Kevin Koster commented on Bret Baier Sources Right Wing Website To Bash CBS For "Soft" Questions To Pres. Obama & Hillary Clinton
2013-01-31 17:56:53 -0500
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So Bret will be following this scoop with a severe analysis of Greta van Susteren’s interview with Palin as well, right?
Kevin Koster commented on Hannity's Hilarious Comparison Of Menendez Prostitute Scandal To Larry Craig 'Toe Tapping'
2013-01-31 10:35:30 -0500
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Bill O’Reilly also brought this up during the prior hour, shoehorning in a mention while ostensibly trying to discuss congressional matters and gun control. This sounds like something that Roger Ailes wanted covered.
Kevin Koster commented on Colin Powell Explains Why White Republicans Like O'Reilly Just Don't Get It
2013-01-30 15:31:57 -0500
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I find it interesting that Bill O’Reilly didn’t ask the really tough questions of Colin Powell that he himself espoused only the night before.
Where was Bill’s no-spin question about the right wing meme that Powell coordinated his comments with the Obama White House? Where was Bill’s no-spin question about why Powell was appearing on MSNBC to make such statements?
While we’re on the subject, it’s good that Bill O’Reilly knew that Powell was specifically referring to the racist comments made by Sarah Palin and John Sununu, as opposed to Hannity trying to lie and say “Show me a Republican who said anything like that!” when Powell didn’t name drop.
But how could O’Reilly seriously defend Palin or Sununu? They made nasty comments, regardless of whether they were “in the heat of the campaign”. There was no mistaking the intent of the comments, and there was no excuse for making them, other than that Palin and Sununu were trying to rile up Romney voters. If O’Reilly thinks comments like this are okay “in the heat of the campaign”, does this mean that Joe Walsh’s comments during his losing campaign were okay too? Does this mean that you can just say racial epithets during a campaign and then hide behind your candidacy? This can’t be anyone’s idea of healthy public discourse.
And it’s clear that both Fox News and the GOP are aware of this, since they’ve dropped Palin from the roster, and since John Sununu hasn’t been seen since Romney’s loss.
Where was Bill’s no-spin question about the right wing meme that Powell coordinated his comments with the Obama White House? Where was Bill’s no-spin question about why Powell was appearing on MSNBC to make such statements?
While we’re on the subject, it’s good that Bill O’Reilly knew that Powell was specifically referring to the racist comments made by Sarah Palin and John Sununu, as opposed to Hannity trying to lie and say “Show me a Republican who said anything like that!” when Powell didn’t name drop.
But how could O’Reilly seriously defend Palin or Sununu? They made nasty comments, regardless of whether they were “in the heat of the campaign”. There was no mistaking the intent of the comments, and there was no excuse for making them, other than that Palin and Sununu were trying to rile up Romney voters. If O’Reilly thinks comments like this are okay “in the heat of the campaign”, does this mean that Joe Walsh’s comments during his losing campaign were okay too? Does this mean that you can just say racial epithets during a campaign and then hide behind your candidacy? This can’t be anyone’s idea of healthy public discourse.
And it’s clear that both Fox News and the GOP are aware of this, since they’ve dropped Palin from the roster, and since John Sununu hasn’t been seen since Romney’s loss.
Kevin Koster commented on Despite Fox’s Aggressive Posturing, Hillary Clinton Gets an Easy Ride in On the Record Interview
2013-01-30 15:21:02 -0500
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One has to wonder if Bill O’Reilly will attack this interview with the fervor he did the 60 Minutes discussion.
There’s also the interesting sideswipe that Brit Hume took at Clinton on Monday, wherein he renewed his longtime animus and said she was essentially an unremarkable diplomat getting more praise than she deserved. You have to wonder whether his public humiliation by Bill Clinton in the 1990s is still in his mind today.
Given that the Fox News evening hosts haven’t had much of substance to discuss since they lost the election, it’s not surprising that Fox’s ratings are plummeting in the key demographics on which they depend. At a certain point, the Fox execs will be forced to take action to stop the fall. Given that Greta’s show has fallen the farthest (losing 38 percent of her viewership in a year), there is already speculation that Roger Ailes may change up the evening and put on newer and younger faces. Megyn Kelly has been discussed as a possible permanent replacement for this slot. We’ll have to see how soon Fox starts to make these changes. I’d give it another couple of months before you see anything real.
