While it's always nice to see any of the Villagers in our corporate media call out Faux "news" as being exactly what they are, which is a clown show that is nothing more than a political arm of the Republican party, masquerading as a news channel, I find it extremely ironic we're finally hearing it from someone who is a regular on TeaNN -- the network striving day in and day out to be Fox-lite -- debating one of the biggest neocon, wingnut, right-wing propagandists that is sullying our airways these days, Bloody Bill Kristol.
If Begala is actually worried about CNN and their reputation, he might want to quit appearing on the air with, and validating the likes of Bill Kristol for starters.
And you've gotta' love Wall Street fluffer and host Erin Burnett wincing in pain when Begala said what he did about Fox as well. I'm guessing his remarks hit a little too close to home for comfort with Burnett.
Transcript via CNN:
BURNETT: All right, let me ask you, Paul, this isn't the president's only clash with the right this week. People like Bill Kristol are getting to him. Here's part of the president's conversation with Bill O'Reilly on Sunday when O'Reilly asked about a topic the president hates. I'm not talking about Benghazi. I'm talking about the IRS.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL O'REILLY, HOST, "THE O'REILLY FACTOR": We still don't know what happened there.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Bill, we do. That's not what happened.
Folks have again had multiple hearings on this. I mean, these kinds of things keep on surfacing, in part because you and your TV station will promote them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And then, Paul, the president went on to call O'Reilly unfair. He told "The New Yorker" recently he's had trouble persuading the Republican base he's not the caricature that you see on FOX News.
Is he giving FOX too much credit? Is he focusing on them, giving them too much power, frankly, by the president of the free world keeping talking about them?
BEGALA: That's a fair point. But he was in a conversation with Mr. O'Reilly. I suspect if you were interviewing him, he, I would hope, would not have gone out of his way to mention that.
I don't know if any of our viewers has ever seen it, but FOX News, it's this comedy channel that pretends to be news. It's hilarious.
BURNETT: I'm sure none of them have ever seen it.
(CROSSTALK)
BEGALA: It's not on the level.
And I love that.
KRISTOL: Paul...
BEGALA: Let me give you a fair point here. On the IRS, for example, how much did FOX cover the fact that the same inspector general who originally said Tea Party groups were being targeted, which, if true, is reprehensible, also reported that progressive groups were targeted?
FOX didn't cover that part.
BURNETT: Bill, you used to work for FOX.
KRISTOL: I did. It was fair, balanced, unafraid. They report.
(LAUGHTER)
KRISTOL: They report. You decide. I guess the president has some problems with it.
The president thinks everyone should be somewhere between -- CNN is sort of -- he's OK with a balanced network. But most networks should be like MSNBC. All the news should come out of a 10-square-block radius in Manhattan which is dominated by liberals on the Upper West Side and the Upper East Side.
(CROSSTALK)
BEGALA: Where FOX is located.
KRISTOL: God forbid -- God forbid that there should ever be another point of view. I think that is the president's view.
But I do think he's probably giving FOX too much credit, honestly, but I'm sure FOX is happy to take it.
BURNETT: Well, that's probably true. And, of course, when you get someone who is on the right of things in the White House, I'm sure they will say exactly the opposite.
All right.
(CROSSTALK)
KRISTOL: Well, actually, to be fair, George W. Bush did not complain actually about the media, to his credit.
BEGALA: Not about FOX.
(CROSSTALK)
KRISTOL: No, about the media at all.
(CROSSTALK)
KRISTOL: President Obama is surprisingly thin-skinned, for the president of the United States.
BURNETT: All right, we will leave it there. You left Paul speechless. I will give you credit for that.
Gentlemen...
BEGALA: No. I just didn't want to interrupt. But I thought the president did a good job of standing up for the truth against a propaganda machine.
BURNETT: Thanks to both.
And we will look forward to having them back.
h/t Media Matters
