Megyn Kelly Destroys Fox Pundit For Views On Working Moms: ‘What Makes You Dominant And Me Submissive?’

By Rebecca Leber/Think Progress

On her Friday segment, Fox News’ Megyn Kelly tore into conservative commenter Erick Erickson over his comments that it is“natural” for women to stick to raising children while men play the primary breadwinner. Erickson drew fire earlier this week for arguing that women who work are “hurting our children, and it’s going to have impact for generations to come.”

Kelly debunked Erickson’s Red State op-ed, point by point. “I will start with you Erick. What makes you dominant and me submissive and who died and makes you scientist-in-chief?” Comparing Erickson to the people who used pseudo-science to argue against interracial marriage a half-century ago, Kelly asked, “Why are we supposed to take your word for it, Erick Erickson’s science, instead of all these experts?”:

KELLY: In this country in the ’50s and ’60s there were huge numbers of people that believed that the children of interracial marriages were biologically inferior and that is why it was illegal for blacks and whites to marry in some states in the country up until 1967. And they said it was science and fact if you were the child of a black father and white mother or vice versa you were inferior and not set up for success. Tell that to Barack Obama.

Watch it:

In the same segment, Lou Dobbs mocked Kelly’s accusations, responding “oh dominant one.”

Fox News Commentator Says Women Should Stick To Raising Children

By Annie-Rose Strasser/Think Progress

Conservative commentator Erick Erickson earned himself a lot of detractors Wednesday night when, responding to the news that a record number of families rely on women’s income, he argued on Fox News that it was “natural” for men to take the “dominant role” and that women being the primary breadwinner for families is “hurting our children, and it’s going to have impact for generations to come.”

But Erickson stood by his comments on Thursday, first tweeting, “Husbands and wives should play complimentary roles w/ dad as breadwinner,” and then penning a longer piece on the site he edits, Red State, making the case for why women shouldn’t be the primary earner in a household. In it, he said that single mothers currently are able to handle parenting on their own solely because society “will subsidize their doing it all”:

In modern society we are not supposed to say such things about child rearing and families. In modern society we are not supposed to point out that children in a two-parent heterosexual nuclear household have a better chance at long term success in life than others. In modern society, we are supposed to applaud feminists who teach women they can have it all — that there is no gender identifying role and women can fulfill the role of husbands and fathers just as men do.[...]

Feminists and politicians on both sides of the aisle view these statements as insulting to single moms and antithetical to their support for gay marriage.What should be insulting to single moms is for society to tell them they can do it all and, in fact, will subsidize their doing it all. I know a number of wonderful, nurturing single mothers. They do as best they can. Most of them have wonderful children. But not one of them prefers to be a single mother.[...]

Actually, American society is far from subsidizing the lives of single mothers. In fact, compared to other wealthy nations, single mothers fare terribly in America. Twenty five percent of single parents hold low-wage jobs, and there is a huge wealth gap between dual parent and single parent homes. Single parents also suffer from the United States’ lack of paid parental leave, since when they are forced to leave the workforce to raise an infant, they lose their only source of income.

Erickson has a long history of making remarkably sexist, anti-woman remarks. Last year, hereferred to an all-female line up of speakers at the Democratic National Convention as “The Vagina Monologues,” a comment that prompted over 100,000 people to call on CNN — where Erickson is a contributor — to fire him.

Fox's Erickson: "Multiculturalism" Key Factor Leading To Boston Bombings

CHELSEA RUDMAN/Media Matters

Fox News contributor Erick Erickson wrote a FoxNews.com piece on the Boston bombings that attacked Islam as a religion that "cannot ... peacefully coexist with other religions" and suggested "multiculturalism" helped lead to the bombings.

In his piece, Erickson wrote, "In the past decade we have seen that not all Muslims are terrorists, but just about every terrorist has been a Muslim." He also claimed that "contrary to the political correct," "[c]ompared to all other religions in the Twentieth and Twenty-first century, only Islam seems to generate people willing to kill for their religion."

Erickson suggested that societal emphasis on "multiculturalism" led the Boston bombing suspects to turn to radical Islam because immigrants aren't expected to "assimilate into American society." In a tweet linking to his piece, Erickson said:

 

Erickson has a long history of inflammatory remarks: he has endorsed white-men-only scholarships, defended Rep. Todd Akin's "legitimate rape" comments, and has said "violence" is "extremely common ... within much of Islam."

From Erickson's FoxNews.com piece:

Let us be very clear here. In the past decade we have seen that not all Muslims are terrorists, but just about every terrorist has been a Muslim.

As more young Muslim men come of age in a post-modern America, the problem of home grown terrorism is going to be far worse than the terrorism we've previously seen.

