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Fox News Channel "Fair And Balanced?"(Debbie Schlussel: Not Its Liberal Movie Critic Alert)
Debbie Schlussel.com ^ | 08/14/2007 | Debbie Schlussel

Posted on 08/14/2007 11:48:22 AM PDT by goldstategop

Does it puzzle you when you hear that FOX News loved Michael Moore's "Sicko" or Angelina Jolie/Brad Pitt's "A Mighty Heart," which whitewashed Islamic terrorists?

If FOX News is so "fair and balanced," why do they gush over movies that far-leftists gush over?

Three words: Roger Friedman, liberal.

Whenever I hear the phrase "Fair and Balanced," I think of Roger Friedman, FOXNews.com's celebrity gossip writer and self-appointed movie critic. He turns his gossip column into movie reviews when there's an inane liberal propaganda film he wants to tout.


Fox News Channel

When Michael Moore bragged about FOX News endorsing his movie, he was talking about Friedman (Friedman is so far left that he differed on that even with many liberal movie critics who panned "Sicko"). When Rosie O'Donnell--then still co-hosting the view--gushed about another left-wing movie, she bragged, "Well, even FOX News liked it." She, too, was talking about Friedman.

A dyed-in-the-wool liberal, Friedman not only gushed over "Sicko" and "A Mighty Heart," he also chastised America for putting HAMAS financier Cat Stevens on the no fly list and applauded when America panderingly took him off the list and granted him a visa. Among his absurd quotes:

Last year he was refused entry into the United States on suspicion - ridiculous as it was - that he was a terrorist of some sort.

(Emphasis added.)

"Ridiculous"? Cat Stevens went to Israel and paid top HAMAS commanders money which went to homicide bombers. Hardly "ridiculous" to refuse his entry to America. And in another gushing Cat Stevens column, Friedman buys Cat Stevens' denial, lying that the didn't support the Ayatollah Khomeini Fatwa calling for Salman Rushdie's death. Interesting, since the video of him saying it--and wishing that Muslim protestors would burn Rushdie to death--is all over YouTube.

Then there's this:

Cat Stevens is coming home, sort of. I am told that Greek-Brit Steven Georgiou, now known as Yusuf Islam, has been granted a visa and will enter the United States in mid-December.

All I can say is, it's about time.

Yusuf - that's what he wants to be called - was involved in an embarrassing incident in 2004 when he and his daughter were denied entry into the U.S. because his name was found on a "no-fly" list. How utterly ridiculous, since it turned out the person in question was someone else. [DS: Uh, no, it was him they banned. Doesn't Friedman do an iota of research? Incredibly ignorant.]

Let's put it this way: Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam is an unlikely terrorist. Since his conversion to Islam, he may have had odd ideas, but none of them are threatening or dangerous. [DS: Yes, like funding HAMAS. Not threatening or dangerous at all. Or his anti-Semitic comments. Or his support of the fatwa for Rushdie's death.]

Evidence of this can be found easily on Yusuf's first new record album in 30 years. [DS: Yup, great "evidence." If it's not on his new record, it never happened.] . . .

Yusuf knows, however, that anti-Muslim feeling in the U.S. easily translates into panic. [DS: Yes, Roger, keep defaming America to pander to the HAMAS financier.] Maybe that's why he has cleverly covered the Animals' old hit, "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood." He is not unaware of an acceptance problem.

But really, there's nothing on "Cup" that could offend anyone and plenty of love and peace for everyone. . . .

When he visits America next month, I hope Yusuf will get a fair airing on TV like "Regis" and "Ellen." If he plays his cards right over the next few months, he might even get that Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction he clearly deserves.

(Emphasis added.)

Friedman got mad when Jolie refused to do an interview with him at the New York "A Mighty Heart" premiere. But when it comes to questions directed at himself, he won't answer. Here's an e-mail I sent him a while ago, which, predictably, went unanswered:

From: Debbie Schlussel

Sent: Monday, June 25, 2007 11:19 AM

To: roger.friedman@foxnews.com

Subject: ROGER, 2 Questions for something I'm writing about U . . .

For whom did you vote in the last three presidential elections? For whom did you vote for the U.S. Senate from New York in races in which Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer ran (last two elections for both)?

I'm confident that the answers are: Kerry, Gore, Bill Clinton, Hillary, Hillary, Schumer, Schumer.

He's just like liberals and liberal movie critics you'd see on any other network. There's nothing fair and balanced about Roger Friedman, FOX News' entertainment go-to guy.

The next time you hear that FOX News loved this movie or that celebrity, you'll know that means it has a left-wing agenda and, in reality, isn't worthy.

For Roger Friedman, the eternal credo is, "I distort. Don't decide."


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: debbieschlussel; foxnews; foxnewschannel; hollywood; liberalism; moviereview; rogerfriedman
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To: goldstategop

Like most gossip writers Friedman has stars in his eyes and is often more concerned about being at the right party than anything else. His views are pretty left as is to be expected. He was at his worst before The Passion came out, when he slammed the movie as anti-Semitic in column after column when he hadn’t even seen it. I still think it was mostly because he wasn’t invited to any of the pre-release screenings. As for his movie reviews, I don’t give them any heed. I think he actually has a greater grasp and discernment of popular music than film anyway.


21 posted on 08/14/2007 12:33:48 PM PDT by visualops (artlife.us)
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To: goldstategop

What kind of a man makes his living writing about and fawning over celebrities? I think we know.


