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by The Editors
Fox News Spin-Day
Forbes Tries to Scare Bush, Buckley's Mummy Scares Us
What's with Tony Snow? Is he trying to bore us (with Forbes), depress us (with Kosovo and Chechnya), and scare us (with the mummified remains of Bill Buckley).
Guest one: Steve Forbes, who started by saying he was having a great time campaigning in the Carolinas. Would he meet with Log Cabin Republicans? Forbes pointed out the differences in position he has with the group, and said he did not believe homosexuals were moral! Mara Liasson followed up with a question on "don't ask, don't tell and Forbes called it the right policy -- emphasizing that openly gay people "can't" serve.
Forbes was not making any gay friends this morning, that's for sure!!
Tony said that Forbes had criticized Bush for calling Jesus his top political philosopher. Forbes: "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's..." followed by a rant on Bush's position on taxes! We liked the clever weaseling from Forbes.
Tony asked Forbes about the Supreme Court. Forbes said his favorite justices were Scalia and Thomas -- an appeal to hard-righters -- then lied outright when he said they were "not judicial activists." He then slammed McCain and Bradley for their anti-soft-money stand, claiming in so many words it deprived Americans of the right to give.
Yeah, Steve -- the right of the rich to buy access.
Forbes said he would eliminate the Departments of Commerce and Energy -- and that will not make him a lot of friends at the US Chamber of Commerce, who use Commerce to expand trade and international contracts for US companies.
Tony then turned to Forbes favorite bete noire, Alan Greenspan. Who would he replace Greenspan with? After slamming Greenspan's influence on agriculture, he mentioned Jack Kemp.
On privacy, Forbes falsely claimed "Clinton-Gore" are out to centralize health records -- then lied about "protecting nuclear secrets" and "900 FBI files."
Forbes, who is more moderate than he comes off as, continues to make the same mistakes -- spinning nonissues and propagating old lies to appeal to "red meat" hard conservatives.
Spots: Visa, ExxonMobil (two spots), Prodigy, Fox Sports.
Topic two: Kosovo, Chechnya and terrorism. The guests: Sen. Chuck Hagel and Joe Lieberman (D-CT).
Hagel called the terrorist threat "real" and said that the government would "have to deal with it in a policy way" -- failing to mention that America does have overt and covert policies.
Lieberman talked about infiltration, but called it "tough" because "we've been too cheap... both in terms of domestic and international terrorism there's no substitute for having someone on the inside of these organizations."
In the wake of the Seattle "nitro" arrest, Juan Williams asked Lieberman if he had knowledge of other threats or incidents -- pressing the question twice. Lieberman did not like the idea of discussing it -- does he know something? That's what Juan was pushing for. Hagel, uncharacteristically of GOPers, said we should use our UN contacts to improve our antiterrorist intelligence.
Does Lieberman approve of withholding loans to Russia until they pull out of Chechnya? Lieberman said that responding to real terrorist threats (Chechnya separatists) with civilian bombing is wrong. Tony asked if we were running the risk of Russia again becoming a nuclear competitor, and Hagel said they already were!
Well, yes and no, Chuck -- they are very dependent on us, and regard regional enemies as a bigger threat than America. Hagel said that "we" have to understand that there will be differences, but trader and defense will keep America safe.
Juan had to bring up the matter of an American soldier being killed by a land mine in Kosovo -- and Hagel said something should have been done but America should never have taken the land option off the table. Oh, please -- who said that it was for sure? Ever heard of disinformation to confuse the enemy?
Tony talked about a questionable USA Today poll that claims that 50% of Americans now support the impeachment of nearly a year ago. Lieberman said that the public says Clinton did something wrong -- but is doing a good job. Tony asked if it was a mistake for "Democrats" not to call one witness at the trial. Huh?
Hagel and Lieberman bored us with some talk about Clinton requesting reimbursement for their legal expenses -- Lieberman pointed out that Reagan and Bush did the same.
