Category Archives: Fox News

May 24, 2013 · 9:40 AM

Fox News host tells listeners to punch Obama voters ‘in the face’

Fox News host Andrea Tantaros

The Raw Story

A host of the Fox News show The Five was so angry that the Justice Department had investigated one of the network’s reporters that she told her viewers on Thursday to find anyone who voted for President Barack Obama and “punch them in the face.”

“Fox said, we’re targets, clearly Media Matters and others have put us on a target list,” Fox News host Andrea Tantaros explained on the Thursday edition of her radio show. “And they said, ‘Oh, Fox is just crazy! They’re just paranoid!’ Really? Are we?”

“This is what is happening to our press! This is Obama’s America! It’s like the Soviet Union,” she continued. “He said he would change the country. He said it. And a lot of people voted for him.”

“And if you see any of those people today, do me a favor, punch them in the face.”

After a commercial break, a caller from South Carolina told Tantaros that he hated Obama, but worried that telling people to punch Obama voters in the face was sending the wrong message.

“To be clear, I didn’t say punch Obama in the face,” the Fox News host pointed out. “You’re going to get me arrested with this type of government.”

“If someone voted for him!” she insisted to the caller. “If anyone that you know who voted for President Obama, smack ‘em down.”

Obama, smack ‘em down.”

Listen to the audio from Talk Radio Network’s The Andrea Tantaros Show, broadcast May 23, 2013.

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May 23, 2013 · 1:19 PM

Malkin on London attack: British ‘brought it on themselves’ by not deporting Muslims

Michelle Malkin speaks to Fox News

Great Britain is a democracy Ms. Malkin, let’s start from that premise?  Those guys did horrific things yesterday and there’s no defense for their actions.  Whatever their fate, they will deserve it.  However,  to put every Muslim into the same category is just plain ignorant.

The Raw Story

Conservative columnist Michelle Malkin on Wednesday asserted that the British people “brought it on themselves” after an apparent terrorist used a meat cleaver to hack a soldier to death in London.

Following Wednesday’s horrific slaying, Fox News host Sean Hannity speculated that President Barack Obama would have refused to call the incident a “terrorist attack.”

“What do you need to have? Neon lights that say, ‘Islamic jihad,’ ‘Islamic jihad?’ I mean, duh,” Malkin agreed. “They were screaming at the top of their lungs, ‘Allahu Akbar,’ and repeatedly swore in the name of Allah that they would continue to fight against us.”

“And in large part, unfortunately, in British culture, among the progressives there, they brought it on themselves in some ways because of lax deportation policies, and an unwillingness to screen out and profile Islamic militants who are now doing this in a homegrown manner on British soil,” she added. “It’s tragic.”

Hannity, however, suggested that greater access to guns could have prevented the attack.

“And also it does bring into question gun laws,” the Fox News host opined. “If the soldier had been able to protect himself and defend himself, which people all over the media in this country bragging about the fact, well, people don’t have guns in England.”

“Well, do you know who did have a gun? One of the assailants had a pistol!” Malkin exclaimed. “And everyone else was unarmed! Completely!”

Prior to being shot by police, the terrorist suspects also expressed the sentiment that the British people were to blame for the attacks.

“The only reasons we killed this man … is because Muslims are dying daily,” one attacker was caught on video saying. “This British soldier is an eye for an eye, a tooth for tooth.”

 Watch this video from Fox News’ Hannity, broadcast May 23, 2013.

 

 

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· 11:55 AM

Adventures in Fox polling

Rachel Maddow Blog

From time to time, I enjoy marveling at the kind of questions that appear in ostensibly neutral Fox News polls. This latest entry only helps reinforce suspicions that the network asks questions intended to get an ideologically satisfying result.

C’mon. Does anyone seriously believe an independent poll would ask whether respondents feel like “the federal government has gotten out of control”? I think it’s far more likely Fox wanted to tell it’s viewers about results that reinforce a preconceived narrative, so it asked a question to illicit a predictable response.

As for the underlying point, it’s also worth noting that Fox did not ask whether the public believed “the federal government has gotten out of control” when the Bush/Cheney administration said warrantless wiretaps of Americans were legally permissible.

Let’s also not overlook the larger polling pattern. I’ve long marveled at the kind of questions that make their way into a Fox survey, starting in March 2007 when the network’s poll asked, in all seriousness, “Do you think the Democratic Party should allow a grassroots organization like Moveon.org to take it over or should it resist this type of takeover?” Soon after, another Fox poll asked, “Do you think illegal immigrants from Mexico should be given special treatment and allowed to jump in front of immigrants from other countries that want to come to the United States legally, or not?”

In 2009, a Fox poll asked, “Do you think the United Nations should be in charge of the worldwide effort to combat climate change and the United States should report to the United Nations on this effort, or should it be up to individual countries and the United States would be allowed to make decisions on its own?”

