At 12:30 on 9/12/08 Fox News is currently covering the truce between Barack Obama and John McCain on what types of campaign ads they will be using. Barack Obama has not really responded to attacks by the McCain camp as fiercefuly as what the original attacks are. I think that this is just another attempt by Barack Obama to trick the American people into believing that John McCain should not be President. I personally do not care that McCain does not know how to use a computer or send an e-mail. That is not what being the Commander in Chief is about. Staffers can take care of that stuff but when it comes time for the tough decisions John McCain has a much better background than Obama to draw upon. Fox News is playing up this idea of campaign ads and what they should be like. No real spin on this issue.
Another article is that in an interview Alaska Governor Sarah Palin says that she is ready to step into the #1 job at any point if needed once her and McCain win the White House in November. I think that Fox News has decided that this is a very good story to show because they don't want Obama to win in November they would much rather have a McCain-Palin White House. This story is being spun towards the McCain supporters to show that Palin has what it needs and the experience to lead our troops and our country in battle if something were to happen to John McCain.
Joe Biden has also released his personal financial records. They are trying to show that although he has been in the Senate for 36 years he has not earned the amount of money that other members of the Senate has that have been there less time and some that have been there more. I personally don't care what kind of money he and his wife made in 2007, including both of their salaries and book royalties. That does not matter to me. Lets look at the nominee's record, let's argue the facts, and debate the issues. As a country we need to get past these childish issues and look at the real issues that are facing our country. No spin on this article was noted.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Week #2, Blog #1
At 11:20am on 9/11/08 Fox News is of course covering the 7th anniversary of the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks, the Congress Charles Rangel's tax evasion scheme, and Congress' moving money to shore up the Highway Trust Fund.
After 9/11/01 the American people came together in a unique way to show the world that you can harm our citizens, destroy our buildings, but you will never kill the resolve of the American people. Since seven years has past the resolve that we showed immediately after 9/11 has begun to fade. The ideas that were promoted when President Bush addressed Congress shortly after that fateful day are no longer what we are concerned about in this country. The big news is changing daily and although some feel that the passage of time has made 9/11 seem like a distant memory and the people behind it a distant threat, we as Americans must never forget the brave men and women who lost their lives that day while conducting America's business. Not only the citizens on those planes but the fire fighters, policemen, and first responders who put their own safety on the back-burner so that they could save others, we should never forget. Fox News has portrayed this as President Bush, Donald Rumsfield, Robert Gates, Dick Cheney, and mostly a Republican Congress worked immediately to secure our borders, our homeland, and our citizens.
This issue has been placed not just on the back-burner but off the stove entirely. We do not think about this issue as one of the biggest issues that we face as a country today. We are looking at the economy, energy, health care, and education. Terrorism is no longer as important as it was in the 2004 election or even the 2002 mid-term Congressional elections. Due to the fact that today is the 7th anniversary that is why this is a front line issue in today's news.
Another major news item is that Congressmen Charles Rangel (D-NY) did not pay federal income tax on the money that he received from renting property. Fox News has shown clips of the House Republican leader urging him to resign his chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee which is responsible for writing tax law and oversight of the IRS. The Republican leadership has issued a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying that you can not have someone under investigation by the same people that as a chairmen of a standing committee of Congress he is entitled to conduct oversight upon. This issue has been unfolding for several days and last night Congressmen Rangel and Congress Boehnar exchanged words on the House floor over this issue. Rangel insists that he has down nothing wrong but I believe that he should resign his chairmanship at least while the House Ethics Committee looks into this issue and makes a judgement on whether he has violated any House Ethics rules. Fox News is covering this item often because Rangel is a big figurehead for Democrats and this is a scandal.
Another issue that is in the news is that the Highway Trust Fund is broke and needs $8 billion in order for current projects that are underway in all 50 states to continue and not be shut down which means a loss of thousands upon thousands of construction jobs nationwide. Fox News is promoting that the Senate Republicans want to help this fund but they just want a way to pay for it instead of taking it out of the general fund/general revenue stream. They argue that they whole point of this trust fund is to pay for highway construction through gasoline taxes so that money does not have to come out of the general fund which can be used on discretionary spending. The media is portraying this as another example of Republicans watching what we spend and Democrats just throwing more money at the problem. This issue has just been briefly mentioned and is not forefront because if you polled Americans I am sure that this is something that they have little background knowledge about.
