LEAKED EMAIL: Fox boss caught slanting news reporting

[meegbear]

Source: MediaMatters.org

At the height of the health care reform debate last fall, Bill Sammon, Fox News' controversial Washington managing editor, sent a memo directing his network's journalists not to use the phrase "public option."

Instead, Sammon wrote, Fox's reporters should use "government option" and similar phrases -- wording that a top Republican pollster had recommended in order to turn public opinion against the Democrats' reform efforts.

Journalists on the network's flagship news program, Special Report with Bret Baier, appear to have followed Sammon's directive in reporting on health care reform that evening.

Sources familiar with the situation in Fox's Washington bureau have told Media Matters that Sammon uses his position as managing editor to "slant" Fox's supposedly neutral news coverage to the right. Sammon's "government option" email is the clearest evidence yet that Sammon is aggressively pushing Fox's reporting to the right -- in this case by issuing written orders to his staff.



Read more: http://mediamatters.org/blog/201012090003

---

As far back as March 2009, Fox personalities had sporadically referred to the "government option."

Two months prior to Sammon's 2009 memo, Republican pollster Frank Luntz appeared on Sean Hannity's August 18 Fox News program. Luntz scolded Hannity for referring to the "public option" and encouraged Hannity to use "government option" instead.

Luntz argued that "if you call it a 'public option,' the American people are split," but that "if you call it the 'government option,' the public is overwhelmingly against it." Luntz explained that the program would be "sponsored by the government" and falsely claimed that it would also be "paid for by the government."

"You know what," Hannity replied, "it's a great point, and from now on, I'm going to call it the government option."

<snip>

[xchrom]

1. recommend

[liberalmike27]

73. This Post Kind of Implies

That this was some sort of deep, dark secret!! (ha)

It's like I say about MSNBC--why do they waste so much of their time debunking FOX to people who almost never watch FOX, except when they pass it changing channels?

[defendandprotect]

93. It's important for all to recognize the power of rw lying propaganda --

and the fact that it goes on -- not only on Faux News -- but poisoning our

entire political debate --

Keep in mind, it was also Frank Luntz -- GOP propagandist -- who told W in 2002

to change Global Warming to Climate Change --

A new labeling which makes it sound as though something normal is going on!

And, it disconnects us from the 100 and more years of reality of scientists understanding

the impact of Industrial Revolution on nature -- the dying of the trees.

And from our very clear understandings in mid-1950's re dangers of Global Warming to

planet and humanity.

Global Warming makes clear what we are talking about is HEAT -- heating up the atmosphere

which creates chaotic weather -- increasing severity of storms, hurricanes, floods/droughts

tornadoes, cyclones -- and even increasing earthquakes.


AND, everyone -- including DU'ers -- should understand that the right wing does not

fight fairly -- will use any deception, trick or even more -- and never gives up.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

95. Because 5 million people are trapped in propaganda pods?

Hate the message. Love the people.

[ooglymoogly]

100. More like 140 million. The number below the national average IQ;

and oh so easily frightened out of their wits; such as they are;

and don't forget the rest of the propaganda channels umbilical attached to their own pods that are guarded fiercely by the right;

and the same for the televangelists.

And then there are the very dangerous "good German's, somewhere between room temperature and room temperature, who tip the scales to bring this country to its knees.

By this we are an ignorant, fat, self important, stupid country; with the dumbest amongst us, leading it; whose strings are pulled from folks who should know better; forcing us to the lowest common denominator for nothing but the fleece; and they want all of it, even that needed to keep us from freezing.

To say we are a laughing stock of loaded hypocrites ready to shit on any truth or common sense, or any step forward, is a gross understatement.

[awoke_in_2003]

120. because the truth has to be...

stated again and again- even though it may be obvious to some, most of us are ignorant savages at best.

[syberlion]

121. I deleted FOX so I don't even have to run across it anymore

Makes life so much nicer...

And like you say, MSNBC plays enough of FOX to where I still have to hear those loonies!!!

[SpiralHawk]

2. Typical RepubliCorp Mass Media strategery: lie and spin

[bitchkitty]

3. You MUST be kidding! Fox lied? No way! n/t

[Hugin]

4. I can't wait to see this on the scroller over at Fox News!

:bounce:

Oh, yeah... :/

[myrna minx]

5. K&R n/t

[Roy Rolling]

6. better description...use it

We have a cable newtwork... The Fox So-Called News Channel. or, better yet, Fox government-run News.

