“Misinformation is dangerous when it metastasizes,” Rabin-Havt says. “Fox is going to lie with impunity. Rush Limbaugh is going to lie. The problem is when a story jumps from Fox News to CNN or the New York Times or The Washington Post. Our job is the head these things off at the pass.”
Rabin-Havt is the Vice President of Media Matters. The CEO, David Brock, was a conservative before he was a liberal.
Media Matters is the watch dog group that loves to hate Fox News. .
Fighting Fox is what Media Matters does, relentlessly and obsessively. In the six years since its founding, the watchdog group has evolved from an all-purpose scourge of the conservative media into Fox News Channel’s veritable shadow and constant irritant. From well before sunrise to long after it each day, teams of young researchers sift through video clips and transcripts of programs hosted by Fox stars such as Glenn Beckand Bill O’Reilly to find dubious facts, logical contradictions and poisonous – at least to Media Matters’ liberal sensibilities – rhetoric.
Brock further explains:
The dogged pursuit of Fox, says Media Matters’ founder David Brock, reflects not just the cable network’s popularity among conservatives but its power to set, and perhaps distort, the political agenda. Brock and his staff say they regard Fox as something more than just the televised equivalent of talk radio; they describe it as a de facto political operation, with a leading role in disseminating conservative messages, supporting conservative candidates and mobilizing voters.
Fox News’ Glenn Beck has drawn the ire of the Daily Beastand the Anti-Defamation League for his remarks about billionaire George Soros. Beck, in a week-long attack on Soros, has gone over the top by accusing the billionaire of anti-Semitism and actions against Jews during WWII.
To inoculate himself against charges of anti-Semitism, Beck hurled them at Soros, pointing out that he’s an atheist and a critic of Israel. He accused Soros of helping Nazis steal Jewish property as a teenager and of feeling no remorse about it. In fact, when Soros was 14 in Nazi-occupied Hungary, his father bribed an agriculture official to pretend that the boy was his Christian godson. Soros once had to accompany his protector to inventory a confiscated Jewish estate. Asked by 60 Minutes if he felt guilty about it, he said no, because he wasn’t at fault. The slander that he was a Nazi collaborator has proliferated on the right ever since.
Meanwhile, while airing all these charges, Beck made stupid faces and mimicked Soros and his organizations that provide food and shelter to desperately poor people. To date, there have been 3 shows devoted to Soros-bashing. Beck has not hold back. He calls Soros “The Puppetmaster,” and has puppets Beck handles himself. The Anti-Defamation League has weighed in on these shows.
He won’t let us say ‘terrorist?’ Elizabeth H has gotten even more insipid and mindless since the last time I listened to her pablum. Does she really believe that crap or is she just pretending to be totally stupid?
I have lost some respect for Barbara Walters. She should not have commented about her colleagues. They spoke for themselves. Not sure she wasn’t as out of line on all fronts as the other 2.
Whoopie and Joy walking out? Who cares. I don’t care one way or the other. They came back.
My problem is that they didn’t cut his mic about 3 minutes before that. O’Reilly was everything I was taught about the MCP. MCP = male chauvanist pig. (expression from my youth) O’Reilly disgraced himself long before he even got to the mosque.
How dare he sit there and tell them to be quiet and listen so they would learn something! What an arrogant ass. “Listen to be because then you will learn.”
The Feds have sued Fox News for allegedly retaliating against Catherine Herrity for complaining about unequal pay and unequal job conditions based on her age and gender. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)says Fox News Channel reporter Catherine Herridge filed an internal complaint about allegedly discriminatory practices in 2007. Fox News supposedly found no bias but later included language in Ms. Herrity’s contract that would prevent her from complaining. She refused to sign her contract.
The network agreed to remove the language after she complained to the EEOC.
The EEOC seeks unspecified monetary damages and a court order enjoining Fox from retaliating against other employees.
Should we be surprised? Is there any woman on the show who is not attractive? Men certainly aren’t held to the same standard of attractness. Other than Shep, there seems to be an absence of male counterparts. There seems to be a hook for the men…pretty women with cleavage and leg. Bring in the men and the women will follow? Is that how it works? Probably the good car chases don’t hurt either.
Does Catherine Herrity still work for Faux News or has she been turned out to pasture?
Beck, a popular figure among tea party activists and a polarizing Fox News Channel personality, is headlining the event, and Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee and a potential 2012 president candidate, will be a prominent speaker. But Beck told his television audience again on Thursday that it’s not about politics.
The event’s website says the rally is to pay tribute to America’s military personnel and others “who embody our nation’s founding principles of integrity, truth and honor.” It also is to promote the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, which provides scholarships and services to family members of military members.
