Tag: Fox News

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“Ashamed” Fox News Analyst Resigns Via Scathing Email From “Propaganda Machine” Fox News

In a scathing, scorched-earth email, retired United States Army Lt. Colonel Ralph Peters resigned his position as a Fox News strategic analyst denouncing the “propaganda” network and President Donald Trump.

Along the way, Peters also had choice words for the network’s primetime hosts – Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham.

Here’s a portion of the resignation letter via Buzzfeed:

In my view, Fox has degenerated from providing a legitimate and much-needed outlet for conservative voices to a mere propaganda machine for a destructive and ethically ruinous administration.

When prime-time hosts — who have never served our country in any capacity — dismiss facts and empirical reality to launch profoundly dishonest assaults on the FBI, the Justice Department, the courts, the intelligence community (in which I served) and, not least, a model public servant and genuine war hero such as Robert Mueller — all the while scaremongering with lurid warnings of “deep-state” machinations — I cannot be part of the same organization, even at a remove.

To me, Fox News is now wittingly harming our system of government for profit.

As a Russia analyst for many years, it also has appalled me that hosts who made their reputations as super-patriots and who, justifiably, savaged President Obama for his duplicitous folly with Putin, now advance Putin’s agenda by making light of Russian penetration of our elections and the Trump campaign.

Despite increasingly pathetic denials, it turns out that the “nothing-burger” has been covered with Russian dressing all along.

And by the way: As an intelligence professional, I can tell you that the Steele dossier rings true — that’s how the Russians do things.. The result is that we have an American president who is terrified of his counterpart in Moscow.

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Fox News’ Shepard Smith: “Our Opinion Programming Is There Strictly To Be Entertaining”

Fox News’ Shepard Smith

File this under “Infighting is funny.”

Fox News’ Shepard Smith told TIME Magazine recently that Fox News’ evening opinion shows are meant to be “entertaining,” not “news.”

Via The Hill:

Fox News anchor Shepard Smith says opinion programming on his network doesn’t “really have rules” and exists “strictly to be entertaining,” in an interview published Thursday.

“Some of our opinion programming is there strictly to be entertaining,” Smith told Time Magazine’s Daniel D’Addario in a piece titled, “Shep Smith Has the Hardest Job on Fox News.”

“We serve different masters,” Smith, 54, added when discussing the difference between the opinion side of Fox News, including shows such as “The Sean Hannity Show,” and the network’s news division. “We work for different reporting chains, we have different rules. They don’t really have rules on the opinion side. They can say whatever they want. If it’s their opinion.”

The interview comes as the network announced today it is re-signing the veteran anchor to a multiyear contract as Fox’s chief news anchor and managing editor of breaking news.

And then Sean Hannity slapped back on Twitter:

However, Hannity has pointedly said many times in the past that he is NOT a journalist, he’s a pundit. So – which is it, Sean?

Nutjob Fox News pundit Laura Ingraham also chimed in:

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Fox News’ Hypocrisy Over Presidents Meeting North Korean Dictator “It’s A Terrible Idea/It’s Genius!”

NowThis Politics demonstrates with ease the hypocrisy over at Fox News.

Back when President Obama considered meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un, it was the WORST idea in the world according to the geniuses at Fox News.

Now that Donald Trump has proposed doing the exact same thing, he’s brilliant.

Watch below as the video editors flip back and forth from the coverage of Obama then Trump.

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News Round-Up: March 9, 2018

(via Instagram)

Some news stories you might have missed:

• This is what happens (above) when you actually work out. #ThenTheresMe

• Outsports will host its third annual Pride celebration in New York City, June 21-24, 2018. The event will bring together LGBTQ athletes, coaches, sports executives, members of the media and fans for a weekend of “the celebration of courage.”

• More and more gay men are using PrEP to prevent HIV infection but wide ethnic and racial disparities persist in its use.

• Republican senators have reintroduced the First Amendment Defense Act which would give the federal government’s blessing to discriminate against LGBT people and others in the name of religious beliefs.