There’s also the interesting sideswipe that Brit Hume took at Clinton on Monday, wherein he renewed his longtime animus and said she was essentially an unremarkable diplomat getting more praise than she deserved. You have to wonder whether his public humiliation by Bill Clinton in the 1990s is still in his mind today.
Given that the Fox News evening hosts haven’t had much of substance to discuss since they lost the election, it’s not surprising that Fox’s ratings are plummeting in the key demographics on which they depend. At a certain point, the Fox execs will be forced to take action to stop the fall. Given that Greta’s show has fallen the farthest (losing 38 percent of her viewership in a year), there is already speculation that Roger Ailes may change up the evening and put on newer and younger faces. Megyn Kelly has been discussed as a possible permanent replacement for this slot. We’ll have to see how soon Fox starts to make these changes. I’d give it another couple of months before you see anything real.
Kevin Koster commented on Fox & Friends: Jason Mattera "Accosted" In "Confrontation" With "Hypocrite" Mayor Bloomberg's "Bullies"
2013-01-29 15:56:48 -0500
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And of course my post is totally redundant. I didn’t look two posts down the page to see that Ellen had already posted the same thing, in much better detail.
Kevin Koster commented on Dennis Kucinich Carries Hannity's Water On Gun Regulations
2013-01-26 12:52:40 -0500
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This isn’t a matter of Kucinich being “allowed an opinion”. Dennis Kucinich is free to say or think whatever he pleases, whether he is paid big money by Fox News or not. Nobody is imposing any fascist rules on him that I’ve ever heard of.
The issue is that he went on Hannity’s show unprepared for what was going on. Most of the time, Juan Williams and Alan Colmes at least have done their homework and can answer the more outrageous claims or at least not allow Hannity or O’Reilly to throw out completely bogus statements without challenge. When they go on the air unprepared and just agree with a host who is spouting partisan rhetoric, it accomplishes nothing.
The issue is that he went on Hannity’s show unprepared for what was going on. Most of the time, Juan Williams and Alan Colmes at least have done their homework and can answer the more outrageous claims or at least not allow Hannity or O’Reilly to throw out completely bogus statements without challenge. When they go on the air unprepared and just agree with a host who is spouting partisan rhetoric, it accomplishes nothing.
Kevin Koster commented on Sean Hannity Uses Pro-Choice Ad To Attack Pres. Obama & Pimp Pro-Life Lies
2013-01-25 14:29:53 -0500
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The votes in the Illinois state legislature were designed as “gotcha” votes where the GOP was trying to get the Dems to either vote yes to an outrageous measure or no to give the GOP a talking point. Instead, the Dems voted “present” to avoid the pitfall while making sure the measure did not pass. The GOP has tried to make hay out of this for years, under the assumption that most Fox News viewers wouldn’t be able to discern the fine points of the reality.
Kevin Koster commented on Cavuto Helps Promotes Threat To Shut Down The Government
2013-01-12 19:54:33 -0500
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I would actually agree with cutting the salaries of everyone in the three branches. I would also agree with the idea of reducing the staff sizes. Neither approach would net that much, but it would be a good step toward this notion being put forward that “everybody needs to step up”…
Kevin Koster commented on O'Reilly Pretends His Comments About Asians Were Taken Out Of Context
2013-01-12 14:10:15 -0500
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The funniest part of this confrontation came when O’Reilly tried to get up on his moral high horse and lecture the Congresswoman about “NEVER” castigating him again without knowing the context of what he was saying. And she immediately corrected him again and noted that she had seen his full comments and was sorry that he didn’t feel she had. Which left O’Reilly fuming with a last word that sounded like he was growling at her.
The strong impression from this discussion was that O’Reilly was embarassed about being called out for the Watters segments, and he went into a purely defensive mode. One would hope that O’Reilly would listen to himself and NEVER send Jesse Watters to Hawaii to do a hit piece like this again.
The strong impression from this discussion was that O’Reilly was embarassed about being called out for the Watters segments, and he went into a purely defensive mode. One would hope that O’Reilly would listen to himself and NEVER send Jesse Watters to Hawaii to do a hit piece like this again.