The website urges citizens to attend and “help us restore the values that founded this great nation.”
How can anything featuring Sarah Palin not be about politics? She is the embodiment of politics.
On his Monday radio show, Glenn Beck highlighted claims that before he started targeting a little-known, left-leaning organization called the Tides Foundation on his Fox News TV show, “nobody knew” what the non-profit was.
Indeed, for more than a year Beck has been portraying the progressive organization as a central player in a larger, nefarious cabal of Marxist/socialist/Nazi Obama-loving outlets determined to destroy democracy in America. Beck has routinely smeared the low-profile entity for being staffed by “thugs” and “bullies” and involved in “the nasty of the nastiest,” like indoctrinating schoolchildren and creating a “mass organization to seize power.”
As Media Matters reported, the conspiratorial host had mentioned (read: attacked) the little-known progressive organization nearly 30 times on his Fox program alone since it premiered in 2009, including several mentions in the last month. (Beck’s the only TV talker who regularly references the foundation, according to our Nexis searches.)
So yes, Beck has done all he can to scare the hell out of people about the Tides Foundation and “turn the light of day” onto an organization that actually facilitates non-profit giving.
And guess what? Everybody in America would have found out about the Tides Foundation last week if Byron Williams had had his way. He’s the right-wing, government-hating, gun-toting nut who strapped on his body armor, stocked a pickup truck with guns and ammo, and set off up the California coast to San Francisco in order to start killing employees at the previously obscure Tides Foundation in hopes of sparking a political revolution.
I would think that Rachel Maddow was madder than a bat, except Elena and I have been talking about this same theory for over a year. Nothing that happened with Shirley Sherrod was random. It was all part of political theater being played out to accomplish a political goal.
Rachel goes through what has happened this week, step by step. This video was from her show on Tuesday.
Pay careful attention to the dates in the video. Notice that Fox News was all over the story, vilifying Sherrod for her racism. By Wednesday, everyone else was wrong except Fox News.
This video was recorded on Tuesday, July 20, 2010. Maddow links up several stories that link ACORN, Sherrod, NAACP, and other ‘scandals.’ All go back to www.biggovernment.com. That would be Andrew Breitbart’s less than reputable website.
“We here at Studio B did not run the video and did not reference the story in any way for many reasons, among them: we didn’t know who shot it, we didn’t know when it was shot, we didn’t know the context of the statement, and because of the history of the videos on the site where it was posted, in short we do not and did not trust the source.”
Smith was speaking of Breitbart’s websites, specifically, www.biggovernment.com. Shep Smith also took on the White House. He has a reputation for standing up for right and wrong, as he perceives it, even if it goes against the party line of Fox News.
The Las Vegas Robin Hood dropped the F Bomb on Fox News yesterday. Imagine Doocy’s surprise.
Everyone handled it well. In this case, the family bread winner had some horrible form of cancer and couldn’t work and they had lost their home. A self-professed Robin Hood uses his gambling winnings to make people’s lives better. I guess he just got a little overly excited.
I was watching this segment and didn’t even pick up on it at the time. I guess I just have potty ears.
Governor Brewer admits that she doesn’t know what an illegal immigrant looks like.
Judge Andrew Napolitano explains why the AZ SB 1070 is not consitutional. He also explains immigration law. This is a huge surprise. Napolitano is very conservative.
I thought I was imagining all the blame Clinton rhetoric. Now I see I was not imagining it.
I strongly suspect that Fox and Friends is going to be like the tiger who kept running around the tree until they turn in to butter. I will never get past Gretchen explaining why her job was as important as the President’s. Never….Never…Never….Any respect, any credibility….gone.
On Fox & Friends, co-host Steve Doocy and guest Corey Stewart, chairman of the Prince William County, Virginia, board of supervisors, falsely claimed that the county’s controversial immigration law reduced violent crime and has never been altered. In fact, Prince William County’s violent crime rates actually increased in 2009; the law was modified in 2008 to avoid legal challenges; and a University of Virginia study of the law shows that it has not led to a reduction in crime.
Doocy falsely claimed immigration law led to a “reduction in violent crimes” and an overall “huge drop in crime”
Doocy falsely claims immigration law led to “38 percent reduction in violent crimes.” On the June 21 edition of Fox News’ Fox & Friends, Doocy introduced Stewart by claiming, “Three years ago, Prince William County in Virginia passed major immigration reform, and they’ve since seen a huge drop in crime.” Doocy later said to Stewart, “Let’s take a look at some of the changes in Prince William County since this law went into place — 38 percent reduction in violent crimes.” The law in question requires police officers to inquire about the immigration status of those persons who have been placed under arrest.
