Some conservatives are beginning to question Fox News

Have Republicans Been Out-Foxed?

Some conservatives are beginning to question whether Fox News is good for their movement.

By Eve Conant | Newsweek Web Exclusive

GOP Sen. Tom Coburn scored a perfect 100 on the American Conservative Union's rankings for lawmakers last year. That makes him one of the last people you'd expect to criticize what liberals see as the GOP's most notable media mouthpiece, Fox News, but that's exactly what he did at a recent town-hall meeting in Oklahoma. When an audience member fretted about going to prison for not buying health insurance, Coburn responded, "The intention is not to put anyone in jail. That makes for good TV on Fox, but that isn't the intention." When discussing disagreements with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, he described her as a " nice lady" and warned the jeering crowd to be civil and to get their news from more than one source: "Don't catch yourself being biased by Fox News that somebody is no good."

Coburn's calling out of Fox was notable precisely because it's rare for Fox and Republicans to find their messages out of sync. The image of Fox that one gets from liberal critics such as The Daily Show's Jon Stewart is that it parrots Republican talking points, pushes conservative ideas into the mainstream, and keeps the base animated. But some conservatives are asking whether the news channel has become too extreme and whether, by angering and agitating the base, it may be making it harder, rather than easier, for Republicans to win elections.

 

 

An unsightly condition caused by unsanitary health-care politics

David Frum, a prominent conservative pundit and former speechwriter for George W. Bush, led the charge last month when he lambasted Republicans’ handling of health-care reform. In a piece about the health-care vote titled “Waterloo,” Frum wrote, "We followed the most radical voices in the party and the movement, and they led us to abject and irreversible defeat. There were leaders who knew better, who would have liked to deal. But they were trapped. Conservative talkers on Fox and talk radio had whipped the Republican voting base into such a frenzy that deal-making was rendered impossible…

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Comments

[ken]

fox news is far from perfect,but they are closer then  the communist broadcasting station,american biased company,national bullsh#t company,or the communist news network.the republican party as a whole wanted  nothing to do with this healthcare program,just because you found a rhino that backs up your view point,does not put him the majority of republicans,while every poll shows that over 80% of republicans want to impeach pelosi for pushing healthcare,and think that reid should be working in a brothel in nevada,not one republican voted for this socialist budget busting bill,this is the first time a bill has gone through congress with out one vote from the opposing party,the socialist/democratic party is starting to show its true colors.

[Syrin from Wasilla]

Ok Ken.. RINO? Republican In Name Only! I don't care about REPUBLICAN at this point... I'm CONSERVATIVE.. The people I support tend to be conservative in one area or the other; fiscally and socially..preferably both. They can be in any party or no party! 

[sjohnson]

And Ken's head explodes in ...3...2...1...

[Snowy]

[this is good] Yes, I think Frum may have started something with his observation that what was good for Fox News profits is not necessarily good for the Republican Party electoral support. The battle in politics is always for the independently minded middle ground. While Fox plays to the Right wing gallery like ken, more circumspect voters will see it for the fraud that it is.

I think any student of the political process sees a need for a conservative party in politics. Hopefully, if more true conservatives speak out against Fox News, the Republican Party can regain the respect it had from all sides of politics before it was taken over by the lunatic fringe who like to label anyone to the left of Attila the Hun as RINO.

[ken]

good,then help swing the whole ''paradigm'' back to the right,the conservatives are being forced to compromise with,progressives/socialists,when barney frank,bernie sanders,and pelosi are the spokesmen for the deocratic party,there is a very real problem,when katie couric,diane sawyer are the spokesmen for the mass media there is a problem,when keith olbermann and chris matthews are people who are considered to have a opinion worth listening to there is a problem,fox news is right centric,whats needed is a station that speaks for the far right,or at least a rebuttal to msnbc.

[ken]

that 60 to 70%  of americans didn't want the healthcare bill seems to escape you,that 52% of america think obama is a failure as a president seems to escape you,that 80% think congress doesn't represent the mainstream of america seems to escape you,that 70 members of congress have signed the socialist international seems to escape you.that you quote marx,engells,and alinksy as great minds that need to be listened to is all over your blog,when moore and olbermann shook hands on ending the capitalist system you got a tingle up your leg,you are so far left you couldn't see center without a telescope,maybe somebody will come along with a true conservative news station,until then i will have to settle for the center right ideas of fox news.

[Snowy]

And Ken's head explodes in ...3...2...1...

Sounds like it just did, sj.

[cancangirl]

What a dope you are snow.  The nation is so FAR LEFT now that being 'right wing' means liberal.

You like this crap?  You really want to live off of other people?? What a bunch of pansy asses.

[cancangirl]

I agree Syrin.  As far as Palin? She is a RINO, she endorses McPAIN=Amnesty. Traitors ALL.

ALL!!!!

Here, Palin, and put a sock in YER HOPEY-CHANGEY scratch-on-chalkboard voice.

