H&C: Colmes Confronts Fleischer
By Nicole Belle Wednesday Jan 23, 2008 11:02am
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I called Alan Colmes the designated milquetoast for FOX News Channel the other day and I gotta eat some crow. My nature is to be snarky (I'm sure you're very surprised), but as John Amato pointed out to me, sometimes you get your point across much easier by holding back the claws. Although his style is not as combative (or frankly, fact-challenged) as his partner, Sean Hannity, it is not some weak-kneed liberal that faces former White House spokesliar Ari Fleischer (now the front man for the equally dishonest Freedom's Watch) with the ugly fact that he is the third biggest liar in the Bush Administration according to a study released recently. He even puts his big lies up on video to make it impossible for Ari to deny that he said it.
Of course, such a practiced liar (and we've got the documentation, let's call a spade a spade) isn't going to just 'fess up right away. In fact, watch Ari go for the tried and true "but the Democrats" defense. So lame...but not nearly as lame as Sean Hannity's response:
FLEISCHER: The only organized campaign I’m aware of is the one this group is part of because you’ll notice they left out all of Bill Clinton’s quotes, Al Gore’s quotes, Tom Daschle’s quotes…
COLMES: But you were the guys running the country.
FLEISCHER: …my point is they were saying…by the way, the Senate was under Democrat control back then…but my point is…[cross talk] They’re making the attack against everybody who said what the CIA had legitimately reported to two administrations. But they’re only attacking Republicans for it. That’s the problem I had with this group. We were wrong, Alan. We’ve always said that. But the Democrats were wrong, we were all wrong and I don’t know why this group leaves out one group and not the other.
HANNITY: I don’t believe…I mean…Ari, I don’t think you were wrong.
Look at that. Facts right in his face--Fleischer ADMITS he was wrong and STILL Hannity denies it. For the record, study authors actually placed quite a bit of responsibility with the media and refrained from counting regurgitations of the lies by Republican or Democratic congresspeople in their count, counting only their origins in the White House.
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Who needs reality? When facts don't match your expectations, just make up your own...
Jesus, no wonder the GOP has a war on science going on. All of these jackasses would flunk an intro class to physics with an experimental lab in milliseconds.
Maybe what Hannity meant by "I don't think you were wrong, Ari" was that even he thought Ari was a liar. No? Oh, well. Nice try, at least?
Sen. Dodd is speaking on the floor of the senate right now about the immunity for telecoms. You can see it on c-span2
Isn't this another "False statement"?
I'd like to slap the shit out of that baldheaded turd. and Hannity too!
Hannity still clings to the rightwing fantasy involving Russian trucks taking the WMD into Syria no doubt.
Crazy, pathetic, but they still push the lie unabashedly.
-GSD
"WE WERE ALL WRONG"
FUCK YOU ARI!!!!
I marched with the largest protest in history, a "focus group" according to warcriminal Bush, and I was called a traitor to my face for being RIGHT.
One party had dissenters on Iraq, and it was the democrats, nearly a 3rd of them didn't believe Ari, so NO everyone was not wrong, only in one party was "everyone" wrong, and it was the GOP (apologies to dr. paul).
Bill Clinton wasn't the fucking president in 2002, Bill Clinton didn't sign orders to invade on lies, so who gave a shit what he or Vladimir Putin or the Pope or Casper the fuckin friendly ghost had to say.
"we were wrong" well Ari if you can fuck up that bad don't you think you should get into another line of work? If an electrician's wiring was so negligent that it caused a fire that killed 200,000 people and wounded 1/2 million others, would he ever get another job as an electrician?
God I want to see that murderous sonuvabitch Fleischer in jail.
feckless @ 7:
One party had dissenters on Iraq, and it was the democrats, nearly a 3rd of them didn't believe Ari, so NO everyone was not wrong, only in one party was "everyone" wrong, and it was the GOP (apologies to dr. paul).
Everyone from the GOP in the senate except Lincoln Chaffee of Rhode Island :)
hilarious..
Fleischer has a fan club.
http://www.probush.com/Tribute.htm
The site also lists as patriots:
Michael Savage
Glenn Beck
Ann Coulter
Bill O'Reilly
Sean Hannity
Rush Limbaugh
Dennis Miller
Neal Boortz
and
John Howard - Prime Minister of Australia from
WHO WAS BOOTED OUT OF OFFICE
Hannity, you ignorant slut. Thank your lucky stars our media is pathetic enough to let you continue to have a job.
