David Frum Connects Fox News To Republicans – Oh, No, Say It Ain’t So!
Reported by Priscilla - April 12, 2010 -
David Frum is a conservative Republican. He was an economic speechwriter for George W Bush and author of a book about the Bush presidency. But he doesn’t fit the mold of today’s conservatives from “real America.” He has an undergrad degree from Yale and a law degree from Harvard so right there he’s one of those “elites” that Sarah Palin loves to pillory. He’s part of a vanishing species of rational and pragmatic conservative Republicans who are able to articulate arguments without resorting to accusations of “baby killing” or “Marxist” when discussing the policy of the opposition. He dared to write an article, on his blog, about how the Republicans could be facing their own “Waterloo” because of their obstinacy during the health care debate – as opposed to the “Waterloo” that Republican Senator Jim DeMint was predicting for Obama. After this heresy was published, he was fired from his job at the American Enterprise Institute. Well, enough of the background. Frum has recently said some juicy things about Fox News. Let’s dish…
In March, on ABC’s “Nightline,” Frum told Terry Moran, "Republicans originally thought that Fox worked for us and now we're discovering we work for Fox. And this balance here has been completely reversed. The thing that sustains a strong Fox network is the thing that undermines a strong Republican party." Last week, on CNN, Frum elaborated on that comment during an interview with the Washington Post’s Howie Kurtz. He said “What that means is that Fox, like Limbaugh, has an interest in pushing the Republicans to the margins, making people angry. When people are angry and alienated, they don't vote. They succumb to feelings of helplessness. What people need right now are feelings of power, that they can make a difference by participating in politics.”
Comment: Frum very effectively underscored what is obvious to anybody who follows Fox. It’s not just News Hounds, but David Frum who understands that Fox has, on behalf of the Republican Party, a vested interest in generating anger – anger that is directed towards those whom the RNC and Fox deem anathema. One need only to read the hateful and offensive comments on Fox Nation to see the effectiveness of the propaganda. Frum’s assessment is spot on. But does that make him a “Fox hater?” I don’t know if he qualifies for membership in that exclusive club; but what I do know is that Frum seems to recognize that Fox “News,” despite it’s claim to be “real journalism, fair and balanced,” does have an agenda. Oh, say it ain’t so……
