On a conference call today, Howard Wolfson of the Clinton campaign has said that Hillary Clinton will appear in a Fox News debate on February 11 in Washington, DC.
After Roger Ailes made a joke comparing Barack Obama to Osama Bin Laden, Harry Reid rightfully nixed a Democratic Fox debate in Nevada:
In a joint letter faxed today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Tom Collins, the head of the Nevada Democratic Party, informed Fox News executive producer Marty Ryan of the decision.
"A month ago, the Nevada Democratic Party entered into a good faith agreement with FOX News to co-sponsor a presidential debate in August,'' Reid and Collins said in the letter. "This was done because the Nevada Democratic Party is reaching out to new voters and we strongly believe that a Democrat will not win Nevada unless we find new ways to talk to new people. To say the least, this was not a popular decision. But it is one that the Democratic Party stood by.''
"However, comments made last night by FOX News President Roger Ailes in reference to one of our presidential candidates went too far,'' the letter went on. "We cannot, as good Democrats, put our party in a position to defend such comments. In light of his comments, we have concluded that it is not possible to hold a Presidential debate that will focus on our candidates and are therefore canceling our August debate. We take no pleasure in this, but it is the only course of action.''
I asked Wolfson if this puts Obama in an awkward position considering how awful Ailes' comments were, and especially in light of Reid's decision. Wolfson defended the choice to accept the Fox debate because Obama has appeared on Fox News himself recently. Which is true, he has, but it doesn't excuse how many awful lies and distortions Fox has peddled in order to damage Obama, Clinton and Democrats in general.
Fox is not a news outlet, it's an openly partisan opinion factory and the Democrats should not be legitimizing them (and allowing them to recruit Democratic viewers to propagandize to) by doing this.
Jane Hamsher blogs at firedoglake.com
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Someone has to stand up to them? Why is Obama afraid?
Why am I not surprised. Thank you Hillary for making my choice for Obama the right one.
Thank you Hillary for shooting yourself in the foot.
It seems one of those amazing, too hard to gloss ponderables that a keystone of Obama's foreign policy is that he will sit down with has Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other similarly attractive leaders, no questions asked, but domestically he will not sit down with such admittedly unsavories as Sean Hannity, despite his pledge to reach out to Republican Conservatives who feast on Fox foulness. Oh, Mr. Obama claimed on Super Tuesday evening that he is reaching up for “a hymn that will heal this nation and repair the world." Instead, the song he is singing about Hillary and Fox instead has a recognizable and hypocritical ring.
Whatever other pros and cons may exist for going on that forum, FOX's egregious propagandist nature trumps all. By working with a propagandist arm that masquerades as a News organization, one lends legitimacy to it. And that is a major disservice to the country, let alone your party.
Senator Clinton's failure to recognize/ prioritize this problem *is* disturbing.
Hopefully Obama will follow suit. I will be disappointed if he does not.
I cannot say it any better! Yes! Fox News is any thing but NEWS! It's a hi-tech poisonous propaganda machine conceived in hell to cast their poisons among mankind. Fox News mission is evident by Bush's actions against humanity. Fox News has destroyed the good name of "conservatism".
Fox News is simply EVIL. And any who'd stoop low enough to this disgraced and fake journalism deserves to be cast out of the human race, let alone allowed to run for president.
Fox News IS NOT about journalism, but is all about LIES, DECEPTION, EXTREME BIAS, and simply and purely EVIL!!!
Fox news appeals to those whose shallow nature and utter ignorance confide them in a vulnerable position, in which they are waiting to be consumed by the crippling venoms of the Neo-cons' propaganda machine: Fox News. This is exactly the same group Hillary Clinton loves to target, as they have been 'pre-conditioned' to accept lies and thrive on garbages. Perhaps this explains why Hillary Clinton does so well with the so-called "Hispanic" group, which consists of mostly 'naturalized' illegal Mexicans rejected by their own country.
The truth can hurt. In this case the truth may make Hillary camp to react like Dracula upon exposure to light.
Fox News + Hispanic (Mexico' rejects) + Hillary Clinton = A Perfect Hell.