Getting “Ford Tough” on Fox News.
So, what to do. The man who was the object of Bill O’Reilly’s vitriol is now dead. And O’Reilly is now, officially an unrepentant instigator, a terrorist muse of sorts. Here’s what he had to say about the incident.
When I heard about Tiller’s murder, I knew pro-abortion zealots and Fox News haters would attempt to blame us for the crime, and that’s exactly what has happened. (…)
No backpedaling here, madam . Unlike you, I report honestly. Every single thing we said about Tiller was true, and my analysis was based on those facts. (…)
Now, it’s clear that the far left is exploiting — exploiting — the death of the doctor. Those vicious individuals want to stifle any criticism of people like Tiller. That — and hating Fox News — is the real agenda here. Finally, if these people are soooo compassionate — so very compassionate, so concerned for the rights and welfare of others — maybe they might have written something, one thing, about the 60,000 fetuses that will never become American citizens. Or am I wrong?
And during the campaign, Brian Williams asked Sarah Palin, “Is an abortioin clinic bomber a terrorist?”
Palin: There’s no question that Bill Ayers, via his own admittance was one who sought to destroy our U.S. Capitol and our Pentagon. That is a domestic terrorist, uh…there’s no question there. Now, others who would want to engage in harming innocent Americans or um..facilities that it would be, uh, unacceptable to uh…I..I don’t know if you’re going to want to use the word “terrorist” there, but it’s unacceptable and uh, uh, and it would not um, be condoned of course, on our watch, but …. I don’t know if what your asking is if I regret referring to Bill Ayers as an unrepentant domestic terrorist. I don’t regret characterizing him as that.
Williams: I’m just asking what other categories you would put in there – abortion clinic bombers, protesters in cities where fires were started, where Molotov cocktails were thrown, and people died.
Palin: I would put in that category of Bill Ayers, anyone else who would seek to campaign to destroy our United States Capitol and our Pentagon and would seek to destroy innocent Americans.
Besides this little bout of contortionist tap dancing when it came to calling terrorism “terrorism,” I did notice with some amusement the expression on the face of John McCain. In the context of what we know now, it’s pretty obvious that at least one of the thoughts running through his mind even back then, while he blinked, with a frozen half-smile on his face was, “Oh God….what have I done?”
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Although those on the far right don’t like to think that there may be “right wing terrorists,” and even though Keith Olbermann in the clip above doesn’t think advertiser boycotts are particularly effective, at least one major radio advertiser has chosen to distance themselves. And it sounds like they were pretty darned adamant about it….you might say they were being “Ford tough.” Earlier this month, Citadel Media, formerly ABC Radio Networks sent out the following communication to all their affiliated stations:
Ford has requested their copy not air in or adjacent to controversial programming such as Adam Corolla, Love Lines with Dr. Drew, Tom Keykus, Rush Limbaugh, Don Imus, Bubba the Love Sponge, Opie & Anthony, Brian Sussman, Melanie Morgan, Lee Rogers, Tom Brenner, Michael Savage, Mancow, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter and Mark Levin.
It has come to our attention that this advertiser is hearing their copy in Rush and Hannity. If your station is scheduling Ford copy in Rush Limbaugh and/or Sean Hannity or any other advertiser listed above PLEASE DISCONTINUE THIS PRACTICE IMMEDIATELY. [snip]
Please forward this message to any and all personnel involved with the scheduling, producing and/or broadcasting of Citadel Media commercials.
Your adherence to this request is required. Thank you in advance for your cooperation on this very important matter.
Why do I suddenly feel the urge to go test drive a pickup?
FIRST!
Makes me prouder than ever that I drive a Ford.
I hope the Tiller family sue the life out of Fox News.
Ya gotta love Ford!!. Not only that, but they knew they had to change their ways of designing cars and implemented those changes several years ago before the economic crisis hit. Only one of the “Big Three” who isn’t sucking up bail out money!! Old Henry may have been a bit of a wingnut in his day, but it didn’t carry on in the family.
Good for Ford! I wish more sponsors would take a stand. I think they possibly might be! I listened to Hannity for a bit today in my car just to see what he was spewing. In the half hour I listened I heard commercials for hemmoroid removal, (twice!), alcohol recovery (again…twice), and credit card rehabilatation. LMAO! I didn’t hear any mainstream sponsors at all, just ones that wanted to fix your hemmoroids, get you off the sauce and free you from your credit card debt. Oh, and there was one about investing in Gold because our world is going to hell in a hand basket.
Billo is indeed a “terrorist muse of sorts” (loved your words) and SP is just….I have no words. Seeing that video made me laugh and cringe at the same time. That statement she made there compared to her ghost written polished one of today just confirms what a hypocrite she is. Btw….the way McCain was looking at her in the vid is pretty creepy. YUK!
“Oh god, what have I done?” Isn’t that from one of the songs from The Talking Heads?
I say speak out and boycott those lying liars on Faux News.
And go test drive a Ford.
I *heart* Ford.
This is our wake up call.
We all need to stop the violence that the right, including Gov. Palin, thinks is justified. Jesus Christ *Never* advocated violence.
The fact that these religious extremists exist and use the word of God to justify their actions, makes them NO different then the Taliban. Same goals, getting rid of those who do not believe the same things they do in all religious matters, and violence as the soultion.
nswfm CA Says:
June 1st, 2009 at 9:20 PM
“Oh god, what have I done?” Isn’t that from one of the songs from The Talking Heads?
****************************************************************************
I think the line was “How did I get here?” from their song “Once in a Lifetime”. Great song. I’m a longtime Talking Heads fan. That line you quoted is vaguely familiar so would love to know the name of that song if you know it.