In March 2013, a Fox poll asked, “Former President George W. Bush stopped golfing after the start of the Iraq war. Do you think President Barack Obama should stop golfing until the unemployment rate improves and the economy is doing better?”

As a rule, professional news organizations put a great deal of care into how they word polling questions. To get reliable results that accurately reflect public attitudes, surveys have to be careful not to guide respondents or skew their answers.

It’s possible Fox is less concerned about accurately reflecting public attitudes.

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May 15, 2013 · 5:55 PM

Fox News Gives Karl Rove’s Crossroads Groups Millions In Free Airtime

Karl Rove on Fox News Channel

It’s important to review why the Tea Party groups were petitioning the I.R.S. anyway. They (the Tea Party) were seeking approval to operate under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. This would require them to be “social welfare,” not political, operations. There are significant advantages to being a 501(c)(4). These groups don’t pay taxes; they don’t have to disclose their donors—unlike traditional political organizations, such as political-action committees. In return for the tax advantage and the secrecy, the 501(c)(4) organizations must refrain from traditional partisan political activity, like endorsing candidates.  (The New Yorker)         Ed. Note: Emphasis are mine

Think Progress

Though Karl Rove receives a salary from Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp for his work as a Fox News Channel “political contributor,” his compensation doesn’t end there. The network frequently airs ads by his American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS political committees, as “news,” free of charge.

A review of Fox News Channel broadcasts over the past twelve months revealed that Fox News programs ran all or a significant part of Crossroads ads at least 34 times — an estimated value of more than $3.6 million in free air time. Frequently, the network’s hosts run the ads during Rove’s segments and then allow him to explain and repeat their charges.

On Monday, for example, Fox News aired a significant chunk of a new American Crossroads ad attacking former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over her handling of the attacks in Benghazi, Libya. Noting criticism the ad received from conservative columnist William Kristol, host Martha MacCullum asked Rove: “What say you?”

Watch the video:

Continue reading here…

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May 14, 2013 · 9:13 PM

Bernie Goldberg To O’Reilly: Obama Could ‘Literally’ Cure Cancer And GOP Would Still Hate Him

billbernie

 Many pundits have exposed the GOP for their utter disdain for President Obama…

Mediaite

Bernie Goldberg sat down with Bill O’Reillytonight for a round of media criticism that hit the liberal media for its months-long reluctance in covering Benghazi, with Goldberg arguing that it was a report by ABC News that finally “gave permission” to other news organizations to pursue the story. And while Goldberg differed with O’Reilly on the latter’s insistence that the AP monitoring story is not a scandal, he agreed that conservatives are too obsessed with tearing down Obama, saying that the president could cure cancer and the GOP would find a way to avoid giving him credit.

Goldberg claimed that liberal reporters have been playing down Benghazi because the White House wants that, but after ABC released a report on the changed talking points, “that gave permission” for the rest of the media to scrutinize Obama. He said that the media never really takes the word of conservative reporters seriously, that they need one of their own to jump on it first.

But on the Associated Press story, Goldberg challenged O’Reilly’ downplaying of the scandal, asking him how he would feel if Fox News was similarly targeted. O’Reilly defended the FBI for conducting a legal investigation into national security leaks, and while he did criticize the attorney general for denying involvement, he argued that it “hurts the cause of legitimate investigations” of the Obama administration by jumping to conclusions without the facts to back them up.

Goldberg agreed on this point, saying there are liberals who won’t acknowledge Benghazi as a scandal at all, but also conservatives who wouldn’t give credit to Obama even if he “literally” cured cancer, pointing to this new era of “raw partisanship” in Washington.

Watch the video courtesy of Fox News

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April 25, 2013 · 8:23 AM

Jon Stewart destroys Fox News for jettisoning the Bill of Rights after Boston bombing

Jon Stewart screenshot

In my opinion, Jon Stewart and his writers are nothing short of genius…

The Raw Story

On his show Wednesday night, The Daily Show host Jon Stewart illustrated how Fox News personalities feigned love of the U.S. Constitution, but quickly abandoned it when it conflicted with their opinion.

In particular, Stewart observed that various Fox News hosts and pundits trashed the Bill of Rights following the Boston Marathon bombing.

Many at Fox were upset that bombing suspect Dzokhar Tsarnaev was read his Miranda rights, while others called for him to be declared an enemy combatant despite the fact he is a U.S. citizen.

“So in the wake of an assault on our freedom and way of life, we have quickly jettisoned the Sixth Amendment right to a fair and speedy trial, and the Fifth Amendment’s right against self-incrimination. What’s next?” Stewart remarked, before playing a clip of Sean Hannity saying Tsarnaev should be waterboarded. “So there goes the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Any freedom lovers what to take a crack at some of the lower ones?”

