Megyn Kelly Set to Take the 9 PM Slot On Fox News

According to a UPI.com story, Fox anchor Megyn Kelly will be taking over the 9 pm timeslot on Fox News once she returns from maternity leave this fall. This doesn't come as a big surprise because the powers that be at Fox have been grooming Kelly for prime time for at least a couple of years. With this impending primetime shakeup, my guess is that Sean Hannity's program will move an hour back to 10 pm and Greta Van Susteren (who currently holds the 10 pm slot) may want to brush up her résumé. 

Kelly's move to the 9 pm slot on Fox will be an upgrade over the current occupant and a better complement to The O'Reilly Factor. It's no secret I'm no fan of Sean Hannity, but it's not because he's a conservative. I don't like him because he's habitually dishonest, whiny, and boring. The trifecta of bad broadcasting. Although I've had issues with Kelly, she can be one of the more reasonable voices at Fox (which is like calling Moe the "smart Stooge"). Change can be a good thing and I'm intrigued to see what Kelly does with her upcoming primetime show.

The clip below is from a spring 2013 segment of America Live with Megyn Kelly in which Kelly challenged guests Erick Erickson and Lou Dobbs on their views about women in the workplace.

Media Matters Founder Joins RNC Head In Urging NBC and CNN To Dump Clinton Specials

left to right: Priebus, Clinton, and Brock

On August 5th in a response to announcements late last month by NBC and CNN that they would be producing Hillary Clinton-related specials (a miniseries starring Diane Lane and a feature length documentary, respectively), RNC Chairman Reince Priebus called for both networks to put a halt to these programs. If they didn't, Priebus threatened that the GOP would boycott any 2016 presidential debates hosted by the two networks.

Priebus' letter to CNN

Priebus' letter to NBC

Surprisingly, Media Matters founder David Brock wrote letters to NBC and CNN the next day also requesting they cancel their planned Clinton programs. In addition to the story on Brock's pleas to NBC and CNN, the link below also includes the letters he sent to both networks.

David Brock call on NBC and CNN to cancel their Hillary Clinton specials

Although Priebus and Brock want the same result, their motives differ. Priebus feels that NBC and CNN are in the business of promoting Democrats and the Clinton specials would be a boost to Hillary's bid for the 2016 presidency (assuming she runs). Brock believes that the specials could tarnish the reputations of the news divisions of each network (they are being produced by NBC Entertainment and CNN Films, respectively). Brock's other concerns are the potential criticism the networks could face for failing to provide equal time to all potential candidates and for not adopting the right-wing noise machine's ideological view of Hillary.

I disagree with both Priebus and Brock, although I do think the latter's intentions are sincere. Priebus' criticism of NBC and CNN comes off as whiny, especially since it's no secret that the Republican party has its own network. It also makes the GOP look desperate and scared of a potential presidential run by Hillary Clinton. As for Brock, he shouldn't be aiding the GOP and their accusations of liberal bias. I was glad to see that CNN shows no signs of caving to the demands of Priebus.

Priebus' appearance on the CNN program OutFront with Erin Burnett:



Although Ms. Burnett did a good job overall, she let Priebus off the hook by not asking him about the numerous Fox News hosts and contributors who campaigned for the GOP in 2011-2012. At approx. the 6:20 mark, Ms. Burnett gets ready to ask Priebus a Fox-related question. However, he seemed to anticipate a tough question and cut her off in what appeared to be an effort to run out the clock. Although it's not the one I would have asked, the question about Fox that Ms. Burnett asked near the end was a good one.

Priebus' appearance on Hannity:



Both Priebus and Hannity were in typical form. In their eyes, if you're a member of the news media and not demonizing liberals or giving every break to the GOP, it makes you liberal by definition. Also, they're still blaming the so-called liberal media for the damage the debates did to the GOP brand. So much for the conservative's belief in personal responsibility. Towards the end, Priebus discusses plans for the GOP to select the debate moderators themselves. Priebus' stance against the so-called liberal media no doubt plays well with the GOP base. However, in addition to the aforementioned "whiny" and "desperate", I think Priebus' latest moves make him and the GOP look weak as well. 

