Category Archives: Media Watch

Why comments about Matthew Perry’s death give us hope

Matthew Perry

Since 54 year-old actor Matthew Perry died in his hot tub last Saturday, the medical examiner in charge has not yet released a specific cause of death. As usual, however, that has not stopped online commenters from coming up with their own theories, some of them qualifying as conspiracies. The most boneheaded such theory thus far, which can be seen on various social media platforms, is that Perry died because he previously received the COVID vaccination. One such example found on Reddit (which appears to have been reposted from Twitter/X), was phrased like this:

I wanna ignore it but I can’t, Matthew Perry was vaccinated. Is it a coincidence?

Note that the theory was posed in the form of “I’m just asking the question.” Jon Stewart once made fun of the frequent use of this technique by Neil Cavuto and others at Fox “News.” Such a qualifier lets folks raise any crazy, groundless theory they want, e.g., “Was Matthew Perry abducted by space aliens, then returned to his hot tub to die?”

The twist here, however, is that commenters who replied to this online theory about Matthew Perry and the COVID vaccination almost uniformly slammed the people who put it forth. Here are just some of those reply comments:

The state of U.S. Republicans

Republican behavior

At a time when the United States is being called upon to lead in the dangerous crisis between Israel and Gaza, U.S. Republicans are locked in their own civil war, and have been unable to choose a Speaker of the House of Representatives.

During this dangerous crisis, Donald Trump has taken the side of terrorists against our ally Israel.

One Republican U.S. Senator has blocked the U.S. from filling crucial military posts, including 12 leadership posts at U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which protects U.S. allies and interests in the Middle East.

Another Republican U.S. Senator says the U.S. should bomb Iran‘s oil fields and refineries, which would create a worldwide oil panic that would cause oil and gasoline prices to go through the roof.

Republicans are acting like the drunks at the bar whose car keys need to get taken away before they can get behind the wheel and kill someone. They are proving over and over again that they are unfit to govern.

So let’s not hear the media refer to “Democrats in Disarray” ever again.

Photo by Sharon Mollerus, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/x30dGq

Senator Robert Menendez must resign, but not for the reason you think

U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ)

By now, many people know that U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, is in big legal trouble, again. This time, the allegations leading to the latest corruption charges against Menendez look bad, including bribery payments to the Senator in cash and gold in return for his interfering with criminal cases and giving illegal special favors, even to the government of Egypt. As a result, there have been widespread calls for Menendez to resign, including from many Democrats. Indeed, about half of Menendez’ Democratic U.S. Senate colleagues, as well as New Jersey County Chairs and others, have now called for him to step down. It’s fair to say that such calls have grown louder and are gaining momentum.

At the same time, it’s true that in America, everyone accused of a crime is deemed under the law to be innocent until proven guilty. Moreover, it is not illegal to keep cash and even gold in one’s home; plenty of people do it. Thus, an argument can be made (and Sen. Menendez is making it forcefully, while pleading not guilty to the charges) that it’s unfair for him to have to resign unless and until he is found guilty of the crimes of which he has been accused. Unfortunately, however, neither the court of public opinion nor the U.S. Senate is a court of law, and there are powerful reasons why Menendez must resign right away.

Howard Stern, the Democrats’ new best friend

Howard Stern, woke this week

Usually, blunt and crude radio personalities like Howard Stern are not great Democratic role models. That’s because they will often make “edgy” remarks about women, minorities or cultural issues to get a laugh, a reaction and/or higher ratings. This week, however, Stern made comments — not once, but twice — that would cause a Democrat to blush with pride.

First, on his SiriusXM satellite radio show this past Monday, Stern went off on Republicans’ pathological use of the term “woke” as a criticism of Democratic values.:

I kind of take that as a compliment, that I’m ‘woke.’ … To me, the opposite of ‘woke’ is being asleep…. And if ‘woke’ means I can’t get behind [Donald Trump], which is what I think it means, or that I support people who want to be transgender, or I’m for the vaccine — dude, call me ‘woke’ as you f‑‑‑ing want.

As to the Trump supporters who most often use the “woke” term against Democrats, Stern said:

I want to read legitimate news sources. Here’s how ‘woke’ I am: I believe the election was not rigged.

