4,000 Dead -- Fox News Empowering War And Making Us Dumber (Murdoch and His Vengeful Fools)

Fox News more than any other single group in America is responsible for bringing us eight disastrous years of Bush, a war based on lies, 4000 American dead, over 30,000 wounded and an economy sliding into the toilet flushed away by a war debt exacerbated by tax cuts. I got to know the folks at Fox uncomfortably well...

My Marine son John and I were lucky. Our first stop on our book tour -- for our co-authored book, Keeping Faith-A Father-Son Story About Love and the United States Marine Corps -- was Nightline. Ted Koppel was prepared when he interviewed us in 2002. Soon after that Jim Lehrer asked me to do a commentary. His crew was kind and painstaking. (Lehrer is a former Marine and his take on our book was especially sympathetic.) The folks at 20/20 were great too.

Then John and I appeared on Fox News.

After the interview my normally laid back and completely apolitical son said, "I'd rather get shot at in Afghanistan than ever talk to those people again. They have to be the stupidest people I've ever met. Honestly, I'd prefer combat."

I guess John meant it, as he subsequently volunteered for several deployments. Our book tour continued with me going solo while John went to war.

My publisher's publicist kept putting me on Fox. The Fox people consistently stood out as the worst prepared, shockingly dumb "TV hairdos" (as John called them) I've ever encountered. Note to authors: When on Fox make sure you use the precious seconds between being ushered into the studio and air time. Prep your interviewers but prepare to more or less interview yourself. Try to distract them from their last minute makeup touchups. Try to get them to focus -- even briefly -- on what you've come to talk about so that their dumbest remarks are off air.

Fox hairdo: "We'll be on in one minute."

Me: "Got it."

Fox hairdos fooling with a mirror: "So, is this about your service in Vietnam?"

Me: "No, I never served."

Fox hairdo glances at note card someone just handed her, while she's checking to make sure she has no lipstick on her teeth.

"Uh, so it's about how you coped with losing your son? When was he killed?"

"No," me talking fast, "my son is fine. Remember we were both here a few weeks ago. We wrote Keeping Faith together about his boot camp experiences and how I changed my mind about his service. I was so snobbish and against his joining the military, but now I feel more connected to my country than ever before and I'm very proud of him. When we're on, you should ask me, 'why are you more connected to your country?'"

"We're on in ten seconds!"

Lucky for me Fox doesn't do their homework. Obviously no one at Fox had actually ever read any of my books about the military family experience, let alone my novels. Had they read them they would have known that I wasn't their type. They tend to think in black and white. The idea that anyone besides far right Republicans could be pro-military never seems to have crossed their minds.

My military related books aren't jingoistic and the ones I wrote after 9/11 include my doubts about Bush's war in Iraq and comments about the class divide between who serves and who doesn't, something that cuts right as well as left, since both wealthy Republicans and upscale Democrats don't let their kids volunteer these days. And in my novels I'd been writing about how strange and funny (to me anyway) I find the fundamentalist/evangelical subculture I grew up in. And since that subculture makes up most of Fox's audience ....

Going on Fox is like going on pretend TV, but the problem is that Fox viewers seem to mistake Fox News for reality. This wouldn't matter, except for the fact that Fox News and their cohorts on right wing talk radio and blogs manage to set the agenda for the rest of the news media. For instance, borrowing "facts" direct from the a right wing hate blog, Fox commentator William Kristol goofed in his NY Times column about Obama attending the infamous Rev. Wright church service -- Obama had told the truth, he hadn't been there -- then Kristol had to take it all back when corrected by actual real live journalists. But of course by that time the lie had done the rounds and become another "fact."

There is a lot of these Fox facts going around. On 1/19/08 Fox News featured a segment saying Obama attended a "madrassa." Host Steve Doocy noted that madrassas are "financed by Saudis" and "teach this Wahhabism which pretty much hates us," then said, "The big question is: was that on the curriculum back then?" A caller to the show questioned if that means that "maybe Obama doesn't consider terrorists the enemy." Fox anchor Brian Kilmeade responded, "Well, we'll see about that."

Hannity & Colmes spent their 3/21/08 show attacking Obama. Hannity was trying to make Obama out to be a racist because of his pastor's remarks. McCain spokesman Jack Kemp (on the show) wound up defending Obama.

Even Chris Wallace, on Fox and Friends (3/21/08) to promote Sunday's Fox News Sunday, took the "Friends" to task over what he saw as unbalanced coverage of Obama's remarks about his grandmother being a "typical white person..." etc., etc...

It goes beyond these and many more "errors" (outright lies) and smears. The right wing media's mantra of willful ignorance is devastating. It facilitates bad judgment about things that literally get Americans killed, for instance in the Iraq war that Fox has pushed as cheerfully as a Dick Cheney "they volunteered" favored vacation destination.

Speaking as someone who has been a political and social conservative my whole life, to me Rupert Murdoch is a genuine anti-conservative villain. Murdoch is responsible for Fox News, which follows the pattern he established years ago with newspapers that spread his version of a "conservative" message at the same time that his papers dumbed it down. Murdoch, is the so-called conservative who franchises stupidity, ignorance and prejudice. (Try to imagine the late Bill Buckley's informed, intelligent and fair Firing Line as a Fox show!)