Cheerios Ad Featuring An Interracial Family Generates Appreciation and Controversy

From l-r: Grace Colbert, Whitney Avalon, and Charles Malik Whitfield

A recent Cheerios commercial featuring a bi-racial family has elicited strong reactions, both pro and con. In the commercial (which you can watch below), a child (Grace Colbert) asks her mother (Whitney Avalon) if it's true that Cheerios is good for the heart. After her mother confirms it is, the child does her part to ensure her father (Charles Malik Whitfield) has a healthy heart. In addition to being thoroughly pleased to see an interracial family being portrayed in an ad, I also thought the commercial was brilliant in its simplicity.

Most of the reactions to the commercial have been positive, with people echoing thoughts similar to mine. However, the ad has predictably brought out the bigotry in some people. According to an article on the website Adweek, the comments section of the You Tube clip posted by Cheerios was littered with references to Nazis (wtf?!) and racial genocide (again, wtf?!). The backlash has caused Cheerios to disable the comments on the clip. On Cheerios' Facebook page, commenters stated they found the ad "disgusting" and that it made them "want to vomit". Although Cheerios has closed the comments section on the clip they posted, you can still "like" or "dislike" it. If a count of "likes" and "dislikes" is any indication, love is trouncing hate. As of this writing, the You Tube clip posted by Cheerios had 19,302 likes as opposed to only 1,323 dislikes.

The Cheerios' ad is the latest in a developing trend in which interracial relationships are being portrayed in advertising. Although the Cheerios' spot is obviously not the first U.S. commercial to feature an interracial couple,  it's the first one I can recall which features a black-white interracial couple AND their child. In addition to the links below which feature interracial couples in commercials, I've also noticed in-store ads at my local Target which reflect this change in society.

Apple iPhone

Bank of America ad touting cash back deals

Philadelphia Cream Cheese

The Cheerios commercial and others like it are reflecting the growing trend of interracial marriages in the U.S. With the rise in interracial marriages, it makes sense for companies to create ads which represent this expanding demographic. Sorry bigots, get used to it!

There was a time when seeing minorities on TV was practically an event. I've heard stories of how black people would alert their neighbors/relatives and huddle around the TV when someone like the Supremes would appear on The Ed Sullivan Show. Now, it's not a huge deal. I look forward to the day when interracial couples in advertising becomes just as commonplace.

Colin Powell Discusses the Problems of the GOP

On the January 13th edition of Meet the Press, David Gregory questioned Colin Powell on whether or not he's still a Republican. Along with saying he still is, Powell also outlined why he thinks the GOP has lost it's way. Among the reasons Powell discussed were Romney surrogate John Sununu referring to President Obama as “lazy” and Sarah Palin accusing the president of shucking and jiving in regards to the Sept. 11 2012 attack against a U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya. You can watch the segment below:




Colin Powell could have gone on, but don't fault him. After all, he only had approx. 30 minutes. Sadly, Powell seems to be the exception instead of the rule when it comes to prominent Republicans. The far right will likely dismiss his comments, label him a RINO, etc. However, unless the GOP wants to continue losing national elections, they'll listen to him. There are solid reasons why Mitt Romney lost to President Obama and no it's not the fault of the so-called mainstream media or any other BS excuse conservatives have used. The GOP is in trouble, but it can be fixed. So in the words of the Captain (played by Strother Martin) in the movie Cool Hand Luke, my message to the GOP is simple: "It's all up to you".

Lawrence O'Donnell Pulls the Wheels Off the Romney Bandwagon

Leading up to the 2012 presidential election, I had planned on doing some gloating if President Obama won. Some would argue I should be bigger than that and it's a fair point. However, after all the shit President Obama has taken from the right over the last 4 years, they deserve to have their noses rubbed in it! On his show last Friday, Lawrence O'Donnell put together an awesome montage of the various conservative pundits  who predicted a Romney victory. Some of them were right in one regard: they predicted 300+ electoral votes for the winner. They just picked the wrong candidate. Just to recap, here is a tally of the electoral votes for each candidate:

President Barack Obama- 332
Mitt Romney- 206

Don't worry conservatives/Republicans. Just turn back the clock to the night after the first debate when you were all smug and self-satisfied because of Romney's "victory". Like I said back then, a poor performance in the first debate by President Obama would likely be irrelevant. If the conservative media's colossal failure in predicting the 2012 presidential election doesn't make it's followers pissed, it should.

