FLASHBACK: Fox News urged left-wing hecklers be "Tased" or "beaten to a pulp"
August 05, 2009 1:09 pm ET by Eric Boehlert
That sure doesn't sound like the Fox News of today which seems quite impressed by the GOP mini-mobs which have been formed expressly to heckler Democratic politicians who want to discuss health care reform with their constituents at town hall meetings.
Loudmouths = democracy in action! How dare anyone object?!
But back in 2007, when anti-war protesters who make up Code Pink, made headlines by disrupting an official event, the Fox News morning team was seriously pissed off:
During a discussion about a Code Pink member heckling Hillary Clinton at a recent event, Fox News host Brian Kilmead said that people who confront politicians are “threatening” and should be Tased or “beaten to a pulp,” as the establishment media continues to sell the idea that anyone who disagrees with authority should be brutally punished.
A segment on the Fox and Friends morning show yesterday turned into an opportunity for Kilmead to share his dictatorial fetish that dissenters be dealt with in the proper manner, as footage aired of Clinton’s heckler being removed from the event by security.
“They should Tase this guy,” Kilmead says. “At one point with security so high and tensions on edge, don’t you think they’re going to get at the very least Tased or beaten to a pulp by somebody? These people look threatening….
The other right-wing media mogul you should worry about
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True "astroturf" is ACORN paying and busing in people to protest AIG execs.
I think the comparison to Obama's website is a different animal.While it may have grown with a lot of grassroots support,comparing a presidential candidates organization to the powers behind the phony townhall screechers is pretty flimsy.
Check this memo, justjoe
And you wont see alot in the MSM, but this clip from Rachel Maddows show covers a lot of it.
Maddow had some additional stuff on this evening, but couldnt find it on the internets yet.
Link
The only problem I have with the action memo from Right Principles is it's call to "rock the boat early." I think its of utmost importance, especially for a conservative, to alway be respectful. The writer did remind people "not to carry on or make a scene." Even if this only happened at one event and every other one went off without issue, you knew footage would appear on CNN and MSNBC of the conservative mob. And of course, it did.
I have no problem with the rest however. Why is there a problem with being organized and prepared. It shows no proof of corporate involvement, only proof of wanting to get ones perspective heard. If you have an agenda, and both sides do, then you want to be as prepared as possible to make your case. Do you think the congressmen at these events showed up unprepared? Of course not. Then why would you question the motives of the people who came to speak against this, just because they were prepared. I guess you would just rather they ask fly by the seat of your pants questions while the speakers read from their prepared statement. Facts are win a debate, not emotion.
On the issue of funding to liberal and conservative organization, let me first say that I am not proposing that convervative think tanks and such DON'T revieve funding in much the same way liberals do. It is most likely the same process on both sides. My point is, it is hypocritical to call conservative efforts "astroturf", while referring to liberal efforts as grassroots. For instance, let's talk about just how grassroots MMfA is. While MMfA say they recieve no money from corporate donations (not directly anyway) and only get money from individuals, the list of "individual" donors in interesting. Since MMfA is a 503, not-for-profit there tax records are public info. Just a sidenote to help connect the dots, Rachel Hunter, who is treasurer for MMfA, sits on the board of Democracy Alliance, which is founded and funded by amongst others, you guessed it, George Soros. So while MMfA may be technically correct when the say "we have never directly taken money from George Soros", that is a little bit misleading to say the least. Just becasue MMfA's funding is laundered through places like Moveon.org, The Center for American Progressives, Democracy Alliance and The Tide Center, all liberal fronts for George Soros money, they can with clear conscience say they have never "directly" recieved money from Big George. And the list of big money donors goes on and on. Most are not corporation, but huge left leaning philanthropical trusts. So don't try and sell me on grassroots, the trail is VERY obvious.
Why is it more important for conservatives to be respectful than others? To overcome their long history of disrespect to others? Agreed.