At the end of the vid clip Hannity says the words "I don't think". I agreee with Hannity fully on that.
And Ari doesn't want any responsibility for the misuse of the reigns of power. Where he whines, "The Democrats were there and prior Adm spoke about it".
The childish excuse that other kids were doing something, that makes what he and republicans do somehow OK?
Lastly, Ari states that the Adm has stated often they were wrong. Not quite so.
What I want to know if Air Fleischer now claims that "we was wrong." How come up until recently he was part of that "spin" group running commercials featuring veterans and whose only purpose was to sell the validity of the Iraq (and possible Iran) war?
There is a difference between a liar and a psychopath, the psycho sees no problem in the lying as long as it serves its purposes. A liar may be aware that he is lying and may have problems with it. Fleischer and the rest of this cabal of fecal matter are firmly planted in the psychotic territory.
What ugly souls all of these people must have...
Colmes is a Republican pretending to be a Democrat on the Fake News Network known as FOX.
This same old tired arguement that Fleischer is pushing about "everyone knew" would never hold up in any court and he knows it. Every intelligence agency and Goverment may have known the same things about Iraq. The difference is, the Bush Administration is the only one that pulled the trigger in response to it. That is why the Republicans are to blame for this. Fleischer's defense is like saying a person on trial for murder is not guilty of commiting that crime because everyone knew that the gun he had was loaded.
This country always lies to get into wars, since the origins of yellow journalism in the late 1800s. Since these thugs always seem to escape justice one can hope there is a hell for them to finally get what they deserve.
These people are REAL psychopaths. Not flame war psychopaths, REAL psychopaths. Normal people find it VERY hard to deal with intelligent and charming psychopaths, as they are so rare that any individual is likely to never have met one until one day, he does. Then the nonsense is such nonsense that it gets explained away and rationalized. Finally the psychopath shows his true colors and then hell happens.
I hope CNN finds someone to start confronting these guys as well.
This should be played on the big screens at the democratic convention next summer. This is what happens when you enable a group of lying killers. Either by voting for it or for funding it.
ari '109 lies was my part' fleicher...
NEVER believe this jack ass.
and i am with feckless, anyone--dem or rep--that says "everyone thought saddam...." is either lying or too ignorant to be trusted. the information was out there disproving the neocon-imperialist-wargasmic talking points for anyone that cared enough to look into it.
Orangutan. @ 17:
Don't count on it. CNN is too busy with celebrity gossip stories.
Ari, how to you sleep with the blood of thousands of American soldiers on your hands and the shattered lives of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. Actually, I bet you sleep just fine, you creep.
Greg @ 8:
Everyone from the GOP in the senate except Lincoln Chaffee of Rhode Island :)
Agreed.
"Look at that. Facts right in his face–Fleischer ADMITS he was wrong and STILL Hannity denies it."
SHOCKING!!!
I miss Scott McLellan. He always looked and sounded cornered. You could practically see the thought bubble above his head --"oh man I hope they;re buying this bullshit".
I'd be sympathetic because the essence of the job is that if the president lies the spokesperson has to lie and if challanged, defend the lie, BUT...
these people accept the job. McLellan seemed to have something of a conscience (in as much as he quit and isn;t in the public eye anymore, but Ari, Snow and Perino and totally onboard and utter sumbags,
Let's see how many LIES fox news and cohorts have made.......anyone have a zillion-gig computer?
Fleisher's standard response -- Democrats were wrong, too. They went along, too. Evil flourishes when good men do nothing. And Ari Fleisher is flourishing indeed.
"Ari, I don't believe, er, I don't think you are bald."
Hannity is funny
How does Faux Noise let this pinko commie troop-hating Muslim-loving Colmes get away with saying all those nasty things??? Damn that leftist media.
Oh the webs of wickedness weaved by them when deception is what they practice.
...or something like that.
Grotesque mouth-piece for the Bush Crime Family: Ari, you should've been locked up by now with all your cronies. And, throw Hannity in there too please. Keep working on destroying this country ... you're doing a great job BROWNIE.
In Ari's defense.. If your JOB responsibility is to lie, lie, lie, then can Ari technically be held responsible ?
"Vee ver just vollowing erders !"
Yes I am, No your not, Yes I am, No....
...I don’t know why this group leaves out one group and not the other.
Yeah, stop pickiing on the GOP. Just because we blatantly lie and fuck up everything we touch is no reason to single us out. This is just another variation of "what about Clinton?".
