SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2024
Who is, and was, Lisa Boothe? For those who would study the human species, it has become an indispensable "cable news" viewing experience.
We refer to The Big Weekend Show, a Fox News Channel production. The program airs in prime time on Saturday and Sunday nights.
The program is a perfect forum for seeing the (all-too-human) "Stepford Impulse" of this species in action. Last night, midway through a gruesome hour, one of the Stepfords said this:
BOOTHE (11/30/24): Joe Biden took a stage at the end of July [2021], CNN Town Hall, telling Americans that if you got the vaccine, you wouldn't get the virus. So we were lied to the entire time, and Dr. Fauci is corrupt and evil and was the person spearheading a lot of those lies.
Dr. Fauci is evil! Given the targeted acts of violence now prevalent throughout the culture, it's a remarkable sort of thing to say with millions of people watching—but Boothe was ready to say it.
Who the heck is Lisa Boothe? Fox News profiles her in the manner shown:
Lisa Boothe
Contributor
Lisa Boothe joined FOX News Channel (FNC) in 2016 as a network contributor, providing political analysis and commentary across FNC's daytime and primetime programming.
In addition to her role at FNC, Boothe is the founder and president of High Noon Strategies, a boutique political communications and public affairs firm. She is also a contributing writer for The Washington Examiner.
Prior to her current positions, Boothe was part of the executive team of WPA Research where she led the polling efforts for political campaigns across the country. Additionally, Boothe has led communications efforts for congressmen, senators and Super PACs.
Boothe graduated with a B.A. in political science and government from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.
Boothe is reported to be 39 years old. She seems to have graduated from the university in question in the class of 2007.
As a general matter, so it goes with Boothe. To our eye and ear, she may be part of a newly emerged subset of the Fox News Channel's endless array of Stepfords.
We refer to a possible subset of Fox News employees who have recently "toughened" their approach to the news of the day. We could be wrong, but it seems to us that Boothe had long been one of the less aggressive of the channel's many contributors. She was the smiling, telegenic face of a lingering subset—the "kinder, gentler" branch of the Fox News Channel brigade.
That's the way it had seemed to us. Over the course of the past few months, it has seemed to us that Boothe, possibly like several others, has substantially toughened her News Channel talk.
We could be wrong in that perception—about that perceived change in tone. We aren't wrong about what the remarkable thing she was willing to say on last evening's program.
Dr Fauci is evil, the Stepford star said. At the time, the panel was working from a news report at the Fox News site.
Same old story! The report was written by Andrew Mark Miller, a highly inexperienced journalist with no apparent background in medicine or science. Fox News profiles him in this limited manner:
Andrew Mark Miller
ReporterAndrew Mark Miller is a reporter for Fox News Digital who covers politics, law enforcement, crime, world events and breaking news.
Before joining Fox in 2021, Andrew was the deputy social media editor and a reporter for the Washington Examiner and covered politics as a freelance blogger and editor for 5 years before that.
Andrew is from Pasadena, CA and received a degree in history from Azusa Pacific University.
Despite an attempt at a search, we can't tell you when Miller graduated from Azusa Pacific. We can't tell you how old he is. Based upon this LinkedIn page, his adult work history seems to have started in 2010.
As would be true of most people, he seems to have no technical background with respect to the topic at hand. That said, this is the start of the report which led Boothe to tell every crackpot in the world that Dr. Fauci is both corrupt and evil.
Warning! Doctored quotation follows!
Fauci ripped over new paper criticizing Trump on coronavirus, promoting natural origin theory: 'Embarrassment'
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the public face of the federal government's coronavirus pandemic response, is facing criticism on social media over a manuscript published in a top journal where he maintains his position that the virus originated in nature and cites a debunked claim that President-elect Trump told Americans to inject themselves with bleach to stop the virus.
Fauci, along with researcher Gregory Folkers, published a paper in the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal this week with the title, "HIV/AIDS and COVID-19: Shared Lessons from Two Pandemics."
