Media Matters: Fox's 2012 GOP Influence
In a November ad for their special series "Fox News Reporting: The Challengers for 2012," Fox News promised "unrivaled access" to "the GOP's top White House contenders." Such access, however, isn't hard when correspondents just have to walk down the hall.
That Fox News helps Republicans get their message across to their conservative base -- long documented and publicly acknowledged by Republican officials -- is nothing new. But what's unprecedented is the level of influence one news organization can exert on a party's presidential primary, and the rest of the media's coverage of that primary, by simple fact of who is on its payroll.
Fox News employs five Republicans considering runs for the GOP nomination: Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and John Bolton. All five regularly appear on the network through exclusive contracts and all five have used their employment to position themselves for their respective possible runs.
Take the cases of Rick Santorum and John Bolton -- two potential candidates who have so little chance of winning the nomination that Fox didn't even include them in their twelve challenger profiles.
Both would largely be out of the public spotlight if not for their Fox News contracts, yet Santorum -- who lost his Senate seat to Bob Casey (D-PA) by 17 points in 2006 -- has appeared on the Fox programs America's Nightly Scoreboard (twice), America's Newsroom (twice), The Willis Report (twice), America Live, On the Record (twice) and Varney & Company (twice, as a "special guest") in the past two weeks.
During the same time, Bolton has appeared as a foreign policy and national security expert on America's News HQ (where he has a regular slot), Follow The Money, America's Newsroom (twice), America Live, Fox & Friends, Hannity, On the Record, and Varney & Company (as a "special guest"!).
On the other side of the spectrum is Sarah Palin, who has little trouble attracting attention. But as her TLC program and public comments indicate, Palin prefers a certain type of attention in which she can tightly control the messaging. It's no wonder then that her media appearances have mostly come within the friendly confines of Fox News, where she can pass on debunked theories and pal around with conservative opinion makers like Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck.
After leaving public office in disgrace, Newt Gingrich signed his "first television deal since leaving Congress" with Fox News in 1999. Since then, Fox News has treated him like royalty during his attempted rehabilitation. Gingrich has hosted Fox News Specials on college costs, religion, international gangs and bird flu (yes, bird flu). On one day in 2009, Fox dispatched a reporter to provide round-the-clock coverage to a Gingrich-convened "Jobs Summit." Last year, during a typical softball interview, a Fox "straight news" program directed viewers to Gingrich's GOP tour and website.
Mike Huckabee is the only Fox candidate with a regularly scheduled show, the weekend talker Huckabee. Huckabee's show has always been closely tied to his political machine: the show was first announced in a statement posted on his political action committee and, according to the New York Post (via Nexis), "not, as is customary, from the network."
Since then, Huckabee has unsurprisingly used his program to position himself for a potential political run. The former Arkansas governor has used Fox News' airwaves to grow his PAC and email lists directly (he touted the address of an email catcher website run by his PAC) and indirectly, through regular solicitations to give "feedback" to MikeHuckabee.com, which conveniently links to his PAC and an email signup page. Huckabee has also used his program's guest list as an extension of his PAC.
But why wouldn't Huckabee run? Again, Fox News' influence comes into play.
In November 2009, Huckabee remarked on Fox News Sunday that if he doesn't run for president, it's because "this Fox gig I got right now" is "really, really wonderful." Last month, conservative columnist Jonah Goldberg wrote that there's "growing buzz" that Huckabee "may not run because he's got a big new contract with Fox News in the works" (a Huckabee aide responded that there were no Fox talks). Financial considerations could also come into play for Palin, who reportedly makes $1 million a year with Fox News.
According to Politico, Fox "indicated that once any of the candidates declares for the presidency he or she will have to sever the deal with the network." ABC's George Stephanopoulos noted that the Fox candidates may actually delay their announcements to reap the benefits of the Fox cocoon for as long as possible. Reporter Claire Shipman replied that Fox's "very healthy platform" allows the Fox candidates to keep visible without spending money early.
The potential delay of their "official" announcements means that the Fox candidates can also compile staff and resources while still cashing a paycheck.
