Hume baselessly claimed Bush "was well-liked ... by everyone in the military"
SUMMARY: Fox News' Brit Hume claimed that former President Bush "was well-liked, I've been given to believe, by everyone in the military." But, according to a December 2007 Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll, among those who are "in the military, reserves, or is a veteran," just 44 percent of respondents approved "of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president," while 50 percent disapproved.
During Fox News' coverage of President Obama's January 20 inauguration, Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume baselessly claimed that former President Bush "was well-liked, I've been given to believe, by everyone in the military." Moments later, Hume added: "The U.S. military liked him and supported him; they'll miss him, I think." Hume cited no support for his assertion; contrary to his claim, according to a December 2007 Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll, among respondents who are "in the military, reserves, or is a veteran," 44 percent approved "of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president," while 50 percent disapproved.
An unscientific Military Times 2008 annual survey also undermines the claim that "everyone" in the military approved of Bush. In a December 29, 2008, MilitaryTimes.com article about the survey, staff writer Brendan McGarry reported that "Bush's job approval rating as president remained unchanged among respondents at 48 percent, down from a high of 71 percent in 2004." As Media Matters for America has noted, according to a separate December 29, 2008, MilitaryTimes.com article, the poll was based on voluntary responses by subscribers to Army Times Publishing Co. newspapers rather than a random statistical sample of service members, and that therefore no margin of error can be calculated for the poll. According to the Military Times "poll key," the data includes respondents who identified themselves as active-duty service members, reservists, members of the National Guard, and retired service members. The survey was conducted December 1-8, 2008.
From Fox News' coverage of the January 20 presidential inauguration:
HUME: This is an interesting send-off the Air Force is giving former President Bush now. He was well-liked, I've been given to believe, by everyone in the military, and particularly those who had to deal with him personally, because of his -- the courtesy with which he treats individuals and the consideration he shows them and so on. The U.S. military liked him and supported him; they'll miss him, I think.
JUAN WILLIAMS (Fox News contributor): Gee, he looks like he's choking up.
HUME: He may be. He's very -- he feels a real bond with them. You remember that event out at Fort Myer where he went and said goodbye to them.
I would also like to know how Tweety Matthews knew this?
“Bitter sweet? I think they’re going to feel more like the Romanoff’s today.”
"The U.S. military liked him and supported him; they'll miss him, I think."
FOX News, the purveyor of urban myths, internet rumors and make it up as you go along journalism. They just keep feeding their sheep-like audience a steady stream of whatever it takes to reinforce their right wing beliefs. Mission Accomplished, Hume...
job approval isn't necessarily an indicator of personal likability. That is what Hume is referrring too. petty mmfa darts at Bush, that's all this is. He's gone, get over him.
"...to simply back up their own self-created themes including that the GOP is the part of the armed forces, right?"
That's the point...the perpetuation of the myth that the Republican Party and the military are especially mutually supportive. That Republicans are strong on defense, blah, blah, blah...
"He's gone, get over him."
Don't tell MMFA, tell Brit Hume.
Hume made a throwaway comment about an outgoing president, so what. mmfa picked it apart and couldn't let an unresearched compliment go unscathed. petty, as i said.
Ah, OK. Throwaway comments are not subject to accuracy, especially when you have a show on a "news" channel.
it's not a statistic, it's a compliment. Next time someone on a news channel gushes over Obama, will you be such a stickler for accuracy. no, you won't. and neither will mmfa. so don't preach about such standards that you selectively choose to administer to the one you like, versus the one you despise. that's petty.
There's nothing petty about calling out a journalist for making a completely unsubstantiated claim. Bush is the most disapproved of President in US history. Hume is using his job to inject his own personal opinion and passing it off as fact. There is nothing petty about taking issue with that.
i would agree with you if we were in the middle of the Bush presidency and there was policy or important issues in context with Hume's compliment. but we aren't, and there aren't, and being that it's 100% harmless at this point, then petty is the word.
I'm not clear on your caveats for deeming this misinformation ok. In any case, if there were any truth to Hume's claim about Bush, I think his very own political party would have invited him to speak in person at the 2008 Republican National Convention.
"Next time someone on a news channel gushes over Obama, will you be such a stickler for accuracy. no, you won't."
Will you??? I won't pretend to know how you feel about Obama.
Disregarding that this has nothing to do with Obama, do you know exactly how I feel about him? No, you don't.
"and neither will mmfa. so don't preach about such standards that you selectively choose to administer to the one you like, versus the one you despise."
Well, duh. MMFA is a partisan organization.
It's not a compliment to say people you don't know feel a certain way. A compliment would be Hume saying "I like Bush. He reminded me of a brave cowboy." But he didn't - he speculated on what the military thought of him.
