boldly about the need to win the war against “extremists”, and he has announced plans to host a major global summit on “extremism” next month.  And on the surface that sounds great.  But precisely how are we supposed to determine whether someone is an “extremist” or not?  What criteria should we use?  As you will see below, your definition of an “extremist” may be far, far different from the definition that Barack Obama is using.  When you do a Google search, you will find that an “extremist” is defined as “a person who holds extreme or fanatical political or religious views, especially one who resorts to or advocates extreme action.' ” ...

 

 politixcartoons

It is a list of 72 types of Americans that are considered to be “extremists” or “potential terrorists” in official U.S. government documents. This list will really give you a good idea of what Barack Obama means when he uses the word “extremist”. Each of these 72 items is linked, so if you would like to go see the original source document for yourself, just click on the link. As you can see, this list potentially includes most of the country…
The first five:

1. Those that talk about “individual liberties”
2. Those that advocate for states’ rights
3. Those that want “to make the world a better place”
4. “The colonists who sought to free themselves from British rule”
5. Those that are interested in “defeating the Communists”
 Here are the others:

Obama’s mark on the military; A deeply unpopular commander in chief is forcing profound change inside the ranks.

 

Military Times   "In his first term, President Obama oversaw repeal of the controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
"Then he broke with one of the military's most deeply rooted traditions and vowed to lift the ban on women serving in combat. . .

"Obama is an unpopular president in the eyes of the men and women in uniform. Yet his two-term administration is etching a deep imprint on the culture inside the armed forces. As commander in chief, he will leave behind a legacy that will shape the Pentagon's personnel policies and the social customs of rank-and-file troops for decades to come.

 

. . .
"But to his critics, his moves amount to heavy-handed social engineering that erode deep-seated traditions and potentially undermine good order and discipline.
. . .
Our view: America’s military deserves better
"Morale in the military is swiftly sinking, with the troops losing both their sense of mission and their faith that their superiors, political leaders — and the nation — still have their best interests at heart.

"Those are among the key conclusions of our special report on America's military, "A force adrift: How the nation is failing its troops and veterans." This series was built upon an exclusive survey of almost 2,300 active-duty troops. Included are firsthand accounts from soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines on how they're coping with a relentless operational tempo, deep cuts in end strength, a growing workload and shrinking compensation." ...

 

Michael Yon

‘A PETULANT CHILD’: Former Secret Service Agent Blasts Obama For Blaming Service For Skipping Paris March

 

 Daily Caller Via Lucianne
... "Bongino, who served in the Secret Service under presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama before galvanizing conservative voters with recent Maryland Senate and congressional runs, told The Daily Caller that Obama blamed the Service because he knew they couldn’t fight back against him in the press.

“ 'He knows there’s nothing the Secret Service can say. They don’t want to hurt the relationship so as a matter of decorum they can’t say anything,” Bongino said. “I imagine what they’re really thinking is, ‘Is this guy serious?’ It’s not an easy job. After the fence-jumper, morale’s not great over there now, but he still says something that is so obviously not true.”

“ 'Just look at the Mandela funeral which was geometrically worse when it comes to threat and he went to that because he wanted to go. If the president wants to go he goes. The Secret Service doesn’t tell him he can’t go. That’s only in movies.' ”

 

Conservative Focus

Juxtaposing looks at the perpetually outraged and offended facing down the perpetually cowardly and silly

washingtonexaminer

French Muslim Students Yell “Allahu Akbar!” During Moment Of Silence For Charlie Hebdo Victims… "Rather than fall quiet as requested during a national minute of silence last week, three boys in Hamid Abdelaali’s high school class in this heavily Muslim suburb of Paris staged an informal protest, speaking loudly through all 60 seconds."

I see a connection here.

Duke University To Broadcast Islamic Call To Prayer On Fridays…  "Courtesy of the Duke chapter of the radical Muslim Student Association."

*UK’s Sky News Apologizes For Airing Mohammed Cartoon After Cutting Off Interview When Woman Holds Up Charlie Hebdo Paper… "Gutless guppies."

 

.washingtontimes.

*She was trying to hold up this latest issue of Charlie Hebdo (from Breitbart")

All articles above thanks to Weasel Zippers.

MSNBC's Maddow Shows ‘Piss Christ’ But Not Latest ‘Charlie Hebdo’

On April 18, 2011 Maddow and her network had no difficulty showing and discussing the “Piss Christ” photo by Andres Serrano after it was destroyed in a museum in France by protestors upset with the image of a crucifix submerged in urine.
After showing the image onscreen, Maddow said, “Museum officials say they will reopen tomorrow in order to put the destroyed pieces –still destroyed - on display so that people can see the damage that was done to them.”
“Inanimate art cannot yell back, it cannot hit back. The only way art wins against force if you can put the attack itself on display. See how that looks in the bright light of day, see how that holds up to history,” Maddow continued.
CNN joined MSNBC yesterday in declining to show images of the new Charlie Hebdo cover, citing fear of offending Muslims.
- See more at: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/eric-scheiner/2015/01/14/msnbcs-maddow-shows-piss-christ-not-latest-charlie-hebdo#sthash.VTz7UX52.dpuf