Huckabee, Palin and Gingrich have Fox-promoted groups ready to convert to campaign mode if each chooses to run. Santorum has already hired a staff member (for his PAC) in the important primary state of New Hampshire and, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader, is "expected to formally" announce "in the spring." And Bolton is reportedly "very serious about a presidential bid and has begun to speak with potential staff."
During this non-"official" period, the Fox candidates can also cite their Fox contract as a reason to decline appearances on other news organizations who may offer a tougher environment than Fox (a low bar). Indeed, Politico reported that "C-SPAN Political Editor Steve Scully said that when C-SPAN tried to have Palin on for an interview, he was told he had to first get Fox's permission -- which the network, citing her contract, ultimately denied. Producers at NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN and MSNBC all report similar experiences."
Fox's 2012 situation has a parallel in something that happened in the 2010 midterms with former Fox News host and contributor John Kasich.
After leaving Congress in 2001, Kasich openly considered running for higher public office and joined Fox News to keep himself in public view. A former Kasich pollster told the Columbus Dispatch in 2002 that Kasich was "leaving himself in a position so that if something happens, he is as well-situated as somebody else."
On March 27, 2008, the Dispatch reported that Kasich announced "he is paving the way now for a gubernatorial bid" and quoted Kasich stating: "I'm going to go forward even more aggressively, and we're going to continue to ramp it up (for a gubernatorial run)." But Fox News didn't take him off the air -- presumably because he still hadn't "officially" announced his candidacy -- and by the time he formally announced his bid on June 1, 2009, Kasich had logged more than 100 Fox News segments as a guest host or contributor.
In a column last November, Condi vs. Hillary: The Next Great Presidential Race author Dick Morris wrote that the "GOP primaries of 12 will be held on Fox News. ... we will see all the candidates on Fox News. Not just in debates, but in frequent appearances on the opinion and news shows on the network." For once, it seems Morris is right.
2 of the best in history... get some actual facts then come back and post
What is your definition of "effective"?
I've seen this posted by you twice now, max. You do understand that it's pretty much a ceremonial vote, right, as Boehner was going in with the new majority ? And those Dems voted for other Dems and each other?
That's not really being dumped by ones party, even in the bizarre world of right wing lunacy.
You do understand that she won easily as minority leader, right ?
You understand that Pelosi was re-elected to congress for ( I believe) the 11th time, right.
Seriously, get some new sources. You just make yourself look like more of an idiot with every pile of goop you post here.
I am guessing you are saying they have been effective in a good way.
Why do you hate America?
Bill Clinton & Barney Frank presided over the financial debacle that was Fannie & Freddie. Slick Willie & his Socialist ilk wanted to force banks to ignore sound lending practices in order to get minorities home loans. Banks were threatened if they didn't comply & then the Fed got into the loan guarantee business. Somebody forgot to educate those getting the loans about the "extra" costs of home ownership & the pitfalls of adjustable rate mortgages.
All the time Fannie & Freddie were sinking we had Barney Frank saying everything is OK. Remember, Barney was IN CHARGE of Fannie & Freddy when it blew up and denied anything was wrong until it sunk, but by that time the bad paper had been sold across the planet because DEMOCRATS changed finance laws that alllowed the selling of debt derivatives across the planet.
Barney is a a piece of work. He should have stuck to playing in the gay brothel his boyfriend was running out of his DC home, the same boyfriend who racked up all the traffic tickets that Barney had to ILLEGALY fix with the cops. The socialist meatheads in MA re-elected him which goes to show how stupid people in MA are. They should have put the tunnel through his fat head with space to spare.
If you hate America so much why don't you quit crying about it and just move? I doubt anyone would mind.
He does seem to have pretty poor reading comprehension, so that may be a big part of the problem.
Check out this thread, where his twig is snapped by an idea suggested by BigJournalism, which he mistakenly thinks is made by some unnnamed "socialists", and continues on another unhinged rant against said "socialists", who never suggested the thing that made him lose his marbles.
The congresswoman was on Sarah Palin's "bullseye" map. It might have nothing to do with that, but I'd put those odds pretty high.