Continuing on the subject of the latest updated COVID vaccine (which many Republicans criticize as “woke,”), Stern added that he recently received it:

I’m not for stupidity…. F‑‑‑in’ science. This f‑‑‑ing country is so great…. I am ‘woke,’ motherf‑‑‑er. And I love it.

As if this weren’t enough to endear Stern to Democrats and rational Independents, on Monday he also attacked MAGA Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert for her recent tawdry behavior, which included vaping, groping with her date, taking selfies, etc. in a crowded Denver theater, all of which got the pair kicked out. Responding to a caller who brought up the topic, Stern said:

Lauren Boebert is a disgrace to this country! Forget the politics. She’s in a ti–y dress. She’s with some dude. Looks like she’s obviously vaping, but also looks like she might be grabbing his p—s during ‘Beetlejuice.’

Stern also reportedly “ripped [Boebert] for being a liar after she initially denied that she vaped during the musical.” According to Stern:

I don’t know what’s going on in Colorado. What are they — just got dumb people in Colorado. How do you elect someone like her? …. I mean, how did she win an election? How does a woman like that win an election? You know, there’s certain standards. Once you get caught lying like that, goodbye!

While we would likely choose different language, on this occasion at least, Howard Stern demonstrated to Democrats how to go on offense against the Republicans. For this, he deserves our applause and our attention.

Photo by Bill Norton, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/sRfPnu

“Coward Trump” chickens out of Republican presidential debate

Coward Trump

Donald Trump has announced that he will not participate in the first Republican presidential primary debate for the 2024 election, which is scheduled for tomorrow night on Fox “News.” Instead, Trump reportedly has been interviewed by Tucker Carlson, who was booted from Fox and now releases content on Elon Musk‘s X platform (formerly Twitter). The Trump-Carlson interview is set to air at the same time as the Republican debate. Furthermore, Trump’s statement indicated that he “will therefore not be doing the debates!” That sounds like Donald Trump won’t participate in any Republican presidential primary debate this year or next year.

Trump’s chickening out from the GOP debate is a great opportunity to attack him as a coward. Chris Christie, who is one of the only Republican presidential candidates courageous enough to take on Trump forcefully and directly, is doing just that. While recently sharing an article containing Trump’s debate pullout announcement, Christie wrote:

Surprise, surprise… the guy who is out on bail from four jurisdictions and can’t defend his reprehensible conduct, is running scared and hiding from the debate stage.

Trump—certified loser, verified coward.

Really, the Democrats could not do better than to quote Christie and repeat his vicious attacks on Donald Trump.

Indeed, Republican voters love a good authoritarian fascist dictator, but such a figure must be perceived as strong to be credible or effective. Attacking “Coward Trump” as being fearful and a “chicken” undercuts this image. Perhaps such cowardice could be Trump’s Achilles heel.

Photo by thetortmaster, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/LhtUYI

Is this the best Reddit comment ever?

Fox “News” promoting GOP Culture War

One of the positives about the Reddit social media platform is that there are so many “subreddits,” each covering a specific topic, that anyone can either search or browse and then do a deep dive into a particular subject. For example, in the politics area, there are subreddits for folks of all political stripes, and even particular subreddits regarding certain political media outlets. It was in one such subreddit, r/TheMajorityReport (which covers The Majority Report, a progressive daily political talk radio show featuring host Sam Seder), where recently we found what may be the clearest and best comment describing how Republicans practice their cynical politics.

The particular Reddit background discussion leading to the comment concerned the appearance of Ana Kasparian of another political media outlet, The Young Turks, on Fox “News.” Ana is a former progressive who has moved towards the political right. Fox loves to feature such former lefties and use them as tools to bash the Democrats. Here’s the self-explanatory title of the Reddit discussion in question:

Fox News: Progressive journo Ana Kasparian unleashes on left’s obsession with ‘garbage’ identity politics: ‘I’m done’

After the jump, see the great comment that one Reddit user left:

Is this the greatest political ad ever made?

