# Tony Goes To The White House **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 26, 2006, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-goes-to-the-white-house/354233 "2006-04-26T01:39:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-goes-to-the-white-house/354233/41 "2006-04-27T18:33:53Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > But he’s been a conservative commentator for decades. Do you honestly think that your average liberal commentator couldn’t have decades of work picked to pieces to find lies, falsehoods, or other general garbage? Spend some time on a conservative web site, or even on [factcheck.org](http://factcheck.org), and you’ll see plenty of absues by liberal commentators. It would be more informative to look for corrections and retractions for commentators who have found they have conveyed false information But how is disregard for facts a job qualification for \*White House Press Secretary \* that you can actually defend? ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-goes-to-the-white-house/354233/42 "2006-04-27T18:40:34Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > Why is it that the only defence conservatives ever seem to offer is tu quoque? Do you guys care about doing the right thing, or do you think it won’t matter what you do so long as enough false equivalences are drawn? Well, as already pointed out by silenus, this wasn’t much of a rant and was plopped in the pit because of the caustic history of such threads. His OP posed one premise: _“OK…is there anybody out there who buys “Fair and Balanced” now?”_ The reader can only assume it’s a pitting of Fox News. This isn’t a liberal/conservative issue. All news outlets commit their fair share of pittable offenses, but having an employee who gets hired as a White House staffer isn’t one of them. The media =\> politico revolving door spins quickly, and positions in DC are filled from members of the forth estate on regular basis (Tony Snow & Michael Isikoff are the 2 that first come to mind). What should be even more distressing is when revolving door gets clogged with program hosts who get hired by allegedy unbiased media sources from inside the Beltway, such as Stephanopolis, Gergen & Matthews. Questioning the (admittedly) biased slant of FNC by pointing to the Snow appointment - while neglecting to mention this historical tu quoque - doesn’t come off as sounding too concerned “about doing the right thing”. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-goes-to-the-white-house/354233/43 "2006-04-27T20:05:10Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > I’m not defending anyone. I just don’t like it when someone says something dumb like “Snow never told the truth.” Sweeping generalizations don’t do anyone any good. Ever. It’s an expression. It’s a figure of speech. Don’t tell me you’ve never heard it or something similar before. Get over it. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-goes-to-the-white-house/354233/44 "2006-04-27T20:20:01Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > It’s an expression. It’s a figure of speech. Don’t tell me you’ve never heard it or something similar before. Get over it. Sorry, didn’t mean to get in the way of your “GWB and all his cronies are teh suxxor!!!111” thread. Please, continue. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-goes-to-the-white-house/354233/45 "2006-04-27T20:50:02Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > But how is disregard for facts a job qualification for \*White House Press Secretary \* that you can actually defend? It’s not the job of the White House Press Secretary to accurately state the facts. It’s the job of the White House Press Secretary to express the White House’s message. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-goes-to-the-white-house/354233/46 "2006-04-27T21:47:15Z")
Y’know, whoever came up with that “Fair and balanced” slogan for Fox was a freaking genius. I don’t know how many non-conservatives I’ve seen reduced to near-tears blubbering, “But they’re not balanced, they’re biased! It’s a lie! Someone for God’s sake inform the American Public!” Of COURSE they’re biased! It’s a, I say, it’s a Joke, son. See, they SAY that, because it drives you all crazy. NOW do you get it? It’s funny. Not funny queer, but funny ha-ha. See? “We’re Fair and Balanced, because a Fair and Balanced news outlet would be conservative! Haw, haw, haw!” And if someone is so right-wing that they really really truly believe that Fox news is middle of the road non-partisan, while all other national media outlets are Marxist-Leninist fellow travellers, well, surely they didn’t come to that conclusion because Fox News adopted a “Fair and Balanced” slogan. Tony Snow taking the job of White House Press Secretary proves that Fox New’s “Fair and Balanced” slogan is slightly innaccurate? Haw, haw, haw! You guys slay me. No, really. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-goes-to-the-white-house/354233/47 "2006-04-27T22:30:12Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Y’know, whoever came up with that “Fair and balanced” slogan for Fox was a freaking genius. > > I don’t know how many non-conservatives I’ve seen reduced to near-tears blubbering, “But they’re not balanced, they’re biased! It’s a lie! Someone for God’s sake inform the American Public!” > > Of COURSE they’re biased! It’s a, I say, it’s a Joke, son. > > See, they SAY that, because it drives you all crazy. > > NOW do you get it? It’s funny. Not funny queer, but funny ha-ha. See? “We’re Fair and Balanced, because a Fair and Balanced news outlet would be conservative! Haw, haw, haw!” > > And if someone is so right-wing that they really really truly believe that Fox news is middle of the road non-partisan, while all other national media outlets are Marxist-Leninist fellow travellers, well, surely they didn’t come to that conclusion because Fox News adopted a “Fair and Balanced” slogan. > > Tony Snow taking the job of White House Press Secretary proves that Fox New’s “Fair and Balanced” slogan is slightly innaccurate? Haw, haw, haw! You guys slay me. No, really. I always knew FOX news was a joke. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tony-goes-to-the-white-house/354233.md?page=2)