News Hounds

Rep. Joe Wilson Lies On Your World… And Neil Cavuto Lets Him Get Away With It

Reported by Guest Blogger - Fri 8:46 PM

Guest blogged by Brian

On Wednesday’s (11/4/09) Your World, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-You lie!) was interviewed about President Obama's health care bill. When asked about Congress going forward in the wake of the previous day’s election returns, Wilson said, "It's actually arm twisting to secure the votes… The 2000 page bill is a bill, which is a takeover of a significant portion of our economy. It's not being thought through...It's taking advantage of the American people. Attacking senior citizens, attacking small business." Comment: BarackObama.com says Obama’s plan "protects Medicare for seniors.” and "provides small business tax credits." You lie, twice, Rep.Wilson!

Is Glenn Beck Now In Bed With The SEIU?

Reported by Ellen - Fri 4:24 PM

It may be time to plaster a photo of Glenn Beck next to a photo of Chairman Mao. Because the two seem to be in bed together. As Alexander Zaitchik writes in AlterNet, Beck has tweeted about the "AMAZING" care he has received from doctors and nurses treating him in the hospital since the emergency removal of his appendix earlier in the week. Zaitchik also notes, "It's a safe bet" that whatever hospital Beck is in, that it is staffed by members of the Service Employees International Union. That's the same SEIU which, according to Beck is a branch of the tree of "Radicalism and Revolution." So has Beck been hoodwinked by these dangerous enemies of our country? Or has he joined them on the dark side? Or is this all part of the 11/3 Project? I report, you decide.

Jon Stewart Digs For The Truth Behind Glenn Beck's Appendectomy!

Reported by Ellen - Fri 4:00 PM

Things are not what they seem! Jon Stewart reveals the 11/3 Project and asks the questions nobody else will ask about the connections between Glenn Beck's appendix and the elections on Tuesday. He's got the chalkboard to prove it, too! Video after the jump... perfect for a Friday afternoon.

Will Bill O’Reilly Describe Arrested Protesters And Their Teabagging Supporters As “Loons?”

Reported by Priscilla - Fri 1:21 PM

Remember when Jon Stewart lambasted Fox News for its flip flopping hypocrisy on a number of issues? Stewart noted how Bill O’Reilly, who defends obstreperous teabaggers, accused anti-war protestors during the Bush administration, of being “loons.” After he was called out on it, by Stewart, O’Reilly said “While most of these people have been peaceful, more than a thousand have been arrested and surveys show many protesters are simply loons, calling for the destruction of the American system, calling for retreat in the face of terrorism.” At yesterday’s teabagging of the US Capitol, some of the folks got a little rowdy. While thousands were not arrested, a dozen disruptive anti-choicer zealots were - during which process the teabagging crowd heckled the police. Think that O’Reilly will say that these people are “loons.” Somehow I don’t think so.

H/T: TPM

Correction: The radical anti-choicers were not officially tea partiers; but, those heckling police were. Those arrested do, however, frequent tea parties where they are obviously welcome.

Mike Huckabee’s Flag Fetish

Reported by Alex - Fri 12:22 PM

Here’s a quick quiz for you: Which of the definitions below best matches the intended role and function of the American flag?

(1) something that stands for or suggests something else by reason of relationship, association, or convention; a visible sign of something invisible.
(2 an object having cultural significance and the capacity to excite or objectify a response.
(3) a material object which should be considered sacred in its own right
(4) an object worthy of devotion, intense reverence, and ritualistic veneration

(1) and (2) describe a symbol, and if you chose one of these definitions you are correct. (3) and (4) describe a fetish, and if you chose one of these, you’re Mike Huckabee. With video.
Updated with second video.

Did Hannity And Bachmann Just Make Up Their Account Of Bachmann’s Health Care Protest?