[...]

Every person wants a sense of belonging. But post-modern America offers no sense of belonging into a greater culture. Each culture is relative. 

[...]

Then there are young Muslim men adrift in liberal, post-modern America. Their religion is not, contrary to the political correct, a religion of peace, but of submission. Many of the Muslims who are most absorbed into their religion intend to fill the cultural vacuum left by the post-modern liberals of the West with Islam. We will all submit one way or the other. Compared to all other religions in the Twentieth and Twenty-first century, only Islam seems to generate people willing to kill for their religion.

If you do not believe me, announce on Twitter you intend to burn the Koran and see what happens. Remember, we are talking about a religion that, if the Obama White House is to be believed, went into international riots over a poorly produced You Tube video and an idiot pastor in Florida.

We have allowed, due to our liberal values and constitutional priorities on free exercise of religion, the one religion on earth that cannot, in its natural state, peacefully coexist with other religions, to migrate across the map.

Soledad slams Red State editor’s moderator critique: ‘You have lost your mind’

By Stephen C. Webster/Raw Story

CNN contributor and RedState.com editor Erick Erickson finally got a taste of journalistic pushback on Friday morning, in the form of a smiling Soledad O’Brien.

The CNN morning host confronted the conservative talker over a Twitter post he wrote Thursday night, attacking Martha Raddatz, moderator of Thursday’s vice presidential debate, for not taking charge of the conversation.

“I’m sorry, but I think Martha Raddatz did an atrocious job as a moderator,” he wrote. “She lost control of both sides repeatedly.”

In a follow-up, however, Erickson seemed to criticize the ABC News senior foreign policy correspondent for the exact opposite thing: taking charge too much and forcing the candidates to answer specific questions.

“Dear future debate moderators, don’t make the topics in your wheelhouse the focus of a debate millions might watch,” he wrote.

Appearing on CNN just 12 hours later, Erickson had to answer for the schizophrenic criticism. “I think you have lost your mind,” O’Brien said. “I actually thought that wasn’t losing control.”

“I think you’re a journalist and journalists are gonna give her cover,” he replied. “I thought she was horrible.”

Later in the interview, Erickson mentioned “this unemployment number” as something that the moderator should have focused on. However, Raddatz did ask about unemployment, noting that the national jobless rate “just fell below 8 percent for the first time in 43 months,” and asking the candidates how quickly they think it could be driven below 6 percent.

“I just don’t think moderators should make the focus of the debate their wheelhouse,” Erickson said.

“Yeah, I’m just gonna disagree with you on that,” O’Brien replied. “I think she did a teriffic job. I thought that she was super strong. Do you think that [the last presidential debate moderator] Jim Leher did a good job?”

“Actually, I don’t think that either of them…” Erickson said, trailing off. “At least with Jim… I think Jim Leher, at least he really got out of the way and let them talk.”

A CBS News snap poll of undecided voters found that 50 percent thought Vice President Joe Biden won the debate, whereas just 31 percent picked Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI).

This video is from CNN, broadcast Friday, October 12, 2012.

Tens Of Thousands Of Feminists Call On CNN To Fire Sexist Contributor

By Annie-Rose Strasser/Think Progress:

This afternoon, in just over one hour, 23,000 people signed a petition asking CNN to fire contributor Erick Erickson.

His offense? He referred to the Democrats’ packed list of female speakers at their convention in Charlotte, North Carolina as “the Vagina Monologues”:

Erick Erickson

• ✔

@EWErickson

First night of the Vagina Monologues in Charlotte going as expected.

4 Sep 12

• Reply
• Retweet
• Favorite

After a flurry of furious tweets, Erickson — who once said he “kind of like[d] the idea” that women are barred from a golf club so that he wasn’t “hanging out at some women’s event” — half-heartedly expressed regret for his comment, saying “My apologies to those offended by my tweet. Wasn’t my intention.”

But UltraViolet, a women’s advocacy group, launched the petition calling on CNN to “Take him off the air right away” for his sexist line. “Seriously?” the petition reads, “He hears powerful, eloquent women talking about crucial issues and that’s his reaction?”

Among the “Vagina Monologues” that Erickson was referring to were speeches by Sec. of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius; Congressional candidate and double-amputee Iraq veteran Tammy Duckworth; and the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama.

UPDATE

The petition is quickly gaining steam. UltraViolet representative Molly Haigh reports that, as of 4:30 pm on Wednesday, it has 32,000 signatures.