Kevin Koster commented on Stewart Exposes Fox News Hypocrisy Over Attacks On Al Gore
2013-01-12 19:50:51 -0500
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A86, you may find that dealing with certain posters will only result in an endless stream of provoking statements that you’ll have to choose whether to answer. Sometimes the best approach is to save yourself time and simply to allow their issues to speak for themselves…
Kevin Koster commented on Breitbart’s Ben Shapiro Pretends To Be Bullied By The Left
2013-02-03 15:50:59 -0500
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John, you may want to actually go back and look at Ben Shapiro’s appearances and think about your statement a little more. Shapiro hasn’t chronicled anything other than his own distaste for people with whom he disagrees. Just because he does so with a smirk does not mean that he’s actually proven anything. And the disarray that Breitbart’s company is plunging into should give anyone pause.
Your comment about public money being “forcibly taken” makes no sense. If you mean that tax money gets allocated to a variety of programs, almost all of which one part or another of the population would prefer not to fund, then you’re just stating the obvious. We all have things that our taxes fund which we don’t agree with – but we all agree to be part of this country and to pay our taxes. Are you saying that you only want your taxes to go for those programs you like? If so, join the club.
Your comment about public money being “forcibly taken” makes no sense. If you mean that tax money gets allocated to a variety of programs, almost all of which one part or another of the population would prefer not to fund, then you’re just stating the obvious. We all have things that our taxes fund which we don’t agree with – but we all agree to be part of this country and to pay our taxes. Are you saying that you only want your taxes to go for those programs you like? If so, join the club.
Kevin Koster commented on Fox & Friends & Laura Ingraham Bash Planned Parenthood With Pro-Life Lies
2013-01-09 15:52:23 -0500
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The answer to this was provided on O’Reilly’s show last night, when he tried to get his guest to go along with the right wing talking point of having Planned Parenthood agree to a public audit, to confirm that no public money was improperly being used. She of course refused his entire premise and noted this would just turn into a GOP media circus and would be an unfortunate thing for the women who use PP’s healthcare services.
The Fox & Friends appearance is only the latest salvo by Laura Ingraham at Planned Parenthood. She tried twice last year while guest-hosting on O’Reilly’s show, and each time she was unable to make much of a case before her guest had to correct her poor understanding of the situation.
The Fox & Friends appearance is only the latest salvo by Laura Ingraham at Planned Parenthood. She tried twice last year while guest-hosting on O’Reilly’s show, and each time she was unable to make much of a case before her guest had to correct her poor understanding of the situation.
Kevin Koster commented on Stuart Varney Cries Over Higher Taxes For The Rich
2013-01-09 14:02:25 -0500
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The funny thing about this is that the left has been quite unhappy with President Obama over this deal, in that the loss of the 2 percent SS holiday on payroll means that working and middle class people will actually feel this more than the people earning over 400K per year. The left had wanted the Bush rates ended for people at 250K, so this was already a compromise. They were particularly unhappy about the estate tax exemption still going to 5 million dollars rather than being reduced to 1 million.
If you think Varney and the others are done complaining about taxes, just wait until the next shoe drops for Social Security. The GOP will argue to reduce benefits and to raise the retirement age, both of which approaches they’ve already been discussing. And raising the age isn’t completely unreasonable, in that we are living longer than people did 50 years ago. I fully expect that by the time I hit retirement age, it will be closer to 70 before SS can be collected. The GOP will also argue for means-testing, which on its face is reasonable, until you realize that this means that people are paying into the system but then are told that they don’t qualify. That would be one thing if the retiree is a multimillionaire with three homes – in that case, the retiree is unlikely to apply. It’s another if the retiree has a modest pension and the SS payment allows them to live without making dire choices.
But the big SS shoe that’s coming is the step that would silence the SS naysayers. Which is to lift the cap on the SS payroll tax. As it is now, once you earn 114K, no more SS deductions are made from your paycheck. When the cap is lifted, a considerable amount more revenue should come into SS, which would stop the discussions of its imminent demise.
We shouldn’t kid ourselves about this – the GOP’s intention is to try to reduce and limit programs like SS and Medicare. If people like Grover Norquist had their way, programs like SS would have been privatized in 2004 (which would have left millions of seniors destitute in the wake of the recession).
If you think Varney and the others are done complaining about taxes, just wait until the next shoe drops for Social Security. The GOP will argue to reduce benefits and to raise the retirement age, both of which approaches they’ve already been discussing. And raising the age isn’t completely unreasonable, in that we are living longer than people did 50 years ago. I fully expect that by the time I hit retirement age, it will be closer to 70 before SS can be collected. The GOP will also argue for means-testing, which on its face is reasonable, until you realize that this means that people are paying into the system but then are told that they don’t qualify. That would be one thing if the retiree is a multimillionaire with three homes – in that case, the retiree is unlikely to apply. It’s another if the retiree has a modest pension and the SS payment allows them to live without making dire choices.
