Like big oil and big insurance, Fox News is now a legit target for the left

I’ve previously written how some large corporations are easy and safe targets for many on the left. In my opinion, big oil, big banks, big insurance – and during the last two years Fox News – are popular since the attacks play to their voting base, who seem to think they are always targets for getting screwed.

Of course, a good portion of those evil corporate identities who are out to get us are made up of thousands and thousands of friends and neighbors who actually work for those companies…

But no, those are the good people.

Fox News has clearly become one of the most effective targets for the left. I reviewed with amazement the entire Sherrod kerfuffle and noticed Andrew Breitbart was not getting attacked during the day, but Fox News was!

OK sure, Breitbart was getting a little bit of heat, but nothing as compared to during the ACORN story. Fox News was getting totally slammed during, when it turns out the network never mentioned the Sherrod story until almost 12 hours after Breitbart posted his article with the video. Even then, the only people who mentioned it on Fox was commentators … but not even Beck! Why? Few of the left’s subjects know who Andrew Breitbart is … but Fox News … ahhh yes … BIG target.

It’s no longer George W. Bush’s fault … it’s Fox News!

Fox is a great target since the network is considered a darling of the right, and there are very few people we live and work with who are directly associated the network. It’s a perfect target for the left to bash and blame!

Is Fox News perfectly unbiased? Hell no, but don’t even try to tell me the hard-news anchors at MSNBC, NBC, CBS, ABC or CNN even come close. Remember, most of the 24 hour news cycle is now commentators, not hard news by anchors. I understand that … does the left?

Of course, Fox News has absolutely nothing to do with increased insurance premiums, mortgage payments that can not be made, high unemployment, dwindling 401k plans, high energy costs or failing school systems … but that matters little to the left. The big, bad Fox News people are really bad for a America.

Who says so? Well just look at the JournoList story breaking the last couple of days by The Daily Caller; some suggest the FCC just not renew their broadcast license! A quick glance at the comments indicate many are commentators, but there is definitely hard news journalists chiming in.

Want to say some of the JournoList comments are taken out of context? Sure, go ahead … if it makes it all good with you, that’s cool. Us “fu*&^%g Nascar retards” won’t mind a bit.

Malkin (Doug Powers), Gateway Pundit, Sister Toldja and Hot Air all writing.

[Edited to add] Certainly, commentators and bloggers who are conservative certainly do make fun of and target certain media personalities on broadcast networks … the difference is we are not the Executive or Legislative Branches of the federal government!

Warning, post drift…

I had a discussion with my cousin this past weekend about health insurance. He owns a small IT company with about 200 employees and his premiums were going to be going up 30 to 40 percent. He was able to switch his employee’s coverage to another company, but still got dinged with a 20 to 25 percent increase.

His initial anger was directed at the insurance company, but the rise in premiums was certainly not just the insurance company wanting all of that extra cash? Or was it due primarily to the rising cost of health care?

Remember how the Los Angeles Times refused to mention why premiums were rising in California? Why is my story detailing how 95 percent of premium increases are directly from increased health care costs – and not insurance company profit – completely ignored?

It does not fit the playbook.

Posted in

Steve McGough

Steve's a part-time conservative blogger. Steve grew up in Connecticut and has lived in Washington, D.C. and the Bahamas. He resides in Connecticut, where he’s comfortable six months of the year.

27 Comments

  1. Dimsdale on July 22, 2010 at 6:35 am

    I think the reflexive, knee jerk response to Fox News by the lefties has transcended even their response to alleged racism.  And that response has just about as much validity.

     

    Consider this: if the mainstream media (MSM) was as objective as they claim, why would there be a niche for Fox?  Better (or worse for the MSM), why would Fox be so incredibly popular?  If the media were truly objective, as they claim, there would be no story left for Fox to report.  Of course, the MSM routinely conflate the commentators with the news division, much as they do with legal and illegal immigration.  Blur the differences, and it is all the same, or more accurately, just like the MSM, where the line between opinion and actual news is practically impossible to find.  The current controversy (not, tellingly, on any MSM news outlet) about JournOlist hammers the last nail in that coffin.  The not so subtle attacks by the president himself throws dirt into the hole on top of the coffin.  As an aside, it was made crystal clear for me in the Bush TANG/Kerry Swiftboat coverage.

