Kevin Koster commented on O’Reilly Furious Over His Racial Smackdown From African American Sports Writer Jason Whitlock
2012-12-11 03:21:05 -0500
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I don’t see racism from Whitlock – just an understandable level of irritation that Bill O’Reilly thinks he can get him to jump when he calls. Yes, Whitlock presented his irritation in racial terms, but that doesn’t mean it’s racist. It means that Whitlock was calling O’Reilly on his behavior.
And Whitlock is correct that O’Reilly and Hannity have been complaining since the election about how a majority of the country wants “free stuff” and is lazy and feels “entitled”. Which are all dog whistles.
Things were even nastier on Hannity late last week when Hannity insisted it was President Obama pulling the race card. Hannity demanded that the halfway reasonable guest somehow immediately provide specific citations of racist statements by the GOP during the election campaign and acted satisfied when she wasn’t able to instantly do so. I wish he could have a guest on who could actually answer questions such as that, like Amy Goodman. She would have instantly cited the shocking statements by John Sununu and Newt Gingrich throughout the campaign, including both men calling Obama lazy, unintelligent and various other smears. She would have brought up Donald Trump’s demand that Obama present his college transcripts and papers – which is based on the premise that somehow Obama wasn’t a good student, which would indicate that Obama just magically did well at Harvard, right?
If O’Reilly is truly interested in combating ugly racism, he should clean up the situation in his own house before throwing rocks at another building.
And Whitlock is correct that O’Reilly and Hannity have been complaining since the election about how a majority of the country wants “free stuff” and is lazy and feels “entitled”. Which are all dog whistles.
Things were even nastier on Hannity late last week when Hannity insisted it was President Obama pulling the race card. Hannity demanded that the halfway reasonable guest somehow immediately provide specific citations of racist statements by the GOP during the election campaign and acted satisfied when she wasn’t able to instantly do so. I wish he could have a guest on who could actually answer questions such as that, like Amy Goodman. She would have instantly cited the shocking statements by John Sununu and Newt Gingrich throughout the campaign, including both men calling Obama lazy, unintelligent and various other smears. She would have brought up Donald Trump’s demand that Obama present his college transcripts and papers – which is based on the premise that somehow Obama wasn’t a good student, which would indicate that Obama just magically did well at Harvard, right?
If O’Reilly is truly interested in combating ugly racism, he should clean up the situation in his own house before throwing rocks at another building.
Kevin Koster commented on Cavuto Helps Rick Snyder Pretend His Right To Work Legislation is ‘All About Being Pro Worker’
2012-12-10 18:05:39 -0500
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This is the same vicious attack that was inflicted upon Wisconsin, and it looks like it’s having the same backfire effect.
The GOP state people trying to inflict this attack have no interest in workers or their families. They just hate unions and wish to do anything they can to undermine and destroy them. The point of the legislation is to destroy their funding source and drive as many people out of the unions as possible. If it were successful, the unions would no longer have a voice in politics, while the major corporations that are outsourcing their jobs would have a monopoly on access. Given how poorly the GOP has performed in such matters (c.f. Paul Ryan’s disregard for the devastation in his own community until he could try to blame it on Obama), this is not a winner for them.
The problem is exacerbated by the fact that they rushed it through the legislature. Meaning that they knew this couldn’t go through and would likely be thrown out, and that they’re trying to get it in before the end of the year. By the middle of next year, whatever hasn’t been immediately tossed by the new state legislature will likely be thrown out in court. Again.
The GOP state people trying to inflict this attack have no interest in workers or their families. They just hate unions and wish to do anything they can to undermine and destroy them. The point of the legislation is to destroy their funding source and drive as many people out of the unions as possible. If it were successful, the unions would no longer have a voice in politics, while the major corporations that are outsourcing their jobs would have a monopoly on access. Given how poorly the GOP has performed in such matters (c.f. Paul Ryan’s disregard for the devastation in his own community until he could try to blame it on Obama), this is not a winner for them.
The problem is exacerbated by the fact that they rushed it through the legislature. Meaning that they knew this couldn’t go through and would likely be thrown out, and that they’re trying to get it in before the end of the year. By the middle of next year, whatever hasn’t been immediately tossed by the new state legislature will likely be thrown out in court. Again.
