The people that say that CNN has devolved into a “FOX Lite” are not exaggerating. They are, after all, the network that first gave Glenn Beck a national TV show. In addition, they regularly feature Rushpubliscum mole James Carville on their broadcasts, allow John King to twist any political story he can get his hands on into a criticism of whatever dem he wants to gun for, and… let’s not forget how they slavishly adopted whatever line Chimpy was selling on any given day. I personally quit watching them in the run-up to Chimpy’s Glorious Oedipal Crusade on Iraq, when night after night we had to watch Limbaugh beard Daryn Kagan have multiple on-air orgasms at the prospect of the war that Chimpy was getting ready to set off. It was then that I began calling them the Cheerleaders’ Neutered Network, and I believe that it was a fair description of what they’d become.

It’s still a fair description, as I’m sure you’ll agree. CNN has decided to add to their roster a racist, misogynist, Fascist POS in the form of one Erick Erickson. If there is anyone who can see this (ESPECIALLY after Beck) and still try to argue that CNN is anything but a right wing noise machine, I’m not sure how you go about doing it. CNN has clearly abandoned any pretense of being an actual news network, and joined FOX on the right wing shill circuit.

Pretty damned sad, especially for us who were around to see their beginnings.

CNN announced that RedState.com editor Erick Erickson will join the channel as a political commentator, stating that he is “a perfect fit” for the new show John King, USA. Erickson’s long history of incendiary, sexist, and racially charged statements includes asking when voters would “march down” and “beat” lawmakers “to a bloody pulp” and referring to former Supreme Court Justice David Souter as a “goat fucking child molester.”

CNN calls Erickson “a perfect fit” who is “in touch with the very people” they want to reach. A March 16 post on CNN.com’s Political Ticker blog on Erickson’s hiring:

Prominent conservative commentator and RedState.com editor Erick Erickson will join CNN as a political contributor, appearing primarily on CNN’s new show John King, USA¸ the network announced Tuesday.

Erickson, a self described “obsessive news junkie” who grew up in Dubai and rural Louisiana, will also provide perspective and commentary on other programs across the network.

“Joining CNN is like coming home, and being in Atlanta makes the decision right for me and my family,” Erickson said in a statement.

Under Erickson’s leadership, RedState.com has become the preeminent right of center community online. Prior to leading RedState.com, Erickson practiced law for six years and managed a number of political campaigns, and he currently serves as a member of the Macon, Georgia, city council. He studied political science and history and earned a bachelor’s degree at Mercer University in Macon. Erickson also earned his law degree from Mercer’s Walter F. George School of Law.

“Erick’s a perfect fit for John King, USA, because not only is he an agenda-setter whose words are closely watched in Washington, but as a person who still lives in small-town America, Erick is in touch with the very people John hopes to reach,” said Sam Feist, CNN political director and vice president of Washington-based programming. “With Erick’s exceptional knowledge of politics, as well as his role as a conservative opinion leader, he will add an important voice to CNN’s ideologically diverse group of political contributors.” [CNN's Political Ticker, 3/16/10]

Erickson’s history of violent incendiary, sexist, and racially charged commentary

Erickson defends Beck’s statement that Obama is “racist” and lashes out at “Obama Brownshirts.” At Red State, Erickson defended Glenn Beck’s assertion that President Obama is a “racist.” Erickson stated, “A while back, Glenn Beck called Barack Obama a ‘racist.’ Given all the terrorists, thugs, and racists Barack Obama has chosen as close personal friends (see e.g. Rev. Wright), it’s not a stretch to say it.” Erickson went on to call for a boycott of companies that have pulled out of Beck’s show and are, according to Erickson, “kowtowing to Barack Obama’s worshippers, brownshirts, goons, and thugs.”

Erickson calls Michelle Obama a “marxist harpy wife.” In a blog post headlined, “Is Obama Shagging Hookers Behind the Media’s Back?” Erickson stated, “I assume not. I assume that Obama’s marxist harpy wife would go Lorena Bobbit on him should he even think about it, but I ask the question to make one simple point: Barack Obama, like Elliott Spitzer, is a creation of the liberal media and, as a result, could be a serial killing transvestite and the media would turn a blind eye.”

Erickson calls Souter a “goat fucking child molester.” On his Twitter account, Erickson responded to Souter’s retirement from the Supreme Court by stating, “The nation loses the only goat fucking child molester ever to serve on the Supreme Court.”

Erickson suggested that the Clintons killed Vince Foster and that Dems would kill former Rep. Eric Massa. In a March 8 post to his Twitter account, Erickson discussed the controversy then surrounding former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) and stated, “Wonder if the Dems will make Massa take a walk in Ft. Marcy Park.” In response to a question, Erickson subsequently clarified that his statement was “a poor attempt at conspiracy humor” and told his followers to “See Vince Foster.” Conservatives have advanced the conspiracy theory that the Clintons had Vince Foster murdered. Multiple official investigations that determined Foster committed suicide.

Now, I ask you, in all seriousness-how can a “news” network feature this bag of shit and be taken seriously?

Of course they can’t be. CNN is pushing a guy from Caribou Barbie’s “real America” that is exactly what she meant when she used the term. As in-he’s a racist, misogynist, selfish hater who would bring the country down around him in flames if it meant that “they” never got a leg up.

Beck caused me to severely curtail even visiting CNN online. Erickson finishes my visitations.

Is it any wonder that a respected journalist like Christiane Amanpour has (apparently) concluded that she doesn’t have a place at CNN anymore?

I was rooting for Gwen Ifill. After George Stephanopoulos left ABC’s Sunday morning powerhouse “This Week” for the second anchor chair at “Good Morning America,” TV news junkies speculated on who would fill his formidable seat. Internal candidates like Jake Tapper and Terry Moran didn’t seem particularly exciting. With a resume that included covering the White House for NBC, anchoring PBS’ “Washington Week” and “The News Hour” and moderating the 2008 Vice Presidential debate, Ifill, I thought, brought both substantial journalistic cred and diversity to the table. Of course, I never thought Christiane Amanpour was even in contention.

But since reports on several sites including MEDIA BISTRO and THE HUFFINGTON POST announced Monday that the CNN reporter/anchor has been offered the job, I find the prospect more and more inviting. It’s not a done deal yet, with Amanpour reportedly telling colleagues it’s still ” a 50/50 chance” she’ll sign on. Contractual details including her wish to retain New York as her home base, have yet to be finalized. But insiders say it’s doubtful the ABC deal will allow her to keep any sort of relationship with CNN–where she’s been employed since signing on as a foreign desk assistant in 1983. Why she can’t straddle both networks, forging a symbiotic relationship like both she and her colleague Anderson Cooper have with CNN and CBS, where they have been featured reporters on “60 Minutes” is not clear.

It may well be that she doesn’t WANT to keep a relationship with them. If she doesn’t, who could blame her? No credible journalist wants to work at the same venue as Erick Erickson.

Tags: cnn, erick erickson, media bias

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 at 8:31 am and is filed under Jolly Roger, Media (or lack of). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.