News Hounds

UK’s Guardian: News Corp. Spied On Parliamentary Committee Investigating It

Reported by Ellen - Sun 4:57 PM

Yesterday, The Guardian’s Roy Greenslade visited Media Matters Radio and dropped a bit of a bombshell: That even after News Corporation’s News of the World was under investigation for phone hacking, “Every single member of the Parliamentary committee investigating this matter was followed by private eyes and/or members of staff of the newspaper and only after some of the staff protested that they didn’t want to do it, were they called off.”

Monica Crowley: Americans Are Sick Of Attack Politics (But Pay No Attention To My Record Of Attack Politics)

Reported by Ellen - Sun 3:29 PM

Monica Crowley appeared on Hannity last Wednesday (11/9/11) and did her part to defend Herman Cain by attacking the so-called liberal media for having the nerve to ask him a debate question about allegations of sexual harassment against him – as if she wouldn’t be up in arms if a moderator had failed to ask the same question of a liberal candidate had he or she been in that position. Crowley said smugly, “At large, the American people are sick of political correctness and they’re sick of attack politics.” Oh, really? Then I’m looking forward to a new and improved Monica Crowley. Because the one I know has always reveled in attack politics.

Fox & Friends & Fr. Jonathan Morris Don't Need No Stinking Atheist Chaplains In US Military

Reported by Priscilla - Sun 1:10 PM

If there's one stimulus that's sure to get the Fox "News" audience salivating, it's anything connected to atheists or atheism. Christian conservatives, who applaud over people dying without health insurance and waterboarding, loathe atheists as much as they do "illegals" and gays. They are in agreement that atheists are trying to turn this "Christian nation" into a godless state based on ungodly reason - a concept that's anathema to victimized Christians for whom Fox "News" is a mouthpiece. Recently, groups supporting Satan's atheistic minions have started to lobby for the military to appoint atheist "chaplains" as a way for heathens to have the same kind of support that is provided for other religious groups. This concept is supported by many of the atheists (9,400) who serve (Jesus wept) in the military. These folks have pointed out that Christianity still is still very pervasive in the military which results in subtle if not outright proselytization. But a retired evangelical army chaplain sees the demand for atheists "chaplains" as being "less about the needs of the active duty troops and more about a vocal minority of New Atheists wanting to spread its anti-Christian movement from the public square to the military." His comment, that atheists are "a militant minority" who are "against evangelical Christianity, dovetails nicely with the ongoing Fox memes of persecuted Christians and evil atheists. Enter, stage right (drum roll please) Fox's one true pastor, Catholic priest Father Jonathan Morris to read his Sunday gospel according to Fox "News."

Fox Trots Out Two Doctors To Assure Us That Rick Perry’s Brain Freeze Was No Big Deal!

Reported by Ellen - Sat 4:08 PM

In yet another episode of Republican rehab on Fox, the O’Reilly Factor brought on not one but two medical doctors to discuss Rick Perry’s debate brain freeze. Guest host Juan Williams gave an inkling of how things would go when he "asked" in his introduction, “Was Perry’s memory lapse just an example of a brain freeze that happens to most of us every single day?”

On Fox & Friends: Alveda King Disses OWS, Rev. Jesse Jackson, and ACORN

Reported by Priscilla - Sat 3:46 PM

As the saying goes, Martin Luther King Jr. must be rolling in his grave if he knows that his niece, Alveda King, has become a tool for Fox News - a network that is diametrically opposed to everything King stood for. He would be appalled that his relative is allowed to invoke the Civil Rights movement in order to denigrate liberal African-American leaders while promoting the views of a network that provides a platform for opposition to union, minority, immigrant, and reproductive rights on their television, website, and a blog that tolerates racist commentary and death threats directed towards our first African-American president. He would be disgusted that his niece is embraced by a media outlet that tolerates the kind of race baiting that allows statements like Ann Coulter's "our blacks are better than their blacks" to go unrebutted. But that doesn't matter to Alveda King who is always more than happy to go on Fox "News" to promote whatever right wing talking point needs talking about and diss liberal black leaders. The newest right wing trope is about the lawlessness of the "Occupy" movement. And now that Civil Rights veteran Rev. Jesse Jackson has compared it to the Civil Rights struggle, Fox needs to do some spinning. And who better to do that than the uber right wing Alveda King who was interviewed, earlier this week, on Fox & Friends. It was propaganda gold. She provided the requisite message that "Occupy" and the Civil Rights movements can't be compared and in so doing, got to diss Jesse Jackson and - are ya ready for it - those scary black people in ACORN! Once again, Fox will overcome!