Reported by Ellen - Fri 9:14 AM

Sean Hannity took time out from covering the shootings at Fort Hood to give some PR for Michele Bachmann’s tea party protest in Washington earlier yesterday (11/5/09). The two grossly exaggerated the crowd size, perpetuated a fiction that no astroturfing had occurred and left out any mentions of the extremist, anti-Obama signs, many of which had nothing to do with health care reform. With video.

Fort Hood Shooting Brings Out Racism And Death Threats In Fox Nation Comments

Reported by Ellen - Thu 9:24 PM

I can't fault Fox Nation's coverage of the awful Fort Hood shootings but where is their moderator? Some of the comments are not just racist but threatening. (H/T William T.) Screen grabs after the jump.

FoxNews.com on Global Warming: Misleading Misdirection or Outright Lie?

Reported by Guest Blogger - Thu 6:00 PM

Guest blogged by Notveryhow

A FoxNews.com article entitled Earth Cools, and Fight Over Warming Heats Up already contains two falsehoods in just the title. Nowhere to go but down from there, so they repeat these points in the first 2 sentences.

Stossel's Fox "Business" Post Wonders If NY Times Is Deliberately Distracting Readers With Article About Obamas' Marriage

Reported by Guest Blogger - Thu 1:41 PM

Guest blogged by Dan

Only on Fox would a commentary on an article written about the Obama's marriage rank in the Business section. Fox Business' newest pundit, John Stossel, wrote in a November 3, 2009 blog post that he found Sunday’s New York Times Magazine story, "The Obamas' Marriage," "kind of interesting." But, Stossel continued, Pajamas Media's Roger Simon thought it '"a form of distraction' so the President can avoid scrutiny of his programs." This is a business story? It's not even much of a political story.

Fox News’ Shepard Smith Speaks Truth To Power

Reported by Priscilla - Thu 11:03 AM

In a dark world of partisan lies and smears, Fox News’ Shepard Smith is a beacon of light. Unlike the other Fox pundits who bow down before the RNC and the Christian right wing, Shepard Smith has the strength of character to speak out when he disagrees with Fox News talking points. Recently, he spoke out again against words of a song which, as Smith expressed it, convey a “distorted message.” The words he cited are from a University of Mississippi fight song which say that “the South Shall Rise Again” – a sentiment found frequently in the comments on Fox Nation. I suspect that if Keith Olbmermann had said this, Fox News, Fox Nation, and the “Culture Warriors” would be all over him. But Shep has cover and I’m glad he does because his words, coming from an employee of a right wing news outlet, mean a lot. Too bad that he said this on a video for “Ole Miss” students – but say it he did and for that Shepard Smith deserves thanks, again, for being a class act.

Only On Fox News: Praising Our President Is Dangerous And Unpatriotic

Reported by Ellen - Thu 9:03 AM

Those two uber patriots, Sean Hannity and Michelle Malkin, teamed up on Hannity last night (11/4/09) to hype the “findings” of the latest “expose” video from Andrew Breitbart’s Big Hollywood – 11 instances of school children singing the praises of our president, “uncovered,” as Media Matters noted, from YouTube. According to Hannity and Malkin, school children singing about our President is downright – well, un-American. With Video.

Fox News Overlooks Prejean Sex Tape In Report About Her Legal Settlement

Reported by Ellen - Thu 1:05 AM

TMZ has this juicy nugget, posted November 4, 2009, 5:00 PM: Prejean Sex Tape Triggers Settlement. According to TMZ, Prejean immediately walked away from her demands for more than a million dollars from the Miss California USA Pageant once she saw "an XXX home video of her handiwork." TMZ said it had obtained the video months before but had decided not to post it due to its extremely graphic nature. "Let's just say, Carrie has a promising solo career," the site quipped.

Martha MacCallum, Major Garrett . . . What's Truth Got To Do With It?

Reported by Julie - Wed 9:53 PM

I can just hear the behind-the-scenes Fox News misinformation-promoting talking heads now.