But the big SS shoe that’s coming is the step that would silence the SS naysayers. Which is to lift the cap on the SS payroll tax. As it is now, once you earn 114K, no more SS deductions are made from your paycheck. When the cap is lifted, a considerable amount more revenue should come into SS, which would stop the discussions of its imminent demise.
We shouldn’t kid ourselves about this – the GOP’s intention is to try to reduce and limit programs like SS and Medicare. If people like Grover Norquist had their way, programs like SS would have been privatized in 2004 (which would have left millions of seniors destitute in the wake of the recession).
Kevin Koster commented on Greg Gutfeld Talks Up The Virtues Of Sweatshops
2013-01-09 11:25:35 -0500
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One has to wonder if Gutfeld knows about the little matter of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire…
Kevin Koster commented on Fox Gives A Warm Welcome To Texas Secessionist
2013-01-12 19:47:23 -0500
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Paul, it sounds like you’re trying to take the position of defending the Confederacy. Good luck with that one. That battle was settled 150 years ago. If you’d like to reopen the matter, it’s a fairly strange position to take. And if you’re trying to reopen the discussion of whether the US should have declared independence from England in the 18th century, that’s just getting further out into the weeds.
As we’ve discussed, the current situation has to do with a small number of people in Texas, certainly nowhere near a number that could speak for a signifcant part of the state, who are unhappy with the GOP losses in the 2012 election and are acting out. The fit will only last for a little while, and then they’ll go back to their regular activities, as do most tantrum throwers after they’ve exhausted themselves. This is certainly not a case of a group really fighting for independence or defending anything other than their own misunderstanding of the current political situation and their own anger at their inability to unseat the current President.
As we’ve discussed, the current situation has to do with a small number of people in Texas, certainly nowhere near a number that could speak for a signifcant part of the state, who are unhappy with the GOP losses in the 2012 election and are acting out. The fit will only last for a little while, and then they’ll go back to their regular activities, as do most tantrum throwers after they’ve exhausted themselves. This is certainly not a case of a group really fighting for independence or defending anything other than their own misunderstanding of the current political situation and their own anger at their inability to unseat the current President.
Kevin Koster commented on Van Susteren Sends Stalker Producer To Gun Map Publisher's Home
2013-01-09 11:22:38 -0500
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Aria and Visitor 55, I wouldn’t worry about needing to clarify your points. Your posts have been cogent and accurate.
Griff Jenkins stepped over the line both at the Journal office and at the editor’s home when he refused to leave the area after being denied entrance. At that point, his action moved from a simple query to trespassing and even harassment. It is likely that he doesn’t understand the difference, and more likely that if confronted, he would pretend not to know. This would be consistent with the way he has conducted himself during his career at Fox News.
One thing to keep in mind is that this kind of ambush is not just the play of the right wing. They copied it from the work of Michael Moore, after Moore embarrased several people in his documentaries. I found the ending of Bowling for Columbine, with his confrontation of Charlton Heston, to be exactly the kind of trespassing and harassment Jenkins did here.
Griff Jenkins stepped over the line both at the Journal office and at the editor’s home when he refused to leave the area after being denied entrance. At that point, his action moved from a simple query to trespassing and even harassment. It is likely that he doesn’t understand the difference, and more likely that if confronted, he would pretend not to know. This would be consistent with the way he has conducted himself during his career at Fox News.
One thing to keep in mind is that this kind of ambush is not just the play of the right wing. They copied it from the work of Michael Moore, after Moore embarrased several people in his documentaries. I found the ending of Bowling for Columbine, with his confrontation of Charlton Heston, to be exactly the kind of trespassing and harassment Jenkins did here.
Kevin Koster commented on Faux Fox Controversy Of The Day: Al Gore Sold Current TV To Al Jazeera
2013-01-04 15:12:04 -0500
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Things got even toastier on Hannity’s show, where Hannity thought it would be fun to show video of Gore at his private jet and limo. And his right wing guest made a point of repeating that he thought Gore was a hypocrite, un-American and of course one of the biggest gas guzzlers and oil consumers ever.
