ACORN: Victim of GOP, Media Lies, Disinformation

Back when I was studying journalism years ago, I was taught that those who were spreading sensationalistic lies were practicing "yellow journalism" and would be subject to immediate firing.
That doesn't seem the case when it has come to the right-wing campaign against ACORN and those in the mainstream media that have peddled the blatent falsehoods without even an ounce of fact checking.
That is what Rachel Maddow so brilliantly reported on her program last night.
Check this out:

And also check out this well-done Daily Kos diary. Yes, like Rachel said at the end of her story, this report gets me really mad and causes me to demand the undoing of all damages that have been done against ACORN whether it be funding or otherwise and the investigation of the lies and how they have spread.
And journalistic outlets that have spread the disinformation without any real fact checking must begin immediate internal investigations and fire those accountable for producing and approving the reports.

The Real Face Of GOP Healthcare Reform Opposition: They Simply Don't Care About Average Folks Like Me

When Republican senators and congressmen are confronted by inconvenient truths about healthcare reform they either:
1. Try to change the subject and lie about how President Obama is getting "his clock cleaned" about it (Rep. "Taliban Pete" Sessions (TX-32)during Irving townhall meeting) (NOTE: the transcript can be found here).
2. Tell a lie and then abruptly end the meeting when constitents catch the man in the act (Rep. Pete Olson (TX-22) during his recent townhall).
3. Blame the media when the questioner wouldn't allow him to get away with not answering the question (Rep. John Culberson when questioned by MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell).
4. Tell a crying woman in need that the government can't do anything to help her in a cold, matter-of-fact manner (Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma).
And now we have No. 5. And this could be the meanest one of all.
Rep. Lynn Jenkins of Kansas, who got herself in deep doodoo the last few days because of her racist "Great White Hope" slur, dug herself in an even deeper hole with some rather sadistic behavior during a townhall meeting toward a single uninsured mother.
Here's the video of Jenkins in action:

And here's the transcript (as provided in Mike Nellis' excellent Daily Kos diary):

Elizabeth Smith: I’m a 27 year-old single mother. I work full-time. I do not have health insurance. My employer does not provide health insurance to me and I cannot afford it privately. Why shouldn’t my government guarantee all of its citizens health care?
Jenkins: Thank you. I’m sorry, maybe you missed my opening remarks, but absolutely. That’s why we have Medicaid in the current system and that’s why under the alternative proposal we have an option for low-to-modest-income people to be able to afford health care and then we’ve got the SCHIP program for children. I think we’ve got all of the bases covered.
Audience member: She’s not covered under SCHIP!
Jenkins: OK, if you’re not then you’re the perfect example for why we need reform and why we need it now but we have to do it right and if we can do an alternative proposal, as I’m suggesting, give you the money to go buy it in a reformed marketplace where it is affordable, that’s my preference rather than to saddle the nation with yet another government program when they can’t afford the government run programs we have.
Elizabeth Smith: I want an option that I can pay for. I work. I pay my bills. I’m not a burden on the state. I pay my taxes. So why can’t I get an affordable option. Why are you against that?
Jenkins: A government run program (laugh) is going to subsidize not only yours (laugh) but everybody in this room. So I’m not sure what we’re talking about here.
Jenkins: I think it comes down to the whole discussion of...
(The crowd erupts. At this point, it's safe to say even they aren't buying Jenkins position...)
Lynn: OK folks. Let’s be respectful. UH-OH (talking over crowd). We’re gonna make time for everybody. We’re gonna all listen to each other respectfully, even if we disagree. I think we can agree we need reforms, again it’s just how we gonna do it. I believe people should be given the opportunity to take care of themselves with an advancebale tax credit to go be a grown-up and go buy the insurance.

What makes this exchange between Jenkins and her constituent even more illuminating is this-- according to the Daily Kos diarist:

In fact, yesterday we also learned that Jenkins' hasn't even read the health reform bills being debated in Congress.

