As the Managing Editor of Fox News Channel's Washington, DC bureau, you might have thought Brit Hume would have taken great umbrage at John Edwards' high-profile decision to spurn a debate of Dem presidential contenders that Fox had organized for August in Nevada. The Edwards pull-out ultimately led to a cancellation of the debate by the Nevada state Democratic party. Edwards had come under pressure from liberal netroots and organizations such as Move.on, which had organized a petition drive calling for cancellation of the debate.But in a fair-and-balanced comment reflecting an appreciation of real politik, Hume has praised Edwards' move as "shrewd" -- at least in the short run. During the panel discussion on this morning's Fox News Sunday, Hume observed:
"Edwards is really the key political player in this. And when you think about it for a minute, in the short term this is probably a shrewd political move by him on a couple counts. One is that it separates him from the other candidates on this, at least briefly, it pleases the wing of the party that is active and important in the nominating process, and what Edwards knows is that while he may be at war against Fox News, Fox News is not and cannot be at war with him.
View video here.
"He knows, and his people know, that Carl Cameron and Jim Angle and Major Garrett and you Chris in interviews and I as a news anchor on a nightly program are going to continue to treat him in the same fair way that we've always treated him, and we must do that. Now, he might get roughed up by some conservative commentators on Fox, but he'll be defended by liberal commentators on Fox as well. So in the short term, this is probably good politics. In the long term, I have my doubts but that remains to be seen."
Juan Williams criticized his fellow liberals for cancelling the debate, saying that it ran counter to the liberal spirit of openness. "I think it's crazy to tell people to shut up," said Williams. When host Chris Wallace observed that Juan was "fired up" over the issue, Juan replied "I sometimes have this argument with Brit Hume. I think he's trying to shut me up."Brit jokingly interjected "shut up, Juan," much to the general mirth as you can see from Chris Wallace's reaction.
Contact Mark at mark@gunhill.net
—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.
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I miss the Williams-style o
March 11, 2007 - 11:26 ET by sarcasmoI miss the Williams-style of free-speech-liberals, who are sadly few & far between these days, almost as much as I miss fiscal conservatives in politics -- an equally-if-not-more-endangered species...
JMR
Move.org says "jump"
March 11, 2007 - 11:30 ET by sublight68Move.org says "jump", the Dems ask, "how high?"
Brit is right, this will mollify the lunatic fringe in the short term, maybe even through the primaries. But whoever emerges as the candidate will have to answer for all that kow-towing in the general election.
Leadership? Yeah, try projecting leadership when you have to explain why you had to cancel a debate because the moneybags holding your leash told you to. If they can't stand up to these little tin horn bullies in their own party on this, no one's going to believe they can break away on truly important issues.
Hopefully in the general debate the Republican candidate will hammer this point home early and often. "So, what does moveon think you should do on North Korea? Iran? Did you clear that tie before coming out here?"
Excellent points, well put,
March 11, 2007 - 11:32 ET by Mark FinkelsteinExcellent points, well put, IMHO.
The hypocrisy shouldn't conti
March 11, 2007 - 11:41 ET by sublight68The hypocrisy shouldn't continue to surprise me me at this point.
Dick Cheney once led Haliburton, so he's obviously still in their pocket. President Bush has ties to the oil industry. Well, he's no doubt taking marching orders from Big Oil.
Pretty much the entire Democratic field takes money and/or support from moveon and the like. Not a peep about buying influence.
Moveon.org says" jump&qu
March 11, 2007 - 15:12 ET by joe3Moveon.org says" jump" and the dems ask how high ON THE WAY UP!
All the Soros blogs and all the Soros cogs
March 11, 2007 - 11:37 ET by RJSomeone will put out a video of Edward's prissy primping away from the mike and the Breck Girl's candidacy will be broken. When that happens,
all of King Soros' blogs and all of King Soros' cogs
will not be able to put his candidate back together again.
Here you go, Enjoy. http
March 11, 2007 - 11:49 ET by 1sttofightHere you go, Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.c...
Ha! Funeee! "I feel pretty, oh so pretty"
March 11, 2007 - 12:33 ET by RJHa! Funeeee! Thanks! "I feel pretty, oh so pretty" fits Edwards perfectly. Did you catch him licking his lips at the end, like a woman glossing her lipstick?....what's that you say?......maybe he WAS glossing his lipstick? Now, now.
Hey, we could have the first woman president, the first black president, and now George Soros brings us, potentially, the first metrosexual president.
Am I allowed to call him that, or do I have to go to rehab now?
Brit Hume
March 11, 2007 - 12:17 ET by CellaI watched FNS this morning. Once again Brit Hume displayed why he is one of the most respected journalists in the industry.
Is he really able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, or is it just I who thinks so?
Faux News is unfair and wic
March 11, 2007 - 12:58 ET by zhombreFaux News is unfair and wicked mean & nasty too and we're got going to play ball with you nyaa nyaa nyaa.
