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Fox's Bill O'Reilly opened up his show this Tuesday evening by using the death of former Mouseketeer Annette Funicello to opine over whether America was somehow "a better country" back in those days when, as Media Matters noted, white America was "kind of unified" and if that "made it easier for society to function."

I'm fairly sure that it did make it "easier for society to function" if you were a white male, like Bill-O. If you were a woman, or a minority... well... maybe not so much.

O'Reilly was also opining during the segment for the days back when America was "more wholesome." Pardon me if I have a little bit of trouble hearing from someone who is apparently in the middle of a divorce right now and can't control his temper because of it on that topic.

I don't want to hear about the "need to be more wholesome" from someone who had to settle a sexual harrassment suit with one of their former employees.

I don't want to hear about the "need to be more wholesome" from someone who was accused of harassing his ex-wife's boyfriend.

I don't want to hear about the "need to be more wholesome" from someone who is capable of visiting Sylvia's restaurant with the Rev. Al and making the ridiculous statement he did about the patrons and their so-called m-f**king iced tea.

Sadly, we're not likely to see O'Reilly off the air any time soon, along with his fellow Nixon-loving cheerleader here, Monica Crowley who was ready to take up his cause and argue with Alan Colmes. It's sad that the two of them here just literally proved what many of us have known all along about Fox and that is, they'd be more than happy to take most of the country back to the '50's socially and rolling back civil rights. Just don't bring back those tax rates. That would be treasonous!

h/t Media Matters

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MSNBC's Al Sharpton took former President George W. Bush to task for the latest attempt to gloss over the disaster that was his two terms in office with the opening of his presidential library,

Omission accomplished: President Bush uses library to try to rewrite history:

According to the library’s official website, it will be ”a results-oriented institute that will have an effect on our country and, we think, on the world,” focusing on areas including economic growth, human freedom, and education reform. But it’s tough to say what results can be gleaned from the legacy of the president who turned a budget surplus into a deficit, left us into a major recession, permitted the use of “enhanced interrogation” techniques, and instituted the “No Child Left Behind” education policy that is widely criticized even by Republicans today. [...]

“It looks like a theme park as much as it is a library,” according to Lou Dubose, co-author of “Bushwhacked: Life in George W. Bush’s America.” Dubose points out the library also includes a freedom tower, a freedom plaza, a decision points library, the bullhorn Bush used to talk to first responders from ground zero, and even Saddam Hussein’s pistol.

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A Fox News guest who took on Sean Hannity for blasting President Barack Obama even as employment dropped to the lowest level in more than four years reaveled on Tuesday that the conservative host and others at Fox News are "so upset" that the economy is recovering.

During a panel discussion on Monday, Hannity talked over Occidental College Associate Professor of Politics Caroline Heldman as she tried to point to positive economic indicators like that the unemployment rate had dropped to 7.7 percent and the stock market was soaring.

"Nine million fewer Americans in the workforce!" Hannity interrupted. "You hear Nancy Pelosi, others talking about the stock market. Do any of those people on food stamps, are they investing in the stock market, Caroline?"

"I'm impressed that you're now concerned about the poor, thank you for that," Heldman shot back.

In an appearance on MSNBC on Tuesday, the Occidental professor shed some light on her interview with Hannity.

"You know, I have never met a group of people that is so upset that the economy is rebounding than the folks over at Fox," Heldman told MSNBC's Al Sharpton. "I mean, the signs are really clear, not only the unemployment rate dropping, but housing starts, new housing starts, housing prices, the fact that the stock market has doubled since 2009, that private wealth has been fully restored... But it is getting better, and we can't be in denial about this because that actually affects consumer confidence."

"I think that Sean Hannity is a perfectly likable person," she added. "I happen to know that he tips 100 percent in his private life, I just wish that his public stances and the stances of Republicans didn't go after the poor, the elderly, kids with Pell grant cuts, Medicaid cuts, job training cuts. I mean, you really do have to put your money where your mouth is."

