Faux News

This is just amazing.

"When you first get in they tell you we’re a bit of a counterpart to the screaming left wing lib media. So automatically you have to buy into the idea that the other media is howling left-wing. Don’t even start arguing that or you won’t even last your first day.

“For the first few years it was let’s take the conservative take on things. And then after a few years it evolved into, well it’s not just the conservative take on things, we’re going to take the Republican take on things which is not necessarily in lock step with the conservative point of view.

“And then two, three, five years into that it was, we’re taking the Bush line on things, which was different than the GOP. We were a Stalin-esque mouthpiece. It was just what Bush says goes on our channel. And by that point it was just totally dangerous. Hopefully most people understand how dangerous it is for a media outfit to be a straight, unfiltered mouthpiece for an unchecked president.”

And even more.

“It was a kick ass mentality too,” says the former Fox News insider. “It was relentless and it never went away. If one controversy faded, goddamn it they would find another one. They were in search of these points of friction real or imagined. And most of them were imagined or fabricated. You always have to seem to be under siege. You always have to seem like your values are under attack. The brain trust just knew instinctively which stories to do, like the War on Christmas.”

This is why this matters.

The source continues: “I don’t think people understand that it’s an organization that’s built and functions by intimidation and bullying, and its goal is to prop up and support Republicans and the GOP and to knock down Democrats. People tend think that stuff that’s on TV is real, especially under the guise of news. You’d think that people would wise up, but they don’t.”

As for the press, the former Fox News employee gives reporters and pundits low grades for refusing, over the years, to call out Fox News for being the propaganda outlet that it so clearly is. The source suggests there are a variety of reasons for the newsroom timidity.

“They don’t have enough staff or enough balls or don’t have enough money or don’t have enough interest to spend the time it takes to expose Fox News. Or it’s not worth the trouble. If you take on Fox, they’ll kick you in the ass,” says the source. “I’m sure most [journalists] know that. It’s not worth being Swift Boated for your effort,” a reference to how Fox News traditionally attacks journalists who write, or are perceived to have written, anything negative things about the channel.

The former insider admits to being perplexed in late 2009 when the Obama White House called out Murdoch’s operation as not being a legitimate new source, only to have major Beltway media players rush to the aid of Fox News and admonish the White House for daring to criticize the cable channel.

And so, we see the danger of Fox News being allowed to behave like this. People believe the stuff they see on TV, for better or worse- and there's no one saying be honest with the content. The Beltway Media actually defends this garbage. It's not only slanted, that's fine. It's not even news.

Enough Already, Please?

Did you see Eliot Spitzer's statement on the Tucson shooting? How about Snooki's? Probably not. I bet you saw Sarah Palin's though. She may be less popular than George W. Bush, but yet she's the second most covered politician in the country right now, even though she has absolutely no position. Some people are starting to feel like me: why is she getting coverage?

Let's be clear, Sarah Palin is little more than a diva at this point. She is not in office, any office. She is not a candidate for an office, any office. She's just there. I do believe she will run in 2012 now, in fact I am convinced. You don't put out statements on national tragedies because you aren't running. She will run, she will matter, and she might even win the GOP Nomination (not the election). So make her do it.

Let's be clear, activists run the Iowa Caucuses. Conservative activists like this woman. She certainly has a chance there. She has a chance in South Carolina too, conservative candidates do win there. So this is not me saying Sarah Palin is irrelevant. She's not. In fact, if I may, I hope she's the GOP nominee (She'd lose). She matters, but how much?

TV shows, wall to wall coverage, stacks of money- all that for a former half-term Governor. She gets more free coverage than anyone in American politics today. It's time to stop it. If she wants cameras to follow her, it's time for her to run for President. Get in the race, or get off of my TV.