• Fox News invited a comedian cowboy on air to proclaim “The worst thing you can be today in America is a white, heterosexual, Christian Male.” #OhReally

• Whitney, Kevin Macdonald’s documentary about the life and career of Whitney Houston, will be released July 6 in the United States.

• UK singer/songwriter Calum Scott’s debut album Only Human is out today and available to download/stream at all digital providers. You can check out my previous posts about the awesomely talented Mr. Scott here.

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Exec Who Penned Homophobic/Racist Olympic Op-Ed Is Out At Fox News

John Moody (via screen capture)

John Moody, the Fox News Channel executive who penned a divisive op-ed decrying the diversity of the U.S. Olympic team has resigned.

In February, Moody wrote, in part,  “Unless it’s changed overnight, the motto of the Olympics, since 1894, has been ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger.’ It appears the U.S. Olympic Committee would like to change that to ‘Darker, Gayer, Different.’ If your goal is to win medals, that won’t work.”

“Complaining that every team isn’t a rainbow of political correctness defeats the purpose of sports, which is competition,” he continued. “At the Olympic level, not everyone is a winner. Not everyone gets a little plastic trophy to take home.”

Moody went on to assert that the diversity of the U.S. Olympic team, which fielded the most Asian-American and African-American athletes ever assembled for a U.S. Winter Olympic team as well as our first two openly gay Winter Olympians, was merely a publicity stunt.

Fox News removed the op-ed and issued a statement saying the essay “does not reflect the views or values” of Fox News.

LGBT advocacy groups – including the Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights – all immediately denounced the essay

From The Hollywood Reporter:

“The executive vice president of Fox News targeted some of our nation’s top athletes with vicious anti-LGBTQ and biased rhetoric at what should be the proudest moment of their lives,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD.

She continued: “These athletes are at the Olympics because they already won by qualifying to represent the United States on the world’s stage; and they did so despite facing discrimination from places like Fox News throughout their careers. Moody should not only apologize to the athletes and fans for this disgraceful post, but Fox News should open their site for diverse athletes to share their own personal stories and perspectives.”

Human Rights Campaign senior national press secretary Stephen Peters said the column is “the antithesis of what the Olympics are all about and an affront to the values of hard work and perseverance that Americans share.” He added, “The U.S.O.C. does not have quotas for its Olympic delegation, and to suggest that race, sexuality, or gender orientation are the reasons these incredible athletes made the cut is insulting, repugnant and dismissive of a lifetime of hard work.”

Catherine Sakimura, deputy director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said the column’s “racist and homophobic sentiment demeans our U.S. Olympic athletes, who should be celebrated as they represent our country.”

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Fox News’ Shep Smith: Trump’s Attack On Libel Laws Is “A Word Salad Of Nothingness”


 Fox News host Shep Smith was not having Donald Trump’s not-even-thinly-veiled attack on author Michael Wolff when the Trumpster announced he wants his administration to explore a possible overhaul of “very unfair” libel laws.

“For clarity, because we’re in the position to report facts here, all of that about libel laws––that was just a word salad of nothingness, because none of that means anything, except ‘look over here’. He couldn’t change the libel laws if he wanted to change the libel laws, he couldn’t change ’em if he got the Congress in there. These are state laws.

“He’s not a dictator. He’s not a king. He can’t change the libel laws. That’s preposterous.”

As Shep rightfully points out, the president can’t change laws. Only Congress can.

And Congress can only change federal laws. Libel laws vary state to state.

Lord, can someone inform Trump about such issues before he goes off half-cocked and says these stupid things?

Watch below.

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NY Times: Trump Watches Up To 8 Hours Of TV News Daily

The New York Times has a fascinating piece up chronicling Donald Trump’s daily television viewing habits.

You know – the television he says he has no time to watch.

Around 5:30 each morning, President Trump wakes and tunes into the television in the White House’s master bedroom. He flips to CNN for news, moves to “Fox & Friends” for comfort and messaging ideas, and sometimes watches MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” because, friends suspect, it fires him up for the day.