I know we laugh at these wingnuts a lot, but it's sobering to think of the more unstable ones who buy all of this crap.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-naw-giffords-20110109,0,2644556.story
All you socialists know is big government, more regulations, more taxes, more taxes, more taxes & even more taxes. There are those in Russia who want the return of communism because they could depend on the state to feed, clothe & house them. They would rather be slaves with a roof over their head than a free person with opportunity.
We have people like that in this country & most of them voted for Obama, a man with no real experience and who can't form sentences unless he has a teleprompter in front of his face. Why anyone would vote for a guy who rose to the top of the totally corrupt Chicago political machine is a mystery to me, but then the morons in Venezuela just voted to let their socialist dictator rule by decree. Just goes to show that socialists are cowardly idiots.
Maxconrad seems to really believe that we have had a significant socialist political movement in this country. He seems to think that there is an active political movement to have the government own and operate the means of production.
His analysis of energy and economic imbalances conveniently overlooks the role played by powerful corporations who distort the market with the aid of their political allies.
Maxconrad wants us to ignore the last 30 years of free market pro business bipartisan consensus.
Socialism? Sounds like something people used to talk about back when grandma was having kids
Obama is a Black Liberation theologists and possibly a secret Muslim.
Obama has a deep seated hatred of white people
Obama might have been sorta, kinda, maybe actually been born in Kenya.
Obama dresses inappropriately by wearing fancy pants.
Obama dresses inappropriately by wearing less than fancy sandals.
The host of a Fox News opinion show tells us there are death panels.
A Fox News contributor tells us there are death panels.
A Fox News anchor tells us there are death panels.
A Fox News half term, half wit tells us there are death panels.
Obama's trip to India cost $200 million per day.
Obama and George Soros have something to do with a coming violent revolution.
Obama pals around with terrorists.
Oh, and on the subject of Obama somehow being connected to knife attacks, well, Fox News has already covered that as well.
So, a mind control ray? No, you won't hear any of the regulars here make that charge against Fox, but we've got plenty of reasons to believe their lie filled, propaganda filled broadcast have a similar effect on those who embrace hate and ignorance.
You should really think about what you are saying. The US has shut down refineries over the last 40 years. If demand were truly up, we would be building new refineries.
You are perpetuating disinformation.
Also, our dependency on foreign oil has increased under republican/conservative guidance.
We need to take a large step into the future and rethink our energy policies. Horse and train interested didn't want to change 130 years ago.
How easily you've forgotten Bush push for minority home ownership.Bush, in 2002, standing side by side with Franklin Raines and Leland Brendsel at the St. Paul AME Church on the south side of Atlanta. They President was there to unveil his initiative aimed at helping 5.5 million minority family buy homes before the end of the decade---"part of being a secure America, Bush said, "is to encourage home ownership."
And then, it's 2003, Armando Falcon ran the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, a tiny government agency that oversaw Fannie & Freddie. In February 2003, he was finishing a blockbuster report that warned the pillars could crumble.
Mr. Falcon's report outlines a worst-case situation in which Fannie & Freddie could default on debt, setting off "contagious ill-liquidity in the market", aka, financial meltdown. He also raised red flags about companies soaring use of derivatives, the complex financial instruments that economic experts now blame for spreading the housing collapse.
On the day Mr. Falcon issued his report, the Bush White House tried to fire him.
At the time Fannie & Freddie were allies in the president's quest to drive up home ownership rates; Franklin D. Raines, then Fannies chief executive has fond memories of visiting Mr. Bush in the Oval office and flying aboard Air Force One to a housing event. "They loved us," he said.
So when Mr. Falcon refused to deep-six his report, Mr. Raines took his complaints to top Treasury officials and the White House. "I'm going to do what I need to do to defend my company and my position," Mr. Raines told Mr. Falcon.
Days later, as Mr. Falcon was in New York preparing to deliver a speech about his finding, his cellphone rang. It was the White House personnel office, he said, telling him he was about to be unemployed.
His warning's were buried in the next day's new coverage, trumped by the White House announcement that Mr. Bush would replace Mr. Falcon, a Democrat appointed by Bill Clinton, with Mark C. Brickel, a leader in the derivatives industry that Mr. Falcon's report had flagged.
Mr. Brickel's nomination was later withdrawn and the Bush White House decided to support Mr. Falcon's original report.
