President Obama Laments Rush Limbaugh And Fox News’ Influence On Public Debate

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

Source: Mediaite

In a soon-to-be-released interview with The New Republic, President Obama reportedly laments the negative influence Fox News and Rush Limbaugh can have on the congressional debate over various pieces of legislation.

The president told TNR editor Frank Foer and owner Chris Hughes that “One of the biggest factors is going to be how the media shapes debates.”

The media can either help break or uphold partisan gridlock, the president said, adding that “If a Republican member of Congress is not punished on Fox News or by Rush Limbaugh for working with a Democrat on a bill of common interest, then you’ll see more of them doing it.”

The president also conceded that “[t]he same dynamic happens on the Democratic side,” but in his mind, “the difference is just that the more left-leaning media outlets recognize that compromise is not a dirty word.”

Read more: http://www.mediaite.com/online/president-obama-laments-rush-limbaugh-and-fox-news-influence-on-public-debate/

[Gman]

1. Except DU, of course

LOL!

[OKNancy]

3. LOL - so true

[emulatorloo]

7. Yes we have our own versions of Limbaugh and Karl Rove here

Just a handful, but they are loud as hell.

[curlyred]

8. DU doesn't have 50000 watts blasting the world, though...

DU isn't in Armed Forces Radio. Your point is well taken, but there is a huge difference in exposure between DU and Limbaugh and Rove. It's the difference between being loud in a bell jar and loud in the entire country.

[JDPriestly]

24. Would you like to name them?

Because pointing a finger at some vague "other" who is "bad" is precisely what Fox News and Limbaugh do.

Does anyone really think everything is perfect in D.C. or in the Democratic Party?

I certainly do not although I am as active a Democrat as there could be outside public office.

[ConservativeDemocrat]

32. It would be against DU rules to name them.

So it doesn't matter much what someone would "like" to do or not.

And besides, that's a mistake anyway. Debates should be about ideas, not personalities.

But yes, Purity Trolling (as Markos Moulitsas likes to call it) and bashing the President and Democratic Representatives for dealing with political reality, is a hallmark of D.U. commentary.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

[Gman]

35. The only point I tried to make above was

that "compromise" is not only a dirty word among conservatives, it's largely a dirty word at DU. Look no further than a few days ago and the blow up here over Reid's "compromise" on filibuster rules.

[Phillip McCleod]

42. well yeah because we aren't sitting at the table.

we're the force that's turning the tide of the debate to slightly more left of the center-right. by staking out strong positions on the left edge we give the president and progressive legislators a little more room to maneuver. strong but not radical leftist policy positions work in the democrats favor. we are a powerful base we just don't have it together enough to know it and use it.

[JDPriestly]

51. I'm a progressive Democrat. I support the President on many, but not all, issues.

[fascisthunter]

28. simpleton point of view

for the cult-of-personality club. He does more than compromise... but fools love fooling themselves and others.

[Dawson Leery]

2. When one speaks of the conservative entertainment complex/right wing echo chamber

it includes most talk radio, Fox "News" Channel, right wing blogs, and most "Christian" media.

[onehandle]

4. 1%er assholes. They, like our GOP enslavers, know nothing about real people. nt

[emulatorloo]

5. This is probably one of top reasons they set up Organizing for Action

They pretty much need to go around the media, especially Fox News and Limbaugh and his ilk.

[Cha]

9. Exactly.. it's a huge part it.

Blasting right through the corporatemedia, speculative brainwashing crap of "bullshit mountain" and all its wannabes.

[kitt6]

6. Knowing this Mr. President;

then take his big bloomers down.

[Cha]

10. Good for President Obama.. calling out the bullshit.

[TomCADem]

11. I Actually Think That False Equivalency Is The Bigger Problem

The fact of the matter is that folks who listen to Limbaugh and Fox already live in their own little right wing world. The bigger problem is that so-called mainstream media fails to hold Republicans accountable. Instead, they just put Republicans on TV and let them yell their heads off and say crazy stuff with perhaps a Democrat to contradict them, then offer the debate as a he said, she said. Death panels, Obama's birth certificate, the astroturf orgins of the Tea Party, the media often let right wingers push falsehoods with little accountability.

[11 Bravo]

20. And then when a Dem misplaces a semi-colon, the fucking MSM says, "See, both sides do it!"

[jbone45]

12. Why is Rush still important anyway?

Of all the nonsense he has promoted over the years one might think his credibility is damaged...

[Phillip McCleod]

43. jesus forgave him.

so it's ok.

[FiveGoodMen]

50. Promoting nonsense (and worse) usually doesn't harm (or discredit) the promoter

For two millennia, people have promoted the idea of a perfect god who made every single person defective (the free will argument is bullshit; if we really had a chance, some of us would make it -- but their bible is very clear: "ALL have sinned and come short of the glory..." blah, blah, blah)

This same perfect god can only come up with one solution to this problem: Murder the innocent. (Scapegoating, sacrifices, and finally arranging to get himself murdered)

Promoting bullshit NEVER seems to harm the promoter.

