Now that MSNBC has exploded over President Obama’s “compromise” with Republicans, I want to return to Jon Stewart’s claim that MSNBC and Fox News are guilty of the same kind of biased journalism. In my earlier False Equivalency blog I asked readers to compare how often Fox News and MSNBC commentators prop up a “straw man,” which is the debating technique that distorts an opponent’s belief, and then ridicules the distortion.

In the earlier blog I claimed MSNBC does this much less than Fox News, making a false equivalency of Jon Stewart’s claim that the two channels do the same thing from opposite perspectives. I told Stewart that political discernment makes him funny, and he needs more discernment before making MSNBC the liberal equivalent of Fox News.
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At his Washington rally, and during his Daily Show interview with Chris Wallace, John Stewart claimed Fox News and MSNBC are guilty of the same kind of biased journalism.

After the Washington rally, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann argued that this is a false equivalency.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/olbermann-tackles-false-equivalency-between-msnbc-and-fox-defying-jon-stewart//

Several months ago I wrote a Facebook message to a high school classmate on this topic:

This is how I describe the difference between right-wing and left-wing media:

The liberal media use the actual words of conservatives (sometimes out of context, sometimes not) to ridicule their ideas and philosophy. The right-wing media distorts the words (and beliefs) of liberals, and then ridicules them.

You can watch for yourself, any night of the week, except weekends.

Let’s see who is right — John Stewart or me. Watch O’Reilly, Hannity, Beck, etc. and count how many times they distort liberal beliefs and then ridicule them. Do they realize they are doing this? In the language of debate competitions, they “prop up a straw man and knock it down.”

Then watch MSNBC (Schultz, Matthews, Olbermann, Maddow, O’Donnell, etc.). Which side wins the straw man competition? All the Fox News viewers who commented at the end of the linked video should try this little experiment.

Yes, John Stewart — yours is a false equivalency. Your comedy is funny because it discerns both ridiculous truths and ridiculous distortions. You need more discernment on this one.

Memo to: Keith Olbermann and Michael Moore

Re: Tax cut legislation

From: Cut the Crap

Evidently, you are trying to understand why some Democratic members of Congress want to extend tax cuts to earnings over $250,000. (Here is the link:)

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/keith-olbermann-michael-moore-slam-democrats-video/

When I heard some Democrats were inclined this way, a light went on. Now I can cut the crap.

Your crap — Democrats lack leadership, are idiots, are being bullied, are not defining “small” businesses, and are not using Hollywood celebrities to persuade voters.

Let’s Cut the Crap — This is about who funds the campaigns of politicians’ on both sides of the aisle. No further explanation needed.

By now everybody knows President Obama believes Muslims have a right to build a mosque near Ground Zero. Here is the AOL teaser: “While some praise his support for a mosque near ground zero, reaction from GOP and 9/11 families is fierce.” The headline is, ‘Obama Slammed, Praised for Backing Ground Zero Mosque.’ Here is the link:
http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/obama-slammed-praised-for-backing-ground-zero-mosque/19593700?icid=main%7Cmain%7Cdl1%7Clink3%7Chttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.aolnews.com%2Fnation%2Farticle%2Fobama-slammed-praised-for-backing-ground-zero-mosque%2F19593700

For the next several months commentators and politicians will re-state the following two positions:

1. We should allow the building of a mosque because doing so illustrates our commitment to the principle of religious freedom.
2. We should not allow the building of a mosque because this is not a religious freedom issue as much as it is a direct affront to the families of those who died on 9/11.

This issue challenges both our principles and our sensibilities. What is the best way to resolve it?

That was the question under discussion when Countdown’s Keith Olbermann interviewed Howard Dean on August 19, 2010. Dean believes we can find a compromise, but Olbermann thinks a compromise would undermine the principle of religious freedom. He also believes those who take the second position won’t compromise. The video is at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/20/howard-dean-on-countdown-_n_688577.html

I agree with Dean’s position. Several times during the interview he said “people of good will” should be able to sit down and find a compromise. Each time Olbermann ignored the “people of good will” part and argued that the other side would not compromise.
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