Fox News Spins Ted Turner

Ted Turner spoke at the National Press Club on October 9th. A Q and A session ensued. One question asked was (and read it very carefully), "What do you think of the fact that -- well, not you, but other people have been, when they've criticized the Iraq war, criticized the U.S. government conduct ...their patriotism has been questioned?"

Notice what is being asked. Turner is being inquired about some people's attacks on U.S. citizens who have spoken out against the Iraq war or criticized decisions made by Bush or members of his administration during the 3+ year battle. They are not asking him about if he agreed with going to war or anything regarding the War on Terror.

Here's how Turner responded, "Well, I don't like to see -- you know, there are a lot of things about this war that disturb me. And one of them is the attitude that was well-expressed by our president. He said it very clearly. He said, 'Either you're with us or you're against us.'

And I had a problem with that, because I really hadn't made my mind up yet.

You know, what if you haven't made your mind up? You know, what if you're thinking about it, doing some studying, and doing some reading? Because it's an important decision to go to war, whether or not to go to war.

I mean, 'You're either with us or against us' -- that's pretty black and white. And just because you disagree with me about it doesn't mean you're not a patriot, as far as I'm concerned."

Turner obviously didn't/doesn't appreciate the attacks and attitude by those who question people's patriotism based on their feelings for the war. The Iraq war was the war in question, so when Turner replied with "I really hadn't made my mind up yet," he simply meant he hadn't made up his mind on if the U.S. should have invaded Iraq. He mentioned this further by saying, "It's an important decision to go to war, whether or not to go to war." So his rehashing of Bush's false dilemma of "You're with us or against us" was being referred to in the sense of the decision to go to war. But Fox News spun it a different way, as they so often times do.

Sean Hannity said this in response to hearing Turner's answer, "That was CNN founder, former media mogul Ted Turner speaking at the National Press Club in Washington yesterday, while admitting that he had a hard time choosing sides in the war on terror."

Brent Bozell III had this to say, "I think it's time for Democrats to speak up. Either they support this man or they should condemn him."

ABC reporter Bob Zelnick said this, "I find it hard to believe that even a delusional American would say something as crass as not being able to choose between the terrorists and his own country."

Laura Ingraham had this to say, "And a message to Ted Turner: You would be the first person, or one of the first people, put up against a wall and shot in an Islamic society. They don't seem to understand that their lives are imperiled if we lose this great struggle against the militant Islamists. I don't understand how they don't get it, but they clearly don't get it."

Bill O'Reilly also chimed in with this comment, "So, here -- well, here is my question for Ted Turner. Why do you hate America, Ted? Why do you dislike the system that we have in place so much?"

There are more wondrous quotes from these lovely "fair and balanced" Bush lapdancers which can be viewed at the link at the very end of this blog entry.

I'm sorry, but how dumb can a person truly be? I'm sorry, people? How dumb can a group of people be? There may be safety in numbers as the saying goes (sometimes), but I'd like to alter that saying a bit and state that there is stupidity in numbers. If it's just Bill O'Reilly ranting, then that's just one man's slanted and distorted view on things. If you add O'Reilly + Hannity + Ingraham + Zelnick + Bozell, then you've got yourself more stupidity than any one person would know what to do with (well, there may be a couple exceptions...ahem...).

It's called listening, gentlemen and Ingraham. I know that's new terminology for the likes of O'Reilly and Hannity, as they tend to yell and talk before the other party(-ies) have finished their statement(s). Ted Turner never said that he had a hard time choosing between his country and the terrorists. The problem is the fact that these people are so simple-minded, they truly believe that false dilemmas and other informal fallacies are rational ways of thinking and solving problems. These are the people who would be ultimately confused on a multiple choice test, as there are more than two possible answers to the question. They'd be in need of a bucket of advil if they were ever to take an essay or short answer exam. What? There's no 100% exact right answer? What? How can that be? Nooooooo! If you fellas and Ingraham had been listening and could reason better than a gerbil, you may have discovered that Turner was simply uncertain on Bush's decision to invade Iraq. Let's get things straight here. Iraq is not responsible for 9/11. All the supposed links between Iraq and Saddam to 9/11 and Bin Laden have been dismissed as being false. Fox News may believe otherwise, but just as it was found that the Titanic had sunk, it was found that no weapons of mass destruction (functioning ones) existed in Iraq and no link between Iraq or their former president could be found to 9/11 or the supposed mastermind of the attacks.

I really wonder what the likes of O'Reilly, Hannity and others on Fox had to go through in order to get hired. What was the interview process like? Did they have to take any personality tests? I'm thinking they played with clay for a few hours, listened to Rush Limbaugh, James Dobson, and Pat Robertson on the radio with earphones while people were talking to them, and they were given colored flashcards to which they had to respond between one of two colors on what color that flashcard represented. In the end, it was concluded that Hannity and O'Reilly could properly distinguish one color from another, that they were able to tune others out like they were in the REM stage of sleep, and they were skillful in the art of clay. They were probably also given a series of flashcards with false comments, to which they had to read with conviction, as if it was a true fact and they believed it. It all makes so much sense now, doesn't it? Yeah, they're fair and balanced allright, about as fair and balanced as a toddler lined up on the left side of the ring on his side of the scale and a professional sumo wrestler on the right.

Link:

http://mediamatters.org/items/200610110010