I just want to clear the air of something that is on one hand funny, but also sadly representative of the conservative movement in this country. I’m talking about the ultra right-wing’s dissociative behavior where its members continue to prove how out of touch they are with reality. FOX “News” is leading the pack with its slander and blatant lies, but more importantly the fuel it is giving to comedians everywhere. For anyone under the age of 35 who attended university or for anyone else in this world under about 30 years old (or for that matter with half a brain), the term “tea bagging” is a familiar one. FOX “News” thinks it has something to do with protesting taxation, but they better think again. Keith Olbermann, the MSNBC commentator and former sportscaster, is certainly familiar with the term and wrapped as many euphemisms as possible into this 10 minute piece the other night (so to speak).

But first, for those of you who aren’t familiar with the definition of tea bagging, here are two options to consider thanks to UrbanDictionary.com:

First: Tea bagging

The act of lowering one’s balls onto someones face, or into their mouth while they are laying down. Kind of resembles dipping a tea bag into a hot cup of water.

Second: Tea bagging

A horribly misguided attempt by the most extreme of the American conservative right to find some basic form of party unity by lashing out against everything that the Obama administration has done since entering the White House.

“The Republican tea-bagging of the White House is a glorified waste of time and effort propagated by the Fox News Network in order to boost their TV ratings.”

“Hey Bob, did you go to yesterday’s Republican Tea Bagging Protest?”

“No I didn’t, Joe, because I have a legitimate understanding of the way the economy works.”

See also: “grasping at straws”

See also: “immature hissy-fit”

UPDATE: I’m sorry, but this has just gotten the best of me and I had to include Rachel Maddow’s discussion with Air America correspondent Ana Marie Cox (really, that’s her name):

UPDATE II: I’m just so, so sorry! I have to up the ante once again as we show how Stephen Colbert Tea Bagged the Alamo or Glenn Beck or not at all… This whole thing is starting to feel like a party that Eliot Spitzer might have hosted at this hotel (but please take note that “in and out privileges are for registered guests only.”

If you’ve read as many intelligence books as I have, then you’re bound to be a bit paranoid when emailing your mother about dinner plans and saying you feel like Lebanese food. Or perhaps calling your brother to discuss a past trip to Central America he made years prior. I’ve read probably close to 50 books discussing the history and practices of every American (and some foreign) intelligence agency that can be condensed into an acronym. This has made me into somewhat of a paranoid nut when it comes to what I do and where I go and I have often been ridiculed (mildly) for having such opinions.

“But thanks to that mythical set of laws known as the Bill of Rights, we are protected as Americans from unwarranted search and seizure.” I’ve often been told such a thing and never once did I truly believe it. Here’s why… Yesterday we discussed Keith Olbermann’s interview with former NSA analyst Russell Tice who informed America that you, me, our mothers, teachers and the journalists we depend on to report the news, have been indescriminantly spied on for years now. All of your communications. Everything. (Technically speaking it would be impossible to monitor every single communication of every single American, but with sifting technologies available you better believe they were all scanned, as Tice pointed out in this interview.). Olbermann interviewed Tice again yesterday, but more interestingly he spoke with someone who most certainly has been targeted by the NSA: Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and author James Risen. I’ve included this interview here:

I think the most important subject raised in this interview is the intimidating effect this will have on journalists who are concerned for their privacy and safety and that of their families. But more importantly this will have a chilling effect on future whistle blowers and informants who would otherwise speak out about government wrongdoing, such as Russell Tice did in this situation. What did Tice get for his work to protect the US Constitution? Fired. But who’s to say there won’t be more sinister action taken the next time someone speaks out? It is of the utmost importance that these programs are fully investigated and immediately adjusted to protect ALL Americans.

Keith Olbermann had an excellent interview last night with former NSA analyst Russell Tice who informed the nation that not only was the NSA eavesdropping on international communications between US citizens and those abroad, but they were also monitoring ALL of US journalists’ communications. How would he know? He was one of the ones doing it! Can we get some action on this now?!?

I won’t say much on this to avoid partisan commentary, but I feel it is necessary to say something about this as an American citizen and as a citizen of the world. This video, shown during the Republican National Convention, made me sick to my stomach. I have included it below, not because I think it should be shown again, but because I think it is important that we not allow this sort of exploitation to continue to occur.

This post relates to MediaSlackers.com for two reasons: One, the video reminds me of a FOX News promo and two, because out of all the broadcasts that I have watched, Keith Olbermann’s was the most American reaction possible and one to be applauded; for once as a journalist and not just a commentator. Tom Brokaw said a couple of things at the end by recommending a path to follow for either the McCain campaign or the Obama campaign (I can’t remember which, not believing what I had just seen), but Olbermann actually stated, in his few words at the end of the video, what needed to be said: The death of our citizens both at home and abroad should not be used for political gain by either side of the aisle and it is a disgusting and reprehensible thing to do so. And if MSNBC or ANY other network had shown as much footage of 9/11 as the RNC showed, they would and should be vilified appropriately.

I get all of my news and forms of digitized entertainment from the Internet. I have done so now for close to eight years. This isn’t to say I don’t watch television programming, I just choose to do so online. I don’t have cable and currently I don’t even have a TV. I have a couple of very nice laptop computers and a 10MB broadband connection which serves my needs more than adequately.

You might be asking yourself how on earth someone who writes about and discusses the state of mainstream media in this country is actually able to do so without cable… Well there is really a very simple answer to this: All of the news that is actually newsworthy on TV is also available on the Internet, without any of the other crap that comes along with the TV news. In addition, news almost always breaks online before you even see it on TV, read it in the newspaper, etc. (despite a couple of networks’ reassurances they have the “Breaking News”), I’ll decide for myself if it is “breaking”. Any of the associated commentary I want to see, I can do so online after the fact.

There are a couple of TV channels who actually work quite well with my method for information gathering and I appreciate them for it. Even with the embedded advertising (I don’t mind, as long as it isn’t intrusive and the volume raised), these networks are able to provide their content online: MSNBC and Comedy Central are the two that come to mind first. Because I spend a lot of time outside of the country, it is also important to me that I not have to spoof my IP address, therefore slowing any streaming video. Both MSNBC and Comedy Central allow me to watch programming from any IP address I damn well please. However, the content I watch on MSNBC.com and ComedyCentral.com is solely for the commentary, as well as the bizarre. Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow (soon to come to MSNBC) round out one set and Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert round out the other.

All of my actual news, I receive from approximately 60-70 RSS feeds I have set up in my reader, as well as strolling for domestic and international sources. This may seem like a lot, and at first it may seem overwhelming, but it forces me to look at what is actually news to my life. We each have different thresholds for what we want to consume as news; some may find they want to hear about the car accident, stabbing, house fire, cheating politician or set of twins that was born on New Year’s Day. However, others may want to let the general irrelevant buzz (irrelevant to my life, in this case) go by and concentrate instead on the news concerning their childrens’ education, parents’ health care, property tax rate, that little thing called war, national disasters or the issues discussed in the upcoming election (the real issues, nothing to do with flag pins or the number of houses) and whether or not you are going to vote. I encourage you to find out for yourself what your actual news wants and needs are and then choose where you get this news from, instead of allowing the networks, newspapers and commentators (posing as journalists sometimes) do it for you. If you would like suggestions for some starting points on where to find feeds or how I built up my network of contacts, please don’t hesitate to ask.