Maybe I just have a compulsive need for everyone to know everything that's on my mind, but today I can't decide which of my monumentally important screeds is the most diary-worthy, so I'm lumping a bunch of stuff together. Try not to get over-excited.
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Tony Snow Celebrates Iraq
While everyone was getting worked up about Boehner's "small price" gaffe, I couldn't believe that nobody seemed to care about Tony Snow's startling and disturbing comment on The O'Reilly Factor re: the Iraq war:
"Americans love to succeed and they love to know that our people are embarked on a noble enterprise. We got young men and women who are doing amazing things. We ought to be celebrating."
Celebrating? You mean as in 3,800 wakes? Snow used the same disgusting language on Glenn Beck's show.
Democratic Response Draws More Viewers Than Bush
When Bush addressed the nation last Thursday to persist in pushing his failed war agenda, he succeeded in pulling in a sizable portion of the television viewing audience. The only problem for him is that the response by Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed pulled in 7% more viewers.
Presidential Address - Thursday, September 13, 2007 (000’s) |
Network | Bush Address | Dem Response |
Fox News | 745 | 813 |
MSNBC | 455 | 446 |
CNN | 454 | 507 |
Totals | 1654 | 1766 |
Ordinarily, the opposition party response to a presidential address would be expected to lose viewers relative to the headliner from the White House. Just being competetive would be considered a victory of sorts. Consequently, these numbers demonstrate that there is significant curiosity in the TV viewing public as to the alternatives to administration talking points. The fact that the President can’t easily outperform an obscure senator that most of the country has never heard of, is proof that people are dissatisfied with his tired rhetoric.
A Tale Of Two Rallies
On Saturday, September 15, 2007, A rally was held in Washington, D.C. to protest the Bush administration’s policy of perpetual war. As has become routine in modern demonstrations, a counter- rally was quickly organized in support of the war and the continued deployment of American troops in Iraq.
The images here show how C-SPAN characterized the competing demonstrations. By labeling the events as either anti-war or pro-troops, C-SPAN leaves viewers with the impression that peace advocates are anti-troops. This is a dishonest portrayal of the peace rally whose participants included Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans for Peace, Gold Star Families for Peace, and numerous other military organizations and individuals.
If you look at the pictures and not the labels, which side appears to be more aligned with the troops? C-SPAN should be more careful not to editorialize in their so-called non-partisan programming. And they must stop perpetuating the right-wing meme that if you favor an end to the war you are somehow opposed to the troops. The truth of the matter is that ending the war is the best way to show support for the troops.
Sally Field’s Emmy Speech Uncensored
In accepting her Emmy award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role as the matriarch in "Brothers and Sisters", Sally Field delivered an impassioned tribute to mothers everywhere in a message that spoke of world peace.
Unfortunately, it was too much for the censors at Fox who cut Field’s comments at a critical point.
The video above is from the Canadian broadcast that aired the speech unedited. The nannies at Fox snipped the remarks for U.S. viewers as Field said, "If mothers ruled the world, there wouldn’t be any..." The expunged ending of the sentence was, "god-damned wars in the first place." Was it because Fox thinks that Americans are just too fragile to be exposed to such fiery language? Was it because they were seeking to suppress legitimate dissent in a public forum? Tom O’Neil at the Los Angeles Times reports that it may not have been a matter of shielding the network from liability for broadcasting an obscenity:
"Technically, Field’s censored words are not profane. A 2004 FCC ruling specifically stated no objection to the use of "god damn" on TV when making a judgment on the uproar over Bono swearing at the Golden Globes in 2003 where he used more colorful language."
Backstage, Field spoke with reporters and responded to the controversy that was already swirling:
"I have no comment other than, ‘Oh, well.’ I said what I wanted to say. I wanted to pay homage to the mothers of the world. And I very, very seriously think that if mothers ruled the world we wouldn’t be sending our children off to be slaughtered." [...] "If they bleep it, oh, well. I’ll just say it somewhere else."
This is the second instance of Emmy censorship this season, following Kathy Griffin’s remarks a night earlier when, mocking award winners who give credit to God for their victory, Griffin said that, "...no one had less to do with this award than Jesus." Isn’t it interesting that in both occurrences of a clampdown on free speech, a reference to God was a key factor?