Bill O’Reilly’s “Killing Lincoln” Book Full Of Errors

Reported by Ellen - Sat 11:50 AM

How full of errors is O'Reilly's new book? It’s so full of errors that, Justin Elliott at Salon.com reported, a reviewer for the National Park Service’s bookstore at Ford’s Theatre has recommended it not be sold at the historic site “because of the lack of documentation and the factual errors within the publication.” (H/T Eric Boehlert)

Herman Cain Shrugs Off His Anita Hill Joke: Herman Is Going To Be Herman!

Reported by Ellen - Sat 11:00 AM

They must be getting dizzy over at Fox News trying to keep track of all the Republican rehab they’ve been dishing out lately. But Friday (11/11/11), on the heels of Rick Perry’s debate do-over, Herman Cain got almost 25 minutes of friendliness from Your World. Host Neil Cavuto set the tone by gushing in his introduction, “The Cain train full speed ahead! …Herman still hopping!” B-roll footage showed people cheering for Cain. But not even Cavuto could figure out a way to rehab Cain’s latest joke about Anita Hill – in which he was wracked with laughter over a supporter's crack that Hill was “coming out” - after which Cain jokingly asked, “Is she going to endorse me?” Cavuto gently suggested that Cain might want to “dial back” his humor a bit but showing real sensitivity toward women – as opposed to just acting presidential - never entered the equation.

"Fair And Balanced" Fox Nation Calls Occupy Protesters "Savages"

Reported by Ellen - Sat 12:24 AM

Current headline on "fair and balanced" and "civil," "tolerant" Fox Nation: 'Occupy' Savages Invade Conservative Conference.
No wonder the site became a breeding ground for murderous impulses regarding the protesters.

Michele Bachmann Analyzes The Country’s Ills: We Have Too Much Socialism

Reported by Ellen - Fri 11:49 PM

Michele Bachmann appeared in a pre-recorded interview with Sean Hannity on tonight’s Hannity show for several minutes of what amounted to a campaign infomercial. Bachmann, crazy as ever, announced that “what’s wrong with the United States today” is that “we have too much socialism.” Then she announced that she is the person who can save the country. Hannity, of course, didn’t challenge a word.

Bill Hemmer Ramps Up The Fox News Witch Hunt Against Eric Holder By "Asking" If He Committed Treason

Reported by Ellen - Fri 3:35 PM

Rather than doing any research or investigation, Fox News' "objective" host Bill Hemmer read a viewer's inflammatory question asking if Attorney General Eric Holder has committed treason - and then turned to the Republican guest for an answer. (H/T Aunty Em and Media Matters)

Fox Nation Still Longing For Occupy Protesters To Be Murdered

Reported by Guest Blogger - Fri 2:37 PM

By Aria

As many Newshounds know, I have been spending a lot of time on Fox Nation lately, creating a “case file” of the violent ill-will their “civil, tolerant” membership displays towards the movement. I began doing this after readers threatened Van Jones after Fox Nation posted an inflammatory - and distorted - article about him. Since then, the unhinged hatred has continued: finding police brutality against Occupy protesters "inspiring," openly discussing murdering the Occupy protesters and finding it "funny" when an Occupy Oakland protester got hit by a car. So it's not all that surprising that this article, showing the police beating arm-linked protesters with little to no provocation, got voted as "inspiring." However, the zeal for violence against the protesters - and yes, more talk of murder - is literally sickening.

Perry Gets A Debate Do-Over From Fox

Reported by Ellen - Fri 1:40 AM

Rick Perry was on Fox News at least three times yesterday doing damage control over his debate debacle the night before. He appeared on Fox & Friends, America Live and capped off his Fox News trifecta with a 16-minute segment on On The Record. On the two later shows, Perry probably got more time to expound on his campaign platform than he ever would have gotten in the debate.

Gloria Allred Debates Hannity About Herman Cain Sexual Harassment Allegations

Reported by Ellen - Fri 12:10 AM

I thought there was more heat than light and that Hannity was on his mostly good behavior. What do you think? Oh, and Allred said, “there may be” more allegations against Cain to come.

Your World Helps Rep. Joe Walsh Blame His Near Meltdown On Coffee And An Empty Stomach

Reported by Guest Blogger - Thu 5:15 PM

By Brian

Deadbeat Dad Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) got another dose of Republican rehab from Your World and host Neil Cavuto yesterday, this time to help explain away Walsh’s near meltdown during a gathering with constituents. A video of the episode went viral. As Priscilla posted, Fox Nation gave Walsh its own rehab by blaming the constituent who had the nerve to ask Walsh a question. Cavuto was somewhat critical of Walsh’s behavior but never challenged his excuse: "I made the mistake of doing this on a very empty stomach with a little too much coffee, which sort of got me a little too fired up." Of course, there were no embarrassing questions about child support.