Kevin Koster commented on O’Reilly Wanted To Give Romney A Full Hour The Night Before Election Day
2012-12-10 11:16:39 -0500
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I agree with Joseph West. If O’Reilly had really been trying to get both Obama and Romney on his show and had been declined, he would have tried to make a much bigger deal about it. He certainly made no bones about talking about such things earlier in the campaign.
If anything, this is just another giveaway that O’Reilly was pulling as hard as he could for the GOP to win, even in light of the strong indications that they would not. He had predicted doom for Obama, all the way from the 2010 midterms, and he had predicted doom for the country if Obama somehow did get re-elected. He had presented Obama’s positions in a way that would make them sound irresponsible and ridiculous, while presenting Romney as a sensible businessman. Of course, he also expressed skepticism when people like Dick Morris embarrassed themselves with predictions of Romney landslides, but he was clear that he wanted to see Romney win in any case.
The thing to remember about Fox’s ratings, and O’Reilly’s in particular – is that it isn’t just the devoted fanbase. There is a large number of people who DON’T like Fox News who tune in as well, including people like myself, who want to hear what the other side is saying. Of course, the Fox base viewers don’t also tune into MSNBC, because they’re not interested in hearing that point of view. Hence, MSNBC has a lower rating number.
If anything, this is just another giveaway that O’Reilly was pulling as hard as he could for the GOP to win, even in light of the strong indications that they would not. He had predicted doom for Obama, all the way from the 2010 midterms, and he had predicted doom for the country if Obama somehow did get re-elected. He had presented Obama’s positions in a way that would make them sound irresponsible and ridiculous, while presenting Romney as a sensible businessman. Of course, he also expressed skepticism when people like Dick Morris embarrassed themselves with predictions of Romney landslides, but he was clear that he wanted to see Romney win in any case.
The thing to remember about Fox’s ratings, and O’Reilly’s in particular – is that it isn’t just the devoted fanbase. There is a large number of people who DON’T like Fox News who tune in as well, including people like myself, who want to hear what the other side is saying. Of course, the Fox base viewers don’t also tune into MSNBC, because they’re not interested in hearing that point of view. Hence, MSNBC has a lower rating number.
Kevin Koster commented on Bill O'Reilly Chastises Fordham President For Denouncing Ann Coulter's Hate Speech!
2012-12-05 15:28:04 -0500
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The best part of the whole thing was Watters thinking he scored a “gotcha” by running up and surprising Fordham students and demanding that they immediately list out her various offensive remarks just off the top of their heads. As if they do nothing but wait for someone like Watters to come running up to ask that question.
There are literally books full of her offensive comments, starting with the titles she chooses – which are clearly intended to be incendiary.
There are literally books full of her offensive comments, starting with the titles she chooses – which are clearly intended to be incendiary.
Kevin Koster commented on Bill O’Reilly: The Reluctant Christmas Warrior – Yeah, Right
2012-12-04 14:12:09 -0500
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While O’Reilly’s continued nonsense about how he’s defending Christmas is a perennial, I was even more concerned about the complete load of baloney he and Adam Carolla tried to foist later in the evening. They managed to finagle an attack on California and on unions into a single, nearly fact-free segment that was literally breathtaking.
Kevin Koster commented on On America Live: Lou Dobbs Blames Baker's Union For Hostess Demise
2012-11-21 16:51:30 -0500
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What makes this situation so offensive is that the facts are quite easy to see, if you take no more than five minutes of looking for them.
The reality is that Hostess has been terribly managed for around 20 years. The CEOs made terrible decisions during the 1990s, overexpanding far beyond their ability to sustain themselves, and then compounded them with a ruinous decision to buy back their over-priced stock around 2000. This was followed by a revolving door of changing CEOs during the 2000s, a bankruptcy in 2004, and repeated assurances by the changing management and ownership of the company that this time they would handle things correctly.
In 2004, the Bakers Union agreed to drastic cuts in their compensation and benefits equalling 110 million dollars, given that the company was in its first bankruptcy then and was promising to upgrade their equipment and do the right things to stay alive. Instead, they slashed half their payroll at that time and continued to use the outmoded machinery while throwing lavish salary packages and bonuses at the revolving door of executives and CEOs.
