Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Celebrity Arbiters

It is becoming almost too predictable that whenever you see a headline on Fox Nation you can assume that it isn’t the truth. Case in point: Today the Fox Nationalists posted an item about President Obama’s remarks at a fundraiser yesterday. The headline on Fox Nation is “Obama Tells Celebrities They’re the ‘Ultimate Arbiter’ of America’s Direction.”

Fox Nation

The quote cited by Fox, as lifted from the Associated Press, read, “You’re the tie-breaker. You’re the ultimate arbiter of which direction this country goes.” Guess what. That is not what Obama told the guests at the fundraiser (who were not necessarily celebrities). The full quote, which is available on the White House web site, reads:

“[U]ltimately you guys and the American people, you’re the tie-breaker. You’re the ultimate arbiter of which direction this country goes in.”

So contrary to the false impression made by Fox (and the AP) that implied the President was elevating a room full of celebrities to some sort of Politburo, the truth is that Obama was speaking broadly and including all of the American people. It was an outright expression of populism and democracy that Fox is trying to turn into some kind of elitism. The same phony characterization also turned up on Fox News with Megyn Kelly drilling home the elitist message.

Fox News

The funny thing is that, even if what Fox is saying were true, I would much rather have people like Sarah Jessica Parker and George Clooney influencing public policy than Romney’s cohorts like Donald Trump and Sheldon Adelson. At least I’d know that their motives were based on their principles and aspirations for a better world, rather than on self-interest and aspirations for more power and wealth.

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5 thoughts on “Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Celebrity Arbiters

  1. This is a little off topic but I think what Megan Kelly was wearing on that still pic of her on her show really demonstrates how unprofessional she is. The top was pretty low and quit frankly looked like a womens’s bathing suit top from the 40’s or 50′, and I can’t think of any other female journalist of any renown who would wear something like that while broadcasting news stories. Wasn’t it the Fox News talking heads that were all up in arms about Michelle Obama’s sleeveless tops. We needn’t worry because no profesional newswoman would or has worn anything that skanky on a national news broadcast, unless you count Fox as a newscast, which it clearly is not!

    • You think that’s bad, take a look at this spread Kelly did. It isn’t on the air, but it’s still not the sort of thing a professional journalist would do. You would never catch Lara Logan doing that, and she is a former model.

  2. “The funny thing is that, even if what Fox is saying were true, I would much rather have people like Sarah Jessica Parker and George Clooney influencing public policy than Romney’s cohorts like Donald Trump and Sheldon Adelson. At least I’d know that their motives were based on their principles and aspirations for a better world, rather than on self-interest and aspirations for more power and wealth.”

    I would agree that there are better people to influence public policy than Donald Trump or Sheldon Adelso, but a bunch of self absorbed celebrities isn’t any better. If your goal is to reduce freedom and give government primary ownership of our money, than you got the right group.

    • One thing I totally overlooked is the incredible hypocrisy here – isn’t one of the major issues you (Mark) think is a big problem – big money influencing politicians. But I guess that only applies to those you don’t agree with – ie conservative money. Thank God we have a bill of rights that protect us from your kind of governance – only money from those who say what you like to hear is ok, all others should be regulated to preserve your message only – you’re a very normal person, a hypocrite who can’t admit it. I’m a poet and didn’t even know it.

  3. Sarah Jessica Parker? Any person who would chose the script for “Sex and the City II” and “Did You Hear About the Morgans” has little or nothing to add to political discourse. George Clooney, on the other hand, is a solid political thinker with a pedigree in journalism (his father was an award winning journalist).

    But it’s important to remember that people like Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Steve Doocey, and Bill O’Reilly, among others are no more credentialed to discuss politics than the average movie star. Among those named only O’Reilly has anything close to a degree in either journalism or politics, while Doocey has ALWAYS been merely a features reporter (inconsequential topics and non serious reporting). It has always galled me that FOX NEWS so aggressively attacks celebrities using the bully pulpit, but invite Victoria Jackson, Jon Voight and Michael Moriarty to pontificate.

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