After 9/11/01 the American people came together in a unique way to show the world that you can harm our citizens, destroy our buildings, but you will never kill the resolve of the American people. Since seven years has past the resolve that we showed immediately after 9/11 has begun to fade. The ideas that were promoted when President Bush addressed Congress shortly after that fateful day are no longer what we are concerned about in this country. The big news is changing daily and although some feel that the passage of time has made 9/11 seem like a distant memory and the people behind it a distant threat, we as Americans must never forget the brave men and women who lost their lives that day while conducting America's business. Not only the citizens on those planes but the fire fighters, policemen, and first responders who put their own safety on the back-burner so that they could save others, we should never forget. Fox News has portrayed this as President Bush, Donald Rumsfield, Robert Gates, Dick Cheney, and mostly a Republican Congress worked immediately to secure our borders, our homeland, and our citizens.
This issue has been placed not just on the back-burner but off the stove entirely. We do not think about this issue as one of the biggest issues that we face as a country today. We are looking at the economy, energy, health care, and education. Terrorism is no longer as important as it was in the 2004 election or even the 2002 mid-term Congressional elections. Due to the fact that today is the 7th anniversary that is why this is a front line issue in today's news.
Another major news item is that Congressmen Charles Rangel (D-NY) did not pay federal income tax on the money that he received from renting property. Fox News has shown clips of the House Republican leader urging him to resign his chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee which is responsible for writing tax law and oversight of the IRS. The Republican leadership has issued a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying that you can not have someone under investigation by the same people that as a chairmen of a standing committee of Congress he is entitled to conduct oversight upon. This issue has been unfolding for several days and last night Congressmen Rangel and Congress Boehnar exchanged words on the House floor over this issue. Rangel insists that he has down nothing wrong but I believe that he should resign his chairmanship at least while the House Ethics Committee looks into this issue and makes a judgement on whether he has violated any House Ethics rules. Fox News is covering this item often because Rangel is a big figurehead for Democrats and this is a scandal.
Another issue that is in the news is that the Highway Trust Fund is broke and needs $8 billion in order for current projects that are underway in all 50 states to continue and not be shut down which means a loss of thousands upon thousands of construction jobs nationwide. Fox News is promoting that the Senate Republicans want to help this fund but they just want a way to pay for it instead of taking it out of the general fund/general revenue stream. They argue that they whole point of this trust fund is to pay for highway construction through gasoline taxes so that money does not have to come out of the general fund which can be used on discretionary spending. The media is portraying this as another example of Republicans watching what we spend and Democrats just throwing more money at the problem. This issue has just been briefly mentioned and is not forefront because if you polled Americans I am sure that this is something that they have little background knowledge about.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Week #1, Blog #3
At the late hour of 11:00pm on 9/7/08 Fox News is currently running a special on the life of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Greta Van Susteren is certainly making the case as to why Sarah Palin will make a wonderful Vice-President serving alongside John McCain. She is showcasing her life as a mother and how she came to grow up with the Alaskan values of integrity and hard work. While airing this they also showed Barack Obama blasting her for talking about federal earmarks and how she told the federal government "thanks but no thanks" for the infamous Bridge to Nowhere. Obama is trying to spin this that she has requested an enormous amount of outrageous earmarks while she has been a mayor and a Governor. I think that the record is clear that Congress does maintain the power of the pursue and they can appropriate money as they see fit in their home states and districts. These projects should be well deserved and in reality tenure in Congress is how these projects are often rewarded. Alaska currently has the most senior republican member of the United States Senate on its team and the 8th most senior member of the 435 member House of Representatives. That is pretty good. When you look at the earmarks that Palin has been directly involved in, the total is not many. Obama on the other hand has requested a total of almost a billion dollars worth in just three years. I think that most taxpayers would say that he needs to put his foot in his mouth and call it a day.
Another issue that is prominent in this evenings news is that a new Gallup poll shows John McCain is leading Barack Obama for the first time by a 3 point margin. This is the first time that McCain has hit a 48%-45% margin since May and the first time that he has garnered a 48% lead. I think that since the Republican National Convention just ended I am sure that he is taking some momentum from that but I hope that the American people are starting to see that Barack Obama really is not the "change" that America needs, he is just more hot air and wants to throw more money at the problem instead of reforming the system so that it works better in a global economy. I believe that a lot of this comes from the running mate that he has chosen and how well she has performed thus far. I don't think that he could have chosen a better Vice-Presidential nominee because he needed someone that could support his maverick, reform type style and change Washington instead of just joining the game with the typical Washington type establishment.
Less than two months to election day...
