Cuppacafe

By now you've all heard how the ex-Governatrix (over) reacted to the Valentine's Day episode of The Family Guy, well, as it turns out, the actress (Andrea Fay Friedman) who voiced "Ellen" — the character who was depicted as having Down syndrome — actually does have Down syndrome herself.

Friedman recently responded to Palin's comments on Fox by saying:

My name is Andrea Fay Friedman. I was born with Down syndrome. I played the role of Ellen on the "Extra Large Medium" episode of Family Guy that was broadcast on Valentine's day. Although they gave me red hair on the show, I am really a blonde. I also wore a red wig for my role in " Smudge" but I was a blonde in "Life Goes On". I guess former Governor Palin does not have a sense of humor. I thought the line "I am the daughter of the former governor of Alaska" was very funny. I think the word is "sarcasm".

Friedman then continued her comments by taking the opportunity to deliver her own little Gibb's-slap to Alaska's ex-Governatrix by saying:

In my family we think laughing is good. My parents raised me to have a sense of humor and to live a normal life. My mother did not carry me around under her arm like a loaf of French bread the way former Governor Palin carries her son Trig around looking for sympathy and votes.

Yeah, we were pretty hysterical over it as well.

The Perfessor

Yesterday, we gave you the first two parts of this interview, here is part three.

Here is what I find interesting about this interview:

1) That O'Reilly (a newsman?) feels that the opinion of a comedian (and fake newsman) is somehow relevant.
2) That Stewart managed to elicit a laugh from a member of the crew.
3) Do you notice that O'Reilly seems more interested in asking questions than in actually getting answers.

Still, in a throw down between these two men, I'm still on Jon's side. He informs me and makes me laugh; O'Reilly just frightens me. (If you want to see the entire interview you can do that too.)

The Perfessor

So, you might have heard, Sarah Palin is now a commentator on Fox News. Ya gotta wonder how that’s gonna turn out (and will she quit halfway through her contact).

Still, all of the news these days isn’t goofy silliness, there was this thing that happened in Haiti:

Until Dick Cavett comes back on the air, I’ll stick with Jon Stewart.

The Perfessor

Just curious, why is it when Barack & Michelle Obama fist-bump they are labeled Muslim terrorists. by Fox News..

But when (former) President GW Bush fist-bumps Santa, it was OK?

Don’t you just love those lovable rascals at Fox?

The Perfessor

If you were to (only) listen to Fox News (or the propaganda that spews forth from the Republican party) you would believe that...

“The reason that the public option is so controversial is, it's a government-run health option. So if you can't get health care anywhere else, this is the idea, that you could get it from this government-offered plan, which of course would be paid for by the taxpayers.”

However, that may not quite be the entire truth (if it is even remotely true at all). Apparently the reality of it all is that the public option would be available, as just one option among several other private options, to people who are shopping for health insurance coverage, and apparently any of those 30-or-so million consumers could buy into it. exception of the fact that it will be:

a). not for profit, and b). accountable to the government (as opposed to to shareholders), the public option will have to behave exactly like a private insurance company--financed and stabilized by consumer premiums, without any subsidy from the federal government.

Still, you would think that if something that has the support of 70% of the public how could it be considered controversial? The answer, of course, is that it’s probably because a minority of elected officials have charged that it's the seed for a single payer system.

The Perfessor

They say to err is human, and we all know that we all make mistakes, and well, since News organizations are made up of humans who, well occasionally make mistakes. Still, when Fox News makes mistakes, they tend to suspiciously tilt in a consistent direction, that is to say, favoring conservatives and Republicans over liberals and Democrats.

It happened again Wednesday, when host Gregg Jarrett, introducing a segment on Happening Now, described the "huge crowds" that were turning out to greet Sarah Palin on the promotional tour for her book, Going Rogue. "These are some of the pictures just coming into us," Jarrett said as images of Palin surrounded by throngs of supporters flashed across the screen.

While Palin may indeed be drawing big crowds, it didn't take long for liberal watchdog blogs like Think Progress and Media Matters to point out that the masses Jarrett touted on Happening Now had nothing to do with Palin's book; the footage was from a 2008 campaign rally. Called on the switcheroo, Fox blamed it on a "production error" and issued an on-air apology.

