Wednesday, January 30, 2013

On a mission

I had a friend make the claim that Fox News doesn't lie.  Although there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary all over the Internet for anyone who wants to bother doing research (complete with video evidence), I am making it my mission to prove that Fox does, indeed, lie.

I am picking one show every week and recording it on my DVR.  I will review each show, giving myself the weekend just in case, and review claims made by Fox News contributors and talking heads.  I will do my own analysis and prove my case.

I know this is like shooting fish in a barrel; this is the channel that scoffed at Hillary Clinton's medical condition, calling it "the Benghazi flu".  Is that a lie?  It's definitely a distortion of the truth based on a lack of information.  It's irresponsible journalism, at the very least.

Two other incidents come to mind immediately: they aired sound bites of Barack Obama on two occasions, omitting context that would change the understanding of the part they chose to show their viewers.  One was his infamous "you didn't build that" speech, where the context made clear that he was talking about roads, bridges, and other infrastructure businesses use that the taxpayers provide.  The other was an interview where he talked about immigration law enforcement and presidential powers.

In any case, I'm going to decide this week which show I will analyze next week.



Examples of Obama's bipartisanship

Recently, I had a discussion with a friend and co-worker who claimed that President Obama has never acted in a bipartisan manner in his relationship with Congress. This statement floored me, since I recall Obama giving in way too much to Republicans during the first couple years of his first term, so I decided to do some research and find examples of when President Obama has made bipartisan efforts. I should note that even with compromise, many bills did not pass because Republicans simply said no to them. Several made it their stated goal to make Barack Obama a one-term President. In spite of this strategy, several bills received bipartisan support under President Obama's leadership.

The Recovery Act:  A review of this 2009 bill's vote history in Congress will reveal that bipartisan support was necessary to pass it. It received a super-majority of votes.  This bill prevented a global depression.

The Lily Ledbetter Act::  Here is the vote history for this bill.  The legislation reversed a Supreme Court decision that changed the rules regarding when an employee can sue for pay discrimination.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal:  The bill that made it so homosexuals do not have to lie to serve in the military (lie of omission, in this case) received bipartisan support.

Debt Ceiling:  The Budget Control Act of 2011 received overwhelming bipartisan after a great deal of compromise between the Obama administration and both parties in Congress.

Wall Street Reform: Here is the Dodd-Frank Act's vote history in Congress.  Once again, bipartisan support.

Food Safety Modernization: This act passed in the Senate by voice vote, it received so much bipartisan support.

One could argue that members of Congress reached across the aisle to compromise, but the above are examples of bills where President Obama led quite publicly.  There are several other examples, but these all passed with a super-majority in the Senate.