News Roundup for 7/18/11
LEAVE RUPERT ALONE!!
-Headline of the Day-
“News Corp.-owned media outlets say people are overreacting to News Corp. scandal.”
Have you heard about the latest “scandal of the month?” Pffft! Something about hacking and phones and who even cares? It’s all way too high-tech for you to understand and it’s just liberal hippies attacking conservative media anyway, so you should probably just ignore the whole thing, all right? Now shut up and eat your Casey Anthony “news.”
That’s News Corp’s take on the scandal rocking a little company called… Let’s see here… “News Corp.” Tempest in a teapot. The Wall Street Journal has an editorial about how everyone’s blowing everything out of proportion. “We… trust that readers can see through the commercial and ideological motives of our competitor-critics,” writes the WSJ editorial board. “The Schadenfreude is so thick you can’t cut it with a chainsaw.”
Oh poor News Corp!
But it was Fox News that really brought the stupid (a safe bet in any situation), with a segment on their morning show that’s such unbelievable bullshit that you wish there was a stronger word for bullshit. Fox & Friends not only wondered what the big deal was, but through very cautious wording, left the impression that it was News of the World that was hacked, instead of being the hacker.
WSJ complains that Murdoch detractors “want their readers to believe, based on no evidence, that the tabloid excesses of one publication somehow tarnish thousands of other News Corp. journalists across the world.”
Oh, you guys are providing us with plenty of evidence. I point you again to the brainless Fox & Friends and their lame attempt to confuse the issue.
If they’re typical of your “thousands of other News Corp. journalists across the world,” then you’ve got nothing worth defending. (Salon’s War Room)
-The things that really matter-
The deadline for raising the debt ceiling is bearing down on us, so House Republicans decided it was time to take on the scourge of curly light bulb last week. Because nothing in the world is more important than giving Americans the freedom to buy crappy, inefficient, money-leaking light bulbs if they so choose. And so, the GOP’s message is this:
Click to embiggen
Any questions? (McClatchy)
-Bonus HotD-
“Sarah Palin Movie Boasts Solid 0% Rating On Rotten Tomatoes.”
That means no good independent review anywhere. Worst. Movie. Ever. (Wonkette)
Stories to Watch: 7/16/11
It’s going to get hot up here. Well, that is, hot for up here. We’re talking mid to high 90s. We’re not used to this stuff. We’ll puff up like the pasty white Pillsbury Doughboys most of us are. So get used to hearing us complain a lot about that. Now here’s the news…
More details emerge about Team Obama’s reelection fundraising. If Republicans don’t read that and worry, they should.
Speaking of Obama, he threw Elizabeth Warren under the bus last night. No word on who will be nominated in her place to lead a consumer protection bureau. Of course, anyone who’s not a rabid teabagger won’t have any easier time being confirmed, so it’s hard to see the point in dropping Warren.
House GOP leadership turn to Rep. Paul Ryan to talk some sense into freshman on the debt limit. Probably not the worst idea ever.
Wow. The race to recall Wisconsin Democratic state Senator Dave Hansen just got really, really weird. The Republican running against him, David VanderLeest, has to deny smoking crack and a history of domestic abuse. The problem is, there’s a paper trail. Also, when denying you’re a crack head, saying “I don’t smoke rock” is less than convincing. Vanderleest’s interview with Wisconsin Public Radio’s Joy Cardin is here.
What’s more important than raising the debt ceiling for House Republicans? Stopping the evil that is curly light bulbs.
The woman behind the News of the World phone hacking scandal, Rebekah Brooks, gets a £3.5m golden parachute. That’s about $5.6 million.
Murdoch’s ties to British PM David Cameron are almost certain to cause Cameron trouble.
Finally, the Ninth Circuit Court upholds a ban on discharges under DADT.