The whole thing might have gone unnoticed had it not been for an eerily similar incident last week in a much more prominent venue, Sean Hannity's primetime show. In this case, the crowd Hannity was hyping was the one that gathered to attend a rally against the healthcare bill on November 5. The footage he showed, however, was from the much larger Sept. 12 "tea parties." In that case, it was The Daily Show that blew the whistle, forcing Hannity to apologize on the following day's show.

At some point you have to wonder if they actually employ fact-checkers or what. Anyway, you can read more about what a crappy, sloppy “news” organization Fox is here.

The Perfessor

We recently posted about how Fox broadcaster Sean Hannity tried to pull a fast one by faking footage for a newscast by substituting footage of a Sept. 12 rally, which drew thousands of conservative activists, during a report about an entirely different rally that had a much smaller attendance.

You can read more about it here, or just watch the following clip.

The Perfessor

It seems that these days Sarah Palin’s Claims are being fact-checked by Fox News. Yep, you read that right, it seems that the bell of the Republican party is being called out on her erroneous claims about the new dollar coin:

As Fox News anchor Bret Baier noted this evening, picking up on a Politico report, Palin said this past Friday that there had been a lot of "change" of late, and talked about the dollar coin -- how the phrase "In God We Trust" had been moved to the rim of the coin, rather than on the face. "Who makes a decision like that?" said Palin, seemingly pointing to the Obama administration, adding: "It's a disturbing trend."

Needless to say, it seems that the coins in question were actually commissioned not by President Obama’s White House and the Democratic Majority, but way back in 2005 by the then Republican-led government. Plus, as Baier points out, a later Congress acted specifically to change this coin in 2007. Fox then displayed a newer James K. Polk Presidential coin with the phrase “In God we trust” on the coin’s face.

Can’t you just see the tide turning?

The Perfessor

Apparently more sponsorsa are saying “See ya! Wouldn’t want to advertise ya!” to Fox’s Glen Beck (tool that he is) as yet another five of his show’s sponsors have abandoned the train-wreck that is Glenn Beck program on Fox News. According to reports, the total now stands at a massive 62 advertisers fleeing the ship, with more sure to follow. Further, since Beck has returned from his forced vacation he seems to have become even more unhinged than hepreviously (when he called President Obama “a racist” and said that the President “has a deep seated hatred of white people.”)

And, as you all know, my friends, that he was pretty unhinged then.

The advertising boycott of Glenn Beck has cost the controversial host over half of his estimated advertising revenue since it was launched by ColorOfChange.org a month ago. This according to data analyzed from industry sources.

Estimated advertising revenue [the total amount of advertising money being spent during a block of commercial time for a program] was collected on a week-by-week basis for a period of two months. According to the data collected, the amount of money spent by national advertisers on Beck’s program per week was at its highest at approximately $1,060,000, for the week ending August 2, 2009. ColorOfChange.org launched their campaign at the end of that week and since then, 62 advertisers have distanced themselves from Beck. Data collected for the week ending September 6, 2009 shows Beck’s estimated ad revenue at $492,000, equal to a loss of $568,000.

Give the rate that the sponsors are abandoning the ship, one wonders when Fox will finally get the message and either muzzle this tool or cancel him outright.

The Perfessor

Ever wonder what the rest of the world thinks of us here in the States? Well, wonder no longer as you can watch what this British newsman has to say on the subject. Parts of the vid have language that is a little bit salty (the Bill O’Reilly clip in particular), so you might want to be aware...

This is a segment from BBC TV’s Charlie Brooker’s "Newswipe" show

which looks at the inner workings of the news media. And, much to his international audience’s likely surprise, Brooker has discovered the extremes of some of the US’s most notable news sources. MSNBC (and my man, Keith O.) gets a little drive-by mention…but the main target of Brooker’s delightful mocking is FOX News and its troika-of-morons, Billo, the Manatee, and Ever-Cryin’ Beck.

The Perfessor