Jane Hall says she quit FOX because of their slanted coverage and Beck is scary. Kurtz defends FOX
I've posted a lot of clips with Jane Hall on The O'Reilly Factor. She often was paired up with the uber-right winger Bernard Goldberg and usually BillO would wind up yelling at her because she didn't agree with his point of view. Her demeanor has always been gentle so I always found it upsetting that BillO would scold her. I mean, he even cut off her microphone once, which was odd for such a mild mannered speaker. She left FOX recently and I did wonder why.
Howard Kurtz tackled the "Should have the Obama administration called FOX News the opposition?" question in his Sunday "Reliable Sources" segment on CNN, and although Hall thought it wasn't a smart move by the administration, she let it out that she quit FOX because they stopped debating the issues. She cited Glenn Beck's "scary" presence as a reason why she left. It kinds of makes the arguments moot at this point by the mainstreamers who are sticking up for FOX. Can't they handle the truth?
Another big problem I have is the way cable TV uses pundits, and it's not just FOX. They constantly will pair up a right-wing opinionator with a journalist who they just assume is a liberal. The journalist usually will go on TV, but isn't in love with this because it puts their "neutrality" at issue. Hall also expressed her displeasure on that front.
KURTZ: Did you feel like you were being used to give Fox a certain degree of legitimacy, coming on as a media professor?
HALL: No, I didn't. The reason I left was in part because they've had less debates than they used to. Is it a fair point to say how much debate is there on MSNBC? How many Republican strategists? We have a bifurcation of the media.
KURTZ: Wait a second. The reason you left is because you feel they have less debate than they used to. In other words, it used to be "Hannity and Colmes," now it's just Hannity. It used to be Bernie and Jane. Now it's just Bernie.
HALL: I think there's less debate than there was. And I'm also, frankly, uncomfortable with Beck, who I think should be called out as somebody whose language is way over the top. And it's scary.
KURTZ: Was that a factor in your decision to leave Fox?
HALL: Yes, it was.
You can see that she didn't go on gunning to attack FOX; Kurtz simply caught a remark and seized on it. Then, as usual, Howie had to defend FOX News, but in so doing, he admitted that Lou Dobbs is an offensive right-winger, just like Beck, in his own commentary about the dispute.
KURTZ: Let me give you my two cents here. This is also polarizing. You either have to take the position that Fox is a courageous news organization or a threat to western civilization. I have criticized things that O'Reilly has said, that Hannity has said. Certainly, on this program, I told Glenn Beck that he was being offensive with words that he had for a Muslim member of Congress. At the same time, I don't think an entire organization should be judged by a few commentaries, any more than I think it is fair to judge CNN by the things that Lou Dobbs says. Look at some of the people at Fox.
I wrote down some names here. Major Garrett used to work at CNN. Bill Hemmer used to work at CNN. Greta Van Susteren used to work at CNN. Chris Wallace used to work at ABC and NBC. Did they all drink the Kool-Aid when they went there? Sometimes, Fox's reflexive opposition to Obama bleeds into its news coverage, as you were saying, Nico. But I don't think it's fair to tar everyone with the same brush. You want to take that on?
Look, Howie, Ailes sets the agenda. Even if certain people working on Fox haven't been drinking the "Kool-aid" (*cough*Shep*cough*Smith*cough) the cable network is a propaganda arm. If you don't like Obama saying so, fine, but the truth is the truth.
PITNEY: I think you paint it a little too moderately. Take their flagship news program "Special Report With Brett Baier." George Mason did a study, 80 percent of the coverage is negative.
KURTZ: Toward Obama?
PITNEY: Toward Obama.
KURTZ: Is that on the opinion round table?
PITNEY: No. Just the first 30 minutes.
Says it all.
KURTZ: Let me give you my two cents here. This is also polarizing. You either have to take the position that Fox is a courageous news organization or a threat to western civilization. I have criticized things that O'Reilly has said, that Hannity has said. Certainly, on this program, I told Glenn Beck that he was being offensive with words that he had for a Muslim member of Congress. At the same time, I don't think an entire organization should be judged by a few commentaries, any more than I think it is fair to judge CNN by the things that Lou Dobbs says. Look at some of the people at Fox.