On April 18, 2011 Maddow and her network had no difficulty showing and discussing the “Piss Christ” photo by Andres Serrano after it was destroyed in a museum in France by protestors upset with the image of a crucifix submerged in urine.
After showing the image onscreen, Maddow said, “Museum officials say they will reopen tomorrow in order to put the destroyed pieces –still destroyed - on display so that people can see the damage that was done to them.”
“Inanimate art cannot yell back, it cannot hit back. The only way art wins against force if you can put the attack itself on display. See how that looks in the bright light of day, see how that holds up to history,” Maddow continued.
CNN joined MSNBC yesterday in declining to show images of the new Charlie Hebdo cover, citing fear of offending Muslims.
- See more at: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/eric-scheiner/2015/01/14/msnbcs-maddow-shows-piss-christ-not-latest-charlie-hebdo#sthash.VTz7UX52.dpuf

On April 18, 2011 Maddow and her network had no difficulty showing and discussing the “Piss Christ” photo by Andres Serrano after it was destroyed in a museum in France by protestors upset with the image of a crucifix submerged in urine.
After showing the image onscreen, Maddow said, “Museum officials say they will reopen tomorrow in order to put the destroyed pieces –still destroyed - on display so that people can see the damage that was done to them.”
“Inanimate art cannot yell back, it cannot hit back. The only way art wins against force if you can put the attack itself on display. See how that looks in the bright light of day, see how that holds up to history,” Maddow continued.
CNN joined MSNBC yesterday in declining to show images of the new Charlie Hebdo cover, citing fear of offending Muslims.
- See more at: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/eric-scheiner/2015/01/14/msnbcs-maddow-shows-piss-christ-not-latest-charlie-hebdo#sthash.VTz7UX52.dpuf

"On April 18, 2011 Maddow and her network had no difficulty showing and discussing the “Piss Christ” photo by Andres Serrano after it was destroyed in a museum in France by protestors upset with the image of a crucifix submerged in urine.
"After showing the image onscreen, Maddow said, “Museum officials say they will reopen tomorrow in order to put the destroyed pieces –still destroyed - on display so that people can see the damage that was done to them.”
“ 'Inanimate art cannot yell back, it cannot hit back. The only way art wins against force if you can put the attack itself on display. See how that looks in the bright light of day, see how that holds up to history,” Maddow continued.
"CNN joined MSNBC yesterday in declining to show images of the new Charlie Hebdo cover, citing fear of offending Muslims.

AS LONG AS OBAMA BROUGHT UP THE COST OF COLLEGE ...

 

Ann Coulter  "I gather from Obama's "free" community college proposal that his plan for dealing with the Republican Congress over the next two years is to throw out ridiculously expensive ideas no one has ever heard of before, and then denounce Republicans for being naysayers.
. . .
" Would anyone argue that colleges are providing a better education today than in 1978? I promise you: People coming out of college in the '50s knew more than any recent Yale graduate -- unless we're only counting knowledge of sexual practices once considered verboten.

"They're teaching gender studies, ethnic studies, moral equivalence and hatred of America. Did the Japanese Really Start World War II or Did We? It's worse than not reading Shakespeare. They're reading Shakespeare for homosexual imagery. As Yale professor Daniel Gelernter says, colleges are "threatening to become an elaborate, extremely expensive practical joke."

"The fact that 80 percent of Weathermen -- the violent '60s radicals -- are full college professors tells you all you need to know about the state of higher education today. " . . .

  By the way, since the subject came up: How 1960s Radicals Ended Up Teaching Your Kids. But I digress.

This is NOT the same Democrat Party that fought the Axis in WW2

Paris hosted a huge street rally led by Western leaders Sunday in support of comedic free speech in the face of recent Islamist terror acts against it. Not everyone was caught up in the spirit of defiance. Sony Pictures just informed Seth Rogan they've canceled his upcoming movie Muhammed the Musical.

President Obama was ripped for not joining other Western leaders in Sunday’s Paris rally against recent Islamist attacks. He decided to stay home and watched the Dallas Cowboys-Green Bay Packers playoff game. When President Obama deals with terrorism, he always asks himself what would Bush do.

France's anti-terrorism rally included forty Western leaders Sunday along with Palestinian leader Abu Abbas. His appearance is what made the rally so dangerous. Abu Abbas wears a beard and a head covering, so if he made just one funny face he could have been mistaken for an editorial cartoon.

French police say two million turned out for the anti-Islamist march in Paris on Sunday. That's five hundred thousand more Frenchmen than cheered the liberation of Paris in World War II. Chalk it up to nostalgia, but it seems like there's always that half a million who are sorry to see the Nazis go. . .    Argus Hamilton

Je Suis Jimmy

 

 ... "Meanwhile the world was stunned by the lack of meaningful American representation in Paris, and clearly yearned to hear the heartfelt thoughts of an American president. Unfortunately, that president turned out to be Jimmy Carter, who appeared on the Jon Stewart show. Because nothing says "thoughtful analysis of geopolitical terror and the tragic loss of life" like appearing on Comedy Central.

