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Fox News Fact-Checks Sarah Palin's Coin Conspiracy Theory (VIDEO)

2009-11-11T02:32:55Z

This must sting a bit. Sarah Palin's newest conspiracy theory on the "disturbing" redesign of U.S. coins was too much, even for Fox News -- on Tuesday night, Fox fact-checked Palin.

Last Friday, while speaking at a Wisconsin Right to Life fundraising banquet -- attendees were barred from bringing cell phones, cameras, laptops -- Palin rolled out the latest: an anti-Christian conspiracy in the redesign of U.S. coins. Palin waded into the subject by remarking that there had been a lot of "change" of late -- for example, the redesign of U.S. currency which moved the once-centered text "In God We Trust" to the edge of coins.

"Who calls a shot like that?" Palin demanded on Friday. "Who makes a decision like that?"

As Fox News anchor Bret Baier noted: President Bush, that's who.

Baier quoted from Politico's write up on the banquet which commented on the not-so-hidden subtext of Palin's speech: "Unsaid but implied was that the new Democratic White House was behind such a move to secularize the nation's currency." Baier added: "In actuality the coin's design was commissioned in 2005, when Republicans controlled congress, and then was approved by then President Bush."

Watch it below.

Bill O'Reilly: 'We Can't Kill All The Muslims... So We Wanna Win As Many Hearts And Minds As We Can'

2009-11-11T02:18:48Z

Bill O'Reilly believes that the US effort to win the popular support of Muslims around the world is based on the notion that the US cannot kill every single Muslim. There are roughly 1.3-1.5 billion followers of Islam worldwide.

O'Reilly brought this up during a discussion Tuesday evening about alleged Fort Hood gunman Nidal Hasan. The Fox News host was discussing the alleged attack with novelist and retired Lt. Col. Ralph Peters who was "outraged" that Obama did not refer to the attack as terrorism during his speech at Tuesday's memorial service.

WATCH:

Murdoch, Limbaugh Make "Worst Persons In The World" On Countdown (VIDEO)

2009-11-11T01:13:11Z

On Countdown Monday, Olbermann awarded the bronze medal for "Worst Persons in the World" to Rush Limbaugh. The conservative radio host made light of the reports that the alleged Fort Hood gunman was harassed by his fellow soldiers for being Muslim. Limbaugh likened it to teasing that he has heard all soldiers endure. Olbermann wonders what Limbaugh could possibly know about being in the military since he received deferments.

Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, took the silver for calling himself just a banker who's doing "God's work." Part of that work would include handing out gigantic bonuses despite needing taxpayer money to stay in business.

Finally, media mogul Rupert Murdoch brought home the gold for defending his cable news network Fox News by saying Beck "was right" - Obama did make a racist comment.

WATCH:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Newsweek Video Shows The Past Decade In 7 Minutes (VIDEO)

2009-11-10T23:52:38Z

Newsweek has boiled down the the first decade of this millennium into a seven minute video, highlighting the good, the bad and the unforgettable. From Bush V. Gore, to 9/11, to the iPod, to Borat, to the Iraq war, to Twitter and much, much more. Watch and marvel at this busy decade.

WATCH:

Jeff Zucker To Run Comcast-NBC Universal Joint Venture: Reuters

2009-11-10T23:43:01Z

Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) and General Electric Co (GE.N) have agreed to make NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker the head of their proposed joint venture, but the structure of a new board is still being negotiated, sources familiar with the matter said.

Alexios Marakis Assaulted: Greek Orthodox Priest Attacked By Marine Reservist In Fit Of Anti-Muslim Hysteria

2009-11-10T23:21:16Z

It's not for nothing that General George Casey warned against an anti-Muslim backlash in the wake of the Fort Hood massacre. But a whole slew of childlike nimrods, spurred to action by Casey vowing that it would be "a shame if our diversity became a casualty," have taken the stage to decry such concerns as "political correctness." Michelle Malkin complained that this was worshiping "the false god of diversity." Pat Robertson demanded that Muslims be treated as "members of some fascist group." So much good sense, being made! And so, naturally, the backlash Casey warned of has now expanded to include Greek Orthodox priests.

Via Think Progress:

Alexios Marakis, a Greek Orthodox priest visiting the U.S., got lost in Tampa and tried to stop and ask directions from Marine reservist Jasen D. Bruce. But instead of offering help, "Bruce struck the priest on the head with a tire iron." The reservist believed Marakis, who spoke limited English, was an Arab terrorist. Bruce chased the priest for three blocks, "and even called 911 to say that an Arabic man tried to rob him."

