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Megyn Kelly may be "smart" -- but is her television show?

February 17, 2010 11:27 am ET by Jamison Foser

Apparently it's "Megyn Kelly Is Smart" week at the Washington Post Co.  

Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz writes today: "Having profiled Megyn Kelly awhile back, I can tell you that the lawyer-turned-journalist is smart."  He then quoted Troy Patterson's recent Slate profile of Kelly, in which he praised her for having "a former lawyer's precision with language." (Slate is owned by the Washington Post company.)

Now, I've never met Megyn Kelly.  But the odds are pretty good that she is smart.  Maybe she even makes Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates look like morons.  But ... well, there's this:

Fox's Kelly claims polls don't "look good for Obama" on terrorism, but her own evidence and Fox poll disagree

Fox's Kelly repeats discredited falsehood about stimulus funds for "abandoned train station"

Oops ... In report on "science czar" and "regulatory czar," Fox's Kelly acknowledges they're "not really" czars

Fox's Kelly minimizes Alito's link to "conservative alumni group" -- but Alito didn't

Sessions contradicts Megyn Kelly's claim that Sotomayor needs a GOP vote to get out of committee

Kelly claimed Alito's wife was "crying hysterically after Ted Kennedy made her cry"

Fox News' Kelly mocked ACORN for accurate statement about Florida registration law

Fox News' Kelly asked whether Michelle Obama gave "her critics fodder" with word she didn't say

After teasing story by saying "Obama makes a little girl cry," Fox News' Kelly acknowledged it was not true

Granted, anchoring a live television show isn't easy.  Anybody doing such a job is going to make some mistakes.  Those blunders don't prove that Kelly isn't as smart as Kurtz and Patterson say. (And they might not even be blunders -- they might be intentional dishonesty.)  But it's more than a little strange that these reporters are so quick to praise Kelly's intelligence and precision with language without ever assessing whether her on-air performance reflects that intelligence and precision.  Or what it says about Kelly --and Fox -- that such a smart person would make such false claims.

Tags: Fox News Channel, The Washington Post, Howard Kurtz, Slate Magazine, Megyn Kelly

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    • Author by IRONY 101 (February 17, 2010 12:03 pm ET)
      5  
      It's not Megyn Kelly's intelligence that I question...it's her character.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by clams casino (February 17, 2010 12:30 pm ET)
      5  
      This reminds of how Megan McArdle, the dumb-as-a-post "econo-blogger" for the Atlantic, was so often touted for her looks and her smarts that it just became conventional wisdom. Even her detractors routinely refer to her as smart and attractive, even though it clearly isn't true. Well, attractive is subjective, but come on.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© (February 17, 2010 12:49 pm ET)
        1  
        Even her detractors routinely refer to her as smart and attractive...

        I recommend you check out this detractor.

        (For a refreshing change of pace.)
        ~
        Report Abuse
        • Author by clams casino (February 17, 2010 2:34 pm ET)
             
          Even they're guilty from time to time. In fact, they all seem to hold to the belief that she's attractive, and Brad will sometimes argue from the stand that she's smart but dishonest.
          Report Abuse
    • Author by pongotwistleton (February 17, 2010 12:32 pm ET)
      2 4
      Just glancing at Kelly's profile on wikipedia, I imagine her intellect would match up pretty favorably against a twit like Jamison Foser. My experience with the law firm of Jones Day is that they screen their associates fairly exhaustively, and to be employed by them indicates she must be pretty intelligent. Judging from what I've seen of Foser's commentary and writing ability, my guess is that an outfit like Jones Day wouldn't hire him to even dictate letters. . ..
      Report Abuse
      • Author by steeve (February 17, 2010 9:42 pm ET)
           
        "Judging from what I've seen of Foser's commentary and writing ability"

        Aside from "technically this isn't conservative misinformation", I can't recall seeing a single complaint against MMFA that the complainer attempted to back up. It's stunning.

        At this point, I'm not even asking that the backup be true or cogent. I'm merely asking that it exist. Here Foser apparently sucks, but for absolutely no reason at all. Elsewhere, MMFA will "repeatedly lie" without the accuser even trying to list a single one of them.

        I'm used to people being wrong. It's fun to talk to them. But I don't know what to do with this.
        Report Abuse
      • Author by steeve (February 17, 2010 9:47 pm ET)
           
        And oh yeah, I'll just state right here that pongotwistleton has had no experience with the law firm of Jones Day. The time saved by stating that without asking outweighs the chance of my being wrong.
        Report Abuse
    • Author by shaggles (February 17, 2010 12:38 pm ET)
      2  
      Reminds me a bit of that article in Time(?) last year about what a swell guy and devout Hebrew Michael Savage is. Or how people used to talk about what a fun guy Dubya was.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by progressivevoicedaily (February 17, 2010 12:41 pm ET)
      1 1
      She must have been a prosecutor. Who in their right mind would hire a defense lawyer like her?? She probably represented large corporations.
      Report Abuse

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