This is a common pet peeve of mine. The media (right and left alike) talk about this million person organization as if it's homogenous, and feel the need to tell the people watching how they think. No matter that media personalities don't actually KNOW anyone serving, they can guess as to how they all feel!
It's not a compliment to say people you don't know feel a certain way. - Mrs. Teufelshunde
I've been given to believe that all left-handed Lithuanians are very impressed with your reply.
One of the Fock Snooze favorite sources was, and maybe still is, "people are saying..."
it's not a statistic, it's a compliment.
A "compliment" that was pulled right out of Brit's butt.
It will be a long, long time before we "get over him", jamesB. The man brought this magnificent country to the brink of ruin. There can be no forgiveness for his disastrous version of leadership. I can think of no president so disrespectful of our constitution or our morals. He is guilty of playing our nation into the hands of Osama bin Laden by his proud ignorance of the Muslim world and his sublime disregard of truth and evidence. To call him a traitor is to complement him. No, we will not "get over him", not anytime soon.
Well, I was hosting a bunch of infantry Marines at my house last night, and one of them said, and I quote "You know what I'm going to miss about Bush being President?"
And he followed this with, "SNL won't have anyone to make fun of anymore"
Military personnel: They're just like us!
what a devildog............GW Bush tried to be just like them, specially in a flight suit......
"Don't ask. Don't tell" can be applied to criticism of the so-called Commander in Chief. If you don't want an additional tour of duty or get passed over for promotion, you had better keep your trap shut. I was an RA for three years, but at that time we didn't have much to complain about. We certainly knew what could be said and what couldn't. Remember what King David did to Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba.
This applies to private industry also, trust me.
So what is your proof he was "well liked"? Perhaps because he cheated his way out of service because of his CIA/Prez/Senator father? Or is it because so many 1000s of U.S. soldiers were killed or injured because of his falsehoods? Bush apologist like yourself are going to have an impossible job of rewritting history, my friend.
I don't see any " half-truth " herre by MMFA. Looks like said half-truths here are coming from Britt Hume making up facts.
HUME: He was well-liked, I've been given to believe, by everyone in the military, and particularly those who had to deal with him personally, because of his -- the courtesy with which he treats individuals and the consideration he shows them and so on. The U.S. military liked him and supported him; they'll miss him, I think.
Everyone in the military...? Or just those Bush came in contact with (as Hume actually suggests)? What about the thousands and thousands of troops (and officers) who have never met Bush? How can Hume speak for them? MMFA supports its point with data...Hume does not.
Very nice of Hume to offer viewers his own personal opinion of Bush. He's gone Hume. Move on.
I saw Obama speaking to the audience at the CIC Ball last night. They really seemed to hate America, those military personnel in attendance, cheering for that weak-on-defense friend of terrorists.
yeah, that one palling with terrorrists. Whom the white haired lady called an " arab '. we have a president securely attached to the ground level with a beautiful american family. If I may whisper in his ear about this " patriot act "......................
How dare the military, pal around with someone who pals around with terrorists.
I expect Sean Hannity to start "connecting the dots" any time now, and screeching like a baboon at anybody who won't condemn the U.S. military as a terrorist organization.
Col., check out the union/Newt thread. AA has posted some thought-provoking stuff.
Thought provoking indeed, but not the kind of thoughts he'd appreciate.
Nice, FBBoy. Race and Labor relations, probably the two most confusing topics for Barney, and he decides to tackle them both in one thread. Whatta jackwad.
I hope he goes back and answers a few more of my questions. Just thought you would appreciate it.
I really liked his "documentation" of Union intimidation in response to SportsguDave. He googles the website of a corporate-backed anti-union propaganda PAC. and copies their blurbs about their lawsuits against unions. How gullible can a person be?
I've got nothing to back this up with but I'm pretty sure there are more claims by unions against employers than there are claims against unions by employers.
Typical wingnut logic to cut and paste a few items that support your position even though they're anecdotal at best. But do have to give him credit for rewording some of his pastings.
Go to the race stuff, apparently white Republicans voted for Obama not based on his race (even though many prominent white Republicans mentioned identical reasons as Powell) and Powell voted for him based on race (despite denying it and providing thoughtful reasons why). How is that NOT racist?
He's gone Hume. Move on.
They will not move on. This is the beginning of an (8 years) effort to rewrite the history of the GW Bush administration.
Sure "everyone" in the military likes Bush. That's everyone who was in AFTER he drove out Shinseki, Eaton, Batiste and anyone else who dared to suggest that the agreed upon administration narratives about Iraq and Afghanistan were false.