And that's the wages of hysteria, right there.

MORE:
Marine reservist chases, assaults Greek Orthodox priest who he mistook for an Arab terrorist. [Think Progress]

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Jay Leno Hits New Low, George Lopez Debuts Strong

2009-11-10T23:16:24Z

"The Jay Leno Show" hit a new ratings low Monday night, while the debut of George Lopez's "Lopez Tonight" posted strong and promising numbers.

Leno registered a 1.15 rating in the Adults 18-49 demographic, its lowest A18-49 rating to date, reports the New York Times' Bill Carter. Carter notes that NBC uses the A18-49 metric "to define success because of the number of advertisers who want to reach that group."

Meanwhile, Lopez premiered strong on three Turner networks, averaging 3.2 million total viewers across TNT, TBS, and truTV. The show premiered on all three networks, but will air on TBS, where it averaged 1.7 million total viewers and 1 million A18-49 viewers.

The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd says these numbers are promising for Lopez.

"That's higher than the current season averages (though not the premieres) of the adult demo draws for talk shows like CBS' 'Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson,' ABC's 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' and Comedy Central's 'The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,'" Hibberd writes. "If you use the combined three-net number, the show was sampled by more adult demo viewers than Conan O'Brien or David Letterman's average.

In related news, Broadcasting & Cable's Alex Weprin reports that NBC is shaking up the format of Leno's show. Whereas the show had been designed to save "Tonight Show" features like "Headlines" and "Jaywalking" for the end — to keep viewers for the 11PM local newscasts — those features are now following the monologue, almost identical to Leno's "Tonight Show" format.

Watch Lopez's debut monologue:

Watch Leno's Monday night show:

Tribune Company To Pay Back $170 Million In Debt

2009-11-10T22:54:55Z

CHICAGO — Tribune Co., the owner of The Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times and other news outlets, said Tuesday it will pay back $170 million worth of outstanding "debtor-in-possession" debt, which it took out to pay for Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

Tribune had filed for bankruptcy protection in December because of dwindling advertising revenue and a crushing debt load of $13 billion. Much of that debt was amassed when real estate mogul Sam Zell took the company private in 2007.

The Chicago Tribune said on its Web site Tuesday the company took out $225 million of "debtor-in-possession" financing to help pay for the bankruptcy proceeding. It said the company will close out a $150 million term loan from Barclays Bank PLC and will also pay back the $20 million it has drawn down on a $75 million credit line. Both were financed by the company's accounts receivables.

Omarosa To Star In TV One Reality Show

2009-11-10T22:54:52Z

NEW YORK — Donald Trump says he's partnering with the TV One network on a reality dating series starring TV diva Omarosa.

Having proven herself as a fiery contender on Trump's "The Apprentice," she now will be the one choosing from contenders who compete to marry her on "Omarosa's Ultimate Merger."

Created by Trump Productions, the eight-episode show will follow Omarosa as she puts a dozen rival bachelors through challenges.

The series is scheduled to premiere in the spring on TV One, a basic cable network targeting black viewers.

___

On the Net:

TV One: http://www.tvoneonline.com

Levi Johnston Playgirl Spread: Former Managing Editor Takes On New Guard

2009-11-10T21:22:57Z

If you read one article today from someone who is "tired of having Levi Johnston's penis thrust into my consciousness every time I read the news" -- and even more sick of the revisionist history of Playgirl magazine that Johnston's upcoming spread is causing to widely bloom across the media landscape -- you should read... well, the only one that's on offer: the disputation of former Playgirl managing editor Jessanne Collins, in today's The Awl.

"It's not that I'm bitter," Collins avers, "More power to Playgirl if it can ride the brawn of a small town teen father back into the limelight, and more power to small town teen fathers who can make their mark on the world with their undeniably virile genitalia."

But, here's the rub:

Really, I'd be happy for both of them if I weren't so alarmed at the way history is being rewritten in the midst of the media shitstorm surrounding this moment -- and the fact that no news outlet has accurately reported who's really behind Playgirl's big comeback.

Collins is referring to the strenuous flackery being put forth by recently-installed Playgirl "PR gun" Daniel Nardicio, who's promoting 'an enduring myth that the earliest incarnation of Playgirl was intended to deconstruct -- that women are out of touch with their sexuality and can't even figure out what's hot and what's not." Here's Nardicio in the Daily Beast:

"We're trying to change the face of Playgirl... The reason I wanted to work with them is that I think of it as a classic American brand that got a little lost. The women working on it weren't keeping up with the times. They didn't admit that there were a lot of gay men reading the magazine and gay men don't want to see guys with flowing long locks looking like they came from the cover of a Danielle Steel novel."