Hanity is such a prick, the guy is sitting there saying he was wrong, ffs what more do you need you think c**t.
Ah, Hannity... What a weak little putz of a man.
I don't think you're off the mark calling Colmes a milquetoast.
Alan just lets it go by when Fleisher tries to shift the problem to the democrats.
The democrats were at fault for not doing some simple investigating.
But the republican administration was deliberately putting out lies and counting on the fact that, at that point,
people were willing to put their trust in what they were saying.
Colmes can't really confront guys like Fleisher. Either it's because of his character, or because the format doesn't give him
time enough to follow through. I suspect it is the former. He should quit this stupid farce of a show. He is made to
look like a castrated fool every day.
"We" were all wrong! LOLOLOL!
Typical Bushco logic...When things succeed I take the credit...when things fail..we're ALLLLL to blame..(except the President of course).
Liberal AND Proud @ 38:
Ummmm, name ONE success of this administration....
.... we'll wait.
Nicole Belle, why do you give credence to this channel? The whole thing is designed for disinformation. That's it.
Yeah, but, but, but...you don't expect any factual clarification of the report to come out on FAUX NEWS do ya? Although betting they could have upped that total by factors of 10 if they counted in the lies (oops, misrepresentations) by FN...we are RULED BY RETARDS (and that's an insult to retards)...
Colmes should have pointed out that it was the Repubs who were selling the war, not the Democrats, which effectively makes a his lame argument mute.
Clinton, Gore and the Democrats were not selling the Iraq war to the world, that was done solely by the Repubs, who were led by confirmed liar Ari Flreisher.
W.knew @ 39:
They sold this war for oil.
Colmes has his moments, and he's better on his radio show. But they do keep him on a short leash. He's good here. Meanwhile, Hannity's line is hilarious.
To counter Fleischer, the issue isn't that that they were wrong. The issue is that they lied. Big difference.
All in the Family...
Alan Colmes
--> wife = Jocelyn Crowley = Sister of Monica Crowley, Republican pundit
Fat-Ass Fattity doesn't think cheating on his wife is wrong either.
It doesn't matter what Clinton said about Iraq. The fact is, Iraq is a pile of stinking shit, and he avoided stepping in it. Bush on the other hand was like a dog with goose shit. He layed down in it and rolled around, getting as much on himself as he possibly could...
They have never said they were wrong and damn it to hell Colmes did not correct him . . . he was press sec January 20, 2001 – July 15, 2003 (I looked on wikipedia just to make sure I wasn't having a senior moment) the Republicans controlled both the house and the senate during that time... so why is he getting away with re-writing history by saying the dems controlled the senate
We can't let them get away with rewriting ANY history.. they need to be held accountable.
fwacbar @ 48:
LOL. Thanks for the visual of Chimpy rolling in it.
Still Hitting An Emotional Home Run
Before the 2008 primaries, there was Iraq. It consumed the internet Blogs, and I am sure made for many heated debates. Our soldiers, since Vietnam, was dying in the streets of a foreign country for reasons not rooted in the truth. This story reminds me of the old saying: If you pour water on dried shit, it will smell just as fresh as it did when was first laid.
Opinions range from "we need to be there; if not, they will come to us," to "our president invaded an innocent country and is responsible for the murder of at least a million people." Although I tend to be of the later on the above opinion scale, I have to omit turning my head to focus on the up coming elections. So, "round two" is here and this topic still has a lot of energy associated with it. What will the renewed interest hold?
It appears some one is counting the many lies this administration told the American people. I have always contend the American people could not see the reality concerning the war even when it was right before their eyes. They refuse to connect the dots that brought us into the war, kept us fighting the war, and the misinformation campaign to keep us in the war.
This war is illegal, and as we continue to drop smart as bombs that seem to hit their target and the innocents around it, we fuel an insurgency that employ revengeful family members hell bent on killing our troops for what we call collateral damage. Yes, the topic is back, and recently I seem to hear more American casualties, not to down play the Iraqi casualties that double or triple ours.
If you follow the progression from the start to the current surge, we have been wrong at every step. In the past, now, and in the future, this war will be wrong and no amount of debate can change it. We need to get the hell out of Iraq.
Joseph
Mata-Ari just can't stop himself. Any answer to any question must include a plain, in-your-face lie (or two).
Everyone got it wrong. LIE
Dems were in charge of the Senate. LIE
Also, at the time leading up to the war, those three men you list as not being listed. How many were private citizens not holding public office?
