Trump/Bondi And The Media Double Standard

Ken AshfordElection 2016, Right Wing and Inept MediaLeave a Comment

Here is a timeline of events for your consideration. All of these events took place in 2013: Mid-late August: Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi “personally solicited a political contribution from Donald Trump” “several weeks” before Bondi’s “office publicly announced it was deliberating whether to join a multi-state lawsuit proposed by New York’s Democratic attorney general.” September 10: In an unusual … Read More

Fox Settles With Gretchen Carlson

Ken AshfordRight Wing and Inept MediaLeave a Comment

It’s over, although I don’t expect that corporate culture has changed at Fox News: 21st Century Fox has reached a $20 million settlement deal with Gretchen Carlson, the anchorwoman who sued Roger Ailes alleging harassment and retaliation in July. The eight-figure deal is likely to have consequences across corporate America. Fox also apologized to Carlson in a highly unusual public … Read More

Tantaros’ Complaint Against Fox News, O’Reilly, Ailes, and Others

Ken AshfordRight Wing and Inept Media, Sex Scandals, Sex/Morality/Family Values, Women's IssuesLeave a Comment

What kind of a place is Fox News?  These allegations keep on coming. Some excerpts: [C]ommencing in February 2016, Bill O’Reilly (“O’Reilly”), whom Tantaros had considered to be a good friend and a person from whom she sought career guidance, started sexually harassing her by, inter alia, (a) asking her to come to stay with him on Long Island where … Read More

A Bunch Of Funny Side Stories From This Week

Ken AshfordElection 2016, Local Interest, Republicans, Right Wing and Inept Media, Right Wing Punditry/IdiocyLeave a Comment

(1)  NC GOP CAN’T DO ANYTHING RIGHT, INCLUDING MOCKING DEMS When Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Tim Kaine addressed the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia Wednesday night, the North Carolina GOP thought it quickly spotted something wrong. When Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Tim Kaine addressed the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia Wednesday night, the North Carolina GOP thought it … Read More

Fox News Chairmen Roger Ailes Has Until August 1 To Resign….

Ken AshfordRight Wing and Inept MediaLeave a Comment

… or else he will be fired.  This comes on the heels of reports that Fox anchor Megyn Kelly has informed Fox management that she, too, like a Gretchen Carlson, has been sexually harassed by Ailes. New York magazine’s Gabriel Sherman reports: According to two sources briefed on parent company 21st Century Fox’s outside probe of the Fox News executive, led by … Read More

The Milli Vanilli of Fireworks

Ken AshfordRight Wing and Inept MediaLeave a Comment

I was on the National Mall on the Fourth and it was not what was broadcast: If you were watching Washington’s Fourth of July fireworks outside on Monday night and also happened to catch PBS’s broadcast of “A Capitol Fourth,” you might have noticed something looked…a little off. The actual weather in Washington was cloudy and misty, making it quite … Read More

Why Is Trump Running For President?

Ken AshfordElection 2016, Right Wing and Inept MediaLeave a Comment

Possible answer: Maybe he’s not. Vanity Fair reports that Trump is considering starting a cable news empire: The breakout media star of 2016 is, inarguably, Donald Trump, who has masterfully—and horrifyingly—demonstrated an aptitude for manipulating the news cycle, gaining billions of dollars worth of free airtime, and dominating coverage on every screen. Now, several people around him are looking for … Read More

No, Greta Van Susteran Is Not The “Smart” One At Fox News

Ken AshfordRight Wing and Inept Media, Science & TechnologyLeave a Comment

Why did they wait until NOW to release these? pics taken in 2015 and we pay their salaries in tax dollars https://t.co/hhXxrfsWEr — Greta Van Susteren (@greta) June 1, 2016 The last paragraph of the article she links to: Though the encounter took place more than 10 months ago, New Horizons is still beaming flyby data home, and likely won’t … Read More

Trump At War With Fox

Ken AshfordElection 2016, Republicans, Right Wing and Inept Media1 Comment

This may be the point where the fracture in the Republican Party becomes unfixable. You have a candidate who leads the GOP poll by double digits nationally, fighting with the media mouthpiece of the GOP in a bizarre carnival of testosterone. It’s the climax of a bizarre confrontation between the candidate and the dominant conservative news outlet. The first debate … Read More

Thoughts and Prayers

Ken AshfordGodstuff, Gun Control, Right Wing and Inept Media, War on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

There seems to be a backlash to this almost reflexive (and increasingly meaningless) response to mass shootings, best exemplified by the cover of today’s New York Daily News: There has also been a backlash to the backlash.  Christians got offended at what is being called “thoughts and prayers shaming”.  The Weekly Standard offered a headline that blared,“Liberal Outrage Over Prayers … Read More

Nice Vetting, Fox News

Ken AshfordRight Wing and Inept MediaLeave a Comment

CNN reports: Wayne Simmons, a recurring guest on Fox News who claimed to have 27 years of experience with the CIA, was arrested Thursday after being indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that he lied about his service. Simmons is accused of falsely claiming that he worked as an “outside paramilitary special operations officer” for the CIA from … Read More

Jorge Ramos Commits A Heinous Act Of Journalism

Ken AshfordElection 2016, Immigration and Xenophobia, Right Wing and Inept MediaLeave a Comment

So Trump gave another news conference last night that was an exercise in rudeness. Basically what happened was this: Jorge Ramos, the Univision anchor and journalist, extensively squabbled with Donald Trump twice in testy exchanges at a news conference before his rally here Tuesday, with a security officer at one point ejecting Ramos from the event. “Go back to Univision,” … Read More

The Dishonest Attack On Shaun King

Ken AshfordRace, Right Wing and Inept MediaLeave a Comment

I saw this story bubbling a couple days ago, and even the mainstream media was touching it.  Certainly, Fox was.  It has to do with the race of a #BlackLivesMatter activist named Shaun King.  In the blogosphere, Breitbart “News” seems to have launched a virulent attack Shaun King, alleging that he’s been lying about his heritage like Rachel Dolezal, and is … Read More

Megyn Kelly – Donald Trump Dust

Ken AshfordElection 2016, Right Wing and Inept MediaLeave a Comment

I really dislike Megyn Kelly.  I think her politics are terrible, and she doesn’t carry even the semblance of being “fair and balanced”.  But she was an excellent moderator and while I don’t think that questions about “elect-ability”  are the best questions for a presidential debate, she treated everyone equally.  And even for a conservative, she’s better and smarter than the … Read More