How I became a Fox News watcher

Anybody who pays an ounce of attention to American news knows that Fox News Channel (FNC) has a polarizing affect on those of us in the country who delve into the daily news cycles. People love and hate the network, but not necessarily across strict party and ideological lines. But those who hate the channel wage a near constant crusade against its existence. My path to trusting FCN to deliver news in commentary followed a long and windy trail, and I feel like sharing that story.

I grew up in a house that indulged in the twenty-four hour news cycle. My childhood has memories of many nights of doing homework while my father sat at the end of the kitchen table smoking a cigarette while watching Peter Jennings, David Brinkley, or Crossfire and not uncommonly yelling at the television under an impulse that overshadows the fact that nobody on the screen could hear him. In my college years, I didn't really have the luxury of time to follow the daily cycles of the news. But towards the end of my college days, I began to make it a point to carve out a little slice of time regularly to watch the news. I tuned into MSNBC, not for any real reason besides I had seen plenty of CNN growing up, and I figured why not try something new. For humor, I started to tune into the Daily Show with Craig Kilborn. Every night of that show offered a good laugh or two that make it worth watching.

When I finally graduated I had the most of amount of free time available to me since five years prior, after a day's work I had my nights free to follow current events more closely. I stuck with MSNBC. In 1999, Chris Matthews hosted (and still hosts) a show called Hardball. He passionately offered opinion and commentary I found insightful and informative. Brian Williams anchored the chair for the nightly news on MSNBC's sister network, CNBC, and I liked the way he delivered the nightly news more than the traditional anchors. The NBC network was clearly grooming him for Tom Brokaw's spot for when the day came that he retired. Matthews, a Democrat, willingfully challenged the leadership of his own party. He criticized President Bill Clinton's conduct in the Lewinsky scandal, pardoning of the FLAN terrorists, and Whitewater just to name a few. Having read Matthews' books, I knew his heart lied (and still lies) strongly with the positions espoused by the Democrat Party. I knew it took guts to voice opposition in such a way in the face of his critics calling him a traitor. MSNBC also offered commentary shows by Dan Abrams and Jerry Nachman. Abrams had a soft spoken manner that presented a delicate approach to discussing issues. Nachman had a no-nonsense type of approach to issues that I really appreciated. (Tragically, he died at the age of 57 battling cancer in 2004.) Lester Hull seemed to do a good job in his reporting. I continued to tune into the Daily Show on Comedy Central. By then, John Stewart had taken over the show, and in my opinion took an already good show and made it better, always good for a few laughs.

Then, 9/11 happened. Like every American, I felt sad, angry, and vulnerable all at the same time. A young, attractive, and sharp Canadian-American Ashley Banfield rose from a moderately known reporter to a star in the media world. She went straight to Afghanistan in the wake of 9/11 and speaking fluent Arabic languages provided very insightful, up-close and personal coverage of what was happening there. MSNBC's team had done exactly what a twenty-four hour cable news network needed for the American public and for me. They stayed with us through the months after 9/11 making me feel like I was informed about the status of how the United States and the rest of the world exhibited resiliency in the face of the horror we confronted. MSNBC was MY network. It wasn't my only source of news. Nobody should rely on a single source, but they were by far my favorite. Unfortunately, a rift grew between MSNBC and Banfield, and some in-house politics led to the ending of her journalistic career in news. Shortly thereafter Keith Olbermann started with MSNBC as well as Joe Scarborough. Olbermann offered a hip entertaining presentation of the news, and Scarborough provided commentary from a point of view that often shared.

Then came 2004. It was the year of a hotly contested election, which presented the contest between incumbent George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry. The polling showed the two neck and neck, but in the end Bush won reelection. It didn't happen quite as fast as the flip of a switch, but in very short order, many of the MSNBC pundits began taking a very sharp tone, almost combative with anyone who dared not share their ideas across a wide range of issues. Some of their rhetoric became downright spiteful, mean, and insulting. These weren't my old lovable anchors and commentators from MSNBC any longer. They weren't the people with whom I would commonly disagree on ideology but still trust to deliver reliable reporting and researched opinion. Something had changed, and as I viewer I really felt uninvited to watch. Olbermann got to the point where he would yell about the ineptitude and stupidity of people who disagreed with him. Matthews would spend entire shows just digging and digging at every mistake of the administration and try to sensationalize them to an extent that really didn't add much insight. Scarborough just didn't seem to have the same spark.

