Gretchen Carlson is a sandwich short of a picnic

Gotta say something about Fox News firing Gretchen Carlson and her suing the network over a variety of complaints targeting the network and specifically her former co-host Steve Doocy. 

Quote from Politico: The complaint was filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey and claims Ailes made “sexually-charged comments” to Carlson, "ranging from lewd innuendo, ogling and remarks about Ms. Carlson’s body to demands for sex as a way for her to improve her job standing."
“[D]uring a meeting last September in which Ms. Carlson complained about ongoing discriminatory and retaliatory treatment, Mr. Ailes stated, "I think you and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago and then you’d be good and better and I’d be good and better," adding that "sometimes problems are easier to solve' that way,” according to Carlson’s lawyers.
On other occasions, the complaint alleges Ailes asked Carlson to "turn around so he could view her posterior, commented repeatedly about her legs, and instructed her to wear certain outfits that he claimed enhanced her figure.” Ailes also allegedly “directed sexist comments” about Carlson in public and announced to others at a industry event that “he had slept with three former Miss Americas, but not with her.”
The complaint goes on to allege that Carlson was fired from “Fox & Friends” in 2013 because she complained about co-host Steve Doocy’s actions. Ailes, the complaint alleges, mocked Carlson and told her to stop being offended “so God damned easy.” Though she was moved to host her own show in the afternoon hour, the complaint alleges that the move was a demotion and that Ailes “reduced her compensation and withheld network support and promotion for her show.”

Before I get to all that, I need to share my own views of Fox News.  I was a Fox News watcher from their very first day on the air- this was before I had a computer in the 1990's when I would hand write and "snail-mail" comments to the show! I loved this news network.

When 'Fox & Friends' first came on the scene I was hooked.  That was when it was an actual morning news show, as to what it is now- a variety show with bits of news clips scattered between the grilling on the sidewalk segments, the concerts and the 'Fox & Friends' home shopping network of products to buy and which ones to avoid. (I weep at what has been lost at this network). So my comments are in light of the Fox & Friends show, not about the alleged Mr. Ailes complaints.

The lowest point of 'Fox & Friends' in my opinion came the day Gretchen Carlson joined the cast after E.D. Hill left. I personally, did not like this woman from day one and saw clearly she could not fill the void left by Hill.  The chemistry that Doocy, Kilmeade and Hill had was not found with the introduction of Carlson. 

And I hate to say it, but Carlson just came across as dumb on television. Where Hill looked professional and intelligent, Carlson just looked...well, dumb and out of place. 

Carlson's "Jihad Monkey" breaking news story will go down in my mind as her finest moment proving my point.  ;)

I still cringe remembering that one! Seriously, HOW could she do that segment and seem to actually believe what she was saying? Where was her journalistic integrity when she reported on Jihad monkey's being trained by the Taliban? 

How could ANYONE take her seriously or even bother to tune in any more? I couldn't. I gave up on a show I had enjoyed since its creation all thanks to Gretchen Carlson.

When I further read from Politico, Carlson's complaint about former co-host Steve Doocy had supposedly "mocked" her - well...[flashback to Jihad monkey report] 

quote: "Doocy engaged in a pattern and practice of severe and pervasive sexual harassment of Carlson, including, but no limited to, mocking her during commercial breaks, shunning her off air, refusing to engage with her on air, belittling her contributions to the show, and generally attempting to put her in her place by refusing to accept and treat her as an intelligent and insightful journalist rather than a blond (sic) female prop," the complaint alleges." [end quote]

My impression of Steve Doocy is he is a fine upstanding guy.  He speaks well of others, often shares with viewers his Catholic faith in comments during the show (especially during holidays or Catholic news stories) and appears to have a happy decent family.  I don't know Doocy, but I like what I see.

I can't imagine him guilty of "severe and pervasive sexual harassment of Carlson" or mocking her during commercial breaks.  The "shunning her off air", perhaps if she's as dumb in real life as she seems on television, who could blame Doocy for not wanting to further subject himself to her outside of work? 

I gotta ask, how is "shunning" a person sexual harassment? Refusing to engage with her on air is sexual harassment?  If Doocy was sexually harassing Carlson, why is she complaining he shunned her and refused to engage with her? Again, she's complaining he didn't spend more time with her and at the same time saying he sexually harassed her?  By ignoring her? Huh? 

Liar, liar pants on fire Gretchen! I'm just not buying what she's trying to sell.  

I think she's a sandwich short of a picnic.

I won't even get into the complaint of "belittling her contributions to the show" (see Jihad Monkey video again to answer that complaint) or "refusing to accept and treat her as an intelligent and insightful journalist" (again, see Jihad Monkey video). 