Joseph @ 51:
... a minor peeve: The low ball park estimates put the Iraqi civilians dead as direct result of the US invasion and occupation to around 200,000 at least. The have been a tad under 4000 American soldiers killed in the same time frame. A couple of orders of magnitude difference (at the very least) is faaaaaar more than doubling or tripling. Whether you were realizing it or not, you were downplaying the Iraqi casualties.
However, it is quite telling that most people have to put the 4K servicemen as the excuse to end the war, as if killing couple hundred thousand innocent civilians would have not been excuse enough. Whether intentional or not the self centered nature of many Americans can be disturbing...
Hannity is such a simpering tool.
fwacbar @ 48:
No, Bush did not touch that shit, he took it and sling it our way without ever get a drop on him... we are however cover in dog shit as a result.
Bush's term will be over, and he will dance his way into his ranch. And back to his library where most of the budget will be put to good use by some think tank hell bent in reshaping his legacy. And in a couple of years, you will see Bush transformed into the visionary leader who helped us being invaded by them Iraqi hordes. And the GOP myth making machine will be in full swing, as they slander and sabotage at every turn the poor dem left to clean the shit left by this asshole. And in 2012, voila the GOP will be in full force... making sure that they use the collective lack of memory in this country to their advantage.
So, no... Bush will be A-OK, he is A-OK now... and his buddies are doing fantastic. The ones left with the stain and the stink is us...
Sorry,I can't watch anything from fox "news".
It causes my eyes and ears to bleed.
No one has yet to get it straight. The lie from all members of this administration was in the certainty with which they claimed they had the facts. We never heard from any administration official a caveat about the Iraq WMD or ties to al Qaeda, never. Had someone said something like "we think we know the facts"; or better yet "we cannot be sure of the data but nevertheless we still think war is the best option." Had we heard any caveats of this nature we would have been closer to the truth.
Some may say that this is splitting hairs, unnecessarily. I disagree. If a President proposes to take us into a preemptive war, I would suggest that he be sure of his facts. Any doubt would be reason to be cautious and circumspect. We did not get that from the administration. I conclude that they lied. Nowhere have I read or seen anyone who has made this claim; I find it frustrating. We are calling Bush and company liars, and I believe they are, but we need to more carefully pinpoint the lie.
If this sounds too civil, so be it. There is plenty of information to pinpoint how this administration has lied about any number of claims, but until we locate the big lie that got us into this terrible war we cannot begin to bring closure to the whole mess.
CROOKS AND LIARS !!
ALL of 'em !
Hooh-ah. What a confrontation.
Still a milquetoast.
Willie @ 4:
Yup.
cml @ 57:
the problem is that we don't have any opposition party to speak of. In normal circumstances Bush would have been crucified for what you wrote above long time ago. Alas, the Dems, or parts of them it seems, are almost as complicit as to act as mere enablers.
There should have been criminal charges brought long ago, you don't go to war, kill hundreds of thousands of innocent, nearly bankrupt the country, kill thousands of US soldiers, and just get to say: "ooops, my bad...."
Unless there is a certain level of responsibilities are demanded in both criminal and civil charges, this republic will cease to be as a democratic law based society.
Tyler Durden @ 53:
.
Point taken. Thanks for the insight.
Joseph
Willie @ 4:
I don't know how Colmes let that one slide. Does he not remember Majority Leader Bill Frist!
Joseph @ 62:
No problem, I was just amazed about the magnitude of the killings... and the fact that no mainstream media completely ignores that is what makes me sick to my stomach sometimes.
There are 2 body counts that the MSM completely ignores: the death toll for Katrina, and the Iraqi body count.
They were however quite quick at reminding us over and over that 3000 people died on 9/11...
Goebbels and Hitler could have only dreamed of such a propaganda machine targeted to such complicit population.
The wisdom of Ari Fleischer’s dad…
…who happens to be a Democrat: “I guess if Ari had to rebel, being a Republican is better than being on drugs, but not by much.”
Ari's Dad is a wise man :)
King Blowhard may dominate the screen but over the years Colmes's questions have consistently and quietly packed dynamite.
Hannity is a combination of conjecture, gotcha, blind eye to facts and incredible bluster.
Colmes ask the good stuff backed up with facts and does it without shouting.