And here he is, telling the same story to The Advocate:

"Playgirl was kind of stuck because the women who were working for it were old and they thought that Fabio-looking characters with long-flowing hair and uber-tans, like those red tans, were really hot. So once the magazine folded I got the opportunity to jump in because all those women were fired and I said, "Let me take the website in a whole new direction, and that's Levi."

Lucky thing that Levi Johnston came along, to help restore the Playgirl brand from all those dumb old ladies, right? Wrong, says Collins!

OK, so he has a point about the abundance of Fabio-looking characters. I wasn't big on the long flowing locks myself. (For the record, I also wasn't "old"--at 28, I was the eldest member of the editorial staff.) And we never had a problem admitting that there were gay men reading the magazine--we published letters from them all the time. (We got plenty of colorful correspondence from women too, which is one of the main reasons the magazine never "came out"--our gay readers seemed content with, even titillated by, a magazine with hetero overtones; our female readers were not so easily placated with gayer fare.)

So it's not that we were clueless, but here's a little secret: we were almost totally powerless over the aesthetic content of the magazine.

[...]

This is why Playgirl failed in the first place. The men in the boardroom had no idea how to market or appeal to either women or gay men -- never mind to both at the same time, an unattainable magic act, in my opinion, but one the company insisted on attempting for years. The tragicomedy of Playgirl's particular aesthetic failure starts to make a lot of sense if you consider that it wasn't constructed by anyone who professed actual physical interest in the male physique. If would-be Fabios were standard, that's because "musclebound with a ridiculous mane" is a comfortable caricature of what women find sexually attractive as doodled in the minds of out-of-touch old dudes.

Right about now, I can't help but wonder how Playgirl is supposed to ride a teenager from two election cycles ago who's fifteen minutes of fame are steadily ticking down to zero into renewed longevity, but hey, I'm sure this new crop of Playgirl dudes have their finger on the zeitgeist's G-spot.

[Would you like to follow me on Twitter? Because why not? Also, please send tips to tv@huffingtonpost.com -- learn more about our media monitoring project here.]

"Glee" Wheelchair Episode Upsets Disabled

2009-11-10T21:04:14Z

LOS ANGELES — The glee club members twirl their wheelchairs to the tune of "Proud Mary" and in joyful solidarity with Artie, the fellow performer who must use his chair even when the music stops.

The scene in Wednesday's episode of the hit Fox series "Glee," which regularly celebrates diversity and the underdog, is yet another uplifting moment – except to those in the entertainment industry with disabilities and their advocates.

For them, the casting of a non-disabled actor to play the paraplegic high school student is another blown chance to hire a performer who truly fits the role.

"I think there's a fear of litigation, that a person with disabilities might slow a production down, fear that viewers might be uncomfortable," said Robert David Hall, longtime cast member of CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

All of that is nonsense, said Hall: "I've made my living as an actor for 30 years and I walk on two artificial legs."

Hall, 61, chair of a multi-union committee for performers with disabilities, is part of a small band of such steadily working actors on TV that includes Daryl "Chill" Mitchell, star of Fox's "Brothers"; teenager RJ Mitte of AMC's "Breaking Bad"; and ABC's "Private Practice" newcomer Michael Patrick Thornton.

Veteran actress Geri Jewell, who has cerebral palsy, appeared on HBO's now-departed "Deadwood."

Mitchell, 44, whose credits included "Veronica's Closet" and the film "Galaxy Quest" before he was injured in a motorcycle accident and "Ed" after he began using a wheelchair, is also a producer on the Sunday sitcom that's in need of higher ratings if it is to survive.

For Mitchell, "Brothers" represents more than just another show: He calls it "a movement" that deserves support from the wider disabled community as well as the industry.

"This is what my life is. This is what I want the world to see," he said. "I want to hold the networks accountable. If I can come out and do what I'm doing, they can come to the table."

It's not just TV that falls short of what Mitchell and others seek, including auditioning those with disabilities for roles that echo their situation and for roles in which it is irrelevant. (Then it's up to them to prove they deserve the job, Hall said.)

