Shepard Fairey Arrested in Boston

I have been meaning to write about the AP's bullshit claim against Shepard Fairey for using their copyrighted photo to make his Obama "hope" poster (above); then I open the newspaper today and find that Fairey was arrested last night outside the Institute for Contemporary Art. I have no idea what that's about, but I'm pretty sure the AP's case against him is bogus. Did Campbell's Soup sue Andy Warhol? (runs to google to check...yes they did! But dropped the case, whether because they liked the exposure for their brand, or because they were going to lose on the merits of whether Warhol's work infringed on their brand.)

So, is the AP claiming a copyright on Obama's face? I would think if anyone has the right to "use" the photo, it's the subject.

We all know why AP is suddenly doing this more than a year after the poster came out. Newspapers are in the toilet, cutting costs left and right including cutting AP, and they need money.

Boston.com: AP wants credit for Fairey's Obama image

Boston.com: Street artist arrested on way to event at ICA

Shepard Fairey, the controversial street artist riding a roller coaster of publicity with his red, white, and blue posters of President Obama, was arrested last night on his way to deejay an event kicking off his exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art.

Fairey, 38, who is known for his countercultural style, was arrested on two outstanding warrants and was being held, according to a police official with knowledge of the arrest who requested anonymity. Police could not describe the nature of the warrants, but said they originated in Massachusetts.

Fairey has been arrested at least 14 times, he has told the Globe.

The artist was arrested at about 9:15 p.m. as he was about to enter a sold-out dance event at the ICA on Northern Avenue, known as "Experiment Night." The event is geared toward a younger crowd, with techno-style music, and more than 750 people were waiting for Fairey, some of whom had bought tickets on Craigslist for as much as $500.

Fairey was supposed to appear as a guest disc jockey for the kickoff of his exhibit, "Supply and Demand," which will run through Aug. 16. He was scheduled to go on stage at about 10:30 p.m., and an hour later organizers told the crowd that he was arrested.

"We're very disappointed," said Paul Bessire, deputy director of the ICA.

Ron Fournier Fournicating for McCain - Again

Never forget that AP's Ron Fournier interviewed for a job with the McCain campaign. Since then he's been working for the man anyway. Today's Fournication:

yahoonews: Poll: Racial views steer some white Dems away from Obama

Fournier is such an asshole. I'd like to meet him and like that scene in "Die Hard", walk up to him and punch him in the nose. (Sometimes words just won't do.) For those with more patience, Al Giordano rips into this piece and good over at The Field.

Al Giordano, The Field: The AP’s Ron Fournier: Racial Arsonist and Unethical Journalist

Deep-seated racial misgivings could cost Barack Obama the White House if the election is close, according to an AP-Yahoo News poll that found one-third of white Democrats harbor negative views toward blacks - many calling them "lazy," "violent" or responsible for their own troubles.

- Ron Fournier, Associated Press, September 20, 2008


Theorem: The amount of time conservatives spend talking about the Bradley Effect is inversely proportional to the fortunes of their candidate.



- Nate Silver, September 19, 2008

Today's AP story wasn't exactly about the so-called "Bradley Effect" or "Wilder Effect," a popular theory in the 1980s and 1990s that posited that some white Americans lie to pollsters claiming they will support African-American candidates but vote then against them in the secrecy of the ballot box.

The theory - if it was true back then - has been very thoroughly disproved in recent years, and today we'll walk you through all the documentation you need to debunk it when asked about it by others.

But with the McCain-Palin ticket sinking in the polls, and the financial crisis sucking the oxygen out of the culture war "issues" on all sides, with the economy now front and center as the dominant campaign issue, we're hearing increasing mention of the so-called "Bradley Effect," the so-called "Wilder Effect," the so-called "Bradley-Wilder Effect" (all names for the same 20th century theory).

And now, the Associated Press and its unethical reporter Ron Fournier are transparently attempting to turn the November election (and, if their attempted arson is successful, its aftermath for years to come) into a wedge to divide, polarize and set back race relations in the United States of America more than four decades.

Everybody take a deep breath and repeat after me: The race card is not working. It's not going to work. And we're not going to take the bait being dangled out in front of us by racially prejudiced provocateurs like Fournier: he wants us to spread his gasoline to make his arson fire bigger; we're going to hose water on it - and on him - instead.