Daryl @ 66:
Colmes is too polite. These are liars and we need someone to kick their ass and take no prisoner. Opps, I forgot, this is FOX NEWS. Be fair and balance.
W.Knew @ 39:
"Ummmm, name ONE success of this administration…."
Their crowning achievement has been hiding their actual agenda and convincing most of America that they have failed miserably--due to "incompetence," "hubris," etc.--in their portrayed one.
"If the occupiers often seemed oblivious to reality, one reason was that many jobs at the C.P.A. [Iraq's Coalition Provisional Authority] went to people whose qualifications seemed to lie mainly in their personal and political connections — people like Simone Ledeen, whose father, Michael Ledeen, a prominent neoconservative, told a forum that 'the level of casualties is secondary' because 'we are a warlike people' and 'we love war.'
"Still, given Mr. Bremer's economic focus, you might at least have expected his top aide for private-sector development to be an expert on privatization and liberalization in such countries as Russia or Argentina. But the job initially went to Thomas Foley, a Connecticut businessman and Republican fund-raiser with no obviously relevant expertise. In March, Michael Fleischer, a New Jersey businessman, took over. Yes, he's Ari Fleischer's brother. Mr. Fleischer told The Chicago Tribune that part of his job was educating Iraqi businessmen: "The only paradigm they know is cronyism. We are teaching them that there is an alternative system with built-in checks and built-in review."
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0629-01.htm
"Lies and Regurgitations." Good name for a book on them's who run the country today. Rove and the boys start 'em, the MSM catapults the propaganda, and before you know it Democrats regurgitate them like well-chewed, rotten fish to the unsuspecting maw of a gullible American public.
It took a lot of whoppers to make this country into the sick, fat, deluded hog that it is. It will take a lot of truth to cure the disease.
We'd all like to think that the Cheney/Rummy cabal and their minions will rot in Hell. But who are we kidding? We know they'll be RUNNING that joint once they are down there.
And what is more obscene? The number of innocents killed, or the fact that these vampires can't be bothered to even keep an accurate tally?
Yeah, they hate us for our freedoms.
feckless @ 7:
I love you. No,m seriously...you said exactly what I was thinking when I watched Ari try and spin. The only difference between us was that I wasn't in that march...but It's the first time I've ever seen an anti-war rally that took place BEFORE the war. Shoulda gone...
An Aggressive Conservative vs. a "Liberal to be Determined"
The false balance of Hannity & Colmes
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1158
What a load, times like this you wish you could throw crap them.
Ari's response:
"If I'm lying, may God strike me bald."
Actually, Colmes radio show is pretty darn good (nice debate there, John BTW.) Because he's on Fox Noise he gets the best troll callers. It's unfortunate he competes with Malloy ...
What a fucking slimeball.
I think this year I won't file my taxes. Then when the IRS comes knocking on my door, I'll look at them with contempt, sneer over my glasses and say in a very put-off manner "Yes I filed my taxes." And when they say, no you didn't, I'll say "Well, my neighbor didn't either." And when they come back at me, I'll accuse them of re-writing history and say once more that I DID file my taxes.
Hey, if it works for Ari, it'll work for me too, right?
More than reality... less than truthful... not to be confused with banality... IT'S... HANNIALITY!
The rich got richer.
The poor got poorer.
The labor market got more flexible.
No health care.
Weak unions.
Trillions spent on "defense".
Media consolidation.
Cheaper illegal labor with fewer consequences for employers.
Billions of government money for Wall Street for screwing up.
Huge tax breaks for the rich.
The founding of the department of Fear, sorry, Homeland Security.
Fewer foreigners coming into the country.
The weakening of the constitution.
Unwarranted wiretaps.
A precedent for disregarding habeus corpus.
A precedent for torture.
A precedent for kidnapping.
The prospect of a new cold war.
More tax redirected to private businesses.
No bid contracts.
New Orleans prepared for redevelopment.
Not being sent to the slammer-- a success on a grand scale.
And many more. This administration was an immense success.
Oh, you meant things that benefit the majority of the American people?
Uh... The installation of two right wing justices in the supreme court?
Itty bitty tax breaks for poor people? More embryos preserved? Protection from shampoo?
Hm. You're probably right about the Wart of Errorism and his administration if that's what you mean.
No, wait! There have been no terror attacks in the US. Isn't that a success? Not failing to thwart terrorist attacks like every previous administration?
Tyler Durden @ 61:
Sorry, block quoting messed up on previous message. I'm replying to Tyler Durden @ 61.
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