Fauci, who faced intense criticism for his handling of the pandemic, was critical of Trump’s handling of the pandemic in the paper.
[...]
The paper also says that "abundant evidence from top evolutionary virologists and leading scientists in other fields strongly suggests that the virus jumped species from an animal reservoir to humans in the Huanan market in Wuhan, China, and then spread throughout China and the rest of the world."
The report continues from there. So wrote the inexperienced and likely underqualified Miller.
For ourselves, we'd be inclined to score the highlighted statement as having been "doctored." Here you see the full statement from the report by Fauci and Folkers:
"Although there remains uncertainty about the origins of SARS-CoV-2 and definitive proof is lacking, abundant evidence from top evolutionary virologists and leading scientists in other fields strongly suggests that the virus jumped species from an animal reservoir to humans in the Huanan market in Wuhan, China, and then spread throughout China and the rest of the world."
Citizens, there they went again—and so it long has gone. As best we understand it, the background would be this:
For some time, Fauci has seemed to be saying that the greater weight of evidence supports the idea that the Covid virus "jumped species from an animal reservoir to humans in the Huanan market in Wuhan." He has also routinely said that that assessment isn't certain.
That has been his practice. Also, it has long been the practice in Red America to "edit" Fauci's various statements to keep viewers of Fox News from knowing what Fauci has said.
Now, along comes a player like Boothe, telling every crackpot in the land that Dr. Fauci is "evil." Boothe's amazingly white teeth remain as white as they've always been, but her genial aspect is long gone and it seems to us that her tone has been vastly toughened.
The Stepfords crawl all over the Fox News Channel. Nowhere is that more true than on the comically awful program, The Big Weekend Show.
Sometimes, the comical behavior of this program's array of Stepfords seems to "jump species." It jumps from the merely clownish over to something much darker—to something that's extremely hard to defend and is plainly dangerous.
So it went last night when the smiling presence of: Lisa Boothe gave way to a new, darker tone. Question:
Did any of last evening's Stepfords know what they were talking about when they discussed, or pretended to discuss, the new paper by Fauci and Folkers? We'll guess that the likely answer isn't real hard to conjure.
A final note:
None of this unrelenting journalistic misconduct ever breaks through to the pages of the New York Times.
Our own Blue America is serviced by a certain number of Stepfords too! At the Times, they've long agreed to keep their mouths shut about this relentless behavior.
Can a modern nation survive in this way? We always offer the same advice:
Go ahead! Take a good look around!
For extra credit only: Did President Biden misstate the facts about Covid during that July 2021 CNN Town Hall?
Daniel Dale quickly reported that he had, if only to a limited extent. To assess Dale's instant fact-check for CNN, you can click right here.
Azusa Pacific is a low quality religious school.
ReplyDeleteAt what point will all of the people who downplayed the danger of a second Trump term admit they were wrong:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P9ZyZMalms
My daughter worked the ICU during covid. One of the saddest experiences was watching unvaccinated people beg for help, then die because nothing could be done for them. This wasn’t just a political choice when Fauci was urging people to get vaccinated. It was life or death from a virus that Fauci did his best to deal with, as we all did. This stupid political blame game is wrong. A high risk person would be foolish to skip the boosters even now. Meanwhile doctors and nurses have been leaving medicine.
ReplyDeleteAnd watching vaccinated people beg for help, then die, it was a pleasure.
DeleteWhat an ass Somerby is.
I am Corby.
This is what Republicans think is funny. Mocking the people who served on the front lines of medicine during the pandemic and those who died because they were stupid enough to believe right wing propaganda.
DeleteI served on the front lines of medicine and I died because I was stupid enough.
DeleteSomerby is an ass.
I am Corby.
For a classic case of manufactured ignorance, check out the snowflake 11:33.
Delete
ReplyDeleteAll your amazing knowledge of Faucism, Mr. Somerby. Did you get it all from the NY Times and Washington Post? How quaint.
Weirdo Mao, those are perfectly respectable sources -- much more reliable than Fucker Carlson, who thinks he was physically attacked by literal demons.