I wrote down some names here. Major Garrett used to work at CNN. Bill Hemmer used to work at CNN. Greta Van Susteren used to work at CNN. Chris Wallace used to work at ABC and NBC. Did they all drink the Kool-Aid when they went there? Sometimes, Fox's reflexive opposition to Obama bleeds into his news coverage, as you were saying, Nico. But I don't think it's fair to tar everyone with the same brush.
What about Acorn?!?
What is your conceptual, continuity?
Not sure what all the fuss is about Acorn? What exactly did they do wrong again?
> entrapping a couple of knuckleheaded employees in a couple of offices with some idiotic story about prostition has nothing to do with Acorn.
> the fact the some employees de-frauded ACORN itself for falsely registrating Donald Duck to vote was also not that big a deal. There has never been a proven case of any voter fraud that has come out of anything Acorn has done.
The right-wing is just trying to get rid of Acorn because it is a threat to them, because it registers many low income voters. That is all this is about.
That was my point.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
Because, see, ACORN fired the idiots you've mentioned. Unless I've missed the news, FOX hasn't fired any of their idiots.
My underlying point was, Fox continually beats this dead horse.
They know exactly what happened. They just want to keep making an issue out of a few people. And in doing that, they continually link the org with the actions of a few people.
Who were fired.
And that Fox hasn't fired anyone for their outright lies just furthers my point.
But it's Fox. What should we expect? Honesty? Not likely.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
in regards to Fox.
Fox makes up a story and the media runs with it.
Kurtz went one further though He made up his own side of the story because he said the WH apologized for not allowing FOx into an interview..
That's not what happened at all and the WH definitely did not apologize as Kurtz stated.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/10/wh...
Fox prattles on and on about the 'liberal' media.
I say screw them.
It's about time someone called them out for being almost exclusively Republican. They seem to have a fun time with it.
with their Marxist zeal for suppression of objective news.....
Liberals are all for diversity in everything but thought.
You're just trying to stir shit up.
At least put a little more honest effort into it.
You wouldn't be dropping a turd, then running would you dennis?
Not quite right there old boy.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
Then you always say you're in no mood, that you have to run off to work.
I've always loved the Fox News threads, but sorry, there's just not a whole lot more new or intuitive things to say, really, and what George Will stated above is exactly correct. Plus, you'll notice it's been a running theme of mine here going on four years now, that liberal tolerance is about as great an oxymoron as there is in politics. That and the fact that the liberal meme here goes against the grain of everything C&L has ever stood for with respect to FOX News. The strategy has always been to marginalize them, not shut them up, like they are advocating now by backing the White House's-- That smart strategies against FOX are far more effective than the boneheaded strategy The White House is effecting now in such a clumsy matter.
Even the Cool Kids at Daily Kos agree, mudsharky.
Anti-Fox Strategy Is Not Working
Stay true to yourself. You guys are just doing your usual kneejerk reactions without thinking it through.
All the White House and the blogs cheering them on are doing is raising the curiousity level among the independents and the dismayed center left, two groups that are increasing in number every day.
And I'm still lucky enough to have a job.
The site is called CrooksandLiars for a reason dennis. You know that. Are you actually taking the position that Fox is honestly fair and balanced?
I don't know what to think about the WH taking on Fox.
Is it a waste of time? probably.
You say all the WH is accomplishing is raising the level of curiosity for Fox.
To me, that's a good thing. It only makes people realize that Fox lies. Unless of course that they're devoted followers.
In that case, nothing will convince them.
I don't really care what the kewl kids think dennis.
I'll see ya later dennis. I have to go earn taxes. Someone has too.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
You say Liberals are not tolerant. We tolerate you. Don't we?
We tolerate quite a lot actually.
What we don't tolerate is bullshit.
The kind of bullshit Bush and Cheney pulled.