Even if this only happened at one event and every other one went off without issue, you knew footage would appear on CNN and MSNBC of the conservative mob. And of course, it did.
Whoa, this is the sort of logic that keeps most conservatives at the kids table."If" something happened, followed by speculation/ prediction, closing with claiming the hypothetical as a fact.
You commented on the rest after admitting to not being able to see the clip, so I'll leave it as no progress was made from your previous post.
But you do seem focused on Soros as the equivalent of a corporation, but don't mention whose interests he might serve aside from philanthropic organizations..
Are you saying that Corporate or GOP powers behind an organization versus philanthropical groups are pretty much the same thing?
There is a difference between Soros and a corporation, but what they have in common is BIG money. And while I'm sure that philanthropical trusts such as the Barbara Streisand Foundation, Fannie Mae Foundation, Heinz Family trust (John Kerry), Joyce Foundation (Obama used to be on the board) and the Turner Foundation (Ted Turner) do give money to charities, they also are used as a means to launder money through organization like Open Society Institute, Moveon.org and others, whose goal is not charity, but to advance the leftist agenda. So even though corporations may donate, even if not directly but though a conservative front organization similar to those liberal fronts listed above, that does not mean that the people who attended these townhall meetings were not people who had genuine passion for their casue. I did read an article about insurance companies sending employees to meetings, but again, those employees have a vested interest don't they? It's not like BC/BS gave Right Principles $100K and said go down to the local Workforce Solutions office and hire some temp workers at $7.50/ hr to go protest (aka ACORN). Unfortunatley we will just have to agree to disagree because you have already made your mind up because MMfA told you what to think.
Not sure what you think MMFA has told me to think.That facts are more reliable than opinions?
I already knew that. You might be surprised to find out there's a big difference between this site and the ones where you apparently get your information. Most who frequent this site (the libruls) have pretty good BS detectors. It's not that I think there's a powerful conservative propaganda machine because MM says so, it's that I found this site because I was aware of the GOP machine, and it's very good at documenting it.
Probably true of many liberal posters here.We figure stuff out for ourselves, and look for verification.
Cons generally have a set of beliefs, and look for validation, not by facts, but through others who agree with their opinions.
As far as facts are concerned....
FACT - George Soros established the Open Society Institute.
FACT - Open Society Institute gives money to MMfA
FACT - Rachel Hunter is treasurer of MMfA and sits on the board of Democracy Alliance.
FACT - Democracy Institute give money to MMfA
FACT - George Soros help establish and fund Democracy Alliance.
So the fact is MMfA can tell everyone that they have not taken money "directly" from George Soros. They are technically right, aren't they? If you buy it, I've got ocean front property in Arizona (good song).
You wrote that, directed at me. Now you're going to whine that there's some double standard on my part?
You're still using George Soros as your quasi-corporation. What would help is an example of him backing some phony grass roots demonstrations that were directly benefiting him financially.
And please drop the hypersensitive victim act. It's been done here many times already, by many other right wingers politely posting the same old insults and bs and crying when anybody questions them.
You describe several organizations "whose goal is not charity, but to advance the leftist agenda."
Instead of these vague ideas that hold water on Fox News, maybe some specifics. What is The Leftist Agenda, and how do these organizations benefit in a similar way to the Health Care and insurance industries obvious gains by blocking health care reform?
I'm not trying to be a dick, I really want to know. It gets frustrating trying to talk to conservatives when all of their theories boil down to "government control" or "leftist agenda". These don't really mean anything outside of the right wing bubble.
Your billionaires fund reactionary projects. Ours talk about the Open Society. Remember, Soros first gave a lot of money to groups resisting communism. Is that sinister?
The problem is that privatized health insurance fails because of adverse selection. See Health Care Dynamics.
Liberals are the only people in any society who EVER have new ideas! Liberals are where new ideas COME FROM!
