Tuesday, September 26, 2006

An E-mail To FOX News

I read an article on FOXNews.com dealing with Bill Clinton's interview with Chris Wallace on Fox. I was slightly appaled by the article so I decided I would write a letter to the author, John Gibson, to tell him what I thought. I really hope he replies, but my guess is he will not, or if he does it will be a short and sweet answer like: "Welcome to the GOP!". Here is the article and below is the e-mail I sent:
Dear John Gibson,

You are of course right about this political war between the parties, it is already a bare-knuckles brawl. I think this political fighting will lead to a lot of misinformation from both parties as people get riled up due to subtle, or not-so-subtle, attacks on their dignity, morals, previous accomplishments or lack there of, by reporters. And I think you are doing just that with your article "Clinton Camp Comes Out Swinging", but you have turned on Hillary Clinton instead of discrediting Bill Clinton's interview. Here is the same quote by Hillary Clinton from your article:

"I'm certain, if my husband and his national security team had been shown a classified report entitled, 'Bin Laden Determined To Attack Inside the United States' he would have taken it more seriously than history suggests it was taken by our current president and his national security team."

"Well, he was shown that," was your response.

There is no contradiction here. Essentially what Hillary Clinton said was that if Bill Clinton was shown a report (which apparently he was) about Bin Laden's intentions to attack the US then history will show that he did take the threat seriously and more so than President Bush did in the short eight months after his election. That is it. There is no need for her to "correct the record and apologize for misstating the facts", she just gave her opinion on what she thinks history will say in the future. Your article shows your allegiance to FOX news and for loyalty you deserve some credit, however you appear, in this article, to have "just come out slugging" exactly the type of tactic, that you seemingly despise, of the Clinton campaigns. Talk about "blame, scapegoat and divert": you diverted from Bill Clinton's interview to Hillary Clinton's speech defending her husband, then blamed her for incorrectly stating the facts (of which she did not state any), then used Barbra Boxer, Jane Skinner, and Lanny Davis as scapegoats for the misinformation presented by FOX news. It is this type of reporting that got Bill Clinton so mad in the first place. Do you not see the hypocrisy in your own statements, or is this your own cleaver way of trying excite the republican party?

Andrew


And that's my word, biyotch...Werd. (That's my attempt at humor, you have to see John Gibson's signiture sign-off to understand it, but I'm guessing even then it will not make you laugh).

Friday, September 01, 2006

Heroism

In the past there were war heroes; Men that could ride their horse valiantly through battle, hack off the head's of their enemies, and return back to their adoring family and community. Now a day there are no war heroes, apart from the caring eye's of a veteran's children. There are heroes, though, and here is a list of my personal heroes right now and a description of why, or a link to why, I think they should be everyone's heroes.

Jon Stewart – The Daily Show has provided the most intelligent criticism of government, media, and society, and has covered it hilariously. He blends entertainment and news in an intellectual and comedic way and has opened people’s eyes to the hypocrisy of the Bush administration. Jon Stewart also went on Crossfire and destroyed the idea that Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala (but mostly Tucker Carlson) were a legitimate news source they try to present themselves as such. Video Link.

Steven Colbert – Very similar reason to Jon Stewart but went one step further and used his faux-conservative personality from the show The Colbert Report to lambaste the president to his face at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. Video Link.

Keith Olbermann - He is my most recent hero because of an on air commentary/rant against Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's speech to the American Legion. Rumsfeld's speech was partly about dissent against the Bush administration's actions in Iraq. Rumsfeld told the audience that critics of the Iraq War "have still not learned history's lessons." The lessons in history he is referring to are those dealing with Nazi Fascism. Keith Olberman's commentary rebuking Rumsfeld's speech was very poignant and should be seen by as many people as possible. Here is the Link to the video.