Ann Coulter Pretends to Care About "Blacks" while Bob Beckel - a "Democratic Strategist" on Fox's Payroll - Betrays Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, & Ray Nagin
Reported by Melanie - January 17, 2006
You may have seen my post yesterday about Neil Cavuto promoting Ann Coulter's appearance on Your World today (January 17, 2006). Cavuto said she'd be on to talk about "Dow 11,000." Well, surprise, surprise, Coulter was on but despite Cavuto's vain attempt to make his show look like an actual business news program, the words "Dow" and "11,000" didn't cross Coulter's lips. Instead, the segment was, as I presumed it would be, all about bashing Democrats, particularly the villainous Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, and Ray Nagin, all of whom dared to speak out yesterday against the Bush administration. (Fox also sprinkled a dash of feigned concern for African-Americans into the mix.) "Democratic strategist" and "Fox News Contributor" (he's on Fox's payroll) Bob Beckel, was parred with Coulter to provide Fox's version of "fair and balanced" as he did what all good "Democratic stragegists" on Fox do: let Cavuto and Coulter control the discussion and in the end, concede that Democrats need help.
A chyron appeared at the bottom of the screen: "Did Dems 'Exploit' MLK Day by Bashing the GOP All Day?" and Cavuto opened with:
Did Democrats just exploit MLK Day? You've got Hillary Clinton essentially calling the House GOP a bunch of plantation owners. Then, New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin calling the hurricane God's wrath for the war in Iraq, a comment that he tells Fox News he now regrets. And, former Vice President Al Gore saying that President Bush broke the law and labeling him a threat to our government because of, well, this wiretapping issue. And what if Republicans had said any of these? Would Democrats be screaming?"
(Comment: Notice the scant amount of information given to the audience about what each person said?)
Coulter went first, sarcastically saying it was a "crazy coincidence" that Clinton "would be mentioning plantations on Martin Luther King Day at a black church." (Comment: I have to give her credit. At least she pronounced Kings full name (though she left out "Junior"), unlike Cavuto who could only bring himself to say "MLK Day.")
Cavuto, speaking softly, with faked concern, wondered, "Was it insensitive?" Coulter said she thought it was "moronic more than insensitive." She wondered, "is that the one thing plantations were missing? A cloture vote?" (Comment: What?!) She said, "This is how 7th graders argue because they have a limited repertoire at that age. You don't go around comparing everything to a plantation." (Comment: Comparing everything to a plantation?) She said Clinton "also once compared the family to slavery so maybe it was a complement." (Comment: What?)
Cavuto turned to Beckel and asked if he were advising Clinton if he'd have told her "she said the wrong thing yesterday?"
Instead of seizing the opportunity to expand on what Clinton, Nagin, or Gore said, Beckel did what most Fox News "Democratic-Strategist" do -- he dove into the pit with Cavuto and Coulter and joined in the bashing: "Yeah, and I think Dr. King probably would have said the same thing. I'm not sure that's the way we should celebrate his birthday." He said he'd like to come back and do this show on the 4th of July "when Republicans use that most precious day of ours to call my candidates unpatriotic or not strong on national security." He said Coulter has never proven her point that Democrats are traitors yet "we" complain about what Democrats said, "but do you complain about Ann Coulter calling Democrats traitors and not being able to prove it? No."
Coulter said she had "quite a long list of Democratic traitors," one being "the Rosenberg's daughter" who Coulter said is "one of the people suing the government over the NSA spying, so liberals are once again doing their part for America." Then she accused Beckel of changing the subject because a Democrat said "something incredibly moronic, insulting and patronizing" instead of talking about how "patronizing the Democrats are to blacks all the time." (Comment: That's a laugh coming from Ann Coulter speaking on Fox News.)
Beckel, again foregoing the opportunity to address one or more of the many serious issues on the table said, "I said it was wrong." Then, giving Coulter center stage, he said, "Name one traitor who is a Democrat, prominent, in this country now."
Coulter, no doubt loving that Beckel again reminded viewers of her book and again handed control of the discussion over to her, said she would "describe the entire Democratic party as a treasonous party." She said "the point is not to name traitors," just look at "a list of the DNC."
Cavuto, steering the discussion to the heart of why Fox aired the segment in the first place, said he wanted to "talk on whether there is a feeling here that Democrats who are favored to do well this mid-term election year could be grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory?"
Beckel, again siding with Cavuto and Coulter instead of the Democrats he supposedly "strategizes" for, said he thought it was important to remember that "you don't win elections by the other people having problems." He said the Republicans have a lot of problems, but the Democrats need an "agenda that you take forward." You "need to offer an alternative." He said the "Democrats need, I think, to come forward with something positive to say." (Comment: Unbelieveable isn't it that again, Beckel dissed Democrats and ignored, for example, Al Gore's magnificent speech?)
Cavuto wondered if Clinton was "crazy like a fox," the plantation statement being "a calculated move to reassure the base?" (Comment: If a Democrat makes a statement to "reassure the base" they're crazy like a fox. If a Republican does it, they're simply "reassuring the base.")
Coulter said she didn't think Clinton's statement was a sign "of Democratic or liberal masculinity," but more of the "same old cliche." She said it was "just" Democrats "once again running to blacks whenever they're in trouble - race-baiting on Martin Luther King Day. I think people are getting sick of it," of this "watering down of what slavery and what plantations were."
Beckel had to get one final word in: Your party didn't "discover slavery until very recently."
Coulter: "OUR PARTY FOUGHT THE WAR TO END SLAVERY BOB!" (Her emphasis.)
Comment: There was so much wrong with this segment that it's hard to know where to begin. First came Cavuto's unnecessary, silly lie that Coulter would talk about "Dow 11,000." Then came the scant information provided to the audience about what Clinton, Nagin, and Gore said. I am certain that Fox has not aired the entire speech given by any of them so what Cavuto said may be all they know about what was said. Then there's Coulters insane rant and Beckel, who did absolutely nothing to reiterate any of the points Democrats said yesterday. Meanwhile, the serious issues: the House being run like a plantation (read what Clinton said) with Democrats treated like voiceless slaves; Bush wiretapping American citizens and ignoring the Constitution and laws of this nation which he swore to "preserve, protect and defend," and poor Mayor Nagin's overwhelming frustration at the situation in New Orleans: they flow like so much water under the bridge.
