Why is it such a crime to be even half intelligent?
According to some on the Right, the “intellectuals” are ruining the world, threatening such things as religion and freedom to let Bill O’Reilly tell them the real story, with no “spin.”
I’m no intellectual. I hold no degree, but I think for myself. I don’t need O’Reilly and his fascist and probably, racist network, to tell me a damn thing. Besides, what can you believe from good old Bill? Twice in the last month, O’Reilly has been caught short of the “truth.” Back in December, when O’Reilly was doing his War on Christmas (where retailers such as Wal Mart - a very Christian organization, requested that its workers refrain from saying “Merry Christmas” and just wish the patrons a “Happy Holiday”), O’Reilly sited Comedy Central (or as he called it, Secular Central) for making fun of this, and showed a clip from Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show. There, one of the shows performers gave a mock commentary on how Christmas is the only “religious holiday that is a Federal holiday. That way, Christians can go to their services and everyone else can stay home and reflect on the true meaning of separation of church and state.” The clip ended and went back to the smug SOB and he wished a Merry Christmas to Jon Stewart.
Not to be out done, Stewart fired back. He asked Samantha -the girl who gave the joke - to come out, as Stewart could not remember them putting out this. And suddenly it becomes clear where Stewart is going with this. The comedian is obviously pregnant and looks due almost any minute. Upon reflection, if anyone was paying attention to the clip that O’Reilly played, Samantha was not pregnant. So this clip was at least a year old, long before the Billster began his War on Christmas.
The a few weeks later, O’Reilly was on Late Night with David Letterman, where the the host of the CBS show confronted O’Reilly about his War on Christmas. O’Reilly sited a school in Wisconsin that changed the lyrics to the classic Christmas song, Silent Night. That they “knocked out the words and told the kids to sing...” and O’Reilly rattles off this song, which is very different to the song I grew up with. Letterman felt, while a stupid move on the school’s part, was just, essentially, nothing; that he felt there was no threat, that, at most, these were isolated incidents and that O’Reilly and his cohorts at Fox “try make us think it’s a threat.”
Of course, Bill said David was wrong. And while Letterman admits he can not debate O’Reilly point to point on all thing, such as the US involvement in Iraq, Letterman did get the best line by telling O’Reilly that he felt that “60% of what you say is crap.”
Later its learned, that the lyric change to Silent Night mentioned by O’Reilly had nothing to with “secularization” or political correctness. The author of the song, a church going Christian, said that he used the theme music of the song and changed to the lyrics because they were preforming a play that involved a lonely Christmas Tree. He used the familiar music to help the kids understand the plight of this last tree.
So, O’Reilly and Fox took something out of context -along with the Comedy Central bit - and tried to pass it off as some kind of War on Christmas. And Letterman - with his comment -just pointed out that you cannot have a debate with a person who has no respect for facts and who continues to take things out of context.
So, just how much is Fox altering the facts to make its news seem “real?” And why do people devour this like a Christmas turkey?
What galls me the most, is that many Americans watch and get their news from O’Reilly and the duplicitous Fox Network -and just for the record, I think CNN is just as bad - and brilliant shows like Arrested Development gets cancelled, which was what this article was really going to be about.
In some ways, it does dovetail.
FOX announced that they will air the final four episodes in a two-hour block on Friday, February 10. While the show has suffered low ratings, FOX, in their infinite wisdom, does not seem to put it in a slot where anyone can see it. For February 10 is also the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, which is always high rated. This will, rest absurdly, make sure the ratings for Arrested Development to be even lower than the 4.2 million it’s been averaging.
Today, FOX Entertainment president Peter Ligouri articulated what fans have known for some time, that it’s "highly unlikely" the series will see another season on FOX. And while there seems no wiggle room in that “highly unlikely”, he regrets the series, which won the best comedy Emmy in 2004, never found "the audience it deserved.”
Still, the network has not officially cancelled the show and will not confirm anything until after the network finalizes its fall slate, and begins assigning pilots. But, as posted a few weeks ago, when FOX does officially cancel the show, expect 20th Century Fox to shop the show to both the cable network Showtime or the broadcast network ABC, who’ve expressed interest in picking up the show.
