Poll: Fox News Seen As Least Trustworthy, Viewership Mostly Old Southern Republicans

August 18, 2009August 20, 2009 Jon Ponder

Fox News is indisputably the most popular cable news channel. And yet in 13 years, Fox has never broken a story. That’s okay, because it is not in the news business. It is in the news-shaping business. Its programming is an admixture of right-wing propaganda and fear-porn for feeble-minded paranoiacs, served up by spokesmodels who have no clue what they are reading.

On a related note, Wal-Mart has joined 19 other big advertising in boycotting Fox News’ Glenn Beck in response to Beck calling Obama a “racist” who hates the white culture.

And, yes, it sells like hotcakes.

A new poll from DailyKos/Research 2000 finds that while almost all normal Americans see through this ruse, Fox depends almost exclusively on middle-aged and older Southern Republicans for its success.

Here’s Kos’ analysis:

Republicans watch Fox News and nothing else, Democrats split between MSNBC and CNN, and Independents watch nothing. MSNBC, in particular, depends on Democrats for the vast majority of its audience. One would think they’d realize this and get rid of Joe Scarborough to boost its morning ratings.

The South, unlike the rest of the country, appears to have their TV dials stuck on “FOX NEWS”. Except for the youth, that is. 82 percent of 18-29-year-old respondents never watched FNC.

When asked to rate the trustworthiness of the channels, Fox was called trustworthy by just 35 percent and untrustworthy by 41 percent. Among Southerners, 46 percent found Fox to be reliable, while only 25 percent did not. In the Northeast, 27 percent found Fox to be credible, while 55 percent did not. In the Midwest, the finding was 33 percent reliable, 46 percent unreliable; and in the West it was 33 percent vs 43 percent.

As Kos put it, “Republicans (and the South) obviously think [Fox is] the word of god, while Democrats think it’s shit.” (As if more evidence of the effectiveness of Fox’ brainwashing were needed, only 6 percent of Republicans found MSNBC to be credible.)

[…]

Levi Johnston Update: Escorts Kathy Griffin to Teen Awards, Would Pose Nude

August 17, 2009August 18, 2009 Jon Ponder

You’ve probably been wondering what Levi Johnston, Sarah Palin’s grandbaby-daddy, has been up to over the past few days. Well, here’s what:

He was Kathy Griffin’s date for the Teen Choice Awards, on Aug. 10. It’ll be an episode in her reality show, “My Life on the D List,” soon. Until then, enjoy the video above of Griffin, substituting on “Larry King Live,” interviewing Levi about their date.

Elsewhere, Levi says he would be willing to pose nude but on one condition:

“It depends on the money, man,” says Levi Johnston, who fathered baby Tripp with Sarah Palin’s daughter, Bristol.

Johnson now wants to be an actor and model.

“It’s gotta be right for that,” Johnston tells Bravo’s Andy Cohen.

And how does he feel about being a so-called “gay pin-up boy”?

“I think it’s great, man. Um, I just like my fans. Just another person.”

The current issue of Star Magazine cites Levi’s sister Mercede in confirming that Palin and her husband Todd are divorcing. The tabloid has also published a photo it claims shows Willow Palin, 15, smoking pot and drinking vodka.

That’s all the Levi Johnston news we have time for today.

Tom DeLay is Back. It’s Hammer Time on Dancing With the Stars

August 17, 2009 Trish

The fact that I’ve never seen ABC’s Dancing With the Stars does not keep me from voicing an opinion on one of this season’s stars. And my opinion is…well, never mind. But here are some of the comments being left on the show’s web site.

‘He should be in prison, not working on restoring his tarnished image as a corrupt politician by using DWTS’

You have got to be kidding me!?! Why didn’t you ppl just go get your “stars” off death row? Tom DeLay??? Are you bleeping crazy!?! What a insult to the VERY few decent ppl you did chose. I will not be watching, in fact, I will be campaining AGAINST ANYONE I KNOW watching this crap of a show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you set out to ruin your reputation and your show, you did it!!!
Shame on Dancing With The Stars. Tom Delay is not a “STAR” in anybodies book except the book of felons. He is such a crook. I love this show, but the choice of STARS? is going down hill. Please rethink some of your choices.
I’m with everyone else. Tom Delay’s inclusion may cause me to not watch this season…at least not until I’ve heard he’s been booted off. You’ve got the most one-sided biography possible for him, ABC. He’s President of First Principles? That man has NO principles. He should be in prison, not working on restoring his tarnished image as a corrupt politician by using DWTS.
you have lost me with this guy. i will not watch this season. he is one of the most hateful,viscious polaririzing, HOMOPHOBIC politicians that has ever disgraced the halls of Congress. what a mistake to cast this hatemonger! do your producers understand that you have a large gay audience and that none of us will waste our time watching this creep?
Can you add “money launderer” to Tom Delay’s bio? That might help your ratings in some areas.

