The White House has blasted Glenn Beck and the Fox News Channel for what it calls a "disregard for facts". In a "Reality Check" blog post by the Director of White House Online Programs, Jesse Lee, the White House accused Fox News of "an attempt to smear the Administration's efforts to win the Olympics for the United States."
"In the past, hosting the Olympics has been a source of pride and unity for the country, but once again Fox News' Glenn Beck program has shown that nothing is worthy of respect if it can be used as part of a partisan attack to boost ratings," Lee wrote in the post.
Beck has been the target of an advertiser boycott and left-leaning pundits since calling President Obama a "racist" several weeks ago. Beck said at the time that he believes the president has "a deep-seated hatred for white people or white culture."
That prompted the advocacy group Color of Change to call for an advertiser boycott of Beck's afternoon show on Fox News. Color of Change was founded by Van Jones, who recently resigned from his post as "Green Jobs Czar", after Beck focused attention on Jones and his controversial views. Jones left Color of Change in 2007.
The boycott seems to be having little, if any, effect. Beck's ratings are at their highest level ever, and Fox News says they haven't lost a dime in advertiser revenue.
The post points to many of Beck's statements on Chicago's bid to host the 2016 Olympics, then provides a link to Politifact, a website run by the St. Petersburg Times, which questions accusation's made by Steve Doocy, co-host of the Fox news morning show, Fox and Friends.
One of the "reality checks" in Lee's post is Beck's obvious misstatement on the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics that will be held in Vancouver.
The post quotes from the transcript of Beck's show on Sept. 29th, when Beck said, "Vancouver lost, how much was it? They lost a billion dollars when they had the Olympics."
As a point of fact, that cannot be true, since 2010 is obviously next year, and Vancouver has yet to host the Olympics.
What Beck may have been referring to is the fact that Vancouver is well over budget in preparation for the 2010 Games. Several Canadian news reports say that Vancouver is billions over budget. The Vancouver Sun reported in January of this year that preparations for the games have already cost Vancouver $6 billion. The report says security alone will cost more than 5 times the original estimate of $175 million. That figure is now put at nearly $1 billion.
President Obama clearly has problems with Fox News' coverage of his administration. During an interview on CNBC in June, President Obama criticized the network for being "entirely devoted to attacking my administration."
President Obama completely ignored Fox News last week, when he appeared on five Sunday news shows, as well as Late Night with David Letterman and the Jay Leno Show, to promote health care reform legislation. The president declined to grant an interview to Chris Wallace, host of the network's Fox News Sunday. After the snub Wallace called the Obama White House the "biggest bunch of cry-babies I've ever seen."
Some question the move, considering the fact that Wallace is seen as being non-partisan and his audience is largely comprised of independents, who Obama needs to win over if he hopes to gain public support for his proposal.
There is no doubt that Fox has been very critical of the president's policies, but is it wise for the administration to take them on publicly? Obama promised to "change the tone" in Washington during his 2008 bid for the White House. An ugly battle played out in the public with the undisputed leader of cable news may not work out in Obama's favor. Unbiased observers believe that by engaging in such a fight, Obama may unwittingly drive away more support than he will gain.
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Comments
They hardly reality checked anything that Beck has said. They still haven't commented on the people around Obama. I think the Valarie Jarret issue in the Chicago Olympics was interesting.
Ok, I don't really care for Beck's dramatized delivery; however... with that being said, what has he really done wrong? If he really lied, the FCC should step in, not a blogger from the White House. This text was taken from www.fcc.gov: As public trustees, broadcasters may not intentionally distort the news. Broadcasters are responsible for deciding what their stations present to the public. The FCC has stated publicly that “rigging or slanting the news is a most heinous act against the public interest.” The FCC does act to protect the public interest where it has received documented evidence of such rigging or slanting. This kind of evidence could include testimony, in writing or otherwise, from “insiders” or persons who have direct personal knowledge of an intentional falsification of the news...
Beck is tearing the Obama administration a new one.. and now the team of "O" has lost the Olympics.... oh yeah!
Glenn Beck stated at the first of his program yesterday that he misspoke. The cost overrun was for the Calgery Olympics. Not such a big issue for a live show. He also noted that other comments attributed to him in the WH rebuttle were incorrect. More diversion from the bigger picture, much like the definition of "is".
Obama will ruin our country if we let him.
Mr Pope asks, "There is no doubt that Fox has been very critical of the president's policies, but is it wise for the administration to take them on publicly?"
WHEN has this Administration EVER considered if their decisions were "wise"?
Calling protestors to Healthcare "angry mob", "racist", "nazi", etc. NOT WISE
Citing the Cambridge Police as "acting stupidly" (without having any of the facts) - NOT WISE
Campaigning how the OBAMA Administration would NOT have any lobbyists serving... and then placing lobbyists in his administration - NOW WISE.
Too many examples for a 1000-word limit. Suffice it to say this administration just doesn't care if it's "wise" or not to target Glenn Beck.
mmGood,
You beckerheads are dumber than a box of rocks, Beck is an idiot, and you beckerheads are the idiot's sons.
I just had to cheer when news came out this morning that B. Hussein, Michelle, and Oprah couldn't persuade the IOC to vote for the shining cesspool on the hill, Chicago, for the 2016 Olympics!
Those of you who keep spouting this "Did Glenn Beck rape and kill a girl?" crap are all brainwashed Obamatons!
Another Team Obama failure!
I love it!
EAT IT FREAKS!!
GO RIO!
Why do the Republicans hate America?
Carter was right.
Republicans don't hate America, left-wingers do. That's why they're always pointing to what's wrong with America. That's why they're trying to radically change America. And BTW, if Carter was right, why is he now backing off of his statements? Most people don't oppose Obama because he's a black man, they oppose him because he a far-left radical who is damaging our nation. Get your facts straight.
If the President stopped trying to nationalize health care, stopped trying to grant amnesty to illegal aliens, stopped nationalizing banks and car companies, dropped the carbon tax, supported the troops in Afghanistan, stopped trying to use federal funds for abortions, supported our allies, took some action against Iran's nuclear program, and cut the deficit, there would be a lot fewer angry right-wingers. And if the regular media scrutinized Obama as carefully as they did Bush, people wouldn't have to watch Beck.
As long as Obama keeps doing things right-wingers think are disastrous for the country, they'll keep yelling -- just as left-wingers yelled about Bush's disastrous policies. You can't spend four years calling the President "Chimpy McHitler" and reasonably expect that YOUR candidate will be treated with civility.
Nice Article. Interesting how the WH is so concerned with FOX news and especially Glenn Beck. What is OBAMA afraid of?
NOT ALL BUT I BELIEVE LOTS OF RACIST ON THE RIGHT
Right on in this post. Its very strange to see an administration cry as much as this one has... Bush put up with the same thing if you remember too. Funny thing is Beck attacks Republicans too, so to hear the left whine that Beck is a leader of "Republicans" is laughable.
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