Olbermann Slams Fox & the Dems that appear on Fox

[Killarney]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5445086/
Maybe Bill O'Reilly feels the obsessive need to talk over the first fifteen minutes of the convention every night because he's trying to pave over his disastrous years as a local Boston news anchor. Regardless, we know what we're getting from him.
My beef tonight is with his first two guests: Ben Affleck and Jerry Brown.

I know that if neither of them agreed to be the sparring partner for O'Reilly as he drowned Kennedy out, somebody else would. And that they think they're somehow bringing the argument on to foreign territory, and perhaps win a few converts.

But therein lies the crux of the conundrum that is the Democrats' contention that FNC is not just biased, but also an extra little devil head growing off the body of the Republican Party. Every Democrat who agrees to appear on that network helps support it, helps it argue (falsely or accurately) that it is not partisan.
And, tonight, every Democrat who went on live with O'Reilly instead of saying "I'm not helping you blow off Kennedy" showed he'd rather hear himself talk.

[MrBenchley]

1. A-and who was Olbermann's guest last night?

[Killarney]

2. I think he's got a great point

if Dems would stop appearing on the network, the network could no longer say they are fair and balanced and that they have just as many dems on as republicans, etc. Dems should stop SUPPORTING FAUX!

[buycitgo]

3. JESUS! not for the above, but for what came after!!

that little piece of maggot mung, Mrs. Greenspan followed your Olberman thing with an amazingly snarky comment on dems--Obama in particular

this was before he spoke, and boy, will she be EATING her words today

har dee fricking HAR

About tonight’s keynoter, Barack Obama. A Democratic source tells me he was picked at the time the party thought he needed help because his opponent would be Mike Ditka. Whoops, that didn’t happen, but Obama is a rising star and has the stage to launch what could be a national career. Will this be a Mario Cuomo or Barbara Jordan moment? Or will this be one of those forgettable moments?

[buycitgo]

5. and that quote about a Dem Insider is complete HORSESHIT

I live in Illinois, and EVERYBODY was salivating for Ditka to run

they were PRAYING that he would; it woulda put the lid on the GOP coffin, statewide

myriad reasons that have been discussed here at length

she is SO full of it

I DARE her to name that insider

[AlinPA]

4. Agree 100% with: "Every Democrat who agrees to appear on that

network helps support it, helps it argue (falsely or accurately) that it is not partisan. "

[Jack from Charlotte]

17. Olberman's correct.

No Dem should EVER appear on that show without being paid. So if they parade an ex-Dem like Colms in order to point out Dems on their show, it can be pointed out no Dem appears without being paid. Also, point out how much Colms is being paid to go along with their right-wing agenda... 6 figures, I'm sure.

[Literate Tar Heel]

6. I've been thinking the exact same thing lately

I know politicians and strategists love to get on TV, any TV, but if at least medium to high-profile Democrats simply ignored the network and refused to appear on it, that would go further toward marginalizing and trivializing it than any documentary about its bias.

[Ravenseye]

7. Damned if you Do...Damned if you Don't

I've thought about this, in particular last night. My initial gut reaction was, "Why are any Democrats appearing on Fox, and if they do why don't they get a bit more hostile when attacked?"

Ok, so getting hostile would be bad, so why even show up? The problem is Fox wouldn't appear Partisan, the Democrats would. Fox would just keep on keeping on, and add in the fact that the Democrats are now anti-free press, and are showing their communist roots, and my mother in law would buy it hook, line, sinker, rod, and fisherman.

Not only that, but Dems appearing on Fox, politely rebuking the Conservative Republican line at least have a chance to win over a Fox viewer to be more open. Not likely, but there's a chance. Go on, with prepared talking points, ala the Republicans, and prepared responses to conservative talking points etc...there's a chance.

Not going on at all, makes the Dems look weak and whiny, and opens them up to even more attacks.

[Justice]

8. Faux Is Irrelevant, We could just dismiss Faux

The point is that Faux has peaked. People are tired of the charade. Democrats don't need to make big noise about avoiding Faux, they can just declare it irrelevant, just dismiss it - those are the words taken from the republican playbook.

[Hidebo]

9. We can't and shouldn't dismiss it as irrelevant!!

The real danger is that the media have been trying to appeal to conservative base very hard because of FNC's huge success.

[Literate Tar Heel]

10. media outlets need relevant figures to appear; else they become irrelevant

perhaps if the other cable outlets which have been falling all over themselves to out-Fox Fox see that Fox can no longer book prominent Democratic guests, they will begin to realize they are treading on dangerous ground and look to once again provide some semblance of rational and fair journalism

[sendero]

12. Yes, we can....

... every time a Dem appears on Fox, s/he is edited, talked over,etc. What's the point. Air time is good if you get to get your message out but Dems are never allowed to do that.

I agree with the original post. Dems should simply boycott Fox.

[markus]

14. Huge success measured in what?

Ratings? Hardly.

Sale of Ann Coulter's books to real human beings? Snicker.

What was the funniest damn thing was listening to the Foxies go on about Teresa H-K and her remark to the Scaife Op-Ed Editor (not a real journalist, but he plays one on TV) and realize not a single person at the table besides Mora Liason would be there except for the generous subsidies of Mr. Scaife.

Too funny.

[Ravenseye]

16. Yeah but..

my point is that they'll blow it out of proportion. The only way to keep any Dems from going on Fox is to send out a memo, a SECRET memo, saying to not go on Fox.

So then every Dem starts declining, Fox notices, starts commenting on their own that the Dems seem to be up to something, and that they are against the free press, and are unamerican. THEN they release the secret memo they found. The rest of the media jumps onto the bandwagon.

There's no good way that it can come about. It'll only backfire. If anything. Go on Fox and just give simple one word one sentance answers.

"you think clinton was a good president?"
"yes"
"why would you think that?"
"'cause"
"You're against the war in Iraq?"
"sure."

don't give them any soundbites to edit. :)

[July]

18. Respectfully disagree.

I see your points, but I think that selectively skipping appearances on certain shows would send a good message: we only talk to serious journalists, not self-appointed "pundits" playing gotcha. It could help bring back some real journalism, which is almost absent from the mainstream television "news" programs.

[markus]

11. Don't worry about your M-i-L anymore; Fox watchers are the lost

They are the unreconstructed Confederates, the fleeing hardcore Nazi's. They are a small minority, and they are--in my opinion--beyond redemption short of re-education camps (which I am not endorsing).

All we can do is limit the damage they do.

Not appearing on the network and marginilizing it as Right Wing Coo-Coo Land is I think the right approach.

Reporter to Politician: "Why won't you appear on Fox News."

Clever politician: "Why don't you work for the Cartoon Network? Because we both care about what's really going on in this country. Fox is fantasy television for the reality TV generation. "

[MikeBowlerBishop]

13. Preachin

to the choir as my song says. http://www.michaelbishop.com/talkingpoints.htm

[Media_Lies_Daily]

15. Thank you, Mr. Olbermann! Well said...

...every time a Democrat goes on ANY of the programs on FOX that somehow lends credibility to a network that has none.

[Shopaholic]

19. Show Keith your appreciation. . .

his show gets killed by O'Lielly's in the ratings and they've pretty much pre-empted Countdown for the week--he's a lone voice of reason over there in the wilderness at MSNBC (well, Keith & Ron Reagan). His addy is:
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