PRESIDENT MURDOCH CAN GET LEGISLATION PASSED FASTER THAN PRESIDENT OBAMA CAN

The anti-president of the United States, Rupert Murdoch, effectively moves legislation through Congress, or at least through one house:

U.S. Senate denies funds for poverty group

A poverty-rights group that has drawn the ire of conservatives suffered another setback in Washington on Monday when the U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly to deny it access to federal housing funds.

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, which helps poor people fight foreclosures and fix tax problems, has received more than $53 million in U.S. funds since 1994, but conservatives' charges of widespread fraud have begun to impact its reputation in the capital....

The Senate measure, which passed 83 to 7 in the Democratic-led chamber, was included in a must-pass spending bill that funds housing and transportation programs for the fiscal year that starts October 1.

"This is an opportunity for the United States Senate to stand up and say 'Enough is enough' just as the Census Bureau did," said Republican Senator Mike Johanns, the measure's sponsor....

Yeah, I know -- the tipping point for this was a series of "independent" hidden-camera stories by a guy affiliated with Matt Drudge's pal Andrew Breitbart. But what put it over the top was saturation coverage on Fox News and a cover story in the New York Post.

The video in question is embarrassing, but, um, how fast is Congress responding to stories of "Animal House" behavior attributed to the private security firm ArmorGroup at the Afghan embassy? There are some unsettling visuals there, too, but the response in D.C. is proceeding slowly -- no headline-grabbing amendments attached to must-pass bills. And how long were we complaining about Blackwater?

Other countries have state-run media. We have state-run media for the shadow government, the once and future GOP regime. Oh, sure, Glenn Beck melodramatically calls for a form of post-partisanship, but (and Murdoch realizes this even if Beck doesn't) that's just bait-and-switch: the point is to stir the populace to outrage at the (real or imagined) status quo (or at least enough of the populace to decide a low-turnout midterm election), and then position the same old Republicans as the folks to vote for, the fresh new faces of tea-partyism and the "9-12 America" promoted by Beck and Murdoch.

I find it creepy how the 9-12ers brandish the name "Fox" like a rebel flag, or like gang colors:





And my favorite:



Maybe the GOP should just change its name from Republican Party to Fox Party. Fox, after all, is the brand that has consumer appeal, at least in a select demographic. And really, the policies wouldn't have to change one iota.

*****

(Photos via Instaputz and Instaputz commenter Mark.)