22 posted on 08/14/2007 12:38:03 PM PDT by Astronaut
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To: Borges

This lady threw a hissy fit over “V For Vendetta” and made herself look like a loon. I had never heard of her before that and laught at her ever since.


23 posted on 08/14/2007 12:41:26 PM PDT by NorthFlaRebel
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To: visualops

Armond White is known in film buff circles as an amusing loon. The film generated an enormous amount of sympathy for Pearl amnd his wife and in no way diminished the crime or absolved those responsible for responsibility. Michael Medved liked it who’s not in the habit of praising films that endorse Islamic terror.


24 posted on 08/14/2007 12:42:08 PM PDT by Borges
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To: Borges

Some embarrasing grammatical gaffes my previous post!


25 posted on 08/14/2007 12:42:48 PM PDT by Borges
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To: Borges

Pretty much everybody who thought the movie was a whitewash of reality is a “loon”, right?


26 posted on 08/14/2007 12:43:57 PM PDT by WhistlingPastTheGraveyard
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To: All

IMHO Fox News is the Best of the worst (sigh)


27 posted on 08/14/2007 12:45:49 PM PDT by Nav_Mom
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To: T.L.Sink

Is Dalrymple’s review online?


28 posted on 08/14/2007 12:48:19 PM PDT by Choose Ye This Day (Ask not what you can expect from life; ask what life expects from you. -- Viktor Frankl)
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To: WhistlingPastTheGraveyard

Did you see it? I’ve have and am giving my own opinion. As has been stated in various ways in this thread by others, Debbie Schlussel sees anti-semitism everywhere. Armond White is a hoot for different reasons. No movie offers ‘reality’.


29 posted on 08/14/2007 12:49:23 PM PDT by Borges
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To: Jokelahoma
"They're not supposed to be the Conservative News Network, they're supposed to be fair. That means even the lefties get to tell their side of the story."

I agree. Don't understand why anyone would want to expect a network to parrot their thoughts 24/7. I like to hear both sides and make up my own mind what to think or believe. By and large I think FoxNews does a pretty good job of presenting the story, save and except anything done by Greta or Geraldo, which is not to be considered 'news' by me.

30 posted on 08/14/2007 12:53:16 PM PDT by JustaDumbBlonde
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To: goldstategop
Shouldn't movie critics talk about good/bad acting (there are a few good actors still in Hollyweird) or good/bad directing? Is it a well written story?

That's what I'd like to hear about, not what darned political message it may have.

31 posted on 08/14/2007 12:54:25 PM PDT by sweet_diane ("I still come down to talk to me, when the coast is clear.")
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To: goldstategop

Why does have a “Help Elect Barack Obama” ad on her website?


32 posted on 08/14/2007 12:58:28 PM PDT by Olydawg
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To: goldstategop

Where is ANY examination of ABCNNBCBSPBSMSNBC (questioning whether they are conservative OR liberal)

ONLY Fox gets examined over and over because it dares to have some actual conservatives on-air.


33 posted on 08/14/2007 12:59:22 PM PDT by Mr. K (Some days even my lucky rocketship underpants don't help)
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To: ishabibble

I like Lauren Green too! She is one of the more intelligent figures on Fox and a very accomplished musician.


34 posted on 08/14/2007 1:00:01 PM PDT by JustaDumbBlonde
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To: goldstategop

Any network who employs GERALDO for anything other than latrine duty cannot be “fair and balanced.” I give them a C- for F&B, and it would be a failing grade if not for Brit Hume and Ollie North.


35 posted on 08/14/2007 1:05:41 PM PDT by MizSterious (A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within.)
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To: Borges

Of course I didn’t see it. All of 14 people saw it. It was a monumental bomb. Only the terminally film-obsessed have seen it (which I once was, before I actually started working in the industry).

But I do know that CAIR wholeheartedly endorsed the film and hosted a private pre-release screening. I’ll draw my conclusion from that and that alone... and I put a great deal of confidence in that conclusion, thank you.


36 posted on 08/14/2007 1:05:45 PM PDT by WhistlingPastTheGraveyard
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To: sweet_diane

“Triumph of the Will” and “Olympia” were perfectly directed and exquisitely photographed. I suppose that’s all that really matters.


37 posted on 08/14/2007 1:08:15 PM PDT by WhistlingPastTheGraveyard
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To: ishabibble

Also, Lauren Green was on with Robert Spencer, a very good segment up on HA, and I realized how much I missed her calm demeanor every morning. She recently had a baby and is back now as the religion editor. But I sure do miss her and E.D. first thing every day!


Wasn’t that a GREAT segment?! Way, way too short though. I could’ve listened to them talk for a lot longer that the 3-4 minutes they were given.


38 posted on 08/14/2007 1:11:17 PM PDT by VirginiaMom
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To: Jokelahoma

And when Fox News repeats the lies told by the ‘Rats and the rest of MSM, you think that’s fair? I want the NEWS, the truth of what happened, not the inane commentary that’s passing for the news these days, even on Fox.


39 posted on 08/14/2007 1:11:31 PM PDT by MizSterious (A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within.)
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To: ChurtleDawg

Schlussel has street cred.

What’s yours?


40 posted on 08/14/2007 1:14:39 PM PDT by sauropod (You can’t spell crap without the AP in it.)
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