Murdoch has denied every basic moral tenet of conservatism (not to mention traditional religion) having become the purveyor of low IQ sleaze to the world. He combines his role as a successful soft-core pornographer -- check out his tabloid newspaper's centerfolds and Fox TV entertainment values -- with the scorched earth politics of the vengeful wing of the right wing. (Given the fact Murdock is a sleaze seller worldwide, how strange that a fair number of Church Lady American evangelical Christians look to Fox for their "news.")

Murdoch's fake conservatism isn't about principle. It's about power. It's about voting for Bush and his war, while watching TV shows exalting mindless prurience that would have made Nero blush and/or fall on his sword out of boredom. So perhaps it's no accident that Murdoch's presenters at FOX News are the dumbest of the dumb. Murdoch is no fool, so he uses fools to catch fools.

I emailed this to John to ask him if it was okay to talk about him herein. My Marine emailed back seconds later: "Fine with me. Fox really do remain the stupidest people I've ever met that weren't actually institutionalized at the time."

Frank Schaeffer is a writer and author of "CRAZY FOR GOD-How I Grew Up As One Of The Elect, Helped Found The Religious Right, And Lived To Take All (Or Almost All) Of It Back

Comments

[ld]

You, John Dean, and me are among the few who think that "conservativism" has been co-opted. Conservatism used to be the refuge or the thinking person, the political hangout of intelligent individualists and people brave and principled enough to risk a bombing than rather than losing their freedoms. Now conservatism is the refuge of the ignorant and dogmatic, the power-hungry, and the bloodthirsty. It's enough to make a person believe in Satan.

[bmora]

I cannot see how any sane person can claim to be Conservative or be a Conservative. Conservativism is the complete opposite of what it claims to be. Oh, Fox News sucks also.

[Sergeantfreedom]

There are a lot more than 4,000 dead Americans due to Bush's Iraq war. It's ENRON accounting. The GOP has kept a second set of books on the death and wounded Americans... they are called contractors. The privatization of military jobs has led to a class of Americans sent to war that don't count. We have seen them get their heads cut off, get strung up burned to a crisp from bridges, yet they are not counted as war dead. Why is that exactly, and what are the real numbers of dead and wounded Americans? - - They are still there with guns, and still paid for by you.

[goodolboy]

"So." Dick Cheney. Un-fucking­-believabl­e.

[certainot]

"Fox News and their cohorts on right wing talk radio and blogs manage to set the agenda for the rest of the news media."

you can say that again but i would argue that talk radio does most of the groundwork for fox TV.

fox TV relies on a lot of viewers who go there for an image to reinforce what they've been getting on talk radio and fox TV's lazy liars rely on limbaugh and hannity and co to prechew their talking points for them so they don't sound so absurd. by the time they get them on TV they know the base has had them pounded into their ear holes all day or week.

there is much that can't be sold on TV because they can't give it the repetition or the number of lsteners and on TV , even fox, they still have to pretend to present balance. on radio the right wingers don't have to even pretend. their screeners make sure their certitude is never challenged by truth and they can say whatever they want without contest. over and over and over again.

[realpolitic]

It is all one loud, sad echo chamber of those who want a simplistic view of the world re-enforced again and again.

[faust2001]

The media is white-trash Orwellianism.
No one ever gave up power willingly.
Revolution now.
Sorry, kids, it's the only way. But don't worry. Our Founders mounted a revolution and they turned out alright. And unlike many of them, we're not slave owners! :)

[realpolitic]

A little Orwellianism is good for ratings. Just ask Fox.

[The5thW]

So what we can control. left wing media, needs to be just as dumbed down and trivia driven? Just look at this blog. If I were a right wing person looking for answers, the only answer the left is giving me is all the things that are wrong with the right, and a decrepit regurgitation, without even a gloss of sincerity, of 60"s shibboleths from a reckless youth.

[certainot]

what do you expect - a perpetual motion machine? that is a usual call of the talk radio empire that is largely responsible for this mess we're in- well, where are the liberal answers? what answers are you looking for? get out of iraq, impeach bush and cheney, clean the GOP hacks out of govt., do SOMETHING about global warming......what part don't you see.... the bush crime family isn't interested in answers or suggestions and no constructive actions can be taken until they are out.

all you have to do is look around and you'll see the suggestions everywhere, but we have a media that is framed and controlled by a pack of criminals and fools who would rather take the country off a cliff than admit they have been wrong about everything.

