Day: 6/20/2012

Anatomy Of A Fox News Lie

Posted by on June 20, 2012 at 12:14 pm. 2 Comments :

If you’ve ever wondered about the course of the obvious prevarications that eventually wind up on Fox News, a fascinating example of this process was revealed recently in an affair that involved a Montana congressman and a collection of disreputable players.

In early June, Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT), currently the GOP candidate for the senate, accused the Environmental Protection Agency of conducting spy operations with unmanned drones over Montana farmland. He sent the EPA a letter demanding that the practice be stopped, saying…

“The Obama Administration has, once again, stepped way over the line. First they wanted to expand their authority to regulate water, and now they want to use air drones to spy on American citizens. Enough is enough.”

The only problem with Rehberg’s complaint was that there was no truth to it whatsoever. He later admitted that he was wrong, but somehow managed to blame the Obama administration for his mistake. His spokesman issued this statement:

“The Obama Administration rarely reveals its secretive plans to anyone but its closest allies. Since Denny doesn’t vote with the President 95 percent of the time, he must often rely on news reports and constituent input.”

See? If the Obama administration had revealed its secret plan to not do something they would later be accused of doing, there wouldn’t have been any problem. Here is a timeline of the news reports Rehberg cited. Feel free to follow along at home…

  • One of the first references to the non-existent drones came from radio conspiracy theorist and 9/11 Truther, Alex Jones.
  • The next day the New American, a publication of the uber-rightist John Birch Society, posted their own version of the hoax.
  • On June 6, the story was picked up by The Daily Caller, which is run by Fox News contributer Tucker Carlson.
  • That was followed by a piece in Investors Business Daily.
  • And finally, the story bubbles up on Fox News, where it is subjected to even more hyperbole courtesy of host Megyn Kelly.

Megyn Kelly

Kelly: “Even an American terrorist, an American al-Qaida, was killed by a drone. So now you’re in the Midwest, and you know you’re not a terrorist, but nonetheless, you gotta get a little squeamish when you see a drone going overhead.”

The progression of lies through the conservative media is a peculiar and dangerous phenomenon. And the way it is exploited by Fox News demonstrates their overt aversion to factual journalism and objective reporting. They exist for only one purpose: To advance the interests of the Republican Party, conservative extremists, and their wealthy benefactors. They will employ any information and tactics to achieve their ends, no matter how contemptible and illegitimate.

Damn – It’s Getting Hard To Keep Up With The Crazy On Fox Nation

Posted by on June 20, 2012 at 10:27 am. 2 Comments :

In attempting to monitor the outrageous bias and relentless dissemination of propaganda that appears on the Fox News web site, Fox Nation, sometimes the burden is overwhelming. The editors at Fox Nation are just too fast and too furiously committed to their mission of deceiving their glassy-eyed readers, that keeping up becomes an Olympian task.

Just yesterday the stream of craziness was so intense that I am forced to compile them all here in abridged form.

Let’s begin with the most repulsive and unsubstantiated item. The Fox Nationalists post things like this fairly often just to keep the impression of a lawless administration active in the minds of their readers.

Fox Nation Totalitarianism

Next up, an absurd an irrelevant item about a man that President Obama met only twice in his life, as a child. But if Fox can make a connection about him to the President, even if the allegation is tenuous, they will jump at the opportunity.

Fox Nation - Obama's Soviet Father

There actually is no enemies list as referenced in this headline. The article is about an FEC complaint filed by the Obama campaign to force Karl Rove’s blatantly political PAC to be treated under the law as any other PAC. Which means that they would have to disclose their donors. Arguing against this is to advocate to maintain a system that permits secretive billionaires to buy elections.

Fox Nation Enemies List

After disingenuously complaining about intimidation tactics in the item above, the Fox Nationalists persist in their intimidation campaign against Media Matters. With no new news whatsoever, Fox & Friends devotes yet another segment to slandering the group and its founder David Brock.

Fox Nation - Media Matters

This one is pretty funny. The Fox Nationalists post an item taking Bill Maher to task for making a comedic animal reference with regard to the Republican Party. And in doing so they call him a pig (as they have done many times before). Also note the comment that is typical of the Fox Nation community whenever the opportunity arises to hurl a racist insult at the President.

Fox Nation - GOP Apes

And we’ll close with my personal favorite. The Fox Nationalists posted this item asserting that Obama is not the only president to have been interrupted by reporters in the middle of an address. However, the video they offer as proof shows Reagan being interrupted only after he finished his prepared remarks and was turning the podium over to someone else.

Fox Nation Reagan Interruptus

Bear with me, folks. I’m trying to keep up. but it isn’t easy. The Fox Nation editors are masters of deception and they have abundant resources. They are also a closely guarded secret. Unlike every other news enterprise, Fox will not reveal who is responsible for the content on Fox Nation. They have no masthead and have ignored inquiries as to the identity of their staff. I suspect it’s a class of remedial 13 year olds at an evangelical reeducation camp in the basement of News Corp headquarters.

Jon Stewart Hammers Fox News For Misleading Editing Of Obama Video

Posted by on June 20, 2012 at 3:32 am. 1 Comments :

Once again, the Daily Show’s Jon Stewart has proved that he’s a better journalist than the dishonest hacks at Fox News and, for that matter, most of the rest of the media. And he’s not even trying to be a journalist.

Ever since last Friday’s announcement by President Obama that his administration would suspend deportation of certain younger immigrants, the right-wing media has been trying to trip up the President’s policy by portraying it as an unconstitutional power grab or searching for some evidence of hypocrisy. On the latter front, Fox News uncovered a video of Obama from last year where he appeared to give Fox just what they were looking for. In the video, as broadcast by Fox, Obama said that…

“I just have to continue to say this notion that somehow I can just change the laws unilaterally is just not true. We are doing everything we can administratively. But the fact of the matter is there are laws on the books that I have to enforce. And I think there’s been a great disservice done to the cause of getting the DREAM Act passed and getting comprehensive immigration passed by perpetrating the notion that somehow, by myself, I can go and do these things. It’s just not true.”

That would seem to close the file on the matter of presidential hypocrisy, were it not for the intrepid investigative reporting of Jon Stewart. On the Daily Show last night Stewart aired the uncut video of Obama (see it below), including the part immediately following the point where Fox News ended their clip:

“…It’s just not true. What we can do is to prioritize enforcement — since there are limited enforcement resources — and say, we’re not going to go chasing after this young man or anybody else who has been acting responsibly, and would otherwise qualify for legal status if the DREAM Act passed.”

In other words, Obama very clearly said, as Stewart put it, “…that he can do the exact thing he just did, but which you said he said he’s not supposed to.” This is a blatant, inexcusable example of deliberately editing video to misconstrue its meaning and deceive their audience.

Sadly, it is not particularly uncommon for Fox News. But their brazen dishonesty doesn’t prevent them from making false claims about others. Yesterday Fox ran a story wherein they charged that MSNBC had edited a video of Romney that they say created a false impression. It wasn’t true, as is documented here, but Fox still featured the allegation prominently on their web site. Perhaps they will now publish a story exposing this new and verified incident of unethical journalism:

Yesterday on Fox News.
Fox News Projection		 Tomorrow on Fox news?
Fox News - Not

Yeah, sure. That’ll happen.

[Video no longer available]