Bill Clinton; MSNBC "Our version of Fox"

[center rising]

Clinton had an interview with Esquire magazine and called MSNBC "Our, (Democratic), version of Fox"!! Clinton blamed insatiable demand for cable news. "We have so many news and media outlets now, they have contributed to more contentious and a more divisive public discourse and less to actual reporting of the news and facts surrounding it".


Read more here!!
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71601.html

[Blacksheep214]

1. Hey Bill

Ever hear of FactCheck.org?

That's something I can do with MSNBC but not Fox!

Plus MSNBC issues retractions, corrections and apologies when they do screw up.

Now what were you saying about being just like Fox?

[AtomicKitten]

24. +1

MSNBC seeks to inform.
FauxNews seeks to misinform.

[bemildred]

33. +2.

This is an insult to MSNBC.

[BootinUp]

2. .

this ought to be a popular thread.

[spanone]

3. equivalency is the new 'accepted' lie

[bluestateguy]

4. We should embrace that, not try to avoid it

We need a Democratic version of Fox, even if it gets less viewers than Fox.

[EFerrari]

7. MSNBC doesn't fabricate stories wholesale. He's wrong.

He's also wrong about "so many outlets". What we have is media consolidation.

[Atman]

26. Why should we embrace bullshit?

Please point to one segment on Fox -- even five minutes long, not three hours -- during which a Democrat gets to talk about current politics. This doesn't even count the mostly-GOP post Joe daytime programming on MSNBC. Otoh, Fox is 100% anti-Democrat 100% of the time.

In this regard, I supposed Clinton is technically correct; MSNBC could be called "fair and balanced." But certainly not Fox.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

41. It does....

....and that's when great shit like this happens.....

[Puregonzo1188]

36. You understand Clinton meant that as a pejorative, right?

[rufus dog]

5. now why was it I never liked Bill?

HEY BILL, YOU WERE THE DEMOCRATIC VERSION OF GHB!

[NCTraveler]

9. GHB

LMFAO.

[cherokeeprogressive]

6. I can't disagree with him.

And like the poster above, we should embrace and nurture it as such.

[Scootaloo]

11. Uh, no

That's the same mushy thinking that leads to people saying we need to "teach the controversy" in bilogy classes. The fact is, there is no controversy. Just as the fact is, MSNBC is nothing like FOX.

FOX news is an entertainment channel that fabricates, lies about, and distorts current events to further the agenda of conservative politics.
MSNBC does not do anything of the sort, for "our side" or anyone else.

Clinton's remark is based off the uniquely American idiot thinking that actually taking a stance is in and of itself "wrong", that the perfect place to be is in a neutral middle between two opposing stances, as if both were equally worthy of time and consideration, just by virtue of existing.

Fox news falsifies and invents its own "news." MSNBC does not. Claiming that there is equivalency between them gives far too much positive credit to FOX and detracts heavily from MSNBC.

[tkmorris]

14. You can't? Really?

I find it hard to believe anyone would seriously think they were equivalent. Of course I expect many hard-core Right-Wingers to SAY it is, those people have a long history of trying to reinvent reality. To hear a Democrat say it just confuses me.

[Marie Marie]

8. '...less to actual reporting of the news and facts surrounding it".

I guess it all depends on Bill's definition of what "it" is. So tired of this argument - especially from people who should know better. Bill has had his own problems with "the truth".

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. If they were they'd make stories out of full cloth

[Proud Liberal Dem]

12. MSNBC has more left-leaning hosts.

But they are in no way close to represent a propaganda mill for the DNC in the same way RNC blatantly shills for the Republicans and their "tea party"! Bill, I love you big dawg but you're wrong on this one.

[Fawke Em]

13. No, it's not. eom

[Blacksheep214]

15. It all comes down to

Truthiness!

[Liquorice]

16. I agree with him. Our version is of course going to be much

better and more informed. But yeah, I see the similarity. Republicans were always claiming CNN was Fox for liberals. Now THAT is ridiculous.

