If you ever wanted to see what propaganda look like, here it is, in three easy steps:
Step 1: Republican Senator Tom Coburn dismisses Fox New charges that people who don’t buy health insurance will go to jail, saying “The intention is not to put anybody in jail. That makes for good TV news on FOX but that isn’t the intention.”
Step 2: Bill O’Reilly puts Coburn on his show and challenges Coburn to name a single person on Fox News who ever said that. O’Reilly claims “We researched to find out if anybody on Fox News had ever said you’re going to jail if you don’t buy health insurance. Nobody’s ever said it.”
Step 3: Huffington Post puts together a video of Fox News saying people will go to jail if they don’t buy health insurance — over and over and over again (including on O’Reilly’s own show):
Bonus step: The next day, O’Reilly laughs at how he put Coburn in his place, saying Coburn “didn’t really have his facts in line”.
Bottom line? O’Reilly and Fox News have completely forgotten how to tell the truth, even when it is staring them in the face. They are like a little kid, yelling they didn’t do something when everyone saw them do it. And if you dare to point out that they did do it, Fox will try to bully you in public and make fun of you, like they did to Coburn.
A comment in Time Magazine asks the obvious question. Having been caught in a bald-faced lie, “what actual consequences will Bill O’Reilly face as a result of his blatant dishonesty? I’m not being rhetorical, I really want to know what cost is involved in spreading obvious lies.” Unfortunately, the answer is probably none. No wonder our nation is so screwed up.
UPDATE: PolitiFact gave O’Reilly a well deserved “Pants on Fire” for this whopper.
10 Comments
the question or questions i have about the Fox viewership…are they really that stupid or deluded or not paying attention or worst of all that impotently enraged that they need this bullshit to feed their egos & rage. i keep thinking of something else…*bad paraphrase* you get that kinda government/society you deserve. meaning if you don’t like it but do nothing to change it then you deserve it. i dunno.. maybe people will wake up & realize Fox & the teabaggers et al are all a bunch of loonies. that we do deserve better. maybe do something to make that happen. what that would be, i’m not sure.
The absolute best line from Senator Coburn, when O’Reilly asked how he knew they had heard this information on Fox, was, “They heard it *some*where, Bill. They’re a Fox News audience,” or words to that effect.
Then the next day Neil Cavuto had Coburn on and admitted his co-worker had erred when he said no one on Fox News had made this statement, but then kept asking, over and over, why Coburn chose to specify Fox when pundits and anchors on other news networks had said the same thing. Coburn, to his everloving credit, kept repeating that his constituents watch Fox News, the lady who asked him the original question herself specified Fox News, and that the debate should be held on a factual basis.
Senator Coburn’s frankness and honesty, especially given the climate in the GOP right now, was not only refreshing, it was downright encouraging.
Sammy, so the original question was about Fox News, but Fox is all freaked out because they think Coburn was attacking them? Fox News seems to be only concerned about themselves, not about our country or about, you know, actually reporting the news.
I have to admit that I have great respect for Tom Coburn, even though I disagree with many of his positions. I wish we had more conservatives and Republicans like him.
Fox News is only for profit. It has no regard for the integrity of its content. Why do people watch this crap? I don’t know, but I bet it has to do with the entertainment value and NOT the intellectual value.
At least there was a sensible republican who was willing to denounce lies. Too bad these kind of conservatives are being pushed out by the more extreme “Tea party advocates”.
Aw c’mon, they have real news in the middle of the day with Megan Kelly – okay, I couldn’t get through that with a straight face.
Speaking of the Huffington Post, Arianna is now listing so far Right that she may begin suffering from a hip disorder. Her biased diatribe forced me to unsubscribe from her daily update. As far as Bill O’Reilly is concerned, we have alternatives such as Elmer Fudd and Daffy Duck.
The people that watch fox news deserve all these sleaze bags
A person with half a brain would not put up with this kind of news
Merdock has these puppets on his network to pump out his kind of politics.
Better watch it Hollywood these entertainers might just win a Oscar for their acting
If Fox News can still get away with being so blatantly misleading, it’s no wonder that other media outlets can take part in the great 21st century social engineering experiment by being cleverly so.
Oreilly told the truth. Fox News was saying the plan stated that people “could” go to jail, not that they “would”. That is a true statemnet. Pelosi wants jail time as an option. See for yourself; http://republicans.waysandmeans.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=153583
These “news shows” are based on ratings. Real newscasters are being defamed by these pretend newsmen. Walter, David and Chet must be rolling over in their graves. TV has so much to give but with these kinds of shows plus these “reality shows”, the public is being so short changed, that it’s not funny anymore. I feel sorry for the people that gets their “news” from these types of shows.