[liberal N proud]

7. I am shocked - TOTALLY shocked

Shocked that anyone is actually calling them out!

They have been getting away with this shit for as long as Murdoch has owned them.

[valerief]

8. And the sun rises in the east. nt

[BenzoDia]

9. This says more about the American public than it does about Fox News

[Kingofalldems]

87. How's that?

[BenzoDia]

109. People should expect bias in any news source and do the research themselves.

[SaveAmerica]

10. I just fell over and fainted, got up and fainted again from this info

NO WAY!!

[Kingofalldems]

122. OK, so it's not Fox's fault they are biased

it's the viewers fault for not researching. I get it.

[Hubert Flottz]

11. Nazi Nutwork

A propaganda organ of the GOP. Using the Nazi blueprint.

[indimuse]

15. yes they are!

love the *NAZI NUTWORK*...THANZ! ;)

[johnlal]

12. And this is news?

That's what they do. Are we going to treat every new revelation of FoxNews bias as a bombshell?

[DFW]

13. Luntz again. Why am I not surprised?

I run into this guy occasionally. He is brilliant, slimy, "very 'umble," a real life Uriah Heep.

Fox drools over his every word, and uses most of them. He is very impressed with his own intellect, and
unfortunately, with some justification. He manages to make a whole nation vote overwhelmingly against its
own interest, to the benefit of a small minority. He's very highly paid to do what he does, and earns it.

It's like having Abraham Lincoln and Ted Sorensen both working as speech writers for your opposition.

[JDPriestly]

64. So, Luntz studies what motivates everyone else.

But what motivates him? Money? Feeling powerful? Feeling clever? What makes him tick? Has anyone thought to ask that?

[DFW]

106. All three of the above.

He loves being at the center of things. I think he is somewhat embarrassed at his physical appearance.
He refuses to appear in public without that ridiculous hairpiece, and he has had this "too nerdy to be
of any danger" look to him, coupled with his "aw shucks" public persona. I have seen this guy up close
(as in sitting across from him) for many years, and he uses this dichotomy to his strict advantage.

You never hear him use his "Dr." title on TV, but he sure as hell uses it when promoting himself to
people who contemplate hiring him for the very substantial sums he earns to make things turn out like
they did in 2000, 2002, 2004, and again last month. He knows perfectly well he is not charismatic enough
to be a leader, so, like Karl Rove, he uses what assets he has to his best advantage.

What makes him tick? He wants to be a mover and shaker, and takes it as far as he can. One time, Luntz was
at a gathering where everyone wears name tags, no matter who you are, in order to put everyone on the same
level, no matter how important you are in the outside world. When Bill Clinton was about to leave, Luntz
went up to Clinton and got his name tag, and went around wearing Bill Clinton's name tag. He would tell you,
if you asked, that he was just being cute. No one EVER uses anyone else's name tag at this event, not even
to be cute. This went far deeper than he knew he was letting on, and he took it off when he realized that
everyone found it more pathetic than funny. I think what makes Luntz tick is that although he loves being
the behind the scenes man that makes a fortune making other people powerful, he secretly wishes he were the
one being in the limelight, and knows he will be highly respected only by the ones who profit from his "gifts,"
but never by their cheering masses. I think his evil drive is fueled by this inner frustration, one he will
never EVER admit to in public (or in private to anyone who might then repeat it).

[anAustralianobserver]

111. This is more interesting than the email!

[JDPriestly]

119. Thanks so much. You answer my questions very well.

And you are probably right.

[DFW]

125. Just my impressions, but first hand ones.

There probably aren't many on DU that regularly come into contact with this guy--nor would they want to!

But it's like an oncologist observing a live cancer cell thrive and divide--it's always intriguing to
to get a really good, candid, close up look at your worst enemy.

[Doctor_J]

116. Agreed.

If this guy had been Berg'd 20 years ago, the country would be in far better shape than it is. Dispatching him, Limpballs, and Gingrinch a generation ago would have likely saved the republic.

[Javaman]

14. In other news: water is wet. nt

[GetRidOfThem]

17. It's not news - but it is more evidence....

There is a distinction, and there is also value to evidence...

[14thColony]

28. And THAT is the key point.

It's one thing to "know" something is happening. It's quite another to have concrete evidence of it.