     

    The MSM has eroding subscription rates and declining influence on people precisely because they are so predictably biased, and Fox and the internet has provided outlets where you can "get the rest of the story" as Paul Harvey was fond of saying.  Coincidentally, Fox has the opposite problem: it is growing more popular daily.  It is one of the "go to" places where you find the elusive "rest of the story", and, as they are fond of saying, decide yourself.

     

    Attacks by the left like the Sherrod story are designed to lay the groundwork for a return to the "Fairness" Doctrine or something similar.  The JournOlist toadies are for taking it and other conservative outlets off the air completely!!  Are they simply venting their biases, or are they truly so stupid as not to be able to see the gross unconstitutionality of that wish?

     

    The lefties are just proving the need for Fox by condemning it without just cause.   They prove the rule.



    • chris-os on July 23, 2010 at 3:45 pm

      Your comments are now longer than any of Steve's blog posts now.

      And, Crissy is not an insult, tho you intended it to be-it IS my name.

      And, as the righties do, you need to insult when you have nothing to reply, re: "bear skins and stone knives". Childish and pathetic.



    • OkieJim on July 23, 2010 at 4:28 pm

      No sympathy for you here, Chris. You started it. If you can't take it, don't dish it out.



    • Dimsdale on July 23, 2010 at 9:00 pm

      As I posted, chris, the "chrissy" was in response to "Dimmy".  The "bear skins and stone knives" was meant to be followed by a smiley, but I forgot before I hit the reply button.

       

      As for the length of my posts, if you don't like them, don't read them.  I like to cover all the bases, and can be a bit verbose at times, but we all have our crossed to bear.   I think yours are too short to adequately make your point.  Such is life.

       

      I will go back to being childish and pathetic now.  πŸ˜‰  (remembered this time!)



    • Dimsdale on July 23, 2010 at 9:01 pm

      That should be "crosses".



  2. HamHocks on July 22, 2010 at 2:14 pm

    I think the idea that the ratings of the "main stream media" versus Fox News  being an indicator of accuracy is a flawed one. Fox, as successful as they are, delivers news and commentary from a very specific point of view that will appeal to like minded viewers. I'm not condemning that view, I'm just laying out my train of thought here. Fox is a network for conservatives. That's not a bad thing, but it's not evidence of accuracy, either. I don't consider Fox a reputable news channel. Not because I'm progressive, but because there are way too many demonstrable examples of them misinforming on a variety of issues and letting their opinion shows influence the direction of their straight news segments. Except for Shep Smith. He's awesome.



    • JollyRoger on July 22, 2010 at 2:58 pm

      Surely Hamcocks is a troller?  Shep Smith wears more makeup on his forehead than most 40 year old porn stars wear on their entire bodies!  Shep Smith is a token liberal on Fox; and the liberal news agencies don't have a token conservative because they can't even tolerate Fox news!  It's all about open-mindedness & tolerance.



    • HamHocks on July 23, 2010 at 5:40 am

      Wow. Right out of the gates, I'm a troll. I thought the discussion here might be elevated over the level of a YouTube name calling fest. I'm here for a real conversation, even if you aren't.



    • Dimsdale on July 23, 2010 at 8:53 pm

      I like you, Ham!  πŸ˜‰



    • Dimsdale on July 22, 2010 at 5:06 pm

      Fox, whatever its bias, fills a giant hole the lefty media leaves gaping.  Yeah, they look right wing, but when you consider what they are being compared to, it makes them look even more right (pun intended).



    • HamHocks on July 23, 2010 at 5:53 am

      I understand your point of view. The point I was making was that the popularity of any news network (or any idea, for that matter) isn't necessarily tied to the accuracy of said news network. This goes for any network, not just Fox. I still disagree completely with your opinion of the media scenario, but that's what we're all here for, right? Take care.



    • Steve McGough on July 23, 2010 at 5:59 am

      @HamHocks … Please stop adding all of the carriage returns at the end of your posts. In other words, please stop hitting the Enter key multiple times after your last period.