Ligouri says he's not involved with any discussion about relocating the show, but "it is in fact a studio property. If there's interest at other networks, it's the studio's right and [creator Mitch Hurwitz's] right to move that on and put that up to bid."
The demise of the show -and even sadder if no network does pick it up -is a sad comment on the state of TV in general. The show is smarter than the average TV show and does not dumb down its scripts and pander to lowest common denominator. It expects -much like Gene Roddenberry did with Star Trek - its audience to have brains.
But, as its been pointed out, this type of intellectual humor is bad. And -to some extreme - even bad for the US of A. Some how, being smart, understanding that what is printed in the papers, what’s broadcast on TV is not the complete truth. Its slanted to pander to American’s who cannot read for themselves and cannot find information that is out there.
I realize that America presidency was hijacked by religious zealots, also. That the Right -in what all I can say was a brilliant strategy - bussed these religious fanatics to the voting booths and basically let them pull the lever for the wrong man, wanting some kind of “good Christian,” I guess to a good president.
And with the recent wiretapping issue, President Bush -like Kenneth Lay who has convinced himself that stole no money from Eron or its investors - he thinks he’s done nothing illegal and the Republican controlled Congress backs him up.
And if someone steps up and calls him on his illegal maneuvers, he has the gall to say they are “helping the enemy.” I believe however, this hurts the enemies. It shows that America is still an honest democracy, that we are a people of honesty and that we will and can admit we make mistakes and are willing to correct them.
On one blog I read from New York, he said Bush is leading the country into a oligarchy -a small group of people who have control of the state. And that is something I can agree with.
I cannot say that nothing can be done, but I fear people like George Bush, Bill O’Reilly and Fox News will continue to manipulate the news to show the world how great they are and how Bush believes he has “divine right” to do what he does. And believing oneself to be perfect is often the sign of a delusional mind.
Anyway, in conclusion, watch the final episodes of Arrested Development on February 10 and pray to what ever TV God you believe in that someone half intelligence still works in Hollywood. Because while I know it’s a business and the networks are in it for the money, sometimes its more illogical to stick with a show that shows that not all Americans think American Idol is quality TV.
According to some on the Right, the “intellectuals” are ruining the world, threatening such things as religion and freedom to let Bill O’Reilly tell them the real story, with no “spin.”
I’m no intellectual. I hold no degree, but I think for myself. I don’t need O’Reilly and his fascist and probably, racist network, to tell me a damn thing. Besides, what can you believe from good old Bill? Twice in the last month, O’Reilly has been caught short of the “truth.” Back in December, when O’Reilly was doing his War on Christmas (where retailers such as Wal Mart - a very Christian organization, requested that its workers refrain from saying “Merry Christmas” and just wish the patrons a “Happy Holiday”), O’Reilly sited Comedy Central (or as he called it, Secular Central) for making fun of this, and showed a clip from Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show. There, one of the shows performers gave a mock commentary on how Christmas is the only “religious holiday that is a Federal holiday. That way, Christians can go to their services and everyone else can stay home and reflect on the true meaning of separation of church and state.” The clip ended and went back to the smug SOB and he wished a Merry Christmas to Jon Stewart.
Not to be out done, Stewart fired back. He asked Samantha -the girl who gave the joke - to come out, as Stewart could not remember them putting out this. And suddenly it becomes clear where Stewart is going with this. The comedian is obviously pregnant and looks due almost any minute. Upon reflection, if anyone was paying attention to the clip that O’Reilly played, Samantha was not pregnant. So this clip was at least a year old, long before the Billster began his War on Christmas.
The a few weeks later, O’Reilly was on Late Night with David Letterman, where the the host of the CBS show confronted O’Reilly about his War on Christmas. O’Reilly sited a school in Wisconsin that changed the lyrics to the classic Christmas song, Silent Night. That they “knocked out the words and told the kids to sing...” and O’Reilly rattles off this song, which is very different to the song I grew up with. Letterman felt, while a stupid move on the school’s part, was just, essentially, nothing; that he felt there was no threat, that, at most, these were isolated incidents and that O’Reilly and his cohorts at Fox “try make us think it’s a threat.”