Preachers all over the planet tell this story every day (and at least twice on Sundays).

Do they EVER get any blowback?

[Third Doctor]

13. Regulation

I wish the Fairness Doctrine was brought back. That would save a lot of problem but between the lack of the doctrine and the consolidation of MSM by a few corporations I don't see it happening.

[Tumbulu]

19. Yes I agree!!!!!!

I hope it can happen in this second term!

[Left Coast2020]

47. Well, for whats its worth I wrote the Prez to ask he repeal the Comm. Act of 96

I am concerned we may not be able to solve this problem before he leaves office, and with a tea party congress to boot. But there are still almost 4 years to go so we will see.

But I am trying.

http://signon.org/sign/restore-the-airwaves

[Tarheel_Dem]

14. I love my President, but I wish he wouldn't call these assholes by name.

It only serves to raise their visibility, which is all they care about in the first place. They don't give a shit about this country, their only concern is that they continue to pocket their 8 figure salaries, year after year. They operate on the premise that publicity, whether good or bad = $$$$$$$$!!!

[woo me with science]

15. While his FCC acts to worsen the problem.

Here we go again: rhetoric for the people, versus action for the corporations.



Moyers: FCC moves toward more media consolidation
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021924578

http://billmoyers.com/2012/12/03/fcc-moves-towards-more-media-consolidation/

Moyers: But the chairman of the FCC is President Obama’s own appointee, his own choice to head it. Why would the president be wanting to approve a greater concentration of media?

Aaron: Well, that’s the $64 million question. Barack Obama as a senator was one of the leading voices against the exact same rules that his FCC chairman is pushing forward now. He wrote op-eds, he co-sponsored legislation to throw out these exact same rules, legislation that passed in the Senate. And yet, his own FCC chairman, his appointee, is suddenly in a huge rush to get this deal done....
....
Aaron: "....I don’t think the public’s opinion on this has changed at all — 99 percent are against it. I don’t think the Congress’s opinion has changed. We just saw ten or eleven senators send letters to the FCC saying don’t go forward. And I honestly believe the court’s opinion hasn’t changed. They rejected these same rules twice before, and if the FCC continues down this path they will reject them again. But we shouldn’t have to get to that point. We have an opportunity here to stop the runaway push toward media consolidation. How will this impact diversity of ownership? How will this impact local news? Let’s have a conversation about it — a public conversation — and stop trying to just push through favors for a small handful of moguls.

Moyers: What does it say to you that the chairman of the FCC is running a secret process that would, in effect, gut media ownership limits?

Aaron: Well, I think he’s forgotten who he’s supposed to actually work for. I think the chairman of the FCC thinks it’s his job to just negotiate between companies. And this is an opportunity to remind him that this is actually not his job. His job is to promote diversity. His job is to promote competition. His job is to promote consumer choice. That is not something he has always seen as part of his job, but this is really the time for him to learn that lesson. The Federal Communications Commission is a very captured agency. The big companies have a lot of power there. A lot of people who used to work in the building now work in industry; a lot of people who used to work in industry now work in that building. But at its core, what the FCC is supposed to do is represent the American public. And that’s something unfortunately this chairman is having to find out the hard way.

[MotherPetrie]

22. So fucking true

[woo me with science]

46. There's a new one every day, huh?

It's almost too much to bear, some days.

[DCBob]

39. I suspect this decision is about jobs.

As troubling as this is, it will probably help some struggling newspapers and radio stations to keep the doors open.

[woo me with science]

40. We can't seem to get a national discussion going about a REAL jobs program,

because we are too focused on implementing austerity, cutting Social Security, and pouring more money into the military in Mali.... but we can justify implementing Republican policies that are malignant to the very fabric of our country by claiming that they will save a few jobs...

Yeah, that's the same argument we're hearing now when people mention cuts to the military. Isn't it stunning that the only way corporate Democrats seem to be able to even conceive of saving jobs these days is by implementing the Republican agenda.

[Phillip McCleod]

44. except for wifi the fcc is increasingly irrelevant

thanks to the internet. eventually the evolution of the car radio and network tv will put them in the business of regulating toaster interference with your dvr.

[woo me with science]

45. No, more media consolidation is not an irrelevancy. It is malignant

to our free exchange of ideas and allows corporatists to drive the national narrative.

[Proletariatprincess]

16. The President is wrong about that.

There is no Democratic equivalancy to the Fox News Network and all the Limbaughs out there. The problem is that there is no real left in this country. There is no group as far left as the Republicans are far right....at least not any that have the resources to take them on effectively.

[Boomerproud]

17. You are correct in every statement

and I can guarantee you that tomorrow (Monday) Limbaugh, Fox and all of the AM haters are going to go batshit over this interview. Sigh.

[Sheepshank]

49. ...AND THEY'RE OFF....................

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2982740/posts

not as long a wait as you thought

[forestpath]

31. So true. President Obama marginalizes anyone who is farther left than he is.

Which is a lot of people.

