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KNOW-THIS
Joined: 14 Jul 2003
Posts: 3694
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 Fri Jul 30, 2004 7:35 am
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Who lacks intelligence now?
"Completely dense" FOX viewers mistakenly buy new Al Franken book
U.S. District Judge Denny Chin admits he overestimated the intelligence of conservative book buyers.
Left, the platform for many of the lying liars that tells lies featured on the cover of Franken's new book. Right, the book cover that fooled right-wingers across the U.S. into giving money to a liberal cause.
New York--Preliminary sales figures and exit interviews at area book stores over the past week indicate that millions of FOX News viewers are too stupid to realize Al Franken's new book is mocking them.
The confusion is all the more troubling in the aftermath of FOX News Channel's lawsuit filed last week to stop the release of Franken's book. Lawyers for the FOX network predicted just such mass confusion in arguments to U.S. District Judge Denny Chin Friday.
"The use of the FOX news trademarked phrase on the cover is likely to cause confusion among consumers as to the origin and sponsorship of the book." FOX Attorney Dori Hanswirth said. "You have to remember that people who watch FOX and listen to AM talk radio aren't what you'd call 'critical thinkers.' They don't call themselves 'Dittoheads' for nothing."
But Judge Chin disagreed, using language that will surely come back to haunt him now that Republicans have been duped into purchasing the book.
Bill O'Reilly lobbied FOX executives to pursue the lawsuit against Franken after being manhandled by the comedian at a May 31 BookExpo America Convention panel discussion. O'Reilly also appears on the book's cover with a lot less make-up.
"There is no way a person not completely dense would be confused by this cover," he said. "I mean, you'd have to be a total jackass to not get that this is a joke."
However, experts testified that anyone who watches the O'Reilly Factor on a regular basis may, indeed, be just such a jackass.
The question now is: Were FOX watchers too stupid to understand an obvious parody of their beloved network or just not strong enough readers to decipher the full context of the "fair and balanced" phrase. Exit interviews at two area bookstores shed some light on that question.
"I thought Al Franken was an America-hating liberal, but the pictures of the president and vice president on the cover along with the FOX slogan tricked me," card carrying Republican Jonathan Anders said.
"I buy anything that FOX puts its stamp on," Bill Daniels said, who voted for Bush. "For instance, my underwear has the FOX logo front and center on the fly and 'fair and balanced' right on my tushy."
Hanswirth said these examples prove the point she tried to make to Chin in court Friday.
"The Rant Zone?" Did he really find a publisher for this?
Responding to a comment by Franken that he intended the cover to be a joke, Hanswirth used the ridiculous, but understandable, conservative argument that Franken has become "increasingly unfunny" since he began making fun of them.
"This is much too subtle to be considered a parody," Hanswirth said. "Franken's book does not qualify as satire because it's over many conservative Republican's heads."
Even conservative comedian Dennis Miller, who is also a Saturday Night Live alum, jumped into the fray to give his take on Franken's comedic credentials.
"Does anyone even take Franken seriously anymore?" he asked. "I mean come on, this guy has reached a level of irrelevance not seen since I became a commentator for the NFL and then got fired."
Franken is a five-time Emmy winner and the author of the New York Times Bestseller "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot." Presale orders of his new book drove it to the top of the sales list at the online bookseller Amazon.com.
"I just want to thank FOX for helping me get the word out about my new book," Franken said. "I would also like to thank all of the FOX viewers out there that bought my book solely because it said "fair and balanced" on the cover. I couldn't have done it without you." |
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KNOW-THIS
Joined: 14 Jul 2003
Posts: 3694
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Fri Jul 30, 2004 7:39 am
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http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33936
Flynt holds vigil to pray
for Bill O'Reilly's death
Event called 'strange coincidence,' not part of porn mogul's bid for governor
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: August 5, 2003
8:41 p.m. Eastern
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
Days after announcing his candidacy for California governor, self-described "smut peddler" Larry Flynt staged a peculiar event to rally supporters – a prayer vigil seeking the death of Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly.
The flamboyant Hustler magazine publisher called for a "National Prayer Day" service where Americans "of all denominations and faiths" could "pray to God" for the death of the "blowhard."
According to event spokesman and magazine editorial assistant Sean Carney, an "overjoyed and ebullient" crowd of 50 - 65 people mostly under the age of 30 gathered at Cornerstone Plaza in Los Angeles this afternoon for the "bash bigot O'Reilly ceremony."