[Javaman]

31. That's a good point.

In other news: Although water has always been thought wet, it is now confirmed.

[stubtoe]

74. ...

:fistbump:

[edhopper]

16. So here is what will happen

I will go to one of the neutral discussion boards I visit. (sites that deal with my other interests, like art, but have political discussion boards) and I will link this and say, "See, proof that Fox lies and is just a GOP shill."
The Fox News fans on the board will completely ignore the facts and counter with "Media Matters?! Why that's just one of those liberal websites, how can you trust them. The lie all the time." Of course without providing one instance where Media Matters ever lied.
That is what will happen.

[peacetalksforall]

22. You're right.

[siligut]

47. Conditioning

They believe if they don't buy into the lie, they will not be successful. All the right people buy into the lie. Presidents, Senators, Christians and more; how can so many smart people be wrong? This along with discrediting the truth seekers and constant reinforcement from Faux itself, they are dupes. Unfortunately, this formula is successful and still at work.

[molly77]

60. siligut

Interesting observation. DemocracyNow , today's show, shows how some bucks being passed around helps too.

[brewens]

81. Last time I used Media Matters in a chat room, the person I was

trying to shoot down claimed they misquote Rush Limbaugh all the time. I asked for a specific instance and she said there were too many to recall just one. I pushed it but got nowhere.
They take Limbaugh and the usual suspects, blindly at their word on Media Matters misquoting and using things out of context. hard to misquote when all the examples are their own transcripts, recordings and videos.
They never go check sites like Media Matters to see if they are being lied to.

[ieoeja]

18. Fox fans already know this. But they believe every body else does the same thing for Democrats. n/t

[NewJeffCT]

23. Not every Fox viewer believes Fox is pro-Republic

I've seen some otherwise educated people think Fox is fair & balanced, while everybody else is way left of center. Republics have been pounding the "liberal media" meme for 40 years now, so it has gain some traction.

[ieoeja]

41. Remind them why people originally thought the media was too liberal.

The vast majority of media reporting on Vietnam was pro-government. But there was a substantial percentage that reported the facts as they occurred. People who thought the press should support the government regarding a war, and ignore facts they believed worked against the war effort, complained that the media was too liberal.

So they originally complained about the media being too liberal because they believed the media was too truthful. Honest media *is* liberal by rightwing definition.


You sure those educated people aren't just lying to you? A lot of them do. And you used the "fair & balanced" term. FNC has openly admitted that they "balance" what the other channels do, not that they are balanced within their own ranks. Although they do trot out meaningless numbers, "40% of the people on our show are liberals," ignoring that those 40% are on air only 4% of the time.

[JDPriestly]

66. And so now, reporters have to be "embedded," meaning they

have to report the government's story from the point of view of the government -- which wouldn't work very well if the positions of our government ever changed. But the fact is that since the news is pretty much controlled by the government through embedding and other means, we always only get one government -- different people -- but always the same Goldman Sachs and BP and Exxon and Walmart and defense contractors' government. We hear and see the same rubbish on most of the media. So that is all that most people believe and trust.

Thank God for the internet.

[fatbuckel]

86. News flash....educated people do not think fox is fair&balanced.

[peacetalksforall]

19. Bill Sammon - his face was on tv every day for eight years through all

events of the Clinton administration - he was disgusting.

He was introduced as a journalist. I used to think that these vile spewing propaganda journalists spent all their days on morning tv, then went to bars and lunches finding out what the news was from their friends, going to the office and looking up a file, then back to the television studio to give the latest theory about the immoral things. He was the first one to make me think they got away with plenty calling themselves journalists. Once I thought they had moved to the studios.

Oh yes, on Wednesdays they went to a Norquist meeting to be given instructions. And every once in awhile they would attend how-to seminars with Drudge, Lucianne Goldberg, probably Jonah - and maybe even Huffington and all the others.

[molly77]

62. peacetalksforall

Karma sometimes strikes at the most opportune moments. We have Julian Assange showing the world what real journalism is all about. The Guardian has excellent coverage.Hourly.