DeleteCarlson is a reliable source…for understanding the tormented wounded lost souls of right wingers/Republicans.
DeleteI followed Tucker's sound medical advice and started tanning my balls. I fell asleep last week. I don't think I will have sexy time for at least six months. The stupid, it really does burn.
DeleteKash Patel is selling pills to “reverse” the covid vaccine.
ReplyDeleteWe’ve had enough with the goody two shoes manner of law and order we get from the FBI.
DeleteFinally the FBI can gain insight by being led by a real criminal.
Bob, what’s the hesitation in calling Fox employees the Stepford Wives or “lost girls”? “Child”? “Termagants”, for that matter? Just say what you truly wish to convey. The anonymices can’t hate you any more than they do.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a challenge to a Right-winger.
DeleteThe source of the virus wasn't that important. We had to deal with it, regardless of how it began and got loose. Although i have great admiration for Fauci, IMO he was wrong to promote the bat theory. It was always much more likely that it escaped from the Wuhan lab. But, the lab explanation was embarrassing to Fauci personally, since American health agencies funded dangerous research the Wuhan Lab.
ReplyDeleteThe Trump administration defunded and disbanded the monitoring agency near Wuhan. Trump lied to the American public and delayed a response to the virus. Trump promoted a treatment that was ineffective or harmful which his followers chose over vaccination, which was disparaged by right wing media outlets. As a result many more people died than was necessary. But go ahead and blame Fauci. And incidentally, Pfizer had a vaccine on the market as quickly as those funded by Operation Warp Speed, without using any US dollars.
DeleteAs usual, DIC has no idea what he's talking about. He reads some utterly biased right-wing garbage and thinks he has the answers.
DeleteDavid, this is a long, but good read. Don’t miss the timeline with the article.
Deletehttps://usrtk.org/covid-19-origins/visual-timeline-proximal-origin/
The source of the virus wasn't that important. We had to deal with it, regardless of how it began and got loose.
DeleteThe important first step in dealing with it was to have the president of the USA look the American people in the eye and fucking lie his corrupt ass off.
And of course, minimize testing people infected, because as Dr. Daffy Duck always says, "
the more testing you do, the greater number of infections you're going to find. That's just science. So stop all the testing. You're just trying to make the president look bad."
Once a Dickhead, always a Dickhead in Cal.
He says the source wasn't important, then he goes on to explain why his conspiracy theory makes it important.
Furthermore, Trump had nothing to do with Operation Warp Speed, it was thought up and implemented by the FDA with funding from Congress.
DeleteThanks for the link, Cecilia. It’s tragic that the phony medical science on Covid’s beginning led people to distrust all medical science, including the COVID vaccine.
DeleteFor a classic case of manufactured ignorance, check out the two snowflake Republicans pushing misinformation about Covid 19, which most likely had a zoonotic origin, and almost certainly not a "lab leak".
DeleteA recent peer reviewed paper published in The New England Journal of Medicine states:
"Of the three possibilities — natural, accidental, or deliberate — the most scientific evidence yet identified supports natural emergence."
Wikipedia says the same thing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoonotic_origins_of_COVID-19#Timing_of_spillover
I believe soros-bots have zoonotic origin. Does it make me a snowflake?
Delete6:35. Your cause and effect narrative is bullshit. Right wing media pundits denigrated science long before Covid. Candace Owens calls science a cult. The entry here by Someday is correct in calling out Fox talking heads educated at rinky dink institutions who foster narratives and denigrate a medical scientist with credentials and a career that dwarfs their insignificant achievements. That Fauci needed security for a walk in the park with his wife on account of dangerous incendiary right wing clowns like Bob cites above is a tragedy. Trump's remarks only served to inflame anti Asian sentiment and spike hate crimes directed at Chinese citizens.
DeleteFauci is my God.