Here is the Lawrence O'Donnell clip I mentioned earlier. Liberals/progressives/Democrats, enjoy!

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Chris Matthews and Alex Wagner Respond to Mitt Romney's Birther "Joke"

While on a campaign stop in Commerce Twp, MI last Friday, Mitt Romney made a so-called joke about President Obama's place of birth. Stay classy Willard!

In the first clip, Hardball's Chris Matthews takes RNC chairman Reince Priebus apart during a segment on Morning Joe. In addition to confronting Reince on Romney's birther "joke", Chris also called him out for the Romney ad which falsely claims President Obama ended the work requirement for welfare. Since I cannot stand Priebus, it was a pleasure watching Chris gut him on live TV.

In the second clip, Alex Wagner (the host of MSNBC's NOW with Alex Wagner) took her turn addressing Romney's alleged attempt at humor. As one of the most congenial political pundits on TV, Alex usually keeps her anger in check. However, you could see she was pissed about what Romney said. Still, she handled it with her customary class and intelligence. 

Ever since President Obama was sworn in, some on the right have been directing race-based jabs at him (both overt and covert). And every time they do, it's the job of the media to call them on it.  Props to both Chris and Alex!

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Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The Cycle Set to Premiere Monday June 25th on MSNBC

The hosts of The Cycle (l-r)- Steve Kornacki, S.E. Cupp, Krystal Ball, and Touré

As some of you may have heard, The Dylan Ratigan Show ended its 3 year run on MSNBC on Friday June 22nd. To fill the void at 4 pm EST, Martin Bashir's self-titled program moves up an hour on Monday June 25th. Replacing Martin at 3pm EST will be a brand new program titled The Cycle, a panel ensemble show hosted by MSNBC contributors Steve Kornacki, S.E Cupp, Krystal Ball, and Touré. With a format that looks to be similar to Fox's The Five, all four hosts will take turns facilitating the discussion. With the inclusion of Cupp, there are some who have misgivings about a conservative hosting a program on a left-leaning news channel like MSNBC. In the first clip below, The Young Turks discuss the topic. Please note this clip is from June 18th and at that time, MSNBC hadn't finalized the details of the upcoming program.



I don't have a problem with the selection of S.E. Cupp as one of the hosts of The Cycle. I think having opposing viewpoints helps enliven the discussion. It may come as a surprise to some, but I've mellowed on S.E. over the past several months. This is due to her appearances on another MSNBC program, NOW with Alex Wagner. For the most part when S.E. guests on NOW, she represents a fairly reasonable conservative point of view. However, when compared to the nonsense spewed by such conservative pundits as Sean Hannity and Andrea Tantaros, calling S.E. a reasonable voice from the right may be akin to terming Moe "the smart stooge".  At any rate, I'm looking forward to checking out The Cycle. In the clip below, Dylan Ratigan introduces the four hosts during the final telecast of his program and has a discussion with them about how their show will bring a fresh take to cable news.

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Final Results of the Recent Game Change Poll

In the recent poll in which I asked people to give their thoughts on the HBO film Game Change, it was a landslide in favor of the movie. Here are the final results:

Thumbs up: 64%
Thumbs down: 0%
I plan on watching it: 7%
I have no interest in seeing it: 28%

The movie was a ratings hit as well. According to Nielsen, Game Change was watched by 2.1 million people on its debut night, which marks the highest ratings for an HBO film since 2004's Something the Lord Made (which starred Alan Rickman and Mos Def).

Thanks to all of you who participated in and commented on this poll.