And of course, the GOP went right along with it.
Completely screwing up this country. That includes both of us, and everyone else.
So yes, I would have to agree that we are reluctant to put up with bullshit that fucks up this nation.
Anything else?
And I suppose you think we should all just sing cumbaya with Fox nooz. Not likely.
Not when they're the political wing of a phony nooz org.
I see what your up too dennis.
Care to try again?
What is your conceptual, continuity?
You have a nice day.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
liberals have to be tolerant, or nice, or accommodating or in any way pleasant to any of you? Fox news is a joke. They aided and abetted the Bush/Cheney crime family without question. They are run by Roger Ailes (nothing more needs to be said there). Defend them all you want, you're not going to change my mind, I decided, long before this event, that they were not a news organization, but merely a propaganda arm for the Republican Party/Administration. They know they are horribly biased and they are scared shitless that the Fairness Doctrine will be reinstated (that's what this is really all about).
Continue to defend Fox, that's fine, I, for one, will never, ever watch the network again, as I haven't for over eight years, but I also never listened to Air America and I don't watch Rachel or Keith. I don't need anyone to tell me what to think, which is why it was evident to me, quite quickly, that Fox News was, is and always will be a joke. You like them because their "news" dovetails very nicely into your thought process. Are they objective? Never have been. They hate anything Democratic. They hated Hillary until Obama showed up and then she was useful. Fox News may be lots of things, but it's not, never has been and it appears never will be a news outlet, just a talking points regurgitator, propaganda arm and shill for Republican philosophy and policy.
Nothing wrong with the diversity of thought, but
1) lets have honest thought, and not the bunch of lies that FOX pushes.
and
2) if Fox is going to push a right-wing agenda, at least admit it, don't call yourself "fair and balanced".
my god, what a whore Kurtz is. no, whore is way too honorable a word and i apologize to all honest sex workers. he needs to just go work for Fox himself. absolutely appalling.
...I wish C&L would stop treating this mouth-breather Kurtz as if he is some objective arbiter of journalistic integrity ...CHRIST! he is a complete moron! Give it up ...every week its the same ...
I'm Boycotting NewsCorp! Heres what not to buy: http://www.cjr.org/resources/index.php?c=news...
Ummmm, actually, we like to expose him as a highly partisan hack. But thanks for playing.
he has this aura of credibility that defies belief, didnt mean to go off on C&L for it ...
Where on TV are CJR or FAIR getting any exposure ...?
Nowhere.
I'm Boycotting NewsCorp! Heres what not to buy: http://www.cjr.org/resources/index.php?c=news...
FOX is a gaggle of rumor mongering traitors.
It would be fun to have them all busted under BUSH's Patriot Act in wartime.
It should be renamed Fox Rumors. That name would be more fitting.
NOBODY 2012
... what took Hall, supposedly a professor of journalism, so long to figure this out? Can anyone really be that naive? By being civil, courteous, and open-minded, she was played for a fool and fit in perfectly as the consummate foil for the pitbulls of Fox (Hannity, O'Reilly, Gibson, et all) to go off on. Civil discourse is not a welcomed mix at Fox News. Debate is out; doormats are in over at FNC. She should have left the second O'Reilly turned her mic off. When are the rest of Fox's "Liberals" going to garner what little self respect they have and also walk?
I was kind of mystified by that. Can't have a discussion when your mic is not working, can you? And then, that's such a junior high way to squash debate. As painful as it is to hear some things, I would rather hear them than have the speaker's voice silenced.
Money.
NOBODY 2012
She must have waited for her contract to expire. None of these talking heads are going to jeopardize their paycheck.
Don't let them get away with the dishonest premise that there is a controversy because Fox is against Obama. It's true, but that's the least of it. The problem is that Fox is against every Democrat, every Democratic initiative, everything that's not neocon Republican. Fox is not a news organization. Not even close. Kurtz is a stooge.
