I’ve been trying to understand exactly what the opponents of Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran are really looking for, short of bombing the hell out of that country. I can’t figure it out. We’ve spent the last six years learning that Republicans are the Party of No. They don’t have to come up with alternatives to anything, no ideas, at least none that make sense when analyzed by a fourth or fifth grader. They just have to sneer, sulk or call the president a Muslim. They’re doing it again with the Iran deal, though in this case, to hear his holiness Mike Huckabee, they’re just going for the Nazi-oven slur.
It’s not a perfect deal. It’s not a guarantee that Iran won’t build a bomb for the next 15 years. But then, neither were any of the nuclear control treaties with the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 80s, and back then the Soviets had about a zillion warheads pointed at each one of our basements and patios, they waged wars on a few continents, and their leaders, if walking-dead Brezhnev was any indication, weren’t all there. At least Iran’s Supreme Leader has a Twitter account that suggests he can, and does, deal on western terms. Unlike the shmucks he used to train to blow themselves up here and there (a practice his Hezbollah clients gave up in the late 1980s), he’s not suicidal.
The suicide bomber thing by the way has been taken over very effectively by Saudi Arabia, whose charities subsidize our enemies like drunken Sunni sailors. It’s always ben Saudi money that’s funded the Taliban, it’s Saudi money that’s funding ISIS, and it’s Iran that’s teaming up with the U.S. to fight ISIS in Iraq. Saudi Arabia’s treachery isn’t speculation. “Donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide,” Hillary Clinton wrote as secretary of state in a secret cable revealed by Wikileaks. The Saudi government’s response has been somewhere between calculated indifference and laundered complicity: all petrodollars begin with the royal family in Saudi Arabia. Those petrodollars aren’t ending up in terrorists’ ammo chambers by magic. If it’s been difficult to follow the money, it’s because Saudi Arabia is also one of the most repressive, closed-off regime on the planet: it’s a richer North Korea, with ISIS-inspiring Wahhabists in charge.
So if we have a serious enemy to worry about in the Middle East, it is and has always been Saudi Arabia, one-time Mecca of none other than Osama bin Laden. Our own Bob Graham has been warning us about this for years. He sees a direct link between the Saudis and the 9/11 attacks. But people prefer to listen to the other Graham, the Lindsay of formerly Confederate South Carolina, whose appeal begins with his weakness for starting wars we keep losing. He just called for 10,000 more troops in Iraq while claiming the Iraq war was not a mistake. It’s as if the disasters of Iraq and Afghanistan never happened even as they keep happening.
But here we are with a deal with Iran that could give us, if not peace, then at least more peace of mind than we’ve had in decades, yet the groveling concubines of the Israeli lobby are once again putting Israel’s apocalyptic insanity ahead of American interest. Israel’s Likudist Lindsays won’t be satisfied until either Israeli or American bombs are raining on Iran, preferably both. We know that Israel has a hard time going more than a few years without rejuvenating its lust for aggression, because like Republicans stateside, it has an aversion for diplomacy with anyone East of Suez.
And this is the only nation in the Middle East that actually has nuclear weapons, that has started eight wars to Iran’s none in the last half century, and whose war crimes are as well documented as they are ignored, condemned or abetted by Congress. Talk about supreme hypocrisy.
So if we were to dispense with this deal, Iran will certainly resume its way to a nuclear weapon, Israel will bomb it, the United States might feel compelled to join in as its obliging vassal, and what will happen next needn’t be guessed. Hezbollah will go Medieval on Israel’s north, Iran will unleash whatever firepower it’s never fired beyond its borders in the past 50 years, possibly triggering a new war in the Middle East that we’ll have to fight, and Israel will sit there snickering at the puppeteering it’s so capable of pulling off, at our expense.
No thanks. I’d rather go for diplomacy, a flawed but real agreement, and the much greater certainty that another war is not inevitable. Besides, in spans of 15 years, when that agreement expires, even Supreme Leaders die and functional madmen like Benjamin Netanyahu get knocked out of office. The agreement with Iran doesn’t just buy time. It guarantees regime change, without a single shot fired. That alone is worth the price of compromise.