In The Wake Of Debate Debacle, Rick Perry Heads To Fox & Friends

Reported by Ellen - Thu 3:07 PM

As soon as Rick Perry’s cringe-worthy “Oops” was emitted during the debate last night, it was almost a certainty he’d be on Fox & Friends for a little Republican rehab this morning. To the curvy couch’s credit, they didn’t minimize or shrug off the seriousness of Perry’s gaffe – but then again, it would be hard to see how they could and still retain a shred of credibility. But they nevertheless found other ways to be supportive.

Bill Hemmer Thinks Rep. Joe Walsh's Freak Out Was Awesome?

Reported by Priscilla - Thu 1:06 PM

As I reported yesterday, GOP Rep. and "deadbeat dad" Joe Walsh freaked out during a casual get together ("cup of Joe") with his constituents at a bar and grill. Now that this video has gone viral and has been featured on other networks, Joe is making appearances on Fox News so that he can joke about how his inappropriate behavior was the result of not having eaten. He was on Neil Cavuto's show yesterday and he and Neil joked about how Walsh should drink de-caf coffee. And today, he and alleged "news" host, Bill Hemmer, had lots of laughs about Walsh's bizarre and offensive treatment of his constituents. And in the process, Walsh got to clarify GOP talking points without interruptions from those troublemaking (that's how Fox Nation described them!) constituents. It was Republican rehab at its finest.

Fr. Jonathan Morris Continues Attack On Vanderbilt Non Discrimination Policy

Reported by Priscilla - Thu 11:20 AM

In October, Fox & Friends ran a mini marathon of misinformation about Vanderbilt's non-discrimination policy which states that campus groups cannot require that their leaders hold the same views as the membership. Thanks to Fox and the religious right, this latest "outrage" to persecuted Christians has reached a national level with Christian GOP members of congress weighing in. The coverage that "fair & balanced" Fox has provided has been very one sided with the principal argument being that this policy will force good Christian groups to have atheists and other servants of Satan as their leaders. This distorted and exaggerated perspective, articulated by Fox's resident and only official clergy, Fr. Jonathan Morris, avoids the real reasons why the policy was put in place; i.e. to address anti-gay discrimination which is part of the charters of four Christian campus groups. That the real issue of free speech on a private campus has been lost on Fox which focuses on what "could" happen and not what did happen. In October, Fr. Morris did his best jazz hands in accusing the non discrimination policy of being sleazy. (Funny, considering that Morris was a member of the very sleazy Legion of Christ whose members facilitated the debauchery of their founder). And last Sunday, Morris was back with mor anti-Vanderbilt histrionics which, once again, avoided the real issue in order to advance the ongoing Fox meme of persecuted Christians.

Eric Bolling Adds Media Matters To The Cain Conspiracy

Reported by Aunty Em - Thu 10:01 AM

Glenn Beck had his Caliphate Clues, now The Five’s Eric Bolling has his Cain Conspiracy Cabal™. News Hounds reported Tuesday how Bolling blamed shadowy “Democrat” operatives for the Herman Cain sexual harassment allegations. Against all logic and evidence to the contrary, he contended the Democratic Party has been working behind the scenes to tear down Republicans and Right Wing candidates; this is just Cain’s turn in the dunk tank. Not content to leave it there, Bolling doubled down the next night. He added “the left wing nutjobs at Media Matters and all the other leftie blogs” (which includes News Hounds, I guess) to the clandestine group trying to take down Herman Cain. Watch:

Fox and Friends To Florida Inmates: Let Them Eat Soy

Reported by Aunty Em - Thu 7:31 AM

The Foxy Friends on Fox and Friends proved Wednesday morning they don’t even need guests to push the Fox “News” agit-prop, or to have some fun at someone else’s expense. At issue was Eric Harris, an inmate in central Florida who is suing for “cruel and unusual punishment” because the prison system is serving a soy-laden, meat-free vegan diet. According to the Florida News Journal “Harris is claiming that it has threatened his thyroid, caused painful gastrointestinal cramping, and compromised his immune system, all things which he says are medical problems for him and are listed as possible side effects of eating too much soy.” However, you wouldn’t hear any of that from The Three Stooges, who seemed to be echoing Bizarro Marie Antoinette. Watch:

No Questions For Cain About Sexual Harassment!

Reported by Ellen - Wed 11:20 PM

Herman Cain appeared on On The Record with Greta Van Susteren tonight for an interview following the GOP candidates' debate. Yet host Greta Van Susteren didn't ask a single question about the mushrooming sexual harassment scandal dogging him. You'd think that the woman who was so outraged over Bill Maher "degrading" a woman (Sarah Palin) by calling her a "dumb twat," and who tore apart her own colleague, Tucker Carlson, for printing Mike Tyson's sexually violent comments about a woman (Sarah Palin) would have at least some concern about the growing body of evidence that a presidential candidate may be a sexual predator. But apparently not. Van Susteren didn't even ask Cain about his remark calling Minority Leader and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, "Princess Nancy." But maybe it's only when Palin gets degraded that Van Susteren objects.