BlatherWatch

'Are you insane?' jon stewart debates 'media bias' with fox host chris wallace.

We once respected Chris Wallace who was once a real newsman... We're now pretty sure that he's been transformed by Roger Aisles into an unblinking golem fashioned from old news stories murdered by Sean Hannity and Billo Reilly.

Dorothy Parvaz MIA

Former Seattle journalist, and friend of BlatherWatch, Dorothy Parvaz is missing in the troubled state of Syria.

Parvaz, 39, who works for Al Jazeera, has been missing since Friday, the day she arrived in Damascus to cover the unrest in the country. Officials say she was probably detained at the airport.

GOP strategist advises NPR... on NPR!

He may be Satan's pool-guy, but flack-wise, the Republicans' Frank Luntz can make some sense.

Here's what he said on NPR station WAMU's Diane Rehm Show recently about how to fight the defunding attempts by right-wingers in Congress, and salvage public radio's good name.

Ann coulter: radiation is good for you...

Dori monson, billo reilly gang-bang UW professor

It's a huge story, except it isn't... Nontheless, Billo Reilly is popping his buttons, and Dori Monson (KIRO m-f, 12-3p) is strutting like a turkey in full bloom.

         (photo: Dori throws another dog on the fire)

A UW professor and anti-war activist Amy Hagopian, doesn't like military recruiters. Is that news?

No.

She says their techniques are similar to the ones used by sexual predators. Is that news?

Yes, but only in the right-wing parallel media where patriotic correctness trumps just about any breaking news, real or conjured.

The 2010 war on Xmas is... ON!

The annual War on Xmas has gotten off to solid but tepid start this year with a straight-to-DVD movie "starring" Daniel Baldwin, shown at the recent Values Village Voters Summit.

Rachel spanks bill o'reilly's logically fallacious ass

We can’t stand Billo Reilly and we love Rachel Maddow. (When, o when will Billo suffer that crippling, apoplectic aneurism that will wipe that smug, patronizing smirk off his face once and for all?)

Unfortunately, Rachel has never been one to get involved in the cable wars that we and the likes of Keith Olbermann find so amusing, but Billo's been calling her out with some dubious attacks which she’s been obliged to answer.

We’re delighted. Harvard educated as he may be, he’s no match for Rachel who's a Rhodes Scholar from Stanford with a Ph.D. He doesn’t have to be, shooting as he does for a low-information audience who doesn't really care if the dribs and drabs of information they're satisfied with is erroneous or not. It's all the news that fits.

Rachel Maddow is growing in influence as shown by her mentions by name by the Fox News Bigs, Bill O'Reilly, and Glenn Beck. She makes ratings spike when she appears on Meet The Press, and the late night shows like recently on Letterman. It's the combination of her smart, extremely well-researched presentation, and her modest, likability. She has the ability to undo an issue like a cook taking apart a rabbit and laying it out on the board. And she does it without being didactic or boring.

(Anticipating our winger commenters’ reactive argumentum ad nauseum that Fox-News-kicks-MSNBC-ratings-ass-so-they-must-be-right, we ask they please first note Rachel’s little lesson on the logical fallacy that is the argumentum ad populum, then see if they can attack her on the merits for once).

You know its time has come: o’reilly calls for end of don’t ask, don’t tell

Here's what Bill O'Reilly said on Leno last night:

"President Obama has the power to stop this 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' business. Just sign an executive order. I don't know why it's taking so long—it's not fair. We should stop this nonsense."

Dan Savage: "... for the record: Bill O'Reilly is now to the left of President Obama on DADT."

Fox does what fox does, your highness...

Transcript: I was in the weirdest place last night. i was on tv talking about shirley sherrod and the phony reverse racism story and fox news, except i was on fox news. i was on the o'reilly factor. it was very spooky.

>> this is what fox news does. this is how they're different from other news organizations. just like a.c.o.r.n., fox knows they have a role in this distance. ? not even interesting scandal. fox does what fox does.

>> which is kick your network's butt every single night now. and you have to be kidding with this fake a.c.o.r.n. scandal stuff. unbelievable. did you live in this country?

>> if by this country you mean is my office right across the street from yours, yes. unless there's an unguarded border down the middle lane of sixth avenue, yes, i live in what you call this country. and, no, though i sometimes kid, i'm not kidding, as mr. o'reilly asks, when mr. o'reilly says they manufactured the outrage over a.c.o.r.n. as that with sherrod. the tape was edited to make it look like an outlandishly dressed pimp. the guy wasn't dressed like a pimp. what fox says was him getting advice on his fake brothel was an a.c.o.r.n. guy getting information on the fake brothel to turn it over to the police. you can trust me because a.c.o.r.n. has been investigated by prosecutors and the state of california. not that you've heard any of that on fox. let's get back to mr. o'reilly. his message to madam, by which he means me, which is so awesome, i can't believe it.

>> fox does what fox does. >>

which is kick your network's butt, every single night, madam.

>> here he has a point. you and fox get great ratings. it is so awesome how great your ratings are. here's the score card from last night. it is in tv ratings speak, but i think it will be clear enough. here's mr. o'reilly. that 757 would be him at 8:00. and that 245 would be me at 9:00. different hour. we're outrated by "deadliest catch." that's about fishing. we get killed by a show called "the closer" about which i know nothing about except it kills us in the ratings. and we get smaller ratings than wwe wrestling. all of those shows also kill mr. o'reilly's show in the ratings as well as everything else on fox, as well as sponge bob, hannah montana, forever, which is understandable. ... they are more watched than the o'reilly factor which have which is totally irrelevant. ...

you weren't trying to tout your network's ratings, you were trying to take the attention away from your network to flagrantly take attention from black americans to white americans. you can insult us all you want about television ratings and you'll be right that yours are bigger for now and maybe forever. you are the undisputed winner. even if nobody watches us except for my mom and my girlfriend and the person who forgot to turn off the tv after keith, you would still be wrong about the facts, your highness.

Is talk radio's 'poutrage' and violence losing the war for the right?

Can the torching of the national conversation and threats by the talk radio culture drive vital independents away from Republicans?