So after years of loyal viewing of MSNBC, I decided to change the channel. I went back to the name I recognized from my childhood. The name in news that brought coverage of the first Iraq war, the Gulf War, by way of Bernard Shaw reporting from underneath a table while Bagdad sustained bombing. CNN had changed quite a bit since my childhood, but it seemed to have its merits. I liked what they had done with Crossfire. They extended the show to an hour and changed to a live audience. Even better, they filmed it in DC where I lived. I could reserve a ticket to the show online for free, head down to George Washington University, and watch a show live. What a treat! Crossfire's ratings didn't really sustain the levels of their competition, so the network pulled the plug on it. Oh well. None of the other anchors were really captivating. Wold Blitzer seemed to compete for the worlds best softball tosser. He could never outmatch Larry King in that arena, but he clearly didn't have what it takes to put an interviewee on his or her heels. Anderson Cooper seemed at least un-offensively biased. Overall I didn't get much depth from CNN's programming. It really just seemed to function as an ineffective branch of the Democrat Party's PR relations. CNN had Glenn Beck on the air, but the network ostracized him as some kind of cancer for simply speaking his mind. On the comedy side of things, John Stewart of the Daily Show just recycled the theme of George W. Bush being and idiot over and over and over again, and his humor became too predictable and too partisan for me to find enjoyable.

So I changed the channel once again. This time, I landed on FNC. I held some reluctance because it had the reputation of a network that Conservatives and Libertarians preferred. Identifying myself as some hybrid of those two, I figured I would primarily get information with which I frequently agreed and didn't find much reason to challenge. Their lineup included Neil Cavuto reporting on business news, Brit Hume and Shephard Smith reporting the national news, Bill O'Reilly expressing views all across the political landscape but probably falling Center-Right on the spectrum, Sean Hannity and Allen Colmes bringing Conservative and Liberal points of view to commentary and debate, and a seemingly Center-Left Gretta Van Susteren. After making habit of watching, I really didn't see why the hatred and badmouthing of network existed. It represented all points of view and the reporting went straight down the line. It REALLY was fair and balanced. Thinking back to the other networks I had watched, I could then understand why so many viewed FNC as a Conservative sympathetic media. If you come from the perspective of a viewer of CNN, MSNBC, PBS, or any of the OTA (Over The Air) broadcast networks, you probably would have viewed FNC as Right, but the fallacy in that view lies in the fact that every other news network leans very far to the Left! Something else I noticed, the most vociferously outspoken critics of FNC never laid claim to ever watching it. It makes one ask what is it that they fear people learning so much that they want to shut such a network down? After a few months of watching, I concluded yep, I trust this network the most to deliver news and commentary. They didn't toss softballs to the Left while pitching fastballs to the Right. They pitched fastballs at everybody. And something existed on FNC that I had never seen represented anywhere else in news, particularly on Hannity and Colmes' show. While bitter rivals in the arena of political talk, they put on the show as the best of friends. They demonstrated a very important aspect of American Exceptionalism: that my neighbor may think very differently than I, but I will still love my neighbor on the basis of a common understanding that we put our humanity above government and politics.

In recent years, I think anyone has to fairly admit that certain aspects of FNC have drifted more towards Conservative and Libertarian content in their commentary. They've added Glenn Beck to the lineup, who provides very thoroughly researched commentary from a Conservative/Libertarian point of view. Alan Colmes decided to leave Hannity and Colmes, leaving Hannity to carry the show on his own, thus making it a Conservative commentary show. FNC also added Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld to their late night lineup, a comedy and political talk show hybrid, that brought a fast paced dynamic humor that transcends the monotony of the Daily Show. Bret Baier has taken over Special Report after Hume's semi-retirement, and has continued the unbiased reporting.

If not for FOX news, no major media outlet would deliver valuable perspectives that the American public deserves to have. I wish the people who routinely bash FNC would give it an honest chance. They might surprise themselves. If any news organization actually deserves the pointed rhetoric, the NBC affiliates without question do. General Electric owns those corporations as a parent company and stands to benefit financially from policy advocated by the Obama administration. Jefferey Immelt, CEO of GE, serves on the President's economic advisory council. This presents a real conflict of interest on their part with respect to reporting and making commentary upon the news. MSNBC has also purposefully edited footage in such a manner as to present complete falsehood as fact. But here we are, having to defend FNC.