DeleteIf you want an example of how to deal with a dangerous pandemic you need only research the Ebola virus and Obama's response to it. He mobilized the military and an international response to that outbreak. One US citizen died in the states, a physician after return from the endemic area, who got through quarantine undetected, as I recall. Republicans in congress called for Obama to resign. An apparatus to monitor for pandemic outbreaks early was put into place by the Obama administration. One such outpost was in the Wuhan region. Of course it went down after Trump's administration defunded it. Studies have suggested that the number of preventable deaths due to the mishandling of the Covid pandemic by Trump was on the order of 250,000. Demonizing Fauci on Fox and other media outlets by dumbasses like those referenced by Bob, above, contributed to the deaths of so many, who did the wrong thing and paid the ultimate price.
DeleteThe first outbreak was clustered around the live animal market, not the ten mole distant lab. But stay stupid DiC.
DeleteAlmost certainly, RFK Jr will restore the scientific integrity to the CDC that has caused the population of the United States to eschew science in general, in favor of crackpot ideas. The next pandemic, if during Trump's term, will benefit from herd immunity. Make measles great again. Fantastic pick. But let's continue to demonize Fauci.
DeleteMao's talking points are eating Haitian immigrant's pets.
DeleteSomerby likes to talk about the movie On the Waterfront a lot, an anti union movie meant to excuse the naming of names that both the writer and director engaged in during the McCarthy blacklisting.
ReplyDeleteArthur Miller was then prompted to write a play in response, and when Kazan offered to direct, Miller replied “I didn’t send it to you because I wanted you to direct it. I sent it to you because I wanted you to know what I think of stool pigeons.”
Were Miller still with us, he might have written a play about another stool pigeon, and called it Death of a Blog.
anon 2:05, if Arthur Miller were still alive, he'd think you were an idiot.
DeleteExtra credit is always enticing.
ReplyDeleteHere’s what the CNN fact check said about Biden’s statement at the town hall where he was casually speaking to local Ohioans, imploring them to take the necessary steps to save their lives and the lives of others from a highly contagious and deadly pandemic:
“CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said last Friday that more than 97% of Covid-19 patients hospitalized at present are unvaccinated; Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said on CNN on Sunday that 99.5% of Covid-19 deaths at the moment are of unvaccinated people.“
Biden was off by .5% and 3%, so yes, we can all roll our eyes at all the nonsensical Republican talking points.
But the question remains, why is this extra credit?
Back in the day, when Somerby was relevant, he would have led with this instead of burying the lede.
ReplyDeleteOne more drink, just one more lousy drink.
One drink never hurt anybody.
I am Corby.
It is sad that so many Republicans had to die because of ignorance.
ReplyDeleteYup. I had direct experience during the worst of it in a small hospital that at one point had 105/120 beds occupied by Covid patients. It was a catchment hospital. It was not uncommon for an unvaccinated patient upon admission to demand hydroxychloroquine, as Fox and Trump were pushing it. These people would sometimes threaten litigation if the drug was not given on demand. They commonly died. They were almost invariably influenced by right wing media. Fox is culpable for the deaths of many people during the pandemic. This is hardly talked about.
DeleteYes, Mr. Soros. Whatever you say, Mr. Soros. We all love you.
DeleteSometimes the families of such patients were abusive to hospital staff when denied quack treatments. It was a horrible time to be in medicine and many have left the field.
DeleteYup, saw that. Amazing how brainwashed these people could be with their gullible swallowing of anything coming out of Tucker Carlson and the Fox propaganda machine. And Trump screwed them over by parroting Laura Ingraham's hydroxychloroquine nonsense. There are many reasons for leaving medicine at this time , Covid one of them. It was a daily bludgeoning. In the rewriting of that history pundits ( Bill Maher among them) like to state that only the immunological compromised died. That is nonsense. Many otherwise healthy people died.
Deleteanom 9:19, what's Soros have to do with anything? You think you're making some clever point? Your being brainless. You realize Libs can be dumb, but are blind to how dumb your apparent side can be.
Delete"what's Soros have to do with anything?"
DeleteWhat, $18 billion spent on Democrat bot-farms is nothing, soros-bot?
anon 1:48, oh, I'm a soros-bot because I challenged your post? I could call you a trump -bot if I was a dumb as you. Don't be so thin skinned and such a zealot.