[Kingofalldems]

20. K and R for Fox/Breitbart's good buddy to see

[Myrina]

21. Um, duh? They needed a written document to prove Faux does this?

:hurts:

[ronnie624]

42. Documentation is essential to proving an accusation. n/t

[HopeHoops]

24. FOX NOISE? Misleading their sheep? Twisting the facts? Who would have THUNK such a thunk?

:shrug:

[madrchsod]

25. it`s legal for them to lie..well any media outlet can legally lie.

is ethics still taught in journalism class?

[BumRushDaShow]

26. "...aggressively pushing Fox's reporting to the right"

They had already been there since day one. They are now officially the lunatic fringe teabagger propaganda network.

[bluerum]

27. color me shocked and amazed - that this is even considered news

[Kingofalldems]

29. Nah-ah--Fred Barnes say Fox is fair and balanced!

[theaocp]

30. In other news,

water found to be wet. Were you aware?

edit: since Javaman already gave out this headline, I looked again and found out the sky is blue. Who knew?

[Botany]

32. Fox misleading people? No Way!

#1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luNheD4DGr8

"This footage just coming in .... "

# 2 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ea9_1258674240

"We inadvertently aired file footage but we did not mean to mislead
anybody and for that we apologize."


**************

Remember Fox declared George W bush the "winner" in Florida 2000. Fox's business model
is based on selling half truths and misleading the American people w/ outright lies.

[dkofos]

33. Faux news lying is hardly late breaking news.

More like same shit every day

[Tommy_Carcetti]

34. Not the first time Fox has played with language.

Remember shortly after 9-11 when referring to terrorists who strap on bombs and blow themselves up as well as potentially anyone in their vicinity--i.e. they commit suicide in their bombing attempt?

The memo went out in Fox circles that apparently "suicide bombers" was too sympathetic to the terrorists, because, you know, suicide is such a positive and dignified event that you can't associate with terrorists :sarcasm:. (don't you know that?) So instead, they insisted upon using the phrase "homicide bombers". Except that term wasn't descriptive--any bomb that causes fatalities could be considered a "homicide bomb", regardless of whether or not the bomber was also killed in the act. Timothy McVeigh was a "homicide bomber".

It annoyed me only for the fact that it insulted the viewer's intellegence (or potential intellegence as it relates to some Fox viewers). I think we should all be able to agree that if an innocent victim is killed in an act described as a "suicide bomb", it is still a sad and tragic event and we don't need to rephrase it into something that it really isn't just as a shameless ploy on emotions in the "War on Terror".

[skip fox]

51. But the reason it will never catch on is linguistic, not political.

All suicide bombers are homicide bombers but not all homicide bombers (i.e., IED's) are suicide bombers. "Suicide bomber," therefore, tells us something "homicide bomber" does not.

[Gormy Cuss]

85. "Suicide" implied to them that the goal was to kill one's self and killing others was incidental.

Homicide bomber neatly removes the bomber's own death from the equation.
That's why FOX did it.

Of course, most people who don't believe in FOX News understand the term "suicide bomber" as meaning killing one's self as part of the intended homicide.

[JamesA1102]

35. FOX was slanting the news?!?!?!

I'm shocked, shocked I tell you.

[Auggie]

36. Like Health Care Reform vs. Health Insurance Reform

[The Backlash Cometh]

37. I hope this posts in the mainstream media.

[delightfulstar]

38. This doesn't surprise me one bit...

After all, we're talking about these guys:

[TygrBright]

39. In other news: Water wet!! Sun rises in East!!! n/t

[Stevenmarc]

40. Big fucking surprise, remember Jane Akre

[Democat]

43. Fox is part of the Republican Party - Democrats have no major media outlets.

Sad.

[Liberalynn]

44. Ouch

I bet he is going to get :spank: for this. I bet they suspended him right away that naughty boy. :sarcasm:

More likely they gave him "Employee of the Month" and raised his salary astronomically for implementing the coporate policy so well. :eyes:

[dotymed]

45. If Only....

Our President would instruct the FCC to Reinstate the Fairness Doctrine, there would be many positive changes in the MSM and people would eventually become well informed again....

[TorchTheWitch]

65. FCC has no jurisdiction over cable news

or any other pay tv news.

[City Lights]

46. More proof that fox is not a news organization.

It is a propaganda arm of the republican party, and an enemy of the people.

:thumbsup: to David Brock and Media Matters. :yourock: Keep up the great work!

[DirkGently]

48. Unsurprising, but nonetheless gobsmackingly blatant and worthy of publicizing.

[madmax]

49. Media Terrorists and subversives

The whole freakin bunch of them.

