Lies or Bad Information?

How does Fox News get away with this stuff?

I don't watch Fox News. Mainly because I can think for myself, and mainly because of the conservative/neocon agenda that they promote. Broadcasting media is not about telling people what to think, or about reporting opinions, it's about reporting the news and truths, and the truth is something Fox News has a hard time finding.

It also appears that Pat Robertson, poster boy for neocon thinking and founder of Christian Coalition of America and host of the Christian Broadcasting Network's The 700 Club, has a hard time telling the truth when appearing on Fox News.

During an interview on March 31,on Your World w/Neil Cavuto, the Rev. Pat Robertson falsely stated that Dr. William Hammesfahr, a Florida physician who examined Terri Schiavo and claimed Schiavo would improve under his care, is "a noted Nobel Prize winning neurologist."

From Media Matters:

First, Robertson attempted to suggest that Schiavo was not in a persistent vegetative state by referencing the testimony of "a noted Nobel Prize-winning neurologist named Dr. Himmelfarb." However, as Media Matters previously noted, Dr. William Hammesfahr -- to whom Robertson was presumably referring -- was never legitimately nominated for the prize, let alone received it.

Robertson also criticized the courts for their role in the Schiavo case, calling the judiciary "out of control" and in need of being "reined back in." Robertson further claimed that Republicans need to fight the "out of control" judiciary by putting an end to Democratic filibusters of some of President Bush's nominees. He asserted that "the Supreme Court has got to change. They have asserted power never given them under the Constitution, and we've got to get back to constitutional democracy, which is what our country was built on."

Robertson's linkage of the Schiavo case to the debate on judicial nominations is premised on the idea that the federal judges deciding the Schiavo case were not conservatives, a situation that would presumably be ameliorated by the addition of those Bush nominees who have been or may be filibustered by Democrats. But federal courts at every level rejected the claim by Schiavo's parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, that the law gave them the right to have Schiavo's feeding tube restored and to a de novo review, or a complete rehearing, of the case in federal court. These decisions were not in fact the actions of liberal judges. While the district court judge was an appointee of President Clinton, the 12-judge en banc panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which rejected the Schindlers's two appeals, has a 7-5 Republican majority. Moreover, one of the two dissenters who favored hearing the case was appointed by Clinton. Finally, the U.S. Supreme Court, which Robertson specifically attacked, is made up of seven Republican appointees and two Democratic appointees.

Robertson made his comments during Fox News' special coverage of the Schiavo case between 4 and 5 p.m. ET. The show's guest list during this special coverage was anything but "fair and balanced." The show featured six guests who argued that Schiavo's feeding tube should have been restored: Robertson, entertainer Pat Boone, Focus on the Family founder James C. Dobson, nationally syndicated columnist Cal Thomas, former presidential candidate Ralph Nader, and Cliff Kincaid of the conservative watchdog group Accuracy in Media. Only two guests expressed contrary views: David Corn, Washington editor of The Nation, and Paul Levinson, chairman of the Department of Communications and Media Studies at Fordham University.
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Now some people will say that Robertson's misleading statements were no big deal, which would be correct if he were making such statements on his private 700 Club show, but for an international news organization I would think attention to fact would be much more important.

Since March 21st, Fox News and other neocons have been reporting that Himmelfarb was a leading Nobel Prize nominee/winner and it is clear that he never was a recipient or much less a nominee. And, in fact, his entire "expert analysis" is totally in question with most leading neurologist's. I think Fox News and friends have had plenty of time to correct their totally false and misleading statements, and it is clear that they do not intend to do so and are purposely deceiving viewers while trying to form opinions for everyone.