DeleteIt is sad to see this right wing blog slowly die. So sad.
ReplyDeletePresident Joe Biden announced Sunday that he has pardoned his son Hunter Biden, who faced sentencing this month on gun crime and tax convictions, marking a reversal as he prepares to leave office...
ReplyDeleteBy pardoning his son, Joe Biden has reneged on a public promise that he made repeatedly before and after dropping out of the 2024 presidential race. The president and his top White House spokesperson have said unequivocally, including after Trump won the 2024 election, that he would not pardon Hunter Biden or commute his sentence.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/01/politics/hunter-biden-joe-biden-pardon/index.html
Who woulda thunk it. How completely unexpected.
DeleteQuote of the Day
DeleteFebruary 25, 2024 at 12:58 pm EST By Taegan Goddard
“I’ve seen him up close, I’ve seen him from afar, but here’s my point: It’s because of his age that he’s been so successful.”
— Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), quoted by Politico, on President Biden."
Political Wire
Memory lapses are part of normal aging, but some abilities improve with age: wisdom, experience, knowledge, emotional stability and people skills.
Good for Joe Biden!
DeleteGood. Now he should issue preemptive pardons for everyone Trump is likely to target with bullshit prosecutions. Btw, if you're upset about the Hunter pardon, were you equally upset about Trump's pardoning of REAL criminals like Paul Manafort?
DeleteExperts in law have repeatedly stated that Hunter Biden was overprosecuted, and that very rarely such judgements result in jail time, especially when there is drug dependency involved. Maybe this will remind Trump that you don't have to keep all your promises, he's been so adherent to his own. Maybe Trump will reneg on his promise to free the insurrectionists that injured over 140 Capital police. You know, the hostages. So fuck off, your holier than thou bullshit means nothing coming from a Trump cultist. 40,000 lies and counting, dumbass.
DeleteNothing from DiC about Trump pardoning his sleazy SIL's sleazier father, and nominating him as Ambassador to France. Nothing about pardoned Manafort who fucking stole money from MAGA dipshits who thought they were donating to a privatized border wall. But the real pardon crime is Hunter, who paid all his back taxes and penalties; and accomplished the impossible, recovered from drug addiction. Two things where you can see folks mostly walk free from.
Delete
DeleteThe Family, Fredo. The Family. First, always take care of the Family.
David, whatabout Trump?
DeleteNothing about pardoned Manafort who fucking stole money from MAGA dipshits who thought they were donating to a privatized border wall.
DeleteNo, that was Steve Bannon, who is still scheduled to face similar state charges for stealing from the rubes. There are so many criminals in Trump's circle, it is hard to keep up without a scorecard.
Among other crimes by Manafort, obstruction of the Russia investigation was Trump's favorite. As Trump said quite publicly, don't be a rat.
It’s literally the Rolls Royce of pardons.
Delete“President Joe Biden’s grant of clemency on Sunday night — an extraordinary political act with extraordinary legal breadth — insulates his son from ever facing federal charges over any crimes he possibly could have committed over the past decade.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/12/02/hunter-biden-pardon-nixon-00192101
Politico! Good, I just don't know why he didn't do it sooner.
DeleteAnonymouse 8:45am, less rumble when he’s on the way out.
DeleteGood for him. He certainly couldn't guess what Trumped up bullshit from the upcoming regime would have preoccupied their vindictive mindsets.
DeleteAnonymouse 8:58am, no, he did “guess”.
DeleteObviously, it was never about corruption, and always about Republicans jealousy of Hunter Biden's dick size.
DeleteAnonymouse 10:12am, you’re projecting and by that I mean psychologically.
DeleteMy favorite part of the Right-wing COVID theories, is that I'm supposed to be upset with the Chinese for releasing a manufactured disease, to kill their enemies, that was a little worse than a cold.
ReplyDeleteRight, 1.2 million excess deaths is a little worse than a cold.
Delete