Roger Ailes and Nazism...

Roger Ailes is the Head of Fox News Channel. I am not convinced that "news" is the right word for what Fox does, but to each their own.

However, it is Ailes' comments about National Public Radio (NPR) that have me shaking my head and muttering WTF is this man talking about?

Ailes said the following in reference to NPR in the wake of the firing of Juan Williams:

"They are, of course, Nazis. They have a kind of Nazi attitude. They are the left wing of Nazism."

Comparing NPR executives to Nazis is absurd in the extreme. It also highlights a complete lack of understanding of Nazism and ultimately the development of the Final Solution and the holocaust perpetrated against European Jews.

Ailes remarks remind me of the content of a subject I used to teach at universities throughout Indonesia on advocacy. Advocates must be conscious of their biases and their prejudices so that they do not begin to exaggerate to the point of absurdity in trying to sustain their argument. Comparing NPR executives to Nazis is an exaggeration in a most offensive form. If Ailes was not always so focused on getting off cheap shots at liberal institutions and the liberals themselves, then his brain might have kicked into gear before his mouth did and he might have thought twice about his comparison of NPR executives and Nazis.

In hindsight he did reflect a little and offered an apology of sorts, but not to the NPR executives. Ailes offered his apology to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

Part of the reason why I do not watch Fox News Channel is that there is nothing that I can reconcile with the slogans "Fair and Balanced" or "We Report, You Decide", as both are clearly misnomers for what FNC does.

Ambrose Bierce...

ALLIANCE. n. In international politics, the union of two thieves who have their hands so deeply inserted in each other's pocket that they cannot separately plunder a third.

The Cynic's Word Book (1906) p. 16

HISTORY. n. An account, mostly false, of events, mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers, mostly knaves, and soldiers, mostly fools.

The Cynic's Word Book (1906) p. 161

PEACE. n. In international affairs, a period of cheating between two periods of fighting.

The Devil's Dictionary (1911) p. 248

PREJUDICE. n. A vagrant opinion without visible means of support.

The Devil's Dictionary (1911) p. 264

SAINT. n. A dead sinner revised and edited.

The Devil's Dictionary (1911) p. 306

Ambrose Bierce (1842 - c. 1914)

Can Comedy Overcome Prejudice and Fanaticism?

The idea of using comedy to make light-hearted entertainment of sensitive issues is not new. Perhaps some would argue that has always been the point of comedy to make fun of the big issues that divide us. Nevertheless, we will soon find out whether a sense of humor and a situational comedy can overcome the prejudices and fanaticism that pervade our communities.

Omar Marzouk, a Danish comedian and a Muslim has put together a sitcom called "The Terror Cell" with a disparate group of characters being the Cell. Marzouk was born and raised in Copenhagen.

The Cell includes Osama, a businessman who finds that terror sells all manner of things such as t-shirts, caps, and pens. This reminds me of a t-shirt that I still see every now and then in Bali and further afield that came out soon after the first Bali Bombings of 12 October 2008, "Fuck Terrorists". No apologies for the language as it expresses a sentiment that many continue to feel and to use "f*&k" to me seems to undermine the intensity of feeling and that sentiment.

The second of the cell is Abdul, a convert whose main goal is to kill as many people as he can with the biggest bombs he can make.

Finally, there is Ali, a Pakistani who entered a competition where the winner was awarded the chance of wreaking revenge on the masses for the publication of the cartoons of Muhammad in Denmark.

Just the thought of such a show making it onto Danish TV is intriguing. Even more so considering the violence that occurred in the aftermath of the Muhammad cartoons being published in Denmark and the violence that was related to Geert Wilders and his film, Fitna.

In a Kenny of South Park fame kind of a way the principle characters die and then reappear in the next episode. Every episode ends with the terrorists blowing themselves and their apartment up. They make the journey to heaven and then Allah sends them back to the real world so that they can learn from their mistakes and do it better the next time around.

The Terror Cell, according to Marzouk, has some similarities with "The Young Ones". Marzouk liked The Young Ones because it was crazy in that they were always blowing each other up. It would seem that Marzouk and I enjoy something similar in our choice of comedy. I really enjoyed The Young Ones when I was younger, I would probably still enjoy it now [mental note to myself -- search the Internet for some Young Ones episodes -- if anyone has links please share], so I am looking forward to getting to watch The Terror Cell.

Marzouk recognizes that the subject matter of his sitcom is probably not going to be essentially viewing for some and in anticipation of the obligatory death threats has placed a poll on his website which allows people to choose one of eight different methods of having him killed. To date beheading is head and shoulders above the others (pun intended).