[spanone]

17. when fox has 3 hours of ed schultz on ala scarborough, i'll agree

[Underwear bummer]

18. At best Bill's statement was a lukewarm opinion of MSNBC

Fortunately the network is not alone. Jon Stewart is more than pulling his own on "The Daily Show". A comedy show where we all go for our news.

Stewart should go down in history as a bigger patriot than Patrick Henry.

I'm often disappointed with Bill Clinton. That strange conversation about Social Security he had with Con. Paul Ryan among others.

[DonCoquixote]

19. Bill Bill Bill

If you actually think we have nearly the equal amounts of coverage as the right wing does, you are sadly mistaken. Also, let's not forget MSNBC is the home of Morning Joe, featuring a good old Florida GOP boy firmly to the right of most GOP.

Thank you for reminding me why I did not vote for your wife in 2008, because, among other reasons, I knew I had to keep you from giving the enemy so much damn ammo.

[loyalsister]

20. Why would he say that?

Progressive hosts
Conservatives hate it
Democrats defend it

The MO may not be exactly the same, but the audience and programming results are pretty much a near equal opposite. Why would that be a problem?

[Major Hogwash]

21. Hahahaha!!!!!! Bubba can't get on Ed's program!!!

[Bobby S]

22. So?

Why shouldn't liberals have advocacy?

[kaitcat]

23. No, not true.

I hate this false equivalency crap. MSNBC hosts rely on facts. FOX hosts rely on racist dog whistles.

[Raine]

25. NO, it isn't. Rachel, Ed, Lawrence, Al etc.

are factual and when they're wrong they say so. Faux NEVER uses facts, lies and NEVER admits they were wrong.

[Whisp]

27. true. and he's dissing Rachel then

and thems fighting words in my book.

what an ass

[City Lights]

28. What a stupid thing to say.

[JHB]

29. S*** My ex-President Says

Unless Bill has taken up hyperdimensional chess, this is just jackass-stupid laziness or an example of the thickness of the bubble-walls around him.

Just in case any may have forgotten (cough)Bill(cough), President Bill Clinton was the focal attack-point for the RW smear machine, including FNC since its launch in 1996 by major operatives and funders of the his political opposition. The people who weaponized so-called political news.

If, at this late date Bill Clinton can't tell the difference between Fox and MSNBC, then he's not paying much attention to either.

Hey Bill, maybe you should opine about something you do know about, like how little "looking forward not back" gets you. Investigating the covert shenanigans of Reagan and Bush the First when the oversight finally fell to someone who wasn't part of their administrations might have saved you at least some of those eight years of attacks, not to mention kept a whole slew of neocons from pretending they did nothing wrong and were OK to go right back into government under Bush the Second.

Being nice to rabid elephants only encourages them to bite deeper. Did you offer that advice to anyone in the past few years?

[randr]

30. Shows how out of touch he is

The ultimate problem with this, imo, is that the reporter from Esquire did not follow up and ask him for examples of contentious and divisive reporting from both "sides".
And just what does he mean that our "insatiable demand" for news is the problem?

[WI_DEM]

31. wrong! MSNBC is much more balanced than Fox.

[Pisces]

32. Ed is the only one who can be completely unhinged at times, otherwise the comparison is not apples

to apples.

[Blacksheep214]

37. Ed may be a lot of things

but he is NOT an accessory to Dr Tillers murder! Hi Loofa dude!

MSNBC does not promulgate violence, just the opposite!

Ed Schultz is actually funny with his bluster.

[tledford]

34. What does he mean by "our?"

I don't think Bill and I run in the same circles.

[immoderate]

35. Clinton is equally dismissive of all media. They all criticize him.

The validity of the criticism does not matter to him.

--imm

[rusty fender]

38. Bill Clinton--our version of Newt Gingrich

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

39. Hey Bill: SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!

[Prophet 451]

40. Sorry, Bill, you're wrong

A) MSNBC hosts actual news, makes a decent attempt at getting their facts right and corrects errors.
B) MSNBC actually has a wider range of hosts (everyone forgets that Joe Scarbrough gets three hunkin' hours every morning).
C) MSNBC is nowhere near as far to the left as Fox is to the right.