"I agree with you, professor," Sharpton concluded. "I don't have a problem with any of them personally. They just seem to have a problem with facts."

(h/t: Media Matters)

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Rush Limbaugh says that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia should be "honored" to be compared to be compared to him over the justice's recent suggestion that voting rights were a "racial entitlement."

During oral arguments about the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act last week, Scalia had pointed out that the law had enjoyed multiple nearly-unanimous reauthorizations because lawmakers were scared to be seen voting against discrimination, calling it “a phenomenon that is called perpetuation of racial entitlement.”

Several media outlets -- like Mother Jones and Salon -- noted that Scalia's argument was not unlike something that would have been expected from Limbaugh. And MSNBC's Al Sharpton observed that the Supreme Court justice had a history of taking cues from Fox News and conservative radio hosts.

On Monday, Limbaugh declared that he would be "honored" to be compared to himself and so Scalia should be too.

"Imagine that!" Limbaugh exclaimed. "Arguably one of the most well-endowed intellects in court's history, Antonin Scalia, was accused of sounding like me. And I'm sure it's a big day for him too!"

"This is one of those things that goes both ways. I know if I were Antonin Scalia, I would be honored. Just like I am honored to be compared to him."

(h/t: Media Matters)

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This "access" whinefest by the media, which has been going on for the better part of the week, isn't legitimate and isn't about their ability to practice journalism.

I'm sorry, but I don't buy it. Howard Kurtz and his panel this Sunday, which included David Zurawik, Julie Mason and Bill Plante come across as still being pissed off that none of them had a chance to snap a picture of President Obama playing golf with Tiger Woods.

As Kevin Drum said, it would be easier to sympathize with these national reporters if they really did ask tough, unpredictable questions of the President, but they don't. And Drum's observations on the Politico article and their complaints about the White House using social media and going around the press, can be applied to the conversation here as well:

At the same time, the reporters interviewed for this piece seem to be weirdly upset over the fact that the Obama White House uses Twitter and Facebook and releases lots of its own photos. Why is this a problem? It's 2013, guys. Why shouldn't a president communicate with the public using whatever mediums the public happens to consume? Over the past century, that's evolved from whistle-stop tours to radio to TV to Facebook, but so what? Why should reporters be unhappy about this?

Given the sorry state of our corporate media these days, I don't think they're going to get much sympathy from most of the public.

Transcript below the fold.

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If anyone didn't think this guy was quite insufferable enough during his interview on Piers Morgan last month, you're in luck. You can be treated to almost an entire hour of his whining about how liberals are keeping the poor conservative white man down.

This was a talk he gave at Jim DeMint's wingnut Heritage Foundation a couple of weeks ago.

Yes, Breitbart protege Ben Shapiro has got a book to sell, so naturally he's being promoted by the likes of C-SPAN, which sadly leans way, way to the right with their Book TV series. They ended up treating their viewers to what was one long exercise in projection, claiming that liberals just want to silence conservatives, making ridiculous claims that conservatives are somehow shut out of the political debate in the United States, and are being oppressed by some secret liberal cabal out there who makes sure no one can hear their message.

[Insert laughter here.]

In Shapiro's world, Media Matters has a whole lot more influence than I'd give them credit for. Plus, there's some grand conspiracy to keep conservatives out of Hollywood and our educational institutions. And you can't dare call a conservative a racist ever... never, ever... and don't dare call voter suppression racist or mention anything about their policies being racist, because then you're just pandering and trying to pick on them and YOU JUST BETTER SHUT UP.

And heaven forbid someone picked on poor ALEC and forced them to run away from the "stand your ground" laws. Yes, and Al Sharpton is a big bad meanie who, along with the rest of the "liberal media," tried to frame George Zimmerman.

