Thanks Elena, for the find.

Huffingtonpost.com:

A Fox News interview ended rather abruptly on Monday after a guest took not one but two jabs at the network hosting him (see update below).

Co-anchor Jon Scott interviewed Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Thomas Ricks, who has covered the military for decades, about his new book “The Generals.” Scott asked Ricks weigh in on the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi and Sen. John McCain’s criticisms of Amb. Susan Rice.

“I think Benghazi was generally hyped by this network especially,” Ricks said. He added that he thought McCain seemed to be “backing off” from criticizing Rice since “the campaign [was] over.”

“When you have four people dead for the first time in more than 30 years, how do you call that hype?” Scott said, pushing back against Ricks’ characterization of the network’s coverage.

Ricks compared the situation to security contractors who were killed in Iraq. He described the attack in Benghazi as a “small fire-fight” and added, “I think the emphasis on Benghazi has been extremely political, partly because Fox is operating as the wing of the Republican Party.”

 

At that point, Scott thanked Ricks for his time and ended the interview after about 90 seconds.

UPDATE: According to the New York Times’ Brian Stelter, a Fox News staffer told Ricks he was rude following the interview. Ricks said that he thinks the hit lasted “about half as long as planned.”

Rude?  Since when is telling the truth rude?  Does Faux News now require their guests to lie?  What a horrible shame that tragic incident was politicized by Fox News.  They dishonor Chris Stevens in their zealotry to besmirch the reputation of Obama.

Fox News needs to start being a news station and stop being Republican News.  More than that, they just need to start being truthful.

 

31 Thoughts to “Thomas Ricks calls out Faux News over Susan Rice”

  1. Watching

    “Fox News: Fair and Balanced” This tag line is a joke and was why some people thought Romney would win the election.

  2. Starryflights

    Heh heh. Good for Ricks. Only idiots watch Fox Noise.

    Also, I find it interesting that John McCain calls Susan Rice unqualified to be Secretary of State. Who did McCain pick to be his VP candidate again? Somebody named Sarah? Heh, talk about unqualified!

  3. kelly_3406

    A small firefight? The terrorists used rocket-propelled grenades in a firefight that reportedly lasted for 8 hours. But the issue is not the size of the fight but rather why was security so poor and why didn’t reinforcements come to the aid of the embassy?

    I have always respected Ricks, but his lack of interest in this reveals his political leanings.

    1. Maybe he knows something you don’t know about the situation. I don’t know how The FBI was supposed to know all the facts before they could get in there and even sift through the rubble.

      This is situation has become so politicized for the purpose of swaying an election. Now it has a life of its own and the Republicans don’t know what to do with it.

      I love all these jerk senators thinking they were there in the firefight and know more than anyone else. UFB. What has been done to Susan Rice is unconscionable.

  4. Pat.Herve

    Fox very much turned Bengazi into a political football. Good for Hicks, although that is the last time he will be on Fox.

    What we will never know is the amount of harm done by the uncovering of the CIA Annex and the CIA operatives – was this uncovered because the security contractors probably led the al queda gang right to the door of the annex. Anyone who has ever been involved with a situation like this knows that you need to be careful as to what you say, how you say it and when you say it.

    If Fox was really a news organization that cared that Susan Rice spoke about those talking points on a few Sunday talk shows, where was Fox when Colin Powell testified in front of the UN to justify moving in on Iraq? I mean, talk about misleading the American People – Susan Rice’s talking points left off a few words of the intelligence community, Colin Powell invented some intelligence that the intelligence community would not back.

    What we do not know, is if Susan Rice is even being considered by Obama for the post of Sec of State.

    1. Pat, that first house investigative hearing also breached some of the CIA security from that incident. Issa stepped right in it.

  5. Censored bybvbl

    Fox News is the equivalent of the National Enquirer for the geriatric set.

    1. With even a little T & A for the old guys. ho ho ho wink wink nudge nudge

      That is SOOOOOO obvious. For those with heart problems, these is the showing a little leg.

  6. @Pat.Herve
    FOX didn’t turn it into a football. The Obama administration did when, even after it was revealed that the attack WAS NOT caused by a little seen video, they continued to push that story. If they had just admitted that a terrorist attack had occurred, it would have been left at that. But, because their story and the fact on the ground did not make sense, people dug into it.

    1. Cargo, deny that the rest of the protests had nothing to do with that not so little know video. Make my day. Deny it.

  7. BSinVA

    Cargo: You and I know you don’t believe what you just said. Had the government done what you suggested, Fox would have pounded the tables, lit the torches and sharpened the pitchforks while yelling “four diplomats died, while Obama fiddled.”

  8. It also seems to me that the CIA should be the ones answering the questions since it was their operation that got blown. How would the Prez know? How would Rice know? They would just be repeating what they were told.

    You think the CIA comes clean with the Prez? How about the FBI? Yea, right.

  9. Elena

    So many conspiracy theories, so little time.

  10. @BSinVA
    I guess we’ll never know since the government DID blame “protests” for over two weeks AFTER it was revealed to be a terrorist attack.

    Now…the SEPARATE issue of the lack of security is also troubling…but Rice had nothing to do with that. And there should be questions into that whole lack of security.

    Anyway, Rice is just a politician. SHE is not the problem. Its her boss….ANY candidate will still have to obey the orders of the White House which is what Rice did in the first place.

    If the Prez DIDN’T know…and he’s getting blame…if it was me, I’d find out quickly who to throw under that bus for keeping me in the dark.

    @Moon-howler
    Since I’m not talking about the other protests, why should I? Of course the other protests happened because the Imams instigated them, using the video…especially after the President all but advertised it and apologized for our 1st Amendment rights.