Spots: Fox Shows, Zenical, Power for Living,
Tony called Bill Buckley "the Godfather of American conservatism." Godfather? The guy looks like The Mummy -- gray, wrinkled, patchy hair. "He called it [Firing Line] a wrap this week..." but all that was missing from Buckley himself was the body wrapping! Tony bored us with video clips from the now-extinct show.
Buckley's advice to Dubya: trust your "strategic reactions" -- Buckley said in so many erudite and perspicacious 50-cent words that Bush is programmed, and that his "Jesus" answer was based on Bush's understanding the question as a "primal source" inquiry, and there were "time limits on explications."
Why did he start Firing Line Buckley said it was in reaction to the 1964 Goldwater "disaster" -- the show started as a 13-week flight in 1966 in which Buckley "took on" 13 different liberals. And Tony complimented the civil tone of Firing Line -- then asked Buckley why civil discourse has gotten so nasty! Buckley instead talked about how civil his show was.
Tony played a wonderful clip of Firing Line guest Muhammad Ali -- and Buckley talked about how much he had enjoyed that interview, admired Ali the man, and said Ali was right a week later when he said that he'd "KO'ed Buckley." He said his favorite guest had been Groucho Marx! Tony tweaked Bill about his son Chris, then asked if Hillary can win in New York. Buckley: "The question is, is New York healthy?" He then blathered about the "toxicity" of the Clinton effect.
Right, Bill -- Clinton is toxic to the lies of your harsh, zealous Neo-Nazi brethren!
Tony ten asked if Clinton would cause a re-energization of the Conservative movement! Can you believe that? Buckley, wisely, diverted to the semantic differences between Carter and Reagan.
Spots: Anna and the King, Sprint PCS, how2.com, Ali, and local spots for Family Care Plus in NY (a bill backed by labor), Men's Wearhouse, Toyota.
Panel time! Topic one: Linda Tripp may be put on trial! Bill Sammon of the Washing-Moon Times claimed Clinton "got away with something" and, wanting fairness, don't want to see Tripp in jail. Mara claimed that Americans are reversing their view on Clinton and impeachment (the USA Today poll), and Juan essentially said that White House spin dominates the issue -- and that there would be jury nullification. He added that the prosecution "could be political," and Sammon said it would return to the immunity issue, saying it would be similar to Ollie North.
Could this program be any more biased against Bill Clinton?
Talk moved on to -- impeachment! Sammon's "analysis" is that people rush to defend institutions such as the Presidency -- then showed his bias by saying the spin machines have died down," citing Carville, just before he mentioned that Starr was on a media tour. Mara said that there might be Starr "backlash over Clinton's request for legal reimbursement. Juan again said in so many words that Clinton obstructed justice. Mara and Sammon said he may get his money back on Whitewater, but claimed -- incorrectly -- that Clinton "admitted" he lied (using the same parsing techniques Starr's fascist prosecutors, who don't know what "is" is, did).
Mara and Tony talked distancing campaigns -- then played video of Gore responding to a McCain campaign activist planted in the audience asking him about Juanita Broaddrick. Sammon said that Gore was acting as if this was "a routine bimbo eruption." He's right -- Gore should have talked about questions concerning possible fraud by Broaddrick. Juan talked about rape. Mara said that it was the worst claim about Bill Clinton, and Sammon had the last word: "Clinton fatigue."
Sammon is bright, but nothing more than a Clinton-hating Reverend Moon puppet. There is fatigue among the public from hearing all this anti-Clinton innuendo, perpetuated in the most insidious and hateful manner imaginable, and reminiscent of the Stalinist technique of taping the intimate conversations of enemies of the state -- then broadcasting them on state radio. Fox has no such conversations -- so they can only act as surrogates for the right wing and keep beating the drum of innuendo.
This is called "pundit fatigue," Tony -- and for the sake of what is essentially your program, it would be in your interest to back off the innuendo, especially when there is a strong likelihood it could blow up in your face and further damage the credibility of Fox News.
Tony's final word -- on Bush, Jesus, and wishes for a Merry Christmas.
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