Sunday, March 11, 2007

Quote of the Week

Fair a balanced? You decide.

"It's true that Barack Obama is on the move," [Fox News Chairman and CEO Roger] Ailes said, deliberately confusing the Illinois senator's name with that of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. "I don't know if it's true President Bush called [Pakistan President Pervez] Musharraf and said, 'Why can't we catch this guy?'"


Thankfully, the Democrats decided that a debate to be co-hosted by Fox News simply wouldn't be appropriate when the "fair and balanced" network says things reminiscent of the "Martin Luther Coon" jokes made by conservative leaders on television during the Birmingham bus boycotts.

Yeah, conservatives really have evolved a lot since they were turning firehoses on blacks. Now, they just equate them with terrorist leaders.

Faux News' response to the Democrats canceling?

Fox News Vice President David Rhodes responded to the debate cancellation with a written statement saying MoveOn.org owns the Democratic Party.


A party (the Republicans) and movement (modern conservatism) this fucked up does not deserve to remain in power.

3 comments:

Brandon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Brandon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Brandon said...

Hey there, I've got a couple quick thoughts.

As for that first quote, I interpreted it as a joke that poked fun of President Bush - not something hurting Obama. And if it's such a big deal, where is Obama's response?

As for MoveOn.org, I wouldn't say that it owns the Democratic party BUT it is trying to pull the party to the left - as displayed in the pullout from Nevada's debate - I'll explain in a minute.

Whether or not Fox News is truly fair and balanced is unquestionably debatable but I don't see much of a need to get into that discussion now. (Although I think 'more' fair and balanced is what's key here.)

The fact is that Fox News is the most watched cable news station in the country. Yes, I acknowledge that most folks on the left don't watch it, but I know plenty of Dems closer to the center and independents who watch the network.

Democrats need to gain as much ground as they can before the 2008 election and talking to as many voters as possible sounds like a logical idea to me.

By speaker to FNC viewers, Dem candidates would be sure to grab some people closer to the center. In fact, John Edwards - before stepping out of the Nevada debate - had been on the news channel a number of times.

So back to MoveOn. The party has seemingly been pulling its party to the left. Rather than speaking to independents and moderate Democrats, the organization has been speaking to its core base - and core bases don't win elections.