Tom Ricks Challenges Fox News on Beghazi; Interview Ends Abruptly
Posted: November 26, 2012 Filed under: open thread, U.S. Military, U.S. Politics | Tags: Benghazi, Fox News, John McCain, Susan Rice, Tom Ricks 31 Comments
Tom Ricks, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author, and blogger at Foreign Policy appeared on Fox News this morning, where he was asked by talking head Jon Scott why John McCain has toned down his attacks on Susan Rice recently. Ricks opted to answer truthfully. From Raw Story:
“I think that Benghazi was generally hyped by this network especially,” Ricks explained. “And now that the [2012 presidential] campaign is over, I think [McCain] is backing off a little bit. They’re not going to stop Susan Rice from being secretary of state.”
At that point, Scott shifted the interview’s focus from McCain to defending his employer, asking Ricks, “How do you call that hype” when four Americans died in the Benghazi attacks?
“How many security contractors died in Iraq, do you know?” Ricks wondered.
“I don’t,” Scott admitted, seemingly at a loss for words.
“No, nobody does because nobody cared,” Ricks pointed out. “Several hundred died but there was never an official count done of security contractors dead in Iraq. So when I see this focus on what was essentially a small fire fight, I think — number one — I’ve covered a lot of fire fights, it’s impossible find out what happened in them sometimes.”
“And second, I think the emphasis on Benghazi has been extremely political, partly because Fox was operating as wing of the Republican Party,” the author added.
Oops! And suddenly the interview with the distinguished military expert was terminated.
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Double oops! Juan Williams Says “It’s Time To End” Politicized Benghazi Witch Hunt.
I’m glad some people are finally calling Fox Propaganda network about this … disgusting!!!
Damn that was a great interview. I could watch that a few times.
What I loved was how nonchalant Ricks was about it.
Didn’t seem to care at all. That was wonderful 🙂
Finally, someone calling Faux out on their Ricism — you have Faux giving countless hours to 4 regrettable deaths in Libya when the loss of life in Iraq probably approached, in total, a million souls. Never a whimper, never a word until it fit into their programming narrative around the election.
Gen Jack Keane didn’t go along on Fox either. Wonder if they dumped him? This is from October.
Fox Military Analyst Counters Rest Of Network, Denounces “Second Guessing” On Benghazi Attack Response
Joe Klein pushed back pretty hard on this same thing in Morning Joe this morning. sorry I don’t have a link for the video.
This cartoon goes with this post:
Brilliant!
Thank you for spotlighting Tom Ricks’ interview on Fux – I would have missed it. The last couple of days my former rethug friends have been sending me their brain-rotted tripe and these are people who are xtians – they are stupid, nonredeemable evil people. Blind! I have lived for far too long in a red area of this country – it sucks the life out of you. I have bitten my tongue off. They are friggin’ crazy – they are missing a human component. It is only online at certain blogs my head does not spin. The worst part is my two adult children seem to be bat shit crazy along with them. How in hell can you not deduce the error of materialism, the horror of constant war, destruction in the name of liberty, justice, the lies, the constant meaningless memes. Gosh, after defending the Bu$hit for eight years – you would think they would see a glimmer of a problem. We are still fighting for human rights after all this time. We just had an election – the people spoke loudly. Romney was the perfect representative for the Rethugs – perfect and he knew it. It must have shocked both Mittens and Anne – they know their constituents. They ate up the grave dancing of Benghazi – sub human! There is a new meme – Obama is giving away our land to Russia…… in hope for what? I can’t stomach watching Fux – I went into shock in 1999 just watching Paula Zarn become unhinged for 20 minutes. There is nothing they will not say How can people watch this crap and still remember to breath? .
Take heart Boo, you have friends here who are often in the same situation as you and left scratching our heads. About the latest meme, what land is Obama allegedly giving to Russia? That’s a new one for me, but it doesn’t surprise me now that Benghazi is turning out to be a dud.
Rick was very, very good and I’m glad to see others are finally putting their foot down and giving Fox a time out in their room. About time.
HT – that one was from my dear old mentor – a woman who was very bright, talented, artistic, she was even a life coach for Ga. Tech football players. She must be 89 now too like Dak’s father but what a loss and it is truly a loss. You cannot get through the fog. The land was some islands off Alaska. Apparently he gifted Russia – I deleted it almost instantly. I blocked her for six months when it got so bad – then relented. Nothing comes from the others I know that is not a basis for slamming O or liberals in general. I may have a greater need for proof of life out there – I can no longer fully function and am totally isolated except via computer. Thankful for my furbabies and the internet and the posters here. It is amazing how our interests interset and what we get succor from. I hope you get to NOLA HT – don’t miss out on the FOOD! Wish you could have seen it before Katrina.
Ah, that explains it. Apparently all countries bordering the Arctic ocean (and some that are not) are laying claims to it because the ice is melting at such a tremendous pace and they think there are vast reserves of oil, gas and minerals beneath. There have been many articles on it. Sad to think that the extinction of the polar bear and many other species are fodder to the Montgomery Burns of this world. Youf friend is older and probably not looking for information, just accepting the pablum that is fed to her via her favorite information outlets. My aunt who was a very bright, vibrant, knowledgeable, intelligent woman turned to religion in her old age. She sent massive amounts of money to the shucksters in the crystal palaces that target people like her. When she died, her former million dollar savings was pared down to 150K – no accounting for how age affects some people (not all, just some).