You're a Pain ! - Palin Parody of "You're So

Ken, you know I love you, but Palin as the Pres? HELL NO. We already got a Moslem dictator, God will have to send a Joshua or a David now, we are up sh*ts creek without a paddle at this point.

 

[Syrin from Wasilla]

LOL.....Worth Repeating

we are up sh*ts creek without a paddle at this point.

Omg, we sure are..

[cancangirl]

Ken, MSN and CNN are on their way out the door. Fox is moderate, but thats about as far as we can go in Kommie land here.

[sjohnson]

Fox is moderate???? Bwaaahaaaahaaa!!  We have a Moslem dictator?  WTF!  Are you really that ignorant? I think CanCan Girl's head exploded too.  She sounds like a junior high mean girl.  

I have to say that I don't know any liberals who think Olberman, Moore, or Matthews are good news sources.  They are watched for entertainment.  IMHO, Rachel Maddow does the best job, but even she will not say she is unbiased.  However, she does an excellent job of researching her topics and giving her sources of info.  I don't see anyone else doing that.  She is also very well educated.  That being said, I believe we would all be fairly stupid to swallow everything on any news channel no matter what your beliefs are.   As for Katie Couric, how can you not like her?  She is always very courteous to her guests and does a fair job delivering her perspective of the news.  However, the news is just that: the perspective of the person presenting it. Even then it is only a small segment of the total picture. That's why it is important to use multiple news sources, and by that I mean you should include opposing view points.  The truth will be somewhere in between.  Their bottom line is that they must keep their sponsers by maintaing and hopefully growing their audiences.  The news media will do whatever it takes to achieve that goal.  

[cancangirl]

Really, Syrin? You think we are doing great, eh?

Hussein has QUADRULPED our debt.

We are not only up sh*ts creek without a paddle, sh*ts creek is dry, and we are eating dirt.

[cancangirl]

Sj,

Fox is monitored by the Yes We Can brigades.  Too bad your mother dropped you on your head.  Obviously she forgot to give you a clue before dumping you.

He is a MOSLEM, his middle name is HUSSEIN. He most certaily IS a dictator. He is doing whatever the hell he pleases.  But that should not bother you Marxist-NAZIs, you love this crap, you were born to be evil.

[cancangirl]

Ken, I am off this blog, these children here think we are doing good, and nothing is wrong. Unemployment is almost 14% in every state, and if there is anything I cannot take is total ignorance.

I dont know what type "Conservatism" Syrin is selling, but I aint buyin.

[sjohnson]

Whew!!  The child is leaving.  Maybe we can have some adult discourse now.

[Syrin from Wasilla]

I live in Sarah Palin's Alaska I know sh*ts creek is dry, and we are eating dirt.

You obviously don't read. I'm not surprised! Where did I say everything is doing great? Where? Your statement I just thought was worth repeating, for fun.. I'm aware of the problems we face and I'm active in my community. You and Ken act like everything was peachy until Obama was elected

..The country didn't all of the sudden get this way recently, However, it's good to have you and Ken take a moment to reflect on why you're attitude isnt helping matters..

[ken]

its without a doubt her own brand of conservatism,she doesn't seem to understand just what kind of person obama is,she doesn't seem to understand what pelosi stands for,we're going to be twenty years digging out of this if we get out at all.

[Syrin from Wasilla]

We are already 20 years digging out of this, Ken.. Talk amongst yourselves why don't you..Figure out why I believe the way I do! You're anger is misplaced and doing no good to bring our country around. You blame, whine, point fingers, tell others they just don't understand. You and cancangirl's have offered nothing as a resolution! You and cancangirl's understanding of what it's going to take to bring around our country is nonexsistent...I have NO faith in your kind of politics, ... It's NOT conservative BTW!!!

[ken]

my anger is the frustration that has been going on since reagan sold out the conservative wing of the republican party,then it was the founding fathers now its the tea party,both have the same thing in mind,this country was started down a path and its been knocked off that path,we are becoming a country were the government is controlling every aspect of our lives,we started out with the ideals that we could do it better then the government could,that the government was there to dot the i's and cross the t's and that was it.now they have the pen and are rewriting the constitution,most people in this country have ancestors that lived under strict dictatorships,i don't understand why they would want to go back to them.

[sjohnson]

Ken said, "its without a doubt her own brand of conservatism,she doesn't seem to understand just what kind of person obama is,she doesn't seem to understand what pelosi stands for,we're going to be twenty years digging out of this if we get out at all."







Really the problem is that if we disagree with those two loonies, we "don't understand."  Syrin, I wish you would get it in your head that Ken and Cancan are right (always) and we are wrong.  Period.  We are just ignorant communist, fascist, socialist, blah, blah, blah.   Whew!  That felt good.  Now I know where we stand.  How about you?

[Syrin from Wasilla]

Thank you for that clarification. I'm wrong! I'm a facist and socialist!

Now, I know where I stand.

[ken]

i don't belive your a fascist,but socialism is on your horizon,sj johnson is a forgone conclusion.