The reason? self-preservation.
After the Enron scandal, the Bush White House didn't want to be associated with another business scandal.
The Reckoning White House Philosophy Stoked Mortgage Bonfire...
The Fall of Fannie Mae...
I guess it was the Republicans fault.
Can't you pathetic losers do anything except whine about FOX? If you think that the other networks don't have an agenda you are truly stupid! Soros funds this propoganda sheet! Why?
BECAUSE HE HAS AN AGENDA! So does CBS, MSNBC, ABC, NPR, CNN, etc.....
So does FOX. The media ALWAYS HAS & ALWAYS WILL! If you really think that FOX is the only network with bias then you are brain damaged beyond repair
It took a week for the New York Times to report on allegations about the unions screwing New York during the blizzard, and then they buried it on page A20something.
You think that happened by accident?
SPJ Code of Ethics
Distinguish between advocacy and news reporting. Analysis and commentary should be labeled and not misrepresent fact or context.
Make certain that headlines, news teases and promotional material, photos, video, audio, graphics, sound bites and quotations do not misrepresent. They should not oversimplify or highlight incidents out of context.
— Never distort the content of news photos or video. Image enhancement for technical clarity is always permissible. Label montages and photo illustrations.
Look here at Faux deliberately distorting the photos of 2 Jewish journalist that just happenened to diagree with them:http://mediamatters.org/research/200807020002
Faux violates this daily:
Act Independently
Journalists should be free of obligation to any interest other than the public's right to know.
Journalists should:
—Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived.
— Remain free of associations and activities that may compromise integrity or damage credibility.
— Refuse gifts, favors, fees, free travel and special treatment, and shun secondary employment, political involvement, public office and service in community organizations if they compromise journalistic integrity.
— Disclose unavoidable conflicts.
— Be vigilant and courageous about holding those with power accountable.
— Deny favored treatment to advertisers and special interests and resist their pressure to influence news coverage.
— Be wary of sources offering information for favors or money; avoid bidding for news.
Faux is not a news agency it is the propaganda arm of the Republican party and nothing more. Stikingly the Univ. of Maryland study found that the more a person watches Faux for it's news the less informed they are.
http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp
Anyway, glad I could the confusion you seemed to be having about these progressive big brother lovers. You can't change their thinking. Their minds have been made permanently closed by the indoctrination they received while attending public schools.
So, since we are not libertarian conservatives, we can only be big brother lovers. Yep folks, this is window into mentality of many modern conservatives. No wonder they are so gullible to propaganda.
You do know what their mantra is, do you not? Its: We're right, everyone who disagrees is wrong and an idiot, so just accept our hallucinogenic inspired narrative as gospel.
If I didn't know any better, I'd say this describes the Glen Beck approach.
Obama is a moderate democrat... but not in conservative la la land. Since he is not a libertarian conservative (and for some because he has big ears), he can only be a tad right of Stalin and a tad left of Hitler according to people like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michelle Savage, Billy O, All those conservative blond chicks, all those Fox morning people, all those tea party people, Neil Bortz...
Project21( you stole your name from a rightwing think tank) and Max you guys like Fox because their narrative is what you want reality to be. The truth is not part of the GOP or Fox narrative i.e.
-conseravtives drove us into debt in 8 years.
-conservative allowed the budget not to be balanced
-conservatives started two wars: one that was totally fictitious and another one that is not truly winable
-$360 million a day for 2 wars
-$800 billion on military budget
-higher levels of pollution
-deregulation in energy, housing and intelligence.
-Mercenaries used for military and intelligence
-conservative( the vulcans in particular) destabilized many region with a highly flawed foreign policy program by Dick Cheney, Scooter Libby and Condolezza Rice.
All the above statements are factual and true and represent the GOP.
Name one independent journalism award that Fox News has won ?
Name one truly well thought out investigative report produced by Fox?
Name a Fox journalist that is repsected out side of Fox?
Name an instance where Fox did not side with GOP talking points?
Fox has 3 GOP presidentla candidates on tehir payrole. Also, Karl Rove, Rodger Ailes and many others are members of the GOP. This does not exist at ANY other news organization.
