Big Dan's Big News March 24, 2010

Former Bush speechwriter David Frum coming over from the "Dark Side"...WELCOME, DAVID!!!

David J. Frum (born June 30, 1960) is a Canadian American conservative journalist active in both the United States and Canadian political arenas. A former economic speechwriter for President George W. Bush, he is also the author of the first "insider" book about the Bush presidency. His editorial columns have appeared in a variety of Canadian and American magazines and newspapers, including the National Post and The Week. He is also the founder of FrumForum.com (formerly NewMajority.com), a political group blog.

Update: Former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum has resigned from the right-wing American Enterprise Institute, Frum announced on his Web site Thursday afternoon -- a move which suggests the conservative movement has cut ties with Frum over the straight talk he has been providing all week.

David Frum, AEI SPLIT: Conservative's Position 'Terminated' By Major Think Tank

Former Bush speechwriter David Frum: talk radio and FOX "news" drove the Republican strategy on health care. Frum says: "Republicans originally thought that Fox worked for us, and now we are discovering we work for Fox" (note picture below/right: Roger Eugene Ailes (born May 15, 1940) is the American president of Fox News Channel and chairman of the Fox Television Stations Group. He was a media consultant for Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush, as well as Rudy Giuliani’s first mayoral campaign in 1989.

David Frum: Rush Limbaugh is the figurehead of the Republican Party:

David Frum: "What the hell is going on at Fox News?"

David Frum: health care wasn't the Democrats' Waterloo, it was the GOP's Waterloo.

These rightwing/GOP/FOX smears are all FALSE:

• Rep. Gordon traded his vote for NASA administrator job
• Tennessee received special funding for Medicaid treatments to bribe Gordon
• Nebraska will get a "new" VA hospital in exchange for health vote
• Connecticut hospitals get special funding under health bill
• "Louisiana Purchase" was a "corrupt" deal
• Right-wing media baselessly allege Obama admin. "bribed" Dems with water allocation
• Obama bribing Rep. Matheson by appointing his brother to appeals court
• WH "threatening to close" Offutt Air Force Base "to extort" Ben Nelson's vote
• Bank of North Dakota given special exemption to ensure passage of health care reform
• Stupak bribed with airport funds

Documented media/rightwing smears and lies about health care

There aren't 39 states in which the legislature has passed such a bill, or in which the governor and key legislative leaders are negotiating one. There aren't even 39 states in which such a bill has been introduced. No, there are 39 states in which a member of the legislature has said s/he will introduce such a bill. Of course, individual members can introduce all kinds of crazy legislation whenever they want; that doesn't constitute the state "considering" the measures -- not in any meaningful way.

So, when you hear that "at least thirty-seven states are considering lawsuits" over health care reform, here's what that means: Darn near nothing at all.

Are 37 states really "considering" lawsuits over health care? Answer: "NO!"

"Kill the bill": Fox's year-long open activism against health care reform

Eric Boehlert: Watching Fox News personalities recently come unglued as the realization set in that (surprise!) Democrats might actually have the votes to pass health care reform -- and noting how extraordinarily loopy and dire both the attacks on the White House, and the proclamations for pending, apocalyptic doom were becoming -- I was getting nervous that one of Fox News' more unhinged hosts might finally just snap and pull a Rev. Jim Jones, beseeching viewers to make the ultimate sacrifice:

Fox News, health care, and the right-wing nervous breakdown

Noam Chomsky: "The Myth of the 'Liberal Media' - Manufacturing Consent" -



The Republican Noise Machine

David Brock, the reformed conservative noise-maker, on how the Right has sabotaged journalism, democracy, and truth.

As a young journalist in the 1990s, David Brock was a key cog the Republican noise machine. Writing for the American Spectator, a conservative magazine funded by billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife, Brock gained fame for his attack pieces on Anita Hill and President Bill Clinton. Then, in 2002, Brock came clean. In his memoir, Blinded by the Right, Brock admitted that his work was based on lies and distortion, and part of a coordinated smear campaign funded by wealthy right wing groups to discredit Clinton and confuse the public.

Since then, Brock has continued to expose the conservative media onslaught. In his newest book, The Republican Noise Machine, Brock documents how right-wing groups pressure the media and spread misinformation to the public. It's easy to see how this is done.

Fringe conspiracies and stories will be kept alive by outlets like Rush Limbaugh, the Washington Times, and the Drudge Report, until they finally break into the mainstream media.

Media groups like Brent Bozell's Media Research Center have spent 30 years convincing the public that the media is, in fact, liberal. As Brock says, it's all a sham: "I have seen, and I know firsthand, indeed from my own pen, how the organized Right has sabotaged not only journalism but also democracy and truth."

The Republican Noise Machine

David Brock's MediaMatters.org



Sam Harris: Science can answer moral questions