[woo me with science]

37. Yep, resources are the key.

We drown in corporate propaganda. They can afford the media, just as they can afford our government.

[thesquanderer]

41. There are some pretty strident voices on the left

though they don't have the reach of Limbaugh or fox. I'm thinking along the lines of Mike Malloy, maybe Ed Schultz (I haven't heard him very much)

[mwb970]

52. Comparing Limbaugh and Schultz is ludicrous.

Their voices sound similar, otherwise they might as well be different species. Hint: Schultz is human.

[thesquanderer]

53. though there is that "slut" thing...

They both called women with whom they took political issue sluts.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/03/05/ed-schultz-denies-comparison-with-rush-limbaugh-over-slut-remark/

But I was talking more about a partisan style that concedes no ground whatsoever to the opposition party and essentially demonizes them. It may make for good entertainment (for their targeted audience), but does not encourage the possibility of any "reasonable" assessment and compromise, there's no willingness to include any facts that might weaken their position.

Again, I haven't heard enough Ed to be sure. I do feel Mike Malloy falls into this category. And yes, of course, Rush/Levin/Hannity.

[woo me with science]

18. More spin justifying his unconscionable offer to cut Social Security.

Note the context. What he is talking about here is his willingness to put austerity and a chained CPI on the table, with a gratuitous smearing of those who opposed his unconscionable offers as "absolutist."

He claimed that “leaders like myself—and I include Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi in this—are willing to buck the more absolutist-wing elements in our party to try to get stuff done,” as opposed to the opposing party which he views as obstructionist.

So tired of hearing rhetoric like this from a Democratic President.

_________________________________


One in Six Seniors Lives in Poverty, New Analysis Finds
http://www.ncoa.org/press-room/press-release/one-in-six-seniors-lives-in.html

January 24, 2011
[e-mail]

Washington, DC – One in six older Americans lives below the federal poverty line, according to a new government analysis which almost doubles the number of very poor seniors compared to the standard estimate.

At 16%, the proportion of seniors living in poverty is also higher than the proportion of all Americans in poverty. The plight of poor women is particularly striking: 43% of Hispanic women who live alone, and 34% of black women who live alone, live in poverty, according to Supplemental Poverty Measure Research, an alternative calculation from the U.S. Census Bureau. The Supplemental Poverty Measure is a U.S. Census research tool that considers previously overlooked costs like out-of-pocket medical expenses and taxes that can create economic stress for seniors on fixed incomes.

“Too often, the struggles of elder poverty are invisible to policymakers and the public, yet millions are suffering and millions more are living on the edge of a financial crisis,” said Sandra Nathan, PhD, Senior Vice President of Economic Security at the National Council on Aging (NCOA), the leading nonprofit service and advocacy organization for older Americans. “Many seniors desperately need help assessing and navigating the options available to assist them in getting on a pathway to economic security, to meet their basic needs, survive an emergency, and afford medical care,” Nathan added.

With the first Boomers turning 65 this year, and savings, investments, and housing values still reeling from the economic downturn, the number of seniors who are struggling to make ends meet is likely to continue to grow.

[MotherPetrie]

21. THANK YOU!

[libdem4life]

23. Naming the "enemy" in the MSM is free advertising...might as well just send Rush and Fox a donation.

Do it or don't talk about it. Lame.

[JDPriestly]

25. And 6 in 6 senators aged over 65 lives in utter luxury when compared to seniors

living on Social Security.

The reason that Congress is so ready to cut Social Security and Medicare is that their bosses keep electing them way beyond the age of 65.

They don't understand that the rest of us get fired sometime prior to our 70th if not our 60th birthday. They think they lead normal lives. Since most of the people they hob-nob with are multimillionaires, they think everyone lives like they do or better.

They are out of touch, and the longer they stay in D.C., the more out of touch they become.

[fascisthunter]

29. well said

[forestpath]

30. +1 President Obama likes to simultaneously scold/blame people who

expect him to uphold his promises. And he wants us to hold his feet to the fire only when we're between him and the fire.

[sarge43]

26. In that case, a good place to start

is boot Limbaugh's butt off of Armed Forces Radio.

[dawn frenzy adams]

38. Indeed

We should have never stopped our demands that Limbaugh be removed Armed Forces Radio. When he made those comments about Sandra Fluke that should have finally did it. However, they knew we would get over our rage. When I think about the deaths right-wing hate speech has inspired, I'm disappointed that Left didn't remain relentless until change happened. Instead, we express limited outrage, and as soon as the Mainstream Media moves on, so do we.

[awoke_in_2003]

27. Left-leaning media outlets?...

That there is funny.

[Jackpine Radical]

36. Jeez--I didn't know WSWS qualified as a significant media outlet.

http://www.wsws.org/

[samsingh]

33. kick

[CranialRectaLoopback]

34. False equivalency cowardice.

Well done, Mr. President. The left equals the right ... NEVER.

[liberal N proud]

48. FOX and Limbaugh style rhetoric is a republican phenomenon ONLY!

Give me one example where there is a public rebuke system of anything that does not fit in the Democratic side of politics.