AKM or whomever is moderating….I don’t know if it is just me, but this page is out of whack when you first bring it up. There is the Mayor post on the right side and things just don’t look right. Just thought I’d let you know.
Should be fixed. An errant bit of code got stuck in there. AKM
LOL. Isn’t that what I said in a post below?
We need to hit the advertisers, the sponsors. We need to let them know we will not tolerate support of these right wing hate mongers and if they do, they will not get one penny from us.
Let them all do as Ford has done. Then see how long any of these blowhards stay on the air.
Ford leads the way.
I too am so glad I bought a Ford. Boycotting sponsors on a massive level would be awesome…..I would love to see an ethics complaint stick to Palin….RECALL
I have never liked Ford for other reasons. Years ago Ford, the founder, was notoriously anti-Semitic and gave money to the Nazi’s during the Holocaust. But.. Good for them now. The people mentioned are those who profit off the ignorant and racist in our country. They make me sick.
You know I think America has really changed. Maybe I am naive and it was always like this but there so many mean and hateful peple on the TV and radio! Lou Dobbs was another one today ranting about Obama going to NYC.
I think a Ford Escape Hybrid might be nice – same gas mileage as my car, only with more room for the dog….
Who knew I’d be “proud” of that Ford pickup in the driveway?
good to know.
Seattlefan, I think it is the same song
I don’t have a TV, haven’t for years. I would love to know who is sponsering these “shows.” Perhaps there could be a permanent link here somewhere that lists who is–or who is still–advertising on hatemonger hour. I will boycot them and let them know. As we plan on buying a car probably in the fall, I’m sure putting Ford on my list of places to check out. It wasn’t there before. And, yes, I’ll tell them that.
nswfm CA–
You are right! I googled the lyrics for Once in a Life time and both lines are in it. Lol! How perfect. The “My God…what have I done?” goes to McCain and the “How did I get here?” goes to SP. That just tickles my funnybone!
I had the same whacky problem with the page posts too.
The advertisers are responding to the repositioning of what ‘flatters’ and others know here in Whoville. We are sick and tired of those who ‘in the name of Christ’ have culturally wrecked much of what could be good about this country.
Buying American makes sense to me and NOT spending money with advertisers who support greedy divisive liars works for me too. The liars know who they are and they apparently don’t care because they don’t have to deal with the ‘ditto heads’ who blindly follow them regurgitating empty talking points.
Thanks again, AKM and AK Bloggers (and other cyberfolk) for fighting the good fight. I think that MLK would be proud of you for doing justice and for having generous spirits for those in need.
Hypocrites. The bunch of them.
This is what happens when you mix politics with Religion. The Republicans are out of their minds with using pro life slogan to win voters.
Check out how these Repus are selling themselves to voters in New Jersey.
I went to some near by church close to my house on Sunday, by the time I came out all cars were covered with pro-life flyers by candidates running as republicans. What is amazing is all their signs are in Blue, not red. I took pictures and posted on my blog.
check this out:
http://bilia.wordpress.com/
Ford found some ethics in its financial soup. Who knew?
I am a proud owner of a Ford because I wanted to do my little part by choosing an American made vehicle. Now I am especially proud of my Ford because of the truly American company standing up for this country and sending a message to blowhards like Falafal O’Reilly, Bouncing Limpballs, Insannity and the rest of their ilk on Faux.
This is exciting! I can hardly wait to tell everyone about Ford! I already told everyone how proud I was of UPS cancelling their advertising on Faux.
Thank you, Ford.
I know why AKM, but not only go test drive a Ford but, BUY one!
(ummmm, my hubby made me say that, as he loves his Ford stock.)
Bed time for me!
Shoot Dr. Tiller was an act of terrorism. IMO it was also torture. To force the friends and family watch a loved one being executed is torture. It is used to demoralize, to make people change their minds. It will bring up horrible images for those that attend church there.
Now, some things you deserve to be tortured for, but you’ve always done it to yourself. If his murderer ever comes into his right mind and realizes what he has done, he will suffer greatly, and he should. It is the only road to leaving the dark place of fear, self justification and hatred that he is in.
.
The vast majority of terrorist acts and members of terrorist groups have always been right-wingers in the US. If they weren’t the people who control our media, that would be the headline here.
The FCC clearly does not know obscenity when the see or hear it. Bill O’Reilly, Ann Coulter, Michael Savage, they’re nothing but hate-mongers and rabble-rousers. Their intent is to foment violence. But the really awful news is that nothing will happen to them, no matter who they get killed.
We’ve still got a lot of “CHANGE” to bring about.
.
“Jesus Christ *Never* advocated violence.”
You don’t think proclaiming that nonbelievers will burn in a lake of fire is advocating violence? READ your bible. Jesus could be a real jerk.
Sarah’s most recent statement seems to indicate she has finally hired a competent writer who can cover up the random cackles and shrieks.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/01/sarah-palin-tiller-murder_n_209896.html
It just not the usual word salad and I doubt she could have put those words together, at least in that order and with proper punctuation.
Bill O’Rielly knows that at this point he is fooling only the choir and people who are low information. He and others of his ilk have blood on their hands. They won’t stop or take any responsibility.
As far as getting advertisers to stop using Fox and right wing media, would it be a good idea to choose the top 5 sponsors and have a permanent list under the heading ‘Fox Sponsors to boycott’, on every blog front page, every TV programme such as KO and RM and the like, every day until one drops out, and then insert the next biggest.
People don’t remember long lists and this seems to me to be a more effective way of bringing the message home to people.