Another issue that is prominent in this evenings news is that a new Gallup poll shows John McCain is leading Barack Obama for the first time by a 3 point margin. This is the first time that McCain has hit a 48%-45% margin since May and the first time that he has garnered a 48% lead. I think that since the Republican National Convention just ended I am sure that he is taking some momentum from that but I hope that the American people are starting to see that Barack Obama really is not the "change" that America needs, he is just more hot air and wants to throw more money at the problem instead of reforming the system so that it works better in a global economy. I believe that a lot of this comes from the running mate that he has chosen and how well she has performed thus far. I don't think that he could have chosen a better Vice-Presidential nominee because he needed someone that could support his maverick, reform type style and change Washington instead of just joining the game with the typical Washington type establishment.
Less than two months to election day...
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Week #1, Blog #2
At 10:00pm on 9/6/08 Fox News is reporting heavily on Senator Barack Obama's statement that the McCain-Palin ticket is really not offering any change because McCain has been in Washington too long and Governor Sarah Palin does not have enough experience to know how to run the government. I don't see how Obama can say this when his running mate, Senator Joe Biden, has been in the Senate more than a decade longer than Senator McCain has. However, Obama says that Biden has not been changed by Washington and he can change Washington. How in the world can you say that just because he goes home everynight by train means that Washington hasn't changed him any? Not every Senator has that ability because their home state may be on the West Coast or Hawaii or Alaksa. I think that this is a poorly planned defense on behalf of the Obama campaign. I have heard others make this same arguement that I am because it is common sense. This media source has figured out that the Obama campaign is not contrasting ideas but instead throwing political motivated attacks across the asile while failing to do anything for the American people. This is certainly something that Fox News has reported on several times because it just goes to show that the Democratic campaign has nothing more to offer the American people than retoric... and then some more retoric.
Another issue that the media has focused on heavily is the probe into the role that Governor Sarah Palin played in trying to get her ex-brother-in-law fired from the Alaska State Troopers. This has been downplayed by this source because it is something that is just an allegation that probably does not have any real "teeth" and this is just another attemp to try to make this wonderful Vice-Presidential candidate look "to good to be true." Governor Palin has been a reformer and taken on the political establishment in Alaska. When someone is a maverick and goes after the "good ole boys" then yes someone is going to try to smear your name because that just goes to show that someone has been doing something. Usually when someones feathers gets ruffled then you know that government has accomplished at least something. Governor Palin is an excellent choice for Vice-President and I think that she will embody what our founding fathers envisioned when they wrote, "... we will govern by the consent of those we will govern." Governor Palin is a uniter and someone who will do great things for our country. I think that this media source has covered this story intensly also because it has many flaws that play into favor for the McCain-Palin ticket.
Another issue that the media has focused on heavily is the probe into the role that Governor Sarah Palin played in trying to get her ex-brother-in-law fired from the Alaska State Troopers. This has been downplayed by this source because it is something that is just an allegation that probably does not have any real "teeth" and this is just another attemp to try to make this wonderful Vice-Presidential candidate look "to good to be true." Governor Palin has been a reformer and taken on the political establishment in Alaska. When someone is a maverick and goes after the "good ole boys" then yes someone is going to try to smear your name because that just goes to show that someone has been doing something. Usually when someones feathers gets ruffled then you know that government has accomplished at least something. Governor Palin is an excellent choice for Vice-President and I think that she will embody what our founding fathers envisioned when they wrote, "... we will govern by the consent of those we will govern." Governor Palin is a uniter and someone who will do great things for our country. I think that this media source has covered this story intensly also because it has many flaws that play into favor for the McCain-Palin ticket.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Week #1, Blog #1
At 12:30pm on 9/4/08 Fox News is extensively covering Governor Sarah Palin's address last night to the Republican National Convention. They are promoting her as someone who is going to be wonderful for our country and that she is a maverick and a reformer just like Senator John McCain. I agree with Fox News on this point that Sarah Palin will be a wonderful Vice-President of the United States. We need someone who is not all about Washington and someone that has executive experience.
In the last several days after disclosing that her teenage daughter is pregnant she has underwent tremendous criticism for her role as a mother. Fox News showed a clip of a member of Congress saying, "If she can not run her family then how can she run an entire country?" I feel that this is a inaccurate statement and one that should not have been made. Parents do not always have power over what their children do so you can not hold them entirely responsible for stupid mistakes.
My family does keep up to date with politics and since I talked to my parents this morning about her address last night they also agree that she did a very good job of laying down the issues and how she plans to attack them in January. I think that we agreed on this point because as children we often hold the same political beliefs as our parents. However; when I listened to other people talk about the election they make comments that Barack Obama picked Joe Biden so that he could bring some experience to the ticket. John McCain however picked Sarah Palin because she believes in the same causes as he does and has a proven track record of reform while mayor and Governor.
