Tag Archives: cheney

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What is Fox afraid of? Veterans? Clean energy?


There’s an ad that Fox News doesn’t think you should see. The bigwigs at Fox just don’t get it, and they think you aren’t smart enough to get it either — so they’ve refused to run it.

Fox reportedly turned down as “too confusing” an ad from the progressive veterans’ group VoteVets.org — one that explained how passing clean energy legislation is good for our nation’s security. The VoteVets.org ad states that a clean-energy agenda reduces the power oil-producing dictatorships like Iran can exercise over the United States by reducing our dependence on oil.

Confused? Fox News is. It’s absolutely baffled.

Click here to tell Fox: Run VoteVets.org’s ad.

However, Fox hasn’t proved incapable of grasping the arguments of ads funded by right-wing groups, like an ad from the Employment Policies Institute featuring children pledging allegiance to “America’s debt.” And it has no problem running ads arguing that the only defense against “an economic meltdown” is a “Survival Seed Bank,” or offering convicted felon G. Gordon Liddy’s advice on buying gold.

So maybe “too confusing” is a laughably thin excuse for Fox to block a message that contradicts its own political activism. Maybe what it’s worried about is presenting a message that counters its outright political advocacy and the myths it sells every day on foreign policy and energy policy.

So it’s been decided: Fox News just won’t run the ad.

That’s not acceptable. If Fox wants to contend that it’s a news organization and not a political machine, it needs to treat all advertisers equally, not pick and choose based on transparently political motives.

Click here to tell Fox: Run VoteVets.org’s ad.

Thank you for your efforts to hold Fox News accountable.

Eric Burns
President, Media Matters for America

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aflcio.org


Together we’re breaking the powerful grip Wall Street bankers and their high-paid lobbyists have on Washington. Our message is powerful and simple:

Good Jobs Now! Wall Street Must Pay.

Last week, mere hours before we rallied and marched on Wall Street, the Senate overcame Republican obstructionism and brought us closer than ever to meaningful Wall Street reform.

Meanwhile, the most elite Wall Street investment bank of them all, Goldman Sachs, is facing a criminal investigation, compounding its already substantial legal problems. As a result, Goldman stock has plummeted, costing executives millions—small consolation for those out of work, but a start.

The last few months have been amazing, as across the country union members, leaders and allies in the movement have taken our message to the street and to the Wall Street banks that cost us billions of dollars and millions of jobs.

Last week’s rally on Wall Street, with more than 10,000 marching in person and more than 35,000 joining online, was a powerful event, making it clear we will not be taken for granted. Together we are making a difference. What’s NEXT in our fight for good jobs?

1) Text: REFORM to 225568 to join our Wall Street rapid action network. Wall Street must pay to rebuild our economy and create jobs to replace the millions it helped destroy.

2) Ensure the Senate passes meaningful Wall Street reform. We overcame a huge hurdle last week, but many more remain and the next few weeks are critical, as opponents of reform will be fighting with all their power to weaken the Wall Street reform bill on the Senate floor. Contact your senator now and take action.

3) Keep on marching and rallying. Marching and rallying. We can’t slow down. We can’t stop taking our message of Good Jobs Now! Wall Street Must Pay to the rich and powerful. In two weeks we will rally and march here in DC to make sure the banks and their K Street lobbyists hear your message.

For more pictures and stories from our march and rally on Wall Street, visit our blog.

In solidarity,

Marc Laitin
AFL-CIO Online Mobilization Coordinator

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ThinkProgress.org …


UNDER THE RADAR

RADICAL RIGHT — CONSERVATIVES TOUT CONSPIRACY THEORY THAT OBAMA WANTED OIL SPILL: Yesterday, former Bush-appointed FEMA director Michael Brown — infamous for severely mismanaged the federal response to Hurricane Katrina — accused the Obama administration of playing politics with the oil spill, claiming that the growing catastrophe is “exactly what they want.” Brown said that the President sought to use the disaster to “pander to the environmentalists,” and even suggested  that he intentionally delayed the administration’s response in order to allow the spill to worsen. Brown’s charge, which ignores the fact that every branch of government had been engaged in managing or investigating the crisis for at least a week, follows a spate of similar right-wing conspiracy theories about the incident. As the disaster caused by the explosion became more apparent last week, right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh suggested that someone intentionally blew up the rig in order to “head off more oil drilling.” By yesterday morning the meme had found a home on Fox and Friends, where former Bush press secretary Dana Perino said she was “not trying to introduce a conspiracy theory” before asking, “But was this deliberate?” Later in this show, host Steve Doocy asked Fox Business’ Eric Bolling to respond to people who have suggested that “there’s a possibility this could be sabotage.” Citing Perino, Bolling engaged in conspiracy speculation, asking “did they let it leak a little bit and say, ‘boy I don’t know?’ I mean, the conspiracy theorists would say, maybe they let it leak for a while and then they address the issue.” Until Limbaugh and Fox News’ recent speculation, such oil spill truther theories had appeared only on fringe websites. And while federal investigators are not ruling out any possible causes, the President of BP America himself blamed the disaster on “a failed piece of equipment.”

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ThinkProgess …


UNDER THE RADAR

MILITARY — GATES URGES CONGRESS TO DELAY ‘DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL’ REPEAL: In a strongly-worded letter to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-MO), Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote he doesn’t want Congress to take any action on repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) until the Pentagon’s “working group” on the issue has completed its work to determine the impact a repeal would have on the U.S. Armed Forces. Citing the need for a “a thorough, objective, and systematic assessment of the impact of such a policy change,” Gates wrote, “I strongly oppose any legislation that seeks to change this policy prior to the completion of this vital assessment process.” According to Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, Gates’ stance “delivered a devastating blow to getting repeal done this year,” which Obama has asked Congress to do. Sarvis called the letter a “joint political decision” by Obama and Gates and and said that it “showed a lack of respect for our LGBT service members who are on the frontlines every day risking their lives for our safety.” There is momentum for a DADT repeal this year as 13 Democratic senators have signed onto an effort to enact a repeal after the Pentagon’s review has completed. One of the bill’s co-sponsors, Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO), responded to the letter by saying, “There is no reason why Congress shouldn’t pass legislation this year that would time the repeal to follow the conclusion of the study.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has also signaled her support for repeal, saying that Congress should “immediately place a moratorium on dismissals under this policy until the review has been completed and Congress has acted.” Democrats in Congress will have a tougher time attracting moderate and Republican co-sponsors in light of Gates’ letter, and if Congress waits until next year — after the Pentagon review is completed — to move forward on legislation, the make-up of the legislature will be different and could again delay repeal.  White House Spokesman Tommy Vietor said Friday, “The President’s commitment to repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is unequivocal. This is not a question of if, but how. That’s why we’ve said that the implementation of any congressional repeal will be delayed until the DOD study of how best to implement that repeal is completed. The President is committed to getting this done both soon and right.”