This used in conjunction with writing to sponsors to voice disgust might help, especially if the method became widespread.
This is a world-class post, AKM.
I’m impressed by the sheer force of the Citadel communication – “no ifs, ands, or buts – we are out of there NOW!” That’s incredibly strong language for a media buyer! And that was before the assassination …
This is a surprisingly strong ethical stance for an American institution, and I am so impressed.
Let our friends in Europe, in South America, in Asia know about the strong stance that Ford has taken. Because they care, too. More than you know.
Another thought as I seem to be talking to myself. Carrots work as well as sticks. A list of 5 sponsors who have ceased advertising on Fox such as Ford may also be a good idea. Encourage others to do the same so to speak.
As for Palin, she is just parsing words. When she tries to run for any major office again she will not be able to avoid the hard questions such as “who is not innocent”?, no win situation for her.
UPS is also a “team” player now.
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/03/27/ups-oreilly/
UK Lady, good ideas, carrots and sticks.
austintx, I don’t think you ever sleep. Now, I’m going back to bed.
And here is the list of Fox sponsors I posted before. To the example e-mail , I added : I will not spend my money with a company that endorses , enables , and condones domestic terrorism against it’s citizens. You should follow the example of Ford and UPS and discontinue supporting domestic terrorism immediately. I and my family and friends will go out of our way to choose and buy products from companies that Do Not support domestic terrorism. Thank you for your consideration on this most important matter.
http://www.debone.com/boycottFoxNewsSponsors.html
Big Slick #26 – I believe you are right – this is not the usual Sarah Salad. It’s actually an intelligent statement. Wish I could believe she meant it!
Well, guess I’ll go wash my little Bronco II today, and feel proud that I own it! It’s been needing a bath for a week now, with all the pollen floating around, best I make sure it looks its best.
I own an ’88, and I’ve taken a lot of flack about how old my car is (good natured stuff from my friends). I even thought I was eligible for the free “antique” tag last year, but the vehicle has to be 25 years, so I’l have to wait a couple more years. I’m always getting remarks from folks, who, with a wistful, almost yearning gaze, will say “I had one of those, I wish I had kept it.”
One day someone even came to the door and wanted to buy it!
Go Ford, and UPS!
AKM, thanks for the KO clip – I missed his show tonight, though I saw Rachel Maddow’s show and was very impressed with her guest (whose name I don’t remember). He was raised with right wing agressive values and has since realized the insidiousness (if that’s a word) of their tactics. He called it what it is, terrorism, and apologized for his part in it back in the 70s and 80s. He also said that, no matter what their public statements, he believes that all those who spew such hatred, are celebrating behind closed doors.
I find it all chilling to see just how far from Christian values, from human values, the far right has moved. They abhor abortion because it’s taking a life, but they don’t feel the same about taking the life of someone they disagree with. Boggles the mind.
And good for Ford. I’m driving an old Chevy that will have to be replaced some day. I might just rethink my choice. Since their new CEO is Allan Mallaly, formerly of Boeing, I’m not that surprised that Ford would make that move to stop supporting the right wingers who spew violence and hatred. Mallaly is a man of integrity, and, I will proudly point out, he is a Kansas Jayhawk alum. Yay!
@ tigerwine, how did you get a “little” Bronco?
But I will see you and raise you. My GM vehicle is now 29+ years old and was last washed in January 2002 (after which it became illegal to waste water on washing cars). The roof is down to the red metal undercoat, and when folks remark on that fact, I can safely say, “I’m restoring it – it’s a classic car”. The fact is, it’s a great little car (how many people can claim to be driving their 29-y-o first car because it was a gift from their parents and they took care of it?) but happily the new car I have my eye on for when it bites the dust is a FORD Focus.
Bill O’Reilly is a creep and a lowlife hypocrite of the highest order…he deserves to be taken off the air.
I am proud that I just purchased a new Ford Escape 3 months ago. I was determined after a disastrous 8 years with a Volvo (owned by Ford, but not made here, and a NIGHTMARE to maintain and fix) I was going to purchase an American union made car. Back in my high school days, my dad bought the first Bronco II and my brother and I drove that truck to it’s death. It was awesome.We had it until the Exploer came out, and we had 2 of those.
I love my little truck….now I love it even more!
Another tack in the boycott idea would be to target specifically the products/companies advertising on Bill O’s show.
Of course, that would mean some brave mudpup would have to watch and report back to us, but I’m sure someone would be willing to take one for the team.
I am very very interested in keeping a discussion going about all the things that we can DO to make our voices heard on this subject, and to help stop things like this from happening in the future. Also, too, to help stop the intimidation that is being heeped on the facilities and people who provide these needed services, and the people who need such services.
I can’t even tell you guys how it warms my heart to see your support of good ol’ AMERICAN made vehicles. All of Detroit and everyone in the region thanks you.
As a side note… please don’t refer to the government help as a “bailout”. LOANS were extended which will be paid back when solvency returns. We are NOT Wall Street.
The Ford Family can always be counted on to do the right thing. They are exceedingly generous with charities and local causes, but are, at the same time, quiet about it. They don’t do it for glory. They do it because it’s the right thing to do and because they have the resources and ability.
This is just one more example of the Ford Family’s admirable ethics.
I think strongly worded messages to sponsors of the hate spewed on Fox is more powerful than many think. Boycotting is something NO company wants to be involved with and if enough noise is made, they might follow Ford’s lead and REJECT the hate.