  3. JollyRoger on July 22, 2010 at 2:27 pm

    I'd heard on the radio that there's a lawsuit in the works for Breitbart- he jumped the gun?  Well, surely, the Obama administration also jumped the gun- don't they have even more egg on their faces?  If anyone ought to be doing due diligence, it ought to be the wizards of smart- the folks who are so behind global warming that they are going to put us in the chains of Cap and Tax.  The same smart folks who are going to make healthcare more efficient through government bureaucracy and hope-us-poke-us!



  4. rickyrock on July 22, 2010 at 3:18 pm

    I would like to make several points on the article my Mr Steve:which fly in the

    A new report from health care for America now states:

    "From 2000 to 2008, insurance premiums went up 97% for families and 90% for individuals. In the same time period, payments to providers like hospitals and doctors only went up 72%. Even worse, underlying medical inflation, calculated from the Consumer Price Index, went up only 39%.

    In short, over the last eight years premiums almost doubled, but medical inflation went up only 40%. Premiums rose two times faster, and over three times faster than wages, which only rose 29% in the same time period."

    I think this proves that the insurance companies have a purely profit motive…

    2.The main reason that Fox news is popular is that they in general rely on fear,….impending doom..total .collapse of the dollar, food shortages ……..essentially Armageddon  etc….the darkest and most pessimistic outcome…it works for Hannity,Rush et. al…………………….
    http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/32767



    • Dimsdale on July 22, 2010 at 5:25 pm

      1. Now subtract out costs incurred for the uninsured (by choice and by circumstance), mandates from the feds that insurers have to pick up, and illegal aliens.  What part of your payments to hospitals come from the federal government, i.e. medicare and medicaid, and are paid out as the gov't deems fit?  How about atrociously large malpractice awards?  Who pays for that?  Why do Dems fight tort reform so hard?  Will Øbamacare provide more and better doctors?

       

      What do you think you are proving again?  Will adding 30 million potential patients fix this?  Has the government ever been able to do anything remotely cost effectively?

       

      Doesn't this belong under a different topic heading?

       

       

      2. You mean that Fox is simply pointing out that what Øbama is doing is crazy even to his supporters with economics qualifications, like Warren Buffet?  You know, the truth?  You mean the pablum served up by the media and those conspiratorial clowns on JournOlist isn't working?  You mean that using lefty's own words and actions against them is attracting an audience?   The dollar isn't collapsing?  Really?  I don't recall the word Armageddon being used, but then, maybe it is couched in pleasant terms, like death panels are.

       

      I am still waiting to hear about the New Black Panther poll "watcher" story on the MSM outlets.

       

      It's a good thing you can tune into Air (Err?) American and feel all warm and fuzzy again, right?  Oh wait, nobody listened to that.  They went bankrupt and Øbama wasn't around to bail them out.  It seems strange that the refereshing optimism and objective news from that network didn't just steal all of Fox's listeners away in the first week!



    • chris-os on July 23, 2010 at 2:43 am

      "It seems strange that the refereshing optimism and objective news from that network didn’t just steal all of Fox’s listeners away in the first week!"

      Yeah Dimmy. Jerry Springer used to kill Oprah in the ratings. Did that mean that the Springer show was more intelligent and refreshing?

      <!– end .comment-content –>



    • Dimsdale on July 23, 2010 at 3:45 am

      No, it indicates that Oprah was less so.  Did you ever watch that pap?



    • socialenemy on July 23, 2010 at 4:46 am

      Quote – chris-os

      "Yeah Dimmy. Jerry Springer used to kill Oprah in the ratings. Did that mean that the Springer show was more intelligent and refreshing?"

      Woah, great way to counter Dims factual counter argument with a Jerry Springer insult… Are you kidding me?



    • Dimsdale on July 23, 2010 at 5:09 am

      Yeah, "chrissy" (returning the favor) has to work with the tools he has, bear skins and stone knives.



    • Dimsdale on July 23, 2010 at 9:06 pm

      You can ignore the above post and substitute the following:

       

      Your comparison of Fox to Springer revealed your inherent bias and is a fine example of reductio ad absurdum.

