Happy and Safe New Year's Eve to all our readers

Sat 07:16 PM

Please be safe and smart tonight. We want you back in 2006!

"If you drink, don't drive. If you drive, don't drink."

"See" you in the New Year!

Reported by chrish | Newshounds | Comments (16)

2005 Beltway Boys Awards

Sat 06:43 PM

Mort Kondracke and Fred Barnes must have lost their seasonal spirit a bit early this year judging by their award choices and nasty comments during their 8th Annual Year End Awards Show.

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Hope Springs Eternal

Sat 03:10 PM

After a year of claiming that the stock market was soaring under George Bush, did Fox News Channel's "Bulls and Bears" close the year on Saturday (Dec. 31, 2005) by looking at what really happened? Or did they merely move on to more optimistic hyperbole about 2006? If you were a blind Bush lover, what would you do?

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Grapevine Whine - Where Old News Is New News

Sat 12:25 PM

Jim Angle, still substituting for anchor Brit Hume on Special Report, wrapped up the week on the Grapevine segment with an unsubtle attack on the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), one of FNC's favorite targets. On Friday night (12/30) he led off the segment with an item that dragged up a year-old lawsuit over a 3-year-old Transportation Security Administration pilot program in behavioral screening, & pretended it was all happening now.

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Mailbox Unfunnies - "Bah Humbug!" Edition

Sat 08:41 AM

The last time I posted a collection of these hate mails I called it Instant Payback. Well, the payback is still going on, but the holiday season seems to have made a dent in it. The usual idiots ... er, correspondents must have been off fighting the war on Christmas. As always, identifying info has been deleted to protect the ignorant. So let's end the year with a bang, & enjoy the latest batch!

WARNING: Most of these are pretty mild, but there is some vile language in a few, so if you're offended by that sort of thing, please don't read this thread.

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Reported by nancy | Newshounds Editorials | Comments (93)

Republican Strategist Admits 2005 Was A Bad Year For Bush

Sat 02:25 AM

The top story on Hannity & Colmes Thursday night (12/29/05) was a look back at the year that was and a look ahead to 2006 for the Bush Administration. Republican spokesperson Terry Holt (along with a little help from FOX News) was ready to trumpet Bush’s wonderful accomplishments in 2005 and forecast a blockbuster January coming up. But Alan Colmes threw so much cold water of reality at Holt that he was forced to do a 180 and acknowledge that he was glad 2005 was over.

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Gibson and O'Reilly wrong on Clooney - really, really wrong

Sat 12:24 AM

Back in October, John Gibson and CNN founder Reese Schoenfeld made some negative remarks and predictions about George Clooney's docudrama about Edward R. Murrow, "Good Night and Good Luck." Bill O'Reilly said Clooney's career was over because of his left-wing views and politics. To say they were a liitle off the mark would be an understatement, and Clooney has the best revenge: success.

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Your (Screw the Real) World w/Neil Cavuto

Fri 11:04 PM

This being the last day (December 30, 2005) of the business year, one would think that Fox's "premiere business news" program, Your World w/Neil Cavuto, would do a "wrap" of the year's activity on Wall Street, right?

Nope. Wrong again. Not on Your World, a program Fox says offers "news and insight on Wall Street and other market activities, while wrapping up the business news of the day."

Check out Your World's line up for today here. Do you see a "wrapping up of the business news of the day," much less of the year?

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Reported by Melanie | Cavuto/& Your World | Comments (43)

John Kasich Nauseating as PR Huckster - Blindly Distorts Truth in Frantic Effort to Whitewash Bush

Fri 09:34 PM

This week on the O'Reilly Factor former Ohio Congressman John Kasich subbed for the vacationing Bill O'Reilly. In that role on Wednesday and Thursday nights he engaged in nothing short of a betrayal of his own conservative values as he slavishly defended the indefensible, i.e., George W. Bush's aggressive and unrepentant use of warrantless searches in blatant violation the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

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FOX Takes Credit for Justice Department Leak Investigation