Want to express your own opinion on ABC’s strange choice? Please do.

Note to MSNBC: Please Give Lawrence O’Donnell His Own Show

August 15, 2009August 15, 2009 Jon Ponder

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Substituting for Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s “Hardball” yesterday, Lawrence O’Donnell was at the top of his game during an interview about Republican opposition to health-care reform with Rep. John Culbertson (R-Texas). O’Donnell exposed the Republicans’ hypocritical opposition to the government option because it is “socialism” while insisting they support the equally socialist Medicare program. He also called Culbertson on his party’s lies over “death panels” and the rest. It was a joy to watch:

[…]

Clear Channel to Palin: ‘No Thanks’

August 5, 2009August 5, 2009 Buck Banks

sarahpalinwink

Despite ex-veep candidate and ex-gov Sarah Palin’s deep-rooted hatred of the media (“Quit makin’ things up!”), she is being quietly shopped around as a possible radio or cable TV show host.

It’s not going so well. According to Broadcasting & Cable, mega-radio giant Clear Channel passed on an opportunity to have Palin host a radio program. The reason:

The main objection to Palin as radio talk-show host is that she would have to hold forth for three hours a day. While some of her recent remarks may indicate a talent for improvisation, anyone who’s listened to Rush Limbaugh or Thom Hartmann or Don Imus or Howard Stern or even Ryan Seacrest knows it’s the rare personality who can blab extemporaneously for 15 hours a week. And relying on callers to get you through won’t help, because as we’ve all experienced, callers-in are usually more embarrassing than compelling.

We think Clear Channel is selling Sarah short. As Trish pointed out recently, Palin’s farewell speech as Alaska governor was, besides being her first non-ghost-written public utterance, oddly poetic — at least when recited by William Shatner. Palin proved that she could string words together in novel ways, unencumbered by grammar, syntax or that pesky bugbear, meaning.

We believe that someone who has spent so much time bashing, trashing and threatening to sue the media should be welcomed into its ranks and promptly fired in the next round of layoffs. Then she’d actually have something to complain about.

A C-SPAN Reality Drama? Schwarzenegger Suggests Filming Negotiations on $26 Bil Deficit

July 8, 2009July 8, 2009 Jon Ponder

Gov. Schwarzenegger, left, and Speaker Bass

Things are bad here in California. Yes, we have the world’s fifth largest economy — we’d be a member of the G-8, if we were a sovereign nation. But the sky is falling for real this time. The state is $26 billion in the hole.

“He broke it. He should fix it.”
– Speaker Karen Bass

Reporting from Sacramento suggests that in his negotiations with the Dem-controlled Legislature, GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is stuck in his usual, Bush-esque “my way or the highway” mode.

After all, he has little skin in this game — he sits on a personal fortune worth tens of millions (and can easily replenish the ol’ coffers playing superannuated robots when he leaves office), so he’ll be fine even if the economy collapses. And his political legacy is shot. No matter what happens over the next 16 months, nothing can prevent Arnold Schwarzenegger from going down as one of the worst — if not the worst — governor in California’s 159-year history.

As the stalemate continues, the hole gets deeper — the deficit was “only” $24 billion a couple of weeks ago. Another $2 billion accrued while Sacramento dithered.

And this brief but vivid moment, which was reported last Wednesday, does not bode well:

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Baldwin Vista (Los Angeles County), was visibly upset coming out of the governor’s office Wednesday afternoon.

“He broke it. He should fix it,” she said, apparently referring to Schwarzenegger.

[…]

Look Out, Jeb Ahmadinejad

June 19, 2009 Trish

“This guy, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, I mean, he claims victory and he is very unpopular…And the danger politically of this, he could ruin the political career of his brother, Jeb Ahmadinejad. You got to be careful.”

— David Letterman, discussing the Iran election during a monologue

NOW Sanctions Letterman Over Palin Jokes

June 12, 2009June 12, 2009 Trish

Statement: ‘NOW hopes that all the conservatives who are fired up about sexism in the media lately will join us in calling out sexism when it is directed at women who aren’t professed conservatives’

Poor David Letterman. He’s finding out the hard way that going up against Sarah Palin can be a very, very unpleasant experience. And now, even, um NOW (the National Organization for Women) is against him.

It all started when Alaska’s governor came to New York to participate in a tribute to William Seward in Auburn, N.Y. on the 50th anniversary of Alaska statehood. After that, she and the fam, who as we know from the 2008 campaign, like to soak up all the freebies they can, attended a Yankees game before heading to Washington for a Republican fund raising dinner. Palin’s 14-year-old daughter, Willow, was at the game. Her more notorious daughter, the 18-year-old Bristol, who recently bore a son without benefit of marriage, was not.

So began Letterman’s troubles.