Stewart showed that Brian Kilmeade and Eric Bolling both called for the FBI to place listening devices in mosques, a violation of Fourth Amendment rights. Meanwhile, “Fox’s most prominent liberal voice” Bob Beckel jettisoned First Amendment rights by calling for a moratorium on Muslim exchange students. Ann Coulter took at stab at the Ninth Amendment by calling for the widow of the deceased bombing suspect to be imprisoned for wearing a hijab.

“Ann Coulter doesn’t just want a police state, she wants a fashion police state,” Stewart remarked.

Watch video, via Comedy Central.

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April 23, 2013 · 11:27 AM

Coulter: Boston suspect’s widow ‘ought to be in prison for wearing a hijab’

Republican columnist Ann Coulter expresses her dislike of immigrants on Fox News’s “Hannity.” Photo: Screenshot via FoxNews.com.

Why did she crawl from under her bug infested rock…?

The Raw Story

Appearing on Fox News Republican talk show “Hannity” Monday night, right-wing columnist Ann Coulter said she’s sad that not only does she think the Boston bombing should shut down the nation’s immigration reform debate, she would like to see the alleged bomber’s widow in jail too, not for committing a crime but for “wearing a hijab.”

“I don’t care if she knew about this,” Coulter said. “She ought to be in prison for wearing a hijab. This immigration policy of us, you know, assimilating immigrants into our culture isn’t really working. They’re assimilating us into their culture. Did she get a clitorectomy too?”

Hannity seemed momentarily puzzled at the sudden citation of female genital mutilation, stammering his reply. “I, uh, I don’t know the answer to that,” he said before confidently adding: “But your point is well taken.”

Hannity went on to say that he believes people who immigrated “from countries where perhaps they grew up under Sharia law” are definitely a threat and “I think we can make a safe assumption that they have been radicalized.” He added that even foreign students should be subjected to greater scrutiny, lest they too pose a threat.

“Our immigration policy has nothing to do with helping America,” Coulter insisted. “It has to do with solving the internal problems of other countries. We’ll take Russia’s radicals. We’ll take the illiterate, unskilled, low-skill workers from all these countries. We’ll take their old people and put them on our supplemental security and Medicare. No, immigration policies are supposed to make your country better, not to make it worse and to create all these problems.”

“Lindsey Graham was on some show this week saying this shows we need better tracking,” she continued. “I’m thinking this means we need better immigrants.”

Coulter and Hannity are just the latest conservatives to jump on the idea that because the Boston bombing suspects were born overseas, the nation’s whole immigration reform debate must shift gears into more regressive policy proposals, or just shut down in Congress altogether, as it did on Monday.

Fellow Republican talker Laura Ingraham said as much on Monday afternoon, suggesting that the U.S. shut down all immigration from majority Muslim nations. “I would submit that people shouldn’t be coming here as tourists from Chechnya after 9/11,” she said. “Dagistan, Checnya, Kergystan, uh-uh. As George Bush would say, ‘None of them stans.’”

Both Boston bombing suspects came to the U.S. legally as children. Authorities say there is not yet any evidence linking them to any foreign terrorist organizations, but an investigation is still ongoing.

Additionally, the Partnership for a New American Economy said last year that about one in 10 Americans worked for an immigrant-owned business in 2012, which contributed more than $775 billion to the U.S. economy and over $125 billion in payroll.

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March 27, 2013 · 8:24 AM

Bill O’Reilly: Gay Rights Advocates Have ‘Compelling Argument’

TPM LiveWire

As two landmark gay rights cases appear before the Supreme Court this week, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly on Tuesday said those in favor of equal rights on the issue have a “compelling argument” against religious conservatives.

“The compelling argument is on the side of homosexuals,” O’Reilly said. “That’s where the compelling argument is. We’re Americans, we just want to be treated like everyone else. That’s a compelling argument. And to deny that, you’ve got to have a compelling argument on the other side. And the other side hasn’t been able to do anything but thump the bible.”

O’Reilly added that he has long supported civil unions for same-sex couples. “The gay marriage thing, I don’t feel that strongly about it one way or the other,” he said, adding that the issue should be left up to the states.

O’Reilly has previously suggested that accepting same-sex marriage could lead to polygamy, because polygamists would want the same treatment as other groups.

Video:  (Watch (key part comes in at 4:50)

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March 25, 2013 · 12:01 AM

Rachel Maddow Blasts Fox News For Skipping President Obama Medal Ceremony In Israel

Mediaite

On Thursday night in the Jerusalem residence of Israeli President Shimon Peres, American President Barack Obama received the Medal of Distinction, the highest honor that Israel’s government can award a civilian (and also a hunk of hardware that looks like it could be murder on the ole sciatica). As Rachel Maddow noted on Thursday night’s The Rachel Maddow Show, however, only some cable news viewers got to see that ceremony live: all of the cable news viewers who weren’t watching Fox News.