Let's get straight to the point. The Republican party, their insurance company allies, and their lying apologists on right-wing talk shows and/or Fox "news" don't give a rat's a-- about providing meaningful health insurance reform so average folks like me won't have to go under just because we get sick.
If you really thought Republicans have a solid case against health insurance reform, look at these examples. They'd rather lie and make things up instead of provide the reform people need.
They'd rather sit, do nothing, and watch all the campaign cash come from their anti-reform friends rather than do anything that would even give folks a chance at making it through whatever healthcare crisis they face.
This is your Republican party in action, and it's time the mainstream media stop giving these guys any creedence and legitimacy. They are out of touch, have no heart, and don't deserve to be heard or believed on healthcare reform or anything else.
They are nothing but a fringe party, and the sooner Democrats realize this and stop thinking they can make deals with them, the better America will be.

Poll: Healthcare Opposition Driven By Fox-Driven Lies

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow really puts the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll numbers on healthcare reform in perspective:

King One Eye on Daily Kos expands on this further:

new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll featured on the Rachel Maddow show included questions centered on the recent health care debate. What made this poll unique was that four of the questions sought to ascertain whether the respondents believed statements that were known to be untrue. Here are the results broken out by which news sources the respondents favored:

On Health Care Reform, Those Who Believe That It Will... MSNBC/CNN Viewers Fox News Viewers
Give Coverage To Illegal Immigrants: 41% 72%
Lead To A Government Takeover: 39% 79%
Pay For Abortions: 40% 69%
Stop Care To The Elderly: 30% 75%

Let me repeat: These are statements that are known to be untrue, yet Fox News viewers believe them in overwhelming numbers. It's bad enough that approximately 40% of MSNBC/CNN viewers believe these myths, but clearly Fox is producing an audience of vastly misinformed, cultural illiterates.
The problem with having a national news organization that is polluting the population with lies about critical public issues is that it makes democracy impossible. And that, of course, may be the goal of Fox and its corporate overseers. Democracy is such a messy affair, what with all the people voting and stuff. If your objective is to manipulate government, you can't get very far if voters are actually familiar with the issues and are capable of making sound judgments. So Fox News found it necessary to invent a platform of fake agendas to create fear and then purposefully indoctrinate their predominantly Republican and southern viewers to believe in them.

I wonder what would happen if you really opened the eyes of the Fox viewers and told them that what that network has fed them is lies. Do you think there wouldn't be an erosion of support for the OPPOSITION of health care reform?
I also wonder when the Obama administration will stop playing cutie with Republicans in their vain attempt for so-called "bi-partisan support" and really begin to call them and their insurance company/Fox "news" supporters what they really are-- liars-- and repeat it time and again.

CBS Finally Broadcasts Objective Healthcare Reform Report

I'm simply amazed. Check out this Daily Kos diary.
Here's a small snippet:

CBS News Sunday Morning is actually doing a positive piece on Health Care reform. I'm channel surfing this morning and came across CBS actually debunking the lies about health Care reform. They are presenting the lies about Health Care and having competent people debunk the myths. They are actually taking all the lies (Death Panels, cuts in medicare, cost concerns, etc.) and explaining how they are wrong, lies or playing opposite day.

And how about this:

Even CBS admitted that the coverage has been biased towards the screamers because they make good show.
Now if only this piece could get shown sometime that was not 9:00 AM on a Sunday morning when most skeptics are not watching. Especially the religious opponents who are at church.

Truer words were never said.

Are Teabaggers' Lies Backfiring Or What?

When I arrived at my day job earlier today, little did I know I'd be hearing from a West Coast teabagger who was all too willing to rattle any myth she could think of against President Obama's healthcare proposal.
After stating how honorable she thought Texas Gov. Rick Perry was and how we need him in the White House, the West Coast teabagger started rattling off how evil she thought the healthcare proposal was.
For starters, the teabagger said, it would require the federal government to have access to our checking accounts. The teabagger then said the proposal would give preferred access to illegal aliens to our health care system.
Some lunacies, yeah. Did I think she had been drinking too much of that right-wing corporate Kool Aid when it came to the president's plan? Yes, definitely.
We've been hearing lots of scare stories about the proposal that either
a. not in the proposal at all or
b. exaggerated at best or made up at worst about what's in (or out) of the proposal.
You'd think that a side that was so convinced about the rightness of their position would take far more care about telling the truth about the proposal. But we have sadly learned, the truth is a very foreign subject for those wanting to defeat the proposal.
Happily, it now appears that the mainstream media (or at least some of it) is beginning to wise up to the healthcare reform opponents' lies and tactics, and I suspect it won't be long before the cry for real reform will be so huge Congress won't be able to resist (not even Blue Dogs or even Republicans).