"We had people with signs and we had people who drove by and flashed us out the window and stuck their finger out saying 'No. 1' and shouted and honked at us. It was great," Carney told WorldNetDaily.
Flynt did not attend the service because "he's busy with his campaign," according to Carney, who called the porn mogul's newly launched gubernatorial drive a "strange coincidence." He said the event had been planned for months and was advertised in the October issue of the magazine which hit the newsstands in the beginning of July.
Flynt's website offers a sample "prayer" which describes in graphic and ghoulish terms how the host of cable TV's top-rated talk show, "The O'Reilly Factor" should meet his death.
"Dear (God/Allah/Buddha/other entity of your choice)," the "prayer" begins.
Carney said the service attendees said a paraphrased version of the "prayer":
"Dear God, we ask you to afflict Bill O'Reilly with a brain aneurysm that will lead to his slow and painful death. Lord, make those blood vessels bulge out of his head and explode. Make him writhe on the floor in contrition for his cynical attacks. When O'Reilly reaches for the phone to call 911 and accidentally dials 411, Lord, please remind Bill of all the people he has shouted down with no mercy. Oh Lord, as Bill O'Reilly lies on the floor and contemplates his miserable life, make him lose control of his bowels so that the last warm feeling he experiences is his own excrement. Oh Lord, grant us this wish. Your humble servants forever and ever."
Although Carney described the event as a "spoof" he emphasizes it was a personal attack.
"We don't like the fact that this guy who's a Harvard M.B.A. goes around cynically riling people up," he said. "He's a demagogue, somebody who plays to people's fears. That may bring in good ratings but he's like the jackass dad at the high school sporting event yelling at the reff. He may get the attention of everybody in the crowd but everyone loathes him."
"We're not really asking for him to die. It is a spoof. But the ceremony was real and I think the sentiments are real," he added.
Bill O'Reilly
"We are not going to dignify it with a response," O'Reilly spokesman Robert Zimmerman told CNSNews.com.
WorldNetDaily reported Friday Flynt filed papers and paid the required $3,500 fee to run in the historic recall election challenging sitting governor and fellow Democrat Gray Davis.
"California is the most progressive state in the union," Flynt told the Los Angeles Times. "I don't think anyone here will have a problem with a smut peddler as governor."
Flynt, who is also connected with the Hustler Casino in Gardena, Calif., said he hopes to expand gaming, private casinos and slot machines to raise enough revenue to wipe out the state's projected $38 billion deficit.
He's banking on name recognition to give him an edge over the potential scores of opponents who have also joined the race.
"People know me. They know I've devoted most of my adult life fighting to expand the parameters of free speech," he told the San Francisco Chronicle. "I took a bullet for the First Amendment. I'm concerned about our basic freedoms, the erosion that has taken place in the last few years. I would like to motivate people and get them more concerned."
Free speech apparently doesn't apply to conservative voices such as O'Reilly's. According to Flynt's website, the motivation behind today's "service" is that the "right-wing shill" tries to "destroy the careers of those he disagrees with" by telling them to "shut up" or by "turning off their microphone."
"We believe it's time for The Almighty to pull the plug on Bill," the website declares.
When asked whether this anti-O'Reilly drive ran contrary to Flynt's campaign as an advocate for free speech, Carney said no.
"We don't question his right of free speech," he told WorldNetDaily. "But when you're always stirring people up so cynically like he is you sometimes have to pay the consequences. And in this case, the consequence is a whole younger generation that is sick and tired of his awful, race-baiting and class-baiting attitude."
Carney similarly complained to CNSNews.com that O'Reilly uses "racist" rhetoric in order to appeal to the "common man."
"He has attacked some people that we really love, like [rap singer] Ludacris and [porn movie actress] Jenna Jamison. Bill O'Reilly treated them terribly and tried to ruin Ludacris's career – really awful stuff," said Carney. |
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KNOW-THIS
Joined: 14 Jul 2003
Posts: 3694
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Fri Jul 30, 2004 7:47 am
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An O'reilly lie from the past..........
XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX WED DEC 17, 2003 17:06:32 ET XXXXX
BOOK YEARENDER: O'REILLY TRAILS FRANKEN IN SCANNED SALES; 'SOUTH BEACH' TOP OF NONFIC LIST
FOXNEWS's top-rated host Bill O'Reilly recently claimed that he is "running against Hillary for most copies of nonfiction books sold this year!"