“Hey, guys, we just heard a nasty rumor about President Obama. Get in on the air, now! Quick, quick, quick, like little bunnies, before the real media gets the real facts and debunks our rumor and we miss our chance to smear him! Don’t waste time on fact-checking, we can always go with the ‘honest mistake’ routine later. Chop, chop, time’s a-wastin’!”

A British View Of Fox News

Reported by Ellen - Wed 6:13 PM

A look at Fox News from the UK's Charlie Brooker, with that trademark British humor. (H/T Kris J.) Video after the jump.

Fox’s Peter Johnson Delivers 111 GOP Bullet Points

Reported by Guest Blogger - Wed 2:16 PM

Guest blogged by Notveryhow

“Ho, Ho, Ho,” Doocy began a segment on yesterday's (11/3/09) Fox & Friends. “Some believe that health care reform could come to a Congressional vote around Christmas...what surprises could Americans find under their tree when Santa Pelosi comes down the chimney?” With video.

Michele Bachmann and The Superbowl of Freedom

Reported by Ellen - Wed 11:05 AM

Guest blogged by Notveryhow

No, this isn’t a spin-off from the Harry Potter series. This is the superlative that Michele Bachmann used to describe a gathering of the clans in DC that she is promoting, to pressure Congress to reject health care reform, during her appearance on Fox & Friends yesterday (11/3/09). It would be an insult to questioners in the rational media to call this promotional appearance an interview. With video.

Now You’ve Done It, O’Reilly – You’ve Made the Birthers Mad

Reported by Julie - Wed 12:01 AM

Okay, so it’s no secret that I’ve got beef with Bill O’Reilly. He gets nutty about stuff – like two nights ago when he told Brit Hume his reporting was non-partisan. He has his vendettas – take the ACORN-bashing mission. He went after abortion doctor Dr. George Tiller, and in my mind contributed to his murder. He says stuff he shouldn’t. He allows his guests to be water-carriers for some extreme right-wing talking points. He did do something semi-right once, though: He pooh-poohed the “birther” movement (those nutbags who believe President Obama was born in Kenya) as “bogus,” “nonsense,” and “dumb stuff.” As reported by the Huffington Post, The O’Reilly Factor investigated the birther thing in July, deemed it “bogus,” and continued to deny its validity. And now, the damndest thing is happening: That nutty-as-a-fruitcake birther lady, Orly Taitz, is organizing a protest against O’Reilly. In New York. On Veterans Day. Outside Fox headquarters in Midtown. This is outside the normal realm of things on Fox, so help me, folks, think this one through.

O’Reilly to Brit Hume: “I’ve never heard you analyze a situation from a conservative or liberal viewpoint”

Reported by Julie - Tue 11:22 PM

Here I was, peacefully sipping coffee and watching a fairly benign, fairly typical discussion between Bill O’Reilly and Brit Hume, Fox News’ Senior Political Analyst, on the O’Reilly Factor last night (11/2/09), and O’Reilly said something so off the charts that I had to rewind it. Twice. Yup, he really said it. He really told Brit Hume that he’s never heard him analyze a situation “from a conservative or liberal viewpoint. You don’t do that.” But . . . but . . . but . . . . With video.

Election Open Thread

Reported by Ellen - Tue 10:27 PM

Fox News is crowing about the Republican wins in Virginia and New Jersey as if that signals they'll take back the House and Senate in 2010. What say you, News Hounds readers?

10:40 PM update: What happened to Fox News' concerns about voter fraud in New Jersey, now that Christie has beaten Corzine?

10:52 update: Things must not be so good in upstate NY. Karl Rove was talking about how it's a unique district.

Another Salvo In Fox News’ War For The Wealthy

Reported by Guest Blogger - Tue 6:40 PM

Guest blogged by Brian

Fox News’ “business block” is always looking for ways to help the rich and screw the rest of us. On Saturday’s (10/31/09) Cashin’ In, the gang used the ruse of claiming there’s a “war on wealth” to attack President Obama’s efforts to shore up the economy and help the middle class. With video.