Northrop Grumman & the DC 2010 Elections

This November brings Republican challengers running for the DC
council: Mark Morgan (Ward One), Tim Day (Ward Five), and David
Hedgepeth (Ward Three). Each stands to gain if they use Northrop
choosing VA for its corporate headquarters over DC (and MD) as an
illustration of policies not providing a business friendly
environment. For example, VA is a Right-To-Work state. DC is not.
VA has lower taxes. VA legislators don't frequently land the front
page in scandals. Northrop’s highly paid professionals will buy $6
Starbucks lattes across the river rather than stimulating the economy
of the District. Small business owners tell me DC has a very business
hostile climate. This costs the city new jobs and economic growth.
If GOP candidates hone in on this theme and residents open their minds
to people with an R next to their names, DC’s legislative landscape
could change for the better this November.

Ben Stien & God

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees.. I don't feel threatened.. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto... In fact, I kind of like it It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a crèche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking..

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'

In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it..

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.


My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,
Ben Stein

Memorial Day - Support Our Troops

http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/

One US legislator asked a child on a school trip visiting the US capital what Memorial Day means. That child replied by saying that the pools open for their first day of the Summer season. That floored US legislator so hard that he initiated legislation to have a moment of recognition at 3:00 p.m. every Memorial Day for people to pause and reflect on what Memorial Day really means, honoring the many US servicemen and servicewomen who defend this great nation as well as many others.

We live amongst heroes who put aside plans for education, put life and limb in harms way, and spend long amounts of time away from their friends and family at home. Their sacrifice makes one that those of us who have never served could never fully understand.

I hold them up as heroes although many of them would ask that we not do, and I proudly say that I support our troops. And to put meaning to words I donate to a non-profit organization that helps our wounded veterans returning from the battlefield. Many such organizations exist and do great work. I, personally, donate to the Wounded Warrior Project who's mantra reads, "The greatest casualty is being forgotten." Please forgive me for not listing all such organizations, I do not mean to suggest that only WWP does such great work. If you do want to contribute to an organization that helps our wounded veterans, WWP provides a greate way to contribute.

Greivances Against the First 100 Days

1. Tripling the projected national debt in two months: $9.3 trillion by 2010.

2. Bailing out the auto industry followed by firing Rick Wagner (the CEO of General Motors) while taking no action against the UAW whatsoever.

3. Giving AIG corporate executives million dollar bonuses after accepting the second highest amount of donations for his 2008 Presidential campaign and then subsequently doing the same for the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac executives, but with even larger amounts of bonus money.

4. Failing to adopt the objectives of T. Boone Pickens' plan to move the country towards energy independence.

5. Allowing Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to empower the Treasury beyond the limits of the Constitution. This includes capping employee pay, direct modification of employer-employee contracts, and powers to seize companies of the private sector that he, "perceives to be a threat," to the economy.

6. Taking steps towards closing Guantanamo Bay for the mere purpose of international political gain, while having no real plan about what to do with the detainees after closing it.

7. Putting not one single person in charge of the economic recovery who has ever run a business, not even unsuccessfully. Here's the list: Barack Obama himself, Sen. Chris Dodd, Sec. Geithner, Rep. Charlie Ranlge, Rep. Barney Frank, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Sn. Harry Reid. (It's probably a good idea for a referee to have played a sport before officiating it. You think?)

8. Spending time an energy on interviews to boost popularity rather than concentrating on the economy: The Tonight Show, 60 minutes, and two press conferences taking questions overwhelmingly from well-known softball tossers.

9. While visiting Europe, President Obama states a desire to create a nuclear free world while Iran aggressively pursues a nuclear weapon and North Korea launched a test rocket at the same moment during which he have the speech.

10. Shaking hands with Hugo Chavez with a big smile of enthusiasm on his face, hence creating a perception of America's approval of Chavez' dictatorial practices of confiscating Venezuela's oil industry, nationalizing the press and media, and executing people who speak unfavorably about him.