But numbers obtained by the DRUDGE REPORT show a dramatically different sales scene for 2003.
NIELSEN, the same company that ranks O'Reilly #1 on Cable TV, currently places O'Reilly at #6 for the year on the nonfiction charts -- trailing rival Al Franken by nearly 30%!
[O'Reilly ranks #63 on USA TODAY's 2003 sales chart.]
"We've outsold that guy [Franken] all over the place," O'Reilly claimed Monday on NBC's TODAY show. "We're running against Hillary for most copies of non-fiction books sold this year!"
With two weeks to go for 2003:
Nonfiction
1. South Beach Diet Dr. Arthur Agatston 2,304,608 [units scanned]
2. Purpose Driven Life Warren 1,507,902
3. Living History Clinton 1,084,520
4. Ultimate Weight Solution McGraw 836,043
5. Lies and The Lying Liars Franken 674,024
6. Who's Looking Out for You O'Reilly 430,407
7. Benjamin Franklin Isaacson 384,137
8. Dude, Where's My Country Moore 365,519
9. Treason Coulter 364,848
10. Fly Boys Bradley 222,685
11. Short History of Nearly Everything Bryson 217,591
12. Moneyball Lewis 210,108
13. Royal Duty Burrell 159,261
14. Who's Your Caddy? Reilly 151,978
15. Every Second Counts Armstrong 145,183
16. World According to Mr. Rogers 141,405
17. Madame Secretary Albright 122,167
18. New Cookbook, BH&G Better Homes & Gardens 118,230
19. Merriam Websters Dictionary 115,185
20. Bushwacked Ivans 110,000
As a comparison, Harry Potter fiction has scanned 7,908,391 units; DaVinci Code moved 3,023,336.
NIELSEN's BOOKSCAN numbers represents purchased, sold and bagged copies at AMAZON, BARNES AND NOBLE, BORDER'S, COSTCO and other outlets.
[BOOKSCAN is generally considered to capture about 70-80% of total sales in USA.]
Developing...
The Follow up:
XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX THU DEC 18, 2003 09:25:08 ET XXXXX
HOST UNHINGED AFTER SALES FIGURES REVEALED; CALLS DRUDGE 'THREAT TO DEMOCRACY'
TalkerAuthor Bill O'Reilly lashed out against this space during his popular FOXNEWS O'REILLY FACTOR Wednesday night -- just hours after closely guarded book sales figures were splashed over the internet.
Sales figures show how, contrary to his claims, O'Reilly lags far behind rivals Al Franken and Sen. Hillary Clinton for nonfiction props!
MORE
Responding to an exclusive yearender DRUDGE dispatch, which presented NIELSEN's Top 20 BOOKSCAN list of 2003 sales, O'Reilly called the DRUDGE REPORT a "threat to democracy."
"I mean you can't believe a word Matt Drudge says," O'Reilly told the cameras. "Now you've got the Matt Drudges of the world and these other people, Michael Moore and all of these crazies, all right, no responsibility... that is a threat to democracy, I think." O'Reilly warned: "They'll just spin it and twist it and take it out of proportion every which way."
MORE
Last year, the host of Cable TVs most-watched newscast became unbuckled and turned unstable after this space first revealed how O'Reilly was plotting a new radio program to air opposite Rush Limbaugh [who had just lost his hearing] and how WOR-AM in New York would receive cash compensation from VIACOM to carry the program. [The broadcast launched several months later.]
MORE
"There is no other cure than to kill Matt Drudge," O'Reilly charged on the IMUS in the MORNING radio show.
"I just want to tell everybody that Matt Drudge is smoking crack - right now, in South Miami Beach on Washington Avenue... And the authorities should know it." |
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KNOW-THIS
Joined: 14 Jul 2003
Posts: 3694
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Sat Jul 31, 2004 9:47 pm
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http://www.michaelmoore.com/warroom/index.php?id=24
July 23rd, 2004 12:59 pm
9/11 Commission Report Confirms Key Fahrenheit 9/11 Facts
The September 11 Commission's 567-page final report has confirmed key facts presented in Fahrenheit 9/11. These include:
Attorney General John Ashcroft told acting FBI director Thomas Pickard that he did not want to hear anything more about terrorist threats. Confirmed, Commission Report at p. 265
After Bush was informed of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center, he went ahead with his classroom event. After Bush was informed that the nation was under attack after the second plane hit, Bush stayed in the classroom for nearly seven more minutes, continuing to read with the children. Confirmed, Commission Report at pp. 35, 38-39.