Fri 06:55 PM

Stuart Varney, the substitute host this week on Your World w/Neil Cavuto, positively vibrated today (December 30, 2005) as he opened the show and melodramatically made this announcement:

Now, listen to this! A call to action from this program, and we get results! Just two days ago, Your World asks why the Justice Department isn't launching an investigation into top secret leaks. Word coming today that investigation is going to happen. We've got former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik here on why holding these leakers accountable could make all of America safer from terrorism.
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Grapevine Whine - Kennedy in the Crosshairs

Fri 05:29 PM

Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) must really be aggravating someone at FNC this week -- he's had spot #1 on the Grapevine twice -- an honor usually reserved only for President George W Bush. Of course the "pickings" that highlight Kennedy, unlike those that highlight Bush, are always distorted in order to seem extremely negative. Tuesday night (12/27) & last night (12/29), with Jim Angle still substituting for anchor Brit Hume, were no exception. But Angle has to use another one of FNC's "iffy" sources to spin the first item, & had to drag up a weeks-old story for the second.

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Justice Department Investigating NSA Leak

Fri 12:03 PM

The Justice Department has opened an investigation into who leaked information about the NSA program to the media. Brigitte Quinn talked to Eric Dezanhall and Peter Mirijanian, crisis and PR consultants, during FNL in the late morning. The chyron below them read "Is NYT in hot water?" 12/30/05

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Grapevine Whine - Political Porn

Fri 05:58 AM

Many other programs on FNC manage to include sleazy porn stories masquerading as news (see, for example, Melanie's expose of Neil Cavuto's obsession, or what I caught Greta Van Susteren showing) but Special Report doesn't usually stoop to that level. Last night (12/29) however, with Jim Angle again substituting for anchor Brit Hume, one of the "pickings" on the Grapevine got a little sleaze on-screen & managed to bash Austria in the process. A nice double whammy for FNC -- I wonder if this would have been included had Hume been anchoring?

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Any Excuse Is A Good Excuse To Bash Democrats

Fri 04:01 AM

Near the end of last night’s (12/29/05) Hannity & Colmes, Alan Colmes and substitute co-host Mike Gallagher swapped New Year’s resolutions. Gallagher said, “I’m going to try real hard to be nicer to you libs… I think we ought to focus on what unites us Americans rather than what divides us.”

But why start now, Gallagher must have figured, with two days left in 2005?

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Top Dog Martin Frost: "(Bush) is not a dictator."

Fri 02:36 AM

The "debate" continued yesterday on The Big Story 12/2/05, with guests former Rep. Martin Frost (D-TX) and former Governor Jim Gilmore (R-VA). David Asman was filling in for John Gibson, turning what at first glance might appear to be a fair and balanced "debate" into a lop-sided defense of Bush's illegal NSA spying authorizations. Frost did a great job staying focused on the main issue, i.e. that Bush broke the laws of this country in ordering surveillance of Americans at home without proper judicial consent. In fact, I'm awarding him "Best in Show" honors for his performance today.

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"We have to leave to win"

Thu 11:29 PM

US Sergeant Major Steve Greer, just returned from Iraq, was a guest of David Asman (guest hosting) on The Big Story today 12/29/05. The topic was the US forces' change in strategy in fighting the insurgents in Iraq, and the success of the change in strategy. But Greer said something that only a few months ago would have had him labeled as anti-troop, and he would have been accused of "cutting and running."

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Justice Foundation January 10, 2006 in Colorado

Thu 08:55 PM

As posted earlier, "the Justice Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Denver, Colorado that seeks to expose Fox News’ right-wing propaganda and to help stop the dissemination of misleading information to the American public."

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Fox Guest: "Everybody Has Moved Up to Be Rich Now"

Thu 07:41 PM

Tom Adkins, a realtor/investor and the founder of Common Conservative ("taking on liberals wherever he finds them"), was a guest on Your World w/Neil Cavuto today (December 29, 2005). Adkins is a very frequent guest on Your World and he regularly appears on Fox's Saturday morning "business news" programs. Today Fox identified Adkins only as a realtor with "Re/max Fairlawn" but I have seen him identified only as the founder of Common Conservative too. Apparently the topic at hand is the deciding factor in how Fox identifies him -- when they need a realtor, he's a realtor, when they need a conservative commentator, he's from Common Conservative.