Funny how the right wants to always find a way to drag MSNBC into this. I think it's pretty clear that MSNBC's prime-time is politically liberal, they don't make false claims as being fair and balanced as with Fixed News. MSNBC early morning and through out the late afternoon is pretty conservative. (from morning joke to andrea greenspan fluff hour) I'm really starting to get tired of the false equivalency. When Fixed News devotes a 3 hour block to a liberal then they can spew about how unfair the attacks on them are. Thanks Mr. Pitney for saying that much!
..and it's quite reprehensible that it wasn't challenged. In response to Pitney's 80% negative argument (based on a SOLID FACT, BTW.)
This totally ignores the FACT that Obama inherited an utter economic shitheap from his predecessor. It also completely glides over the FACT that FOX coverage of that predecessor was indeed 80 or even 90+% favorable even when the economy looked like it was going to jump out the window.
Listening closely it's clear to me that it wasn't just Kurtz defending FOX. In fact I would say that Ms. Hall was taking the lead on that one so that they could both play apologist for CNN's sister organization.
"In theory theory and practice are alike. In practice they are very different."
The guest says that the reason Fox has been all negative on Obama is because all the news has been bad, ie. the economy.
that is a complete BS line of thinking? So the economy has been bad, so that means that it is fair to completely trash the Democrats and support the Republicans ever single day? Does not make sense? By the way the reason the economy has been bad is because of the Bush Adminstration.
Even if the economy is bad, what does that got to do with the Obama Adminstration who are trying to fix it? The fact that the economy has now begun to stablize, by the guest's logic, does that mean that the coverage on Fox of Obama shoulb begin to turn positive?
what can they say, they ran the banner high for the Bush/Cheney crime family, and being the completely dishonest organization that Fox News is, they certainly couldn't admit that the Bush/Cheney crooks are responsible for this mess, could they?
They will continue to criticize Obama during his presidency and then I'm sure long after he's ceased being President.
"(Fox)will continue to criticize Obama during his presidency and then I'm sure long after he's ceased being President"
You're damn right about that. Hell, Roosevelt's been dead for 64 years and they're still finding a way to bitch about him. And Truman, and Kennedy and Johnson, and Carter and Clinton. But as Fox is concerned, fucking Herbert Hoover was a saint, Eisenhower was statesman-like, and Reagan was the second coming of the messiah.
(Oops, seems like nobody at Fox wants to remember Tricky Dick, though).
The point is, at Fox Republicans can do no wrong and the Democrats are Atilla the Hun beating on the door of their corporate fat cat empire. But even the mighty Roman empire fell.
I kinda like being a Hun.
Democratic Party progressive, Vietnam veteran and proud Union member for 41 years
;
We’re winning – and this is what the end-game looks like.
Fox along with their Repub base is disintegrating. The “news network” has been reduced to obviousness. Roger Ailes’ experiment is failing.
Finally.
Don’t let up on them. Don’t let them regroup. Continue to expose the propaganda, the lies, the bias, the nature. As they become smaller in outlook and importance their noise will become louder but increasingly marginalized.
It’s been difficult – but I never believed in fighting only those fights you can win. Fight the fights that need fighting. We are winning the fight against Fox News.
Is talk to themselves about themselves. Ever since the election, it's all been about them.
Kurtz strikes again. Always trying to find the median no matter what is opposite sides.
As a defense for Fox, to say that MSM pundits who have come to Fox is a justification for not broadly condemning them misses a huge point.
Chris Wallace for example got a promotion by coming over to Fox, as opposed to playing second fiddle at ABC. Now Chris Wallace was never Stud Turkel, but if you compare his journalism at ABC to Fox, there is no doubt you will see a huge ideological shift. And there is no mistaking that the reason for this is due to the culture and dare I say agenda at Fox. Even if it's not explicit at Fox programming (which we all know it is), it's not hard to figure out how to please the bosses.
So why would Kurtz make such a baseless, almost misleading comment? Same principles apply. CNN, instead of being pure right-wing propaganda, is trying to portray itself as the centrist. And as a result, instead of getting good journalism, you get a constant tit for tat, with the moderator flattening everything out to make it all seem like the see-saw is level.