I don't know if anyone's got the stomach for the rest of his pity party, but you can watch the entire event here. I'll leave everyone with a quote from one of my fellow contributors here at C&L, Mugsy, who relayed his feelings on this pity party of Shapiro's by email:

As noted, classic "projection". I've been saying for years that "if a conservative accuses you of something, it's only because they either did the same thing themselves or would if they were in your shoes."

Ding, ding, ding, ding... give that man a medal. That's exactly what we had here -- in such blatant form that it's almost laughable, or it would be, if not for the fact that there are still people who consider this guy some kind of "serious" conservative thinker.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the new fresh face of the Republican party -- which, oddly enough, looks just like the old face of the Republican party.

If they need any help with their "rebranding" effort, I sincerely hope they give this guy a call. I'm sure it will work out just as well for them as the recent efforts by Eric Cantor and Bobby Jindal.

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I'm not sure why 'Gun Appreciation Day' organizer Larry Ward decided it was a good idea to come on and spar with the Rev. Al Sharpton over the legacy of MLK and whether he would have approved of his upcoming event, which is scheduled just before the holiday honoring Dr. King, but all I can say is, it wasn't pretty.

Ward appeared on CNN last week and made the ridiculous statement that "slavery would not have happened if slaves were armed" and pretended that his event "honors the legacy of Dr. King." Sharpton took apart that and the rest of his arguments quite nicely during this interview.

WATCH: Gun Appreciation Day organizer insists he’s honoring MLK’s legacy, Sharpton responds:

Ward joined Rev. Al Sharpton on PoliticsNation to defend his controversial comments about King, and Sharpton argued vigorously about King’s legacy, pointing out that the civil rights leader preached non-violence and was killed by a gun. [...]

Ward justified his argument by pointing out that King once applied for and was denied a gun permit, but Sharpton added that King later said he was glad he had been turned down for the permit and that he would never carry a gun again.

Ward continued to push the issue as a civil right. “Dr.King fought for equal opportunity, and we look at cities like Chicago and New York that have a majority of minorities in it right now and those cities themselves do not grant the same access the same equal opportunity that somebody in Texas would have to defend themselves.”

Sharpton and Ward discussed Ward’s claim that slavery wouldn’t have happened if slaves could own guns. When Sharpton pointed out that armed slave rebellions of the early 19th century failed to liberate any slaves, Ward continued his argument that gun ownership is a civil right and that citizens have the right to use whatever weapons the government uses against them.

Ward also tried to distance Gun Appreciation Day from the Newtown shooting. ”This Gun Appreciation Day, just so we’re clear, is not in reaction to the shooting in Newtown,” Ward said. “It’s in reaction to the reaction.”

When asked if Gun Appreciation Day included appreciating high capacity ammunition and automatic weapons, Ward said, “Absolutely,” adding that he believes that “any ban on a semi-automatic weapon would not have changed the outcome of what happened in Newtown.”

According to ABC News, "Ward represents conservative clients through his firm, Political Media; Revolution PAC, the libertarian group launched by Ron Paul supporters, is one of his biggest." Color me not shocked given Ron Paul's history. Looks like he's doing his best to make sure he raises his profile by getting some face time in the corporate media with this stunt.

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It was nice to hear at least one person in Congress talk about the dangers we're facing with these so-called "fiscal cliff" negotiations and that is this moment of panic being used to ram a bad deal through that includes things like cuts to Social Security. Rep. Keith Ellison appeared on Al Sharpton's show on MSNBC and explained why he could not vote for any deal that doesn't protect the working class and our social safety nets and that "if you're talking about cutting Social Security, I'm not with that program."

I'd feel a lot better if I was hearing the same thing from Harry Reid. It might be a good time to remind him not to give away the store to McConnell and Boehner in the next few days.