Other issues that Fox News is covering is Hurricane season. I heard Congressmen John Spratt (D-SC), House Budget Committee Chairman say that since the hurricane was going to hit at the beginning of the Republican National Convention that meant that God wanted the Democrats to win the election. This comment was totally out of touch with mainstream Americans and Fox News portrayed this while covering the interview with Representative John Spratt (D-SC).
Another issue that Fox News has breaking news of is that the Mayor of Detroit will resign after pleading guilty to sexual misconduct charges and pleaded no contest to assaulting a police officer. Fox News has noted that this issue has plagued the city for months and has cast a shadow over the city government. I have seen this story from time to time over the last several months and I believe that the mayor should have resigned immediately. If we are a public official and are under investigation for multiple charges then if you know that you are guilty you should have the decency to resign and let the people who you were elected to represent move on with a different leader.
The more important issue on the news this morning was how Governor Sarah Palin's address went over with the American people last night. Fox News is also having a field day with Congressmen John Spratt's statement about God showing the American people who he wanted to win the election by having a hurricane strike the Gulf of Mexico at the beginning of the Republican National Convention. The Mayor of Detroit resigning is another story that the media has jumped on. All three of these issues have dominated the news this morning/afternoon and Fox News is covering these issues most frequently.
In the last several days after disclosing that her teenage daughter is pregnant she has underwent tremendous criticism for her role as a mother. Fox News showed a clip of a member of Congress saying, "If she can not run her family then how can she run an entire country?" I feel that this is a inaccurate statement and one that should not have been made. Parents do not always have power over what their children do so you can not hold them entirely responsible for stupid mistakes.
My family does keep up to date with politics and since I talked to my parents this morning about her address last night they also agree that she did a very good job of laying down the issues and how she plans to attack them in January. I think that we agreed on this point because as children we often hold the same political beliefs as our parents. However; when I listened to other people talk about the election they make comments that Barack Obama picked Joe Biden so that he could bring some experience to the ticket. John McCain however picked Sarah Palin because she believes in the same causes as he does and has a proven track record of reform while mayor and Governor.
Other issues that Fox News is covering is Hurricane season. I heard Congressmen John Spratt (D-SC), House Budget Committee Chairman say that since the hurricane was going to hit at the beginning of the Republican National Convention that meant that God wanted the Democrats to win the election. This comment was totally out of touch with mainstream Americans and Fox News portrayed this while covering the interview with Representative John Spratt (D-SC).
Another issue that Fox News has breaking news of is that the Mayor of Detroit will resign after pleading guilty to sexual misconduct charges and pleaded no contest to assaulting a police officer. Fox News has noted that this issue has plagued the city for months and has cast a shadow over the city government. I have seen this story from time to time over the last several months and I believe that the mayor should have resigned immediately. If we are a public official and are under investigation for multiple charges then if you know that you are guilty you should have the decency to resign and let the people who you were elected to represent move on with a different leader.
The more important issue on the news this morning was how Governor Sarah Palin's address went over with the American people last night. Fox News is also having a field day with Congressmen John Spratt's statement about God showing the American people who he wanted to win the election by having a hurricane strike the Gulf of Mexico at the beginning of the Republican National Convention. The Mayor of Detroit resigning is another story that the media has jumped on. All three of these issues have dominated the news this morning/afternoon and Fox News is covering these issues most frequently.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Fox News Background
Fox News was launched on October 7, 1996 to 17 million cable subscribers. Throughout the late 1990's its audience share grew and in January 2005, it was predicted that 85 million households watched the news program. It is headquarted in New York City, New York and has several prominent slogans such as "We Report. You Decide"; "Fair and Balanced"; "The Most Powerful Name in News."
Critics believe that Fox News has a conservative spin on its reporting. It boosts television, radio, and online outlets to " spread the word to the people." Fox News not only broadcasts to American citizens it also contains an international audience.
Fox News has personalities such as Bill O'Reily, Sean Hannity, Alan Colmes, Greta Vann Susteren, Shepard Smith, and Brit Hume. With the help of the previously mentioned hosts Fox News leads the cable news market in the United States when looking at regular viewership. They average over 3.3 million viewers daily. During the 2004 Republican National Convention they had 7.3 million viewers nationally when President George W. Bush spoke.
