Posted on 08/14/2007 11:48:22 AM PDT by goldstategop
Does it puzzle you when you hear that FOX News loved Michael Moore's "Sicko" or Angelina Jolie/Brad Pitt's "A Mighty Heart," which whitewashed Islamic terrorists?
If FOX News is so "fair and balanced," why do they gush over movies that far-leftists gush over?
Three words: Roger Friedman, liberal.
Whenever I hear the phrase "Fair and Balanced," I think of Roger Friedman, FOXNews.com's celebrity gossip writer and self-appointed movie critic. He turns his gossip column into movie reviews when there's an inane liberal propaganda film he wants to tout.
Fox News Channel
When Michael Moore bragged about FOX News endorsing his movie, he was talking about Friedman (Friedman is so far left that he differed on that even with many liberal movie critics who panned "Sicko"). When Rosie O'Donnell--then still co-hosting the view--gushed about another left-wing movie, she bragged, "Well, even FOX News liked it." She, too, was talking about Friedman.
A dyed-in-the-wool liberal, Friedman not only gushed over "Sicko" and "A Mighty Heart," he also chastised America for putting HAMAS financier Cat Stevens on the no fly list and applauded when America panderingly took him off the list and granted him a visa. Among his absurd quotes:
Last year he was refused entry into the United States on suspicion - ridiculous as it was - that he was a terrorist of some sort.
(Emphasis added.)
"Ridiculous"? Cat Stevens went to Israel and paid top HAMAS commanders money which went to homicide bombers. Hardly "ridiculous" to refuse his entry to America. And in another gushing Cat Stevens column, Friedman buys Cat Stevens' denial, lying that the didn't support the Ayatollah Khomeini Fatwa calling for Salman Rushdie's death. Interesting, since the video of him saying it--and wishing that Muslim protestors would burn Rushdie to death--is all over YouTube.
Then there's this:
Cat Stevens is coming home, sort of. I am told that Greek-Brit Steven Georgiou, now known as Yusuf Islam, has been granted a visa and will enter the United States in mid-December.
All I can say is, it's about time.
Yusuf - that's what he wants to be called - was involved in an embarrassing incident in 2004 when he and his daughter were denied entry into the U.S. because his name was found on a "no-fly" list. How utterly ridiculous, since it turned out the person in question was someone else. [DS: Uh, no, it was him they banned. Doesn't Friedman do an iota of research? Incredibly ignorant.]
Let's put it this way: Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam is an unlikely terrorist. Since his conversion to Islam, he may have had odd ideas, but none of them are threatening or dangerous. [DS: Yes, like funding HAMAS. Not threatening or dangerous at all. Or his anti-Semitic comments. Or his support of the fatwa for Rushdie's death.]
Evidence of this can be found easily on Yusuf's first new record album in 30 years. [DS: Yup, great "evidence." If it's not on his new record, it never happened.] . . .
Yusuf knows, however, that anti-Muslim feeling in the U.S. easily translates into panic. [DS: Yes, Roger, keep defaming America to pander to the HAMAS financier.] Maybe that's why he has cleverly covered the Animals' old hit, "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood." He is not unaware of an acceptance problem.
But really, there's nothing on "Cup" that could offend anyone and plenty of love and peace for everyone. . . .
When he visits America next month, I hope Yusuf will get a fair airing on TV like "Regis" and "Ellen." If he plays his cards right over the next few months, he might even get that Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction he clearly deserves.
(Emphasis added.)
Friedman got mad when Jolie refused to do an interview with him at the New York "A Mighty Heart" premiere. But when it comes to questions directed at himself, he won't answer. Here's an e-mail I sent him a while ago, which, predictably, went unanswered:
From: Debbie Schlussel
Sent: Monday, June 25, 2007 11:19 AM
To: roger.friedman@foxnews.com
Subject: ROGER, 2 Questions for something I'm writing about U . . .
For whom did you vote in the last three presidential elections? For whom did you vote for the U.S. Senate from New York in races in which Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer ran (last two elections for both)?
I'm confident that the answers are: Kerry, Gore, Bill Clinton, Hillary, Hillary, Schumer, Schumer.
He's just like liberals and liberal movie critics you'd see on any other network. There's nothing fair and balanced about Roger Friedman, FOX News' entertainment go-to guy.
The next time you hear that FOX News loved this movie or that celebrity, you'll know that means it has a left-wing agenda and, in reality, isn't worthy.
For Roger Friedman, the eternal credo is, "I distort. Don't decide."
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
How did ‘A Mighty Heart’ whitewash Islamic Terror? It was sort of...about Islamic Terror.
How much evidence is there that Cat Stevens gave money to HAMAS? I’m not sure that this has been proven.