Of course, Bill said David was wrong. And while Letterman admits he can not debate O’Reilly point to point on all thing, such as the US involvement in Iraq, Letterman did get the best line by telling O’Reilly that he felt that “60% of what you say is crap.”
Later its learned, that the lyric change to Silent Night mentioned by O’Reilly had nothing to with “secularization” or political correctness. The author of the song, a church going Christian, said that he used the theme music of the song and changed to the lyrics because they were preforming a play that involved a lonely Christmas Tree. He used the familiar music to help the kids understand the plight of this last tree.
So, O’Reilly and Fox took something out of context -along with the Comedy Central bit - and tried to pass it off as some kind of War on Christmas. And Letterman - with his comment -just pointed out that you cannot have a debate with a person who has no respect for facts and who continues to take things out of context.
So, just how much is Fox altering the facts to make its news seem “real?” And why do people devour this like a Christmas turkey?
What galls me the most, is that many Americans watch and get their news from O’Reilly and the duplicitous Fox Network -and just for the record, I think CNN is just as bad - and brilliant shows like Arrested Development gets cancelled, which was what this article was really going to be about.
In some ways, it does dovetail.
FOX announced that they will air the final four episodes in a two-hour block on Friday, February 10. While the show has suffered low ratings, FOX, in their infinite wisdom, does not seem to put it in a slot where anyone can see it. For February 10 is also the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, which is always high rated. This will, rest absurdly, make sure the ratings for Arrested Development to be even lower than the 4.2 million it’s been averaging.
Today, FOX Entertainment president Peter Ligouri articulated what fans have known for some time, that it’s "highly unlikely" the series will see another season on FOX. And while there seems no wiggle room in that “highly unlikely”, he regrets the series, which won the best comedy Emmy in 2004, never found "the audience it deserved.”
Still, the network has not officially cancelled the show and will not confirm anything until after the network finalizes its fall slate, and begins assigning pilots. But, as posted a few weeks ago, when FOX does officially cancel the show, expect 20th Century Fox to shop the show to both the cable network Showtime or the broadcast network ABC, who’ve expressed interest in picking up the show.
Ligouri says he's not involved with any discussion about relocating the show, but "it is in fact a studio property. If there's interest at other networks, it's the studio's right and [creator Mitch Hurwitz's] right to move that on and put that up to bid."
The demise of the show -and even sadder if no network does pick it up -is a sad comment on the state of TV in general. The show is smarter than the average TV show and does not dumb down its scripts and pander to lowest common denominator. It expects -much like Gene Roddenberry did with Star Trek - its audience to have brains.
But, as its been pointed out, this type of intellectual humor is bad. And -to some extreme - even bad for the US of A. Some how, being smart, understanding that what is printed in the papers, what’s broadcast on TV is not the complete truth. Its slanted to pander to American’s who cannot read for themselves and cannot find information that is out there.
I realize that America presidency was hijacked by religious zealots, also. That the Right -in what all I can say was a brilliant strategy - bussed these religious fanatics to the voting booths and basically let them pull the lever for the wrong man, wanting some kind of “good Christian,” I guess to a good president.
And with the recent wiretapping issue, President Bush -like Kenneth Lay who has convinced himself that stole no money from Eron or its investors - he thinks he’s done nothing illegal and the Republican controlled Congress backs him up.
And if someone steps up and calls him on his illegal maneuvers, he has the gall to say they are “helping the enemy.” I believe however, this hurts the enemies. It shows that America is still an honest democracy, that we are a people of honesty and that we will and can admit we make mistakes and are willing to correct them.
On one blog I read from New York, he said Bush is leading the country into a oligarchy -a small group of people who have control of the state. And that is something I can agree with.
I cannot say that nothing can be done, but I fear people like George Bush, Bill O’Reilly and Fox News will continue to manipulate the news to show the world how great they are and how Bush believes he has “divine right” to do what he does. And believing oneself to be perfect is often the sign of a delusional mind.
Anyway, in conclusion, watch the final episodes of Arrested Development on February 10 and pray to what ever TV God you believe in that someone half intelligence still works in Hollywood. Because while I know it’s a business and the networks are in it for the money, sometimes its more illogical to stick with a show that shows that not all Americans think American Idol is quality TV.
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