The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
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    Jake Tapper demands everyone apologizes for saying “Druidism is not a real religion”

    By William K. Wolfrum on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 2:47pm | Politics, Humor & Satire

    HOLLYWOOD - Star Celebrity Noteworthy Savvy Handsome Journalist Jake Tapper today defended Druidism from any that would attack the ancient mythology.

    “It’s escaped none of our notice that many have decided to declare one of our sister religions “not a real religion” and to tell the rest of us not to treat them like a real religion,” said Tapper. “How’s my hair?”

    Tapper’s involvement in druidism dates back to college. Tapper’s dormitory roommate, Timothy Johnson, said Tapper had several unsettling habits.

    “Jake was really into trees. I mean really into them,” said Johnson, repeatedly winking and nudging this reporter. “That was wrong. Sick and wrong.”

    Despite the controversy, Tapper remains steadfast in his belief that Druidism is a real religion and that everyone should just shut up about it.

    “Seriously, I have like a cowlick back there. See it?” said Tapper. “This is just unacceptable, people. Get the hair team back in here. And can someone make this suit look less empty?”

    –WKW

    Topics: 
    Politics
    Humor & Satire

    Comments

    Great set of links from MM

    For instance, here's an example of how the Fox News family isn't quite like ABC. Here's another another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another.


    by Larry Jankens on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 2:55pm

    I'm listening to them discuss this on Talk of the Nation right now.  It's absolutely maddening to listen to NPR defend Fox as a journalistic organizaton.  Fox News isn't news.  How do I know?  Fox News has never broken a story.  It's far, far easier to just make shit up.

    Ken Rudin has twice this hour pushed Karl Rove's line about how this is a Nixonian move by the WH and has even compared it, as Rove did, to keeping an enemies list.


    by DF on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 2:59pm

    I listened to that as well and for the first time ever wanted to call in to call bullshit. I don't understand how news organizations and journalists come to the defense of Fox. It's so blatantly and obviously not news. I don't object to the existence of Fox. But they are liars. They're not fair. They're not balanced. They don't tell the truth. When I learned about journalism, those were sort of key ingredients.

    by Orlando on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 7:03pm

    Then we were kindred spirits today.  I have never before today attempted to call in.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get through.  The other thing that pissed me off was listening David Carr indulge in the rank-and-file false equivalence between Fox and MSNBC.  Rudin had to backpedal at one point ("well, not equally outrageous"), but Carr's missive about the ebb and flow of liberal and conservative media during different administrations was patent bullshit.  Fox became the most popular cable network, full stop, during the Bush administration.  That really puts the lie to his line about liberal media supposedly gaining more popularity during conservative administrations.


    by DF on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 9:42pm

    Ken Rudin apologized.

    http://mediamatters.org/blog/200910220026

     


    by Orlando on Thu, 10/22/2009 - 6:55pm

    Just checking, but did you intend to provide a list of "page not found" links? Perhaps I'm missing the joke…


    by Nebton on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 3:17pm

    Ah, I figured it out. Those interested in actually finding those examples, should start at the main mediamatters page, and follow the similar paragraph there.


    by Nebton on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 3:20pm

    Whoops, my bad, I thought the copy and paste would work. 

    Good looking out Neb


    by Larry Jankens on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 4:52pm

    I love that you took the time to grab all of those links. I won't be clicking on them, however. I can't watch Fox, just like I can't take Pepto Bismol.  Both induce vomiting. Thanks, though.


    by Orlando on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 7:01pm

    I previously heard Fox News defend itself by saying that its opinion hours are like the editorial page, and should be judged by similar criteria. Fair enough, and I've heard this defense from conservatives eager to defend Fox News in the past. However, implicit in that statement is that they actually have shows that are not just opinion. No one has ever been able to find one of these for me.

    I'm being quite serious here. Are there any non-opinion shows on Fox News?


    by Nebton on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 3:23pm

    Of course!  Fox News is far and balanced.  It's everyone else that's biased.

