# Fox cancels Lou Dobbs! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 6, 2021, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-cancels-lou-dobbs/932291 "2021-02-06T00:21:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-cancels-lou-dobbs/932291/21 "2021-02-06T03:41:44Z")
This kind of of reminds me of this Pat Bagley cartoon about Punchable Shkreli. > **[Politicalcartoons.com - Editorial Cartoon 173125](https://politicalcartoons.com/cartoon/173125/)** > > Breaking News, The editorial cartoon licensing store He got in trouble for ripping off rich people and it’s a similar deal here. Fox and the shitbags have spent years lying , punching down and generally fucking over anyone they could get away with , and now they are in the shit because they messed with a company that had the resources to defend themselves rather than all the egregious bullshit they pulled in the past. Happy for them to burn , it is a shame it’s for a lesser reason. They don’t need no water, let the mother fuckers burn. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-cancels-lou-dobbs/932291/22 "2021-02-06T03:56:42Z")
Yeah, because we all know that people are going to watch more Neil Cavuto to make up the difference. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-cancels-lou-dobbs/932291/23 "2021-02-06T03:57:43Z")
fukk the lamestream media…i’m goin to PARLER!!! Oh, wait… p.s. buy bitcoin!!! ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-cancels-lou-dobbs/932291/24 "2021-02-06T04:52:43Z")
> [@Boycott](#): > > I’ll wait and see how Hannity and Carlson are affected by the lawsuit. They won’t be - they were not named in the suit. As pure commentators rather than news anchors it is slightly more difficult to make them squirm for being “hyperbolic” (aka lying their asses off). Smartmatic was, well, smart - they were very careful about who they were leveling charges against and why. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-cancels-lou-dobbs/932291/25 "2021-02-06T15:13:45Z")
Only slightly, but I would guess that by virtue of their status as entertainers, they’d argue that they were just reporting what Lou Dobbs said on the “news”. The smart move would be for Fox execs to steer them clear of that topic for a while. They might even ask them to come back with a retraction on their programs. Right now, Fox is in total damage control mode: their sacking of Dobbs is essentially a de facto admission that they’re going to be on the losing end of a lawsuit should it end up in court. They’re going to try to settle out of court and firing Dobbs + retraction is a way to negotiate a lower settlement. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-cancels-lou-dobbs/932291/26 "2021-02-06T15:32:08Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Of course the fans of Fox are going to blame the MSM It always bugs me when anyone that watches Fox complains about MSM. What exactly do they think Fox News is? > [@wolfpup](#): > > The lawsuits are doing what we’ve always hoped for and thought could never be achieved: making blatant lying on the air a risky and potentially devastatingly costly blunder. I’ve always wondered why they don’t attempt to make it more clear, just for legal reasons, that they aren’t news and they aren’t journalists. That’s what got Tucker out of a lawsuit not that long ago. I know at least some of the people on that station (don’t know which shows), when backed into a corner, will defend their comments by saying ‘hey, I’m not a journalist, this is just my opinion’ or something like that. But if they made it more clear that the show is just for entertainment or is meant to be viewed as political satire, couldn’t they get away with most anything? Look at any late night host. They can, so far as I know, say anything they want without any real risk of losing a lawsuit. I’m not defending Fox, I’m curious to why they haven’t gone this route. Is there a line between news and entertainment that requires more than simply stating it? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-cancels-lou-dobbs/932291/27 "2021-02-06T16:53:11Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Running scared. Look for a couple of more firings over the weekend. Or, look for some on-air apologies to voting machine companies, in an attempt to mitigate damages. Fox knows that they will be massive losers in the upcoming lawsuit,and groveling apologies and retractions are necessary. I suspect good old Lou refused to apologize, so under the bus he went. His show was a money loser anyway, as advertisers refused to put ads on his program. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-cancels-lou-dobbs/932291/28 "2021-02-06T17:14:53Z")
Apologies aren’t enough in this situation; plaintiffs want 100% acknowledgment that the information they presented was categorically false - in other words, admit that they basically lied without actually calling themselves a liar. No way was Dobbs going to do that, and he was probably told that even that wouldn’t necessarily save his job. It’ll be interesting to see what happens to his contract. Dobbs clearly didn’t say anything that made Fox News execs uncomfortable and were quite content to let him stay on the air – until their legal department gave them the bad news. But Dobbs may get to pocket that money that remains in his contract. Of course, he’ll have to spend some of that on his legal defense. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-cancels-lou-dobbs/932291/29 "2021-02-06T17:16:30Z")