It doesn’t take a genious to connect the dots. There is not a shred of doubt in my mind that the continued fanning of the flames of hate and violence is PROMOTED by people like O’Reilly. His repeated “Baby Killer” comment when referring to Dr. Tiller has only one purpose. To incite violence against the man. If O’Reilly doesn’t think he has blood on his OWN hands for this senseless act of DOMESTIC TERRORISM, he’s even MORE stupid than I thought.
Now, I’m off to austintx’s link to see what products I will no longer buy.
GO RED WINGS!!!! (We need a little something to celebrate here in Detoit!)
It is interesting that violent, hate mongering religious and political conservatives, world wide, all talk and act out in similar ways.
They are all intolerant of other’s beliefs or bureaucratic systems and insist that their own system of beliefs and bureaucratic system must supplant all others.
And they all misuse religion, or pseudo religion (master race, lebens raum, witches), to excuse hate, violence, murder and for war mongering.
Even the Bush administration, the more we learn about its ties to the neocons, and the neocon’s conning of the self proclaimed Christian evangelical right, followed that familiar pattern.
And so Palin as a bible thumper and O’Reilly as a neocon tool and the Taliban, the Inquisition, the New England witch trials, really are the same movement with the same purpose and same goals – to destroy and suppress other beliefs, other bureaucratic systems, even other individual persons, which they dislike and, by that, destroying all other freedoms and beliefs except the ones blessed by themselves.
What the Neocon/evangelical movement, with the aide of the Neocon mouth pieces, is doing is exactly what the Nazis did, take over the governmental apparatus, rewrite the laws to suit their goals, and throw a murderous mindless rabble of brown shirts into the streets to kill and terrorize.
Big Slick #26 – I believe you are right – this is not the usual Sarah Salad. It’s actually an intelligent statement. Wish I could believe she meant it!
I do agree that Palin didn’t write this, but Shannyn had a post on HuffPO about this, and I agree with her. She compared this message to the one Palin put out
for Carrie-the topless Christian-and the it was a shocking comparison. Palin is OUTRAGED at the attacks on Carrie….bla, bla, bla. In the case of killing, she is only slightly sadenned. Also, Palin politicized the message by saying, While I don’t agree with abortion…….” You don’t add that to condolences.
But, the difference in Palin’s outrage is quite startling. I think most people missed this….including myself.
HA! I don’t use a single one of the sponsor’s products!!!
I googled “sponsors of Bill O’Reilly show” , and this popped up.
It is dated Mar. 26 , so the mention of UPS is no longer correct. But there are others that we can add to the list to contact. One of the last people Billo wants to piss off is Amanda Terkel. She will run his sorry ass in the ground. Go Amanda !! As for KO’s suggestion to walk out of a place that has a tv playing Faux news , that just does not work for me personally. I have a 15yr. old and am the primary caregiver/guardian for a 6yr.old and when they want to eat , thats what we do. Can’t load up to go somewhere else.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zp-heller/corporate-sponsors-wont-s_b_179776.html
10 mlaiuppa Says:
June 1st, 2009 at 9:56 PM
LOL. Isn’t that what I said in a post below?
“We need to hit the advertisers, the sponsors. We need to let them know we will not tolerate support of these right wing hate mongers and if they do, they will not get one penny from us.”
We need also to continue to support freedom of choice candidates when and where we can. Who just won the 2006 and 2008 elections in this country? Talk about a shout out.
The pro life people have no qualms about putting the life or health of the mother, who may have other children to care for, in danger. (Why do the pro-lifers not ever mention older siblings and their care?) And they have no qualms about putting the mental and physical health of the fetus in danger since many religous conservatives also speak out against early delivery, in cases where mother and/or fetus are at risk.
Prenatal diabetes and high blood pressure are dangerous to both mother and fetus and are increasing in occurrence as we become a fatter flabbier population.
austintx, thanks for the list! I’m going to spread it to everyone I know…
…and leave copies hidden in newspaper stands in restaurants which have Faux Noise on the TV…
Talking Heads fans: a little bit of fun trivia. At the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame there’s a room where they keep song lyrics penned by the authors. Talking Heads, being the engineer types they are, wrote their lyrics in carefully penciled text on graph paper…
My Ford story: My car is nowhere near as old as some of yours. 10 years old. It’s the last of the Escort line (1999), and they must have gotten out every last kink. It’s only needed minor upkeep throughout its life (knock on wood). Gets 34-35mpg highway. I’d trust a Ford. Regardless of choices in the future (I’ll always look at Ford first) Toyota and Subaru are no options, based on the info austintx gave out.
This makes perfect testimony for the Tiller family to sue Bill O’Reilly and FOX news, I hope they do;
My late father and I share the blame (with many others) for the murder of Dr. George Tiller the abortion doctor gunned down on Sunday. Until I got out of the religious right (in the mid-1980s) and repented of my former hate-filled rhetoric I was both a leader of the so-called pro-life movement and a part of a Republican Party hate machine masquerading as the moral conscience of America
The same hate machine I was part of is still attacking all abortionists as “murderers.” And today once again the “pro-life” leaders are busy ducking their personal responsibility for people acting on their words. The people who stir up the fringe never take responsibility. But I’d like to say on this day after a man was murdered in cold blood for preforming abortions that I — and the people I worked with in the religious right, the Republican Party, the pro-life movement and the Roman Catholic Church, all contributed to this killing by our foolish and incendiary words.
I am very sorry.
Frank Schaeffer is a writer. He is author of Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back and also author of the forthcoming Patience With God: Faith For People Who Don’t Like Religion (Or Atheism)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/how-i-and-other-pro-life_b_209747.html
Makes me wanna go car shopping—Way to go Ford!!
