Do President Obama’s Opponents Believe Their Own Hype? Not Really…
Like Trump, most of the people spewing anti-Obama rhetoric would never admit that they know most of what they’re saying is not true. That’s why I was so surprised when I read this CNN story about Fox News executive Bill Sammon allegedly admitting that he went on Fox News and engaged in “mischievous speculation about whether Barack Obama really advocated socialism, a premise that privately I found rather far-fetched.”
OMG, an honest liar. What’s next?
Is Fox News’ Sammon a ‘mischief’ maker? By Rebecca Stewart, CNN
(CNN) – Washington Fox News executive Bill Sammon admitted in a newly released audio tape that in 2008 he repeatedly speculated about President Obama’s support for socialism despite privately believing the idea was “far-fetched.”
He made the comments before a group on a 2009 Mediterranean cruise sponsored by conservative Hillsdale College. A recording of the audio from the event was obtained by MediaMatters.org, a well-funded, liberal media watchdog organization that says it is committed to exposing conservative bias in the media, especially from Fox News. Read the full story at CNN.com.
Speaking of Bill Sammon. Howard Kurtz did a story on The Daily Beast last year about this same executive’s memo that repeated a GOP talking point.
The story said during the health-care debate in 2009 Republican pollster Frank Luntz told Fox News host Sean Hannity to stop using President Obama’s preferred term for a key provision.
“If you call it a public option, the American people are split,” he explained. “If you call it the government option, the public is overwhelmingly against it.”
“A great point,” Hannity declared. “And from now on, I’m going to call it the government option, because that’s what it is.”
According to The Daily Beast story, Fox News’ Spin Game, not long after the Hannity exchange Sammon sent his Fox News staff a memo
“Please use the term ‘government-run health insurance,’ or, when brevity is a concern, ‘government option,’ whenever possible,” the memo said.
Sammon acknowledged that the phrase “public option” was “firmly ensconced in the nation’s lexicon,” so when it was necessary to use it, he wrote, add the qualifier “so-called,” as in “the so-called public option.” And “here’s another way to phrase it: ‘The public option, which is the government-run plan.’”
The exception was when newsmakers used “public option”: “There’s not a lot we can do about it, since quotes are of course sacrosanct.”
Sammon had raised the issue before. His note was titled “friendly reminder: Let’s not slip back into calling it the ‘public option.’” Read the full story at The Daily Beast.
I know the fact that Fox News is not fair and balanced news but rather propaganda is no shock to most people, but the fact that they are so blatant with their propaganda and even discuss how they lie or mislead, is arrogant, scandalous and shocking.