CONSERVATIVES, by the very nature of their philosophy, noyt only CAN'T have new ideas, but FEAR those that do come up. Conservatism is an exercise in orthodoxy, an irrational clinging to old ideas, long after they've been proven to be ineeffective or outright false.
What's more the conservtaioves of any generation are just those that have finally accepted the ideas tha the liberals of 1-2 generations brought into practice. ALL social progress in EVERY GENERATION is made by liberals. Conservitives just get dragged along.
You people are pathetic, always behind the curve of history as time and progress march mercilessly on without you.
TO be fair... BarackObama.com is NOT truly "grassroots" - it's the candidates own website! (Duh!) But his campain DID have far more grass-roots support as evidence by the amount of money given in small amounts by private citizens as opposed to in large amounts given by corporations and lobbyists. (And esp relative to the same proportions in McCain's campaign.)
But if your "group" requires the constant endorsement, instruction, planning and resource of a huge corporation like Fox News, or the RNC for that matter, it IS NOT grass-roots. I don't care WHAT cause it's fighting for.
MoveOn is a couple of guys and a computer who watched the shenanigans you guys pulled during the impeachment, and agitated for society to "Move on," thus their name. They had very little money. Only what they could raise on the web.
Oh, I forgot. You've been sold the ludicrous idea that Move On and Acorn are a deep c-o-n-s-p-i-r-a-c-y to control our minds. Right.
Instead, we get organized mobs trained to yell and scream and not allow "free speech" to happen. That's brownshirt behavior.
Contrast that to the Code Pink people. They would have demonstrations. That's their right. They would hold up signs in committee rooms, with a prior agreement from some chairmen. If any of them yell, the guards or the capitol police take them away. One woman stood up at the State of the Union, and she was arrested.
If yo0u are a Democrat; just shut and and be thankful we Gawd-furrin' "patriots" let you live...
He who screams 'Patriotism!' the loudest believes it least.
William Samuel Johnson
I like this one better:
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.
Mark Twain
What is equally disturbing about this misleading piece, is the comparison of Code Pink, which is an organization which is know for unruly protests and people who genuinely oppose the government takeover of healthcare. This is even a far reach for MMfA.
“They should Tase this guy,”
Any other brilliant observations from upside down wacky world you'd like to share?
"They should tase this guy."
Enjoy your looooong stay in wacky world.
please disregard my question to you above. I now see that you can't understand what is copied and pasted, spoon fed to you and put right in front of your face. You're exempted from any discussion.
No, you moe-ron. You're wrong! You didn't even read the quote, and now you're cheesed off at being caught? Just STFU and clean up your mother's basement, loser...
They literally can't be taught.
(and I think they're unbearably self-important and deluded - The Code Pink protests in Berkeley outside the recruiting office, with Rob Riggle of The Daily Show, were totally inane. I know small store managers nearby whose already struggling businesses were decimated for nearly a week),
...they aren't threatening others.
What don't you understand? He then goes on to openly speculate that with security so high and tension on edge,he wouldn't be surprised(and no doubt fervently hoped)that someone would be tased or beaten to a pulp.
Further,don't you think this "genuine" opposition to the government "takeover" of healthcare is being pumped up by FOX's panting,frothing promotions?And do you honestly believe that corporate operatives are NOT behind this self serving garbage?Pu-leeeeeeeeeeze.
he was clearly against the tasing of the protestor at the John Kerry
speech.
this is appropriate:
We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are.
Anais Nin
code pink should be emulated by CIA operatives, how do they get into congressional hearings or political gatherings and get past 'security'. Is security provided by the mayberry police department that time and time again, some broad starts hollering over someone's testimony or speech? And what are they screaming about anyway?
code pink should be emulated by CIA operatives, how do they get into congressional hearings or political gatherings and get past 'security'. Is security provided by the mayberry police department that time and time again, some broad starts hollering over someone's testimony or speech? And what are they screaming about anyway?