Just when I thought that I could no longer be shocked by the repugnant Fox News channel their shameless and in this case, criminal, partisanship proved me wrong. After Hillary Clinton made the now-infamous justification for staying in the race by invoking the memory of Robert Kennedy's assassination in California, Fox News brought on one of its many "experts" to discuss what this means for the Clinton campaign. This expert was Liz Trotta, one of the regular contributors who also worked for the Washington Times, and was the first woman to cover a war for a television station. In commenting on Clinton's gaffe (which in my mind was way over-covered by the media), she said:
"...and now we have what some are reading as a suggestion that somebody knock off Osama. Um, uh, Obama. Well both, if we could. (laughter)" To which the idiotic host of the show replied, laughingly again: "Tell us how you really feel."
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0e_SH4IFg8
This is borderline criminal behavior where a major television channel's contributors joke about assassinating the first African-American who is favored to win the White House. And for those who excuse the Fox channel by arguing that this was just a poorly worded joke by a bitter old woman, I say that this is utter nonsense! Fox News knowingly hires these nut-jobs in order to stir up the atmosphere of fear and hate in this country. Jeffrey Feldman of the Huffington Post described Trotta's remarks as continuing "the trend in violent rhetoric about Sen. Obama" and rightly called it "assassination humor." This story should be shown on the loop on every cable channel and warps anything that Reverend Jeremiah Wright has ever said about racial relations. Also compare Reverend Wright's remarkable record on helping the poor of South side Chicago as well as his church's well-respected social programs (such as the ones that help AIDS patients), to the continuing damage that the Fox News is inflicting on the social fabric.
I wonder if all of us should not write to the Federal Communications Commission to urge them to investigate the matter and see if a felony has been committed here. Fox News' behavior explains why many African-Americans, as well as whites, in this country are so fearful for Obama's safety. Many African-Americans who work with my parents have said they would not vote for him in the primary for fear of provoking a violent attack on him. And I don't have to remind anyone that this country has a troubled history of violence at times when it seems that it is on the verge of major transformations (Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, RFK). And for the "fair and balanced" network to tap into this fear is deliberate and criminal in my mind.
During the height of the war in Bosnia, the media was overtaken by the respective nationalist thugs who used the airwaves to talk about the "impossibility of co-existence between our divided communities," and who would go as far as calling for the enemies within their camp to be cleansed. Even though it was the height of the war, many people were outraged by these channels.
Then, what does it say about this country, a supposed beacon of democracy, that Fox News' behavior is accepted as normal and is tolerated on a daily basis?
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1 comment:
At this point, Fox News isn't even propaganda. Its comedy. When most of the population knows you are full of shit, and you have even lost the power to manipulate all but the dumbest of people, you are only a laugh factory.
Having said that, this woman is repulsive.
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