She complains of sexual harassment yet shows no example of sexual harassment, instead whines about being ignored. Boo-freaking-hoo! Gretchen Carlson is doing nothing but slandering a former co-host.

All that said, I am THRILLED Fox News canned retched Gretchen Carlson! 

Things are finally looking up at Fox News!  

Just my 2 cents. ;) 

Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner 

Source: http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/07/gretchen-carlson-files-lawsuit-against-roger-ailes-alleging-sexual-harassment-225162

Jihad Monkey video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buoVwM1pQEs

Society is repulsed by wholesome families

Apparently, people in today's society are "put off" by the word "family".  

They are so put off by the word family, that Disney's ABC Family Channel is ditching the word and relabeling their channel the "Freeform Channel".  

Now don't get me wrong, I am happy Disney's ABC Family Channel is dropping the word "family" because they haven't been a "family" oriented channel in over a decade.  

But what is wrong with the word family?  It conjures up images of wholesomeness and traditional  family friendly programs that of course are repulsive to today's viewers.  

The network didn't listen to its base...no, when they polled people who don't watch the network and got the following response (below) they decided to ditch their faithful viewers who were still hanging on and hoping for the good ol' days to return and instead listen to non-viewers who dislike the channel: 

The team polled cable viewers and found ABC Family fans had several positive associations with the channel, but target-demo viewers who did not watch the network were put off by the name. In particular, the word “Family,” which they associated with “family friendly” and “wholesome,” Ascheim said.

So people didn't turn to ABC Family because the word "family" was too 'off putting' for them to handle.  If the channel was called "ABC Fornicators" they'd probably tune in...but "family" was too off putting for them.  

That’s the nub of why we’re changing our name,” Ascheim said. “Like any growing business, we want to keep our core customers satisfied, but also add new ones – and they had a cliched sense of who we are. The word ‘Family’ sounds overly loud to their ears and that makes it a barrier to them coming into our ecosystem.” 

Huh?  What does "coming into our ecosystem" mean?  That expression conjures up a spider and its web to me. 

In researching a new name, Freeform accomplishes a few different goals the network was striving to hit. The name suggested content that could be viewed on different screens and shared and discussed in multiple ways (ABC Family viewers are big on social media). That viewers no longer just consume content but create it as well was a consideration too. And Freeform, ultimately, was a name that simply generated a positve emotion. “We wanted an emotional response to a name that made people happy,” Ascheim said. “We got an overwhelmingly positive response. Freeform sounds like fun.”

According to Disney's ABC Family Channel brainaics the new brand "Freeform" conjures up images of "fun" - not to me or many others it doesn't.  

As one person commented, "Freeform sounds like a feminine hygiene product", I completely agree.

Visions of "fun" don't pop into my mind when I see or hear the bizarre word "freeform", but am not their target audience.  

“For us, this doesn’t feel like a radical depature, this is an evolution,” ABC Family president Tom Ascheim explained to EW. “For the last 10-to-12 years, we’ve been targeting young people, Millennnials, and then something happened. Millennials started getting older. The oldest ones are nearly 40. So do we follow Millennials or stay with the ‘life stage’ that got us here?”

Being a Generation X'er I am too old for Disney's "Family Channel", but that's OK with me, because when Disney bought The Family Channel they got too raunchy and offensive for me to bother tuning in any more and I certainly wasn't going to allow my children to see the filth they were promoting as a "family" television channel.  

Check out their new promotional ad:

Did you notice the words they used? ABC Family declares they are "breaking free" and will no longer have "straight lines". They are now "free to take whatever shape feels right"- only that is what they have been doing since they bought The Family Channel from Fox.

Years ago, before Disney bought the channel and destroyed it with shows like "Becoming Us" (transgender show), "The Fosters" (lesbian family show), "Baby Daddy" (one night stand fatherhood), "Young & Hungry" (one night stand turns complicated 'love' story), "Greek" (nominated by GLAAD & the LBGT community as an "Outstanding Drama Show" because its so 'gay friendly'), "Pretty Little Liars" (lesbians) and "Monica the Medium" (occult), they used to have shows that actually appealed to families!

Shows like"Christy", "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman", "Madeline", "Snowy River: The McGregor Saga" and "Higher Ground", reruns of "Bonanza", "The Rifleman" and "Carol Burnett". Those shows are too wholesome for a channel that targets warped dysfunctional 'families'. This target group probably breaks out in hives when reruns of "The Waltons" or "Little House on the Prairie" show up on their television screens!

Once Disney bought "The Family Channel" from Fox, the "family" turned from traditional family (1 man + 1 woman= marriage and children), to the word "family" taking on a whole new meaning...lesbians, transgenders, gays, one night stand parenthood and lots of fornication and adultery.

