Whenever I get into a “debate” with a liberal (I use the term lightly, considering the fact that it is usually comprised of someone spewing personal invectives at me for admitting that I’m conservative), I could practically set my watch by their claims that I am a mindless drone for Fox News. “Turn of Fox,” they say, “and learn to think for yourself!”
Didn’t you know? FOX LIES!!! Now learn to be more tolerant, you idiot!
It’s funny when they say that, because it is their go-to accusation whenever you say something that they can’t come up with a decent response to. I have asked multiple times for all of them to give me evidence that Fox actually lies. None of them have even attempted it. They always tell me, “if you can’t see it, then you’re hopeless!” Apparently being able to prove one’s claims is no longer important. Finally, though, after pointing out many of the lies from MSNBC, a liberal actually gave me something I could respond to.
I just picked my head up off of my desk. Yes, it’s that bad.
The first link that the liberal in question gave me was for Salon.com. The article is titled, “12 Most Despicable Things Fox News Did In 2012.”
“Romancing Petraeus: Fox News CEO Roger Ailes Tries to Recruit for the GOP.” The claim is made that Ailes sent a Fox News defense analyst to try to persuade Petraeus to run. Actually, WaPo’s Bob Woodward reported that Ailes sent a personal request – likely in writing – to ask Petraeus to consider it. Ailes didn’t send Kathleen McFarland to talk Petraeus into running in 2012, she was sent by her producers to interview Petraeus about the war in Afghanistan. She was about to ask him if there was anything he felt the media could do to help the troops, and he jokingly made reference to a personal remark that Ailes had made. Petraeus said, “I’m not running.” That was it. It’s not a lie, nor is it Fox News “exploiting its power and wealth to manipulate political outcomes.” To claim such is a lie in and of itself.
“Fox News Produces Its Own Anti-Obama Video.” It’s not anti-Obama…it’s a commentary on how things have changed since Obama rode into the White House on a unicorn promising to change everything. If you’ll recall, Obama promised to cut the deficit in half in his first year in office. Not only did he miserably fail, he only made the deficit AND the debt far worse. The writer links Newscorpse, which in turn links Media Matters. MM only answers three of the many points made in the video, and their entire response is, “it’s all Bush’s fault!” Obama has been in office for four years by the time this is all being written, but it’s still Bush’s fault. Oh…and where did MM get their supposed “proof”? From The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a group helmed by uber-liberal Robert Greenstein, a former financial advisor for Democrat presidents Carter and Clinton.
“Fox News: How Much Rape Is Too Much?” Dear Lord. Seriously? The oft-slammed remarks from Liz Trotta are, again, paraded out as evidence of Fox being a group of hatemongers. What the writer never mentions is that the segment’s host, Eric Shaw, openly disagreed with Trotta – as has pretty much every host on Fox she’s been on with. Fox is hardly the only network to ever invite a contributor on who has made incendiary remarks. Hell, MSNBC has multiple hosts that do that on a routine basis. Keith Olbermann used the Nazi salute and refused to apologize even after the Anti-Defamation league stepped in, Lawrence O’Donnell challenged one of Mitt Romney’s sons to a fistfight, and Ed Schultz called Laura Ingraham a “right-wing slut”. Ed Schultz also deliberately edited an audio of Texas governor Rick Perry, cutting it off at a certain point to make it sound like Perry was referring to President Obama as “a black cloud that hangs over America.” At least Fox hosts have no problem calling out other right-wingers when they’re wrong. Olbermann had Jeneane Garofalo on his show multiple times and guffawed loudly when she called all conservatives racists.
“Fox News Conning Latinos for Politics and Profit.” Oh, horsefeathers. Fox News has its own Latino site. Yes, Fox reports on illegal immigration – because no other news network will. When was the last time you saw MSNBC or CNN report on the criminals pouring across our Southern border?
(BTW, I had to link Michelle Malkin for most of the stories on illegal aliens who commit rape and murder because most of the media – Fox included – ignores the fact that some of these brutal criminals are illegals. Mrs. Malkin has done an incredible job of reporting some of these stories and she continuously takes a great deal of hate for it.)
“Fox Lies About Military Access to Voting in Ohio.” Actually, they weren’t lying. Absentee voting laws actually began during the Civil War as a way to make sure that the troops were guaranteed the ability to vote. To be sure, absentee voting was only upheld by six states after the Civil War ended, but that doesn’t mean that the military doesn’t have the right to vote – and since much of our military is still caught up in a war, it’s only fair that their special circumstances grant special rights to make sure that their votes are counted. As it was, thousands of ballots in the last election were lost or destroyed between Afghanistan and the US. Convenient, isn’t it?
“Graphic Evidence of the Racism of Fox News: Racial Photoshopping.” This is an egregious lie, one I’m tired of having to answer. Every liberal in America seems content to accuse us of racism when we refuse to agree with them. In this accusation, they claim that a photo of Trayvon Martin was “obviously darkened” to make it look more “ominous.” Click here for the graphic in question. The photo actually came from another publication, and it is actually Newscorpse that makes the outrageous claim that some kind of “racial photoshopping” was carried out to make Trayvon look more dangerous somehow. Then, it’s claimed that Fox changed the graphic to make it look less damning – actually, they changed the entire headline. The first headline stated that charges were to be filed. The second stated that Zimmerman was actually in custody following the filing of charges. It’s all racism, though!