Pierre Tristam is FlaglerLive’s editor. Reach him by email here or follow him on Twitter @PierreTristam. A version of this piece aired on WNZF.
Knightwatch says
Excellent insights, Pierre, but don’t expect conservatives here or anywhere else to agree or even consider. They typically go “right’ for the red meat that their spokespersons throw them, you know, ovens, sell out, weakness, etc., etc., with no inclination to think or question. They love belligerent talk of bombing, invasion, death and destruction, and the Trumps, Walkers, Huckabees, et al, give them as much as they can digest. Nuanced solutions such as diplomacy go way over their heads and deny them the instant and simple gratification they crave. I mean, they still have a warm and fuzzy over Iraq! Wonder how they’d feel if they had to hand out the body bags if we were to attack Iran.
As far as Saudi Arabia is concerned, that kingdom’s ultimate destruction is assured, and it’s demise is inevitably advanced every time some prince, or most recently, the ruling king, spends obscene amounts of money on airplanes, yachts, grandiose mega-mansions and personal shopping trips. There will be a revolution.
Steve Robinson says
When it comes to the knee-jerk Republican reaction to the agreement, Obama said it best: The alternative to diplomacy is war, and if that’s what Republicans want they should say it just that way–and their passel of presidential candidates should run their campaigns under that banner. As for our “pals,” the Saudis, while we’re all happy to be paying $2.40/gallon at the pump, the fact is that the Saudis are depressing prices not out of the goodness of their medieval hearts (and not because they simply want to “retain market share”), but because, as Roger Cohen explained in the Times, it makes alternatives to petroleum look less fiscally attractive.
So, here’s my Modest Proposal: Give everyone nukes–Iran, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Morocco. Hell, why stop with the Middle East and North Africa? Brazil, get those centrifuges spinning! Bolivia, Chile and Venezuela; Kazakhstan, Latvia and Lithuania–we’ve got plenty of nuke-armed MIRVs, here’s a few for you! Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) kept us from a direct confrontation with the Soviets for more than 40 years, and has probably kept India and Pakistan from engaging in a full-scare war any number of times. An Iran-Israel nuclear standoff? I see peace as a result. First one to volunteer to commit suicide, raise your hand!
anon says
Apparently you have read the agreement that this administration has agreed to.I did not realize you has such good connections. Mind sharing it with the rest of us? The biggest thing that I have heard, from all news sources is this will all be confirmed and controlled through inspections, that we have to give 24 days notice of. Please explain how that is supposed to work? Thanks for educating the rest of us.
Knightwatch says
Anon, I fear that “the rest of you” may be beyond education. I hope that’s not so in your case, but I’ve no information to the contrary.
But, let’s give it a try. There’s a ton of information on the web from very knowledgeable sources about the agreement so do a little research and you might get a bit more comfortable with it. Just Google “Iran Nuclear Agreement”. Aside from that, we put our best people on the negotiating team led by Secretary John Kerry, a very experienced former senator with a world of national security experience. The deal has been endorsed by five former ambassadors to Israel, over 60 current and former national security principals, and a majority of Americans including, most notably, a majority of Jewish Americans. From an Israeli perspective, the IDF’s general staff, a former head of Mossad, a former head of Shin Be, a scientist from Israel’s nuclear program, a former head of the IDF’s intelligence branch, a former deputy national-security advisor, and many more have endorsed the agreement. Now let’s look at the detractors … Ted Cruz, Scott Walker, Mike Huckabee, Donald Trump and the other dozen or so Republican presidential candidates. So, do you believe they have more foreign policy experience that the Sec’y of State, his professional staff and a legion of experts from the five major countries who engaged in and approved the negotiations? If you answer “yes” then you have confirmed my fear.
Bob says
Kerry, a disgrace to my US Navy who pretty much either self inflicted or fabricated 3 Purple Hearts which he knew would get him out of Vietnam. Then started a career as a war protester and politician. He is a traitor in my opinion and can’t be trusted.