Energized, infuriated — often a gumbo of both — Mr. Trump grabs his iPhone. Sometimes he tweets while propped on his pillow, according to aides. Other times he tweets from the den next door, watching another television. Less frequently, he makes his way up the hall to the ornate Treaty Room, sometimes dressed for the day, sometimes still in night clothes, where he begins his official and unofficial calls.

As he ends his first year in office, Mr. Trump is redefining what it means to be president. He sees the highest office in the land much as he did the night of his stunning victory over Hillary Clinton — as a prize he must fight to protect every waking moment, and Twitter is his Excalibur. Despite all his bluster, he views himself less as a titan dominating the world stage than a maligned outsider engaged in a struggle to be taken seriously, according to interviews with 60 advisers, associates, friends and members of Congress.

Before taking office, Mr. Trump told top aides to think of each presidential day as an episode in a television show in which he vanquishes rivals. People close to him estimate that Mr. Trump spends at least four hours a day, and sometimes as much as twice that, in front of a television, sometimes with the volume muted, marinating in the no-holds-barred wars of cable news and eager to fire back.

Check this tweet from July, and remember Trump said he’d have “no time” for golf if he was elected president… #liar

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Fox News Poll: Trump Approval Rating Plummets To New Low

More bad news for Donald Trump – and this comes from the very Trump-friendly Fox News.

The Trumpster’s job approval rating dropped to a new Fox News poll low of only 38%, down 4 points from last month’s 42%.

Additionally, his disapproval rating jumped up 4 points to a high of 57%.

Interestingly, among those Trump has lost favor with are white men without a college degree. Trump dropped 12 points in one month in that particular demographic, and they were a big part of his election win.

White evangelicals are also taking a dimmer view of the president as he plummets 8 points from last month’s poll to only 56% of those voters giving him a thumbs up. On election night last November, he got 80% of their vote.

Voters also give the Trump administration negative ratings regarding how it responded to the Puerto Rico hurricane (-32), mass shooting in Las Vegas (-23), and the California wildfires (-21).

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Fox News Renewed Host Bill O’Reilly’s Contract One Month After His $32 Million Harassment Settlement

Bill O’Reilly

Just six months after Fox News head Roger Ailes was ejected from his lofty position at the conservative news network, prime-time host Bill O’Reilly agreed to pay a $32 million settlement to a network analyst over new sexual harassment allegations.

That’s $32 million to one person.

According to The New York Times, Fox News was aware of the woman’s complaints.

This was at least the sixth such agreement O’Reilly or the network had agreed to in order to quell such allegations against O’Reilly.

One month later the network renewed O’Reilly’s contract to the tune of $100 million over four years.

The obvious question remains: why was O’Reilly allowed to remain in the workplace after so many expensive settlements?

Read the full account at The New York Times.

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News Round-Up: August 29, 2017

(via Instagram)

Some news items you might have missed:

• Eliad Cohen keeps scanning the horizon looking for me in Mykonos, Greece #ICanDayDream

• 143 House Democrats have penned a letter asking Donald Trump to reconsider his “ill-advised and indefensible policy” of banning transgender service members from the U.S. military. Citing probable unconstitutionality of the policy, the lawmakers’ letter to the president underscores that trans military “serve with equal distinction; they are equally deserving of our gratitude and respect.”

• Superman Henry Cavill assures us all that his moustache “continues to thrive” even on vacay. #FurryGoodness

A post shared by Henry Cavill (@henrycavill) on Aug 29, 2017 at 11:57am PDT

• Pro-Trump/Nazi websites Stormfront and The Daily Stormer have lost their web hosting due to hate speech and histories of violent crimes.

• A Republican lawmaker has proposed an amendment in Congress that would stop funding the Special Counsel investigation 180 days after it became law. The amendment from Florida Congressman Ron DeSantis would also limit special counsel Robert Mueller from probing “matters occurring before June 2015,” which is the month Donald Trump announced his presidential bid.

• Averaging only a few thousand viewers during the day in the UK, the owners of Fox News have decided to pull the network from airing in Britain.

• New music from out Canadian twins Tegan and Sara as they team up with Matthew Dear for “Bad Ones.” Listen below.