“The Polling Schizophrenia at Fox News.” First of all, schizophrenia is a mental disorder involving delusions and paranoia – not lying. The sub-title just sounds insultingly stupid. Second, the Salon writer (again) links Newscorpse, which claims that Fox ignores its own polls and refuses to report on them…by linking a report by Fox News showing that Obama had gained a lead in a poll. Wow. I’m speechless.
“Fox News Psycho Analyst: Newt Gingrich’s Adultery Means A Stronger America.” Here the Salon writer lambasts Psychologist Dr. Keith Ablow (now notorious for suggesting the possibility that Casey Anthony really didn’t do it) for saying that Obama is “contemptuous of the judiciary” (he is) and “devoid of all emotion” (when was the last time he showed any emotion other than anger?). Nobody had any problem with Dr. Martha Stout constantly referencing George W. Bush in her book “The Sociopath Next Door” and declaring him to be an absolute monster, but they’re going to tear down Dr. Ablow for stating the blatantly obvious? Plus, they’re going to mock Dr. Ablow’s forgiveness of Gingrich’s indiscretions when they weren’t even willing to hold Bill Clinton’s feet to the fire after he was accused by more than one woman of rape? Puh-leeze.
“Fox News Airs Hour-Long Commercial for Anti-Obama Film on Hannity.” First the Salon writer (who is still only quoting Newscorpse) crows about “The Undefeated” being a “flop” at the box office. Then he bemoans Hannity pushing the documentary “The Hope & The Change”, as if doing so was immoral. The Newscorpse writer he links then goes on to say, “Hannity didn’t reveal what other documentaries he’s seen, but it’s fair to guess that his second favorite would be “Triumph of the Will,” Hitler’s propaganda film directed by Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl.” Really? We’re calling Fox a network of liars over this? Moving along…
“Fox News ‘Democrat’ Kirsten Powers Accuses Obama of Sympathizing With Terrorists.” The implication here by the Salon writer is that Powers can’t possibly be an actual Democrat if she disagrees with something President Obama has done! This is the SAME organization that proudly posted a “Republican Women for Obama” video in the last post that was linked. Powers wrote an op-ed for Foxnews.com in which she blasted the President and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for their comments against the video that was accused of starting the attack on our embassy in Benghazi. We have since uncovered (no thanks to Fox News and others who have refused to let it go) that the video, “Innocence of Muslims”, had nothing to do with the attack. It was premeditated by multiple jihadist organizations well in advance, and there were multiple warnings that it was coming. Both President Obama and Secretary Clinton were swift to righteously condemn the video, but said nothing against the terrorists who plotted and carried out the attack. It was refreshing to hear a Democrat admit that her side was being cowardly in refusing to respond to the attack.
“Fox News Spinning Furiously On Unemployment Rate.” The spin here appears to be a Foxnews.com headline questioning the report in 2012 that the unemployment rate dropped from 8.1 to 7.8. Never mind the fact that they’re reporters and their job is to question the official story. Never mind the fact that unemployment is actually dropping in some cases because some folks have been out of work for so long that they’re just giving up – no employer wants to hire someone with an extensive gap in their employment history, and some people have been out of work for so long that they’re dropping out of the workforce altogether. There’s a lot that plays into the unemployment numbers, and trying to simplify it into “something GOOD is happening under Obama!” is irresponsible at best.
And, the kicker…
“Fox Opposes Ban on Assault Weapons But Imposes Ban on Talking About It.” Okay…let’s get something straight for the umpteen jillionth time: the First Amendment is meant to protect you from the government, not from private entities. Even if you could prove that Fox had instituted a ban on talking about assault weapon bans, trying to say that Fox is “slaughtering the First Amendment” by refusing to allow guests to talk about it is every bit as silly as conservatives who accuse MSNBC of somehow abridging our First Amendment rights. I will tell you what I tell them…you have the same right that the other guys have. You just need to exercise it. That said, Fox has instituted no such ban on discussing proposed revivals of the Clinton-era assault weapons ban. David Clark, one of the executive producers, instituted a temporary ban on discussing gun control policy for a short time because he felt it was too soon after the Newtown tragedy to talk about such a charged political issue. The ban was lifted not too long afterwards and there have since been quite a few discussions on FNC and Foxnews.com about gun control and assault weapons bans.
The author of this article is Mark Howard, who appears to have written the multiple Newscorpse articles that are literally the only thing linked. It’s remarkable that Salon would allow this kind of hit piece to appear on its pages. What is more remarkable is that there are liberals out there trying to point to this tripe when they claim that they have proof that Fox News does nothing but lie. It seems more like liberals are obsessed with Fox, so much so that they’re willing to pass anything off as proof – even if it’s a lie.
Next up: George Soros, Media Matters, and the war against Fox News.
