Fox News On June 26th, 2015, Oh How Odd It All Seems

One can only scratch one's head when it comes to the incredulous nature of the Fox News Network. On a day as momentous, after a week as momentous as this, the O'Rielly Factor's nightly feature is on global terror, completely ignoring today's SCOTUS decision on same sex marriage.

 

Is it any wonder why or how Media Matters found that those who watch Fox News are less informed than those who don't follow the news regularly via any format? So much for mainstream conservative media.

Steven J. Gulitti

6/26/2015

The SCOTUS Decisions Hammer Conservative Movement

The Court this week has delivered a series of devastating blows to America’s conservative movement with their second decision affirming the constitutionality of Obamacare, today’s decision on same sex marriage along with another decision on discrimination in housing.

It’s been kind of funny watching the Fox crew attempting to recover from the multiple blows sustained by conservatives this week. Conservatives have been looking with regard to upending Obamacare to additional cases wending their way through the lower courts and hoping that these cases will somehow undo what’s already been settled. Political commentator Amy Walter, appearing on Fox News last night, pointed out that many of those cases have already been dismissed and that now with a second affirmative decision on Obamacare, most of the rest will probably be dismissed too or the Court will agree not to hear them.

And conservatives shouldn’t take to much solace in the idea that Obamacare will be undone on Capitol Hill either. Let’s be honest about one reality. Conservatives on Capitol Hill have voted some 50 times to repeal the A.C.A to no avail. Their last presidential effort was based in part in undoing the A.C.A and that failed too. To date the G.O.P. has failed to come up with an comprehensive alternative to the A.C.A. Thus what will change now? Not much likely with regard to Obamacare.

With regard to same sex marriage ruling, one political commentator pointed out that the Court’s decision was based on the 14^th Amendment, which addresses civil rights, and said that Supreme Court decisions based on the 14^th are almost never reversed in subsequent Court decisions. Likewise lower courts will now have to fall in line with the high court's decision. That said is there any reason to think that any reasonable Republican will sponsor legislation that seeks to undo the same sex decision?

As an aside, I can’t help but laugh at the follow on commentary on Fox this morning as that networks analysts have spent more time trying to reconcile Justice Thomas’s opinions on same sex and Obamacare then they have coming to terms with the seismic changes that have just taken place.

Steven J. Gulitti

6/26/2015

The Far Greater Threat of Domestic Terror

After obsessing for the past year, or more, about whether or not the Obama administration will ever bring itself to utter the words "Islamic Terror" or "Radical Islam" one can only wonder when conservatives will wake up to the greater threat, that once again, is seen to be emanating from the far right. To wit: "In a survey we conducted with the Police Executive Research Forum last year of 382 law enforcement agencies, 74 percent reported anti-government extremism as one of the top three terrorist threats in their jurisdiction; 39 percent listed extremism connected with Al Qaeda or like-minded terrorist organizations. And only 3 percent identified the threat from Muslim extremists as severe, compared with 7 percent for anti-government and other forms of extremism."

The recent racially driven terror shootings in Charleston once again bring to the fore the threat that I detailed below in "Coming Unhinged on the Far Right". The Charleston tragedy shows that the underlying issues outlined in 2010 are still salient, relevant and no less dangerous today.

What is most interesting in the aftermath of Charleston is that even though folks on the far right, like Bill O'Rielly, admit that it was an act of terror, they cannot resist using the tragedy to promote an ongoing anti-progressive political agenda. The aftermath of the Charleston terror attack is seen by the talking heads on the far right as an opportunity for the “America haters” and “race hustlers” to launch a new round of attacks against our country. They ignore the fact that many of the alleged “America haters” and “race hustlers are merely pointing out the enduring shortcomings of race in American society and all the problems resulting there from.

A question that every American should be asking is why there are so many on the right who cannot, or will not address the issue of domestic right wing terror head on and chose instead, to try to force fit tragedy into their ongoing anti-progressive agenda and diatribe? Does anyone think that that approach is going to yield a useful outcome?

Steven J. Gulitti

6/23/2015

Sources:

 The Growing Right-Wing Terror Threat; http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/16/opinion/the-other-terror-threat.html?_r=0

Charleston shooting puts focus on the rising fringe http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/245623-charleston-shooting-puts-focus-on-the-rising-fringe

Coming Unhinged on the Far Right; http://bluemassgroup.com/2010/03/coming-unhinged-on-the-far-right/

From Ferguson to Charleston and Beyond, Anguish About Race Keeps Building; http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/21/us/from-ferguson-to-charleston-and-beyond-anguish-about-race-keeps-building.html?_r=1