January 2011

A new poll released by Public Policy Polling has found that Fox News is no longer the trusted news source:

Maybe America is waking up? Well not entirely. The poll did find that 67% of Republicans trust Fox, while only 22% of Democrats did. Fox also gets the most trust in the over 65 age group, with 48% trusting them. That number also isn’t shocking, but it is disturbing given the higher voter turn out for the 65+ age group.

The New York Times has run a lengthy profile on Tucson Shooter Jared Loughner, but out of the seven pages there is one part that caught the eye of Matt Drudge:

This part of the complex puzzle of “who is Jared Loughner” appears on page 3 of the article:

He became intrigued by antigovernment conspiracy theories, including that the Sept. 11 attacks were perpetrated by the government and that the country’s central banking system was enslaving its citizens. His anger would well up at the sight of President George W. Bush, or in discussing what he considered to be the nefarious designs of government.

OK – so not only does he hate Bush, but he was also a truther. But apparently Drudge couldn’t read past that paragraph to notice this part:

“I think he feels the people should be able to govern themselves,” said Ms. Figueroa, his former girlfriend. “We didn’t need a higher authority.”

Just like deciphering the start of a problem in grade school, you always got to look deep into the facts to distill rightwing rhetoric. Since the Tucson shooting the right has strummed up the chorus to scream and shout that the left needs to stop politicizing the event. While there was some politicization from the left, none of it has been as vitriolic as that coming from the right. It’s the old “practice what I preach, not what I do” rhetoric we have sadly become used to.

I pointed some of this out earlier this week when wingnut blogger Jim Hoft started a big stink saying that President Obama lied at the memorial service when he said Gabby Giffords first opened her eyes. It got so bad that the doctors actually had to stop treating patients to go out and answer questions about it, backing up what the President said. Of course to the right these doctors are nothing but leftist liars, which is really ironic when you think about how the right always says doctors hate Obama because of health care reform.

Sadly though that smear was just the start of it. Jim Hoft is continuing to point out the evils of the memorial event:

Just when you think popular right wing blogger Jim “Dim” Hoft (Gateway Pundit) couldn’t possibly post anything more stupid than his last post, he finds a way to take it to the next level of numbskullitude.

Today’s entry in the “Hoft Chronicles of Sheer Stoopit” has him trying to claim that the White House prompted the audience to applaud at the “Together We Thrive” memorial (with his usual taste and class, Hoft calls it a “pep rally”): If White House Was Surprised by Applause at Tucson Pep Rally… Why Did They Ask For It On Jumbotron?

This has to be one of the worst smears in the history of smears:

In one of the most cynical displays in recent memory, following the lead of Gateway Pundit Jim Hoft, several  conservative websites - including Fox Nation and MRC arm CNS News - suggested that President Obama lied last night when he said that Rep. Giffords had opened her eyes for the first time shortly after his Wednesday night visit to the hospital.

In a recently-completed press conference, Giffords' doctor Peter Rhee explained that what Obama said last night about Giffords opening her eyes was "true."

In response to a question from a reporter about previous statements that Giffords could open her eyes, Rhee and Dr. B Michael Lemole, Section Chief of Neurosurgery at University Medical Center in Tuscon, explained the important distinction. Namely, Giffords previously opened her eyes in response to "stimulus," and yesterday she opened them spontaneously, which represented a "major milestone" in her recovery.

This week we have heard repeatedly from the right that the left has been “politicizing” the tragedy in Tucson. While some on the left have, the right has also engaged in this. Right here is a perfect example of that and also one of the most vile. For the doctors to have to address this when they should be caring for patients shows just how hot this issue became – an issue based on lies and hatred towards our President.