KEITH OLBERMANN: They've questioned his heritage, birthplace, religion, citizenship, Social Security number, academic eligibility, grade-point average, income, state elections, senate election, presidential election. They've debated his middle name, his first name, his wife's hairstyle, his wife's height, his dog, his basketball skills, which sports teams he likes, how often he goes on vacation, when he goes on vacation, if he plays too much golf on vacation, his cabinet members, his childhood friends, his acquaintances, his uncles, aunts, pastors, his ability to throw a baseball. Now, whether or not he's faking unemployment numbers.
And — perhaps most extraordinarily — they've complained about him reading off a teleprompter, while reading those complaints off their own teleprompter.
But in our number-one story — when someone calls out the political whorehouse that is Fox News on any of that, as our guest Jerry Springer did, they claim you must not be watching their show and that they are, in fact, "fair and balanced."
Two weeks ago, Mr. Springer ventured onto "Fox & Friends" to discuss an article attacking President Obama's critics. During that discussion, he brought up the fact that Fox has been leading an offensive against the president since Day One. On cue, the hosts feigned outrage.
(Excerpt from video clip) SPRINGER: We're here on Fox News. Every single day — in fairness — you guys, every single day, bash President Obama. Every day.
(Excerpt from video clip) CARLSON: I'm going to take you to task on that — I'm going to take you to task on that, because on this panel right here, we have a fair and balanced panel right here. And I'm the independent.
(Excerpt from video clip) SPRINGER: That's this panel. What's the rest of the show? The rest of the show, every single morning, you guys are slamming Obama, you know you are. I'm not saying you don't have a right to, but every single conversation is something bad about Obama.
(Excerpt from video clip) CARLSON: By the way, Jerry, you obviously don't watch our show. Because you do not understand that there's a reason — I'll speak for myself, I sit in the middle as the independent of the panel — and, quite frankly, we present both sides of the story and we leave it up to our viewers to decide where they fall.
OLBERMANN: Gretchen Carlson thinks she's an independent. An independent. She can't spell "independent."
So, let's see what they were letting their audience decide on today.
(Excerpt from video clip) CARLSON: "Do you cling to your guns and your religion?" Remember the president said that once? And it's because you're "bitter."
(Excerpt from video clip) TODD STARNES: And I think the reason people cling to their guns and they cling to their religion is they're afraid President Obama is going to take them away from them.
(Excerpt from video clip) CARLSON: That's one way to look at it.
(Excerpt from video clip) STARNES: There is no doubt, in my mind, that this administration has declared all-out war on people of the religious faith, specifically Christians.
(Excerpt from video clip) DOOCY: The president talks about, "Yeah, that 'hope and change' thing, I had it in my heart but the founding fathers set up a crazy system."
(Excerpt from video clip) ERIC BOLLING: He's frustrated with Congress, but not with China and Russia for blocking the slaughter of innocent people in the United Nations.
OLBERMANN: In fact, in the three-hour program this morning, there was not one positive mention of the president.
But attacks are not their only means of undermining the president, as we found out yesterday. When Fox is forced to report positive news about the president or his policies such as — you know, improving unemployment numbers — they don't believe they are true and cry conspiracy.
(Excerpt from video clip) BOLLING: Are they playing around with the numbers? Look, it's the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it's supposed to be nonpartisan, but that's the Department of Labor. Hilda Solis heads the Department of Labor. Hilda Solis works directly for Obama.
(Excerpt from video clip) DOOCY: Are you saying they're cooking the books?
(Excerpt from video clip) BOLLING: I'm saying there's room for error, there's room —
(Excerpt from video clip) CARLSON: I don't think anyone should be surprised in an election year —
OLBERMANN: Joining me now, as promised — former politician, host of "The Jerry Springer Show," Jerry Springer. Good to see you, sir. Thanks for coming in.
JERRY SPRINGER: It's great. Thanks for having me.
OLBERMANN: Have you recovered from your appearance on Fox News?
SPRINGER: Yeah, I walked right into it and I wasn't there to be confrontational. We were talking about the cover of Newsweek magazine several weeks ago, and it had the cover with Obama on it. The article was by Andrew Sullivan, conservative writer, and clearly it was a provocative headline, and it was tilted towards being for Obama. In fact, in the first paragraph on his article, he even says "I have a bias toward Obama."
So, they asked me, "What do you think about this? Here's Newsweek magazine, they are being biased." And I said "Yeah, probably a little bit to the left. But," I said, "we're sitting here on Fox News and you bash Bush every single day," excuse me, they bash Obama, every single day."
