I'm liking Fox News anchor Shepard Smith more and more. Smith was on The O'Reilly Factor and talked about his interview with Joe the Plumber.
O’REILLY: Now you grilled “Joe the Plumber” a couple of weeks ago over his Israel comments. You know, when you said what do you know about Israel? And why would Israel be punished if Barack Obama…
SMITH: Actually, what he said was a vote for Barack Obama is a vote for the death of Israel. Actually, someone in the crowd said it, he said I agree with you not once but twice. I didn’t think it was important, so much, what Joe the Plumber said, about the death to Israel or Barack Obama’s connection thereto, I thought what was important was that he was on a GOP bus, on a GOP-funded tour, called the “Joe the Plumber Tour” and when he said something like that, as a apparently spokesperson of the GOP at the time--John McCain said he was going to take him to Washington—I felt that it was important for our audience to know from where that information comes. Why he came to that decision, and his answer was, “Well, your listeners, as he put it, go out and figure out why it was…
O’REILLY: He didn’t know; he couldn’t articulate it…
SMITH: He didn’t know why he did, and the truth is Barack Obama had made the statement repeatedly and demonstrated repeatedly that Israel would always be a friend to America. And I think some of this disinformation, some of the lies that show up on the internet are dangerous and those of us who hold truth dear , it’s our job to set the record straight and that’s what I wanted to do…
O'Reilly is his usual bizarre self. Nicole Belle notes O'Reilly wants to assault Barney Frank. This isn't funny.
I can,you know, yell at Barney Frank, you know slap—if he was here I’d probably slap him. I wouldn’t really, but I wanted it to, because he hurt so many people.
O'Reilly is a man that got rich from yelling at people on television. He actually thinks he is an action hero. Glenn Reynolds and Michelle Malkin would go ballistic (and rightly so) if Keith Olbermann made this same comment towards a Republican Congressman.
Related: Joe the Plumber Now Joe the Fearmonger
Why Ralph Nader Is An Asshole
Why the love fest with Shepard Smith? Is it the caked on makeup? Fox news has consistently been shown to be a sounding board for the GOP and he sits here with a straight face and says they are not biased? They don't outlandishly distort the news? Give me a break...Blows any shred of credibility right out of the water. You don't make a whole lot of sense Mr. Hussey.
ReplyDeleteActually, Smith said Sean Hannity is pro-Republican.
ReplyDeleteO’REILLY: Okay, but you work for the Fox News Channel, which is the most unfair channel, always trying to get the Republicans elected. So you can’t be doing this stuff, you can’t be challenging Joe the Plumber and Ralph Nader…
SMITH: Well, as you know, and thank you for the softball, that’s silly. That’s Sean …
O’REILLY: [laughs] It was a little facetious here…
SMITH: That’s Sean Hannity’s job. Sean Hannity…
O’REILLY: Well, Sean Hannity is a Republican…
SMITH: That’s what I said and the bottom…
O’REILLY: So what’s the beef?
SMITH: The beef…I have absolutely no beef …
O’REILLY: I have no beef with him. Calls him a Communist…
SMITH: Absolutely. But the bottom…But that’s labeled like an op-ed page opinion. Mine is labled news.
Smith isn't denying Fox News has a conservative viewpoint. His news network sucks. Not many people say their employers sucks and keep their jobs.
Joe the Plumber and Ralph Nader made outragious statements about Barack Obama. Smith challenged them on that and gave them the chance to clarify their statements. Why do you have a problem with that?
I don't get won't your point is. Like it's some kind of revelation that Hannity is Republican. Wow, thanks for blowing the lid of that one Shepard! Who woulda thought? He never said Fox News sucks though, that's what YOU said. He said that somehow Fox is even handed because they have liberal guests on occasionally so they can bully them. He is still projecting the viewpoint that Fox is somehow a legitimate news source. He is playing his role for Rupert Murdoch like a little petting boy delegitimizing alternative viewpoints by his harassment of Nader and propping up guys like Hannity and O'Reilly by saying they are simply Op-Ed pieces. Why do you watch this garbage?
