Fox Nation vs. Reality: Quoting Castro Quoting Obama

After a week of Fox News fabulists going bonkers over President Obama’s use of the word “Forward” and declaring that he was a socialist because of it (never mind that Fox also used it their promos), we now have Fox Nation publishing a piece that aligns Obama with Fidel Castro:

Fox Nation - Castro

Not surprisingly, there is very little in that headline that is true. Obama did not “rip” the United States, he did not “compliment” Cuba, and there is no evidence that he ever said anything remotely similar to that “quote” to any visitor. The one thing that the Fox Nationalists got right is that Castro said something.

What happened is that Fox Nation’s editors found an article by Kyle Olson of the Education Action Group. EAG is a far-right, Koch-funded cell of anti-unionists in Michigan. Olson pulled a quote from a column by Castro that was published on Counterpunch.org. In that article Castro bragged about Cuba’s beneficial relationship with allies like Venezuela, and added…

“President Obama knows this only too well and has talked about it with some of his visitors. He candidly told one of them: ‘The problem is that the United States sends soldiers while Cuba, however, sends doctors.’

Castro doesn’t say when, where, or to whom, Obama allegedly said this. There is no record of any visitor that was ever told any such thing, or how Castro would have heard about it. Did some mysterious visitor rush back to his hotel, get Cuba on the line and beam “Hey Fidel, guess what Barack just told me?” However, it is certainly a useful and self-serving tale for Castro to weave.

But let’s set aside all of those points, that suggest that this whole thing is a hoax, and just examine the substance of the quote. There have been plenty of discussions about foreign policy strategies that weigh the benefits of military aid and humanitarian aid. The question of whether the U.S. should seek to strengthen it’s relations with other countries by sending doctors or soldiers is one that is reasonable and proper. It is neither a rip nor a compliment. It is simply good diplomacy to analyze and arrive at an effective balance.

Clearly the editors at Fox Nation have bought into the story as they posted Castro’s quote as if it were fact. It’s ironic, and more than a little unpatriotic, that they put more faith in what Castro says than their own president. If one didn’t know better it would appear that the Fox Nationalists are cozying up to the communist dictator who they obviously regard as a truthful source. Perhaps Rep. Allen West, who is so anxious about the possibility of communists in congress, should look into whether Fox is secretly harboring traitors in their newsroom.

It is also interesting to note the graphic that the Fox Nationalists chose to accompany their article. I’m sure they innocently selected a photo of Obama applauding in front of a banner that says “CUBA.” Certainly they would have had no intention of conveying any message that the President supported the communist state. And it’s surely not relevant that another angle of the same event reveals that Obama was speaking at a conference of the Cuban American National Foundation, an anti-Castro group based in Miami:

Obama Cuban American

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7 thoughts on “Fox Nation vs. Reality: Quoting Castro Quoting Obama

  1. These guys take the risks of saying and implying things that political campaigns can’t. That is Fox News’ purpose of existence.

  2. I seem to recall an Occupy parade in Seattle recently, where participants carried a huge banner saying that the U.S. should be more like Cuba. (Let’s see them try to carry any sort of dissenting political banner in downtown Havana). And I seem to recall the President, Congresswoman Pelosi and others complimenting and encouraging the Occupy movement. Perhaps they share the Occupy view of Cuba.

    Is it such a stretch to believe that the President might have made such a comment to some left-wing White House visitor (of whom there seems to be many) and word got back to Castro? It’s not as if the thousands of radical academics in our nation have no contact with the Castros and their regime. Our universities are stuffed full of passionate Castro fans, and we’re sure they are encouraged to stay in touch with their heroes.

    You’re right about one point – there’s no way to confirm that such a comment was ever made. And Castro is an absolute pig whose word can never be taken at face value. On the other hand, a major world leader attempting to quote another major world leader on a topic of substance is definitely news. It was properly labeled as heresay, so readers can judge it for what they think its worth.

    • “Our universities are stuffed full of passionate Castro fans, and we’re sure they are encouraged to stay in touch with their heroes.”

      Um, support for this? I work in a university and have colleagues at other universities and I don’t know of anyone who is a “fan” of Castro. I know of people who have visited Cuba and say it is a beautiful and very sad place. Pretty much everyone I know thinks Cuba would be better off without Castro and looks forward to a day that he is no longer in power.

      It is also interesting that you note a group with a Cuba banner at only one Occupy event…. to my knowledge, being more like Cuba is not what the larger Occupy movement is about nor is it what Pelosi and Obama support.

    • What happened to you that caused you to despise education and the educated?

      Can you elaborate on the entirety of the Occupy Movements view on Cuba please? After all you seem to be highly knowledgeable on their agenda and I feel certain that you could impart some of that breathtaking wisdom upon the proletariat here.
      Also, would you mind naming names, if it’s not too much to ask, regarding those thousands of academic Castro fans who remain in contact with their heroes? How many heroes do they have and whom are they? Castro just happens to be a singular unique individual so even though he may have multiple personalities he still would not constitute a multiple or plural. Grammatically one cannot state that ‘Fidel Castro is my heroes’. It’s just plain wrong, not to mention bad grammar. What should be stated is that ‘Fidel Castro is my hero’. That’s correct grammar. Just as an example I will utilize your sentence in the correct grammatical manner; “Our universities are stuffed full of passionate Castro fans, and we’re sure they are encouraged to stay in touch with their hero.”. You understand how that is done?

      This brings up another question; who are the “we’re” in the above statement? Are there more than one of you? If so are you your own heroes?
      Are you part of a group, collective, or cult? Are you the spokesperson for you, yourself, and or the group?

      So many questions, so little time and space. I must be off to do evil progressively educated things. (insert sinister laugh)

    • reformfan, I’m not sure why you bring up an alleged sign at an Occupy event. What does that have to do with any of this? It isn’t my position or Obama’s. And it certainly doesn’t address the obvious bias in the cropped sign that Fox News used in their photo. I’ve seen signs at Tea Party rallies that are overtly racist. Does that mean that all Tea Partiers and their GOP supporters are also racists?

      Even if Obama made the comment that Castro allegedly attributes to him, it is not a particularly controversial comment, as I explained above. The characterization by Fox/EAG and other right-wing media is incorrect and ignorant. Effective diplomacy requires balanced aid. Military aid benefits a country’s leaders and gains their cooperation, but if you want to win the hearts and minds of the people, humanitarian aid is far more effective.

      Finally, while the Fox/EAG article does grant that Castro is “a questionable source,” the headline treats the allegation as fact. That’s irresponsible and journalistically unethical.

  3. When I read these pieces about Fox Nation I can’t help but picture kids running the website. Middle school kids who have not really learned how to do research and interpret news items. Then I picture the people who read it and buy into it…not good.

    • I have been trying for weeks to find out who is running Fox Nation. The info is not posted online and Fox has ignored my inquiries. Some signs point to Jesse Watters (Bill O’Reilly’s ambush interviewer), but I can’t confirm it.

      They are certainly immature. They routinely use pejorative names like “Pig Maher” and “Stuart Smalley.” And they overuse hyperbolic adjectives as if they were 12 year olds with their first thesaurus.

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