With the current bankruptcy, the current management realized they were going down and decided to try to squeeze a little more blood out of the stone on the way out. The Bakers realized what was happening and made the honorable decision that enough is enough. The response by management was both childish and possibly pre-meditated. If I didn’t know better, they knew they were going to have to close anyway and wanted to find someone else to blame other than themselves.
There is precedent for this kind of chicanery. In 2009, the Stella D’Oro Biscuit Company closed its doors as a petulant response to losing a strike when it tried to inflict deep pay and benefit cuts on its employees. After a judge ordered the company’s owner to pay the back wages, etc, the owner immediately sold the company to another organization that moved everything to another state and left the workers behind. We should keep this in mind when people try to blame the employees for the bad intentions of the people who actually hold the purse strings.
The reality is that Hostess has been terribly managed for around 20 years. The CEOs made terrible decisions during the 1990s, overexpanding far beyond their ability to sustain themselves, and then compounded them with a ruinous decision to buy back their over-priced stock around 2000. This was followed by a revolving door of changing CEOs during the 2000s, a bankruptcy in 2004, and repeated assurances by the changing management and ownership of the company that this time they would handle things correctly.
In 2004, the Bakers Union agreed to drastic cuts in their compensation and benefits equalling 110 million dollars, given that the company was in its first bankruptcy then and was promising to upgrade their equipment and do the right things to stay alive. Instead, they slashed half their payroll at that time and continued to use the outmoded machinery while throwing lavish salary packages and bonuses at the revolving door of executives and CEOs.
With the current bankruptcy, the current management realized they were going down and decided to try to squeeze a little more blood out of the stone on the way out. The Bakers realized what was happening and made the honorable decision that enough is enough. The response by management was both childish and possibly pre-meditated. If I didn’t know better, they knew they were going to have to close anyway and wanted to find someone else to blame other than themselves.
There is precedent for this kind of chicanery. In 2009, the Stella D’Oro Biscuit Company closed its doors as a petulant response to losing a strike when it tried to inflict deep pay and benefit cuts on its employees. After a judge ordered the company’s owner to pay the back wages, etc, the owner immediately sold the company to another organization that moved everything to another state and left the workers behind. We should keep this in mind when people try to blame the employees for the bad intentions of the people who actually hold the purse strings.
Kevin Koster commented on Gen. David Petraeus Scandal Hannity’s Latest Excuse To Talk Impeachment
2012-11-15 02:54:05 -0500
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I would be very interested to see Jay Sekulow actually have to go on the air with someone who could point out the convoy-sized holes in the arguments he makes. He’s entertaining in that he always tries to make a case for impeachment, but after a while this really comes across as a one-act play he keeps repeating over and over again.
Kevin Koster commented on Dick Morris: I Predicted Romney’s Landslide To Help Him Win
2012-11-13 16:25:01 -0500
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Let’s try to picture this the other way round. What if, in an alternate universe, Dick Morris and the guys had been right? What if the polls had all been wrong and Romney had indeed won in a landslide as they were predicting?
Do you think that Sean Hannity would be offering support and solace to Nate Silver if it had been shown that Silver had somehow completely blown the statistical analysis he did? Or do you think Hannity would have been preening and puffing about how Morris was right and everyone else was wrong “and I knew it all along”?
The blatant hypocrisy on display here is absolutely stunning.
Do you think that Sean Hannity would be offering support and solace to Nate Silver if it had been shown that Silver had somehow completely blown the statistical analysis he did? Or do you think Hannity would have been preening and puffing about how Morris was right and everyone else was wrong “and I knew it all along”?
The blatant hypocrisy on display here is absolutely stunning.
Kevin Koster commented on Karl Rove The 'Leading Scapegoat' For GOP Election Failures
2012-11-12 20:29:18 -0500
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I would agree that you can never count someone like Rove completely out. But this is a sign that he may be out of the running in terms of running the big PACs next time around. Unless he figures out a new strategy, I would think it more likely that you’ll see him as a talking head on Fox, opining from the sidelines. On the other hand, if the big players really are as angry at him as they seem to be, it may not be tenable for Fox to have him on the air.