Knightwatch says
Horse hockey! Kerry is an honorable military veteran with an admirable record. He has been a very active and productive senator as opposed to, say, Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio, and a fine and respected Secretary of State.
You Republicans need to read a newspaper once in awhile (not the News Journal!) or an informed magazine, and watch a real news program.
Bob says
I got it straight from the swift boat veterans who knew him. He was a traitor! He can’t negotiate his way out of a wet paper bag. You Democrats need to stop reading and listening to the liberal media! He stood right next to Jane Fonda protesting the war. Sickening for an ex US Navy officer. He bad mouthed the military for years after he got out and then becomes a Senator and pretends to support them. I served for 26 years in the U.S. Navy and lost several friends on River Patrol boats. I will never respect Kerry!
Outsider says
There’s nothing wrong with diplomacy, except diplomacy under a false deadline. Iran was on the ropes and a person who actually had negotiating skills could have worked out a better deal. The only deadline was the end of Obama’s presidency, as he was more concerned with building his legacy than getting a good deal. Any numbskull knows that a man who trades a deserter for five high level terrorists shouldn’t be making deals that will affect the country for generations to come. Iran will take the money Obama is releasing to them and build their bomb in short order.
Anonymous says
Apparently, the author of this article hasn’t read the news today. The Supreme Leader of Iran has just Published a new book (sure to become a best-seller, with a built-in rapt audience comprised of Anti-Zionists like Mr. Tristam) which commends the divine mission of Jihad and how exactly Israel can and should be totally destroyed. It isn’t so much a political statement based on humanitarian principles that anyone with a brain (or a conscience) could possibly recommend. It’s just good old Jew hatred, teamed up with an absolute loathing of Western principles, which, supposedly, the United States exemplifies. A teeny-tiny little point totally ignored or/and high-handedly dismissed out of hand by those who wish nothing more or less these days than to totally whitewash Iran as part and parcel of their efforts to get this deal done, no matter what. It’s just more icing on the cake to be able to use any excuse to cast Israel in the role of being the biggest Genocidal bully on the block. Did you miss the Amnesty International report, Pierre, that recently condemned Iran for having the highest Death Penalty rate amongst ALL nations in the world– a Death Penalty rate that, according to the report continues to increase and is employed for crimes such as “adultery, “sodomy”, and vaguely worded “national threat” crimes? Iran funds Hezbollah, and they are Assad’s major backer in Syria–talk about a Genocide taking place as we speak! Yeah, Iran’s eventually and legitimately possessing a nuke shouldn’t bother anybody, any more than lifting a conventional weapons embargo should be considered a danger, to Israel or anybody else. Because, really, as you say, Pierre, Iran’s not REALLY so bad. Let’ see…on the one hand, you have the head of the Israeli government working actively right out in the open, trying to make a case against the Iran Nuclear deal which would legalize Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions in a decade or so (if they don’t cheat before that…a big “if”, since we now know that Obama, Kerry nor the Head of the US Department of Energy have been allowed to read the actual terms of the compliance verification contract between the IAEA and Iran.) On the other hand, you have the Supreme Leader of Iran writing about how Israel’s destruction is priority numbers one, two and three, by the grace of Allah, especially since Israel is the arm of the Great Satan U.S.. Now, what kind of paranoid fool could EVER perceive that to be indicative of ny kind of a threat?
Sam Dean says
Excellent assessment and superb insight.
Why our retrograde congress lacks an analyst like you? The foolish republicans and many of the Zionist Democrats could learn a lot from you. Alas, our Israeli controlled congress wouldn’t allow independent minds with foreign policy knowledge and intelligence to set foot in the capital building.