Please Take A Moment To Vote In the "Game Change" Poll... Thank You

Ed Harris, Julianne Moore, and Woody Harrelson

Two nights after its 3/10 HBO premiere, I watched the movie Game Change. Based on the 2010 book of the same name, it details events of the 2008 presidential campaign. Although the book covers both the Democratic and the Republican sides from the primary races up to the election, the film narrows its focus by detailing the decision of John McCain (Ed Harris) and campaign strategist Steve Schmidt (Woody Harrelson) to select Sarah Palin (Julianne Moore) as the vice-presidential running mate.

Simply put, I thought the movie was awesome! In terms of great political movies, it ranks up there with the 1949 version of All the King's Men. For the most part, I thought the performances in the film were solid. However, the one which obviously has most people talking is Julianne Moore's uncanny portrayal of Sarah Palin. Moore has talked about the research she did on Palin in preparation for the role and it shows. The mark of a great performance is when you forget you're watching an actor and instead feel you are seeing the genuine article. When the Emmys and Golden Globes roll around, Julianne Moore's performance as Sarah Palin is going to be damn tough to beat.

One thing that may surprise people about Game Change is that it's not a hatchet job on Sarah Palin. Although the movie doesn't shy away from Palin's flaws, she comes off as a sympathetic figure at times. Credit for that goes to Moore's nuanced performance. Even when it's clear that Palin is in over her head, it's easy to feel a bit of empathy for her as she drowns in a sea of note cards prepping for interviews and the VP debate. The same goes for the scenes in which Sarah watches Tina Fey skewer her on SNL.

Whether or not you're a Palin detractor or a supporter, I think Game Change is a must-see film. However, I'm interested to hear what you think about the movie. In addition to voting in the poll (which is located at the top of the sidebar), please don't hesitate to share your thoughts about Game Change in the comments section.

Final Results of the Recent Clint Eastwood "Halftime in America" Ad Poll

In the recent poll in which I asked people to give their opinion of the Chrysler ad featuring Clint Eastwood, an overwhelming majority of you voted "thumbs up". Here are the final results:

Thumbs up: 82%
Thumbs down: 17%

Thanks to all of you who participated in and commented on this poll. Below, "Clint Eastwood" has a few choice words for the people who misinterpreted the Chrysler ad.

Rachel Maddow Destroys the GOP Lies About President Obama

Rachel Maddow is at it again! Hitting the GOP with those pesky little things known as facts. On her show Friday night, Rachel did a segment in which she dismantled the GOP talking points about President Obama regarding big government, immigration, taxes, and the war on terror. You can read the accompanying article on PoliticusUSA.

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Former Actress Kristy McNichol Comes Out

Kristy McNichol, who gained fame in the 1970s as "wise beyond her years" teen Letitia "Buddy" Lawrence on the ABC drama Family, has come out publicly as a lesbian. According to a People.com story, McNichol decided to come out because she wants to help kids who are being bullied. Jeff Ballard, McNichol's publicist, says she hopes her coming out can help kids who need support. Coincidentally, actress Meredith Baxter (who played McNichol's older sister Nancy on Family) came out in 2009.

Now 49, McNichol (who won two Emmys for her work on Family) has been out of the limelight for most of the last two decades. Her last major role was as Barbara, the undercover cop daughter of Harry Weston (Richard Mulligan) on the NBC sitcom Empty Nest. Since retiring from the screen, she has taught acting at a private school in L.A. and devoted much of her time to charity work. Below is a recent photo of McNichol with Marti Allen, also 49, her partner for two decades.

Below is the 1977 episode of Family titled "An Eye to the Future". Guest starring James Woods, this episode includes a subplot in which Buddy (McNichol) gets into the CB radio craze.

Rick Santorum: Blah, Blah, Blah

Last week in Iowa, GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum generated controversy with comments he allegedly made in regards to black people and welfare. In the aftermath, he at first didn't deny he made the comment. However, he later did a 180 by saying he never made the statement.

Hmm... although it's not a clearly enunciated "black", I think that's what he said or at least planned on saying. It could be that the word came out somewhat jumbled because he realized it wasn't a smart thing to say. At least one person in the audience thinks Santorum was referring to blacks as well because you can hear them utter "right" shortly thereafter.

