Does This Shock You?

8 Random Thoughts for 11/13/2008 #6

Not everyone at Fox News is an idiot. They are not all lunatics. They do not all view the world through Republican red colored glasses. There aren't a lot of examples, but Shepard Smith is certainly one.

The folks at Media Matters points to this recent quote from Smith on air at Fox ...

"Oh, please...the mainstream media reflected what was happening in this nation. It did not drive it. The blogs didn't drive this movement. The media didn't drive this movement. Barack Obama did not lose this election. It was his to lose, it was not John McCain's to win. The Republicans had no shot unless the Democrats gave it to them, and they didn't. And to blame the media is a cop out and ridiculous. We are always here to be blamed by people like you who enjoy that activity. We always will be. When the Democrats lost last time, it was our fault. When the Republicans lost this time, it was our fault. It's not."

In the aftermath of Katrina, his basic decency stood in sharp contrast to much of the reporting at Fox. No one will ever forget his outburst at Sean Hannity, as told by The Seattle Times ...

"Over there, there's hope," Smith said. "Over there, there's electricity. Over there, there is food and water. But you cannot go from there to there. The government will not allow you to do it. It's a fact."

"All right, Shep," Hannity said. "I want to get some perspective here, because earlier today ... "

Smith interrupted him.

"That is perspective!" he said. "That is all the perspective you need!"

Do you remember him setting Joe the Fake Plumber straight? From the Huffington Post ...

Anyway, five minutes with Joe The Plumber had Shepard Smith so frustrated that the Fox anchor felt compelled to issue a disclaimer, immediately following the segment, pushing back on any notion that Obama would mean the "death of Israel," saying: "I just want to make this 100 percent perfectly clear -- Barack Obama has said repeatedly and demonstrated repeatedly that Israel will always be a friend of the United States, no matter what happens once he becomes President of the United States. His words." Smith later added, "The rest of it -- man...some things -- it just gets frightening sometimes. We'll be right back."

I know his ratings are good and he's signed for another year or two, but can he possibly still have a future at Fox News?