Rupert is a TERRORIST who spends his time, money and influence to screw the sheeple.

[Overseas]

50. Wish these cold calculating GOP moves were more of a news topic.

One problem with signaling willingness to compromise and giving in too soon is that the really most important topic, IMHO, Republican Cruelty, is not discussed broadly enough.

I really want Republican heartless willingness to hold the poor hostage to be the hot topic for a few days at least.

Instead of "The Left is Upset with The President!" the topic really should be "How Cruel Can the GOP Get?"

Their cruelty is so absolute that they were more intent on how to make the Public Option less popular by any means necessary, than even discussing how it could help the nation's long term economic health. How to get the public to hate the idea was far more important than keeping costs down for a large proportion of Fox's own viewers who probably have to buy private insurance to supplement their damn Medicare.

We discuss GOP cruelty on our tiny handful of liberal TV and radio shows, but it should be a frequent topic on broadcast news too. Instead, they all seem to assume GOP cruelty is normal and never really discuss the failures of Trickle Down economics and its sheer meanness. The working poor are supposed to just keep waiting even though our wages have gone down and we're being evicted from our homes. Or we're still looking for work at 99 weeks of collecting on unemployment we've paid into for years.

Republican supply-side economics has failed. The country needs more Democratic demand-side economics. But our so-called news programs pretend that is not so.

And the "Look Look! I'm not too liberal!" DLC types seem more concerned with that posturing than with facing the truth and really moving forward on the demand side for our long term fiscal health.

[JDPriestly]

67. They are cruel because they believe in a meritocracy.

They think that everyone gets what they deserve. If you are poor, it is because that is what you deserve.

But what puzzles me is how they reconcile that with Christianity. Jesus taught that the poor may be more deserving than the rich. So how is the Republican viewpoint Christian? I can't figure it out.

[Overseas]

108. And it sure isn't a meritocracy when bonuses are paid for crashing the economy.

Or when Fiorina gets 100 million for tanking HP.

The golden parachutes, awarded even in failure, totally destroy that notion.

They don't have to reconcile their views with Christianity. They have learned that as long as they accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior, they're good to go. Absolved. All clear. In with God. Going to heaven.

And the meek may have to inherit the Earth when the wealthy have so despoiled it that they need to set up colonies in space.

[1American]

52. "government option"

SO WHAT? The Democrats are wusses and won't dare broadcast this bit of info for fear of offending the Tea Partyers in their states. Fox News rules the airways with no Democratic forum daring to compete with it.
The Democrats are girly-girls.

THAT'S WHY I AM AND INDEPENDENT! ! ! ! ! !

[sharesunited]

53. In the semantics war, FNC really latched on to "homicide bomber."

It was coined by the Bush WH because "suicide bomber" was perceived as giving the bombers too much satisfaction.

But even when this ridiculous convention was dropped by the WH, Fox continued to use it, and may indeed STILL be using it today.

Same thing with "Democrat Party." Intended to deprive Democrats of any preemptive claim to democracy, and generally intended to annoy.

What would Hugo do?

[skip fox]

57. Yes, "homicide bomber" made me hit the roof. And I have heard them use it recently.

But they slip into "suicide bomber because the language has an intelligence of its own.

All suicide bombers are homicide bombers but not all homicide bombers (i.e., Ed's) are suicide bombers. "Suicide bomber," therefore, tells us something "homicide bomber" does not.

[sharesunited]

77. In Godfather 2, the following exchange occurs:

MICHAEL
I saw an interesting thing happen today. A rebel was being arrested by the military police, and rather than be taken alive, he exploded a grenade he had hidden in his jacket. He killed himself, and took a captain of the command with him.

ROTH looks concerned.

JOHNNY OLA
Those rebels, you know, they're lunatics.

MICHAEL
Maybe so -- but it occurred to me. The soldiers are paid to fight -- the rebels aren't.

ROTH
What does that tell you?

MICHAEL
They can win.

[Robyn66]

54. In other news water is wet (nt)

[progressoid]

58. Yep - and the sun rises in the east. nt

[patrice]

55. Free the people from ALL of the brainwashing by helping them learn HOW to Learn.

[Jamastiene]

56. I wonder if that is the same asshole that came up with that stupid "homicide bomber" bullshit. n/t

[KansDem]

59. We all knew this about FOX but it's good to have it in writing...

It only confirms what was common knowledge...

