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A year ago, Glenn Beck called the President a racist who had a deep-seeded hatred for White people.1 In just over a week, he says he will "reclaim"2 the legacy of the civil rights movement by holding his "Restoring Honor" rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC — on the same day and place as Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech.3
You can get mad at Beck. You can protest and try to prevent him from stepping on Dr. King's honor for one day. The reality is that the next day — and five days-a-week from there on out — Beck will be back on Fox News, speaking to millions and spreading hate, lies, and fear, as he does every week.
The real problem is Fox News. Fox News gives Beck his platform, and Fox promotes his events — all despite Beck losing virtually all of his major advertisers in the last year.
Fox's rhetoric is not just divisive; it's dangerous. Last month, a heavily armed man got into a gun fight with police after he was pulled over on his way to kill people at the Tides Foundation4 — a non-profit that was little known until Glenn Beck repeatedly demonized it, claiming it to be the center of a great conspiracy.5 Last year, Kansas doctor George Tiller was gunned down while at church6 after Bill O'Reilly called him a Nazi, a "baby killer," and warned of "Judgment Day."7
It's why today we’re launching TurnOffFox, and we hope you'll join us. TurnOffFox is the first step in our overall effort to beat back the poison, hate, and division of Fox. We'll get Fox turned off in stores, restaurants, and other public places — places where Fox pulls in new viewers and gains legitimacy. But we need your help.
Click below to declare your household "Fox free" and at the same time call on establishments in your community (and across the country) to follow your lead and turn off Fox. Then invite your friends and family to do the same. Armed with thousands of signatures, including yours, ColorOfChange members will then visit businesses in their community that play Fox, explain how divisive and dangerous it is, and call on them to stop. And we'll give you a FREE Turn Off Fox sticker when you sign on — it takes just a moment:
http://colorofchange.org/turnofffox?id=1790-114613
Some people watch Fox at home because it reflects their view of the world; but there are others who see it on TV in public places and assume that it's legitimate news. Fox News is often on in bars, restaurants, airport lounges, stores — appearing to be real news, while spreading lies and fomenting hate and division.
The goal of Turn Off Fox is to reduce the number of public TVs showing Fox News, while spreading the word about Fox's poison (and how it works) to those who don't know.
Signing up for the campaign is just the first step. We make it easy for you to tell us about businesses playing Fox. If you're willing to talk with them, we'll provide you with straightforward materials that explain why they shouldn't be a party to what Fox is doing. And if there are businesses you know that want to tell the world they would never play Fox, you can help them declare themselves a "Fox-free zone."
As businesses Turn off Fox and stand up as Fox Free, and as we encourage our friends and family to do the same, we'll help make clear, to people across the country, what Fox is about. And we'll reduce their ability to do harm.
Click the link below to join us in standing up to Fox, and we'll give you a free TurnOffFox sticker. And then please ask your friends and family to do the same:
http://colorofchange.org/turnofffox?id=1790-114613
Thanks and Peace,
-- James, Gabriel, William, Dani, Milton, and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
August 25th, 2010