And if a Republican candidate or a state GOP party decided to boycott the NY Times or CNN, the hue & cry & whining about bullies and fascists would stink to high heaven. Here's another double standard. As if more were needed.
Edwards/Fox
March 11, 2007 - 13:25 ET by NortoBeliever
Edwards is a loser on all counts except that is does give him the spotlight for a moment. He is a distant player in 2008. It does give MSM a chance to paint the centrist Fox channel as the Republican arm they want. Fox is just so centrist compared to MSM that they look right-leaning. Fox may actually benefit from this because of the attention. Fox bends over backwards to balance their panels and that is why they lead the cable race for viewers nightly and the rest are poor seconds-in ratings, that is.
Got Metrics?
March 11, 2007 - 18:08 ET by MobiusStripFox is not centrist. Nor is it news. It is owned by a decidedly right-wing foreigner who has thrown his money only at conservatives. If you can show me metrics- i.e., a rundown of political guests' credentials, time spent on differing views, etc., then I'll agree with you. Fox spent ten times the amount of coverage on ANS than on Walter Reed- that's your fair and balanced? It is "news" for the criminally inane. And if a few people at moveon.org can gather 300, 000 signatures in a few days, then apparently a good number of people are voicing the same opinion. .
Mob,You have been here long e
March 11, 2007 - 18:19 ET by bigtimerMob,
You have been here long enough now to read all the posts that have answered your inane question about the list you wanted for the left and right that are on Fox...if you want to know the different shows and such I have a brilliant idea...just watch it yourself or go to their web-page...they tell you daily.
Knock it off...or go reread them all and see if something sticks to that empty air space between your ears.
Don't worry about Fox...they will be just fine, you had better worry about your own survival in the msm...
btw...Soros isn't going to last forever, you may think about getting a real job for your own secure future...trolls do not live forever...or didn't ya know that?
I disagree
March 11, 2007 - 18:30 ET by misterbillI disagree-- Fox is, IMHO, centrist. The ownership, again, IMHO, is a matter of business.You may be right re: throwing his money at conservatives, I do not know. That, to me, is a separate issue. I will agree on another item--ANS--I actually stopped watching all news(except the local 11PM) for about four days and even then the feeding frenzy was still ongoing. Are you suggesting that the "news" channels did not provide as much coverage of ANS? It seemed every time I clicked on any news show it was ANS, so I just clicked off. Seinfeld reruns were a blessing.
PS As has beeen posted by others: the list of Fox reporters, etc has been provided many times on this site and is latgrely liberal.
An ugly American is one who does not support his country.
It is owned by a decidedly ri
March 11, 2007 - 18:47 ET by Roger the ShrubberIt is owned by a decidedly right-wing foreigner who has thrown his money only at conservatives.
George Soros' evil twin?
Hah! Roger...Excellent point!
March 11, 2007 - 18:55 ET by bigtimerHah! Roger...Excellent point!
Uh, yeah, but see below, th
March 11, 2007 - 19:09 ET by sarcasmoUh, yeah, but see below, these "twins" are a bit more-identical than many here might imagine.
JMR
Hi sarc,I looked, I saw.Diffe
March 11, 2007 - 19:31 ET by bigtimerHi sarc,
I looked, I saw.
Difference with Soros and Murdoch is one is a good guy, one a bad guy.
One wants capitalism/freedom for this country, one wants complete control/socialism to put it nicely.
I wish I believed Rupert re
March 11, 2007 - 19:42 ET by sarcasmoI wish I believed Rupert really-wants that. Like I said, he's a left-leaning capitalist who detected an obvious ideological vacuum in the US news business & filled it. This would be like me hawking "Che" t-shirts to college-age dimwit-lefties -- it's all about the money, ideology isn't even back in second place. Anyway, my main point is: "if Fox is so allegedly right-wing, what's with so-much News Corp. money going to Democrats & so-little money going to Republicans?" (Edwards seems particularly-ungrateful!! Can you imagine the chutzpah of shunning debate sponsored by an entity which prefers that-overwhelmingly to give your side money?)
JMR
Murdoch
March 11, 2007 - 19:56 ET by kiwikitThrows money only at conservatives. . . .iike Hillary Clinton!
You may have just hit-on wh
March 11, 2007 - 20:03 ET by sarcasmoYou may have just hit-on what actually annoys Edwards about Fox News...
JMR
Edwards has been on Fox News
March 11, 2007 - 20:12 ET by bigtimerEdwards has been on Fox News four other times before...so please.
He bent to the will of the nuts with move.on and such...please, so did the rest of them...on top of that they detest Fox, always went out of their way to try and show that with little temper-tantrums thrown by the likes of Barney Frank, Rangel and others ever since Clinton made an arse out of himself again.
As far as Rupert, I know two things about him I have never cared for, he believes in gun-control, he believes in GWing...
He was and is smart enough to run his network as a money making business, or he wouldn't have hired Ailes, and he also saw a need for the conservatives to have just a tiny side to get their views and voices out...simple as that.