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Fox's Folbaum Asks - Have We Caught Any Al Qaeda On U.S. Soil? Simmons Answers: If We Have, They've Been Quiet About It

Thu 06:05 PM

Today with Rick Folbaum substituting for Shepard Smith, he interviewed Fox's old standby, so called, 'terrorist' expert, Wayne Simmons. Now, I was going to put a link in for Mr. Simmons, but if you take the time to search in the search box on the right hand column, you'll see we've covered Mr. Simmons on numerous times and he has a rather radical, right-wing mindset. In fact, I will link you to one story that Ellen just reported on Saturday, where Simmons said that traitors should be shot by a firing squad with regards to John Walker Lindh, who is currently serving a 20 year sentence.

The following is my partial transcript (paraphrased but pretty much verbatim). I just left off the ending statement where Mr. Simmons exalts about his time chasing narco terrorists. (Comment: I like how he incorporated the name narco and terrorist. Would it then be fair to call him a neocon terrorist?)

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Just Another Small Distortion To Add To The Long List

Thu 11:28 AM

Greg Kelly gave a routine report this morning from Crawford telling viewers how President Bush plans to spend his vacation time this week. Kelly reported that Bush will be visiting Brooke Army Medical Center later in the week adding that he routinely visits veterans in the hospitals adding that Brooks has a good burn unit. Kelly's report suggested that Bush had visited BAMC in San Antonio in the past which is not the case according to a local newspaperl

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December 29, 2005

Grapevine Whine - Spying on Americans Isn't Really Spying, reported by nancy, 119 comments

FOX News, Ever Eager For New Ways To Attack Academia, Picks A Racist Chickenhawk As Its Latest Vehicle, reported by Ellen, 138 comments

December 28, 2005

Who let the dogs out?, reported by chrish, 11 comments

Pretzel logic on the Big Story, reported by chrish, 20 comments

Fox: the Administration's Attack Dog - It Punishes Canada for Having a Life, reported by Melanie, 149 comments

Fox - Folbaum Asks If Judges Will Be Sympathetic To Defense Lawyers Who Try To Use The Law To Assist Clients, reported by Donna, 20 comments

Grapevine Whine - Still Boosting Arnie, Still Getting It Wrong, reported by nancy, 116 comments

FOX News And The GOP Try To Spin The Controversy About Bush Spying On Americans Into A National Security Issue And Away From Questions About Whether Bush Broke The Law., reported by Ellen, 247 comments

December 27, 2005

Gibson: vague accusations, smearing all with one big whiny brush, reported by chrish, 54 comments

War in Iraq a bargain, reported by chrish, 55 comments

The Fox News Reich Pins a Yellow Star on the NY Times, reported by Melanie, 91 comments

Horrific News Out of Iraq - Or How I Stopped Fretting About The Current Deaths And Concentrated On Former Ones, reported by Donna, 51 comments

Roger Ailes' new contract, reported by chrish, 16 comments

No Grapevine Whine - Just Fox's Ongoing "Culture War", reported by nancy, 172 comments

GrapeWhine Summary - Week of Dec 19, reported by nancy, 28 comments

Rich Lowry’s Despicable Smear Of Libraries. Are They The Next Target Of The FOX News Hate Machine?, reported by Ellen, 66 comments

Grapevine Whine - Bitching About Barbie, reported by nancy, 24 comments

Rich Lowry and David Dreier Spin The Patriot Act As A Piece Of Civil Liberties Legislation, reported by Ellen, 6 comments

December 26, 2005

Fox Poll Asks Readers to Rate the Results of An Election that Hasn't Happened Yet, reported by Melanie, 37 comments

The Gravy Train Cometh: Factor Guest Dropped by Washington Times For Taking Money from Abramoff, reported by Marie Therese, 12 comments