Schlussel has it right. Anybody who reads Roger Friedman’s column knows he’s a flaming lefty.
because Debbie Schlussel thinks EVERYTHING is a liberal plot against the US.
Debbie Schlussel hates every movie and thinks they are all anti-american propaganda. I am sick of her
I watched a few minutes of MSNBC’s Olberman last night and was sturck by just how childish and whiney he is. It’s nice to see that I won’t have to change the channel to find a lunatic
Probably whitewashed the terrorists by making you feel sympathy for them.
She’s the rights equivalent of a moonbat.
I’ve seen it and don’t have any idea how one could come to that conclusion.
The sooner we get over thinking Fox News somehow has to be all conservative all the time, the better off we'll be. I don't want a propoganda arm, I want a news channel.
I read both reviews when they were ‘up’ on the Fox website, and Friedman panned them both as I recall.
‘boring’ was the term used for both at various points. He was more disappointed about Jolie banning Fox News from a movie about a reporter than anything else.
“she’s dead on about Roger Friedman.”
Even a blind sow can find an acorn once in awhile.
I think Fox calls itself “fair and balanced” because they do have alot of liberals as well as conservatives. Watch MSNBC for about 5 minutes and you’ll feel better! By the way, the best review of “Sicko” is by Dr. Theodore Dalrymple in the current issue of National Review magazine. He’s a British doctor who really tells you about socialized medicine from personal experience! I think anything cable presents has to be judged from other sources. It’s amazing when the guests can even get out about four words before being interrupted by the hosts with their prepared talking points!
Well said. FOX doesn’t claim to be a “conservative” news outlet, that’s just the attack line used by the totally-left, all the time, RAT-controlled competing (and losing) opposition networks.
He must be in charge of Fox and Friends in the morning.
I would rather see c-span seminar callers than revelele with the retards any more.
It has been oprafied beyond redemption.
Instead of emotion, Jolie and Pitt go for propaganda
By Armond White
A Mighty Heart
Directed by Michael Winterbottom
First Brad Pitt, one of the producers of A Mighty Heart, and the film’s star Angelina Jolie, committed themselves to the story of Mariane Pearl, widow of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, who was beheaded by Islamic terrorists in 2002. But not content to portray Mariane’s suffering and perseverance, Pitt and Jolie bungled their compassion by hiring one of the worst contemporary filmmakers, Michael Winterbottom, to advance a modish perspective that denies the war on terror. “I am not terrorized,” Jolie’s smirking Marianne assures moviegoers.
As A Mighty Heart tells it, America’s foreign policy is to blame for Mariane Pearl’s bereavement and the crimes of Islamic terrorism. Throughout the film, reference is made to the treatment of post-9/11 detainees at Guantanamo Bay as if to rationalize the actions of Pakistani extremists who kidnap and kill an American citizen. Pitt and Jolie surely knew that this political skepticism has become Winterbottom’s specialty in such U.S.-bashing films as In This World and Road to Guantanamo. While a simple tearjerker about a freedom-loving widow would risk an embarrassing emotional display, Pitt, Jolie and Winterbottom maintain their cool status with this fashionably cynical propaganda film. Its effect is not cathartic, just frustrating.
Nothing in A Mighty Heart conveys the magnanimity of its title. Jolie’s Mariane Pearl sits pregnant and helpless in her Karachi apartment waiting for Daniel to return from a dangerous interview with a radical Muslim, then waits for his newspaper editor to rescue him, then waits as a bloodthirsty American diplomat (Will Patton) wrangles with Middle Eastern politicians for news of Daniel’s fate. Winterbottom emphasizes Mariane’s confusion about the international intrigue between governments and newsmedia of different countries. He stirs a hodgepodge of motives and personalities in the manner of Syriana and Babel—but with his particular state-of-the-art muddle.
—snip—
http://www.nypress.com/20/25/film/ArmondWhite.cfm?CFID=1135681&CFTOKEN=75756650
She’s right about Friedman though.
Also, Lauren Green was on with Robert Spencer, a very good segment up on HA, and I realized how much I missed her calm demeanor every morning. She recently had a baby and is back now as the religion editor. But I sure do miss her and E.D. first thing every day!
Like most gossip writers Friedman has stars in his eyes and is often more concerned about being at the right party than anything else. His views are pretty left as is to be expected. He was at his worst before The Passion came out, when he slammed the movie as anti-Semitic in column after column when he hadn’t even seen it. I still think it was mostly because he wasn’t invited to any of the pre-release screenings. As for his movie reviews, I don’t give them any heed. I think he actually has a greater grasp and discernment of popular music than film anyway.
What kind of a man makes his living writing about and fawning over celebrities? I think we know.
This lady threw a hissy fit over “V For Vendetta” and made herself look like a loon. I had never heard of her before that and laught at her ever since.
