# Is Fox News really all that bad? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 3, 2012, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625 "2012-10-03T21:14:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 66
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2016, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1301 "2016-12-23T23:52:54Z")
Well, what benchmarks can we agree on? Start with the really obvious ones, like: Far Left: _Wants to abolish private and corporate property, turn all such over to either the state or state-approved worker collectives._ Far Right: _Wants to abolish secular government, establish a theocracy that will conduct all governmental, military and law-enforcement duties in strict accordance with Holy Scripture._ If we could agree that these two are fair (and I suppose one could argue with one or both), then we start moving slowly toward center, suggesting characteristics or views that identify someone as “far” to one extreme, then once we agree on said definitions, then we could spell out our “problems” with one or both and what actions we take when confronted with one or the other. I don’t know the works of Savage or Levin or Ingraham well enough off the top of my head to classify them. The little I know of and have heard from Limbaugh makes me view him as a chest-beating blowhard with a questionable degree of concern for accuracy. It probably wouldn’t be that difficult to alter his schtick from right-ish to left-ish - just change the scapegoats. ---
**Author:** ![Donpeyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a4c791/32.png) [@Donpeyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donpeyote)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2016, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1302 "2016-12-23T23:57:25Z")
Can we agree that George Wallace (D) Winner of 1972 Michigan & Florida Democrat POTUS Primaries (Among Other Races) was only Far Right Candidate that year. ? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2016, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1303 "2016-12-23T23:59:55Z")
> [@Donpeyote](#): > > Can we agree that George Wallace (D) Winner of 1972 Michigan & Florida Democrat POTUS Primaries (Among Other Races) was only Far Right Candidate that year. ? Did he feel the same way you do about swarthy people? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2016, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1304 "2016-12-24T00:14:28Z")
> [@Donpeyote](#): > > Can we agree that George Wallace (D) Winner of 1972 Michigan & Florida Democrat POTUS Primaries (Among Other Races) was only Far Right Candidate that year. ? Do you mean exclusively among the Democratic and Republican contenders? Even at that, I’d have to read up on the '72 election to further comment, and I was hoping we’d take some time to better define what “Far Right” and “Far Left” actually mean before starting to classify specific people as one or the other or neither. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1305 "2016-12-28T00:45:54Z")
Walked through the room where my dad was watching it and they read Trump’s tweet about 100% of his foundation’s money going to charity. Now, they know that’s a lie, but they didn’t say a thing and immediately attacked the leftist media for reporting on it. See, they’re not lying, they’re just uncritically reporting lies and then treating them as truth. Like real journalists tend to do. ---
**Author:** ![Donpeyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a4c791/32.png) [@Donpeyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donpeyote)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1306 "2016-12-28T00:48:22Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Do you mean exclusively among the Democratic and Republican contenders? Even at that, I’d have to read up on the '72 election to further comment, and I was hoping we’d take some time to better define what “Far Right” and “Far Left” actually mean before starting to classify specific people as one or the other or neither. I’m fairly certain that there are far mor Far Left Folks in Mainstream American Politics today than there are Far Right (By any stretch of the imagination)😉 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1307 "2016-12-28T01:45:13Z")
> [@Donpeyote](#): > > I’m fairly certain that there are far mor Far Left Folks in Mainstream American Politics today than there are Far Right (By any stretch of the imagination)😉 :dubious: Seriously? ---
**Author:** ![Donpeyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a4c791/32.png) [@Donpeyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donpeyote)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1308 "2016-12-28T03:42:30Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > :dubious: > Seriously? For Every David Duke there are 20 Sheila Jackson Lee ,Van Jones & Valerie Jarrett & Cass Sunsteins… ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2016, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1309 "2016-12-28T04:38:36Z")
> [@Donpeyote](#): > > I’m fairly certain that there are far mor Far Left Folks in Mainstream American Politics today than there are Far Right (By any stretch of the imagination)😉 I would guess that your idea of “far left” and “far right” would not be in agreement with anyone else’s definitions. If you need to limit "far right’ to David Duke, (ignoring the Koch brothers and their entire organization, Rove, quite a few of Trump’s Cabinet selections, etc.), you are simply asserting things with which few centrist or moderate people would agree. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1310 "2016-12-29T05:11:19Z")