Another dangerous hate monger, Randall Terry;
Randall Terry: “George Tiller was a mass-murderer. We grieve for him that he did not have time to properly prepare his soul to face God.”
On the February 2, 1992, edition of CBS’ 60 Minutes (accessed from the Nexis database), Lesley Stahl reported:”While Terry insists he has never committed any violent acts himself, this footage, taped by the staff of the Boulder Abortion Clinic in Colorado,
shows him asking his followers to pray for either the salvation or the death of the clinic’s doctor.”
60 Minutes then aired video of Terry stating “But pray that this family will either be converted to God or that calamity will strike him.” Stahl added, “The doctor he’s talking about is Warren Hern, who runs the clinic. He’s been a major target of pro-life groups for years because he’s one of only three doctors in the country who specialize in late-term abortions.”
http://mediamatters.org/blog/200905310022
@Aussie Blue Sky #36 – My “little” Bronco is a Bronco II, a smaller version of what OJ rode in through the streets of LA. It’s not a 4 wheel drive, either.
I hope by Ford and UPS pulling out of sponsorsip, nuts like these will take the hint. Others are right – the only way to get them to listen is to hit them in the moneybags.
Talking Head SP:
This is not my beautiful house
…And you may ask yourself
Where does that highway go? (seriously, copied right off the lyrics)
And you may ask yourself
Am I right? …am I wrong?
And you may tell yourself
My god!…what have I done?
Other random thoughts as I read the post and all the comments.
I drive a Ford. Always have. Mom worked at Ford Plant in Detroit for 25 years.
Bill O seemed out of sorts last night as I surfed his show. Could not pronounce pharmacist and seemed rather subdued. Poor, poor Billy – this might be it for him!!
The whackos at meatharaS are actually somewhat sorry and somber about Dr. Tiller and are calling for action to condemn this murder. Was very surprised.
Okay that’s it…sorry for the rambling but my head is spinning!
33 tigerwine Says:
June 2nd, 2009 at 3:06 AM
Big Slick #26 – I believe you are right – this is not the usual Sarah Salad. It’s actually an intelligent statement. Wish I could believe she meant it!
**********************************************************************************************If her response was put to music, we’d being doing a soft shoe shuffle. Skirting the real issue’s again. Speaking of skirt, lot’sa leg in that Williams interview also. Her statement didn’t cut it for me.
Looks like my “if” got dropped.
Bill O’Reilly isn’t smart enough to realize that he’s plunking himself into the role of an accessory to murder. Someone near and dear to him needs to give him a good hard slap upside the head.
O’Reilly’s words have gone far beyond being rhetoric. When people who listen to him and read his books start acting on his message of hate, then his words go far beyond anything covered by the 1st Amendment. It is time for him to get out of that theater.
Good for Ford for taking reasonable measures to help ratchet down the hateful and violence-inciting commentary. Considering its near-monopoly in some right-wing markets, Citadel needs to do more along these lines as well.
Austintx, thanks
went down the list and tried to contact as many as possible. I used your little sample letter, with a little blurb about “fair and balanced” lol, actually felt quite good to do it 
Let’s take some brillo to Billo. …
Sarah Palin can try and distance herself all she wants from right wing extremism, but there is no doubt she shamelessly courted right wing extremists during her VP campaign.
She has also repeatedly stated that the liberal media, through their alleged lies about her and misinformation campaign, played a central role in Obama’s election. Therefore, she cannot honestly now buy into the argument that the right wing media has nothing to do with right wing extremism. If we all voted for Obama because the New York Times told us to, then Tiller was murdered because O’Rilley and other right wing extremists said he was a mass murderer who deserved to be murdered.
Wow! Hey already got a response from Procter & gamble, and its not a just a reply form letter either…cool
The carrot/stick approach is excellent discipline.
Tell the sponsors that support the hatemongers that you will no longer patronize them or their products and why.
Tell the sponsors that are shunning the hatemongers by removing their advertising support that you will patronize them and buy their products and why.
Word will get around. If it becomes a groundswell word will most certainly get around. It’s bottom line strategy. Companies understand dollars. They also understand word of mouth. And good will. If sponsoring the hate loses them money, they won’t do it. No one is asking them to buy time on Olberman. Just refuse to buy time for O’Reilly and Co.
I’m not too sure how much is quotable for copyright reasons – leave it to others to decide – but “Governor Palin Statement on William Long -”The stories of two very different lives with similar fates crossed through the media’s hands yesterday – both equally important but one lacked the proper attention…..” http://sarahpac.com/news/news33.aspx
What is unbelievable in this context is the phrase ” just as my son, Track, once did.”
regards
@Eric the Bun – “Governor Palin Statement on William Long
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What I find weird about that snippet is the use of “but” instead of “and.” Grammatically, it has the effect of negating the first clause, which is referring to the death of Dr. Tiller. Subtle, but disturbing.
I was thinking that besides the sponsors it is really time to take this to the FCC. Some huge petition drive, maybe by MoveOn? Or we get everyone we know to write letters.
I can’t stop laughing that Dr. Drew & Rush Limbaugh are mentioned in the same sentence as controversial! ROFLMAO
O’Reilly is Charles Manson with a big salary.
To contact O’Reilly sponsors go to this link:
http://thinkprogress.org/stop-oreilly-harassment/
There’s a contact form so all you have to do is fill it out and send it on.
I think we should all send of a quick note to Ford to thank and congratulate them for standing up against this type of garbage and that we’re paying attention.
Good for UPS and Ford. I do like the positive reinforcment idea. These companies should get positive feedback for their decisions to pull from these programs. How do we do this—-besides using their products or services.
