Thursday, December 20, 2012

Today's Profiles in Nuttery

First, Charles P. Pierce, who provides a sketch of the increasingly sketchy George "Quill" Will (whose latest scratchings attempt to justify voter suppression):
"In his heart, George Effing Will now is one of those cats who dresses up in camo, runs around upper Michigan with their Bushmaster .223s, pops off a few dozen rounds at an unfortunate oak tree, and then goes home and broadcasts on their shortwaves about how they will be the last redoubt against the tyranny of the UN when it descends on the U.P. to shut down all the deer camps. The guy who spent most of his career fashioning a phony image of erudition is dead set on spending his declining years fashioning a phony image as a wingnut know-nothing, Glenn Beck in a bowtie..." (our emphasis)
Pierce goes on to flay Will's "analysis" of low-versus-high turnout elections (spoiler alert: the elitist Will prefers that only people who agree with him should vote). Will is truly what a stupid person thinks a smart person sounds like (also: see Newt Gingrich).

Second, courtesy of Crooks and Liars, here's what believing what you hear on Fox "News" will get you (spoiler alert: 20 years):
An Indiana man convicted of setting fire to a mosque in Ohio told a judge on Wednesday that he committed the crimes because Fox News and conservative talk radio had convinced him that "most Muslims are terrorists."

Randolph Linn, 52, accepted a plea deal in which he pled guilty to all charges in connection to setting a fire in the prayer room at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo on Sept. 30. Under the deal, Linn is expected to serve 20 years in prison instead of 40.

Linn explained to the court that he had gotten "riled up" after watching Fox News.

"And I was more sad when Judge [Jack] Zouhary asked him that, 'Do you know any Muslims or do you know what Islam is?'" one mosque member who attended the hearing recalled to WNWO. "And he said, 'No, I only know what I hear on Fox News and what I hear on radio.'"
(our emphasis)

(Image: "Glenn Beck in a bowtie," standing in front of a - you guessed it - Fox "News" banner.)

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