You keep harping about people questioning Fox's POV ( point of view). It is obvious that Fox is Propatainment.
I worked as an analyst who examined groups and their behaviour. I examined propaganda for years. Fox is propaganda. They even report their other shows as sources.
Fox is " American Al-Jeezera". Fox has the same chest beating, ultra zealous patriotism. It is ultra nationalistic and blindly idoelogical. They talk about myths and illusions everyday. They want you to believe those myths so you don't notice the scam.
CBS, ABC and NBC are not the same. When they make mistakes they make retraction and corrections. Journalism is about reporting facts and asking hard questions of those involved. Journalists are not always impartial. Walter Kronkite would sometimes be critical of events. But he did not use furnished talking points from the Heritage Fondation.
You are being enslaved the Lords of Illusion.
Biden quote: "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man." Biden talking about candidate Obama. If a republican said this he would be vilified in the "mainstream" press.
Biden quote: "Look, John's last-minute economic plan does nothing to tackle the number-one job facing the middle class, and it happens to be, as Barack says, a three-letter word: jobs. J-O-B-S, jobs." Biden can't count to "4".
Telling wheelchair bound Missouri Senator Chuck Graham to stand up to be recognized at a rally. "Chuck, stand up, let the people see you." This speaks for itself.
Calling Obama "Barack America." While introducing Barack Obama at a rally in August of 2008, Biden said, "This election year, the choice is clear. One man stands ready to go for change we so desperately need. A man I proudly call my friend. A man who will be the next President of the United States -- Barack America..."
Biden quote: "I got tested for AIDS. I know Barack got tested for AIDS. There is no shame in being tested for AIDS..."
Biden quote: "We need to keep spending money so we don't go bankrupt." Typical socialist idiocy regarding basic math.
Biden quote: "In Delaware, the largest portion of the population is Indian-Americans," said Biden. "You cannot go to a 7-11 or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.... I'm not joking." Did anyone call him a racist for this joke? Of course not!
While addressing the issue of swine flu prevention, Biden said, "I would tell members of my family - and I have - I wouldn't go anywhere in confined places now. It's not just going to Mexico, if you're in a confined aircraft and one person sneezes it goes all the way through the aircraft. That's me. I would not be at this point, if they had another way of transportation, suggesting they ride the subway. If you're out in the middle of a field and someone sneezes, that's one thing. If you're in a closed aircraft or a closed container, a closed car, a closed classroom, it's a different thing."
This is our VP. Obama picked him. Any questions?
Yeah. Does it hurt to be as stupid as you are, or is it more of a comfy feeling ?
Of course the hate-wingers have to keep bringing up all these old talking points while MMFA keeps us up-to-date daily on the all out LIES that faux puts out. DAILY!
I think there is a difference.
New lies daily
Months old copy/paste uncredited entries.
Hmm.......
We just had a president for 8 years that said" Mission Accomplished" in Iraq. And you worry about Biden?
We just had a president for 8 years that spent our country into massive debt. And you worry about Biden?
We just had a president for 8 years that subverted the constitution under the Patriot Act. And you worry about Biden ?
We just had a vice president for 8 years that lined his friends pockets at Haliburton. And you worry about Biden ?
We just had a president for 8 years that spent $380 million dollars a day on two wars that we are still fighting.And you worry about Biden ?
We just had a presidetn for 8 years that destabilized the Middle East and empowered our enemies like Iran. And you are worried about Biden.
That is like complaining about dropping pennies while dollars fly out the window.
The list goes on. Cheney...Rice...Rumsfeld...Wolfawitz...Libby..etc...
You want to talk about how the Democrats were pro-slavery during the Civil War & tried to sabotage Lincoln at every turn? Those Democrats said the Civil War could not be won.
Blame Bush, blame Cheney, blame FOX News, call all those who disagree racists....
....the Democrats are on their way out and the air smells all the better for it.
Interesting sense of proportion and time.
Seems to me that you consider thinking about last week "stepping into the way back machine".
I really wish stupidity was painful.
Once again, being factually wrong is not just a "different perspective", it's called being wrong. Why is that so tough for you Corporatist Homophobic Uninformed Manipulated Punks ?
