NPR gets punk'd by right wing group....

[RadioRaheem84]

It's laughable that right wingers think they're so clever in their little Michael Moore-ish schemes to get people to admit to things.

They interview a typical elitist liberal who runs NPR and he shares his views about the vast majority vs. the small educated liberals and the fight against intellectualism.

While, I may agree with most of what the NPR head said, I still think he blew it by pretty much stating that the hope rested in the so called elite. But that's a liberal for you.

All in all, the stupid right wing front group posed as an Islamic group which receives its funds from the Muslim Brotherhood.

A.) you would have to assume that the MB is this ultimate evil organization and take a xenophobic stand against Muslims in general, that they want to conquer all.

B.) You would have to assume that Israel is not committing a crime by oppressing the Palestinians and that any coverage of Israeli crimes is anti-semitic. You would also have to assume that there is no concerted effort by Israelis, allies of Israel, or people who consider themselves Jewish to bankroll pro-Israeli initiatives in the media. This isn't about a Jewish cabal that runs the media, but that there is a group of people (be they Jewish or not) that support Pro-Israel propaganda.

C.) You would have to assume that there isn't also a concerted effort among right wing financiers to back media that promotes a distrust of intellectuals or science. There are plenty of shows that promote the dissent of academia and especially of class based theories of society. While dissent is a good thing, it is also one based in keep people away from learning about class analysis.

http://www.meactrust.org/

[Os Cangaceiros]

Right-wing activists have been punking a lot of groups/people lately...ACORN, Planned Parenthood, Francis Fox Piven, now NPR...

Note to liberals: check credentials thoroughly. :closedeyes:

[Red Commissar]

The guy who "busted" the CEO Vivian Schiller (then Senior VP) on this video is James O'Keefe- or the "Conservative Film maker" as media circles refer to him as. This is the same guy who did that whole ACORN reveal with his underground crew posing as a pimp with his girlfriend. It appears that O'Keefe didn't get NPR to take their bait of accepting support from their faux-Muslim group, but they got the goldmine from this rant he went on.

The thing I'm worried about in regards to this is it'll be used as a springboard to argue for cuts to NPR, PBS, and what little framework of public media exists in the US. While I don't agree with their views many times NPR is what I go to on the radio for news, especially down here where most of the junk is AM talk radio or reformatted NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, CNN, etc broadcasts. More so since the guy pretty much said in there that they would be better off without federal aid.

[Hoplite]

My question is why dont they seem to be concerned with the hundreds of private companies that do business daily with groups far worse than the Muslim Brotherhood. **CoughRoyalDutchShellCough**

[GPDP]

This is seriously distressing IMO. While I know NPR is a liberal establishment org., the fact that even mild centrist liberalism is nowadays unacceptable and has successfully been subject to repeated attacks by the far-right says volumes about the degeneration of political developments in the states. Nowadays, no leftist, liberal or socialist alike, is safe from the right's race to the bottom.

[#FF0000]

Am I the only one that thinks the image of the Taj Mahal on the "Quran Studies" section on that site is out of place?

[RadioRaheem84]

:laugh:

I think a lot of it stems from false notions that all that is past Greece or Israel is Islamic until you reach China; then it's Buddhist.

In the US, people tend to think of South Asians as "Middle Eastern", so when people talk of someone that is "Middle Eastern" they think of a Pakistani. At least that is how I have seen it come up in conversations in the States.

[psgchisolm]

She resigned...


Vivian Schiller, NPR's CEO and president since January 2009, left that job today in the wake of the second high-profile controversy to hit the organization in the past six months.

Dave Edwards, chairman of NPR's board, said directors came to the conclusion that the controversies under Schiller's watch had become such a distraction that she could no longer effectively lead the organization. She had told the directors that they should take the action they felt was appropriate, and Edwards said the board decided it would be best for her to depart
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/03/09/134388981/npr-ceo-vivian-schiller-resigns

[wunderbar]

Pathetic. Liberals are so goddamn spineless they can't even stand their ground or defend themselves without completely caving into the right-wing.

[Hoplite]

This "Project Veritas" thing was founded by James O'Keefe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_O'Keefe), douche-bag of the Planned Parenthood videos variety.

Much becomes clear.

[thesadmafioso]

Pathetic. Liberals are so goddamn spineless they can't even stand their ground or defend themselves without completely caving into the right-wing.

Well NPR does receive a small amount of federal funding, which means they are not suppose to take any particular political stance on any issues as such would obviously cause complications with their federal support. So NPR cannot exactly afford to not handle this low blow in any other way than they did, as it would cause a great deal of damage to their intended image as an objective federally funded source of journalism and thus jeopardize their federal funding.

Though I happen to agree with the NPR executive in question who said that they would be better off in the long run operating as a private organization as they wouldn't have to deal with these sort of controversies and they could actually afford to show some backbone when faced with this cheap sort of attack from the far right.

[RadioRaheem84]

Funny, where the hell is the little punk, O'Keefe getting all of this money to create front groups from? The guy can't be older than 26.

How come no one investigates how a 26 year old kid with a philosophy degree from Rutgers get millions to use front groups to punk liberal organizations?

[Red Commissar]

Though I happen to agree with the NPR executive in question who said that they would be better off in the long run operating as a private organization as they wouldn't have to deal with these sort of controversies and they could actually afford to show some backbone when faced with this cheap sort of attack from the far right.

Yeah, but the thing to consider as well is that if NPR does go fully private, it will have trouble funding smaller stations. Larger NPR channels in metropolitan areas seem to handle themselves fine with donations and endorsements which is what the CEO is referring to, but stations out in more isolated areas tend to rely more on the federal funding to maintain and run their stations. These stations really just replay material from the nearest metropolitan NPR group, but they have no where else to look to for money if the federal stuff gets cut.

So it won't make a difference to the middle-class liberal types in suburban and urban areas, but it may for those who live further out.

[RadioRaheem84]

Yeah and some local NPR stations carry left progressive stuff like Democracy Now! and collaborate with Pacifica Radio.

Fed Funding would kill these programs. But of course to the right wing and well to do upper middle class liberals wouldn't give two shits.

[Tim Finnegan]

:laugh:

I think a lot of it stems from false notions that all that is past Greece or Israel is Islamic until you reach China; then it's Buddhist.
Uh, actually, the Taj Mahal is an Islamic monument- it's the mausoleum of a Mughal emperor. It just happens to be nowhere at all near Mecca.

[synthesis]

Project Veritas depends tremendously on small contributions from individuals like you to continue exposing and examining corruption, malfeasance, hypocrisy and just plain silliness of institutions and individuals with considerable power over American citizens. If you appreciate the value of what this group of volunteers has accomplished and would like to see Project Veritas continue and hopefully grow and expand, please consider a donation to Project Veritas - awaiting tax-deductible 501(c)3 status - either in the field below or at theprojectveritas.org.

How the fuck would donations be tax-deductible? I thought political groups were barred from "501(c)3" status.

[Robocommie]

Funny, where the hell is the little punk, O'Keefe getting all of this money to create front groups from? The guy can't be older than 26.

How come no one investigates how a 26 year old kid with a philosophy degree from Rutgers get millions to use front groups to punk liberal organizations?

I loathe that little creep. Privileged little rich kid going around and destroying groups like ACORN, which may have been flawed as hell but at least went to efforts to try and help poor folks get their day-to-day needs met.