Seth MacFarlane is sexist because he sucks, not the other way around

By Dan Brooks in Contemporary Media 8 Comments
"I'm great."

“Poop.”

I don’t know if you heard about this, but Seth MacFarlane upset some people at the Oscars. From the opening musical number—titled “We Saw Your Boobs,” in which he pointed out actresses in the audience who had appeared topless in films—to a gag about a nine year-old someday being too old to date George Clooney, to a series of gay panic jokes, an inordinate percentage of his comedy seemed to be about women or men who do not want to have sex with them. He also incisively observed that Jews run Hollywood. [Caution: link comes with irritating sound.] That last quote-unquote joke encapsulates why I dislike MacFarlane’s work, and also why calling him offensive misses what’s wrong with him.

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Fox News runs saddest gotcha piece ever

By Dan Brooks in Contemporary Media 5 Comments
Vincent Hancock defends his gold medal in skeet shooting at the 2012 Olympics.

Vincent Hancock defends his gold medal in skeet shooting at the 2012 Olympics.

For some reason—probably to convey that he, like all other Americans, just loves to fire a gun—Obama told the New Republic that “we go skeet shooting all the time” at Camp David. Exactly who “we” is remains unclear; he specifically exempted his daughters but said that guests use the range at the presidential retreat often. Presumably, “we” means that he goes, too, and obviously, the president is lying. The president hates guns, as anyone who hates the president will tell you. To support this story, Fox News has found an anonymous source who says he has been to Camp David a half dozen times, yet only knows of Obama shooting skeet twice. Props to Ben al-Fowlkes for the link.

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Behold Fox’s coverage of the testimony of our Secretary of State

By Dan Brooks in Contemporary Media 2 Comments
From "The Five" on Fox News channel yesterday

From “The Five” on Fox News channel yesterday

Yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testified before Congress regarding the attacks on the US consulate in Benghazi. Initially reported as the outcome of a spontaneous demonstration and later revealed to be a terrorist plot, the attacks have been a black eye for the State Department and a cause celebré for Republicans. Romney made much of them in the late days of the presidential campaign, and the Tea Party caucus has seized on them as evidence that the Obama administration is soft on terror. If you don’t think Benghazi has become a partisan issue, I advice you to consider Fox News’s coverage of Clinton’s testimony, captured in the screen shot above.

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Bill to repeal 22nd Amendment reveals massive flaw in internet

By Dan Brooks in Contemporary Media 3 Comments
Rep. José Serrano (D–NY) and a woman who should be played by Jane Curtain

Rep. José Serrano (D–NY) and a woman who should be played by Jane Curtain

Yesterday, I encountered a chain email warning that Congress planned to repeal the 22nd Amendment and allow Barack Obama to be elected President again and again for life. It is an established sort-of hoax, as Snopes explains. Rep. José Serrano of New York has proposed to repeal the 22nd Amendment every two years since 1997, regardless of which party held the presidency, and thereby enabling claims like this:

Screen Shot 2013-01-10 at 10.49.46 AM

Snopes does a fine job of debunking such claims. What it does not do is tell us why Serrano would introduce the same doomed constitutional revision every session.

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Mitt Romney can’t stop doing hilarious rich person stuff

By Dan Brooks in Contemporary Media 1 Comment
You don't go crazy and grow a beard either, buddy.

Don’t you go crazy and grow a beard either, buddy.

Even in defeat, the Mitt Romney campaign continues to mismanage itself spectacularly. Gawker reports that nine news outlets have complained to the campaign about exorbitant bills for press events, including an $812 per-reporter meal in October. Props to Ben al-Fowlkes for the link. One can just image the breathless aide telling Candidate Romney that he lost the invoice for the October reporter meals. “Just make something up,” Romney says. “Something plausible—no more than a grand a plate.” Then he flies into the air atop a jet of molten gold, hits a power line and explodes.

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