In the theater world, advocacy groups for the disabled recently objected to the casting of Abigail Breslin ("Little Miss Sunshine") as young Helen Keller in a Broadway revival of "The Miracle Worker," and a hearing actor's selection for a deaf role in the off-Broadway "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter."

In films, Daniel Day-Lewis received an Academy Award for his portrayal of a man with severe cerebral palsy in "My Left Foot" and Tom Cruise was nominated for an Oscar for playing a paralyzed Vietnam veteran in "Born on the Fourth of July."

Television, however, has a unique place in the country's cultural and social fiber. It deals in volume, is entrenched in most lives as it consumes hours of leisure time and has the daily power to reinforce attitudes or reshape them. Increasingly, it's been expected to reflect America in whole and not just the so-called mainstream.

That was the intent in assembling the cast of "Glee," said executive producer Brad Falchuk, along with getting the best performers possible.

"We brought in anyone: white, black, Asian, in a wheelchair," he said. "It was very hard to find people who could really sing, really act, and have that charisma you need on TV."

He understands the concern and frustration expressed by the disabled community, he said. But Kevin McHale, 21, who plays Artie, excels as an actor and singer and "it's hard to say no to someone that talented," Falchuk said.

"Glee" isn't alone in using an able-bodied actor for a wheelchair role: "Curb Your Enthusiasm" did it twice in a recent episode.

While TV has grown more inclusive of ethnic and gay characters, those with disabilities represent a sizable minority that hasn't fared as well – whether with genuine or fake portrayals.

About one-fifth of Americans age 5 to 64 have a physical or mental disability – more than 50 million, according to U.S. Census figures. But fewer than 2 percent of the characters on TV reflect that reality, according to a 2005 study of Screen Actors Guild members conducted by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles.

And it's not a small playing field: There are 600 characters or more on the scripted comedies and dramas airing on the five major networks in a typical season.

More than a third of performers with disabilities reported facing discrimination in the workplace, either being refused an audition or not being cast for a role because of their disability, the study found. Many performers fear being candid about their health or needs to avoid pity or being seen as incapable of doing a job.

There can be added production expenses, said veteran casting director Sheila Manning, such as hiring a translator for a performer who is deaf.

"It costs a little more, but look at the positive reaction they're (the networks) getting. I think that more than offsets the cost," Manning said, adding that it's the morally right thing to do.

And producers simply can't complain of a shallow pool of choices.

"There are very talented performers with disabilities. ... We just don't know what producers are thinking," said Gloria Castaneda, program director of the Media Access Office, a California state program that promotes hiring of the disabled in the entertainment industry. It also gives annual awards for positive portrayals.

The cause has union support: A campaign sponsored by three major entertainment guilds and aimed at creating equal employment opportunities for actors, broadcasters and recording artists just marked its first year.

TV's past, oddly enough, was brighter. In the 1980s, actors with disabilities could be seen regularly in a variety of shows. They included Jewell, who costarred on "Facts of Life," and James Stacy, who played a love interest for Sharon Gless on "Cagney & Lacey" and appeared in "Wiseguy" after losing limbs in a motorcycle crash.

R.J. Johnson, a writer and filmmaker, documented the golden period in "Breaking Ground." Among those interviewed in the film was an actress who proclaimed, "We're never going back. It won't happen."

Johnson says that "everything aligned" to encourage producers and directors such as Michael Landon ("Highway to Heaven") to create characters with disabilities and then hire the right actors to play them.

"Then it kind of faded away," says casting pro Manning. "It was a cause, and then it wasn't."

But she sounded a note of optimism, saying, "It's in the public consciousness again, so it's in the production consciousness."

A friend was on the mind of Vince Gilligan, executive director of "Breaking Bad," when the role of Walter Jr. was formed. Gilligan said he was thinking of a dear college pal, a man "with an infectious personality," who died in recent years.

"It must have been I wanted to represent him in such a fashion when I created the character of Walter Jr.," Gilligan told a recent industry forum on the hiring and portrayal of people with disabilities. "There was no reason for him to have cerebral palsy. It just seemed like, 'Why Not?' There's no better reason than that, I suppose."

More is at stake than actors' careers, say advocates.

"When a person with a disability sees a positive image on TV that looks like them, their whole attitude changes. It gives them hope for what they can do in the future," said Castaneda of the Media Access Office.

It counts for their families as well, said veteran writer Janis Hirsch, who works on Fox's "Brothers" and "'Til Death," and who had polio as an infant.