       

      Less "childish" but probably just as "pathetic", right, chris?



  5. winnie888 on July 22, 2010 at 11:54 pm

    Anybody get the idea that "politically left leaning individuals" (don't want to sound ig'nant by saying "lefties") are rapidly running out of people & organizations to blame?

    Oh, I know, I know….they will never give up trying to blame someone or something, it just seems like they're getting a little bit desperate about their choices as their options run out.  Really?  An entire news organization is to blame for what happened in Sherrodgate?  I'm not buying that for a minute.  And the "politically left leaning individuals" will get out their bats and try desperately to get me to change my mind through gentle persuasion a la the New Black Panthers….that's how it typically goes.

     



  6. socialenemy on July 23, 2010 at 4:50 am

    The problem here is Fox needs to stop poitning out all of Obama's flaws and just get on the band wagon. Didn't they hear he is an articulate and well dressed man of color?

    I think it's pretty sad that the left has nothing better to do than blame Fox news because the country decided to pay attention to how dumb they really are. I mean come on now, don't they have a country to run here?

    I keep trying to think back to Bush and all the times he blamed MSNBC for his bad poll numbers… But then I remember, he didn't care because he had BETTER THINGS TO DO. This administration needs to pry their head out of their behind and wake up and run the stinking country before it crashes and burns… Unless of course that's what they want, in that case, GOOD WORK! πŸ™‚



    • David R on July 25, 2010 at 5:44 pm

      My complaint about Fox is that they could do a much better job in the role of opposition media. They too often play "gotcha" rather than providing constructive information in opposition to the policies and practices of the government.  Of course they are not alone, most for-profit media seems to think its primary job is to seek out all mis-steps, no matter how trivial, on the part of government officials. It's as if ratings and advertising revenue depend on it. Come to think of it. They do.



  7. Dimsdale on July 23, 2010 at 5:48 am

    You forgot "clean".  Biden said Øbama was "clean" too.



  8. chris-os on July 23, 2010 at 4:02 pm

    Hamhocks, sorry for the way you are treated on your first posts here.

    if you are not a sheep, you are "a troll".

    Anyway, thanks, I enjoyed your comments-you make valid points.

     



  9. PatRiot on July 25, 2010 at 7:39 am

    Let's see  how many MSM'a against Fox.  Shows you MSM's are not truely journalists(nonpartisan).

    I certainly do not want the Fairness Doctrine introduced to eradicate such lopsided scenarios. – Face it talk radio is almost the exact opposite ratio.

    The Constitution and the right to free speech is the only fairness doctrine we need.

    Like Fox, be prepared to be a target.  Be prepared, well educated.  Remember, the American people are fairly common sense and will see through the BS of those who talk about fairness but act otherwise.



  10. djt on July 26, 2010 at 3:37 am

    from steve's original post above

    "Who says so? Well just look at the JournoList story breaking the last couple of days by The Daily Caller; some suggest the FCC just not renew their broadcast license! A quick glance at the comments indicate many are commentators, but there is definitely hard news journalists chiming in.Want to say some of the JournoList comments are taken out of context? Sure, go ahead … if it makes it all good with you, that’s cool. Us “fu*&^%g Nascar retards” won’t mind a bit."

    From Kathleen Parker, (fair to say she leans to the right?) in today's Hartford Courant:"One of the most widely circulated examples is that these lefties were conspiring to get the government to shut down Fox News. Well, one member did write something to that effect. But it was a query about whether the FCC could pull the network's broadcasting permit once it expires for, in liberals' view, espousing a political agenda. Whereupon, Michael Scherer of Time responded:"You really want political parties/white houses picking and choosing which news organizations to favor? Even so, the headline was that liberals want to shut down Fox News, which is not precisely an accurate rendering of a non-conversation. There was no further discussion on the subject at Journolist .Scandalous? Sure, if you want it to be. If you pull a few remarks from tens of thousands posted by 400 people over a few years, you can frame a debate any way you wish."

    the link to her whole piece
    http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/hc-op-parker-



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