ReplyDeleteI never said Smith said Fox News sucks.
ReplyDeleteNot many people say their employers sucks and keep their jobs.
I cover the media. I have slammed Fox News countless times. I'm giving Smith credit for slaming Joe the Plumber and Ralph Nader for stating hateful things towards Barack Obama.
He is playing his role for Rupert Murdoch like a little petting boy delegitimizing alternative viewpoints by his harassment of Nader...
Nader did a good job of that on his own. Smith is correct. Nader is irreverent.
Nader would make a horrible president. He is clueless on foreign policy and economics. Nader's small base is people who hate both parties. There isn't a single policy wonk that has supported any of his candidacies.
He said that somehow Fox is even handed because they have liberal guests on occasionally so they can bully them.
I don't recall you dissing Creative Loafing.
The thing is, Nader's candidacy, as well as most of these third party candidacies, is meant to draw attention to the 2 party corporate stranglehold, not to win an election. I don't think there are many naive enough to think that Nader could've won even at his strongest in 2000. Shepard Smith doesn't deserve any credit-he's just as much a stooge as O'Reilly and Hannity and Colmes. He's playing his assigned role and that's it.
ReplyDeleteand I dis the CL regularly.
The thing is, Nader's candidacy, as well as most of these third party candidacies, is meant to draw attention to the 2 party corporate stranglehold, not to win an election.
ReplyDeleteThere is no point backing candidates that will never govern. Nader is selling himself as someone running to win office. I remember him saying how he planned on beating Bush. Bitching about the system, with no plan to govern, is a poor excuse to run. This explains why you were Joe Redner's campaign manager.
Why do you watch this garbage?
Why do I read conservative blogs? Not because I agree with them. I want to hear what they have to say. I read the Weekly Standard and I am strongly anti-neoconservative. Why do you have a problem with people with dissenting opinions (from you're own).
and I dis the CL regularly.
When was this?
This comes down to you being angry that I wrote a few nice things about Shepard Smith and don't take Nader seriously. The Green Party won't endorse him. I'm suppose to have respect for a man that damaged his own movement. Please.
Michael,
ReplyDeleteIt should go without saying that within the constraints of a flawed two party system, people who wish to change the system have to think outside the box and take unorthodox approaches to affect change. Nader's tactics have certainly shifted in recent years, and he has been further isolated because of his own stubbornness, but the validity of his message is the same. He has risen and fallen as a spokesperson for that message, but throughout it all, despite his flaws, he's a man of integrity who has fought for change and succeeded. To me, that kind of fortitude and drive throughout a life and into old age demands respect. Is he above criticism? Of course not, but it's worth pointing out that he's done more for our society than the Shepard Smiths of the world ever will-and that's a fact.
I don't care what blogs you read or news you watch. I asked why you watch this garbage because it should be abundantly clear by now what Fox News is attempting to do. And within that outlet, there is zero flexibility. They have dissenting views on in attempts to mock them and distort their messages. That's it. Shepard Smith, no matter how much you like him, is just a cog in that machine.
Dissenting views are what gives this society the potential for great change. I love a robust debate such as this. However, the ideology that rules over Fox News and others, do not cherish that diversity. They paint a very complex world in black and white, and that's why I feel like participating in their propaganda is a waste of time.
I want to be very clear that I'm certainly not angry that you think Shepard is cool and don't like Nader, you're certainly not alone there, but I do disagree with you. That's the beauty of these comments sections isn't it?
PS: Since you asked, Here's a brief critique of the CL:
I'm generally weary of their corporate expansion model. I wish they were more sophisticated in their approach to certain things in the arts and entertainment world. I'm disappointed that they fired Lance Goldenberg. As for their political coverage, of course I disagree with some of what is written. One issue was the lack of coverage of third party candidates. (But judging from your comments you agree with that one). But on the whole, I appreciate CL's coverage, it's relevant, it's occasionally jaded, and somewhat outside the mainstream. In particular, I like the topics Alex Pickett gravitates towards: environmental and activist pieces. We need that here.