Armond White is known in film buff circles as an amusing loon. The film generated an enormous amount of sympathy for Pearl amnd his wife and in no way diminished the crime or absolved those responsible for responsibility. Michael Medved liked it who’s not in the habit of praising films that endorse Islamic terror.
Some embarrasing grammatical gaffes my previous post!
Pretty much everybody who thought the movie was a whitewash of reality is a “loon”, right?
IMHO Fox News is the Best of the worst (sigh)
Is Dalrymple’s review online?
Did you see it? I’ve have and am giving my own opinion. As has been stated in various ways in this thread by others, Debbie Schlussel sees anti-semitism everywhere. Armond White is a hoot for different reasons. No movie offers ‘reality’.
I agree. Don't understand why anyone would want to expect a network to parrot their thoughts 24/7. I like to hear both sides and make up my own mind what to think or believe. By and large I think FoxNews does a pretty good job of presenting the story, save and except anything done by Greta or Geraldo, which is not to be considered 'news' by me.
That's what I'd like to hear about, not what darned political message it may have.
Why does have a “Help Elect Barack Obama” ad on her website?
Where is ANY examination of ABCNNBCBSPBSMSNBC (questioning whether they are conservative OR liberal)
ONLY Fox gets examined over and over because it dares to have some actual conservatives on-air.
I like Lauren Green too! She is one of the more intelligent figures on Fox and a very accomplished musician.
Any network who employs GERALDO for anything other than latrine duty cannot be “fair and balanced.” I give them a C- for F&B, and it would be a failing grade if not for Brit Hume and Ollie North.
Of course I didn’t see it. All of 14 people saw it. It was a monumental bomb. Only the terminally film-obsessed have seen it (which I once was, before I actually started working in the industry).
But I do know that CAIR wholeheartedly endorsed the film and hosted a private pre-release screening. I’ll draw my conclusion from that and that alone... and I put a great deal of confidence in that conclusion, thank you.
“Triumph of the Will” and “Olympia” were perfectly directed and exquisitely photographed. I suppose that’s all that really matters.
Also, Lauren Green was on with Robert Spencer, a very good segment up on HA, and I realized how much I missed her calm demeanor every morning. She recently had a baby and is back now as the religion editor. But I sure do miss her and E.D. first thing every day!
Wasn’t that a GREAT segment?! Way, way too short though. I could’ve listened to them talk for a lot longer that the 3-4 minutes they were given.
And when Fox News repeats the lies told by the ‘Rats and the rest of MSM, you think that’s fair? I want the NEWS, the truth of what happened, not the inane commentary that’s passing for the news these days, even on Fox.
Schlussel has street cred.
What’s yours?
Well then it’s Michael Medved and CAIR then. But they’re cousins, identical cousins all the way. One pair of matching bookends, different as night and day. /sarc
She has so much that she used to have a sock puppet account here posting her blog entires...before she got banned.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/user-posts?name=cool+chick
I see you aren’t addressing the point either.
Is she a credible conservative commentator or not. If not, why not?
It’s in the Aug. 13 issue of the magazine. It might be online to the subscribers of the digital network they have. They charge for that service and I don’t get it. The cover of the issue says “THE DOCTOR WON’T SEE YOU NOW.” “The Truth about Socialized Medicine. Theodore Dalrymple”
It’s really worth picking up at the news stand. I admit I’m a fan of Dalrymple and he’s written some fabulous things about Islam and crime. He’s been a prison psychiatrist, has traveled widely and lived in Islamic societies. One of his great books is “Our Culture, What’s Left of It,” and one of his essays in the book is “When Islam Breaks Down” which David Brooks of the NYTimes called “the best journal article of 2004.” I posted this once on FR and it was available on City Journal Website. You might check it out. A marvelous essay!
She’s not a credible film critic because she harps on one note constantly. The only material of her’s that I’ve read is her film writing. It’s hilariously inept. If you want great conservative film reviews read James Bowman or John Simon.
You’ll have to ask Mr. Medved how he feels about siding with CAIR on this one. Since he’s not my spiritual leader, the point you think you’re making is wasted on me.
The fact is, any film dealing with islamist terror that gets a nod of approval from a terror sponsoring organization like CAIR does so on the basis that it deals with the subject in a manner favorable to the terrorists. The fact that Medved loved Jolie’s performance doesn’t come close to changing that obvious truth.
V FOR VENDETTA was an atrocious piece of pro-totalitarian trash.
Ummmmm, you’re very wrong because the purpose of the film was to delude the viewer into believing that the forces fighting against totalitarianism are in fact totalitarian. The reason the viewer was led to cheer as Parliament was blown up was because that was the birthplace of modern representative government.
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