Bush failed to have even one meeting to discuss the threat of terrorism with his head of counterterrorism Richard Clarke. Confirmed, Commission Report at p. 201.
Bush failed to react to the August 6, 2001 security briefing, “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.” Confirmed, Commission Report at pp. 260-262.
142 Saudis, including 24 members of the bin Laden family, were allowed to leave the country after September 13. Confirmed, Commission Report at p. 556, n. 25 [Note that Fahrenheit 9/11 understates the number of Saudis who left.]
Individuals were interviewed by the FBI before being allowed to leave (although the report confirms that most individuals on these flights were not interviewed.) Confirmed, Commission Report at p. 557, n. 28.
White House former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke approved these flights. Confirmed, Commission Report at p. 329.
It should also be noted that the 9/11 Commission does not address or deem important a number of other issues either addressed in Fahrenheit 9/11 or revealed since completion of the film, including:
What exactly was the rush in getting these individuals out of the country so soon after the worst attack in U.S. history, why did Saudi Royals and bin Laden family members receive such special treatment at a time when most Americans still could not get flights (even though airspace may have been open), and how exactly were the flights arranged by the U.S. government?
Several unanswered questions posed by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) in a July 20, 2004, Grand Forks Herald column: “At a time when 14 of the 19 terrorists from Sept. 11 were Saudi citizens, how and why were six secret flights allowed to sneak 142 Saudi citizens out of the United States in the days after Sept. 11 before they were properly interrogated? How do we know they weren't properly questioned? Because Dale Watson, the No. 2 man and former head of counterterrorism at the FBI has said none of them were subjected to ‘serious’ interrogation or questions before being allowed to leave. In fact, we now know that at least two and perhaps more of the Saudis who were allowed to leave after Sept. 11 were under investigation by the FBI for alleged terrorist connections.”
Information that came to light in Dana Milbank’s July 22, 2004 Washington Post article, including the fact that at least one bin Laden family member who was allowed to leave lived with a nephew of Osama bin Laden, who "was involved in forming the U.S. branch of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth" (WAMY), which the FBI has described as “a suspected terrorist organization,” and that the bin Ladens flew out of the country on the same airplane that “has been chartered frequently by the White House for the press corps traveling with President Bush.”
A full comparison of the findings of the 9/11 Commission and Fahrenheit 9/11 will be posted shortly. |
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KNOW-THIS
Joined: 14 Jul 2003
Posts: 3694
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Sat Jul 31, 2004 9:52 pm
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http://www.michaelmoore.com/warroom/f911notes/
THE FOLLOWING IS THE LINE BY LINE FACTUAL BACKUP FOR 'FAHRENHEIT 9/11'
Factual Back-Up For Fahrenheit 9/11: Section One
Section One covers the facts in Fahrenheit 9/11 from the 2000 election to George W. Bush's extended visit to Booker Elementary on the morning of September 11th.
Factual Back-Up for Fahrenheit 9/11: Section Two
Section Two covers the facts in Fahrenheit 9/11 from Bush's failure to meet with Richard Clarke, to the August 6th memo, and ends with the Saudi flights out of the US after 9/11.
Factual Back-Up for Fahrenheit 9/11: Section Three
Section Three covers the facts in Fahrenheit 9/11 from Osama's relations with his family through Bush's military records and ends with Bush's business history, including Arbusto, Harken and the Carlyle Group.
Factual Back-Up for Fahrenheit 9/11: Section Four
Section Four covers the facts in Fahrenheit 9/11 covers the Carlyle Group and Saudi money in the United States and its connection to the Bush family, their friends and associates.