Presstitute of the Year: AP's Ron Fournication

flickr, user hyku: WOMMA Research Summit - Ron Fournier

AP's Ron Fournier, hereinafter Ron Fournication, has been awarded this blog's coveted Presstitute of the Year award for this actual AP article:

Analysis: Biden pick shows lack of confidence
By RON FOURNIER, Associated Press Writer – Sat Aug 23, 2:12 am ET

Fournication has rocketed to the top of my list of Republican presstitutes masquerading as journalists. It was just a few months ago that he won his first Presstitute of the Day award (when he said Obama was "bordering on arrogance" for making a joke, and that Barack and Michelle Obama ooze a sense of entitlement. That would be the one house Obamas, not the dozen houses worth $13,000,000 McCains.) And when Pat Tillman was killed, he was ready to carry the Bush Administration's lies, and even emailed Karl Rove: "Keep up the fight." And now he's won the annual Presstitute award, and it isn't even Labor Day.

To properly tell this story, I must indulge in some internet shouting (ALLCAPS on the 'net is SHOUTING). Ron Fournication INTERVIEWED FOR A JOB WITH THE McCAIN PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN. Ergo, he is not an impartial journalist. He picked a side. John McCain's side.

If there still existed something as quaint as "journalistic ethics" he would be barred from covering the presidential campaign. Instead, AP put him in charge of their Washington Bureau, and the man who once interviewed to work for John McCain is working for McCain by putting out slanted article after slanted article, all favoring McCain and heaping abuse on Obama.

How wrong is Fournication's "analysis?" Just look at the statements on Biden by REPUBLICAN Senators:

Chuck Hagel, R-Nebraska: “Joe Biden is the right partner for Barack Obama. His many years of distinguished service to America, his seasoned judgment and his vast experience in foreign policy and national security will match up well with the unique challenges of the 21st Century. An Obama-Biden ticket is a very impressive and strong team. Biden’s selection is good news for Obama and America,”

Richard Lugar, R-Indiana: "I congratulate Senator Barack Obama on his selection of my friend, Senator Joe Biden, to be his vice-presidential running mate. I have enjoyed for many years the opportunity to work with Joe Biden to bring strong bipartisan support to United States foreign policy."

Arlen Specter, R-Pennsylvania: "No one on the Democratic side knows more about foreign policy than Sen. Biden," Specter said. "He's been an articulate spokesman on the subject. He also knows about domestic policy. He's been a leader on crime control."

Finally, not only are Fournication's articles solidly pro-McCain, anti-Obama, and anti-truth, he is for sale. Lindsay Beyerstein documents that Fournication is available as a speaker through the "All American Talent & Celebrity Network" (you can't make this stuff up) for $10,000 a pop.

Firedoglake has the links to let you take ACTION: Tell AP To Remove Ron Fournier From the Presidential Beat

Newshoggers: Ron Fournier's ASS Press

firedoglake: Karl Rove's Little Hot Soup Nazi

Sourcewatch: Ron Fournier [aka Fournication]

Ron Fournier: The Rat We Smelled Is Indeed A Rat

Hacktactular!

Ron Fournier was for sale before he took over the Washington Bureau of the AP. He interviewed with the McCain campaign in 2007. We should not be surprised at how biased of his coverage of the 2008 campaign is. We've seen his ideological slip, and it's conservative Republican.

We were right: AP Must Fire Ron Fournier

Politico: One of Fournier's job options: McCain

dday at Hullabaloo: Media Industrial Complex

dailykos: Ron Fournier (AP Hack) Was Negotiating McCain Campaign Position

You can not negotiate with a campaign for a job, then report on it as a "neutral observer" unless you have no standards at all. We should apply pressure on the AP to do the right thing and fire him now. More importantly, his colleagues in the profession should be leading this fight. He not only writes, but assigns stories.

Everything the AP says and does between now and November is utterly tainted by Fournier not disclosing his conflict of interest.

AP Must Fire Ron Fournier

Fire this Republican cheerleader

Media Matters for America: The AP has a Ron Fournier problem

We wrote about Ron Fournier's inappropriate emails to Karl Rove here. You can read the emails in the House Oversight Committee report (pdf file) here on page 23.

Karl Rove exchanged e-mails about Pat Tillman with Associated Press reporter Ron Fournier, under the subject line "H-E-R-O." In response to Mr. Fournier's e-mail, Mr. Rove asked, "How does our country continue to produce men and women like this," to which Mr. Fournier replied, "The Lord creates men and women like this all over the world. But only the great and free countries allow them to flourish. Keep up the fight."

When confronted with the fact of his cheerleading, Fournier claimed (a) the emails were just "too breezy" in tone, and (b) that he was researching an article on Pat Tillman's death.