Update: Here's more from Digby on these negotiations: Fiscal cliff notes 12/28 and she included some additional contact info for Reid:

So Reid and McConnell are supposed to try to work out some deal that will pass both houses and if they don't the president wants an up or down vote on extending the Bush tax cuts for those making less than 250k a year and Unemployment Insurance. He's pretty much daring the GOP to filibuster in the Senate --- and/or Boehner to take the heat for not allowing a vote on middle class tax cuts. [...]

Keep in mind that if Reid and McConnell come up with something, the likely outcome is that Democrats will have to be the majority in both houses to pass the deal. That means most of the Republicans will be allowed to vote against spending cuts and tax increases while most of the Democrats will be expected to vote for spending cuts and tax increases. Despite the fact that the taxes were scheduled to go up anyway, this will be called a Democratic victory. Why, Villagers might even bestow upon them their greatest accolade and call them "grown-ups."

I think the sequester will be taken care of --- nobody's going to allow the defense industry to lose even a penny. Nobody. Either break off the middle class tax cuts now as the president proposes as his fallback plan or let everyone vote for tax cuts after the first and then allow the debt ceiling games to begin. (It's got to happen some time.) I see no reason to capitulate on spending at this point. If that's what it takes, go over the cliff. Why should Democrats become the tax collectors for the austerity state?

If you are of a mind to call Senator Reid's office and leave him a message, you can do so here. (And be sure tell him to keep Kent Conrad and his big "ideas" off the table. Conrad's the lamest of ducks and has no business involving himself at this point.)

Reid's office:
Phone: 202-224-3542 / Fax: 202-224-7327
Toll Free for Nevadans: 1-866-SEN-REID (736-7343) - Restricted to calls originating from area codes 775 and 702

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The hosts of a Fox News morning show that created and aired a four-minute, attack ad-style video filled with falsehoods about President Barack Obama during his re-election campaign are wondering why they did not get invited to the White House with other media personalities on Tuesday.

Several reports confirmed on Tuesday that MSNBC hosts Ed Schultz, Lawrence O'Donnell, Rachel Maddow and Al Sharpton had joined other "progressive media" personalities at the White House to meet with the president.

"I'm shocked by that!" Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade exclaimed the next morning. "Invite five talk show hosts in? All from the same channel? That's outrageous!"

"It might be outrageous, but what I'm saying is I'm not surprised by it," co-host Gretchen Carlson remarked. "I mean, that station is delivering the message of this administration. So, it makes sense."

"Yeah, but that particular channel, that's all they're going to do anyway," co-host Steve Doocy opined. "It would be nice to see somebody from CBS, somebody from NBC... Fox News Channel invited as well."

"Think about it, the president said he's not talking to Republicans unless they agree to raise the rates," Kilmeade insisted. "He hasn't talked to Majority Leader [Eric] Cantor in over a year, but, yet, it's time to meet the talk show hosts on another channel. That's incredible."

"Maybe it was a thank you of sorts for the re-election," Carlson concluded.

(h/t: The Political Carnival)

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Carly Fiorina, who reportedly stood to receive more than $42 million after being ousted at HP in 2005, says that public workers should receive less benefits because "it is not fair" that unions are "so rich."

During a Sunday panel segment on NBC, MSNBC host Al Sharpton asserted that Congress must agree to raise taxes on the wealthy before cutting spending.

"This is about fairness," he explained. "Why do we need to need to deal with the tax on the rich first? Because we must ensure Americans we are dealing with fairness. We keep talking about shared sacrifice, there was not shared wealth and shared prosperity. So, you're asking people that didn't enjoy the good times to share in paying for the tab that they never enjoyed."

"Let us accept Rev. Al's point and the president's point about fairness," Fiorina replied. "But equally, it is not fair that public employee union pensions and benefits are so rich now that cities and states are going bankrupt and college tuition is going up 25 and 30 percent or police and firefighters are being cut. There's a lot that isn't fair right now."

During Fiorina tenure as the CEO of HP, at least 18,000 workers were laid off after the company's disastrous merger with Compaq.