Republican efforts to kill Obamacare with repeal bills are amounting to nothing, but it's not for want of support from America's most strident news outlet.
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Fox News has always been strong on self-parody. While the Murdoch-owned cable outlet’s aggressively pro-Republican stance has been notorious for years, it has always employed the slogan ‘fair and balanced’, and called on its viewers to “say no to biased media, and yes to fair play and free speech” upon launching a new website in 2009.
Fox’s latest gem is truly worthy of abridged transcription. In the days and weeks after the Supreme Court upheld Barack Obama’s healthcare reforms, the Republican-held House of Representatives has attempted to repeal the legislation on more than thirty occasions, most recently on Wednesday. Since the Democrats hold the Senate, each attempt has come to nought.
Yesterday, Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan – possibly the closest the GOP has to a policy wonk – appeared on Fox’s early morning show, anchored by Steve Doocy and Gretchen Carlson. Ryan’s goal was to remind viewers that November’s elections represent their last chance to kill ‘Obamacare’.
What followed, with the two anchors competing to out-bias one another, was pure hilarity:
Some highlights:
Responding to Ryan’s contention that “if Congress knew then was Congress knows now, this law would never have passed”, Doocy soliloquied thus:
“Something the President of the United States is not going to talk about out on the stump is his signature achievement, and that’s passing healthcare, because it is wildly unpopular by a majority of people in this country. And instead, since he can’t run on his record, he’s got to throw stuff out like the ‘War on Women’ and the dog stuff…and now, once again, it’s that class warfare thing where he wants to jack up taxes on the most successful people in the country, the small businesses, the job creators, even though he knows there is no chance it’s going to pass.”
Subsequently, Carlson chipped in:
“[Obama’s] hoping that voters do not read the fine print when they put out some of these headline statements, and then the retractions come at the bottom of the page a short time later.”
• ‘Obamacare’ judgement: A good day for America 29 Jun 2012
• Supreme Court ‘Obamacare’ judgement: Where does it leave America now? 28 Jun 2012
• If Britons elected the US president, it’d be a landslide for Obama 13 Jun 2012
• Super Tuesday continues Republican death spiral towards November presidential elections 7 Mar 2012
• Obama’s playing against a weak field, but it’ll never be as bad as last time 21 Feb 2012
Ultimately, Doocy took the Krispy Kreme biscuit with this loaded question of loaded questions:
“Congressman, do you sometimes feel that you went to Washington to change things, get stuff done, and now you guys are just spinning your wheels, because you pass bills – you repealed Obamacare yesterday – you send it over to Harry Reid, and he’s got a big pile of stuff you already sent him. He’s not going to do a darn thing with it.”
Fox News: Fair and balanced.
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34 Responses to “Fox News: Fair and balanced (occasional series)”
Selohesra
It’s all in the Balen report which to their eternal shame the BBC have gone to ridiculous length and expense (our expense) to hush up
Selohesra
Robinson long ago left his young conservative past behind – presumably realised it would harm career at BBC. Neil is harder to tell – I’d say whatever his politics he is always evenhanded with whoever he interviews – unlike the fawning toadying interviews of the shadow cabinet on Today programme by Naughtie, Davies , Montague etc Compare with constant sniping and interrupting of govt spokesman
Bizarre the you quote Question Time – the most partisan audience cheering the reds and booing the rest at least the BBC admit it is specially selected.
Anonymous
Oooh, oooh, like the NHS risk report?
Alexander Wallace
Well because I’ve been in a Question Time audience, and I know how it IS selected actually. What you say is nonsense – no matter what you think you discern on screen, the applause etc is roughly equally distibuted in line with the strict equality between political viewpoints that makes up the audience. Oh and Andrew Neil most certainly is not always evenhanded – he often comes across as outrageously hard on any Labour representative (viz the LIbor scandal; and seriously – if the BBC were such a Pravda-like Labour-supporting institution, why do they keep having Michael Portillo on TW?). It’s just a nonsense – there is no bias at the BBC. All sides are given an airing.
Alexander Wallace
I don’t want a second-hand report, I want you to show me the news reports, clips etc that prove the BBC’s bias against Israel.
Start here: http://www.bbc.co.uk
I’ll wait.