Yes, I know, we’re already ass-deep in Schiavo-related pittings, and Fox News is not exactly a new target, either. Still, I felt that they had earned some vitriol that didn’t deserve to be buried in the other threads.
Few news sources are totally innocent of contributing to the bullshit in recent days; for instance, I usually find the AP to be reasonably neutral, but they crossed the line, or at least leaned over it, with their headline “Doctors Disagree on Schiavo’s Awareness”. This passes the all-important “technically true” test, but the reality is more like “Nutjob Toady Quacks Who Haven’t Seen the Patient Dispute Well-Supported Findings by Reputable Neurologists”. I would never expect them to display that much honesty, but the headline gives these charlatans a legitimacy they dont’ deserve.
Fox, on the other hand, isn’t even concerned with being technically true. Many have heard the tale of Dr. Hammesfahr, but let me recap: this doctor appeared for a full hour on Hannity & Hannity’s Bitch to make his case that Terri is not in a PVS and can be rehabilitated. (I will not even go into how ridiculous his assertions are. Namenda? Bitch, please.)
Host and Colossal Twit Sean Hannity made no fewer than eight mentions of Dr. H’s big resume point–he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Medicine! Ooh, how qualified he is! Maybe a drug with really shitty evidence to support its use in Alzheimer’s can help a woman with a decimated cerebral cortex!
But not so fast; it turns out that his “nomination” for the Nobel was just a letter from his member of Congress, which mistakenly nominates him for the “Nobel Peace Prize in Medicine”. (Personally, I want the Nobel Prize in Soul, Spoken Word, or Barbershop.) Not only that, but it turns out not just anybody can nominate one for a Nobel in Medicine; it must come from certain people within the field.
So, in short, the assertion that he is nominated for a Nobel is false. There is no way that Fox News could not have known this, which makes this a lie. A total lie. An utter, complete lie. The sort of thing that right-wingers are still pissing and moaning over at CBS News. (Note: it’s no surprise that Hannity was such a choad in this manner, but where the hell was Colmes? Was he there? Could he have not called just a hint of bullshit?)
OK, so it was just a commentary show, and maybe they didn’t really know. Today, however, after they could not have received any fewer than 10000 emails on the matter, one of their anchors again referred to him as a “Nobel Prize-nominated neurologist”.
I thought my rage would hold off, but then I read about tonight’s commentary from mediocre cold reader and Biggest Douche in the Universe John Edward. I can’t even respond to that. It just caps it.
I didn’t think my opinion of Fox News could drop any lower, but here we are. I know that right-wingers like to watch a news channel whose biases match their own, but that is not what we’re dealing with. They’re liars, pure and simple. They do not let the facts get in the way of a good story. Anyone who condemns CBS or any other organ of the “liberal media” who does not call bullshit just as loudly on Fox can just piss right off.
(Note: before anyone tells me to change the channel–I don’t even have cable, and we don’t get Fox at the hospital. This is all coming from what I’ve read about it. my outrage is at the fact that a seemingly legitimate news channel that many people take seriously can let fly with such horseshit.)