After more than 4,000 US service members dead in Iraq and more than 1,000 of them dead in Afghanistan, and no concrete policy success to show for it I'll state as a currently serving 26 year military veteran that the end to the Bush years didn't come fast enough.
Yeah maybe he was respected to a point because the military is trained to obey its commander in chief, and I'm sure there are many soldiers who agreed with his philosophy, such as it was, but dammit putting our man and woman in harm's way through utter deceit and then not giving them the protection they needed--does anybody remember families holding bake sales for body armor, what an f-in disgrace!--leading to horrendous head injuries and amputations, which was probably a fate worse than death, and then not giving these vets adequate care and support on their return. Truly shameful, and it's tools like Hume et al that allowed all this to happen, and I hope they all enjoy their special place in Hell.
chimp posted:
putting our man and woman in harm's way through utter deceit and then not giving them the protection they needed
Do you know what you're talking about? There is not ONE, I repeat, NOT ONE, soldier, sailor, airmen or marine that went into combat without body armor.
This is one of the biggest LIES the left still trundles out...
They sure did go in without up-armored vehicles though....
Proper body armor. You know the stuff their families bought and sent to them.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/07/politics/07armor.html
Backup on armor problems.
JUAN WILLIAMS: Gee, he looks like he's choking up.
HUME: He may be.
He does look sad. Bush's actions got so many US Troops killed and many more harmed. And since so many were killed and harmed for reasons other than national securuity, it's quite possible that his guilt brings him close to tears.
I've read otherwise. I'm sure there is a lot of support for him amongst the military. They tend to be "conservative"/Republican; but only to a degree. There is plenty of opposition to Bush, and a lot of enthusiasm for Obama.
Hume's point:
1. The military understands "the mission" and George W Bush better than anybody
2. The military loves George W. Bush
3. Therefore, Bush's unpopularity is the ignorant public's fault, not Bush's.
4. Disliking Bush means failing to support the military. Which means being un-American.
5. "I dissaprove of Bush= I'm an ignorant moron who Wants Us To Lose In Iraq and Be Hit By Terrorists Again."
Get it?
This might rank with the stupidest comment ever on Media Matters--and oh this is not a personal attack it's just an attack on your stupid ideas. So James what is the connection between terrorism and Iraq, what was the justification for our invasion of that country in the first place, what is our reason for our being there now since we shouldn't have been there at all and oh by the way are why are we still occupying this country when we're "victorious", oh and also please answer how these criminals threw our soldiers into this cauldron without a true plan, without giving them the protection they needed and without supporting them when they came back in pieces. Bush and company are war criminals period, and if soldiers supported their socalled mission it was only because that wwas their job.
That was sarcasm from jjamele2880.
And I know, sometimes it's hard to tell.
CE - Pssst...I think the sarcasm tags were on. Once again showing how difficult it is to parody the right wing nuts.
Jinx!
Man! Looks like I was working for 14 minutes straight without refreshing the page.
It was worth it.
Mother sheehan should'nt have signed the release form for her son then. If he was an only child/last male heir her son could have defered a combat slot.
I don't like to step on grieving parents toes and will usually give the benifit of the dout due to grief, but it looks to me like it was her sons wishes that he serve in the capicity that he did.
Maybe Mother sheehan should have researched just what the job of the military is...
Maybe a dead veterans family is worthy of respect, unless?
Maybe Mother sheehan should have researched just what the job of the military is...
Maybe you should, Because it's not about making candyasses like you feel safe by sending other peoples' kids to die while you sit home and make fun of their mothers. Douchebag.
What balls!
So far you've insulted the mother of a fallen soldier as well as a poster who lost a brother in vietnam.
You are a true, 99 and forty-four hundreds percent, official Republican SCUMBAG.
Hope you're proud of yourself.
You people really need to get over the Bush paranoia hatred. Anyone who thinks that a majority of military personnel think negatively of Bush probably also think that John Kerry is highly regarded by the same number
When were you guys lobotomized of your senses.
Who hates Bush's paranoia? Pity, maybe, not hate.
And who are you even addressing your comments to?
We'll get over the "bush paranoia and hatred' as soon as your side gives up the Kerry bashing. you've been lying about John kerry since 1971.
Now which is more irrational, eight years of comments about a draft dodging sitting president who used our military to settle his scores, not ours or 38 years of hatred based on what? Do you even know? Oh right, because other draft evaders like Limbaugh and O'Reilly say you should.
It's 2009, get a life!
Fox News is like the Tabloid News Paper at the check out lanes at Kroger and Giant Egale! Reporters now do not check for validity of a story, they just report what Karl Rove tells them.