The Democrats going on Fox News Channel is a terrible idea for many reasons. They legitimize a propaganda outlet for the Republican Party by agreeing to the fiction that they are a real news organization. They field twisted and slanted questions that set them up for answers that will later be used against them.
Obama fell into this trap last week when he told Chris Wallace that the Rev. Wright controversy was a legitimate political issue. He is trying to be nice to a Fox News anchor, which is just stupid. He is going to use it against you! And he already has. Wallace used Obama's statements to justify several more questions he asked Howard Dean about Rev. Wright this weekend.
But the one reason I never found persuasive for not going on Fox is that the Democrats can't handle it. But there's some chance I'm wrong about that. You can't go and talk to Bill O'Reilly if you're not prepared to challenge him on the obvious bullcrap he's going to toss your way. And that's exactly what Hillary Clinton did. She went in unprepared and pretty much lost a debate on torture. Watch below:
One of our viewers, Tony Daughtrey, made a good point after watching this on our show. O'Reilly keeps calling waterboarding a dunk in the water. You know who else we used to dunk in the water to get confessions? Witches.
Does O'Reilly think we got reliable information out of those women by dunking them in the water during the Salem Witch Trials? Remember, they almost all confessed. So, I guess they must have all been witches after all.
There's a reason why we don't torture people anymore. It's barbaric and useless. They'll tell you whatever you want to hear -- I did it, Iraq is connected to Al Qaeda, I'm a witch, I'm a terrorist, etc., etc.
Finally, we invaded Iraq based on the faulty intelligence we got from one of the guys we tortured. You can read about it here. That wrong information cost the lives of countless people. Is it too much to ask Democrats that they at least learn that one fact and bring that up the next time someone attempts an asinine defense of torture?
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O'Reilly Hands Hillary Her Ass on Torture Debate
Posted May 5th 2008 8:05PM by Cenk Uygur
Filed under: Young Turks, Hillary Clinton, Video, Bill O'Reilly, Torture
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 3)
1. "But the one reason I never found persuasive for not going on Fox is that the Democrats can't handle it. But there's some chance I'm wrong about that."
Please tell me you wrote this in 5 minutes while sitting on the crapper and that there's no editor looking this stuff over before it gets posted and that you don't get paid much, if anything, for your efforts.
bob at 10:10PM on May 5th 2008
2. Gee, with all your wisdom....maybe you should run for President, Cenk....
Strados at 10:23PM on May 5th 2008
3. Is the media finally going to give equal time to Obama? That would be a refreshing development. Thanks to John Roberts for asking pertinent questions and not trying for a gotcha.
Truth Hurts at 10:48PM on May 5th 2008
4. FRESNO -- Hillary Rodham Clinton, stung last week by the defection of a prominent superdelegate, could lose the backing of more of these Democratic Party leaders and elected officials if she fails to make significant gains in the remaining month of presidential nominating contests, several California superdelegates said this weekend
Truth Hurts at 11:03PM on May 5th 2008
5. Even with Geraldo, Juan Williams, Alan Colmes, Bob Beckel and dozens of other liberals that appear either regularly or occasionally on Fox, the folks on the left continue to hysterically shriek about Fox news being biased. The consumers of news have decided that Fox is doing well and that's why they're crushing CNN and MSNBC in the ratings war.
I think Fox is less biased and more open to a fair exchange of views from all sides of the idealogical spectrum than folks like Cenk. And Chris Wallace and Brit Hume were plenty tough on the Republican candidates in their debate of Fox. If Democrats are afraid to debate on Fox and answer a few tough questions, how are they going to stand up to the world's tyrants?
Dave at 11:15PM on May 5th 2008
6. #5
you mean fox is legitamate like how they posted that mark foley was a democrat? when the whole congressional page scandal was going on, fox decieded that foley was no longer a republican because that would be bad for them and the gop.
faux is nothing but a sham of a news station.
mike at 11:29PM on May 5th 2008
7. I guess if you're Cenk, who sees the world through his left-wing filter, then you might believe that diatribe against Fox News and Bill O'Reilly.
The only sin that Fox and O'Reilly are guilty of is not regurgitating the liberal groupthink orthodoxy.
And I'll say this one more time for Cenk: If Democratic candidates can't handle a few tough questions from people like Chris Wallace or Bill O'Reilly, how are they going to handle North Korea or Iran? By hiding under their desk?