FOX = "Full Of Xhit"

[savalez]

61. And Fox's nuckleheaded viewers ate it up. n/t

[Uncle Joe]

63. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, meegbear.

[and-justice-for-all]

68. I can't believe Fox would do such a thing...

Haha...yes I can.

[caseymoz]

69. This is like telling me the sky's blue.

Unfortunately, the people who most need to read this are the ones least likely to read, believe or heed it.

[chemenger]

70. Faux Snoozz

"We make it up, you buy into it."

[yellowcanine]

71. Al Capone was a bootlegger!

[Crunchy Frog]

72. FOX news coverage is slanted to the right?!? Really???

I never would have believed that such a thing could happen.:wow:

[DMNinFL]

75. Didn't evryone know by the August Town Hall Fiasco......

that the Public Option would never have a heart beat? Single Payer was never on the table. So, there was no fall back position. Was that by accident? I think NOT. There was NEVER going to be a public option. I know......"We can't let the perfect become the enemy of the good" or whatever. :mad:

[Capitalocracy]

76. Who leaked that information? Those are private emails!

Arrest them for rape! Execute them! Drone strike!

:sarcasm:

[zehnkatzen]

78. Heh. What are we going to hear next - Bonds used steroids? n/t k/r

[chimpymustgo]

79. K&R.

[AtheistCrusader]

80. Fire burns, water wet, night dark, day light....

[Deep13]

82. No way! Can't we trust ANYONE?! nt

[Hulk]

83. Gosh...the propaganda network is "slanted"?

This isn't news to anyone on this site.

[laughingliberal]

84. K & R nt

[Plucketeer]

88. NO! Not from "Fare un' Balanced" !!!

How could this BE??? :puke:




GOP JOBS PLAN V

[defendandprotect]

89. Long ago became aware of power of this "labeling" ... when I was listening ...

to my car radio -- this was when Gov. Cuomo was Gov. of NY --

and the announcer began with a news report re "Governor Cuomo ... excuse me ....

liberal Governor Cuomo today ...."

Whether the announcer did it on purpose to alert the public or whether it was a slip

it exposed one of the avenues for propaganda -- and eventually our entire "free press"

has become simply right wing lying propaganda.

[stillrockin]

90. Alert the media!

[defendandprotect]

91. Frank Luntz is an expert GOP propagandist and was responsible for the Climate Change... change ...

Luntz recommended to W in 2002 that they should change Global Warming to

Climate Change --

And, I think we should all resist that propaganda --

Global Warming makes clear that what we are talking about is HEAT -- heat that

is creating chaotic weather all over the planet.

Climate Change disconnects the debate from what we knew in mid -1960's about Global

Warming -- in fact re what scientists have know of corporate pollution of the planet

over the last 100 years and more! Immediately upon Industrial Revolution in late

1880's they could see the impact on nature/trees.


Right now we have 2 hot days for every 1 cold day --

by 2050 it is possible we may have 50 hot days for every 2 cold days --

what does that mean for 2025???

No one knows how Global Warming may compound -- scientists are being shocked at its

rapid progress over and again!!

And it is capitalism and its exploitation of nature which is responsible for this --

not to mention its exploitation of humans, as well!!

That's the basis of capitalism -- exploitation

[PatrynXX]

92. Unfortunately the brainwashed will never hear of this

Unless Shepherd Smith really gets brave



kinda like the "Death Panels" sorry you want death panels go to the place where supposedly it's great for those with asthma.... Arizona. so you can die young. and would seem more likely than not, the legal citizens will be dying. Even though Jan Bupkis has the money in stimulus. Didn't know lungs were optional??


We could probably prove Dick Cheney actually runs the network and still the zombies at fox 1. would never hear about it because they only watch one network and hence one side and two. well they are zombies and hence brain dead. Extend those tax cuts will ya. so my taxes go up if I'm part of the lower middle class or poor. Why thank you. love you. kiss my fucking asshole. wanna lick it? it's kinda hairy... X_X grrrrrrrr I could pay attention up above but this tax thing with Obama has me more than pissed off. That was his lead promise and he smashed it with a ... 50 pound sledge?

Where's the cartoonists for that? Wish I could draw. big brick word PROMISE and here comes the sledge......