Fox Covers for the Bush Administration While it Nukes the Constitution, reported by Melanie, 71 comments

Bush Administration Siding With Anna Nicole Smith, reported by deborah, 17 comments

Fox's Rick Folbaum - Wouldn't Most Americans Agree With The President Eavesdropping?, reported by Donna, 25 comments

Ho - Ho - Ho - Merry --- Gotcha!!! Is It Safe To Say 'Happy New Year?', reported by Donna, 199 comments

December 25, 2005

The Christmas War Is Over For Another Year, reported by deborah, 98 comments

December 24, 2005

And to all a Good Night!, reported by chrish, 20 comments

The Grinch Factor, reported by deborah, 48 comments

A Christmas Memory For John Gibson, reported by deborah, 1 comments

FOX News Regular Wayne Simmons Says Traitors Should Be Shot By A Firing Squad. Think He'd Say The Same About Valerie Plame Leaker?, reported by Ellen, 145 comments

Lowry Lies Again And Sullies What Had Been A Decent Discussion About Iraq, reported by Ellen, 13 comments

December 23, 2005

Ho, ho, ho, boys and girls! On FOX News Channel, Santa's a Republican!, reported by Marie Therese, 39 comments

Tom Daschle Now On The List Of Democrats To Attack, reported by deborah, 36 comments

"Outfoxed" airing in UK on Boxing Day, reported by chrish, 16 comments

Religious Intolerance Abounds on Dayside, reported by janie, 125 comments

Grapevine Whine - Still Spinning About Katrina, reported by nancy, 25 comments

Alan Colmes Smacks Down Newt Gingrich Over Bush Spy Scandal, reported by Ellen, 72 comments

December 22, 2005

O'Reilly Edited My E-Mail, reported by deborah, 42 comments

E-mail support for John Gibson's meltdown, reported by chrish, 48 comments

Fox Guest Uses the "It's Been Going on for Years" Lie to Defend the Patriot Act, reported by Melanie, 24 comments

FOX affilliate scrubs white supremacist story from website, reported by chrish, 27 comments

Iraqi guest hopes for dreaded "secular" government, reported by chrish, 7 comments

President - Flip-Flop on Patriot Act Stance?, reported by Donna, 40 comments

Dayside and Kay Bailey Hutchison Spreading Drudge Report Lies, reported by janie, 71 comments

Grapevine Whine - Spinning the Polls (Part 1), reported by nancy, 48 comments

December 21, 2005

Will a Beseiged Bush Try to Break the NYC Transit Union?, reported by Marie Therese, 53 comments

O'Reilly Wrong Again: School Never Rewrote "Silent Night" Lyrics!, reported by Marie Therese, 73 comments

Bernard Goldberg Adds Cindy Sheehan To His List, reported by deborah, 149 comments

It's All About the List, Stupid!, reported by Marie Therese, 17 comments

John Gibson melts down, threatens to sue AU's Rob Boston, reported by chrish, 49 comments

Fox Sees the Light, Becomes Fair & Balanced, reported by Melanie, 29 comments

Not One Word On Studio B About The President Admitting To Spying On Americans, reported by Donna, 14 comments

O'Reilly Guest Insults American People, Claims They're So Scared They'll Allow President to Break Law to Save Their Own Skins, reported by Marie Therese, 52 comments

Fox - President Looking Out For Small Businesses, But People Still Living Outside & In Tents, reported by Donna, 8 comments

Ignore Your Constitutional Rights, Blame the Media!, reported by janie, 139 comments

Napolitano: in retrospect, Clinton crime not impeachable offense, reported by chrish, 48 comments

Grapevine Whine - Arnie Gets a Boost from Brit, reported by nancy, 54 comments

Grapevine Whine - The Reactionary Noise Machine at Work, reported by nancy, 43 comments

Yet Another Democrat Can't Explain What's Wrong With Bush Spying On Americans, reported by Ellen, 93 comments

The First Bill O'Reilly Write Your Own Caption Contest, reported by Marie Therese, 108 comments