"I am sick and tired of my son not seeing anyone even remotely like me on TV," she said. "The first time my son saw someone use forearm crutches was the giraffe puppet in 'Lion King.' He was so excited. Where else do you see it? You just don't see it."

___

On the Net:

Media Access Office: http://www.disabilityemployment.org/med(underscore)acc.htm

I AM PWD, Inclusion in the Arts & Media of People with Disabilities: http://www.iampwd.org/

Fort Hood Fear-Mongering, Enabled By Media, Breeds Strange Bedfellows

2009-11-10T20:30:32Z

Yesterday afternoon, Newsbusters plugged this story about ABC News's report via Brian Ross "that suspected Fort Hood shooter Nidal Halik Hasan tried to contact people connected to the terrorist group al Qaeda" with some intriguing language: "ABC reports story that many in media wish wasn't true." That raised a rather obvious question: Who out there, in the media or otherwise, was wishing that it was true? Doesn't it seem reasonable to wish that the Hasan shootings had nothing to do with al Qaeda at all?

Well, of course, there were people who were hoping against hope that Hasan was an al Qaeda-endorsed terrorist agent, and in a well-put essay on Gawker, John Cook identifies them: "terrorists and wingnuts."

Fanaticism makes strange bedfellows, and the push to link up Hasan to a wider terrorist plot has united Sen. Joe Lieberman and radical Yemeni cleric Sheikh Anwar Al-Awlaki in common cause. Wingnuts and neocons want Hasan to be a Muslim terrorist because it confirms their worldview that Muslim terrorists lurk in every shadow and helps them scare the shit out people. Muslim terrorists want Hasan to be a Muslim terrorist because it satisfies their desire to claim credit for the murders of Americans and helps them scare the shit out of people. Everybody wins.

Well, not everybody! The major losers in all of this are any adults who want to conduct a serious inquiry into the actions of an isolated, disturbed murderer and the signs that may have been overlooked in advance of his horrific killing spree. Many of these adults, like Secretary of the Army General George Casey, would like to keep these more important concerns from being washed away in a toxic backlash that would unnecessarily sully the names and reputations of the many soldiers of Islamic faith who have and who continue to serve their country with distinction. Nevertheless, the race is on to capitalize on this tragedy for the sake of juvenile political points, and the news hole is already getting clogged with precisely these sorts of kindergarten combatants.

The whole thing deserves to be read in full. Pay particular attention to the fact that the reporter behind the original report, Brian Ross, is a serial offender of narrative unreliability who's put on offer a report that "is a grab-bag of red flags." Cook blows that out further in a related post today, that thoroughly discusses the Problem That Is Brian Ross:

Ross' stock response to these complaints is that he only reports what his sources tell him. "We reported what we knew, when we knew it," he says. "I'm comfortable with the story." His problem, as we've said before, is that he has shitty sources. And he just repeats what they tell him. Which is how you get from "Hasan sent e-mails to his former imam, who now preaches in support of Al Qaeda. We don't know what the e-mails were about, but they didn't raise alarms at the FBI" to "Hasan tried to make contact with people associated with al Qaeda" to the headline's blunt, and thoroughly unsupported, reference to "Hasan's Contacts with al Qaeda." It would have been a good story if Ross had stuck to the first, accurate, formulation.

Fox News: 'We Wish Anita Dunn Well'

2009-11-10T20:06:28Z

A Fox News spokesperson says the network wishes outgoing White House Communications Director Anita Dunn well as she transitions out of the Obama administration.

The Washington Post reported Tuesday that Dunn would be leaving the White House and will be replaced by Dan Pfeiffer.

When asked for comment, a Fox News spokesperson said, "We wish Anita well in her future endeavors."

TIME magazine called Dunn "the general" in the administration's war against conservative media, and Dunn's appearance on CNN on October 11 — when she said that Fox News "operates almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party" — was the first step in the Obama administration's recent feud with the cable news network.

"At the White House, she has become a devoted consumer of conservative-media reports and a fierce critic of Fox News, leading the Administration's effort to block officials, including Obama, from appearing on the network," TIME magazine said of Dunn.

Glenn Beck called Dunn out on his program in October, leading some to wonder if he had set his sights on ousting her from the administration after successfully lobbying against Van Jones.

Dunn had always planned to serve as Communications Director for a short time. She joined the White House on an interim basis in April, and has since been planning to leave her post to spend more time with her 13-year-old son.

Update: "If someone at Fox News Channel wishes you well, watch your back," the AP's David Bauder wrote in 2006. "The seemingly benign sentiment is a creative signature of Fox's public relations, usually accompanied by a kneecapping. It's something like a kiss from a Mafia don."