[abelenkpe]

94. OMG Someone leaked something?

Leaked an email from FOX? The station openly calling for publishers that print such leaks to be executed? Well, I'm sure they are saying the same today yeah? Pressuring banks to cut off these news sites funding and for government to charge them with....well....something, yeah? How can they live with the shame of this knowledge being known by the public? It's an attack on FOX news. These renegade publications reporting such leaks need to be shut down immediately. What jerks.

Now I know what yer gonna say, this isn't anything we didn't all already know or suspect so clearly the publishers are just slime trying to attract attention to themselves. Right?

[Pavulon]

96. I FUCKING DESPISE leaking classified data BUT this and bank information

is fair game. Its whistleblowing, not passing out the results of some little bitch committing espionage.

More power to them.

[LanternWaste]

103. Six of one, half a dozen of the other

Six of one, half a dozen of the other. I guess it really depends on where our biases are...

[Pavulon]

107. NO criminal act in dumping BOA or other non classified data

only an administrative rule break. I dont (maybe) have to pay for the fix. (unless we bail boa out again)

[sakabatou]

97. No surprise

[Rosa Luxemburg]

99. Yes indeed, no surprise

Pox news

[mvd]

98. We all knew this

But maybe it can shine the light for a few of those FAUX watchers.

[ooglymoogly]

101. Fux lied, a country died. nt kr

[WCGreen]

102. I am socked, I tell you, shocked....

K&R

[Creative]

104. Actually, if you think about it, "public option" doesn't sound very nice either.

It sort of reminds me of "public restroom."

As for me, I'd rather go in a private restroom.

[DaveofCali]

105. Are Americans that weak minded?

Yes, I know the cynics here would say "duh", but still, its a damn embarassment that Americans are so weak minded that a slight change in the way something is referred to means the difference between accepting and rejecting proposed legislation. It actually makes a mockery of democracy, that such weak minded people could theoretically have such power over their government.

[alp227]

110. So much evidence of irresponsbily biased and wrong reporting that this is not surprising

Hell, Fox News just http://mediamatters.org/research/201012090027">can't stop lying about the DREAM Act for crying out loud! So if you're wondering why people are so obsessed with bashing "illegal aliens" and stuff like that on news site comment boards, there's an idiotic irresponsible TV station disguising fearmongering lies as news.

But oh well. Fox News and its fans still side with a president who lied America into supporting the Iraq War - with deadly, expensive consequences.

[Lint Head]

112. What Fox News has done is total fascist propaganda and they should be prosecuted

for treason for trying to shut down freedom of speech using coercion of a captive and monopolized audience. Mental captives just like the Third Reich’s lemmings that murdered millions.
Reference in history:
George Santayana's earliest quote
'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.'
(Life of Reason, Reason in Common Sense, Scribner's)This quotes was used in reference to the Holocaust
**I will not stop using the Nazi reference when it is appropriate to do so.
Their pundits called for the assassination of people in other countries. Especially the people in other countries that do not believe what they believe.

At 8 pm on the evening of 1 May, Goebbels arranged for an SS dentist, Helmut Kunz, to kill his six children by injecting them with morphine and then, when they were unconscious, crushing an ampule of cyanide in each of their mouths.<89> According to Kunz's testimony, he gave the children morphine injections but it was Magda Goebbels and Stumpfegger, Hitler's personal doctor, who then administered the cyanide.<90> Shortly afterward, Goebbels and his wife went up to the garden of the Chancellery, where they killed themselves.
In Berlin, Goebbels was able to give full expression to his genius for propaganda, as editor of the Berlin Nazi newspaper Der Angriff (The Attack) and as the author of a steady stream of Nazi posters and handbills. "He rose within a few months to be the city’s most feared agitator."<21> His propaganda techniques were totally cynical: "That propaganda is good which leads to success, and that is bad which fails to achieve the desired result," he wrote. "It is not propaganda’s task to be intelligent; its task is to lead to success."<21>
Among his favorite targets were socialist leaders such as Hermann Müller and Carl Severing, and the Jewish Berlin Police President, Bernhard Weiß (1880–1951), whom he subjected to a relentless campaign of Jew-baiting in the hope of provoking a crackdown he could then exploit. The Social Democrat city government obliged in 1927 with an eight-month ban on the party, which Goebbels exploited to the limit. When a friend criticized him for denigrating Weiss, a man with an exemplary military record, "he explained cynically that he wasn’t in the least interested in Weiss, only in the propaganda effect."<21>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Goebbels

[Doctor_J]

117. Prosecuted? No

Taken off the air by real patriots? Yes.