Anonymous says
Isn’t it nice to know, Pierre, that you are giving a voice to people like good old Sam Dean here, whose blather about “Zionist Democrats” and an “Israeli controlled congress” are pretty much code words for something even more shadowy and sinister than mere, ahem, Anti-Zionism? Good luck with your crusade. I’m sure you’ll understand why some of us feel compelled to do whatever we feel is necessary to stop you. Even if you don’t, too bad.
anon2 says
@anon: if a 24 day waiting period is, by your assessment, the “biggest thing” we have to fear in the agreement, let me put your fears to rest. Nuclear material has an active shelf life of many years, well beyond 24 days, If Iran is violating the agreement, it is easily detectable by UN inspectors and their ultra sophisticated equipment. If even a trace amount of nuclear activity is found, we can proceed to more radical action.
Joe says
I have a pet rattle snake that I feed by hand everyday, the guy that gave it to me said it wouldn’t bite me during feeding for 10 years, no worries if you say so!
Geezer says
And your rattlesnake’s name is “Israel.”
Just like the country that America sends $5,000,000 to, on
a daily basis – a stolen territory that we prop up, that has
won us the wrath of the muslim world – 2,000,000,000 strong.
Every day Israel expands by forcibly and illegally razing Palestinian
homes, shooting at Palestinian children, and denying these people
basic rights ON THEIR OWN SOIL.
That “rattlesnake” bites alright, employing US-made Hummers, M16’s
Abrams tanks, US-style uniforms.
So if the US decides to bargain and sign treaties with Iran, I say “OK.”
We bargain with and feed much bigger monsters than them.
ken says
Iran calls for death to America. Iran calls for the annihilation of Israel. Iran calls for removing Israel from the map. Is it any wonder that Israel opposes this deal?
You say ” Iran’s Supreme Leader has a Twitter account that suggests he can, and does, deal on western terms.” Really? I guess the same must be true of ISIS since they use social media.
Your comparison with the USSR is flawed. They already had nukes.
Since you seem to know so much about this deal, tell us about the inspections. Is it true the Iranians must be given weeks notice of inspections? Is it true there are suspect sites that are excluded from inspections? Is it true that Iran is one of the countries which must agree to inspections? If there things are true, the deal is not just imperfect, it is meaningless.
M&M says
I don’t trust Iran or Obama.
karma says
Iran,Israel and Saudi Arabia are not the real threats in today’s world. Israel will be fine and Muslims will just keep killing each other regardless. Russia and China also approved this deal with Iran, so I know we are safe.
The real threat is here in this country. When a presidential candidate has to apologize for saying “All lives matter”, we should all worry . Every large city in America is becoming a killing field, yet we are more concerned about turning our lights out during turtle nesting season. My chance of death is greater walking through the mall than a nuclear bomb hitting this country. And with the politically correct world we live in today, that risk keeps rising.
Commom Sense says
Dear Anon:
The candidates and the media haven’t read the details of the agreement but that hasn’t stopped their criticism.
I particularly liked Trump’s comment that he hadn’t read it but he knew people who knew about those things.
anon says
CS….. well how is it supposed to be read when the Adim won’t let it be? Are we just supposed to accept the Boy Kings word on it? I respect the office he holds but I have ZERO respect for him and his “most transparent administration there has ever been”. Don’t get me wrong. They are all crooks, the left and the right and need to be replaced. But What Obama has done to this country is a disgrace. We have become the laughing stock of the world.
Mark says
Nobody has read the details. Like Obamacare, you’ll know what’s in it when you pass it, and you can keep your doctor too.
anon says
I give you one thing to explain and only one of you try to explain it and he fails. Anon2 By “biggest thing” I meant that is the “biggest thing”: that keeps being tossed out there. Unless you are a Nuclear scientist and understand the details in regards to research and nuclear bomb development you fail. Provide some facts. I doubt that you would even be aware that there is a meth house next door to you.
Knightwatch you lost me at Jim Kerry… for everyone of the people you have shown approve the other side can show one of equal weight that disproves.
We are negotiating with terrorists. This administration has done it before (giving up terrorists for a deserter), and they are doing it again. Either Iran is supporting terrorists against us and our allies and by that terrorists themselves, or they are not. I believe they are and that buy giving them relief in the sanctions, thus billions of dollars, we are just telling them that it’s ok…… It shows we are week. Unwilling to take a stand about what is right.