The bonus benefit of this election is that when the next election comes around, we’ll have the poor record of this one to keep in mind when Fox begins to tout Dick Morris, Karl Rove, Frank Luntz, Scott Rasmussen and their “reputation for accuracy”.
The bonus benefit of this election is that when the next election comes around, we’ll have the poor record of this one to keep in mind when Fox begins to tout Dick Morris, Karl Rove, Frank Luntz, Scott Rasmussen and their “reputation for accuracy”.
Kevin Koster commented on Cal Thomas Calls Obama Voters ‘Freeloaders’ And ‘Moochers’
2012-11-12 20:19:04 -0500
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This is just the latest bit of right wing flailing at the electorate for not voting for their candidates. I’ve really never seen a situation where the losing party actually turned on the electorate before. I have to wonder how they think they’re going to get anyone outside the hardcore base to vote for them.
Kevin Koster commented on Frank Luntz Throws Stones At Republican Pollsters From His Glass House
2012-11-12 10:30:38 -0500
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Frank Luntz must be really hoping nobody has any footage of all his Hannity focus groups over the past year. I agree with his statements here, but boy is he the wrong person to discuss this matter unless he wants to admit his own wrongdoing.
Kevin Koster commented on David Frum Points The Finger At Fox News For Romney's Loss
2012-11-10 12:49:44 -0500
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Slight typo – I said Hannity spent the entire years of 2010. I meant from 2010-2012…
Kevin Koster commented on Karl Rove's Terrible 2012 Election
2012-11-08 15:57:59 -0500
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I’m going to mirror ez that he blew 400 million rather than billion. But that’s some serious money in any case.
When the numbers were pointed out to me last night, Rove’s complete meltdown began making more sense. If we take the politics and the presidential personalities out of it for a second, you’re left with a situation where a group of businessmen hired a guy to accomplish a task and gave him a very large amount of money to do the job. At the end of the day, they effectively rolled snake eyes, which means he very much has some splainin’ to do. These are not people who have a sense of humor about losing that much money and then losing the election to boot, and particularly not after he told them he could do this.
When the numbers were pointed out to me last night, Rove’s complete meltdown began making more sense. If we take the politics and the presidential personalities out of it for a second, you’re left with a situation where a group of businessmen hired a guy to accomplish a task and gave him a very large amount of money to do the job. At the end of the day, they effectively rolled snake eyes, which means he very much has some splainin’ to do. These are not people who have a sense of humor about losing that much money and then losing the election to boot, and particularly not after he told them he could do this.
Kevin Koster commented on Fox News Flashback: Dick Morris Predicted A Romney Landslide
2012-11-07 19:28:11 -0500
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I confess to looking forward with great enthusiasm to Morris’ multiple mea culpas now. He’s already posted on his website “I have egg on my face” and admitted his polling model was completely wrong. The fun starts tonight when O’Reilly should hammer him – remember that O’Reilly told him “If you’re wrong about this, you’re finished”…
Kevin Koster commented on Karl Rove's Hissy Fit When Obama Declared The Winner
2012-11-07 05:04:14 -0500
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Karl Rove’s loss of composure was truly odd. He wound up not even being able to defend his own argument very well. Not sure what he thought he was accomplishing by continuing to double down on the points he had already lost.
Of course, he quickly moved on to a fairly mean-spirited dismissal of the Obama campaign, starting a meme that I believe will be showing up all over Fox News during the next few days. Their new story is that Obama “went small” and “has no mandate”. Both Rove and Krauthammer tried to push that idea as Romney’s prospects went upside down.
Anyone want to take a wager that Sean Hannity will be in complete meltdown mode tomorrow night?
Of course, he quickly moved on to a fairly mean-spirited dismissal of the Obama campaign, starting a meme that I believe will be showing up all over Fox News during the next few days. Their new story is that Obama “went small” and “has no mandate”. Both Rove and Krauthammer tried to push that idea as Romney’s prospects went upside down.
Anyone want to take a wager that Sean Hannity will be in complete meltdown mode tomorrow night?
Kevin Koster commented on Obama Wins - The Left And Nate Silver Get Revenge!
2012-11-07 04:38:39 -0500
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It’s almost eerie how accurate Nate Silver’s projections actually were now that you can see the actual electoral map. And this was in spite of every right wing pundit challenging the very idea that any polls but Rasmussen could be correct.