Several days ago, Progress Action Fund, which “produces & runs ads to defeat Republicans in swing districts,” came out swinging in Ohio with one of the most hard-hitting political ads we’ve ever seen. Here‘s the ad on YouTube (if you can’t view it below, the previous link also goes to to ad), entitled “Ohio Republicans in Your Bedroom”:

This 30-second ad features a scantily-clad couple in bed, kissing and embracing. The woman asks the man if he has a condom. He reaches for one in a drawer, and all of a sudden another hand grabs it away. It’s a scary-looking old man in a suit, who says:

Sorry, you can’t use those…. I’m your Republican Congressman. Now that we’re in charge, we’re banning birth control.

The woman then shouts at the Congressman:

This is our decision, not yours. Get out of our bedroom!

What to do when the media ignore President Biden’s accomplishments?

President Joe Biden

This past Monday, President Joe Biden held an event at the White House where he unveiled a more than $42 billion investment in high-speed broadband internet around the country. According to President Biden, this funding comes from both the American Rescue Plan (signed into law in March 2021) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (signed in November 2021).  The President indicated that the legislation passed thus far included “$25 billion for high-speed Internet in places where it was out of reach, for schools and libraries to help students connect to the internet if they couldn’t do it at home.” Now, says President Biden, the new funding will “be distributed to 50 states, Washington, D.C., and territories to deliver high-speed Internet in places where there’s neither service or it’s too slow.” The breakdown of such funding includes, for example, over $3.3 billion dedicated to Texas, over $1.8 billion to California, and more than $1.1 billion for Florida.

The President’s broadband investment plan is designed to “connect every person in America to reliable high-speed Internet by 2030.” However, President Biden stated that:

[I]t’s not enough to have access. You need affordability in addition to access. That’s why we worked with internet service providers to bring down prices for Americans struggling with internet payments. It’s called the Affordable Connectivity Program. It’s helping 19 million families save around $30 a month on their internet bills, and some save a lot more.

In short, this was a very important announcement about something that improves people’s lives and helps individuals, students, businesses and others conduct their activities more efficiently. It’s great for our economy and will create jobs as well.

However, at least according to a number of people (such as Mastodon user Kailee @skykiss@sfba.social), “[n]ot a single news outlet aired President Biden’s event.” If that is the case, the fault lies in several places, including with the news media, the Biden administration, Democratic leaders in Congress and in the states, and elsewhere.

Titanic submersible missing: is it news?

Submersible vehicle of the type that is now missing

By now, many people know that a submersible vehicle that set out from St. John’s, Newfoundland on Sunday with five people aboard to explore the wreckage of the Titanic went missing after one hour and 45 minutes into its Atlantic Ocean dive. A search operation by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Royal Canadian Air Force is underway, with France also sending a ship to assist. This operation is a race against the clock, as the occupants only have about 70 to 96 hours of emergency air supply.  CNN is running a live feed on its website, with updates as they occur. [NOTE: given the potential for fast-changing events here, this blog post is also subject to updates, and therefore may not reflect the latest developments].

While this story is no doubt a human interest story that elicits empathy in many people (though some might scoff at the wealthy privileged occupants who paid $250,000 each for a close-up view of the Titanic), is it really a news story? Does it contain any wider implications for our lives?

Chuck Todd out at ‘Meet the Press’: will the propaganda end?

Chuck Todd and Nicolle Wallace on MSNBC, 2018

NBC‘s “Meet the Press” host and moderator Chuck Todd announced on air last Sunday that he is leaving the show. Starting in September, Kristen Welker, NBC News’ co-chief White House correspondent, will take Todd’s place. In his statement, Todd said,“We didn’t tolerate propagandists, and this network and program never will.” Sadly, however, that was far from the case.

In fact, “Meet the Press,” during and before Chuck Todd’s time as host, was known as the place where Republicans came to spread their false talking points with the knowledge that they would not be confronted with many refutations or even pointed follow-up questions. For example, when Dick Cheney was Vice President under George W. Bush, Cheney’s communications director, Cathie Martin, regarded “Meet the Press” as the VP’s “best format” to be able to “control [his] message.” Likewise, Cheney’s Chief of Staff, convicted felon  Irve Lewis “Scooter” Libby, and other government officials could call Todd’s predecessor at “Meet the Press,” Tim Russert, and privately make their political points in the comfort that (a) they would be asked no difficult questions during the call, and (b) anything they said over the phone would automatically be considered off, rather than on, the record, a very weak and enabling form of journalism.