When even the White House thinks Fox News can go too far

January 10, 2007

For about six years now, it’s looked as if Fox News received its on-air scripts directly from the White House communications staff. Apparently, as of this morning, Fox News is even a little too shrill for the Bush gang.

This morning on Fox News, anchor Gretchen Carlson called Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) a “hostile enemy” of the United States because he has demanded that Congress vote on whether to approve funding for escalation in Iraq. In an interview with White House counselor Dan Bartlett, Carlson compared Kennedy to insurgents and terrorists in Iraq, saying that Kennedy represented the same kind of force “right here on the home front.”

Dan Bartlett disagreed, saying that the White House doesn’t “view Ted Kennedy as a hostile enemy” of the United States.

Note to Fox News: just stick to Karl Rove’s script. Stop trying to adlib with your own “it’s treason” talk.

This is a direct outgrowth of Hannity’s ridiculous “Enemy of the State” schtick. Now everyone at Fox thinks they can jump on that heinous bandwagon and it just gets more absurd by the second.

They seriously need some adult supervision over there, like yesterday.

  • The suspense is over: Bush will announce 21,500 more troops to Iraq tonight.

    http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003530544

    –Bush is committing 4,000 more Marines to Anbar Province.

    –He is committing 17,500 U.S. combat troops to Baghdad, equivalent to five combat brigades. The first brigade will arrive by next Monday. The next brigade is to arrive by Feb. 15. The reminder will arrive there in 30-day increments.

    –The Iraqis are committing three brigades for Baghdad, the first to be delivered on Feb. 1. Two more will arrive on Feb. 15th.

  • Way to go, Fox. Maybe if you get even more shrill, America will snap out of its Librul-induced trance and remember that Saddam was a Democratic presidential favorite and that he actually flew all four planes on 9/11.

    The American people thank you for showing your true stripes, and will reward you accordingly.

  • The dirty little secret is that we have already lost the war.

    We won the battle against Saddam’s troops, but lost the war to establish a more benign government in its place.

    This was due imcompetence and malfeasance on the part of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice.

    Since it can’t possibly be their fault, it must be due to enemies within. Thus the claims of treason.

    The next few years will be all about blame .

    Who lost Iraq?

  • If the troop level is about 138,000 now, that may put the top force at 160,000 which is 10k above invasion levels (the highest level), but I don’t know whether the rotations are going to decrease that number or whether it will hold. The levels have been going up since July (120,000) I think. And latest baseline was about 138,000. The fighters will probably just sit out the escalation and Bush will call it a win.

  • Thanks for the update Ohian. BushBrat is committing troops (that may or may not exist) but we all know the only person who needs to be committed is the one making these crazy decisions.

    I would not be surprised if Shrubby says he is sending 21500 soliders and when it turns out we don’t have that many soldiers he’ll shrug and say “Well, I wanted to send that many. Heh.”

    Of course, the fact that 9K soldiers aren’t able to the job of more than twice that many won’t be his fault.

  • Carlson compared Kennedy to insurgents and terrorists in Iraq…

    Surely a FOX News anchor wouldn’t flatly make such a comparison herself; she must’ve said, “Some people say that Ted Kennedy is as bad as the terrorists…”

    NeilS: “The dirty little secret is that we have already lost the war.”

    Which is why Dubya’s speech tonight will include the phrase, “Best two out of three?”

  • The radical-right loves to throw out the word “treason” at almost the same rate that they utter “liberal” (as in evil, etc.). Fox continues to demonstrate exactly what’s wrong with corporate control of the media, and the changes allowed by the Repugs that allowed even greater control of the country’s avenues of communication. I sure hope this little detail doesn’t slip by the 110th Congress and that they at least alter the FCC’s oversight behavior.

  • Ohioan,

    #5 – Edo. Your guess is as good as mine…

    Oh man. I’m guessing Afghanistan which means we’ve squandered even the small chance we had to be somewhat successful there.

  • Since some of the crazier Republicans are out of Congress now, Fox’s pre 11/7 bombast is being revealed as the treasonist rhetoric it has always been because it doesn’t have the old Wingnuts to make it seem more reasonable in contrast.

  • ***Gretchen Carlson***

    Is it just me—or does that bimbo look a little like Osama? All she needs is the freaking beard and an AK-47.

    Math lesson for the day: Gretchen Carlson + hangman’s rope + telephone pole = windsock. Now the boys and girls at the acid-reflux network can tell that “the winds are changing….”

  • Cripes, Steve. I don’t have a problem ripping on a rotten TV personality, but do we have to fantasize about hanging her??

  • Edo #14 – Maybe that’s why the generals have been objecting to the escalation. Shrubby is willing to make two wars go down in dramatic flames on a gamble he might be able to pull out a big win in one of them. I wonder how NATO feels about holding the bag on Afghanistan? Bush will get his escalation, but it may be the mujahedeen that are doing it.

  • petorado#19. Imagine if Bush had stuck with Afghanistan and sought worldwide help to turn it into a model democracy specializing in women’s rights…oh well fantasy

  • so very big of bartlett to say the wh doesn’t view kennedy as a hostile enemy. how about bartlett saying something about that kind of talk being inappropriate? oh, that’s right, WAAAAAY too much to ask.

    above someone was wondering where these “extra” troops are coming from — afghanistan — they’ve already received their transfer papers.

  • The troops will come from those stationed on Okinawa, Guam and those “wasting everybody’s time” along the DMZ in South Korea.

  • Dale,

    petorado#19. Imagine if Bush had stuck with Afghanistan and sought worldwide help to turn it into a model democracy specializing in women’s rights…oh well fantasy

    If only. We truly had a chance to turn that country around–especially as far as women’s rights are concerned. I’ll never forgive the NeoCons and the W administration for blowing that. Never.

  • I hope that Kennedy demands an interview with this harpie. With his experience, I think that he’d rip her so bad, she’d need a colostomy bag.

  • Yeah Edo#25. It’s kinda heartbreaking to remember all the hopeful news about women’s rights that emerged right after the initial battles. I guess the girls are locked back up in their houses again. Afghanistan would have been plenty enough of a challenge and legacy for Bush if he was congenitally able to stick to any one thing.

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