Hume corrected false claim that elder Bush never criticized Clinton
On September 21, Fox News Washington managing editor Brit Hume corrected a false claim he made two nights earlier: that in contrast with President Clinton, President George H.W. Bush did not "criticize the sitting president and his administration." The correction came a day after Media Matters for America published an item highlighting Hume's error; contrary to Hume's original assertion, the elder Bush repeatedly criticized Clinton's domestic and foreign policy while Clinton was in office.
From the September 21 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume:
HUME: Two nights ago on this program, we said that, in attacking President Bush on Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, and the budget, former president Clinton did something that Bush's father did not do, and that is to criticize his successor. That was incorrect. While the first President Bush did so rarely, he did criticize President Clinton and his administration several times, including on his Haiti and Somalia policies. We stand corrected and regret the error.
What going on with these corrections Fox, The Washington Post and The WSJ. Could it be that MMFA is making a difference? Keep up the pressure.
To Hume I say: Whoodeedoo Basil!
"While the first President Bush did so rarely, he did criticize President Clinton and his administration several times, including on his Haiti and Somalia policies."
I appreciate the admission that a mistake was made, but how can you use "Rarely" and "several" in the same sentence without contradicting yourself? Why not just be factual about the whole thing, do some research and post exactly the number of times Clinton and Sr. Bush have criticized the standing President of the time and give the public access to that research via the web? Let the public decide whether it was "Rare" or "Several," as well as if the criticisms were appropriate or not.
I am just amazed and impressed that a Foxer actually apologized. MMFA's doing a good job of making the more reasonable people accountable for their contribution to the misinformation about. Now don't ever expect O'rielly and Limbaugh to apologize for anything. As I've said numerous times, my problem with Fox isn't that it's a Republican-conservative news channel. My problem is the outright lies they pass off as news, (like O'rielly's constant reporting of erroneous statistics) and the lie of billing themselves as "fair and balanced".
It was a half-correction. He said rarely did Bush I criticize Clinton. Bush has done so many times,as documented by MMFA.
It is a start, which tells you how worried people must be concern about their grip on the public's informational throat. Maybe, the wheels have true started to fall off the wagon. As according to Alles(sp), he never felt the need to correct a Fox story before. Yeah right.
This highlights what I believe is the biggest impediment to the truth from the far right (and far left for that matter). They believe so strongly that their position is correct, that anything they say to support their beliefs must be true. Bit, in his heart of hearts, knew that the Bush family embodies perfection in leadership. So he made up the bit about never criticizing Clinton. It must be true, because this is what a perfect leader (read: Bush) would do. Turns out Brit's wrong on all counts.
It was nice of him to correct this though. Now that GW's speechwriters wrote the whole "I assume responsibility" thing, It's in vogue for the Right Wingers to take responsibility for their actions.
I sent Mr. Hume a letter regarding his statements. That was great! This is a start. If we continue to work hard to ensure that information is not distorted through the media, we may have a fighting chance yet!
Is this a sign of the apocalypse? Fox "News" admitting a error regarding Clinton?
Way to go MMFA 1 correction down 82,687 to go!
Wow. I am not saying it was me (not alone anyway) but...when I saw the original MMFA item I emailed FOX and Brit Hume to demand a retraction and apology. (Using the link provided by MMFA).
Now I see it worked! Maybe the talking heads on FOX News will stop pulling facts out of their butts when we start to confront them with facts!
Thank you MMFA! A tiny bit of the faith that has been drained from me these past five years has been restored.
I also emailed Brit and Fox because Brit's statement was so ridiculous. Brit makes a retraction, O'Reilly is forced to defend himself, MM is making some progress.
If we're going to hold people accountable for the mistakes that they make -- regardless of whether they were accidental or not! -- we also ought to give credit where credit is due. Hume deserves points for being willing to acknowledge his error, particularly in light of the fact that he was a much better sport about it than Taranto was a couple of days ago.
hume to mmfa concerning retraction: "wouldn't have done it without you".
notice the difference in the language. Clinton "attacked" Bush II, but Bush I "criticized" Clinton.
Good point.