Eric Boehlert of Media Matters has discovered that the second claim cannot be true, as Ron Fournier never wrote an article about Pat Tillman:

Yet according to a search of Nexis, Fournier didn't write any bylined articles about Pat Tillman's death in April 2004. Or ever, for that matter. That means Fournier wasn't reaching out as a reporter to Rove for information, quotes, or context about the sad Tillman story. Fournier didn't need Rove to be a "source" for the Tillman story because Fournier wasn't covering the Tillman story.

Instead, Fournier seemed to be using the Tillman story as an opportunity to initiate contact with Rove and let him know that Fournier was on his side, and to urge Rove to "keep up the fight."

Read the entire article at Media Matters to see Fournier and AP's history of Republican cheerleading. Fournier isn't an objective journalist. Here's just one odious example of his bias:

For instance, in the months before Fournier was privately bonding with Rove and urging the White House to "keep up the fight," this was the lead Fournier wrote for a straight-ahead news article about then-Democratic front-runner Howard Dean receiving Al Gore's endorsement:

Dean hopes the coveted endorsement eases concerns among party leaders about his lack of foreign policy experience, testy temperament, policy flip-flops, campaign miscues and edgy anti-war, antiestablishment message.

Gee, not many Rovian talking points embedded in that AP article, eh?

You can let AP know what you think of their Republican plant Ron Fournier here at their contact page. I'm sure if the AP fires him, he could very quickly get a job with the McCain campaign. For writing stuff like this:

The fact is, Fournier's McCain love runs deep and goes back years. In 2004, when McCain wasn't even a candidate, Fournier praised him in print as "a former Vietnam War hero who emerged from his 2000 defeat as one of the nation's most popular politicians, beloved by independent voters and courted by both presidential candidates."

The next year, while reviewing the possible 2008 presidential field, Fournier insisted the Arizona senator was "favored by a majority of Democrats and independents who would vote in a general election."

But that breathless claim had no factual basis.

Presstitute of the Day: Ron Fournier of AP

Screengrab of Obama's face while he is making one of the statements Presstitute Ron Fournier claims is arrogant.

AP reporter Ron Fournier wins the coveted Presstitute of the Day award with his article claiming Obama is arrogant, proving his point by quoting statements by Obama that were clearly made in jest.

And who is Ron Fournier? A long-time friend of the Clintons from Arkansas. Gee, do you think that could have anything to do with his dislike of Obama? From SourceWatch:

"Fournier began his journalism career at the Hot Springs, Ark., Sentinel Record in 1985. He transferred to the Arkansas Democrat in 1987 and began covering then-Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton a year later. In 1989, Fournier was hired by The AP, which transferred him to Washington, D.C., after Clinton's election in 1992.

Obama walks arrogance line

By RON FOURNIER, Associated Press Writer Mon Mar 17, 1:57 AM ET

WASHINGTON - Arrogance is a common vice in presidential politics. A person must be more than a little self-important to wake up one day and say, "I belong in the Oval Office."

But there's a line smart politicians don't cross — somewhere between "I'm qualified to be president" and "I'm born to be president." Wherever it lies, Barack Obama better watch his step.

He's bordering on arrogance.

The dictionary defines the word as an "offensive display of superiority or self-importance; overbearing pride." Obama may not be offensive or overbearing, but he can be a bit too cocky for his own good.

The freshman senator told reporters in July that he would overcome Hillary Rodham Clinton's lead in the polls because "to know me is to love me."

A few months later, he said, "Every place is Barack Obama country once Barack Obama's been there."

I must interrupt this article to put the entire exhange in so you realize how deceitful Fournier's claim is.

Here's what was really said:

MORAN: What are you doing out here in western Iowa? It's rural -- I wouldn't think it's Barack Obama country.

OBAMA: You know, every place is Barack Obama country once Barack Obama's been there.

See the grin on his face in the picture at the head of this post? See the grin on Moran's face? It's a joke. They're both laughing. OK, back to the lying article.

True, there's a certain amount of tongue-in-cheekiness to such remarks — almost as if Obama doesn't want to take his adoring crowds and political ascent too seriously. He was surely kidding when he told supporters in January that by the time he was done speaking "a light will shine down from somewhere."

"It will light upon you," he continued. "You will experience an epiphany. And you will say to yourself, I have to vote for Barack. I have to do it."

But both Obama and his wife, Michelle, ooze a sense of entitlement.

"Barack is one of the smartest people you will ever encounter who will deign to enter this messy thing called politics," his wife said a few weeks ago, adding that Americans will get only one chance to elect him.

I can't improve on No More Mr. Nice Guy's excellent takedown of this piece of crap.

See also Too Sense: This Just In: Who Does This Uppity Negro Think He Is?

Balloon Juice: Uppity Negro Alert

Connecting the Dots: Didn't You Mean Uppity, Massa?