After Fox Editor Defends LAT Decision To Withhold Obama Video, Fox Continues Attacking The Paper
After Fox Editor Defends LAT Decision To Withhold Obama Video, Fox Continues Attacking The Paper
For days now, Fox News, conservative bloggers and the McCain campaign have been accusing the Los Angeles Times of “intentionally suppressing” a 2003 videotape of then-state Sen. Barack Obama attending a banquet honoring Palestinian activist Rashid Khalidi. On Tuesday, the Times said in a statement that it would not release the tape because “it was provided to us by a confidential source who did so on the condition that we not release it.”
In a blog post at 4:38 PM yesterday, Bill Sammon, the deputy managing editor of Fox’s Washington Bureau, said that “the newspaper is on firm journalistic ground in refusing to make the tape public”:
To me, it’s pretty simple. Reporter Peter Wallsten made an agreement with a source to refrain from publicly disclosing the tape. Unless that source lets Wallsten off the hook, the reporter is journalistically bound to abide by the agreement, regardless of how much heat his newspaper takes from pundits on TV.
Indeed, Wallsten has little choice in the matter. If he were to cave in to mounting public demands for the tape, no self-respecting source would ever give him another shred of information. Nor should they.
But the declaration by a top Fox News editor that the decision by the LA Times is non-controversial hasn’t stopped the network’s anchors and guests from giving the paper “heat.” On nearly every Fox show that aired after Sammon posted his opinion, Fox’s pundits have attacked the LA Times as being “the subsidiary of a campaign” and “an example of journalism losing objectivity in this election.” Watch a compilation of Fox’s obsession:
Some Fox pundits like Sean Hannity and Bernard Goldberg have accused the Times of “lying” about their agreement with the source. “I’m not sure the LA Times is telling the truth,” said Goldberg. But Sammon addressed this point as well, saying, “Unless we have evidence to the contrary, I’m afraid we have to take The Times at its word.” (HT: Michael Calderone)
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a 2003 videotape of then-state Sen. Barack Obama attending a banquet…
BFD
October 30th, 2008 at 7:42 pmwe don’t know what happened at that banquet. they probably served barry aborted live babies.
October 30th, 2008 at 7:47 pmSomething is wrong with these people. If there was inflammatory language on the video, the LA Times would have reported on it.
October 30th, 2008 at 7:50 pmMore BS and outright lies. Brought to you by the…
Worst! Network!! Ever!!!
October 30th, 2008 at 7:52 pmI really hope that Prof. Khalidi sues the crap out of FAUX. He denies that he was a “PLO spokesman” and the PLO denies he was their “spokesman”. Unless FAUX has evidence to the contrary? It’s LIBEL.
October 30th, 2008 at 7:56 pmThis seems to suggest that the people who pull the strings of these yacking heads have learned that this thing is over.
October 30th, 2008 at 7:57 pmNothing left but attacks on the opponent.
Bernie Goldberg has a chip on his shoulder three feet wide–he was canned from CBS and has been playing the victim card for years. I’d sue Fox in a heartbeat if someone did that to me. What a desparate bunch of clowns.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:05 pmIn few days, America will speak loudly.
After his defeat, McCain will be back to the Senate, and he will be noticing that 8 to 10 GOP Senators with whom he worked will not be there after their defeat too.
McCain will see the GOP house cumblimg before his own eyes.
All these stories of Jeremiah Wright,Bill Ayers and now Rashid Khalidi will be forgotten.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:05 pmAmerica will see a change, and new chapter will be open,after coming Tuesday.
No one with any understanding or intelligence can support Fox. Fox is not “news”, not “fair”, not “balanced”. Fox is a bunch of Republican hacks, spewing Repub talking points, and hating anyone who is not a middle-aged white racist male, or a blonde, bubble-headed white woman. They are so obvious it’s painful to watch, which is why most of us do not.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:17 pmAs if Hannity reads a newspaper, let alone LAT. Oh, I see…it’s video. He can watch video. He just can’t read.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:17 pmIt is laughable that Fox Network is questioning other media sources for not telling the truth,while they themselves are telling lies all day long.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:24 pmSince when did Hannity and Goldberg need evidence to support the malarkey they spew?
October 30th, 2008 at 8:55 pmIt should be noted that many Israelis (particularly younger citizens) have views that are very consistent with Khalidi’s. Moreover, given McCain’s direct financial support of Khalidi’s projects this is a non-issue. A number of Jewish academics have gone on-record in support of Khalidi.
Israel and Judaism are two very different things. Many leaders of the Christian right who are virulently anti-Semitic (Wildmon, Hagee, etc.) are exceptionally strong in their support for the state of Israel. Wildmon even owns a travel company that arranges for tours of Israel chaperoned by his idiot son.
October 30th, 2008 at 10:10 pmThe real newsworthy item in this whole thing is that someone at Fox News has journalistic integrity. http://straighttalkonmccain.blogspot.com/
October 30th, 2008 at 10:16 pmWhy would Hannity want that tape anyway? Hes perfectly comfortable making shit up so why stop now? Just bring on Andy Martin or Jerome Corsi or some other lying racist bigot and let them loose of what they think is on the tape
OTOH of course McCain, Hannity and Faux are using this “controversy” to its full potential by claiming LA Times and therefore Obama (through the golden Faux News rule of guilt by far-fetched association) is hiding something “sinister” like sympathy for Palestinians.
October 30th, 2008 at 10:27 pmObama may just lose this election!!!
I’m really energized now that I see the polls tightening in every battleground state as well as nationally.