I think these (and other companies who haven’t pulled yet) need to know that we are listening.
It would also be good to follow Keith’s suggestion. Have you noticed that hotel and motel lobbies, Q-lube waiting rooms, bars, and any number of other places have their TV’s on FOX. Simply ask for the channel to be changed and say why. My words will be that I refuse to be exposed to an organization that promotes domestic terrorism.
@Madcity Chick — thanks for the link, but when I went to it the form is no longer there. Maybe they ended the campaign?
@nebraska mudflatter
“What I find weird about that snippet is the use of “but” instead of “and.” Grammatically, it has the effect of negating the first clause, which is referring to the death of Dr. Tiller. Subtle, but disturbing.”
===========================================
Yes, there are several levels of subtle and disturbing.
a) Two wrongs somehow cancel each other out
b) the Tiller murderer is one side and the recruiter murder is the other.
c) incidentally it’s about me and my family
d) everybody is tainted with the same brush
Interesting: Sarah Palin uses “uh” in her speech quite frequently. Of course, the right-wingers go NUTS whenever President Obama uses “uh.”
But they’re not hypocrites. Oh, no.
K8KZ, I thought AKM was doing a double entendre with the whole Talking Heads song, name, etc.
And just in case anyone needs a reminder of a typical Sarah Palin rally:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjxzmaXAg9E
Hey , in a perverse kinda way , I like the way this guy thinks.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/should-we-waterboard-the_b_209591.html
I wouldn’t suggest using the contact form at thinkprogress. If you read the response from Ford, the guy receiving them has outlook set up to automatically delete them before he sees them.
Now…hard copy is another matter. I know it’s a pain and it will cost you a stamp. But that’s why it’s so effective. If these companies start getting hard copy letters expressing outrage over their support of O’Reilly through their purchase of advertising time in his slot, maybe they’ll get the message. Follow the think progress O’Reilly link to the response page for updates.
It would be nice if Think Progress had thought to post all of the snail mail addresses for people who wish to do this the “hard” way. Hard has always been more effective. For every 100 letters they get, they figure there are 1,000 people that feel the same way but didn’t bother to write.
nswfm CA Says:
June 2nd, 2009 at 8:35 AM
K8KZ, I thought AKM was doing a double entendre with the whole Talking Heads song, name, etc.
——-
Yup. But I’m always willing to find double (or even triple) entendres.
Okay, self torture I watched the Williams interview clip – notice the way she says the word “facilities”? You can see the wheels turning trying to find a word and she acts as if she surprised herself by coming up with the word ‘facilities”. My take is she can’t even say “abortion clinic” and Bryan seems to be repeating the word abortion to get a rise our of her.
Love him and what I would do to have a sit down off the record conversation with him and or McCain and hear what they HONESTLY think of this nut case who has set woman back 100 years.
Seems to me that Rush has been spewing treasonous words and sentiments along wiith a bunch of those others for far too long. It would be a relief to have them all banished from the air waves and have some intelligent dialogue for an change…WAY too many people have had their brains scooped out and replaced by ignorant rantings.
I checked out the FCC website and went through the process to determine what type of complaint to file. I ended up with this page:
http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm?sid=d1e640&id=d1e697
with Form 2000E – Media (General) Complaint. There is a phone number there too.
If you want to go through the whole complaint section and see if there might be a more appropriate method, start here:
http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm
And here is the overall contacts page:
http://www.fcc.gov/contacts.html
It would be a relief to have these bottom feeders banished from the air waves, “just sayin’,” but that would only make them heroes to their lemmings. I’m going to bite the bullet and write hard copy letters to their major sponsors and express my outrage.
Sorry if this post comes up twice, but it seems to have been lost just now as I submitted it.
I was just on the FCC website, and here is the link to file complaints:
http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm
That gives you choices, and I followed through what seemed to be the logical choices:
>”Broadcast (TV, Radio), Cable and Satellite
>”Unauthorized, unfair, biased, illegal broadcasts” (which includes “Biased or distorted news stories by the media” and “Broadcasting threatening or intimidating statements about an individual or group”)
and came to:
http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm?sid=d1e640&id=d1e697
with Form 2000E to download and submit
Here are the FCC contacts:
http://www.fcc.gov/contacts.html
If McCain actually had any doubt about what he had done, he certainly got his answer on election day. By choosing SP as his running mate, he sent me and every other MODERATE Republican I know running for the polls…to vote for Obama. Some moderate Reps simply voted against the McCain/Palin tickets, but many of us — myself included — voted more positively FOR Obama, even though, as Republicans, we don’t agree with all of his positions. However, I gladly support Obama for his intelligence, his careful and thoughtful choice of words and his support of a woman’s right to choose. I was also proud and grateful that his first act as President was doing away with U.S.-sponsored torture, as it is barbaric and de-humanizing to all involved.
I am sickened and devastated by the brutal and tragic murder of Dr. Tiller, but I’m not sure that it fits the definition of terrorism any more than the murder of MLK. Both were targeted assissinations of people who boldly and bravely used their lives to support and advance certain freedoms. And both murders were perpetrated not by organizations, but by individuals who were seemingly acting on their own. The fact that there are other hateful people out there who agree with the murderers’ agenda is incidental, in my opinion — ugly and deplorable, but incidental. O’Riley is just a jerk with imflammatory opinions. There’s a very crude but apropos saying that always comes to my mind when I have the misfortune of hearing O’Riley, Hannity, Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and all others of their ilk: Opinions are like a**holes — everybody has one, and most of them stink.
The reality is that abortions will happen, whether or not they are legal. History has proven this. When you illegalize abortion, you don’t stop it from happening, you simply drive it underground..where women are butchered, maimed and killed. How anyone can consider this “Pro-Life” is beyond me!
