Dr. J.'s Short Takes: Murdoch Changes; Palin on Africa; Obama and Afghanistan http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/jonas/134 Straws in the Wind: Murdoch
If your neck got turned around watching "Fox and Friends" on the Fox "News" Channel almost immediately following the Obama victory, you are likely not alone. I can't say that they did a 180-degree turn, but they went at least 90 degrees, at least in what I saw. No more Ayers/ Rezko/Wright 24/7. All of a sudden they were doing three things. The President-elect was being treated with a modicum of respect. They were back to spending lots of time on "schoolgirl gets dumped from school bus two miles from home" stories. The "anti-Democrat Party" red meat that they regularly feed their loyal listeners (such as the soon-to- be- former Vice President) came in smaller amounts and was hardly so red anymore. Why, one might ask? Since, in the New York City area at least, there was a similar change in tone at the F "N" C's sister organ, the New York Post, it is fair to surmise that the hand of the uber-owner of both, Rupert Murdoch, was reaching down the chain of command. Murdoch knows the political climate has changed in Washington, possibly for some time to come. For a variety of reasons (primarily related to his hopes for the reinvigoration of American capitalism that could come only with the election of Barack Obama, not with John McCain), he would like to be on good terms with the new administration. And hey, if Mr. Murdoch can be on friendly terms with real Communists (or at least people who call themselves Communists) in China, how can he not get round to being on good terms with good capitalists (even if some of his minions label them as reds -- they're not) right here in the US of A. Palin on Africa So as far as we know, Gov. Palin really didn't know that Africa is a continent, not a country, and she really couldn't name off the top of her head the three countries that are parties to NAFTA. Her denials about the leaked reports of her intellectual inadequacies were made in general, not specific terms. Isn't just awful that the Republican candidate for the vice presidency has such an abysmal level of general knowledge, especially when it comes to geography? (At least she knew the big country on the other side of the Bering Strait -- you can't actually see the mainland -- is Russia.) But let's stop for a moment to reflect that one candidate for the Republican nomination, Gov. Mike Huckabee, couldn't exactly place Afghanistan, and that the Republican Presidential candidate for the presidency at one time said that Iraq and Afghanistan bordered on each other. So let's not be too hard on Palin. Her past running mate and a possible future one don't do too well on geography either. Perhaps that's just a modern Republican- candidate trait. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
