Oh, They Hate Him So: Franken, Fallows and their fellows revive the sport of Murdoch-bashing

Opinion Journal ^ | 08/29/03 | Byron York

[Pokey78]

Listening to pundits on the left, it's hard to know who is more evil--George W. Bush or Rupert Murdoch. The president, some passionately believe, tricked us into war, which is of course bad. But Mr. Murdoch gave us the Fox News Channel. You decide.

[BunnySlippers]

Murdoch owns Staples Center here in LA and donated it to the Democrats to hold their Gore-a-Thon Convention last time around. Harumph ...

[Richard Axtell]

Idiots like Franken can hate him all they want. Murdock could buy and sell four-eyed geeks like him a thousand times over. Franken will NEVER be as rich or successful as Murdoch, and that makes them furious!... hehhehhehehe.

[Richard Axtell]

Idiots like Franken can hate him all they want. Murdock could buy and sell four-eyed geeks like him a thousand times over. Franken will NEVER be as rich or successful as Murdoch, and that makes them furious!... hehhehhehehe.

[vpintheak]

We all know the fuss is because he won't bow down before the immoral idiot leftists in the rest of the media establishment. He is a businessman pure and simple.

[jordan8]

principally a businessman, of conventional business-conservative views, who vents those views when possible but not when they interfere with any important corporate [or personal] goal.
Lot of that going around. Business-conservative, that ought to become a standard phrase.

[dogbyte12]

You would have to do contortions to figure out what is going on with Rupert in England right now. His media there endorsed the War in Iraq, and Labor PM Tony Blair, while "Conservative" Tory politicians sniped at him. He is cozying up to Blair to go stick it to the BBC. It gets confuzzling.

I do think The Weekly Standard was right about Fox news and Ah-Nold btw. They are cheerleading for him, and the memo is just more proof that they are trying to "pump him up".

I actually like the idea of a party paper like they have in England.

I wouldn't mind FOX becoming the Republican news channel, CNN the democrats, MSNBC the Independent channel. It's ridiculous to claim you have no biases, so why not be forthcoming with it? You still should be required to get facts, but you can pick and choose which facts ya want to go after. If a republican and a democrat did something stupid on the same day, FOX-the republican wing could go detail what the stupid dem did, CNN-the stupid republican, and Independent MSNBC could bash both politicians. It would be "fair and balanced" in a very positive way I think.

I am so sick and freaking tired of politicians lying, and then "in fairness" they get to spin some bs that everybody knows is untrue. Less indy media. Yay for partisanship.

[pogo101]

Gore was so troubled by Fox that he called it part of a right-wing "fifth column" inside the media

Incorrect use of the term, Gore-bot. It originated with the Spanish Civil War. Nationalist General Emilio Mola, asked in October 1936 by members of the press how he was going to take Madrid, replied that he would attack with four columns stationed outside the capital, and a fifth column stationed within, by which he meant the sympathizers trapped behind enemy lines.

[Angel]

Has anyone read Al Franken's book. I'd love an objective review.

[mjp]

The Daily News Online
Published in Longview Daily News -

Accusing liberals of treason, immorality and countless other failings, conservatives such as Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity have proved to be so popular that two publishers, the Penguin Group and the Crown Publishing Group, recently formed imprints for right-wing books. The operators of the Book-of-the-Month Club have formed a new club just for conservative works. Now, prepare for voices raised from the other side, among them Al Franken, who relentlessly needled Fox commentator Bill O'Reilly at last June's booksellers convention.

[Timesink]

Has anyone read Al Franken's book. I'd love an objective review.

I haven't read it, but I'll point this out: Within days (if not hours) of the release of books by Ann Coulter, Bernie Goldberg, etc, everyone was talking about the serious political issues raised in those books. Al Franken's tome has been out for a week now and the only thing I've heard about it is, "Wow, he really nails O'Reilly good!" I think that pretty much sums up Franken's contribution to the public discourse.

(For the record, all the actual printed reviews of his book have said pretty much the same thing: If you're a liberal, you'll find it funny; if you're a conservative, you won't; its chances of changing anybody's mind on anything are zero because it has no depth.)

[weegee]

But I thought that he fought to call his book a Fair And Balanced Look At The Right. You mean to tell me that mean ol' conservatives aren't happy with his unbiased presentation of the facts?

[Angel]

A great point. His book has been out a week and this is the only article I've read about it.

[nutmeg]

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[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!