In a perfect world, there would be no unwanted or dangerous pregnancies, no rape, no incest and no birth defects. Every pregnancy would be a joy, every baby would be born healthy and to people with the inclination, the capacity and the means to be loving and responsible parents, and every parent would understand that raising a child is probably the most important thing they will ever do. In a world that never has been, never will be and certainly is not currently perfect, doctors like Dr. Tiller are extremely important. He saved countless women from life-threatening and life-destroying pregnancies and, no doubt, countless children from lives of pain, abuse and neglect. I am grateful to him for his heroic bravery; in the face of known danger, he continued doing what he knew was right in order to help women avoid the risks and the phenomenal cruelty of the alternatives.
Back to the Palin S-PAC pronouncement:
“…equally disgusting…”?
The deaths of a man shot in front of his family in church, and the death of a newly minted soldier are “disgusting”?
I concur with many others here at Mudflats that whoever is writing these missives purportedly from Palin out of S-PAC isn’t Palin herself, but is probably some slightly more erudite individual — no doubt a Palinista who’s signed on from another state entirely, and whose contact with Palin and her “thoughts” is entirely electronic.
This most recent pronouncement is even more (seemingly) heartfelt than the equivocal statement about Dr. Tiller, but I certainly object to either of these deaths being termed “disgusting”. That’s something you’d say about someone who never washes his armpits or hair.
Here’s an open suggestion to the Palinista ghostwriter: Try having a bit MORE empathy for the survivors of those your boss is declaiming about. Use a word more sympathetic than a word you’d use to describe the contents of your plumbing.
I called Comcast, Toyota, and our local FOX station yesterday- lots easier than trying to figure out how to “contact us” on each web site. I got a reply back today from Toyota, perhaps because I am a long-time purchaser/owner of the products. The Regional Ad Manager thanked me for my opinion, and said he would contact me when the company decides what to do. All three will get snail mail correspondence–
@ladybirddeb:
Well said. I did some research last night, as well as watch Anderson Cooper 360- who interviewed Dr. Hern (Boulder CO), one of the few late-term abortion clinics left. Dr. Hern emphatically stated (when asked) that the majority of these abortions are life-threatening situations: mothers who would die if they tried to deliver, fetuses with catastrophic problems (missing skulls, partial brains, no lungs) that would suffer in agony for the short time they might live. He pointed out that these were planned pregnancies, wanted babies– and the mothers/parents had to make gut-wrenching choices.
Ladybirddeb:
Very well put, thank you.
I have heard that expression “opinions are like a88holes, everyone has one” but I had never heard the follow up “most of them stink”.
Love it!
I was able to contact all the advertisers listed on the thinkprogress site using web page “contact us” links except for Hyundai.
I will write the CFO, James Choi at 10550 Talbert Avenue, Fountain Valley, CA 92708-6032.
I had to send a “resume” to Sharp with my comment as I could find no other way to contact them: “I strongly object to your company’s sponsorship of the Bill O’Reilly show. Please reconsider. I will no longer consider buying your products as long as your good name is affiliated with this hate mongering person.
Thank you,
A little OT bit not totally. Does it bother any of you that Megan McCains (Johns daughter) gives her opinion strongly about everything but refused to talk about Sarah Palin. I feel her father and her owe it to the public to tell the truth about what happened in the campaign
Last night Megan sent a twitter note that she had been compared to Bristol Palin in an article. The article said something like that Bristol was a good representative for the Republicans but Meghan was not. I sent a tweet to Meghan asking her to please speak out about what she knows about the Palins. I bet she knows the truth about babygate!
So while writing letterrs to Fox sponsors ( which I will do today) please write john McCain and Meghan (reach her at the Daily Beast or mccainblogette blog or twitter) and ask them to speak the truth! I also plan to try to write some of the people worked on that campaign. I feel they should set politics aside(wishful thinking) & tell all, not to gossip but to help Alaska and the US!! Also I have been sending the media some of the Alaska bloggers posts about Palin. Hope everyone will do that. Palin had more sympathy for the Prejean beauty queen then for this murdered doctor and his family!
Kudos to Ford for stopping supporting the hate speakers. I gave my F 150 a little extra pat this morning.
And thanks to those who posted the Faux Noise sponsors- God knows you wouldn’t want to have to watch that crap to determine who they are.
Keep up the good fight against the hatemongers.
@ Lisabeth
I suspect that Meghan McCain will hold her tongue until it is necessary to reveal the truth. If SP should get in position to get close to the White House again, I think Meghan will publish what they all know. It is important to chose the battles and the timing.
lisabeth – very good point, I agree, I also agree with sandra in oregon though.
Good post from Kos about Fox.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/6/2/738022/-No-Keith,-THIS-Is-How-You-Quarantine-Fox-News
85 sandra in oregon Says:
June 2nd, 2009 at 11:49 AM
I suspect that Meghan McCain will hold her tongue until it is necessary to reveal the truth. If SP should get in position to get close to the White House again, I think Meghan will publish what they all know. It is important to chose the battles and the timing.
*******************************************
Exactly. And remember , Meghan has a book deal also.too. Nothing like some juicy truth bombs to gin up book sales.
You are all right! It is just so frustrating. When I think about the way she uses Trig it really bothers me. Even without babygate! Maybe he is getting great care-PT, OT, speech language therapy, hearing tested etc bit I haven’t seen any evidence of that except the glasses. This is the most critical time for him!!!