They can apologise, but it may be “too little, too late”. If Smartmatic and Dominion can show that they have lost contracts and sales because of all the lies that have been told about them, on-air apologies may not do anything for their bottom line, and they’ll still want money from Fox, Dobbs, Guiliani and Powell. [Fun Fact: I couldn’t remember Powell’s name just now, so I googled “crazy Trump lawyer”. The first four hits had her name in full, the rest gave articles that referred to her.] ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-cancels-lou-dobbs/932291/30 "2021-02-06T17:33:02Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > [Fun Fact: I couldn’t remember Powell’s name just now, so I googled “crazy Trump lawyer”. The first four hits had her name in full, the rest gave articles that referred to her.] By their fruits shall you know them. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-cancels-lou-dobbs/932291/31 "2021-02-06T17:45:17Z")
I, for one, can’t wait for **DemonTree’s** take on this vile assault on Dobbs’ Freeze Peach… ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-cancels-lou-dobbs/932291/32 "2021-02-06T17:48:28Z")
I know! The government should MAKE Fox News re-hire good old Lou immediately! ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-cancels-lou-dobbs/932291/33 "2021-02-06T18:01:04Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > It always bugs me when anyone that watches Fox complains about MSM. What exactly do they think Fox News is? Well, ackshually…increasingly, the folks who complain about “mainstream media” _do_ count Fox News as MSM, criticize it as no better than CNN, and turn to even more extreme sources like Newsmax and OANN. Particularly since Fox News committed the sin\* of accurately reporting election results and calling states against Trump. \*I think Trumpism at this point really is a quasi-religion, so I’m using the term “sin” pretty literally. > [@Joey\_P](#): > > I’ve always wondered why they don’t attempt to make it more clear, just for legal reasons, that they aren’t news and they aren’t journalists. That’s what got Tucker out of a lawsuit not that long ago. I know at least some of the people on that station (don’t know which shows), when backed into a corner, will defend their comments by saying ‘hey, I’m not a journalist, this is just my opinion’ or something like that. But if they made it more clear that the show is just for entertainment or is meant to be viewed as political satire, couldn’t they get away with most anything? > Look at any late night host. They can, so far as I know, say anything they want without any real risk of losing a lawsuit. > I’m not defending Fox, I’m curious to why they haven’t gone this route. Is there a line between news and entertainment that requires more than simply stating it? That’s _exactly_ what they do whenever they’re meaningfully challenged. But _only_ then. Their entire model is built on mixing “news” and “opinion” such that a casual viewer can’t tell the difference, but maintaining _juuust_ enough separation that they can fall back on the “opinion” defense. Clearly and explicitly stating up front that a particular show is “opinion” rather than “news” would disrupt their whole model. Instead, when they’re challenged, they just say after the fact that clearly _that_ show was an opinion piece, as should be obvious to any reasonable viewer. It’s a dodge that’s worked for them so far. Years ago, when John Stewart was hosting the _Daily Show_ and feuding with Fox News on the regular, he did a piece on this, and pointed out that going by Fox’s retroactive classifications, something like less than a quarter of Fox News’ airtime was actually devoted to news, in a couple of blocks, separated by much larger blocks of “opinion” and “discussion” programming (none of which was explicitly labeled or referred to as such in the actual programming). ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-cancels-lou-dobbs/932291/34 "2021-02-06T18:53:29Z")
Very good people are saying he was on the toilet when he got fired. If true it would be very very sad. But he is on the can 10-12 hours a day so it checks out on that score. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-cancels-lou-dobbs/932291/35 "2021-02-06T19:09:59Z")
Shit canned on the shit can? Who finally got Karma a sense of humor? ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-cancels-lou-dobbs/932291/36 "2021-02-06T19:16:53Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > John Stewart Jon Stewart. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-cancels-lou-dobbs/932291/37 "2021-02-06T19:20:59Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Jon Stewart. Thanks. No one would have had any idea which Daily Show host he was talking about without that nitpick. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-cancels-lou-dobbs/932291/38 "2021-02-06T19:22:42Z")
Has there been any statement from Dobbs in response? ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-cancels-lou-dobbs/932291/39 "2021-02-06T19:38:53Z")
It bugs me. Sorry. It’s a small thing, but I actually took a second to know who he was talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-cancels-lou-dobbs/932291/40 "2021-02-06T19:39:58Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > [Fun Fact: I couldn’t remember Powell’s name just now, so I googled “crazy Trump lawyer”. The first four hits had her name in full, the rest gave articles that referred to her.] It’s a new spin on the insanity defense. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-cancels-lou-dobbs/932291.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-cancels-lou-dobbs/932291.md?page=3)