Critics believe that Fox News has a conservative spin on its reporting. It boosts television, radio, and online outlets to " spread the word to the people." Fox News not only broadcasts to American citizens it also contains an international audience.
Fox News has personalities such as Bill O'Reily, Sean Hannity, Alan Colmes, Greta Vann Susteren, Shepard Smith, and Brit Hume. With the help of the previously mentioned hosts Fox News leads the cable news market in the United States when looking at regular viewership. They average over 3.3 million viewers daily. During the 2004 Republican National Convention they had 7.3 million viewers nationally when President George W. Bush spoke.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
McCain/Obama Images
One year ago I think that John McCain was just a member of the greatest deliberative body in the world, the United States Senate. He had just taken over as the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee in the Senate following Senator John Warner of Virginia having to leave that post due to Senate Republican Conference term limit rules for chairman/ranking member of a standing committee. He had an opportunity to really make a mark on the steering of the war and let his opinions be heard through that forum.
John McCain had been in the Senate since his election in 1987 and what major legislative accomplishment did he achieve? I think that we can all think about the Campaign Finance Reform legislation that he helped sheppard into law with Senator Russell Feingold (D-WI). For years he was maybe one of the "forgotten Senators." Following the Keating Five scandal in the early 1990's he did not appear into the limelight until the 2000 Presidential Campaign and following his defeat in the primary to President George W. Bush he once again faded back into the Senate woodwork.
All of sudden he decided to run for the Oval office again. He emerged back into the limelight and once all thought that his campaign was dead he revived it and became the Republican front-runner in the 2008 Presidential Election. The public is still skeptical, I believe, of Senator McCain and where does he really stand on the issues in the past? in the present? and in the future? Do we have a concrete answer?
One year ago Barack Obama was still a newcomer to the United States Senate. He had been in the Senate for three years and really had not secured any major committee assignments and had not authored any substantive legislation. We really did not know very much about Barack Obama. He had been overshadowed by figures such as Dick Durbin, Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Barbara Boxer, and others who sought the limelight and gained the attention of the American public much more effectively than Barack Obama.
I think that a question that few people in the media and the American public has asked themselves is: Where would Barack Obama be if Alan Keyes had not dropped out of the Illinois Senate Race just weeks before the election due to scandal? This is a worthwhile question because maybe Barack Obama would have not even won a seat in the Senate. Always asking the what if question is not always helpful but it certainly gives you something to think about?
Barack Obama and John McCain both emerged as somebody during the run-up to the election. I think that we need to look at the Senate record and see where they have stood in the past in conparison to where they say that they stand today. I am sure that it is different because they are now running a national campaign instead of playing the election game for their respective states. The media has captured the here and now but I think that we need to look at the past to see the record that both of these Senators have accumulated in their Senate careers.
John McCain had been in the Senate since his election in 1987 and what major legislative accomplishment did he achieve? I think that we can all think about the Campaign Finance Reform legislation that he helped sheppard into law with Senator Russell Feingold (D-WI). For years he was maybe one of the "forgotten Senators." Following the Keating Five scandal in the early 1990's he did not appear into the limelight until the 2000 Presidential Campaign and following his defeat in the primary to President George W. Bush he once again faded back into the Senate woodwork.
All of sudden he decided to run for the Oval office again. He emerged back into the limelight and once all thought that his campaign was dead he revived it and became the Republican front-runner in the 2008 Presidential Election. The public is still skeptical, I believe, of Senator McCain and where does he really stand on the issues in the past? in the present? and in the future? Do we have a concrete answer?
One year ago Barack Obama was still a newcomer to the United States Senate. He had been in the Senate for three years and really had not secured any major committee assignments and had not authored any substantive legislation. We really did not know very much about Barack Obama. He had been overshadowed by figures such as Dick Durbin, Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Barbara Boxer, and others who sought the limelight and gained the attention of the American public much more effectively than Barack Obama.
I think that a question that few people in the media and the American public has asked themselves is: Where would Barack Obama be if Alan Keyes had not dropped out of the Illinois Senate Race just weeks before the election due to scandal? This is a worthwhile question because maybe Barack Obama would have not even won a seat in the Senate. Always asking the what if question is not always helpful but it certainly gives you something to think about?
Barack Obama and John McCain both emerged as somebody during the run-up to the election. I think that we need to look at the Senate record and see where they have stood in the past in conparison to where they say that they stand today. I am sure that it is different because they are now running a national campaign instead of playing the election game for their respective states. The media has captured the here and now but I think that we need to look at the past to see the record that both of these Senators have accumulated in their Senate careers.
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