December 20, 2005

The Ghost of Reagan Past: FOX Conjures Up PATCO Strike, reported by Marie Therese, 4 comments

Dear America: You're Making Me Rich, Rich, Rich! Thanks so Much. Love, Rupert, reported by Melanie, 6 comments

Disappointing retail result of Xian backlash?, reported by chrish, 12 comments

War Dead & Injured, reported by Melanie, 20 comments

Now Bush is Lincoln-esque, according to John Gibson, reported by chrish, 25 comments

O'Reilly Claims Media Using "Brokeback Mountain" To Indoctrinate, reported by deborah, 39 comments

Fox Wages War on American Workers via the NYC Transit Strikers, reported by Melanie, 70 comments

Cheney Claimed Secret Spying On Americans Without A Warrant "Has Saved Thousands Of Lives", reported by Donna, 64 comments

In What Way Is Intelligent Design A 'Theory' As Fox Says?, reported by Donna, 151 comments

Website Illustration Tips Fox's Hand, reported by nancy, 122 comments

George the Spy and the Case of the Missing Constitution, reported by janie, 91 comments

History 101 By Professor Hume, reported by nancy, 47 comments

FOX News Tries To Shoot The New York Times Messenger, reported by Ellen, 28 comments

Law Professor To O'Reilly: "I Believe the President Committed a Federal Crime ... That Crime Was Premeditated" But It Won't Rise to an "Impeachable Offense", reported by Marie Therese, 24 comments

December 19, 2005

Rich Lowry Misrepresents Murtha, reported by Ellen, 31 comments

Botched "Gotcha" Game: Chris Wallace Fails to Make Sen. Harry Reid Squirm, reported by Marie Therese, 29 comments

Neil Cavuto's Sex Business Ramps Up, reported by Melanie, 36 comments

So Many Potential Terrorist Attacks, So Little Time, reported by Melanie, 24 comments

Spying on Americans? Called 'The Program' By Fox, reported by Donna, 64 comments

Hypocrisy, Thy Name Is FOX, reported by nancy, 113 comments

Why Sean Hannity And GOP Attorney Have No Problem With Bush Ordering Illegal Spying On Americans: What If Osama Bin Laden Is Calling?, reported by Ellen, 200 comments

GrapeWhine Summary - Week of Dec 12, reported by nancy, 20 comments

December 18, 2005

What the Hey's Goin' on Here?, reported by Melanie, 8 comments

FOX Pre Speech Subliminal Tune Up, reported by deborah, 15 comments

David Asman: "Banning Torture Could Spook Wall Street Outright", reported by Marie Therese, 48 comments

Bush in a Bubble? What Bubble? It's the Media, Stupid, reported by Melanie, 17 comments

Workers' Nightmare: 'All Companies Should Be Like Wal-Mart', reported by judy, 59 comments

FOX News Website Spins A Headline, reported by nancy, 185 comments

December 17, 2005

Fred Barnes Thinks Some Torture Techniques Useful, reported by deborah, 30 comments

Not All Wall Street People Think Alike, reported by judy, 17 comments

This I Believe, reported by judy, 15 comments

Iraqis Vote! Dow to 11,000!, reported by judy, 10 comments

Bush Admits Authorizing Secret Snooping, reported by Marie Therese, 146 comments

Hume Interviews Rice, With Worse Than "Softball" Questions, reported by nancy, 37 comments

Republican Senator John Sununu Tells Hannity A Thing Or Two About The USA Patriot Act, reported by Ellen, 185 comments

December 16, 2005

Joy to the (Right) World, reported by Melanie, 132 comments

O'Reilly-Rumsfeld Interview - Part Three, reported by Marie Therese, 88 comments

Bob Novak To Become FOX News Contributor. Traitor During Wartime? No Problem For FNC, So Long As You're A Republican, reported by Ellen, 90 comments

Grapevine Whine - Another Iffy Source, reported by nancy, 77 comments

O'Reilly-Rumsfeld Interview - Part Two, reported by Marie Therese, 113 comments

Grapevine Whine - Thanks for the MEMRI, reported by nancy, 37 comments