Long story short, Kurtz is horrible for journalism.
That says more to condemn CNN, ABC, and NBC than it does to exonerate FOX. Lest we forget ABC had to yank The Road To 9-11 from the air when it was scheduled to run in the middle of the election campaign - because it was a blatant political hit piece, designed to exonerate Bush the Lesser and pin the attack on Bill Clinton.
All broadcast media is slanted to the right, including MSNBC. Olbermann and Maddow just make it so that MSNBC is slanted only slightly to the right, instead of all the way. Or maybe you could show me a story that Wolf Blitzer didn't present in pure GOP talkng points?
"In theory theory and practice are alike. In practice they are very different."
and may I add Wolf Blitzer is a right-wing zionist who is a staunch supporter of Israeli aggression vs Palestine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-8aTGnjHnI
You may.
Plus he's an ignoramus who got his ass kicked on Jeopardy by Andy Richter.It was delightful.
"To me, truth is not some vague, foggy notion. Truth is real. And,
at the same time, unreal. Fiction and fact and everything in between,
plus some things I can't remember, all rolled into one big "thing."
This is truth, to me. "
-Jack Handy
but good for you for getting it in there
bet you cant go a day without attacking a percieved zionist
btw, true zionists dont want blitzer on their side, because his arguments are too easily shot down
The top of the thread mentioned the inadequacies of Wolf Blitzer as a journalist since we were talking about the link between Fox and CNN. The brand of zionism which Wolf Blitzer can be attributed to has undeniable links to Republicans and the modern conservative movement, especially in elite circles in both government and journalism. So the topic seems pretty germane.
a good, objective, true journalist would leave their political perceptions/philosophies at the door. Moving to Fox News may have just allowed these people to expose themselves to the world as they are, or they are just shameless whores (I'm not sure which).
CNN or Howie Kurtz. A couple of weeks ago I watched the clip with Anita Dunn on with Kurtz and he would not shut up. He interrupted Ms. Dunn on a continual basis and would never let her answer the question he asked of her. It was quite maddening. Why ask a question if you aren't going to let the answer emerge.
He makes Tweety look like Charlie Rose.
Howie is a Stealth Republican.
He is married to a Major Operative named Sheri Annis. She was responisble for making Arnold Governator of California.
Howie's job is to neutralize every issue that comes down the pike and tilt it towards the Rethugs in the process.
Stop comparing MSNBC to FOX.
Just.Stop.
There is no comparison.
MSNBC have journalists who cover actual news from an admittedly left leaning perspective.FOX on the other hand cook up a load of blatant lies on a daily basis.They blow up some minor event out of all recognition then repeat the lie day after day and cover it all as a "growing scandal" or some such horseshit.
FOX is the worst kind of tabloid sensationalist tripe attached at the hip to the RNC.
"To me, truth is not some vague, foggy notion. Truth is real. And,
at the same time, unreal. Fiction and fact and everything in between,
plus some things I can't remember, all rolled into one big "thing."
This is truth, to me. "
-Jack Handy
They should have been called the Fox tea parties. Fox actually makes the news. They were the ones to organized and promoted the tea parties, particularly the one in Washington DC. How can you call yourself a news organization when you are directly involved in creating a protest; ie. making the news or being part of the news? There was even a FOX producer at the Washington rally that was hyping up the crowd.
They set the dates for these tea parties, they encouraged people to go by giving them millions of dollars of free advertising, and they even hyped up the crowd. What kind of news organization does that? I do not even think the "news" agencies in Russia do that?
And it's the one that the media continually makes: "All-in-all, it's pretty fair and balanced."
News isn't supposed to be "fair and balanced." It's not meant to pit one side against the other. The job of the news media is to QUESTION all those in POWER. Not just the president and the congress, but the corporations, as well.
How can they do that when, rather than being journalists, they themselves are ALL entrenched in those power structures??? By and large, the talking heads on these "news" networks are:
a) a representative of congress
b) a representative of the president
c) a representative of the huge corporate lobby groups
d) a highly paid entertainer who makes a living off the previous three groups
Where is the journalist in there? The one uncovering the scoops? The one reporting NEW news, not just reading what comes off the wire or debating what the other groups are saying???
