The Uber Lie

Howell Raines, former executive editor of the New York Times, headlines his complaint against FOX News with a question: Why don't honest journalists take on Roger Ailes and Fox News? It ought to be easy, he thinks.

This is not a liberal-versus-conservative issue. It is a matter of Fox turning reality on its head with, among other tactics, its endless repetition of its uber-lie: "The American people do not want health-care reform."

Two problems with that little bit from Mr. Raines.  First, FOX News never claimed that American people don't want health care reform.  It should be pretty obvious, even to the Raineses of the world, that Americans really do want health care reform, but they, we, don't want ObamaCare.  Let's go to an independent source, Rasmussen, for the latest numbers. 

Monday, March 08, 2010

As President Obama and his congressional allies search for a way to pass their proposed health care plan, most voters remain opposed to the legislative effort.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 42% favor the plan while 53% are opposed. These figures include just 20% who Strongly Favor the plan and 41% who are Strongly Opposed.

Let me emphasize, a majority of voters oppose President Obama's health care plan.  That does not say Americans are opposed to health care reform.  FOX News said the same thing back in October of last year.

Opinion Dynamics Corp. conducted the national telephone poll of 900 registered voters for Fox News from October 13 to October 14. The poll has a 3-point error margin.

When given a choice, Americans pick the middle of the road rather than a complete health care overhaul or no action at all. Half, 50 percent, would like Congress to focus reforms on providing health insurance to those who don't currently have it -- that's nearly twice as many as say they want Congress to reform the entire health care system, 27 percent. Some 18 percent want legislators do "do nothing and leave the current system in place."

Let me emphasize again.  Half would like Congress to focus on health care insurance for those who don't have it, while only 27 percent want to reform the whole system.  Democrats want to change the whole system.  That's why their popularity is in the dirt.

Which brings me to the second problem with Raines's assertions.  It really is a "liberal-versus-conservative issue," and most people are aware of that as well.  Liberals favor the expansion of government that Obama's plan entails and that Raines and the Democrats promote.  Conservatives oppose it.

The uber-lie does not originate at FOX News, and most people are aware of that as well.  The diverging fortunes of FOX News and New York Times, once run by Howell Raines by the way, are proof enough of that.  FOX News Channel is far and away the most watched cable news network, while the New York Times has been in financial trouble for years.  It's a credibility issue.

For Howell Raines to deliberately mischaracterize the mood of the American people in order to attack FOX News shows the utter contempt in which he holds his audience.  Audiences respond, which might explain the circulation drop at his New York Times and the concurrent rise of FOX.

There's nothing to the accusations of bias at FOX News Channel, so it's unlikely that an honest reporter is really what Raines is looking for.  What he says he wants is one of "America's old-school news organizations" to blow the whistle on Roger Ailes and FOX News.  I think he means somebody like Dan Rather.