In fact, Prince William County’s violent crime rate increased 10.9 percent in 2009. According to Prince William County Police Department crime statistics, in 2009, the county saw a 10.9 percent increase in violent crimes. The county’s “overall crime rate” decreased by 1.9 percent from the previous year. The law first went into effect in 2008, during which time the county saw an increase in its overall crime rate and a reduction in violent crimes versus the year prior.
Prince William County’s 2009 overall lowered crime rate is credited as being “part of a trend that started long before” the immigration bill. In a National Review Online post, John J. Miller wrote: “As it happens, crime rates have been going down for a long time in Prince William County. The latest numbers are part of a trend that started long before the county took a stand against illegal immigration.” Prince William County Police Chief Charlie T. Deane reportedly noted that crime rates have been decreasing nationwide and that Prince William County’s rates were consistent with that trend. According to The Washington Post, Deane said, ” ‘I also think, nationwide, crime rates are declining, and I’m pleased we’ve continued to see’ that in the county, too.”
“Illegal aliens” only account for a small percentage of crimes and arrests, and the vast majority of those arrested were for “misdemeanor or traffic charges.” The reports show that those suspected of being “illegal aliens” account for only a small percentage of total crimes. In 2008, “[o]f all persons arrested or summonsed in Prince William County, 1.7% were determined to lack legal status,” while “86.9% of those suspected to be illegal aliens were arrested on misdemeanor or traffic charges.” In 2009, “[o]f all persons arrested or summonsed in Prince William County, 2.2% were determined to lack legal status,” while “87.5% of those suspected to be illegal aliens were arrested on misdemeanor or traffic charges.”
UVA study: “[T]he policy has not reduced most forms of crime in PWC.” The University of Virginia (UVA) studied the effects of the law on Prince William County crime rates and concluded, “Overall, our descriptive assessment of PWCPD data on crime reports and arrests suggests that the policy has not reduced most forms of crime in PWC and that its contribution to the County’s drop in serious violence has likely been modest.” A May 7 Washington Postarticle cited the UVA study and reported that “the study also said that it seems unlikely that the county’s drop in violent crime was because of the policy, because illegal immigrants make up a small percentage of those arrested for such crimes.”
Doocy lets guest falsely claim that the “law stands today as it was written in 2007”
Doocy allows Stewart to falsely claim that the“law stands today as it was written in 2007.” After Doocy asked Stewart about legal challenges to the law, Stewart falsely claimed that “the federal district court in Arlington, Virginia, threw [a court challenge to the bill] out on its face — threw the challenge out on its face — and the law stands today as it was written in 2007.”
In fact, the “ordinance was modified in 2008 amid charges that it was unconstitutional.” Contrary to Stewart’s claim that “the law stands today as it was written in 2007,” The Washington Postreported:
The Prince William ordinance was modified in 2008 amid charges that it was unconstitutional and could lead to racial profiling. In the end, rather than questioning only people they suspected of being undocumented immigrants, officers were directed to question all criminal suspects about their immigration status once an arrest was made.
At this point, I am just laughing. What kind of cajones does it take to go on national cable and repeat the same old lies that we have PROVEN are lies on this blog.
No, the ‘Immigration Resolution’ we have now is NOT the 2007 one. Corey, Corey, Corey. This was aired this morning:
Start listing the lies. What’s really scary is that Faux News believes it all. The 287(g) program was dangled out later on. Peter Johnson left out the part about being approved for the program, having a memorandum of understanding and vast amounts of training to be part of 287(g).
The lies are just compounding now. And Prince William looks like ….Don’t want to use that expression here. The foil for all this was Mexicans without Borders.
The press is all over Obama’s ass kicking statement. First, he was criticized for not showing emotion. Then he was chastised for not being angry enough. So now the president has spoken:
“I was down there a month ago, before most of these talking heads were even paying attention to the Gulf,” the president told Matt Lauer in a clip released this evening. “A month ago I was meeting with fishermen down there, standing in the rain talking about what a potential crisis this could be. And I don’t sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar, we talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers, so I know whose ass to kick.”
Predictably, The Fox and Friends crew took the President to task for saying ‘ass.’ In fact, the word was ‘bleeped’ out. Then they took him to task for trying to be tough, for not doing it sooner, for doing it at all and for doing it late. The the President caught it for faking anger, whatever that means. They went on and on this morning. It was totally amazing how much bashing went on.
Interesting. Why is it that people need to be told how and what to think? I want to hear things for myself. I can figure out what to think and if I can’t, there are places to go ask.