How about if you pointed out specifically where MMFA's clip is altered by missing context? It's something that you nuts are asked to do all the time, but you always cut & run. Nobody's really falling for the "watch the whole show and it makes sense" BS.
But why don't you start a trend? be the first of the CHUMPs to back your sh*t up.
Now scoot off and add this to your long list of kicking a$$ you've done here. LOL.
Do you remember, a couple of years ago, when Sarah Palin was asked which periodicals she read on a regular basis?
Her eyes glassed over, she stammered a little, and I think she was going to " get back to" the reporter on that.
But she did give an answer. She said " All of them!".
Do you remember that a lot of people were laughing at her ? Maybe you don't, or you couldn't figure out why it was funny, as this probably seemed like a perfectly acceptable answer to you.
That's why people are laughing at you here. When you make a claim, that MMFA is taking things out of context, and are asked for a specific example, "every thread MM puts up is dishonest..." might cut it in Right Wing World, but it's a joke in the real world.
It's the sort of answer a small child would give.
Here's what you need to do, if you don't want to be a joke;
1. Point out a specific item that MMFA is being dishonest about.
2. Provide a link to the original text or video that you think is being misrepresented.
3. Indicate where the important omission is (i.e., " at 2:30 into the video" or " On page two, third paragraph,...".
4. Explain clearly how the additional material changes the context.
When you successfully do that, you can take off the red rubber nose and the floppy shoes for a little while.
I've watched a lot of Fox "news", I listen to a lot of right wing radio, and , no, I don't see dishonesty on MMFA's part. In fact, I see even more dishonesty on the part of the right when I see or hear more context.
Just admit it. You're writing things here that you want to be true. But you can't come up with any facts to support your hallucinations. Everybody sees this but you. And with every post you add, weaseling out of backing yourself up, you make yourself more and more of a clown.
"Everything!" is not a specific example. It's a childish cop-out.
Well, we could offer this.
That's the way it works.
You've been offering your "MMFA lies!" lines for quite some time now, and you've yet to offer anything to back your claims. You're lying. Prove it. Or shut up.
Well dude, there is your easy out, then. You should be able to just pick one, any one, and give us factual evidence that they are dishonest.
Since you never have before, I don't expect that you will do so now. You will continue your claim that "I do it all the time" and that "all of them are, just look", instead of backing up your idiocy with facts.
We all know that the reason you consistently fail to produce evidence for this MMFA dishonesty is that there is not any.
Fact up or shut up.
Between that and "Soros" it could be pretty fun!
>Drink!<
Your replies to most people here are pretty lame overall, and the lamest ones usually contain you saying "chief" to them.
Perhaps you could post just ONE intelligent piece of proof like Andy has asked you to do above and I would (and many others here perhaps) would take you more seriously.
:)
Just sayin'
OK, I'll take a minute to hold your hand through this one, since you seem confused as usual.
I have no idea what race you are, and I don't care. To anybody who can read, I was obviously referring to the CHUMPs who believe and defend Fox "news", and those who think lies are simply another viewpoint.
"Uninformed" has very little to do with formal education. I know people with multiple degrees who are in the same boat as you. It's a willful ignorance that's independent of book larnin'.
"Common knowledge" is sometimes just what you've been told to believe.
Please focus on the parts of your post following "Oh, I get it..." and "In other words...". This is where, rather than reading what I wrote, you relied on your own thinking to interpret, and you ended up badly lost.
You've somehow mangled what I think was a pretty clear comment about the Fox "news" audience into "hostility" towards Blacks and Hispanics. Or " hispanic's", if you prefer.
Fact: In general, people who seek out news and commentary are better informed on matters than those that do not seek out news and commentary. Fact: Fox is a news and commentary network, that leans to the right. Fact: More people seek out Fox for their news and commentary, consistently, then they do any other source of news and commentary. Conclusion: Fox viewers are better informed.
But if the rest of your post is an indication of what passes for logic in your brain, then I can understand why you believe that you ( and 1mentalgnat) have a pretty successful record here.