Let’s take a poll. How many of you are more upset about a lion being killed then signing an arms treaty with Iran? The results of that poll should give a pretty good view of who is on the left and who is on the right.
anon2 says
Anon, you ask for verification of facts, although you rarely find it necessary to do so. You blast the President, but fail to give any specifics. Actually, I heard the testimony regarding the 24 day waiting period directly from the Congressional Hearings on C-span.
As for a crack house next door that you mentioned, the smell of crack cooking is very distinctive and odious, not to .mention dangerous to anyone living next door.
Not all Iranians are terrorists, far from it. I know, you want verification of my facts. I ask that you provide facts to prove tha all Iranians are terrorists.
groot says
From “drunken Sunni sailors” to “functional madmen like Benjamin Netanyahu” to “Israel has a hard time going more than a few years without rejuvenating its lust for aggression” to “Israel’s Likudist Lindsays” to “the Lindsay of formerly Confederate South Carolina” this is easily one of the oddest and most unique articles that I have ever read. Is that a good thing? Yes and no to some extent. International Affairs 101 right here in Flagler County! Oy vey ist mir! This makes my head hurt. This stuff is live to say the least!
Anonymous says
Let’s commit Jihad against the Jews. WHAT??? YOU WON’T LET US? Well, you must be a “functional madman!”
Sherry E says
Excellent insights Pierre! Wow, what an education on Saudi Arabia! What a dangerous chess game!
I have several cherished friends who are Jewish. I also am a big fan wonderful Jon Stewart on the Daily show who has some of the most excellent reporting and stories on the hypocrisy and downright lies told by politicians and media in the USA. So, I am most certainly a person who appreciates and supports the Jewish culture and their need for a safe homeland.
Saying that, I am also a strong believer in the reality of “too much of a good thing”. . . for example, for many years it has seemed to me that in order to somehow make up for the horrendous “Holocaust” we have blindly supported the country of Israel for decades, no matter what. Have we been so one sided as to look the other way while the Jewish people have forcefully and arrogantly expanded their settlements and displaced people who lived on that land for generations? Have we paved the way for the Israelis to be the bullies of the Middle East by pouring billions into their coffers, and paving the way for their nuclear program? Etc. Etc. Etc.
Netanyahu’s bravado in thumbing his nose at the President of our nation and meeting with opposition members of our Congress is over the line! His overt dividing influence and meddling in the politics of our country should not be tolerated! In my mind, he is dangerously pulling Israel is the direction of being the “oppressors”. . . aided by those in Congress that insanely see an advantage to keeping the bubbling cauldron of war stirred frequently in the entire Middle East.
To be sure, its a complex issue. It is refreshing and enlightening to read a perspective from the other side. Hopefully your words will be thought provoking to your readers who have only been exposed to the Jewish point of view. Thank You Pierre!
Bob says
You get your news from the Daily Show!!! It’s a comedy. All satire! I feel sorry for you!