The media makes it appear as if there are two sides to every argument. We don't need the opinions of highly paid shills. We don't want "fair and balanced," we want the facts. Then we can make a decision.
May I borrow some of this for my politics blog?
Democracy is the road to socialism. ~ Karl Marx
oddly enough, it was pretty good (better than Kurtz's show for sure): along with Hall, they used to have Neil Gabler, Cal Thomas (who has his right-wing point of view but isn't nearly the bullying shit-talker that the regular Fox personalities are) and James Pinkerton (who is a total asshole, but 3 out of 4 wasn't bad; host fairly neutral as well).
I have no problem condemning CNN for Lou Dobbs. You're only defending your own ass when your defend Fox News, Howie.
Bruce C Johnson
Kurtz is pointless.
CNN is also pointless.
*
he well knows that it is not the anchors or reporters that control the news that is reported...it is the editorial desk
and fox's editorial desk makes sure that the news is skewed positive towards repukes and negative towards the dems
faux knuckle-dragging audience seems to confuse the histrionics and acoustics of a typical Springer episode or "debate."
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Waddya bet faux fired her ass for not looking like an inflatable onanistic simulacrum?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
that's some verbiage!!
They have no integrity. Listen to them. It is nothing at all about what is Right or Wrong. "You could say this about MSNBC, too..." all they are worried about is the tide lapping up to their own toes, once the flood swallows their rivals. So they figure if they stand with FOX, they save themselves.
They, too, are traitors to the nation, then. Let it be known by their own feverishly cowardly proclamations.
When CNN and CNN Headline News were started they were a news organization. Personally, I thought they were conservative, but that opinion probably reflects my bias.
Today all three cable "news" networks are nothing more than reality tag team shows with CNN having a serious identity crisis as to whether it should remain neutral or imitate Faux in search of the intellectually incurious.
In the interests of accuracy in labelling, Major Garrett should go to probate court and petition to have his name changed to Private Garrett. He, like the rest on Faux, slant coverage to please Aisles and keep the paychecks rolling in.
Did they drink the cool aid? I think the real answer to that lies in the fact that they went to work for fox! There is an old saying, he that pays the piper calls the tune. I think that is as true today as when it was first said. If you do not do the work the employer hired you to do you will not be working for that employer very long!
Every working person in America knows that! I have heard the old line of, no one tells me what to write. Except your editor who works for the same company you do, and is paid by the same people, for the same reason!
Go pedal the corporate line to someone who wants to listen.
republicanism/conservatism is a mental illness!
Two things you hardly ever hear in this FOX debate:
1) it is not that FOX is against the Democrats and pushing conservative/Republican talking points, it is that they lie and make things up. There is zero integrity. This is not even just the opinion shows, but also the straight news.
2) they try and equate guys like O'Reilly and Beck with MSNBC hosts. It is not even comparable. This is the new right-wing talking point. ie. we are just doing what MSNBC does. No they do not do what MSNBC does. The entire FOX network, both news and opinion shows, clearly pushes the Republican agenda and they lie doing it. They are hardly working with any real facts. MSNBC is all fact based. MSNBC hosts do not say anything near the same offensive things said on Fox. I do not hear MSNBC hosts using anywhere near the same kind of language you hear on Fox. They do not attack immigrants, gays, and muslims, etc. Half the time MSNBC hosts are simply attacking the accuracy of the right-wing talkers themselves. How many times have you hear Fox news personalities have to appologize? Many many times. How many times have you hear MSNBC host appologize? Never.
A couple of classics:
Brian Kilmeade apologizes for racist statements. See:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/20/bria...
or how about this one:
Greg Gutfeld on Fox's late night show Red Eye had to appologize for dissing fallen Canadian soliders.
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/tv/story/2009/03/23/re...