Let's apply your method to another topic, one that, hopefully, you're not as emotionally invested in as you are in right wing propaganda. ( I'm going to spot you your third fact. Mostly because I'm a sporting and fair guy, and I don't mind giving you wingnuts a little help, but also because it's completely meaningless and irrelevant to the point).
Do you agree with my conclusion?
If not, can you explain why I arrived at a faulty conclusion using your logical process?
* I don't know if this is a fact, but it's at least as true as your "fact" that more people use Fox than any other source.
I was wrong. You were willing to take the position that McDonald's serves the healthiest food in the world.
I don't think you believe this, but I'll keep it in mind, that you're willing to say you believe this rather than re-think your crappy logic.
In fact, I'll keep that in mind any time I try to have a rational conversation with you.
a) it was funny to watch
and
b) I didn't want to be the only one that wasted time and energy trying to be logical with this idiot.
Nice, you pretty much scientifically proved him to be an idiot though, thanks.
Project you are so funny...
Eventually, they will go away. The Tea Party will fade away because the GOP has lied to them.
I really find your belief in all the myths of the rightwing interesting. You should join a militia if you haven't already.
"...Glide Memorial Church is a church in San Francisco, California, affiliated with the United Methodist Church that opened in 1929. Although conservative until the 1960s, since then it has served as a counter-culture rallying point and has been one of the most prominently liberal churches in the United States. Glide is also famous for its Gospel Choir and numerous social service programs. Its contributions to the community have been recognized by such respected figures as Maya Angelou, Oprah Winfrey, and Bill Clinton; as well as Warren Buffett, who famously contributed the value of an auctioned lunch on eBay.[1]"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glide_Memorial_Church
All fox does is present political issues to people who have an interests in politic, as well as present the news. They do so from a conservative perspective.
Anyone catch the contradiction. FOX seems to feel the conservative perspective is presumed to be the only valid one to present to people who have an interest in politics. Yet Project21reps wants us to believe that hubris by definition belongs on the left.
This web site stands as a monument to right wing hubris where the conservative perspective is considered to be the only valid one. How dare media matters question the conservative perspective and its media promoters.
I watch fox news and listen to all your conservative heroes on the radio as well.
You are the one that said FOX presents the news with a conservative perspective - not a controversial opinion I might add. Fox claims to be fair and balanced yet fair and balanced on Fox, as you admit, is the conservative perspective. With Fox, the balanced view is that the conservative view is the only valid view to have.
What is really embarrassing about your post is that so many conservative media celebrities and pundits base their whole message on the idea is that the conservative perspective is the only valid one. Yet somehow this immature view is projected to us.
This website does not claim anywhere that the liberal view is the only valid one. It does identify and debunk conservative misinformation, which for some reason seems to flourish.
When present with their lies, you defend them. Being lied to seems OK with you. Why?
You know, you have several posts in this thread, and none of them contain any facts. Do you have anything to say that isn't tautology?
It is funny that you simply make empty claims with nothing to back it up. Rhetoric is weak, it never solves problems it only allows for distraction.
You do really like distraction.
Proof?
By the way, hallucinations are a symptom of mental instability. There are no mainstream media networks advocating communism. Also no easter bunny or Santa Claus either...
Like most conservative they redefine words to suit their needs:
-balance simply means they want their POV to be represented even when it is erroneous or flawed i.e. intelligent design
-liberty for a conservative means being allowed to openly hate homosexuels and say they are damned.
-freedom for conservative means not being taxed and allowing corporations to pollute.
-big government doesn't refer to the size of government but instead refers to how the money is being spent i.e.education rather than defence.
Fox viewers have no idea what the differnce between a Sunni, Shi'a ,Sufi , Alawi or Isma'ili muslim are. They are told to fear and they do what their masters at Fox tell them.
Fox viewers have no idea how science works but they are told climate change is not real or influenced by man's presence, so they do as told by Fox news.
The manipulation of this small segment is classic propaganda. they are told to be loud and disruptive so they are. This makes them appear to be more influential than they really are.
Fox repeats stories over and over and over until the real press picks it up.The story is often shown to be false or not what Fox claimed. But their viewers simply move on to the next topic du jour.
Lie...lie...repeat...smile...belittle...repeat...lie...gop talking point. this is the formual at Fox.