One of the most important functions that a news program can perform, and perhaps the most basic, is to inform the viewer. While technically a so-called “opinion” program, this short segment of The Rachel Maddow show was packed with information. For example, I already knew that Republican deity and former President Ronald Reagan never visited Israel, nor did George H.W. Bush, and that George W. Bush didn’t make the trip until late in his second term. However, I did not know that the Medal of Distinction/Dothraki Battle Shield was the highest honor the Israeli government can give to a civilian, or that President Obama is the only U.S. President ever to receive it. Information.

Viewers of the Maddow show who had missed news of the President’s trip would also have been informed of several events of the day, such as the heckler who interrupted President Obama’s speech to a group of students, or the weird robot snake he checked out, or clips from the speeches he gave that day.

One of the other ways that news programs inform viewers is by bringing them live video of newsworthy events, such as the first American president to be awarded the Medal of Distinction. It was the middle of the afternoon in the U.S., and both CNN and MSNBC carried the event live. As Rachel noted, though, Fox News had other business to attend:

Fox was running a commercial about how Sean Hannity thinks President Obama is strengthening Israel’s enemies. When I saw the Maddow segment, I sus[ected there might be more to the commercial (sorry, Rachel), that there might be some part at the end that sort of redeemed it, like “But they gave him a medal!!” But I checked, that was the whole thing.

I also checked the President’s schedule for Thursday, and as expected, the dinner and the award ceremony were covered by the White House traveling press pool. That means that whether or not Fox News aired the video of the first ever American president receiving Israel’s highest civilian honor, they paid for it.

Much has been made, recently, of a Pew study that compared the ratio of “opinion” to “straight news” among the three major cable networks, but it didn’t really take into account the quality of the programming. Rachel Maddow’s show, while containing heavy doses of commentary, also fulfills journalism’s duty to inform.

The study also made the assumption that “opinion” can’t also be news, an assumption belied by recent events (Robert Gibbs made news on several MSNBC opinion shows with a revelation about the drone program), and by one of the more pivotal moments in the 2012 presidential campaign. Mitt Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom made his now-infamous “Etch-a-Sketch” remark during an interview segment that Pew would have counted as “opinion.” The question was asked by comedianJohn Fugelsang.

On the flip-side, your straight news is only as good as the news you’re reporting. If you can’t get your facts straight, or you select which stories not to air based on something other than established news practices, then it doesn’t really matter how straight it is.

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March 24, 2013 · 11:46 AM

Why Tea Partiers Are Boycotting Fox News

Tea Party versus Fox News?

This is a strange development…

The Daily Beast

First it was the ‘left’ turn after the election, then Benghazi cover up accusations.  Activists have a list of demands for the conservative network, which some say is ‘not as fair and balanced as I thought.’

Is Fox News going soft?

That is what a number of Tea Party activists are saying and they are organizing a boycott to protest the conservative station’s coverage, especially what they view as the network’s relative silence in investigating the attacks on a diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.

“Particularly after the election, Fox keeps turning to the left,” said Stan Hjerlied, 75, of Fort Collins, Colo., and a participant in the boycott. He pointed to an interview Fox News CEO Roger Ailes gave after the election in which he said that the Republican Party and Fox News need to modernize, especially around immigration. “So we are really losing our only conservative network.”

The three-day boycott lasted Thursday morning through Sunday morning, and is the second time this group of activists have gone Fox-free in an effort to steer the coverage. Organizers say a two-day boycott earlier this month knocked 20 percent off of the network’s regular viewership. (A Daily Beast analysis of the same data showed that the boycott had little effect.)

A spokeswoman for Fox News did not respond to a request for comment.

A leader of the boycott, Kathy Amidon, of Nashville, declined an interview, instead directing The Daily Beast to a website, Benghazi-Truth. The website, a single-page, 23,000-word manifesto complete with multicolored fonts, supposedly incriminating videos of Fox News’s complicity in a coverup, and communist propaganda photographs, is kept by someone who identifies himself online as “Proe Graphique,” and who other members of boycott described as someone who works “in New York media.”

By way of explanation, the website reports: “People ask why not all mainstream media? Why just Boycott FOX? The answer, again, is that FOX needs the Tea Party/conservatives more than the conservatives need FOX after FOX turned left, basically selling out the people who made FOX successful in an attempt to earn an extra buck. FOX is extremely vulnerable to these boycotts while the rest of the MSM doesn’t need us at all, to speak of.”

Organizers then encourage would-be Fox News viewers to wait until the One America network, which is supposed to launch this summer as an alternative to Fox, goes on the air.

Continue reading here…

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