Supporting The Troops; SDA Style

Over at Kate's Sociopathic Social Club, the same assorted armchair commandos who were glad to label fellow Canadians as "Taliban supporters" a while back are having a hard time getting too worked up about Fox's Greg Gutfeld's thoughtless and decidedly un-funny mockery of our Armed Forces.

One commenter, "Phil", who describes himself as a serving member of the Forces tries to interject some personal perspective.

As another serving member, an infantry corporal no less, who's lost many friends overseas, I can tell you that I'm not a person who makes insulting jokes about Americans. I'm not a clown who would vote for funding cuts to the CF. I'm not from Toronto, and I don't live in Toronto. And I do have the nerve to bitch and complain and in fact, be disgusted at the Fox talking-heads. Have you risked your life under fire to bail out American troops? If you have then I'm guessing from your comment that you have a couple of screws loose. If you haven't, then maybe you should talk to some of our lads who have. They'll sort you out right quick. To Kate: If you have never had to put your arm around a grieving father who had his son blown up with only melted and charred plastic pieces of his tactical vest left around a burning LAV, then you could never understand how incredibly despicable and hurtful these comments could be. I pray that you may some day gain some sensitivity.[...]And yes, I have indeed watched the show before, and I have indeed watched Fox News before. I'll lighten up when I feel it's necessary. Now's not the time. I guess I'm with the liberals on this one. Proud to be agreeing with them on this matter.

The response from compassionate conservative "Alex" comes quickly:

Nice appeal to emotion, Phil. Very touching. I shed a tear, I really did.[...] I'll sacrifice a goat that you may some day grow a pair. I'm not sure how you managed to stay in the infantry long enough to get your second hook, if this is the kind of shit that gets under your skin.

Now "Alex" may sound like a disrespectful asshole, but he probably has a yellow ribbon stuck to the back of his pickup truck. So I guess his troop-supportin' credentials are up to snuff. Stephen Taylor must be proud.

Gretchen Carlson: The Festivus Grinch

In response to a Washington man's request to place a Festivus pole amongst the holiday displays at the state capitol in Olympia, Gretchen Carlson of FauxNews expressed her phony outrage at yet another attack on Christmas by the heathens. Said Carlson:

I am tolerant. I'm all for free speech and free rights, just not on December 25th.

You can watch the whole video below.

And for those of you who lived in a cave during the 90's, here is a bit of info on Festivus: The holiday for the rest of us.

Bush Upset Over Media Bias (Fox News Agrees)

Awwwwww. The poor old Bush administration just hasn't been able to catch a break these past 8 years. From winning the war in Iraq, to saving the environment, to fixing the US economy, every major Bush accomplishment has been under-reported or distorted by the liberal media. Today, President Dorkwad W. Dicksmack has taken the fight right to the doorstep of the enemy - NBC News.

The White House issued a terse statement condemning NBC for demonstrating bias after it edited out a portion of Dubbya's evasive non-answer to Richard Engel's question about whether or not Bush's recent "appeasement" comment was directed at Barack Obama. In answer to Engel's question, Bush replied:

"You know, my policies haven't changed, but evidently the political calendar has. People need to read the speech. You didn't get it exactly right, either. What I said is that we need to take the words of people seriously."

Only the first sentence was used in the network broadcast, although the entire interview was available on the website. Frankly, NBC could have edited out Bush's entire response, and it wouldn't have made a difference. The President never answered Engel's question, and no amount of culling of his rhetorical talking points could alter that fact.

Of course, for George W Bush to accuse anyone of misrepresentation is laughable. His administration has been unconscionably deceitful, and has been enthusiastically supported by Fox News, which acts as a de facto media extension of the Republican Party. Curiously, we never heard the White House complain about shoddy journalistic standards when mass media stalwarts were slavishly beating the drum for war in Iraq. Nor have we ever heard condemnation of Fox for their ongoing assault on honest reporting.

The White House has issues with Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews setting an agenda at NBC, but gives Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity a free pass at Faux News. In typical right wing fashion, what's good for the goose isn't necessarily good for the gander. Congratulations to NBC on their response to the White House (although personally, I would have used more four-letter words in telling Bush to go fuck himself).

"Just as the White House does not participate in the editorial process at the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal or USA Today, NBC News, as part of a free press in a free society, makes its own editorial decisions," NBC said in a statement.