I’ve been to NOLA many times before the Katrina catastrophe. I wish I could get back because there was just too much life there to disappear, and of course the food and music was amazing. Brennans – ummmm, Antoines – double ummm, Pat O’Briens – crazy, Preservation Hall – sublime.
Boo, take heart and I mean that sincerely. I am able to get around and travel if I choose, but I’m disheartened by the change in the tenor of discourse. I do not want to go through customs, I do not want to be manhandled in a misguided policy of thwarting almost non existant terrorists, I do not want to pay through the nose to enlarge the fortunes of people who have more money that they could ever spend in 20 lifetimes. There are a lot of crazies out there and I have no desire to be exposed to them (and I’m not talking about your ordinary mugger).
My 89 year old dad watches this stuff and then when I call him he’s all paranoia and rage. I keep begging him to turn off the FOX news. I’d like to sue them for creating mental and emotional distress in him. It can’t be good for his health at his age. Fortunately, doctor daughter is really liberal. Youngest daughter isn’t very political but I keep trying to drag her out of Nebraska before the rot sets in. My brother in law is liberal and my sister doesn’t talk politics either. But, oy, if my dad watches Fox! I have to put the phone down and watch TV until he’s done. I keep begging him to just watch CNN since they’re bad enough as it is these days.
They’re filming on my street yet again. Ask me how I feel about the note I just found that said:
“There will be GUNFIRE and LOUD DIALOGUE at NIGHT on the following days”
Just giving you a heads up so you’ll know why I’m cranky at the end of the week.
but but but, that’s money for the local extras and stuff – mind you, they’re paid minimum wage at the most, and the disruption to business in the immediate area from all those trailers, cables and excessive restrictions is phenominal, but it’s good for the city (or so we are constantly told when they shoot here).Look at all those local restaurants that will boom, and the city will get all that money from permits, and those city politicians who promoted those permits – it’s all good for them, or so they say. Keep sane and listen to soothing music.
they’re all here now because they can avoid the unions and get tax breaks … they hire people on craig’s list now … and you’re right, other than the producers and the pols, who knows who benefits?
When my twosome were young, they decided that they wanted to take modeling lessons, so I complied. Then the modeling agency decided that they would be great extras and they were so thrilled that I once again complied. They made diddley squat money and I had to work through the night in order to be able to transport them and stay with them during the day – yet I complied. I don’t regret that because they met some wonderful people (my son meeting Sean Connery was the fulfillment of his dreams) yet I saw first hand the disruption to communitys and thought how on earth do these f@@kers do this to people and not adequately compensate them. They make millions and regular people lose. On the one hand I wanted the twosome to work to make money so they would understand. On the other hand, it would have been cheaper to just up their allowance, but I didn’t want them to think that money just came from their mother. Today, I’m not sorry I made that decision because they learned very early that they had to earn through their own hard work, yet I also feel it was horrible what these movie people did to local residents and businesses without adequate controls or recompense. Makes me a hypocrite I know.
It’s really a lot of time and drudgery.
Whoa, did I miss something?
nah … movie
This is surreal:
Reuters Top News @Reuters
Police probe how Romney security data became New York City parade confetti http://reut.rs/QHsrBt
Weird and kind of funny. Apparently they didn’t take 47% Mitt seriously 🙂
another one:
@thinkprogress: INCREDIBLE: Florida Republicans admit voter suppression was the goal of new election laws http://thkpr.gs/Rd9FC2
sounds like the guys with big bucks did not want to pay the cost of trashing it properly, so they spread it in among the confetti so the city would have to pay to sweep it up and carry it away. There is no one cheaper than a rich man who has the first dollar he ever made and every one from then on. Most of these rich guys never pay for anything. They are very creative about not paying for things.
In 1983, during the first year of the Reagan administration, 241 U.S. Marines were blown to kingdom come by a terrorist truck bomb in their compound in Lebanon. Later that year, 17 Americans were killed in a terror attack on the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon. There was no witch hunt against Reagan by the Democrats for either of those attacks. As tragic as the deaths of the four Americans in Benghazi were, they don´t begin to compare with the 258 Americans that were killed in Beirut on Reagan´s watch. It´s almost impossible to stop a terrorist attack against Americans in the Middle East.
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Yet those Marines were left in an exposed compound with no ammunition to defend themselves against the advice of the Joint Chiefs and the Secretary of Defense, and blown to bits by explosive sold to the Iranians by Ollie North, A few months later, we responded to this Hezbollah attack by shelling a bunch of Druze (who had nothing to do with the barracks bombing)
There certainly should have been a witch hunt. Followed by impeachment.
And that’s the problem isn’t it? Nobody cared then, and apparently nobody who doesn’t have some kind of wacko neocon agenda cares now. They’re dead, the Benghazi Four are dead, and everyone’s too busy worrying about about whether the blue team or the red team comes out on top to give a damn.
The talking heads guarding the inhabitants of Bullsh*t Mountain from rejoining the world of the sane just won’t budge an inch will they? Fox News is a propaganda machine which dumbs down America by the day through disinformation and their slanted agendas. See their anchors spewing forth feces from their mouths in my visual homage to the network on my artist’s blog at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-fox-news-scylla-guardian-of-bullsht.html