The nit-wits not going on Fox is their own business, Fox isn't going to lose money, but the nit-wit leftists running for President are going to lose viewer's for their debate.
Simple as that...
Not ALL the rest of them. K
March 11, 2007 - 20:34 ET by sarcasmoNot ALL the rest of them. Kucinich, the furthest left of 'em all, condemns Edwards' running-away. IMO he's right, too.
JMR
Hey sarc,Thanks for the link.
March 11, 2007 - 20:43 ET by bigtimerHey sarc,
Thanks for the link. I cannot believe I agree wholeheartedly with something out of Kucinichs mouth for a change. One thing he has always been though is who he is and he stands by what he believes and doesn't back down under any pressure...of course he doesn't have anybody much pressuring him either.
He made excellent points about the cancellation in New Hampshire though, they do not want to have to take a stand and take tough (maybe tough) questions and have to answer them, they may have to flip-flop again.
Excellent points too about Fox.
Btw...I got your PM...will get back to you on that when I can...you have my word, may be a few days.
Wrong. Dig up on "open
March 11, 2007 - 19:07 ET by sarcasmoWrong. Dig up on "opensecrets" where News Corp. actualy does their political giving. Or just let me do it for you: 74% to Democrats, 26% to Republicans, so your "only at conservatives" allegation is obviously even-more of a lie than today's "cut" lie I just finished re-busting. Are you trying to out-fib the other lefties or something??? Rupert Murdoch is IMO a left-leaning (personally -- hey, he likes Hillary, right?) capitalist, who detected a MASSIVE vacuum on the right in the news business because of pervasive (wait for it...) LEFTIST MEDIABIAS, so he filled it with Fox News, but that obviously has little to do with News Corp's political giving. (And to keep-up my "best defense," Fox News is most-certainly NOT fair or balanced when it comes to libertarian ideas/candidates!)
JMR
Fox is not centrist. Nor is i
March 11, 2007 - 23:58 ET by GalvanicFox is not centrist. Nor is it news.
It's editorial bent is definitely to the right. While it's news analysis shows like O'Reilly Factor and Hannity & Colmes aren't news reporting progrmas, Fox does have some straight news reporting.
It is owned by a decidedly right-wing foreigner who has thrown his money only at conservatives.
I believe Rupert Murdoch is a naturalized American citizen. Foreigners are prohibited by Federal law from owning American broadcast media.
One of the conservatives Murdoch thew his money at in the '06 Election Campaign was Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in her re-elction bid. As Irecall, he sponsored a huge fund-raiser for her.
And if a few people at moveon.org can gather 300, 000 signatures in a few days, then apparently a good number of people are voicing the same opinion.
The function of MoveOn.org is to promote Left politics while shouting down opposing views. Their puppets --- Edwards and company --- have kowtowed. The strong Dems are the ones who appear on Fox News to defend their policies and agenda. The cowards and charlatans like Edwards and Kerry can't stand up to the scrutiny they won't get on CBS or NBC, so they merely avoid Fox.
galvanic
March 12, 2007 - 00:10 ET by misterbillIf I were a teacher, I would give you a gold star. Excellent answers.
An ugly American is one who does not support his country.
I saw this exchange this morn
March 11, 2007 - 15:35 ET by bigtimerI saw this exchange this morning and what Brit said kind of surprised me, but when I thought about it, it was shrewd of Fox to react the way they have.
Like I have said since Friday morning since Aisles made his speech Thursday night when he was speaking for his 1st Amendment Award, that the dem's had better take heed to what he was expressing, if they don't they will be at their own peril in the long run...and they will.
They waited to use a joke as an excuse to pull completely out of the debate in Nevada just from pure pressure from Soros and the looney leftists...they will end up regretting a lot of mistakes I think in the end.
Time will tell.
Btw...I got a kick out of Brit and Juan at the end of the show.
Everyone know how fair and ba
March 11, 2007 - 18:57 ET by OttoEveryone know how fair and balanced Fox is. And it's Ailes btw. This was a shrewd move by the democrats and 'Ailes' just made it easier for them by his speech. I have a feeling they will just switch to this tactic with Fox and leave them in their right wing ghetto talking to themselves.
Otto...Thanks for the correct
March 11, 2007 - 19:01 ET by bigtimerOtto...
Thanks for the correction.
Man have I missed you buddy!
LMAO!
Otto...Thanks for the corre
March 11, 2007 - 19:06 ET by DontFeedTheTrollsOtto...
Thanks for the correction.
Man have I missed you buddy!
He's fresh out of rehab! Got his new meds and is raring to go!
D
A day without NewsBusters is like a day without sunshine.
It is a shrewd move. Edwards
March 11, 2007 - 22:52 ET by Interested and concerned CDNIt is a shrewd move. Edwards only chance at the whitehouse, imho, is via the vice presidency and having the nutroots in his corner makes him the front runner as running mate for Hillary or Obama.
Has anyone ever been running mate twice with two different nominees?