"Carter explained that the killers were (ahem) "aggravated" because of what Israel is "doing now, doing to (the Palestinians)." OHhhhh! And here we thought it was those pesky drawings of Mohammed that inspired the massacre. But Carter knows better and, fortunately, he has an easy solution for the real problem!

" 'Israelis have to withdraw from the west bank and Gaza and East Jerusalem as well," he explained, adding that in return, the Palestinians just have to agree to live in peace. Right. " ...
More Carterisms:

Carter also said of the terrorist attacks, "I think this is a positive turning point in some respects because a lot of people now are trying to understand what do the Muslims really believe. Their beliefs are very similar to Christians as far as peace and harmony and so forth. I think, now, we'll have a better approach to cure (Islamophobia) in general."

Two French Muslims attacked a French paper known for its blistering satire about any religion, including Jews, Christians and Muslims. And Carter says the attack has Israel written all over it?   Carter also said Obama couldn't go to Paris because he had work piled up on his inbox.   Check Obama's schedule for the day here.

We're pretty sure this administration is not our best hope to stand against radical Islam

Al Qaeda's Inspire Magazine Warns of Jihad in America While Obama Fiddles
"Obama wants to close GITMO and is willing to release terrorists who can orchestrate these attacks to do it. There are 127 terrorists in GITMO and 81 are Yemeni. They are al Qaeda. Obama will release them or most of them if Congress can’t stop him" . . .

ISIS Is In Afghanistan, Led By A Former Gitmo Detainee
"Yep, a released Gitmo detainee is recruiting for ISIS in Afghanistan. How perfect." 

  There is just something creepy about this administration and a certain religion
... "Obama’s first major speech was off continent in Cairo, Egypt.  It was, in essence, an apology to the Muslim world.
Then there was the out of the ordinary mandate for our NASA program to reach out to Muslim countries
Obama, the self proclaimed student of history, created the glorifying rhetoric of the Muslim Golden Age. A bona fide historian, Victor Davis Hanson noted," ... 

... "The Washington Times reported,

“The White House issued an edict to scrub all law enforcement, intelligence and military teachings on Islam. The FBI ended up discarding pages of information that warned about the threat from the Brotherhood.   Read more...

By James Longstreet

 

Obama will fight media to protect Islam from critics  ... "Barack Obama’s campaign promoted him as a constitutional scholar and professor. He was not a constitutional professor -- he was a part-time lecturer. And he is certainly no legal scholar, as I have written before. He violates his promises all the time and it is clear he has violated his oath to defend the Constitution, as well. In reality, it is the Constitution that must be defended from his depredations."

Never mind that most Westerners aren’t Islamophobic, but rather GettingShotInTheFaceForExpressingMyOpinion-Phobic.

UPDATED: Greta Van Susteren’s Apology to French People for Obama’s Shameful Paris Absence Goes Viral

Rich Terrell

As published on Ms. Van Susteren's Facebook page via The Reagan Coalition

Dear French Citizens,

This is a personal note from me but I suspect it represents the sentiments of many Americans.

I am sorry that our President didn’t go to France today and stand with your President and other world leaders against terrorism. It was an important statement to send to France, to the world and to terrorists and frankly he blew it. It was a big missed opportunity for my President and thus for all Americans. He should have gone. It was a mistake that he did not. Sometimes mistakes like that are made.

I stand with you and I think all Americans do stand with you. I had wanted the President to go to Paris today to represent how I feel and how most Americans feel after Paris was terrorized but that did not happen. President Obama didn’t just disappoint you — he disappointed many Americans today. Maybe there is a reason for his absence that I just don’t know but right now the White House has released no explanation.

Despite today’s absence, I know our President wants to stop world terrorism but his bad manners today – or maybe just dropping the ball – is not something we should harbor but rather drop and move on. It may be easier for you to drop than many Americans. As already noted, I am not happy with him tonight, but I will get over it. But, in the mean time, I do want the citizens of France to know we Americans stand with you and that we need each other to fight terrorism.

I also want everyone in France to know – and this is very important 0 that we have not forgotten that it was the French President who was the first national leader to show up at the White House after 9/11. You don’t forget things like that. (Nor have we forgotten LaFayette who fought for us in the Revolutionary War but that’s a bit farther back!)

I love your nation and have spent a lot of time there over the years – from college onward. Your citizens have been friendly to Americans and to me (although many have looked askance at me when I speak my very fractured French. You could be a tad bit nicer about my French.) Our nations have had their difference over the years but always I know fundamentally we are friends even when we might have some disagreements. We have the same goals and the same dreams.

So….I apologize for my President’s absence. Tonight I am mad at him but I will get over it and I hope you do, too. We have a bigger fight to fight than bad manners. We need to fight terrorism.

Greta Van Susteren

 

Hat tip to I did NOT vote for Obama.