CNN's Erick Erickson Calls Obama A "Composite Kenyan" While Praising Breitbart.com For Continued "Vetting" Of Obama

by Remington Shepard/Media Matters

In a May 18 post, on his blog, RedState, CNN's Erick Erickson praised Breitbart.com for its May 17 "vetting" of  Obama, using the post to call Obama a "Composite Kenyan." From his May 18 RedStatepost:

The Breitbart Crew has done the world a very valuable service in finding a 1991 biography of Barack Obama from his literary agent claiming he was "born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii."

[...]

The point is not that Barack Obama was born in Kenya. The point is that Barack Obama has repeatedly been perfectly okay embellishing and having others embellish his qualifications and biography to make himself someone unique instead of just another Chicago politician. The pattern goes back to his job as a "financial reporter". A former colleague of his and Obama fan, way back in 2005, claims Barack Obama really embellished his resume describing his financial related reporting.

[...]

[T]he largest point, however, is that the media is yet again caught flat footed, claiming the story is no big deal, irrelevant, or that somehow the Breitbart Crew is in the wrong and peddling Birtherism.

They are not peddling Birtherism. The Breitbart Crew are kind of like illegal immigrants -- doing reporting Columbia journalism grads won't do. In 2008, the New York Times ran a big story on John McCain having an affair with a lobbyist. It got picked up all over the place. Reporters were on the trail. There was no *there* there.

The Breitbart.com post is the most recent installment of their continuing series of posts "vetting" President Obama. In this piece, blogger Joel Pollak highlighted a booklet produced by Obama's literary agent in 1991 that stated Obama was "born in Kenya." Although Pollack insisted that "Breitbart News is a site that has never advocated the narrative of 'Birtherism'," the post made its way around right-wingmedia, including sites well-known for pushing false birther claims.

In a May 18 New York Magazine post titled "Breitbart: Literary Agent Blunder Exposes Obama!," Jonathan Chait pointed out that, despite the qualifying statement preceding the post, the Breitbart.com piece "tiptoe[s] around" the "Birther Shock angle" and called it "part of [Breitbart.com]'s continuing quest to bring you the stories the mainstream media refuses to report on." From the post:

The Drudge Report is hyping the Birther Shock angle. Breitbart is careful to tiptoe around it. The story insists that the good editors believe that Obama was born in Hawaii. So why, then, should we care about this story? The article breathlessly explains:

The biography does, however, fit a pattern in which Obama -- or the people representing and supporting him -- manipulate his public persona.

David Maraniss's forthcoming biography of Obama has reportedly confirmed, for example, that a girlfriend Obama described in Dreams from My Father was, in fact, an amalgam of several separate individuals.

In addition, Obama and his handlers have a history of redefining his identity when expedient. In March 2008, for example, he famously declared: "I can no more disown [Jeremiah Wright] than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother."

Soooo ... it's (1) a lazy literary agent, (2) a book that openly says it uses composite characters, and (3) a speech on race relations. What exactly is the "pattern" here?

Erick Erickson, Founder Of ‘We Are The 53%’ Site, Whines About His Brand New House And Well Paid CNN Gig

By Lee Fang/Think Progress




Mounting a clever public relations gimmick to conceal the fact that nearly every American pays taxes in the form of payroll taxes, sales taxes, and fees, CNN’s Erick Erickson helped start the “We Are The 53%” website. The website, a parody of the popular We Are The 99 Percent Tumblr, features Americans posting messages about how they work hard and do not complain about diminishing living standards or the phenomenon that a tiny segment of the population is slowly accumulating most of the nation’s wealth.

Erickson’s message is a scribbled rant that reads:

I work 3 jobs./I have a house I can’t sell./My family insurance costs are outrageous./But I don’t blame Wall Street./Suck it up you whiners./I am the 53% subsidizing you so you can hang out on Wall Street and complain.

The three jobs Erickson wants you to believe he scrapes by on include occasional paid opinion blogging at RedState.com, a lucrative television contract with CNN, and a radio gig that paid the previous host $165,183 a year (Herman Cain’s financial disclosures show he was paid this amount before Erickson took over his spot). The house Erickson can’t sell? Bibb County, Georgia records reveal that Erickson just bought a new $374,900 house in February of this year, and owns another that, according to an estimate by the website Zillow, might be worth slightly less than the amount he paid for it in 2001. And its likely that Erickson’s CNN job alone provides him with a personal driver and covered travel expenses when he needs to appear on the show.

Moreover, when Erickson says he doesn’t blame Wall Street, who could be surprised? Erickson should be grateful to big corporations since they sponsor his blog and provide him with content:

– Shilling For Banks: During the congressional battle over the Durbin Amendment, a rule that limits the amount banks can charge businesses to process debit-card fees, Erickson came out fiercely on the side of big banks. According to Bloomberg, Erickson had spoken with public relation firms employed by bank lobbyists while writing his posts. In his defense, Erickson told Bloomberg he became “leery” that bank lobbyists were excited about hisMarch 14 post supporting the banker position. But later that month, he kept hawking banker talking points.