It’s even more fun to listen to the Democrats’ pleas for help!
Don’t they have enough campaign workers registering and voting illegally in Ohio already???
Why can’t Obama close the deal? He has:
1. >95% of the Black vote and they will turn out 100%
2. Most of the MSM who are totally in the tank for him
3. Bad economic news that happened just at the right time
4. The Republican part, which is clearly out of favor
5. 100’s of millions of dollars, much of it probably illegal
On and on!
So, geniuses, tell me. Why doesn’t he have this thing CLEARLY in the bag, hmmmmm?
Why isn’t Obama 10 – 15 points ahead, hmmmm? BTW, the Democrats themselves recognize he needs “ten to win.” That’s because it takes around 6 points to essentially be even with Republican candidates running for national office.
October 30th, 2008 at 10:30 pmI have faith in the wisdom of the American people as a whole. It’s been severely shaken this election season, but I’m optimistic that in the end enough people will realize what a huge mistake it would be to put Obama in power.
October 30th, 2008 at 10:34 pmSo why can’t Obama close the deal?
If a visitor from another plant sat down and listened to CNN, MSNBC, ABC, and CBS then came to web site such as this one, he or she would be perplexed as to why McCain hasn’t simply abandoned his campaign and gone home! It’s so obvious that Obama is the chosen one, the saviour of us all, right?
But then our visitor would read all the polls. He or she would look deeply at all the various sources of information, including Obama’s own internal polling data and wonder aloud, “Why isn’t Obama up by at least 50 points???”
So why isn’t he walking away with this one, hmmmmm?
October 30th, 2008 at 10:40 pmWell, there goes my typing.
Our hypothetical visitor is from another PLANET of course
October 30th, 2008 at 10:40 pmYou have to stop reading Drudge’s “polls”, silly troll. That stuff will rot your brain. Of course, talking to yourself may be a sign it’s too late.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/ELECTION_RDP?SITE=NYBUE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Don’t worry. There are plenty of polls from other states which belie your points. They’re all over the place if you look away from FAUX. Heck! Obama is only 4% down in friggen Arizona.
October 30th, 2008 at 11:02 pmPoor troll. Even Karl Rove thinks your screwed.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/ELECTION_RDP?SITE=NYBUE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
October 30th, 2008 at 11:11 pmPete,
My name is Tim, so if you prefer I can start calling you by whatever name comes to mind…
Anyway, I have heard what Mr. Rove has said and I’m well-versed in the various polls, BUT there’s no question Obama’s lead is way too thin for comfort.
October 30th, 2008 at 11:34 pmTimmeh!!!
October 31st, 2008 at 12:28 amSHOW THE TAPE MFer.
If the man is so bad why is freely walking around the US? Why does this man have a passport?
Why bring him up when mcchimpy used our tax money to donate almost $500k to him? RiDiCuLoUs.
repugs are stupidass fearmongers.
BTW — the rich should pay more taxes. A fifty dollar parking ticket will hurt the average person. A new or an increase of fees will hurt the average person. The rich get away with murder. The extras don’t bother them. It will be fair if they pay more in taxes.
October 31st, 2008 at 1:57 amTim Vaculik Says:
Anyway, I have heard what Mr. Rove has said and I’m well-versed in the various polls, BUT there’s no question Obama’s lead is way too thin for comfort.
October 30th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
_____
Obama 375 McCain 157 Ties 6
Ah, yes. You have a good point. Obama only has 100 more electoral votes than the 270 needed to win. That really is a razor-thin margin.
As to why Obama is still campaigning and Democrats are still organizing get-out-the vote drives is to keep this election safely out of hacking/caging/vote tampering range. And to prevent his supporters from becoming complacent, thinking that victory is a foregone conclusion.
October 31st, 2008 at 7:40 amAh, Tim-meh, missed you again. Darn.
“Tim Vaculik Says:
Well, there goes my typing.
Our hypothetical visitor is from another PLANET of course”
What planet are you talking about? And what polls are you paying attention to? I see nothing at all in your statements about the polling to back your inane theory. All the polls show a wide margin of Obama over McCain, and those that show a narrowing are collective over a period of a week, therefore they will have a composite that will show that. Do please read the link provided by #3 above. And please, please leave whatever planet you are visiting in your dreams and come back to planet earth. It can be real nice here sometimes when you are not blinded by racial and religious ideology and getting all your news from Fox. Try the BBC once in a while. Or CNN. The Electorial College numbers are too wide for McCain to basically have a chance at all.
Will you be back on this blog when Obama wins? I do doubt it.
October 31st, 2008 at 7:59 amThough I did note that you totally ignored the main of this thread which is about any relationship between Obama and Khalidi, most likely due to the fact that he, Khalidi, was NOT a spokesman for the PLO (read the above again please) and that McCain himself helped to give him a half a million. dollars. Read a bit more and check out different news sources so you have a better talking point and look less like a ditto-head parroting whatever Rush or Papa Bear spew from their mouths.
Tim Vaculik Says:
So tell me MORON why are you such liar and such a fool? Obama HAS closed the deal. Read it and WEEP you idiot
http://www.electoral-vote.com/
Spare us your stupid and desperate attempts at mind reading. Pray tell exactly WHAT evidence do you have that ANY money Obama got was illegal? Oh you DONT have any? You pulled that directly out of your A$$ like most of the idiocy you post? Your desperate ignorance notwithstanding Obama has beaten McPathetic like a red headed stepchild.
October 31st, 2008 at 7:23 pm