The hits just keep on coming on Faux…………
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/06/02/santorum-obama-dating/
Let’s not forget to contact UPS and Ford to commend them on their decisions to ABORT their advertising efforts in controversial programming!!!!
Folks, does SP care about Trig’s care–she wanted to abort him for a few moments, hadn’t told her husband, did some crazy cross country trip, etc?
If you believe her schtick.
Plus, isn’t the State of AK paying for his medical care? If it were coming out of her pocket, she might have an incentive for him not to be a burden on her families finances, but if she doesn’t have to pay, does she care if it costs more to pay to care for him in the future? And doesn’t she have that AK Fund Trust or AK Trust Fund to pay for stuff, thanks to the fools who support her, so it still isn’t coming out of her pocket?
Kudos to Ford and UPS! Nice to see that someone at corporate is paying attention.
DD
Definition of a terrorist is someone who creates a violent situation that is meant to deter people from a chosen course of action both at the immediate time and in the future, through fear that the action will be repeated. Abortion clinic bombers and those who threaten the doctors performing these medical practices are most definitely trying to create an environment where the practioner is so fearful that they will change their behavior – i.e., stop performing abortions. This is domestic terrorism without a doubt. The fact that Palin cannot admit such shows that she feels that the murders are justified and is yet another glaring example of how unfit for public office she really is.
Well said, hedgewych.
I’m completely disgusted and grieved. And a Christian and pro-choice. (if we must be labeled.)
Should insurance company bean counters that deny medical treatments to patients because it is more profitable to let them die be killed also. What about the Shrub team who killed thousands of civilians in Iraq and elsewhere.
Who gets to die, and who gets to decide. I guess it is Billo-the-clown.
CO almost native:
Thank you, and thanks so much to Mudflats for letting me vent. I first read the news of Dr. Tiller’s murder on the Internet, and below the article were people’s responses to the article. I was horrified to see that so many of the comments were “He got what he deserved!” I share Mudflats’ complete bafflement over this. These people are against abortion because they see it as murder, yet they celebrate the murder of a Church-going Christian on Sunday in church in front of his family. How they could be so blind to their own hypocrisy is just mind-blowing to me!
I am not surprised that the vast majority of late-term abortions are due to life-threatening conditions for the mother or catastrophic defects to the fetus. Over the years, I have personally known two couples who had to terminate a planned and much-wanted pregnancy due to catastrophic defects. In one case the fetus had no brain (second-trimester termination), and in the other case the fetus had no kidneys (a devastating late-term, third-trimester termination to save the baby from a certain and horrible death). What was shocking to me was that both of these couples, who were devout Catholics, sought the counsel of the Catholic Church in making their decision, and both received the Church’s permission to terminate the pregnancy! I can’t help but wonder what would happen if the Catholic Church made a public statement saying, “Even WE understand the need for legal abortion in certain circumstances!” Ugh, again such amazing hypocrisy! Individual women couldn’t possibly figure out for themselves when it is okay to terminate a pregnancy, right? Instead, apparently the decision should be made by an organization comprised solely of celibate men and sheltered pedophiles with the utterly ridiculous audacity to say that they — and only they — can render such a decision (on behalf of God, of course).
Bill All-Riled-Up and Failin’ Palin -made for each other, and throw in Ann Dolter as the drag queen bridesmaid. Trash by any other name is still garbage. It is difficult to believe that people waste what little life they have paying any attention to these horrors of sub-humans.
To K8KZ:
Thanks very much! I must warn you, however, to use the expression with care. My mother was once sharing with me some with her offensive and completely unsolicited opinions, and I responded with that expression. Let’s just say that had I still been of an age when she could hit me, I would have been the first person ever to be beaten to death with a bedroom slipper.
I’m very worried for Dr. Warren Hern , director of the Boulder Abortion Clinic. He was on Rachel and is upset about this madness. He is asking PO to go on tv to address this terrorism. He is comparing the anti-abortionists to the Taliban. He starts at the 5:00 mark. Rachels commentary leads to it and is worth listening to. I pray for Dr. Hern.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#31073808
From J&J:
Johnson & Johnson
Statement, 4/1/09:
Thank you for contacting Johnson & Johnson. It is always important to hear from our customers and we appreciate the time you have taken to contact us.
Johnson & Johnson takes a firm stand regarding the quality of television programming in which its commercials appear and support the National Council for Families and Television.
With the help of our advertising agencies, a conscientious effort is made to screen all programs prior to broadcast. As a result of our screening, we have frequently withdrawn ads from television shows in the past and we will continue to monitor programming in the same manner in the future.
Your concern will be directed to network personnel. However, the most effective comment on programming is direct action by viewers. Therefore, we would urge you to communicate your feelings directly to the network.
____________
Note the most important statement… “the most effective comment on programming is direct action by viewers.”
Well, yeah.
And in this case, the viewers are taking direct action directly to the people who actually pay the bills: the advertisers.
Good for Ford.
Other corporations had better take notice of any forthcoming polls on Americans’ opinions about this heinous murder. Despite O’Reilly’s delusions that it’s only a few fringe liberals who are blaming him, a huge majority of people in this country will condemn the murder and place at least part of the blame on O’Reilly, Palin, Coulter, Rush etc who have fanned the flames of hate and rage on social issues such as abortion and gay marriage.
Public figures, whether political or journalistic, have a clear choice about how to frame the debate of issues. They can frame it with the intent of fostering civil, respectful discussion OR they can frame it with inflammatory rhetoric designed to excite peoples’ basest emotions (rage, fear, paranoia). Palin, O’Reilly et al have chosen the latter for the despicable and immoral motives of increasing ratings or personal political gain/ attention.