Fox's "Live Desk" cluttered with lies on Clinton, Bush terrorism records

[maddezmom]

Fox News' Live Desk cluttered with falsehoods on Clinton, Bush terrorism records

Summary: In the Fox News premiere of her new show, The Live Desk, host Martha MacCallum advanced several falsehoods regarding the respective anti-terrorism efforts of Presidents Clinton and Bush, while discussing Chris Wallace's recent interview with Clinton. MacCallum falsely claimed that Richard Clarke was demoted by the Bush administration after 9-11 and that the Clinton administration abandoned opportunities to take out Osama bin Laden, despite having him "in their scope."
On the September 25 premiere of the new Fox News program The Live Desk, host Martha MacCallum interviewed Fox News host Chris Wallace about his heated interview with former President Bill Clinton, and later held a roundtable discussion on the topic. But in her coverage of the story, MacCallum advanced several falsehoods regarding the respective anti-terrorism efforts of Clinton and President Bush: MacCallum falsely claimed that former counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke, an expert on the Al Qaeda threat, was demoted by the Bush administration after September 11, 2001. In fact, his position was "downgraded" immediately after Bush took office. She advanced the baseless allegation that the Clinton administration abandoned opportunities to take out Osama bin Laden, despite having him "in their scope." Further, MacCallum allowed one of her guests to argue that pursuing bin Laden has always been a priority of the Bush White House, while ignoring Bush's contradictory statements on the priority the administration places on capturing him.

Bush demoted Clarke after 9-11

In the interview, which aired on the September 24 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday, Clinton conceded that he "tried and failed" to capture or kill bin Laden during his presidency, but added, "When I failed, I left a comprehensive anti-terror strategy and the best guy in the country, Dick Clarke, who got demoted." While discussing the interview with Wallace the following day, MacCallum took issue with Clinton's assertion that the Bush administration demoted Clarke. She said that a "discrepancy" existed "about whether or not Richard Clarke sort of wanted to step aside a little bit into a different area of intelligence." Further, she claimed that the demotion "didn't actually happen until after September 11th."

more:http://mediamatters.org/items/200609260001

[Crazy Dave]

1. What really pisses me off

Is over the years Clinton has never blamed the Bush administration for 9/11 and has even given respectful opinions on the war in Iraq. Never specifically blaming Bush for anything and yet the Bush administration, the Hannity's, the Limbaugh's and every right winger out there specifically blames Clinton for everything. From 9/11 to the failures in Iraq, it's always Clinton's fault for not fighting terrorism (lie) and for not adequately funding the military (lie), etc. All these years of lies and now using the lies as part of the fall campaign can wear anybody down and their all giggly and proud that they made him pissed on national TV.
I was wondering how Al Gore would have handled Wallace if he were in that chair.

[zbdent]

3. Clinton never blamed the first attack on the WTC on the failures of 41

although, by Repukes' standard, he could have blamed everything on the previous admin ... he rightly did say that the debt was much more than the prev. admin admitted - and Repukes said "What do you expect? The truth? Of course Bush was lying about the national debt - he was running for re-election!"

[DemonFighterLives]

2. It seemed in the past that News organizations didn't pass off

falsehoods on the American people. This fox co. should be run out of the country.
They have taken over a local TV station that the wife watches and slowly the bs is creeping in. Today they were pushing the liquid explosive story and I asked her to shut the bastards off.

The Big Dawg had his problems that we all know of, but in foreign policy, he was one of the best. We never saw him holding hands with the Saudi Royals.
:argh: