Bunch of stuff. Mostly political.
1. Update to previous post, with thanks to![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lorena: Constance McMillen wasn't the first. Earlier this year, a boy was suspended at the same school within hours of showing up for his first day of classes. He identifies as transgender, but prefers to use male pronouns. What it boils down to, then, is that he was suspended for wearing girls clothes. School officials say he was too much of a distraction, but failed to actually identify a reason for the suspension in the paperwork. In a quite possibly related situation, his mother found that she couldn't find work at any of the local businesses. Oh, and the people they were living with kicked the boy out. The mother was forced to grant temporary guardianship of her son to some friends who live in Florida while she tries to find a way to make their lives work.
The site linked above has a donation link if anyone feels moved to help out.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Campaign has a petition to support Constance. Basically, a bunch of random people online signing a letter to voice their disapproval to the members of the school board who have already proven themselves to be close-minded and duplicitous. I personally find myself dubious of the practical efficacy of such a move, but I can't think of anything better to try.
2. Glenn Beck. Still having some fun with Haiku Glenn Beck. Today, starting at 9AM US Eastern time, they're planning to tweet one "becku" per minute to Glenn Beck for 24 hours. Visitors can participate by selecting haikus to send. Again, I don't see what this is actually going to accomplish, but hey, it's fun.
The Stop Beck campaign seems more effective, having helped convince hundreds of sponsors to drop their ads from his show. In the UK, Beck's show has gone for two months without a single paid sponsor. Which is impressive. But also highlights a fundamental problem: Glenn Beck has too many viewers. People believe what he says. They watch avidly. And then they stick around for other Fox shows. And they'd probably be very upset if Fox "caved" and canceled the show. But still... it's a step towards accountability in our media.
I'm all for disagreement and debate. I don't want to close down the other side. But there should be consequences for spreading lies, fear, racism, and hatred.
Browse around the Stop Beck site. Read some quotes. While you're there, you can also look at things like the time he asked his viewers to chip in to buy him a Mercedes, or put up this picture of Jesus and Hitler (really!).
It has to stop somewhere. And Glenn Beck is a good place for that to start.
3. On the good side of things, there's Tom Coburn's town hall comments. After seeing that (especially his closing remarks), for all that I disagree with his politics, I find myself sorely tempted to support his next campaign.
That is the best and most sensible and right thing I have heard from a politician in far too long.
4. Back to the other side of things, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, who started out the year by stripping out the language banning discrimination based on sexual orientation (and then had the state attorney general send out a letter demanding that colleges do the same), has declared April "Confederate History Month" in his state. It's like he has a time machine or something.
5. Over to Texas. I believe I've mentioned this before. You've probably heard of it by now. But I'll take a sec to say it again. The Texas school board has voted to rewrite history books with a distinctly Religious Right agenda. This is important because Texas is one of the largest textbook markets in the country. Which has led a number of other states to simply adopt whatever standards Texas comes up with. In response, there's a petition directed to the major textbook publishers. I don't support the language they use. "Texas Taliban" is in no way appropriate, for one thing. And the default text is a little heavy-handed. But there are links to a couple of good articles on the subject. And not only can you edit the text of the letter, you are encouraged to do so. Again, I'm not sure what good an online petition will really do, but I'm hoping it will help. They're more likely to listen than the Mississippi school board, anyway.
6. Something else I may have mentioned before... You remember those ACORN videos that supposedly showed them helping people set up prostitution rings and such? Got a huge amount of media attention. Then law enforcement agencies looked into it and found out that the videos were a heavily edited hoax. Brooklyn released its findings a month ago. But that still didn't stop the attacks on ACORN. Funding was pulled, speeches were made. The organization filed bankruptcy and closed its doors. Now California has released the unedited tapes to the public. Video and commentary from Rachel Maddow here. The show's daily link roundup also includes links to the California official report and a video library. (Again, in general, The Rachel Maddow Show and the associated Maddow Blog come highly recommended.)
7. On the lighter side, from Countdown With Keith Olbermann, a bit of oddball fun.
8. Finally, the Obama administration unveiled a new US nuclear policy yesterday. We promise not to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states. Unless they're "outliers" like Iran and North Korea who have violated anti-proliferation treaties. Or unless they unleash large-scale chemical or biological attacks. Or, you know, the situation just seems to call for it. Still, it's a step in the right direction.
This comes in advance of a treaty between the US and Russia wherein both will agree to reduce their respective arsenals by about 30%. And an international conference on preventing bomb materials from reaching the black market.
1. Update to previous post, with thanks to
lorena: Constance McMillen wasn't the first. Earlier this year, a boy was suspended at the same school within hours of showing up for his first day of classes. He identifies as transgender, but prefers to use male pronouns. What it boils down to, then, is that he was suspended for wearing girls clothes. School officials say he was too much of a distraction, but failed to actually identify a reason for the suspension in the paperwork. In a quite possibly related situation, his mother found that she couldn't find work at any of the local businesses. Oh, and the people they were living with kicked the boy out. The mother was forced to grant temporary guardianship of her son to some friends who live in Florida while she tries to find a way to make their lives work.The site linked above has a donation link if anyone feels moved to help out.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Campaign has a petition to support Constance. Basically, a bunch of random people online signing a letter to voice their disapproval to the members of the school board who have already proven themselves to be close-minded and duplicitous. I personally find myself dubious of the practical efficacy of such a move, but I can't think of anything better to try.
2. Glenn Beck. Still having some fun with Haiku Glenn Beck. Today, starting at 9AM US Eastern time, they're planning to tweet one "becku" per minute to Glenn Beck for 24 hours. Visitors can participate by selecting haikus to send. Again, I don't see what this is actually going to accomplish, but hey, it's fun.
The Stop Beck campaign seems more effective, having helped convince hundreds of sponsors to drop their ads from his show. In the UK, Beck's show has gone for two months without a single paid sponsor. Which is impressive. But also highlights a fundamental problem: Glenn Beck has too many viewers. People believe what he says. They watch avidly. And then they stick around for other Fox shows. And they'd probably be very upset if Fox "caved" and canceled the show. But still... it's a step towards accountability in our media.
I'm all for disagreement and debate. I don't want to close down the other side. But there should be consequences for spreading lies, fear, racism, and hatred.
Browse around the Stop Beck site. Read some quotes. While you're there, you can also look at things like the time he asked his viewers to chip in to buy him a Mercedes, or put up this picture of Jesus and Hitler (really!).
It has to stop somewhere. And Glenn Beck is a good place for that to start.
3. On the good side of things, there's Tom Coburn's town hall comments. After seeing that (especially his closing remarks), for all that I disagree with his politics, I find myself sorely tempted to support his next campaign.
Don’t just watch Fox News or CNN. Watch them both. I read two newspapers a day, New York Times and Washington Post. And in between, the Wall Street Journal. I get a perspective. I need to know what other people’s thoughts are. Not just what I hear through a pipe channel. So I would tell you, you got to hear it both so that you have, you can take it and receive the information in context. And I want to tell ya. I do a lot of reading every day and I’m disturbed that we get things like this lady said and others have said on other issues that are so disconnected to what I know to be the facts. And that comes from somebody who has an agenda that’s other than the best interest of our country. So, please balance and be careful as you take in. Make sure you get a balance. And listen to the other side because what it does it makes you a better person because now you see things in context from how other people might see it that are different from you.
That is the best and most sensible and right thing I have heard from a politician in far too long.
4. Back to the other side of things, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, who started out the year by stripping out the language banning discrimination based on sexual orientation (and then had the state attorney general send out a letter demanding that colleges do the same), has declared April "Confederate History Month" in his state. It's like he has a time machine or something.
5. Over to Texas. I believe I've mentioned this before. You've probably heard of it by now. But I'll take a sec to say it again. The Texas school board has voted to rewrite history books with a distinctly Religious Right agenda. This is important because Texas is one of the largest textbook markets in the country. Which has led a number of other states to simply adopt whatever standards Texas comes up with. In response, there's a petition directed to the major textbook publishers. I don't support the language they use. "Texas Taliban" is in no way appropriate, for one thing. And the default text is a little heavy-handed. But there are links to a couple of good articles on the subject. And not only can you edit the text of the letter, you are encouraged to do so. Again, I'm not sure what good an online petition will really do, but I'm hoping it will help. They're more likely to listen than the Mississippi school board, anyway.
6. Something else I may have mentioned before... You remember those ACORN videos that supposedly showed them helping people set up prostitution rings and such? Got a huge amount of media attention. Then law enforcement agencies looked into it and found out that the videos were a heavily edited hoax. Brooklyn released its findings a month ago. But that still didn't stop the attacks on ACORN. Funding was pulled, speeches were made. The organization filed bankruptcy and closed its doors. Now California has released the unedited tapes to the public. Video and commentary from Rachel Maddow here. The show's daily link roundup also includes links to the California official report and a video library. (Again, in general, The Rachel Maddow Show and the associated Maddow Blog come highly recommended.)
7. On the lighter side, from Countdown With Keith Olbermann, a bit of oddball fun.
8. Finally, the Obama administration unveiled a new US nuclear policy yesterday. We promise not to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states. Unless they're "outliers" like Iran and North Korea who have violated anti-proliferation treaties. Or unless they unleash large-scale chemical or biological attacks. Or, you know, the situation just seems to call for it. Still, it's a step in the right direction.
This comes in advance of a treaty between the US and Russia wherein both will agree to reduce their respective arsenals by about 30%. And an international conference on preventing bomb materials from reaching the black market.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
From:
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Now I just hope he has the strength to stand behind it.
From:
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And the only reason I think it's a little weird that people target Fox news is because no one will tell me why we aren't visibly targeting anything else? It's not like there's a reliable source of news anywhere in this country anymore. It's all opinion, and if it's all opinion, I'm sorry to say I don't give a damn what anyone says. Sad, eh?
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We need to learn to talk to each other again. To respect those with opposing views, even if we can't agree. To realize that having a different opinion of what's best for the country doesn't make one unpatriotic.
Media accountability is a big part of that. Even if we put different slants on things, we should at least be able to agree on the facts. To trust that what we're being told and shown is accurate. And to have it framed in a way that doesn't demonize the other side.
From where I sit, Fox News has been guiltier of that than most. Actively whipping up and promoting the Tea Party (and, in particular, its angrier segments) for one thing. (And yes, I'm aware that I'm looking at it through the same flawed lens. The grass is always
greenerbrowner on the other side of the fence.)But that's not to say that the other channels and media outlets aren't deeply flawed, too. The same guy who started StopBeck has also started DumpCNN and has called out MSNBC, for what it's worth.
Keith Olbermann has certainly gone over the top and crossed the line, if you'll pardon the mixed metaphor. Thankfully, Jon Stewart called him out on that... and Keith played the segment on his show, agreed that he'd gone too far, and has since dialed it back down. Not as much as perhaps I'd like, but at least back to something like sanity instead of outright bullying.
It it has to start somewhere. And the best rallying point is the most crucial target. From what I've seen, that is Glenn Beck. O'Reilly and Olbermann are one thing, but Beck is a whole other category.
I don't know. Can you think of a better way to get away from "it's all opinion" to "at least someone has the facts"? There are objective facts out there. There's what's actually in the bill and what isn't. There's the number of people who actually showed up at the rally. There's the bigger picture of what the rally actually looked and sounded like, instead of just the juiciest images and sound bytes. There's the fact that someone said that they believe X and the objective truth that they're mistaken.
The media will show us what we tell them we want to see. If it brings in viewers and sponsorships, they'll do it. If we show that something isn't acceptable to us... they might just change their ways.
It's not the idea of Fox as a conservative network that bothers me. We need a healthy debate. And I don't want to squash someone just for having the "wrong" opinion - that would not just be immoral, but a huge violation of our country/society's founding principles. What I want is... accountability. Standards. Truth. Responsibility. Civility. Sanity.
They're ideals, of course. We'll never reach that point. But it's something to work towards. Because, from where I stand, we're moving in the wrong direction. And that's got to change.
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From:
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What I like best about Rachel Maddow is that that is what she generally does. (Although I was disappointed that when she talked about the not so nice things Tom Coburn had said about her, she didn't mention the awesome things he'd said that same day which I linked above.) But her take on things (she does offer her opinion along with the facts, but she clearly delineates which is which) is probably not something you'd appreciate.
The best thing is probably what Coburn suggested - reading multiple sources.
All that said, there are two sources that I find more reliable: factcheck.org and ap.org.
Factcheck does what it says on the tin - they take prominent political stories and do an independent, non-partisan fact check. They're generally pretty good about it. I was disappointed when they cited the Lewin Group studies without mentioning that the Lewin Group is, quite literally, a wholly owned subsidiary of United Healthcare, the second largest insurance company in the country. It's a significant fact, especially when you consider that their findings in multiple studies have differed widely from those of more independent agencies. Still, it was more of a passing mention, made for the sake of completeness. And it's the only time I've been disappointed by them.
ap.org is the Associated Press. It's a huge non-partisan international pool of reporters, and though each reporter has his or her own slant, they generally try to stick to the facts. It's the source most media outlets use as the basis for their own stories. The problem is that they did away with The Wire, which let you see new headlines and top stories as they came in. Instead, the AP homepage lists the top four most linked stories and the most interesting pictures of the week. You can also search for any keyword. Actual stories are hosted by the web servers of local papers from all over.
So... neither is ideal, but they are reliable sources, and about as spin-free as it gets these days.
From:
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Maybe it's something to do with how liberals see things, what they believe. Maybe it's that Fox is an obvious target, as opposed to the larger and more amorphous "mainstream media." Maybe it's that Fox is so prominent, with such a large viewership and influence. Maybe it's that conservatives have felt the bias was against them for so long that they've simply decided it's futile. Maybe it's all of the above. Or something else entirely.
But...
If you think there are other outlets that should be targeted, perhaps you should do so.
It's not going to happen if you and those who share your views simply sit back and laugh at the very idea.