Fox News Reporter Battles Pentagon Flack In Latest Media Dust-Up

2009-11-10T19:10:16Z

It's been a while since we've checked in on how that whole White House "War on Fox News" was playing out in the trenches, between Fox News's news-gatherers and the administration's news-dispensers. Apparently, things are a bit chippy! At least that's the state of play between two guys you've never heard of: Fox's Pentagon producer Justin Fishel and Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell.

Over at The Line Of Departure, Jamie McIntyre has documented the blow-by-blow, which goes a little something like this:

Fishel ran afoul of Pentagon flacks after he ran this story about the decision to give Gitmo inmates the H1N1 vaccine, which "seemed to put the Pentagon at odds with the White House" on the matter. Bryan Whitman, a spokesman who was quoted for the story, wasn't happy about the way it played, and made a special point to put Fishel on blast within earshot of the other Pentagon correspondents.

The following day, this mini-skirmish of the thin-skinned was re-enjoined, as Fishel found himself in a spat with Morrell:

The next day, November 4th, Fishel was clearly feeling the chill from Morrell, who when Fishel attempted to ask a question, curtly rebuked him for interrupting, "Excuse -- Justin, I'm addressing this question. You raised your hand. I'm happy to call on you in some point in this engagement," Morrell remonstrated Fishel.

As Fishel patiently held up his hand up, Morrell ignored him, only acknowledged Fishel at the very end of the briefing, after another producer from a competing network, Luis Martinez of ABC, was called on and "deferred" his question to Fishel.

Fishel said, "Thank you. I've had my hand up the whole time," to which Morrell replied, "I didn't see you. I'm sorry. "

"I don't believe that for a second," Fishel retorted before asking and getting an answer to his question.

Here's a video of these ostensible grown-ups litigating their dumb personal grievances with one another in front of the assembled press, a sight that is sure to make you long for the days when people just settled these matters by dueling, with guns.

WATCH:

RELATED:
Is it cold in here? Or is it Fox? [The Line Of Departure]

[Would you like to follow me on Twitter? Because why not? Also, please send tips to tv@huffingtonpost.com -- learn more about our media monitoring project here.]

Brit Hume Corrects O'Reilly On Public Option: "It Is Kind Of Popular"

2009-11-10T18:53:02Z

The Public Option! Like the sliced bread and soft ice cream of yore, it's something that's been crazy popular with the public. But for months and months, the naturally poll-obsessed media found many contorted ways to simply ignore the consistent and widespread favor that citizens of our fair Republic have showered on this idea. Until recently, anyway! That's when the House and the Senate, in separate bills, successfully preserved in each some manner of "public option-like material," and in that new dawn, suddenly the public option had "momentum."

Of course, that read of the situation is utterly false, and speaks solely to the fact that the media simply could no longer ignore its popularity. Still, now that the "public option momentum" meme has taken hold, we're treated to such spectacles as Fox News' Brit Hume -- who never misses a chance to despair at how awful health care reform will be on Fox News Sunday -- begrudgingly "correcting" Bill O'Reilly's contention that "the folks" -- THE FOLKS! -- "don't want [the public option.]"

[WATCH]

O'REILLY: They call it, you know, the public sector. What is the -

HUME: Public option, you mean?

O'REILLY: Public option, whatever. The folks don't want it. ... But it looks to me like they have maybe 55 votes to pass it. And that means they could be filibustered and never come up for a vote.

HUME: That's what it looks like right now. The public option, actually some polls show that the public option standing by itself is not at all unpopular, but it is kind of popular. But that depends on how the poll question is raised. ... We don't need to go into all that right now.

O'Reilly could use all the clarity he can get on the matter! Not too long ago, O'Reilly seemed to come out in support of the public option, saying, "I want, not for personally for me, but for working Americans, to have a option, that if they don't like their health insurance, if it's too expensive, they can't afford it, if the government can cobble together a cheaper insurance policy that gives the same benefits, I see that as a plus for the folks." THE FOLKS! Who now don't want it, I guess? SO FOLKING CONFUSED.

MORE:
Hume Corrects O'Reilly's False Claim That 'Folks Don't Want' The Public Option: It's Actually 'Kind Of Popular' [ThinkProgress]

[Would you like to follow me on Twitter? Because why not? Also, please send tips to tv@huffingtonpost.com -- learn more about our media monitoring project here.]