    1. psssst…the protests were going on before the Prez commented.

      You have 4 more years to endure him. Why not stop looking for things to hate him over. How about neutrality?

      Regardless of what is discovered it isn’t going to bring anyone back to life.

      Let’s go back to the fact that the consulate was a CIA outpost and they were calling the shots about what got said and didn’t get said.

  11. @Moon-howler
    Yes…the protests did happen in Cairo….and then spread even farther every time he talked about it to a new crowd.

    I’m not looking for things to “hate him over.” Neutrality? And how do I do that if what I see is objectionable, at least to me. If I see something that others are giving a pass because of partisanship, its my duty as a citizen to point out that the “emperor has no clothes.” Finding out why there was no security, and holding those responsible will prevent FUTURE deaths. Politicians should be held accountable for decisions.

    The consulate was not a CIA outpost. That was a separate building, almost a mile away. That is where the ex-SEAL contractors died, after they returned from attempting to help the ambassador.

  12. Starryflights

    For the life of me, I don’t know what the Repugs keep beating this dead horse for. The Administration has long since acknowledged that Rice’s remarks were in error, based on information available at the time.

    What more do the Repugs want to know?

  13. @Starryflights
    Um…who told her to say what she did, since she was saying things that her bosses knew to be false? Why didn’t she do her due diligence and check the intel before going out with a public statement?

    You know…things that a competent secretary of state would do.

    1. Susan Rice is not a secretary of state. Who are you considering her bosses and how do you know what her bosses knew to be true or false? In actually, you don’t know.

  14. kelly_3406

    This case reminds me of the Khobar Towers truck bombing in 1996. There was good intelligence that the base was under threat, but the AF base commander did not take adequate measures for force protection. The truck bombing resulted in 19 Americans killed. After a DOD investigation and Congressional hearings, the AF base commander was held accountable. He was denied his second star by Secretary of Defense Cohen and forced to retire.

    I fail to see why this case in Libya is different. We need to get to the bottom of what happened and why. We also need to know why the Administration insisted that the attack was the spontaneous result of a video when there was clear evidence that it was planned.

    If it is found that the person in charge failed to carry out his responsibilities, then he needs to be held accountable just as was done following the Khobar Towers bombing.

    1. We have beaten that one to death, Kelly. Its pretty obvious why it was thought that the attack was part of the protests…they were going on all over the middle east over that stupid video.

      Maybe the person who called the shots is dead.

      Why must there always be a fall guy. Sometimes bad shit happens. I can’t think of any other way to put it. If Chris Stevens’ family isn’t asking questions, why must all the Republicans? (answer: so they can GET Obama)

  15. BSinVA

    I’m not going to call anyone names here. I would ask those who are beating the drums over Libya go and review Thomas Ricks’ bio and record and then determine if they think the guy is a shill for Obama. Ricks looks like a knowledgeable guy who has the gravitas to come to reasoned positions regarding terrorist events. Of course, I believed Gen. Powell based on my reviewing his background as well and I was proven very wrong (I don’t remember a Congressional hearing about that though). Every one here knows that whatever energy we spend on investigating this tragedy will cost money and will come up short on action. One thing that I do not want is for Obama to now send our troops to every Embassy and Consulate in every low-rent country to beef up security just to ensure that there is not going to be anymore criticism. That is a waste of manpower. The professionals in the State Department and the CIA need to assess threats and respond in the way they see fit. Politicians change but the rank and file of both departments were the same people who were there defending us during the Bush and Clinton administrations. I for one recommend we move on and deal with the fiscal cliff. Any attention pulled away from that task is going to cost of us in the long run.

    1. Could it be that Colin Powell was lied to?

      Also, Chris Stevens’ sister and family are totally disgusted with how hes death has been politicized. No respect.

      He lived his life large and not sequestered. He lived his life as he wanted to.

  16. @Moon-howler
    The President is her ultimate boss. Sec Clinton is her boss. I brought up Sec of State because she’s on the short list.

  17. Steve Peterson

    What most people seem to be missing when it comes to Susan Rice is that she has a horrible track record (sans Benghazi). If you were to take Benghazi completely out of the picture and just looked at her over all career, it’s a mess.

    Has anyone ever even read anything Dana Milbank has written about her? She is not liked by MANY Democrats, some of whom are high ranking Democrats.

    Hint: Just take a peek at major foreign event disasters in the Clinton administration and who gave him absolutely horrible advise (pssst… it was Susan Rice).

  18. @Steve Peterson
    They don’t care because, for them, it wasn’t a disaster. Is Democrat. Is incapable of making mistakes.

  19. Btw, what are this author’s credentials on combat and war reporting?

    1. @Cargo

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_E._Ricks_(journalist)

      Where’s your Pulitzer?

      Is this one of those tricks where if we ccan’t win with facts we destroy the credentials of the person in question?

      I see that being attempted with a county employee or 2 and some bocs folks also. All in a days work.

      Yes, I am evil. I tried to take a brief nap. Ask me how often the efen phone rang over people wanting something.

  20. @Moon-howler
    Actually, I was just asking.
    I have no opinion on him. But while I was surfing after asking I found another opinion on him.
    http://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=33014

    Apparently many veterans with media experience have knowledge of this guy. The comments are good. Many respect him for reporting on internal military politics, but also recognize that he’s very liberal and an Obama supporter, with no “in theater” experience.

    1. In addition to thinking Fox R Fools he doesn’t have real high regard for MSNBC either.

  21. punchak

    @Moon-howler
    Yea, when was the last time you heard someone splitting his opinion equally?
    Both FOX and MSNBC are out in the wings / not much balanced news on either
    channel IMHO.

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