[mfsomom]

The 4,000th soldier has lost their life. Not to say the 3,999th or the 4,001st wasn't, or won't be every bit as tragic. But this is a grim milestone nonetheless. Our sons and daughters are continuing to come home in body bags, into the arms of grieving loved ones. Chances are though, unless you live in a neighborhood that has lost one of their own, you would be none the wiser of the price being paid, and of the burden being shouldered by too few. After 5 years, we continue to be an Army at war, and not a nation. We are divided against one another in bitter conflict and debate as to whether we should stay or do we go? Our military and treasury are broken, and we'll all pay the price for this horror, whether our loved one has served or not. Iraq has not made us safer, had nothing to do with 9-11, (remember Afghanistan, the forgotten war?) has cost the lives of untold thousands of innocent Iraqi's (so much for winning hearts and minds!), created a monumental refugee crisis, and there doesn't seem to be light at the end of the tunnel. Bush's war is a travesty, and a stain upon our nation. The blood spilled will be on all our hands if we do not speak out. Our sons and daughters deserve better than the continued misuse and abuse of their service. Whose child will be the last to die for this lie?

[kcal2000]

Here's an interesting note from Michael Moore about the subject.

So?...A Note from Michael Moore

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=224

[valleygent]

How is it that 4000 more Americans are dead and yet we are safer? 4000 human lives is more than perished in the 9/11 attack. So we suffer an attack that kills thousands and then fling ourselves against roadside bombs in Iraq for going on 6 years to answer? That is not victory, that is not even warfare, it is self defeating ruination. When are American journalists going to write about the real story of how the attacks happened on the Republican watch? Might there be a reason for that? If Al Gore had been elected I doubt that we would have been attacked at all, if you recall the terrorists tried but failed to destroy those buildings on the Clinton watch, they were thwarted. We are painfully learning the methodology of the Republicans leads to one outcome; white, rich, men get richer and the rest of America is left with the task of burying the fallen. Disgusting, when will America wake up from this ignorant slumber? Tragically I think never. Oh but go ahead and vote for McCain.

[K-Dog76]

4,000 dead is a sad number anyway you look at it. But the alarmism assoicated with it is off-base. Over the same period, more people have died from accidents related to driving while talking on a cell phone... 2,600 people per year for last five years comes out to be over 11,000. http://www.livescience.com/technology/050201_cell_danger.html

[zenx98]

The death of near half a million Iraqi citizens since the U.S. liberated Iraq didn't happen because they were too busy listening to their cel phones, and just exactly how does this justify the death of a single soldier?

[realpolitic]

Yes, Kdog you are right. Bush is now off the hook for invading Iraq based on lies because people drive and talk on their cell phones at the same time.

[jeff]

How fair do you think fox news was with the 7500 u s military fatalities under bill clinton compared to the 4000 in the iraq war?

[SonnyBono]

Jeff- where do you get your numbers? 7,500 US military deaths under Bill Clinton? Is this another Fox news special? We all know that the media beat Clinton about the head and shoulders for the USS Cole and Somalia but I doubt very much that the total reached the number you came up with. Like the man said "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but not their own facts."

[jdmccl]

Bill Clinton (1993 - 2000) ............. 7,500 deaths
George W. Bush (2001 - 2006) .... 8,792 deaths

http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_military_deaths.htm

1993 .... 1,213
1994 .... 1,075
1995 .... 1,040
1996 ....... 974
1997 ....... 817
1998 ....... 827
1999 ....... 796
2000 ....... 758
2001 ....... 891
2002 ....... 999
2003 .... 1,228
2004 .... 1,874
2005 .... 1,942
2006 .... 1,858

Lots of dead soldiers but Clintons didn't die in a war fighting.
Interesting numbers, i thought the Clinton years would be lower but there might be some dont ask dont tell suicides which would be a shame.

[ethancorso]

Is your son deployed right now? I wish him (and you) the best!

[jdmccl]

So the Faux morning crowd is light on the in depth knowledge of a book because they don't read. I read a book a day, but most people on the internet just read webpages, blogs and waste time with You Tube. If talk radio makes a distinction between liberalism and conservatism, thats bad? I have heard Ms. Rhodes do much worse. I have a few likes that are slighly liberal and I will never be considered anything but a modeate by the talk radio crew. Hannity is the network pitbull and what a mouth he has. I think he pisses red, white and blue. I can understand why Doc Savage hates the Bush bots but some stories would be buried if not for Fox so something has to be said for variety. I do also browse AlJezerra just for a different perspective which rates next to NBC.

[realpolitic]

If you equate NBC with Al Jazeera your brainwashing by Fox News and conservative talk radio is complete.

[jdmccl]

Lets try the litmus test, they both hate Bush, unjust war, evil Israel, hate Fox, hey thats also BBC. Would Fox and Al Jazeera be a better comparison? I actually like some of the different slants I find on the stories on ALJ they also have stories about parts of the world that all American media seem to miss. I hate Fox for not trying to go beyond the same junk that this country looks at. I can handle different opinions like the pro Russian angle. I also like world tribune.com but the Russian news service is just as bad as NBC. Mouthpieces come in all forms. I also hate most of conservative talk radio so wrong again. The assumption that since you are not with us you are with them is very simple minded and doesn't allow for maybe a third choice? That is why we need a third party; too many of us don't fit in either camp.

[desmirl]

When you have a network which has absolutely NO RESPECT for the truth (FOX News) what else can you expect? They provide an odd kind of extemporaneous fiction which appeals to the baser instincts of those who watch. It pumps up their prejudices; it buffs up their bigotry. The FOX News audience are happy with the lies they're being fed, and unfortunately, some of them vote.