News Roundup for 8/19/09

Duuuhhh...

-Headline of the day-
"Fox News viewers overwhelmingly misinformed about health care reform proposals."

Turns out that the best way to render yourself ignorant is to turn on FOX News. According to the report, "72% of self-identified FOX News viewers believe the health-care plan will give coverage to illegal immigrants, 79% of them say it will lead to a government takeover, 69% think that it will use taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions, and 75% believe that it will allow the government to make decisions about when to stop providing care for the elderly." That's about 30% higher on each point than for people who watch CNN or MSNBC.

Seriously, watching FOX News is like using drugs -- it stands a real good chance of making you goofy. If you watch FOX, you're stupid; if not now, then eventually. It's got like dumbifying rays that shoot out of its logo or something. What do you think happened to Glenn Beck? You want to be like him?

Friends don't let friends watch FOX News. That is, unless they like having stupid friends. (Think Progress)


-Fundraising bonanza-
Remember that ActBlue page I wrote about yesterday?

Yeah, that's up to $148,000 now. The original fundraising goal was a hundred grand, but success has pushed that up to a quarter million. The average gift is down just a smidge -- about $65 now ($148,828/2,282 donors) -- but $65 is still pretty damned good. It was $66 yesterday. That probably means that they're getting a wide range of pledges, with $65-66 being the median.

Give them a few bucks (or a lot of them, if you've got them) and bump the numbers up a bit. Maybe we can get them to set the bar at half a million, which would be awesome. (ActBlue)


-Bonus HotD-
"A Glenn Beck Counter-Counter Boycott?"

OK, now try to follow this. FOX's Babbling Incoherently with Glenn Beck is the target of a boycott. A big boycott that's currently more successful than the organizers could've imagined. Everyone from Walmart to GEICO have dropped the show, because they don't want to be associated with a goofball who thinks Obama's a white-hater who doesn't necessarily hate white people.

Now RedState.com, a right wing community blog, is boycotting advertisers who've pulled their ads from Beck's show. In other words, they're boycotting the boycott or counter-boycotting. And, if RedState's boycott brings back advertisers, those advertisers will be boycotted again by Beck's detractors. Lather, rinse, repeat...

Of course, RedState isn't exactly an internet powerhouse, so there isn't much chance of them having any success. But I suppose advertisers not caving in to the first boycott can now use the boycott's boycott to explain why they aren't pulling their ads from the boycotted show.

If you're thinking "Who's on first?" welcome to the club. The whole thing's giving me a headache. This is just one more reason why watching FOX News makes you dumb. If you think about it for too long, I can guarantee you'll lose IQ points due to cerebral fatigue.

And I can still dig up the term "cerebral fatigue" from somewhere inside my head, so I think it's a good time to stop thinking about it now. (Donklephant)