Fight the Lords of Illusion.
Do you really believe that the following are all rights, not privileges?
1. Health Care
2. Loans
3. Employment
4. A car
Just to name a few off the top of my head.
2-Loans...NO...Loans are to make people indentured servants.
3-Employment...Nope
4-A car...NO...
I don;t think those last three things are being advocated by any progresives.
One of these things is not like the other....one of these things doesn't belong.
Hey conservatives do you really believe these are rights:
1-destroying the planet
2-exploiting the oppresed
3-selling your vote
4-lying to the citizens of your country to make a buck
5-ignoring the constitution ( Patriot Act)
Credit to you for at least asking, and not just blindly swallowing like most Fox fans. There's hope for you.
And for Maimon,
Everything you mentioned are neither rights nor privileges.
If you ask me, "ensuring the welfare of the people" by giving them free Health Care you are also ensuring more pollution. So I guess you are the one for destroying the planet.
The Patriot Act does not bother me because I have nothing to hide.
The rest are just dumb comments because both parties can be accused.
How?
On average 20 people pollute more than 10 people.
Do you see where I am going with this?
The more people, the more pollution.
Living is a privilege. If it wasn't then abortions would be illegal.
I'm not sure where so many Fox fans got the idea that everybody who doesn't watch Fox religiously watches MSNBC all day. Most people get their news from a range of sources. Some watch Fox and MSNBC, some don't watch TV at all. The Fox base is probably the only group that really clings to one source, and is afraid to mix it up.
But let's go with your point. You've already demonstrated that you were given some weird ideas about "what liberals believe". What are the made-up things about conservatives that MSNBC tells its viewers?
What I have gathered from MSNBC (Mainly Ed Schultz) is that all conservatives,
1. Hate gay people.
2. Love rich people.
3. Want to raise taxes on everyone except rich people.
4. Want everyone to die because we don't support a government run health care.
5. Hate Muslims.
6. Praise Glenn Beck.
7. Agree with everything on Fox.
Let me know if I should keep going.
The difference between Schultz and someone like Beck is that Beck's theories of liberal views are baseless and don't correlate with the views of most, if not, all American liberals.
I don't think there is a sizeable population of liberals who wish to instate communist economics or create a Muslim state in America. On the other hand, its proven that, at least, a sizeable minority of conservatives are opposed to gay rights, religious rights, and progressive change.
Ed Schultz may be opinionated but he isn't pulling this stuff out of his ass.
I've only seen the Ed Schultz show a few times, so I can't say that he hasn't said those things. I like Rachel Maddow's show, and try to catch that one, and I've never heard her generalize about all conservatives that way.
We can compare. I don't think I've ever met a liberal who thinks a car, or a home, or a loan, is a guaranteed right.
I know Republicans/ right wingers ( I don't generally use the term "conservative" to describe Fox fans) who hate gays, worship the rich, hate Muslims and agree with just about everything on Fox. So there is some basis for those things.
I don't know anybody who says all conservatives want to raise everybody's taxes except rich peoples', but it's pretty well documented that a lot of people are still buying into the Reaganomics scam, so there's truth to that.
On the health care topic, I don't think there's any widespread belief that right wingers want everyone to die, just that a lot of them have been so misinformed on the subject that they haven't thought it through.
So you haven't really shown an equivalence here. You could start a trend among right wing posters here, and bring some facts to back up your opinions, but I won't hold my breath.
Misinformed? Nancy Pelosi doesn't even know what the bill fully entails. It seems to me that no one has been informed.
I know Democrats that believe all the things I referred to, so there is just as much truth to what I said.
You speak of facts like everything on the internet is true. If you were so smart you would realize that citizens rarely hear the full story, no matter who is telling it. EVERYONE presents the news/stories to fit there beliefs/ideas.
The "facts" you find to back up all of your claims regarding the topics on this site are virtually all subjective.
And the Patriot act should worry you. It allows for sneak and peek searches that do not require a warrant. It does not matter what you are doing. Just like when they obtained your cell phone records.
The information can be used for anything...it does not ahve torelated to terrorism.
Oh, yeah, and the Ratings Queen angle doesn't really impress anybody except other Ratings Queens.