Friday Fox Follies - Facts, Fibs, And Folderol

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When covering Fox “News,” it’s important to take the long view. I’ve been writing Fox criticism for 6 years and it still makes me laugh. Maybe after I’ve been doing for 16 I’ll be like: Jon Stewart: why I quit The Daily Show and Jon Stewart Unloads on Fox News in Exclusive: “Watching These Channels All Day is Incredibly Depressing.”

However, what depresses me is Fox ratings versus a Truth-O-Meter. Once again the Tampa Bay Times Pundit Fact is Checking in on our TV network scorecards:

As of April 22, 2015, 59 percent of the claims we have checked have been rated Mostly False or worse.

That includes a 9% Pants on Fire rating, the highest of any other cable news net, with MSNBC at 4% and CNN at 3%. Which is why it’s laughable viewers believe the Fox “News” channel. Just this week Friday Fox Follies flagged:

Karl Rove Misrepresents Abortion Language
In Human Trafficking Legislation To Blame
Democrats For Lynch’s Stalled Confirmation

Hannity Pushes Falsehood
About Clinton Gender Pay Gap

O’Reilly Parrots Anti-Tax Group’s False
Claim That Obama Raised Taxes 442 Times

“Fox Facts” On Gun Background
Checks Aren’t Facts At All

Fox News Falsely Claims The War
On Poverty Has Failed – And Uses
That As An Excuse To Attack Welfare

It’s enough to make you think Fox lies on purpose.

LOOFAH LIES ON PURPOSE: It’s already been established that Bill O’Reilly is a serial prevaricator. However, FFF wonders whether he’s going senile at his advanced age of 66. As MMfA’s Angelo Carusone flagged his own tweet on tumbler under the rubric Yes. The screenshot is real:

O’Reilly: It really sucks to be rich in America these days. (Thanks Obama). But, it’s not so bad being poor. pic.twitter.com/TjVcsOpn4i

— Angelo Carusone (@GoAngelo) April 21, 2015

See? He’s lost all grip on reality:

O’Reilly: Like Clintons, I Know What It’s Like to Be ‘Dishonestly Smeared’ O’Reilly: American Values, White Men Are ‘Under Siege’ from Liberals, ‘Race-Baiters’ O’Reilly Lashes Out At Critics: “The Fact That I’m White And In A Powerful Position Makes Me The Enemy” O’Reilly: “What I Stated Is A Fact,” It’s “Open Season” On White Men In America” Bill O’Reilly’s Racial Grievance Against Charles Blow And Michael Eric Dyson

He’s bat-guano crazy and can reverse himself without realizing it. O’Reilly Falls For Absurd Campaign Demanding Justices Ginsburg And Kagan’s Recusal From Marriage Equality Case; yet FLASHBACK: When Bill O’Reilly Called It “Nutty” For A Conservative Justice To Recuse Himself. And, he’s still trying to get payback against those who recently pointed out his lies. As NewsHound Ellen notes in Got Irony? Bill O’Reilly Warns About ‘Deception’ In The News!, he’s using his bullhorn to attack USA Today and the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

Why USA Today, you may ask. Could it be that, in reporting on O’Reilly’s possible lack of truthiness about his alleged combat experiences, they said that he “stands exposed of the same kind of puffed-up truth-bending he so regularly derides on his show.” Could it be that they lambasted O’Reilly as “more opinionator than journalist” and asserted that Fox “should distance itself from its truth challenged employee.” Why the Cleveland Plain Dealer, you may ask. Could it be that they wrote about accusations that Bill O’Reilly’s was being deceptive in his recollection of his press experiences during the Falklands War? Could it be that they didn’t heap praises on O’Reilly’s book, “Culture Warrior?” Could it be that the editorial pages didn’t agree with O’Reilly on Jessica’s Law? Once again, it looks like Bill O’Reilly can give it - but he sure can’t take it!

O’Reilly isn’t the only thin-skinned bully on Fox, as I reported some years ago in Bully Boy Bolling Is A Coward, part 7 of my long-running Chow Mein and Bolling series. While Bolling blocked me, after attacking me, he can’t block The Daily Show. Imagine the scene in the Bolling household. Eric settles down to watch his The Five co-host, Dana Perino, promote her new book and then Stewart Teases Fox’s Dana Perino About Her ‘Dumb Guy’ Co-Host Eric Bolling. One wonders how loud and long Bolling bellowed at the boob tube. Still steamed the next day, The Five’s Eric Bolling Fires Back at Stewart’s ‘Dumb Guy’ Comment. There are some things you can always count on. Watch:

FFF is launching a new rubric today. BE OUR GUEST will be used for those Fox guests who say something totally outrageous, but it’s treated as gospel by the Fox host. A perfect example is Franklin Graham Demands Discrimination Against Muslims In Order To Win War On Terror, Blames Obama For ISIS. Then there’s Fox Guest: We Need More ‘Manly, Not Feminized’ Christianity to Fight Terrorism. Watch:

However, it’s not just hyper-religiosity in which Fox guests bring their whacked out opinions. There’s also The Gay: Fox Contributor Compares Being Transgender To Thinking You’re “A Cocker Spaniel” and Fox Contributor Compares Same-Sex Marriage To Incest And Polgyamy.

This week’s hagiography: In Hollywood Reporter Plays Patsy For Roger Ailes, NewsHounds alleges a quid pro quo. It says an Exclusive Ailes Apple Polisher™ was a reward for defending O’Reilly on Media Buzz against the onslaught of accusations he’s a lying sack of excrement.

Speaking of which, the longer Howard Kurtz remains on Fox, the worse his reputation smells.

Fox Health Watch: Bill O’Reilly Tells Viewers Where Fox’s Bob Beckel Has Been, but FFF isn’t buying the back surgery cover-up. Beckel’s disappearing act was like he entered the witness protection program, or a detox center. Otherwise, he’d not be incommunicado. Because we miss the big galoot, and in case he never returns, take a gander at The Good, the Bad, and the Ridiculous: A Tribute to The Five’s Bob Beckel.

NO PAYNE; NO GAIN:

Charles Payne Urges US Military Action To Save Persecuted Christians

Chicago Police Torture Reparations Remind Fox’s Payne That President Obama Is Too Black

FOX BYTES: Fox’s Judge Napolitano: ‘War Crime’ for Obama Drone Strikes to Have Killed American • Fox’s Bolling: Brett Favre Is A “Wussy” For Speaking Out About Football-Related Concussions • Fox Now Claiming Unsubstantiated Allegations From Anti-Clinton Smear Book Are Worse Than Those Against Senator Indicted For Corruption • Fox’s The Five Bashes Bill Nye for Flying in Jet on Earth Day • According To Fox News, Americans Wouldn’t Join ISIS If Obama Was More Like Reagan • Fox’s Ablow on Teens Joining ISIS: Obama’s ‘Debranding’ of U.S. Made Them Ideological Meth Heads • Fox’s Ablow: Americans Join ISIS Because Obama “Took Away The American Brand” • Fox’s Jesse Watters: No One Really Cares About Global Warming • Fox & Friends Rings in 4/20 with Warning About ‘More Dangerous’ Kinds of Pot • Fox & Friends Asks Carly Fiorina About ‘Hormones,’ She Says She’s Going to Announce Soon