11. Providing $140 billion in bailout funds to General Electric, a company (Jeffrey Immelt, CEO and Chairman of General Electric) with whom the Obama administration is currently engaging in negotiations for managing all Cap and Trade money transactions, while GE also continues to to fund and pedal the grossly biased and hate spewing of MSNBC and undertook contract work with Iran while Iran supported insurgent activity in Iraq leading to the deaths and injuries to many brave American servicemen and servicewomen.

12. Releasing the Top Secret documents describing CIA interrogation techniques that lead to the interception of a terrorist attack upon Los Angeles.

Positives
1. Escalating troop levels within Afghanistan
2. Taking a new approach to relations with Cuba

April 15th, The FairTax, and Tax Day Tea Party

The United States federal tax code has a reached a level of such complexity, no single person could spend an entire lifetime to fully understand it. Even recent appointees to Barack Obama's cabinet had so much trouble with the tax code that they didn't file properly. (e.g. Geithner, Daschle, Killifer) If the typical taxpaying citizen hired several accounting firms to process his/her return, chances are that each of those firms would report different figures. In fact, that's not a hypothetical. It's actually happened. And that fact just reveals the tip of the iceberg. The cost of compliance has become a dreadful weight upon the US economy, all the way from the typical head of the household filing personal incoming taxes to the businesses that augment the prices of their products and services just to pay for their efforts of compliance. The FairTax is not a tax cut, nor is it a tax raise. It is a tax replacement that makes the federal taxing system more efficient. The FairTax addresses these problems and so many others.

You may have skepticism, or you may have a great deal of excitement. Either way, read the book, The FairTax Book, which outlines the plan. At the very least, you'll learn something that you may not already know, regardless of whether you end up supporting the FairTax or not.

Furthermore, unlike the ignorant, megalomaniac Janeane Garofalo thinks, the Tax Day Tea Parties representing the central theme of citizens uniting to tell the government to stop spending our money in wreckless bailouts and political payoffs disguised as economic stimulus. The people who have essentially become rookie protesters in this movement are true patriots to American values.

Confronting Tyrants - Naivety Makes a Poor Weapon of Choice

Define irony: President Barak Obama speaks to Europe about his desire the denuclearize the world in way of weapons while North Korea simultaneously fires a test rocket over the Pacific Ocean.

"We have been talking about this since the Clinton administration, and they have been building nuclear weapons and building better and better missiles while we keep talking, and one morning like 9-11, there's going to be a big disaster and we're going to say, 'why didn't anyone think about that?'" -Newt Gingrich

You may not care too much for former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, but you cannot deny the reality of what he says. During the Clinton administration, the US sent so called humanitarian money to North Korea, and to no big surprise, the people of North Korea did not receive benefits from that aid. Strangely enough, during that same time period, North Korea revealed the greatest advancement in their weaponry since the Korean War. It doesn't take a nuclear physicist to conclude that this timeline dosn't just make a coincidence; North Korea (Do I even need to insert the word, "probably," here?) used that money to develop their nuclear capabilities. The UN has imposed sanctions upon Iran for greater than 14 years, but the country's leadership hasn't changed direction in its efforts to strengthen their nuclear capabilities, and the sanctions hurt the people of Iran to a far greater extend that the country's leadership.

2006 Washington Post opinion article describing sanctions against Iran:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/29/AR2006032902003.html

2003 article criticizing Bill Clinton for his role in North Korea's nuclear program:http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/1/7/164846.shtml

North Korea and Iran persist as totalitarian regimes in the world. They don't persist as the only two either. They want to nuclearize, and while they may create the perception that they don't have those programs progressing, they have repeatedly demonstrated that they fully intend to continue to do so.

You cannot confront a bully with kindness, and bullies run these totalitarian regimes: Kim Jon Il and Ahmedenejad. When Obama announces his desire for the world to denuclearize, he naively thinks that he will create a world without nuclear weapons. While this may create a pleasing fantasy for free countries, it does not guarantee the non-existence of nuclear weapon programs across every corner of the globe whether conducted by North Korea, Iran, or another country or organization.


Imagine a world where Iran has a nuclear weapon and nobody else does. Think about freedom of speech and religion. Think about equality of women. Think about society as Americans know it.


We could find ourselves as ushering in a new era of totalitarian dominance if President Obama achieve what he wants.