Anonymous says
@Sherry E says–It seems you only listen to half the news. You complain about Netanyahu “thumbing his nose” at President Obama? The President and his administrative team covertly hired a lobbying firm to actively interfere and influence the Israeli election against Netanyahu’s election by the people of Israel. I’d say that act qualifies as being more than just “a thumbing of the nose.” So, I’d say your outrage against Mr. Netanyahu is a little misplaced. The fact that the Israeli’s saw through it and chose to elect Mr. Netanyahu anyway should tells you how much that country now trusts the intentions of the US in general and President Obama, in particular. Mr. Obama once stood up a planned meeting with Mr. Netanyahu so he could “have dinner with his kids”–or, at least, that was excuse his Press Secretary gave when he was given a hard time about it. A highly-ranked but “unnamed” official of Obama’s administration called Mr. Netanyahu “a chickensh*t.” Remaining unnamed, I think, would show most anyone with a brain who the real “chickensh*t” is–and how childish and surly we can be, especially when it comes to Israel and Mr. Netanyahu. The remark was never walked back. And the reason for that is, I think, that they are not in the least bit sorry. It’s indicative of exactly how they feel. In fact, it was Obama, on a hot mic, who was caught insulting Mr. Netanyahu years before to the French President. This disrespect on the part of President Obama towards Mr. Netanyahu is pof a sustained and long-standing nature. He hasn’t spoken that way against any other world leader or political figure that I can think of–including those who have threatened outright harm and terror towards American citizens. So, let’s not talk about how Mr. Netanyahu is “thumbing his nose” at us because our conduct has been anything but exemplary. A news report came out today stating that the Obama Administration is now planning to meddle in a court case that was recently won in New York (that took a lot of time and several years to complete) wherein the American victims and victim’s families of past Palestinian terrorist attacks were victorious in getting an award for the deaths, damages, injuries and pain and suffering incurred in those terrorist attacks. The report states that the Obama administration is planning to try to get the verdict and/or the award vacated. This, after the Obama administration (John Kerry, in particular) have been trying to convince the Israeli’s to give up an endless number of concessions for the “pain and suffering” of Palestinians who are not even direct descendents of the people displaced in 1948. It’s not that hard to figure out exactly where this President or his administration stands–and it isn’t, as he likes to claim, in Israel’s corner. He not only doesn’t have Israel’s back, as he claims–he is actively plotting against their backs when he isn’t doing it outright, albeit by degrees. His then turning around and making a speech to J Street (which does not represent the mainstream of the Jewish community, by any means) or visiting a couple of synagogues here and there to attempt damage control only makes his motives look less than pure. I think it is time for the Jewish population to start paying more attention to the actions of this President and his Administration and stop listening to unconvincing speeches about his supposed concern for Israel and his great regard for the Jewish people. When you actively work against the interests of an entire group of people, while holding those same people to a higher standard of conduct than you hold for yourself, their opposition or any other group in the world, it’s YOUR own attitude and conduct that deserves closer scrutiny. And your remark about “the Jewish point of view” might have more merit if the the Supreme Leader of Iran did not just release a book about how Iran’s purpose in the world should be the extinction of Israel and the US, as it’s satanic arm, so that Iran can wage its holy purpose, which is Jihad and its Iran’s destiny as its agent and the major dominating power in the Middle East. I am sure that it will be a best seller in Iran in no time at all. Especially among those who resent having been so “(over)exposed to the Jewish Point of View.” By the way, let us know when you feel Black people should stop making so much of a fuss about slavery. Maybe we should stop feeling that we should try so hard to “make up” for it, considering that it happened so long ago and we all know that we don’t have to worry about the real-life effects of racism anymore than we have to worry about the real-life effects of Anti-Semitism.
Geezer says
Regarding the last two words of your post:
Semites are both Arab and Jewish.
The object of an anti-semite’s hatred can also be directed at Arabs.
Sherry E says
Just a FYI. . . my understanding of the multitude of politics/cultures/societies of our planet comes primarily from first hand experience in traveling extensively to many countries for the past 30 years and meeting with Congressional leaders. In addition, my factual news sources are many. . . including the those that I financially support such as the PBS News Hour and NPR, along with Al Jazerra, the BBC, CNN International, and local sources across Europe, Australia, Canada, and in different regions of the USA. And you, BOB?
Just because Jon Stewart’s brilliant analyses of blatant misinformation found on sources such as FOX is aired on the “comedy” channel doesn’t make the resulting demonstration of fear mongering and massive brainwashing of the weak minded any less accurate or relevant. . . as demonstrated by the hysteria laced comments found here.
Bob says
Well I have watched Al Jazeera and never will. Guess what? I watch fair and balanced FOX News Channel. Now go ahead with your rant. Oh, and I will vote for Trump also!