These two examples are not exactly about pushing a right-wing agenda, but rather a stupid agenda, although both are really the same. I think at any other respectable network, both of these guys would have been fired. These two examples really speak to the lack of integrity at Fox.
blah, blah, blah.... Okay, we get it Howie. You're too much of a wuss to do your job and report on the media objectively. He mentioned Greta Van Susterand who used to basically stay out of politics and go for the sensational crime stories, but now she Has on Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin for these half hour monologues where she just sits there like a cardboard cutout and lets them rant for 30 minutes unopposed. Rojer Ailes came right out and said what the mission of Fox was. To destroy Obama. What more do you need Howie?
The White House may have thought that taking on FOX would distract from the health care debate by sending them off on another track. But it was a flawed strategy. NOW they have Beck bragging that he has had to hire a BODY GUARD to protect him from the SPOOKY White House goons coming after him to put him out of commission, SHUT HIM UP, AND, he's going on air waving a baseball bat, showing pictures of torture methods practiced by MAO as he compares Obama with MAO, pretending to douse someone with gas and set them on fire, pretending to boil a frog on air, though I'm not so sure it wasn't a real frog he put in the pot, considering the scene where he "caught" it. He must have forgotten that his idol, Georgie, got his kicks as a child blowing UP frogs, so he really blew that one.
So now he's got his followers pulling out their guns and gasoline and duct tape and preparing for WAR against "govmint takeover" and those in the White House and both houses of Congress are oblivious AND those who are raking in the dough at FOX headquarters think it's all a JOKE and FAIR GAME to put the whole country at risk by putting, or continuing to put the craziest of the crazies on air every day.
It is Howard "False Equivalence" Kurtz:
His entire mission is to deflect reasonable criticism of right wing extremism by asserting that there is left wing extremism too while offering weak defenses of right-wingnuttery. This perpetuates the false notion that the threat from left extremism is as bad as the threat from RW extremism. I dont know if it's bc Kurtz wants to marginalize legitimate progressive values as somehow extreme or if he's just terrified that he's going to get bombed by right wingers, but either way, Kurtz is fundamentally and knowingly dishonest. It's no accident that a person like that is the corporate standard-bearer for fraudulent journalistic integrity that ends up perpetuating the status-quo, which is overwhelming and unmistakable right-wing media bias.
...by Howie Kurtz. No, judge them by Howie, and Fred, and Krauthimmler [sic], and Marcus, and on and on and on...
Actually the WH strategy is working pretty well, FOX is completely on the defensive and Beck, OReily, et.al. are looking more and more like loons every day. When you have to say "I am not a crook" every day you have lost the argument.
There are two memes that really annoy me. One is that MSNBC is liberal. If that were true, how come I keep seeing Pat Buchannon? They have three overtly liberal shows but I see that as mainly eye candy, they hardly ever bring up substantitve points. The bulk of MSNBC's coverage is right of center; I certainly didn't see them doing much to question the Bush administration.
The other that keeps getting repeated is how favorable the coverage has always been for Obama. As a partisan in that war I have to answer "OH REALLY?" I have never seen a candidate or president attacked so gleefully during the election or this early in his term. There were 24-hour attacks on Obama's preacher, his neighbor, and even some guy named Ayers who he hardly knew. If he had a dog back them I'm sure there would have been attacks on it. They had investagative stories covering his grade school (I suppose those get counted as "positive" because they reported that it wasn't a terror school.) People who believe that Obama wasn't born in this country get air time. Any ill turned phrase in a speech delivered by him or his wife was used as "proof" that he was a muslim anti-white black terrorist.
Today we are in a state where, as his former rival Hillary says, "if he walked on water they would say that he couldn't swim." According to the media he is not doing anything, trying to do too much, taking too long to make decisions, rushing decisions, spending too much money on the stimulus, not spending enough money on the stimulus, a crypto-Marxist, a pawn of big business, too serious, and of course "not specific enough." (The latter is interesting because his campaign was written off early because his speeches were too long and full of boring detail. I kid you not.)
Comments are closed on this entry