Factual Back-Up for Fahrenheit 9/11: Section Five
Section Five covers the facts in Fahrenheit 9/11 from Saudi Arabia's involvement in 9/11 through the natural gas pipeline in Afghanistan
Factual Back-Up for Fahrenheit 9/11: Section Six
Section Six covers the facts in Fahrenheit 9/11 from the Patriot Act through the war in Iraq.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/warroom/f911notes/
Last edited by KNOW-THIS on Sat Jul 31, 2004 10:16 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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KNOW-THIS
Joined: 14 Jul 2003
Posts: 3694
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Sat Jul 31, 2004 9:55 pm
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http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=103
July 22nd, 2004 12:41 pm
'Fahrenheit 9/11' Making GOP Nervous
by Mike Glover / Associated Press
DES MOINES, Iowa - Republicans initially dismissed "Fahrenheit 9/11" as a cinematic screed that would play mostly to inveterate Bush bashers. Four weeks and $94 million later, the film is still pulling in moviegoers at 2,000 theaters around the country, making Republicans nervous as it settles into the American mainstream.
"I'm not sure if it moves voters," GOP consultant Scott Reed said, "but if it moves 3 or 4 percent it's been a success."
Two senior Republicans closely tied to the White House said the movie from director Michael Moore is seen as a political headache because it has reached beyond the Democratic base. Independents and GOP-leaning voters are likely to be found sitting beside those set to revel in its depiction of a clueless president with questionable ties to the oil industry.
"If you are a naive, uncommitted voter and wander into a theater, you aren't going to come away with a good impression of the president," Republican operative Joe Gaylord said. "It's a problem only if a lot of people see it."
Based on a record-breaking gross of $94 million through last weekend, theaters already have sold an estimated 12 million tickets to "Fahrenheit 9/11." A Gallup survey conducted July 8-11 said 8 percent of American adults had seen the film at that time, but that 18 percent still planned to see it at a theater and another 30 percent plan to see it on video.
More than a third of Republicans and nearly two-thirds of independents told Gallup they had seen or expected to see the film at theaters or on video.
"Fahrenheit 9/11" opened in June mainly in locally owned arts theaters that specialize in obscure films and tiny audiences. Drawn in part by the buzz surrounding the film, people packed the theaters and formed long lines for tickets. Within a week, it was appearing in chain-owned theaters along with "Spider-Man 2," "The Notebook" and other big summer attractions.
When he sat down to watch the film at the Varsity Theater in Des Moines last weekend, Rob Sheesley didn't harbor anti-Bush feelings. Two hours later, he left with conflicted emotions.
"You want to respect the president," Sheesley said. "It raised a lot of questions."
Bush's leadership in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks had impressed retired teacher Lavone Mann, another Des Moines moviegoer. After watching the film, Mann wanted to know more about its claims.
"I guess that I think it makes me want to pursue how much of it is accurate and not just get carried away with one film," she said. "I don't hear Bush and (Vice President Dick) Cheney saying that this is incorrect."
Retired college professor Dennis O'Brien, a Bush voter in 2000 and a movie buff who has seen other Moore films, said "Fahrenheit 9/11" hasn't changed his view of Bush but may well serve a larger purpose by sparking debate.
"Moore forces you to think about the role of oil in the politics of American life," O'Brien said. "This goes back a long way."
In GOP-strong Columbia, S.C., watching the movie last week at the Columbiana Grande tipped 26-year-old David Wood's support more to the left.
"I don't consider myself a Republican or a Democrat. I just vote for whoever is right for the job," the University of South Carolina student said. "I think most people don't bother to really research, and all they need is something popular to sway them."
Others at the screening in Columbia were put off by what they saw as the film's biased approach to examining Bush and the reasons he took the country to war. For Scott Campbell, 19, the movie reinforced his apathy toward politics.
"We didn't even stay to see the whole thing," Campbell said. "It was one-sided."
Former Iowa Republican Chairman Michael Mahaffey said the movie's impact could be dulled over time. "It's July," he said. "Conventional wisdom will change completely every four or five weeks."
Still, "Fahrenheit 9/11" is likely to gain an even wider audience when it's released on home video in the weeks before Election Day. The Gallup survey found that nearly half of the Republicans and independents who expect to see the film said they were likely to view it on video.
"In all honesty, in a very close election, who knows what will sway the public?" Mahaffey said.
© MichaelMoore.com, All Rights Reserved. Site Created by Plank • Site Edited by David Schankula |
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KNOW-THIS
Joined: 14 Jul 2003
Posts: 3694
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Sat Jul 31, 2004 10:17 pm
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FAHRENHEIT 9/11: "Out of the 535 members of Congress, only one had an enlisted son in Iraq."
“Only four of the 535 members of Congress have children in the military; only one, Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., has a child who fought in Iraq.” Kevin Horrigan, “Hired Guns,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 11, 2003. |
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