Anonymous says
I don’t watch FOX news too much for fear of throwing objects at my television screen and breaking it. I try, however, to read and listen to a variety of news sources and outlets. Sometimes I agree with the viewpoints expressed and sometimes I don’t. I think there is plenty of blame on both sides of the Israeli/Arab fence. But the trend that I see towards “anti-Zionism” that appears to be transforming itself into something much more ugly–and,unfortunately, familiar–is frightening. I don’t think there are many good people who get up in the morning, thinking, I think I’ll become an Anti-Semite today. But, it has happened before and it can happen again. And it does appear to be making a resurgence in popularity, using political “Anti-Zionism” as its cover. I am willing to bet that, if I were a Black person who suffered the effects of racism both historically and in my own personal experience, I would develop pretty good instincts about it, especially if and when I perceived that threat becoming more real and more dangerous. Make room for the possibility that Jewish people who haven’t become completely alienated from their roots might possess those same instincts. However, If there is no such room in you to be found, it will not stop Israelis or Jews from defending themselves. It really doesn’t matter whether you approve, agree or understand. The irony is, if Israel disappeared tomorrow, it’s American and EU critics wouldn’t be dancing in the streets for long. They’d be the next potential victims of those whose hatred of Jews they seem inclined to defend. Sad…and not very smart.
Sherry E says
Studies have shown that FOX devotees are less accurately informed than those watching no news at all, and that those watching Jon Stewart on the Daily show are some of the best informed. . . this from Business Insider:
Media outlets such as Fox News and MSNBC have a negative impact on people’s current events knowledge while NPR and Sunday morning political talk shows are the most informative sources of news, according to Fairleigh Dickinson University’s newest PublicMind survey.
Researchers asked 1,185 random nationwide respondents what news sources they had consumed in the past week and then asked them questions about events in the U.S. and abroad.
On average, people correctly answered 1.6 of 5 questions about domestic affairs.
Because the aim of the study was to isolate the effects of each type of news source, they then controlled for variables such as other news sources, partisanship, education and other demographic factors.
They found that someone who watched only Fox News would be expected to answer 1.04 domestic questions correctly compared to 1.22 for those who watched no news at all. Those watching only “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” answered 1.42 questions correctly and people who only listened to NPR or only watched Sunday morning political talk shows answered 1.51 questions correctly.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/study-watching-fox-news-makes-you-less-informed-than-watching-no-news-at-all-2012-5#ixzz3hwjB8DDQ
Bob says
Business Insider is just another uber liberal rag!
Sherry E says
OK, BOB. . . Bruce Bartlett. . . a conservative veteran of the Reagan and Bush administrations, published a long academic paper on FOX that included words like this:
Buoyed by its success as an explicitly conservative network, it appears that right-wing bias,
including inaccurate reporting, became commonplace on Fox. For example:
• A study of network coverage of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in 2005 found that Fox
was alone in supporting the Bush administration during a period when the wars were
going badly by any objective standard. It concluded that “scholars should consider Fox as
alternative, rather than mainstream, media.”40
• Fox instructed its on-air talent to avoid using the term “public option” when discussing
health reform and are required to say that global warming is merely a theory “based on
data that critics have called into question.”41
• A 2010 study found that Fox actively spread rumors and inaccurate information about a
proposed mosque planned for lower Manhattan.42 Its coverage is generally very negative
toward Muslims and Islam.43
• A 2012 study found that Fox takes a dismissive tone toward climate change and
interviews a much larger number of doubters than believers. Fox viewers are much more
likely to be skeptical of global warming.44 A 2014 study found that 72 percent of
references to climate change on Fox in 2013 were misleading.
Have a good read:
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2015/05/how-fox-news-changed-american-media-and-political-dynamics/
Bob says
It’s better to have one conservative network, otherwise it would be all liberal. NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, MSNBC etc. I wouldn’t worry about FOX, the liberal networks elected Obama twice, not what the founding fathers envisioned.
Sherry E says
OK. . . thanks, Bob, I get it. . . your position is that we should not let proven the “inaccurate reporting” by FOX get in the way of conservative prejudices. Over and Out! :)