What do you think Rick Santorum said? If you don't think he said or intended to say "black", can you explain the definition of a "blah" person?

In the clip below, Ed Schultz discusses Santorum's alleged comments with Joan Walsh and Michael Eric Dyson:

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Melissa Harris-Perry Set to Be MSNBC's Newest Host

On Thursday, it was announced that MSNBC contributor and political analyst Melissa Harris-Perry will be hosting her own show for the network starting on Saturday, February 4th. The new show, which hasn't been titled yet, will air on Saturday and Sundays from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m (following Up w/ Chris Hayes) . You can read more about her upcoming show here.

Harris-Perry, who also serves as a professor of political science at Tulane University, has been a frequent guest on MSNBC, with appearances on several of their programs. She has also filled in for hosts Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell. Her busy schedule also includes writing for The Nation.

As we often do, this past weekend me and my brother-in-law were talking about politics, the media, etc. I was telling him about the excellent job Harris-Perry has done filling in for Maddow and O'Donnell, adding that I felt MSNBC should give her a shot at hosting her own show. In fact, he's the one who sent me the news that Harris-Perry will be the network's newest addition.

Although I'm an MSNBC fan (aren't you shocked?!), I have also been critical of them (in particular, their programming lineup on the weekends). At the very least, the addition of Harris-Perry to their weekend lineup means 4 hours less of Lockup documentaries!

Congratulations to Melissa Harris-Perry. Her promotion to regular MSNBC host is a well-deserved one. 

Below is a clip of Harris-Perry filling in for Maddow back in 2011:

Guest Post by Monique About the Recent Lowe's/All-American Muslim Controversy

As you may know, there recently was a controversy involving Lowe's decision to pull their ads from the TLC reality show All-American Muslim. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to write a post in a timely manner. However, I recently visited moniqueblog and noticed that she wrote an excellent piece on the topic. I asked Monique if she'd be willing to let me borrow it for Diversity Ink and she kindly obliged.

 

“All-American Muslim”: The Lowe’s controversy

Credit: Wikipedia
 
I actually intended on talking about this controversy a whole lot sooner than I am, but I’m talking about it now. Recently, Lowe’s has been in the middle of a firestorm concerning their initial support–then non-support–of the TLC show All-American Muslim. According to myfellowamerican.us:

“ [L]ast week Lowe’s Home Improvement pulled its ads from the TLC show All-American Muslim in response to an organization claiming the show “falsely humanized Muslims in America.” The Lowe’s controversy has exposed more Islamophobia in America. This issue falls directly in line with what the My Fellow American project is trying to prevent and overcome in America.”

According to this post, the main group behind the statements about humanization is the fringe group the Florida Family Association.

I’m more than appalled at how some people have the nerve to say that this show about HUMANS ”falsely humanize[s]” HUMANS. Let’s get some things straight here:

• Islam is not only a religion, it is the second-largest religion in the world and is growing every day.
• Not all Muslims come from the Middle East. Islam has a very big community in the United States. In fact, some of my own family members are Muslim. Basically, ANYONE can be a Muslim–you don’t have to look like a certain person to be a Muslim.
• Islam, Judaism and Christianity are ALL RELATED. They stem from the same stories and teachings. If you respect one of the three, you should respect them all, since they are all related to each other.
• Saying that Muslims are being “falsely humanized” is not a very Christian-like thing to say. It’s not a very spiritual thing to say period. It’s gross and stupid.

So that’s my stance on this. Lowe’s should be the bigger person in this situation and actually stand for acceptance of all people. Let’s face it–it’s not just Christians who shop at Lowe’s. Muslims like home-renovation just as much as anyone else, and Lowe’s profits should diminish once some clientele stops showing up.

If you want to voice your opinion about this, make sure to go to My Fellow American. You can also share your own stories of acceptance as well as watch the short film on Muslims in America.

More reading:

The Huffington Post–A new Lowe for Anti-Muslim Bigotry

Adweek–Lowe’s in Facebook Hell as Racist Comments Pile Up