Heath Griner at 11:39PM on May 5th 2008
8. cenk is just "in the tank for obama" . going on with o'reilly was brilliant because she can't get a strait interview with any of the "mainsteam media" outlets, and she reaches five times the audience, which on FOX are 47% independents. she has to appeal to moderates and independants because obama has the far left(and cenk) sown up. i'd be curious to see how cenk would fare in "the no spin zone".
dcrabba1 at 11:48PM on May 5th 2008
9. I thought Hillary did a great job with the interview, she showed her ability to field tough questions, something Obama has yet to do. I also didn't think that her answer about torture was wrong, John McCain has said that same thing, he is against torture (he has been tortured as a POW) so he knows of what he speaks. There are varied opinions on whether torture works or not out there. Hillary showed excellent debate skills under pressure. She really shone in this interview, I found the debate lively and very interesting. Unlike what I see on other networks, the debate between Hillary & Bill O'Reilly seemed genuine and real. I would like interviews to be more like this in the future. I don't like interviewers like Bill Moyers who practically got on the floor to lick Rev. Wright's shoes during his recent interview of Wright on PBS.
SC at 11:53PM on May 5th 2008
10. Two of the five superdelegates aligned with Clinton who spoke at the annual Democratic Council Convention said they would reconsider their support if Obama maintained his lead in elected delegates and the popular vote after the last contests on June 3.
Some who have supported her say they'll switch to Barack Obama if she doesn't make big gains in the remaining Democratic primaries.
FRESNO -- Hillary Rodham Clinton, stung last week by the defection of a prominent superdelegate, could lose the backing of more of these Democratic Party leaders and elected officials if she fails to make significant gains in the remaining month of presidential nominating contests, several California superdelegates said this weekend.
Truth Hurts at 11:58PM on May 5th 2008
11. Scumbag journalism at its best
Patience Prevails at 11:20AM on May 6th 2008
12. Seems to me Bill Clinton creamed who was it, Wallace, on Fox.
Obama is just a little kid who has not a clue. It is frightening to even think that bigoted, lying arrogant snot could be President.
But then again, there is no way he can win against the gop diaster McCain. GOP who were switching sides, with half going to Obama and half to Clinton, after learning of Obama's Nafta lies, his oil company money lies, his bigoted comments about working class americans, and his love of the radicalo left, racist looney tunes Wright, started switching to Clinton three to one.
Independants don't like liars.
Independants don't like bigots.
But I agree that Dems should boycott fox news and propaganda. They should also boycott NPR, the NYT, the Washington Post, and the LA Times and other left wing media and propaganda outlets.
cdnbirch at 12:33AM on May 6th 2008
13. I laugh every time I hear/read that Fox News is a "conservative" network. I guess thats why CNN, MSNBC, Headline News have all been copying Fox for years. Do any of you remember CNN.. lets say around the year 2000? YAWN.
Fox set the standard for practically every news outlet you see today. Even local news has adopted their format. When did you EVER see debate, different opinions and live interviews between oposing parties before Fox News??
Rupert Murdoch is the man and Fox News has handed over every ass to all the cable media outlets, thanks to the American and worldwide viewing public.
Put that in your Turkish pipe and smoke it.
sol at 3:30AM on May 6th 2008
14. Don't be a turkey standin' in the rain, Hillary,Obama, are the two worst demonrats I have ever seen, Hillary is a Liar, Obama although half white, is a racist. indoc. by wright and are part a communist idealogy. hillary worked on Nixon's watergate investigation, and was fired for trying to lie. Obama's close ties to extremist reflects hismotivation as a radical who should hold no office. i'll leave you with this thought. Spinning wheel got to go round, spinning wheel got to go round, catch a sleeping voter tell all those lies to them..........Peaceout............IRB
r brooks at 6:31AM on May 6th 2008
15. It's amazing how many obvious right-wing extrmists such as "Sol" defend Fox so-called "news" all the while saying it's not "conservative". If it's not, then why are all the conservatives and right-wingers so defensive about it while the rest of the world reminds you of the truth:
"Fox so-called news is unfair, imbalanced, and unashamed. Sadly, many of its defenders behave in much the same fashion." - Chris Aable
LindaL at 5:58PM on May 6th 2008