    You raise a good point.  Even their "anchors" are in the business of editorializing.  The best anchor they have is probably Shep Smith, which is telling.


    by DF on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 3:56pm

    As I understand it, and again I'm not using hyperbole or trying to be unfair, the shows that Shep Smith are on are akin to Good Morning America in that the anchors are not discouraged from editorializing. Am I wrong? I.e., does Fox News consider either Studio B or Fox Report w/ Shepard Smith to be a true (i.e., not editorial) news show?


    by Nebton on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 4:37pm

    I honestly don't know.  I've never known them to employ anyone who didn't openly editorialize or, at the very least, mix editorial with some measure of reporting.  It would be interesting if they would be specific about where they claim to be doing real journalism.

    However, they clearly claim that they're doing real journalism:

    FOX NEWS SENIOR VP MICHAEL CLEMENTE: “It’s astounding the White House cannot distinguish between news and opinion programming. It seems self-serving on their part.”

    What ends up being truly bizarre to me is organizations that ostensibly do real journalism, but find themselves afflicted with he-said/she-said syndrome, end up in the position where they have to pretend that Fox is doing journalism in the name of "balance."  Methinks Fox is winning this game.


    by DF on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 5:09pm

    Actually, I thought they were claiming that what Obama took as news was really just their opinion programming (i.e., that "defense" I referred to earlier). That implies (to me) that somewhere they do something other than opinion programming, but it's not necessarily a clear claim to it.


    by Nebton on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 7:14pm

    I can see only one of two ways to parse his comment.  Either he means that they traffic in both news and opinion and the WH can't tell the difference or he means that the WH was foolish to mistake Fox for a news organization.  If it's case two, I'll agree with him.  If it's case one, I think it's incumbent upon them to specify.


    by DF on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 9:45pm

    I'm less disturbed by the quantity of the editorializing then by the quality. Many of FOX's "editorials" are speculative fiction pieces. Editorial bias is fine; paranoid fantasies are not fine. Once FOX started going there--back in 2004 with the supposed war on Christmas--it abandoned any pretense of journalistic integrity.


    by Michael Wolraich on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 5:37pm

    Excuse me, please, oh snarky one. Druidism is an officially recognized religion in both the Dungeons and Dragons Player Handbook and The Dungeon Master's Guide. But maybe you've never heard of a little something called the Wikipedia. Do your research, n00b!

    And if you would peruse those essential volumes you would notice (presuming that you are capable iof reading) that Druids are by definition neutral, and therefore free from any bias. Therefore it is you, and other anti-druidic paladins and assassins, who have the biased agenda!


    The current War on the Druids, suspiciously beginning less than two weeks before the Holy Festival of Samhain, which anti-Druidic zealots call "Halloween," is obviously the work of pro-Chaotic extremists. Objectively, your whole post is pro-Cthulhu.

     

     


    by Doctor Cleveland on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 5:14pm

    Objectively, your whole post is pro-Cthulhu.

    Wait, that's good, right?


    by DF on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 5:24pm

    No, now you're thinking of the paladins…


    by Nebton on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 7:15pm

    That really takes me back. Back to Jr. High and high school, when I'd spend hours being slightly afraid of the D&D geeks.


    by William K. Wolfrum on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 5:29pm

    Why did you stop?


    by Michael Wolraich on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 5:38pm

    Be afraid. Be very afraid.


    by Doctor Cleveland on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 5:48pm

    You're like one of those children who only ever got negative attention and learned the wrong lesson.

    by quinn esq on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 5:57pm

    FYI: Do a google search for Jake Tapper (sans quotes)

    Like: http://www.google.com/search?q=jake+tapper&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=or...

     

    And then praise me as you see fit.


    by William K. Wolfrum on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 5:39pm

    I just love that dagblog is indexed by Google News as a "news" site. Of course, it's more deserving of that label than FoxNews.com, but still…


    by Nebton on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 7:17pm

    Funny. I index bagdlog under "confiscatory taxation." And "crapweasel."

    by quinn esq on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 8:10pm

    Unfortunately, no one appears to be interested in Jake Tapper. Try Oprah.


    by Michael Wolraich on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 7:45pm

    Maybe if the headline was "Jake Tapper kills three with bare hands"?


    by DF on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 9:46pm