Kevin Koster commented on On Hannity, David Limbaugh Says Obama 'Wants To Exact A Grudge Against America'
2013-01-03 05:40:40 -0500
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Lanny Davis did actually challenge Limbaugh on many of his points and stood his ground when both of the other guys tried to shout him down and talk over him. Unfortunately, Hannity ended the double segment abruptly and on a completely false note.
Things got worse with the following segment with good old Jay Sekulow and, for reasons I’ll never understand, Leo Terrell. In that segment, the mutual shouting got to the level where it was pointless to listen much more. Terrell ended the segment with his hands over his ears…
Things got worse with the following segment with good old Jay Sekulow and, for reasons I’ll never understand, Leo Terrell. In that segment, the mutual shouting got to the level where it was pointless to listen much more. Terrell ended the segment with his hands over his ears…
Kevin Koster commented on John Bolton Refuses To Apologize For Saying Hillary Clinton Faked Her Concussion
2013-01-02 14:30:01 -0500
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And in typical fashion, friends of mine who are big Fox News fans actually think she’s somehow faking the blood clot. When I said to one of them last night that this sounded more than unlikely and that she clearly has a medical issue, he responded, “I don’t trust those people about anything.” Here we go with another birth certificate issue. Do we need to bring out her doctor, her medical exam results and photos of her in the hospital now?
Kevin Koster commented on Breaking News: Congress Halts The Fiscal Cliff
2013-01-02 03:57:17 -0500
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In the short term, this is a good thing, in that the tax rates were extended for middle class families, and the unemployment benefits were extended. But that’s the extent of it.
This past Congress distinguished themselves by refusing to compromise on anything, even when this would potentially harm everyone. Fox News did much to exacerbate the situation by encouraging these people to stay as far out on the limb as possible. So that they caused a downgrade of our credit rating and couldn’t even agree to do this work until after it was already too late.
A few points of this mess are pretty clear. The GOP group was clearly waiting to make sure they wouldn’t have to vote on this until after the deadline passed, so they could say they were lowering taxes rather than raising them. (Which belies the point that technically they did raise them…) The GOP group was fractured, in that some wanted to follow John Boehner when he made a deal with President Obama, and others are still refusing to do anything with the Democrats.
It looks very likely that Eric Cantor will try to challenge Boehner’s position, and one has to wonder how that will go down. If Cantor does this, it will mark a clear divide between two generations of the GOP – one of which trying to actually govern, and the other one trying to campaign full time. How this develops will be very interesting.
The sad part about this is that it’s obvious that we’re headed for a repeat of the debt ceiling debacle within a month, and this was clearly the intent of the GOP and of Fox News. President Obama clearly wanted to end the speculation about this early and move on to other areas. But the GOP wants to play chicken with that deadline again, hoping they can get more leverage out of there somewhere. The likely result will be another downgrade – directly tied to GOP obstinance.
One would hope that the GOP would learn from what happened in 2012, where they lost on almost every front in the end. But it seems they’re just digging in their heels.
This past Congress distinguished themselves by refusing to compromise on anything, even when this would potentially harm everyone. Fox News did much to exacerbate the situation by encouraging these people to stay as far out on the limb as possible. So that they caused a downgrade of our credit rating and couldn’t even agree to do this work until after it was already too late.
A few points of this mess are pretty clear. The GOP group was clearly waiting to make sure they wouldn’t have to vote on this until after the deadline passed, so they could say they were lowering taxes rather than raising them. (Which belies the point that technically they did raise them…) The GOP group was fractured, in that some wanted to follow John Boehner when he made a deal with President Obama, and others are still refusing to do anything with the Democrats.
It looks very likely that Eric Cantor will try to challenge Boehner’s position, and one has to wonder how that will go down. If Cantor does this, it will mark a clear divide between two generations of the GOP – one of which trying to actually govern, and the other one trying to campaign full time. How this develops will be very interesting.
The sad part about this is that it’s obvious that we’re headed for a repeat of the debt ceiling debacle within a month, and this was clearly the intent of the GOP and of Fox News. President Obama clearly wanted to end the speculation about this early and move on to other areas. But the GOP wants to play chicken with that deadline again, hoping they can get more leverage out of there somewhere. The likely result will be another downgrade – directly tied to GOP obstinance.
One would hope that the GOP would learn from what happened in 2012, where they lost on almost every front in the end. But it seems they’re just digging in their heels.