– Shilling For Walmart: The first major evidence of RedState’s corporate sock-puppetry came in 2006 when the New York Times broke the story that Mike Krempasky, a RedState founder and blogger, was being paid by Walmart to orchestrate online attacks on the company’s critics. Krempasky had secured the Walmart deal through his job at the public relations firm Edelman, which maintained a major contract Walmart at the time. Since the first reports of Krempasky’s corporate contract, RedState has been a stalwart defender of Walmart.

– Selling Erick Erickson ‘Video Endorsements’: An email uncovered earlier this year from Eagle Publishing, the owner of RedState, sold not only traditional advertisements and sponsorship opportunities, but also a “video endorsement” from Erick Erickson. “Organizations with issues, candidates and viewpoints that are in line with Erick’s positions can truly benefit from his endorsement,” read the sales pitch. Erickson has rented his list to MyWireless.org, a telecom front group funded by industry, as well as the American Petroleum Institute, an oil lobbying association.

– Representatives For Corporate Lobbyists Guest Blog For Erickson’s Website: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a lobbying association for top firms like Goldman Sachs, Chevron, AIG and Dow Chemical, has partnered with RedState for blogger briefings and guest posts. Pat Cleary, a longtime communications person for the Chamber, is a regular front page writer for RedState.

–Erickson’s Blog Caught In Pay-For-Blogging Scheme Orchestrated By Malaysian Lobbyists: The most unusual example of RedState’s fraudulent blogging may be the case of Josh Trevino, RedState’s co-founder. The government of Malaysia paid a consulting firm owned by Trevino and other regular RedState contributors to promote the ruling party using various conservative websites. Trevino, who recently collaborated with Erickson to created “We Are The 53%” site, even sponsored blogger meet and greets and fake media town halls with the current Malaysian prime minister.

Unfortunately, Erickson’s phony economic victim act is slowly catching on. In what has become a strange display of American feudalism, people are now contributing messages to Erickson’s 53 Percent site and boasting about being screwed by the economy. As Gawker notes, one 53 Percent post features a man who proudly says that he works hard yet lacks health insurance and can “barely afford” his rent. Another, a “former marine,” says he hasn’t had “4 consecutive days off in 4 years.” Blogger Max Read thinks Erickson has exposed “where the best of American values meet their most masochistic applications.” Reading through the contributions to the 53% site, Read concludes: “‘paid time off’ and ‘health insurance’ and ‘a living wage’ are apparently the demands of an unreasonably entitled parasitic class.”

White House says Erickson's "remarkably crazy" shotgun comments "should concern CNN"

by Karl Frisch

We've been following the comments of CNN's Erick Erickson who said late last week: I'll "[p]ull out my wife's shotgun" if they try to arrest me for not filling out the American Community Survey.

Tough talk from the editor of the right-wing RedState.com who told CNN's Howard Kurtz just days earlier that he'd learned, "I don't have to get personal in blogging to make my point. I definitely evolved over time" following mounting criticism over his long history of incendiary, mean-spirited and otherwise hateful rhetoric and CNN's decision to hire him.

Now the White House is weighing in with its opinion.

Asked by progressive radio host and author Bill Press to comment on the controversy surrounding Erickson's "shotgun" comments during today's White House press briefing, press secretary Robert Gibbs called them "remarkably crazy."

BILL PRESS: Robert, on the Census, Erick Erickson, a commentator for CNN, a couple of days ago, he said he was not going to fill out his Census form, and if a Census worker came to the door, he said he would "pull out my wife's shotgun and see how that little twerp likes being scared at the door." So my question is, do those remarks concern the White House? And are there any -

ROBERT GIBBS: It should concern CNN -- probably first and foremost. Probably concerns his wife as well.

PRESS: Any thoughts about protection for Census workers?

GIBBS: Well, I think there are a lot of people that get on cable TV and say stuff so that people will quote it back to other people.

Obviously the Census determines the representation you have in what we call representative democracy. I think it's why somebody like Karl Rove, who obviously I and others in this administration have disagreed with for going on many years, understands that the lunacy of ripping up your Census form or not sending it in or, God forbid, the remarkably crazy remarks of somebody that would threaten somebody simply trying to ensure that they're adequately represented in this country. These days it never ceases to amaze you -- and usually it's only trumped by what somebody will knowingly say tomorrow about -- I think it was Lincoln who said, "Better to be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt." I think that would be my advice.

M.C.L Comment: I guess when CNN discover there is no such thing as middle of the road, they're trying to attract the loon that doesn't watch Fox News all the time.