Reminds me of what is happening at the Synod on the Family right now.

Just what is a family?

According to the Catholic Church and tradition it is as it always was 1 man + 1 woman= marriage and children= a family.

Catechism: #2202 A man and a woman united in marriage, together with their children, form a family. This institution is prior to any recognition by public authority, which has an obligation to recognize it. It should be considered the normal reference point by which the different forms of family relationship are to be evaluated.

Today society has not only redefined what 'marriage' is they have also redefined what a family is.

Scary part is...now our Catholic Church seems to be (if the reports coming out of the Synod are correct) following secular society's opinions just like Disney's "family" Freeform Channel.





In Christ,

Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner



Source: http://www.ew.com/article/2015/10/06/abc-family-changing-name-freeform

Disturbing Synod news:
Source: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/archbishop-cupich-lays-out-pathway-for-gay-couples-to-receive-communion
Source: http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/sinodo-famiglia-43979/
Synod: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bishops-at-vatican-synod-raise-the-need-for-more-inclusionary-language-on-gay-people_561531a0e4b0cf9984d7c752

EWTN Press Release: EWTN is Expanding!

EWTN TO OPEN WEST COAST STUDIO
AT CHRIST CATHEDRAL CAMPUS

ORANGE COUNTY STUDIO TO SUPPORT
ONGOING NEWS & TELEVISION PRODUCTION

Irondale, AL – EWTN Global Catholic Network has begun construction of its first West Coast television production facility located on the campus of Christ Cathedral in the Diocese of Orange, California. EWTN hopes to begin using the studio to transmit news, televised Masses, and inspiring stories of faith to its global audience by the end of the year. A joint announcement of the new facility was made at the annual Napa Institute gathering in Napa, California on July 24 by EWTN Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael P. Warsaw and the Most Rev. Kevin Vann, Bishop of Orange.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange acquired the former Crystal Cathedral in November 2011 and took possession of the property in September 2013. Shortly after moving onto the campus, the Diocese began an extensive renovation to restore the 34-acre campus and its seven buildings to their former magnificence - upgrading them to modern earthquake and energy efficiency standards in order to accommodate the unique needs of a large and vibrant parish, Diocesan Pastoral Office and Catholic school. As part of the renovations of the campus, the Diocese has worked to develop the capacity to share its events, liturgical celebrations, news and other topics of interest with audiences throughout Southern California and the world.

 

“As we transform the Christ Cathedral campus into a dynamic and inspirational center of Catholic worship and outreach, we are blessed to partner with EWTN to share our community’s energy and faithful witness with the world. EWTN’s partnership will profoundly benefit our Church, enabling us to share the love of Christ with millions across the world in multiple languages from the Cathedral campus, here in Orange County,” said the Most Rev. Kevin Vann, Bishop of Orange.

 

"EWTN is pleased to be able to collaborate with Bishop Vann and the Diocese of Orange on this important new project. The studio being developed there will be of great benefit to EWTN's programming efforts around the globe,” said Network CEO Michael P. Warsaw. “The location of the facility gives EWTN a presence in an area of the country where the Network will be able to execute programs that would be difficult to produce elsewhere, particularly for our Spanish-language channels.

 

“We are also pleased to develop this West Coast studio in advance of the historic renovation of the Christ Cathedral itself. We will be well positioned and prepared to share news of this closely watched transformation with our viewers,” said Warsaw.

 

As the world’s largest religious media network, EWTN transmits television programming 24 hours a day to more than 230 million homes in 140 countries and territories through cable, Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS), broadcast TV and digital media platforms. EWTN airs family and religious programming from a Catholic point of view in multiple languages. The network offers inspiring talk shows, entertaining children's animation, exclusive teaching series, live coverage of Church events, and thought-provoking documentaries. Programming originating from the Christ Cathedral campus will be included within its broadcast content mix for global audiences.

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 About EWTN 

EWTN Global Catholic Network, now in its 33rd year, transmits 11 separate television networks in multiple languages to over 230 million television households in more than 140 countries and territories. EWTN also distributes a global radio service that is available through satellite radio platforms such as SiriusXM and Sky, a network of terrestrial AM & FM stations, a worldwide short-wave radio station and digital outlets such as iHeart Radio. With its Internet and digital media platforms, including the www.ewtn.com website, electronic and print news services, and publishing arm, EWTN is the largest religious media network in the world. Earlier in 2014, the network launched EWTN News Nightly, the first global daily newscast from a Catholic perspective. EWTN also recently announced its acquisition of the Denver-based Catholic News Agency and the ACI Prensa Group headquartered in Lima, Peru. ACI Prensa is the largest Spanish-language Catholic news service in the world.