Kevin Koster commented on Ann Coulter: I’ll Be Back On Fox For Romney’s Victory Party
2012-11-06 03:14:39 -0500
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It’s interesting how many right wing pundits seem to already be predicting a Romney victory or even a landslide in the face of information that this may not be the case at all. It is of course possible that Romney may somehow pull it off, but the chances appear much greater that he will not be able to win Ohio or any other key state to get him to 271 EC votes. In that event, what kind of party does Ann Coulter or Dick Morris expect to be attending?
Kevin Koster commented on Fox’s Phony Democrats Caddell And Schoen Chide Christie, Urge Romney To Attack On Benghazi
2012-10-31 18:51:26 -0400
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The best part of this discussion is when they made the comments about how Christie should have invited Romney on the disaster area review. One has to wonder what Romney would be doing there…
Kevin Koster commented on WTF? Bill O'Reilly Says Richard Mourdock's Comments Aren't Connected To Mitt Romney!
2012-10-28 14:39:12 -0400
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What you’re seeing here is the right wing becoming increasingly desperate in the final days of this campaign. They were hoping that the first debate would somehow catapult Romney past all of his gaffes and all the bad news for him over the last year. And then the candidate in Indiana opens his mouth and triggers the whole mess all over again.
The increasing fervency of the Romney surrogates both in public and on multiple websites indicates what looks like a growing panic in the GOP. They’re clinging to a small number of polls (mostly from Rasmussen) to try to stay hopeful, but the aggregates are clearly showing Obama ahead. This is leading to angrier and angrier statements from people like John Sununu and Sean Hannity.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Fox try to peddle something next Thursday about Benghazi or next Friday about the next economic report. And then this all comes down to Tuesday the 6th at 8pm West Coast Time. If the results come in the way they are being projected at 538, we could be looking at some really sullen faces at Fox for a few days. It could always go the other way, of course.
The increasing fervency of the Romney surrogates both in public and on multiple websites indicates what looks like a growing panic in the GOP. They’re clinging to a small number of polls (mostly from Rasmussen) to try to stay hopeful, but the aggregates are clearly showing Obama ahead. This is leading to angrier and angrier statements from people like John Sununu and Sean Hannity.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Fox try to peddle something next Thursday about Benghazi or next Friday about the next economic report. And then this all comes down to Tuesday the 6th at 8pm West Coast Time. If the results come in the way they are being projected at 538, we could be looking at some really sullen faces at Fox for a few days. It could always go the other way, of course.
Kevin Koster commented on Sean Hannity Was Against Politicization Of National Security Before He Was For It
2012-10-25 11:14:44 -0400
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Of course Hannity is hypocritical about this. And we’re shocked, shocked to see that gambling is going on this establishment. (And here’s your winnings, Capt Renault!)
But this is just Hannity’s latest desperate swipe at President Obama. None of the others have worked but he’s hoping he can fan the flames of it right before the election. Good luck with that to him.
And in the meantime, Dick Morris is continuing to predict both to Hannity and to O’Reilly that somehow Romney is going to have a massive victory that includes multiple states that are locks for Obama (like Michigan) (???), and swing states that are continuing to lean strongly to Obama with less than 2 weeks to go (Ohio, Iowa, Pennsylvania). This will be a closer election due to the non-performance in the first debate, but a blowout? At this point, it’s flabbergasting where Morris is coming from. And does this mean that on November 7th, we can do what O’Reilly suggested for Morris in the light of such a spectacularly wrong prediction?
But this is just Hannity’s latest desperate swipe at President Obama. None of the others have worked but he’s hoping he can fan the flames of it right before the election. Good luck with that to him.
And in the meantime, Dick Morris is continuing to predict both to Hannity and to O’Reilly that somehow Romney is going to have a massive victory that includes multiple states that are locks for Obama (like Michigan) (???), and swing states that are continuing to lean strongly to Obama with less than 2 weeks to go (Ohio, Iowa, Pennsylvania). This will be a closer election due to the non-performance in the first debate, but a blowout? At this point, it’s flabbergasting where Morris is coming from. And does this mean that on November 7th, we can do what O’Reilly suggested for Morris in the light of such a spectacularly wrong prediction?