> [@Donpeyote](#): > > I’m fairly certain that there are far mor Far Left Folks in Mainstream American Politics today than there are Far Right (By any stretch of the imagination)😉 The amount of stretch required strikes me as implausible at best, unless you want to suggest that “mainstream” American politics is significantly left-leaning, in which case I’d have to ask how you feel about countries like Canada or Sweden. If the U.S. is left-leaning in your view, are these nations full-on communist? ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2016, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1311 "2016-12-30T22:33:44Z")
[Fox actually apologized for making up fake numbers about food stamp fraud.](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/fox-and-friends-false-numbers-food-stamp-report) ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2016, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1312 "2016-12-30T22:47:59Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > [Fox actually apologized for making up fake numbers about food stamp fraud.](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/fox-and-friends-false-numbers-food-stamp-report) I must be missing something. They apologized for reporting $70 million in fraud, and corrected it to $853 million? ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2016, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1313 "2016-12-30T23:07:48Z")
This might explain it better: [Fox News and Food Stamp Fraud: The Finale – Mother Jones](http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/12/fox-news-and-food-stamp-fraud-finale) ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2016, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1314 "2016-12-31T01:10:02Z")
> [@Donpeyote](#): > > For Every David Duke there are 20 Sheila Jackson Lee ,Van Jones & Valerie Jarrett & Cass Sunsteins… That in your world Van Jones is roughly equivalent to David Duke tells me all that I need to know. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2016, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1315 "2016-12-31T01:23:38Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > That in your world Van Jones is roughly equivalent to David Duke tells me all that I need to know. I though his point was that Van Jones _et al_ were only 1/20th as bad as Duke. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2016, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1316 "2016-12-31T01:28:00Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I though his point was that Van Jones _et al_ were only 1/20th as bad as Duke. Maybe, and if so, I apologize, but that’s still crazy. Van Jones should not be anywhere near a comparison to David Duke. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2016, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1317 "2016-12-31T01:36:18Z")
Fox is like the “gateway drug” to the true right wing crazy stuff. And Wallace might have been elected Governor of Ala. as a nominal Democrat, but he left the party in 68 to seek the presidency as an independent. His candidacy in '72 should be regarded in the same light as Bernie’s this year. He was an independent seeking the democratic nomination. ---
**Author:** ![Donpeyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a4c791/32.png) [@Donpeyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donpeyote)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2016, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1318 "2016-12-31T02:39:25Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Maybe, and if so, I apologize, but that’s still crazy. Van Jones should not be anywhere near a comparison to David Duke. David Duke was an Elected US Congresscritter Van Jones was an ousted Socialist Cabinet member , choose your poison … ---
**Author:** ![Donpeyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a4c791/32.png) [@Donpeyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donpeyote)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2016, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1319 "2016-12-31T02:41:04Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Fox is like the “gateway drug” to the true right wing crazy stuff. And Wallace might have been elected Governor of Ala. as a nominal Democrat, but he left the party in 68 to seek the presidency as an independent. His candidacy in '72 should be regarded in the same light as Bernie’s this year. He was an independent seeking the democratic nomination. George Wallace (D)was a Democrat in 72 and he won Michigan & Florida Democrat Primaries as a Democrat . ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2016, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1320 "2016-12-31T05:22:16Z")
> [@Donpeyote](#): > > David Duke was an Elected US Congresscritter Van Jones was an ousted Socialist Cabinet member , choose your poison … Craziness isn’t measured by electoral success - voter stupidity is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625.md?page=65) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625.md?page=67)