Fox gone wild

Keith Olbermann followed up the video we posted previously with this interview with Robert Greenwald. Fair and balanced? How about fair, balanced and sexy?

Ad for "Redacted" airs on O'Reilly show

So as long as it's for money, it's ok, right, Bill? Obviously, Fox News's ethics are in their wallet.

"Redacted" -- the rhetoric and the reality

Director Brian DePalma got somewhat of an early Christmas present thanks to Bill O'Reilly's venting over DePalma's new film, "Redacted," which O'Reilly criticized without seeing. He said it was unAmerican and would endanger the troops.
Well, we have seen it and O'Reilly, as usual, is wrong.
O'Reilly's overreaction has certainly boosted the visibility of the film. "Redacted" may not do what DePalma hopes -- end the war -- but it delivers a powerful message about the war's effect on its soldiers.
"Redacted" is actually a combination of several stories merged into one film. It's the account of Angel Salazar (played well by Izzy Diaz), who spends a lot of time taking video of his fellow soldiers. Patrick Carroll as Reno Flake and Daniel Stewart Sherman as B.B. Rush also figure heavily into the story and both do a great job.
The big question, though, is is O'Reilly's criticism valid? Does it do an injustice to the troops?
Well, if you are one of those who believes anything that makes the troops look less than perfect is an injustice to them, well, needless to say you won't like it. But despite the less than rosy picture it paints, "Redacted" basically allows that war is hell and soldiers are human, even despite the ugly events depicted in the film.
Do these events and the film itself cast a shadow on the troops? We say no.
We all know war is hell. War movies are hell. "Redacted" isn't the first movie to show the ugly side of war. It won't be the last. It does, however, reveal the injustice of American occupation in a land where we are not always welcome.
But this isn't the fault of the troops, who are there to do a job. It's the fault of our government, who never should have gotten us there in the first place.
"Redacted" is a film that makes a good point, but it certainly isn't enough to make it the be-all, end-all at getting us out of Iraq. That will take the enlightenment of the politicians in Washington, D.C. -- either this administration (unlikely) or the next one.

The "Redacted" official movie site

Gratuitous sex? You'll probably find it breaking on Fox News

The folks that brought you "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price" and "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism" have just released
"FOX Attacks: Decency," which, according to their description, "shows how Fox News routinely peddles explicit
sexual content for ratings, even while Bill O'Reilly and other FOX
personalities moralize about how popular culture is degrading
civilization with wanton sexual imagery."
Alongside the video is a petition to the FCC, asking the agency to
require cable operators to offer an "a la carte" subscription option
so that subscribers are not forced to pay for Fox's smut.
"FOX News shows more sexualized violence and humiliation than probably
any other network -- all in the name of condemning it -- while
under-showing violence in Iraq, all in the name of supporting it,"
said Gloria Steinem after watching the video. "After this video, smart
viewers and advertisers will boycott FOX."

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