[mrarundale]

113. From the title, I thought this was going to be a joke

because OF COURSE fox (and everyone else) slants the news. But when you see the calculation behind it, it is really quite stunning. The airwaves belong to us and corporations use them to brainwash, manipulate, and lie; why is it not a crime?

[tomm2thumbs]

114. I always have to post this link, which epitomizes the playground Fox calls a news network

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCQ4gAAVW2k

[UpInArms]

115. Bill Sammon - enough said - POS deluxe - Moonie Times POS - the let-er of Farts

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bill_Sammon

Creating the news

In a September 18, 2007, Examiner article, Sammon attacked both Democratic 2008 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and the liberal organization MoveOn regarding MoveOn's ad portraying Gen. David Petraeus as "General Betray Us" in a full-page ad published in the New York Times on September 10, 2007, the day before Petraeus was to testify before Congress, and Clinton for allegedly refusing to repudiate MoveOn's ad.<3>

Two days later, on September 20, 2007, Sammon reported online at 1:16 p.m. in the Examiner<4> on a story he had helped to create around 11:20 a.m. during a White House press conference with President Bush.<5>

"Wrapping up his seventh year in office and unable to rise from his ratings slump, the president has run low on major announcements," Dana Milbank reported September 21, 2007, in the Washington Post.<6> Reporters asked Bush questions, only to receive cursory one liners in response, at least until what was the end of the news conference. Milbank reported:
"In need of a pick-me-up, Bush looked toward the back of the room and found 'Big Stretch,' the conservative journalist Bill Sammon of the Washington Examiner. Sammon obliged, asking whether Bush thinks Democrats should repudiate MoveOn.org's ad attacking Gen. David Petraeus.
"Bingo -- another chance to criticize Democrats in Congress. 'I thought that the ad was disgusting,' Bush said. 'And I was disappointed that not more leaders in the Democrat Party spoke out strongly against that kind of ad.'
"Bush therefore concluded that 'most Democrats . . . are more afraid of irritating than they are of irritating the United States military. That was a sorry deal.'"

Coincidentally, Sammon managed to ask the last question, provide Bush's punchline, and Sammon's own afternoon headline: "Bush slams Dems for not condemning MoveOn.org."<4>

Joined at the hip with Bush

Former Washington Times' reporter Sammon's "bio for speaking engagements brags:<7>
"Six-foot-seven inch Bill Sammon–nicknamed 'Superstretch' by President Bush–enjoys more access to the commander-in-chief than any other journalist. Sammon has spent hours with Bush in the Oval Office, aboard Air Force One–even in the President’s sprawling Texas ranch. As Senior White House Correspondent for the Washington Examiner, Bill Sammon travels with Bush wherever he goes and was with him on September 11, when his presidency was utterly transformed by the terrorist attacks."

On September 13, 2007, Sammon, "author of such scathing critiques of presidential power as Misunderestimated: The President Battles Terrorism, Media Bias and the Bush Haters and Strategery: How George W. Bush Is Defeating Terrorists, Outwitting Democrats, and Confounding the Mainstream Media appeared on Fox's Special Report with Brit Hume<8> to argue that Olson should be confirmed because his wife Barbara died on 9/11."<9>

"In December 2003, Sammon asked whether Bush would 'agree or disagree' with the Republican National Committee's assessment that Howard Dean musing about Bush knowing in advance about 9/11 'borders on hate speech.'

"Bush would only say, 'There's a time for politics, and I uh ... It's an absurd insinuation.' That was four months before the White House finally released the infamous 'Bin Laden Determined to Stike in US' warning delivered to Bush in August 2001."<10>

[24601]

118. Both are equally accurate - so what's the big deal. I'll bet that

MSNBC made a deliberate decision the other way and called it the public option precisely to spin it the other way.

[Creative]

123. A news organization slanting the news to match their own biases?

It this supposed to be "news?"

[Mosaic]

124. Disgusting

This fraud must be taken off the air. We need leadership in government who will reinstate the Fairness Doctrine and end this ridiculous era for good.