Now, I shouldn't win a Pulitzer Prize for that observation. I mean, the world understands that, and I'm not saying they don't have a right to be right wing. They are, and just admit it. MSNBC tends to be pro-liberal. So, it's okay, but don't deny that you're doing that, because then you are not credible.
OLBERMANN: Do you have any insight — we know why the people in charge of this do that and why they also must maintain this fiction that if is not — that Gretchen Carlson actually thinks she's an independent — is a litmus test for the entire equation. You can throw everything else out and just go to that. That tells me why the bosses are doing it. But why does Gretchen Carlson do it? Why do these people who work there do it?
My theory has always been — and you and I have had long and varied television careers, we have all encountered people on television who must be on television, who will do and say anything to be on television, especially in a prominent role — and I'm wondering, are they taking advantage of the people who have to be on TV? Like the Gretchen Carlsons and the guy — the Brian guy in the morning — as well? What do you think? Why are the people doing it, just as human beings?
SPRINGER: Well, I think what happens is you become part of the culture. And everyone around you is espousing that point of view, day in and day out, and — after awhile — you start believing your own sentences. And you forget that there was a strategy that, "Wait, we're going to create Fox News, Fox News is going to go after a certain demographic of, particularly, very conservative men," and that was the goal — and that's the demographic they went after.
But, they don't have those meetings every day among the reporters, but they hire reporters that have that point of view to begin with. And the whole culture there is that.
But, it was interesting, When I finished, the camera guys came up to me and apologized. So, it was like — is there a separate — you know, so I don't think they're bad people. They happen to be conservatives, that's okay. But just admit it, because that would make it so much more credible.
You know, you don't go around saying, "No, I'm not liberal." You say, "Hey, this is what I believe." And you're authentic and people will agree with you. I love what you said there. There are people that don't like what you say.
OLBERMANN: Really?
SPRINGER: But that's — I got their names. And — but that's it. And that's why I think they're ruining it. Just be honest.
OLBERMANN: It is still worth it, trying to call them out? I mean, personally, did you gain something?
SPRINGER: That wasn't my agenda.
OLBERMANN: No, of course not. I'm not saying it was. But was it worth it? Did it make — did you feel like it was even a drop in the bucket?
SPRINGER: Well, I think the more that there is a discussion about the fact that the media has biases in both directions, then I think people start to — with a grain of salt — take what they hear on television. And I think, frankly, that's going on.
It's certainly going on with commercials. I mean, most people today really don't believe everything that these political commercials say. They have some influence, but not totally anymore. So, I think, after awhile, people are becoming pretty sophisticated.
I think what we have to remember is the press — the media — has always, in American history, been biased, except — the only period it wasn't — I mean — with Jefferson and Adams in 1800, with the Spanish-American War.
OLBERMANN: Good grief, yes.
SPRINGER: Absolutely, the media has always taken positions. It was just that — after World War II when we started to have the three networks, first two, and then three networks — since that, all of a sudden, was the first national news we ever had — because newspapers were always local — the first national news we ever had. Because of that, they felt a responsibility — since there were only three stations — "We've got to try to be objective." And so we had Walter Cronkite, Huntley and Brinkley, et cetera. But, other than that blip —
OLBERMANN: And something called the Fairness Doctrine.
SPRINGER: And the Fairness Doctrine. Exactly.
OLBERMANN: Which is something that is deeply opposed by the people at Fox who portray themselves as "fair and balanced," but would not want a Fairness Doctrine to actually make a balance in any kind of partial portion of broadcast.
SPRINGER: Well, the whole "fair and balanced" — everyone understands, is tongue-in-cheek.
OLBERMANN: You and I understand that. But the people on the air there at least sell it like they believe it and, certainly, the people who watch this absolutely believe it.
SPRINGER: I — I — I hope you are wrong. I've got to think that —
OLBERMANN: Well, they're not watching that stuff because there aren't any good cartoons on at seven o'clock in the morning anymore.
SPRINGER: Oh, I — well, I think that people like to listen to what — to things that agree with what they already believe. And I think there was a constituency out there of — I'm probably labeling it wrong, but was called "the Angry White Men." It's the same people that go to talk radio. And that constituency was perhaps not being met in the national media. And so, Roger Ailes, brilliantly, says —
OLBERMANN: Brilliantly.
SPRINGER: Says, "Hey, here's a market. Let's go after them."
OLBERMANN: Mephistopheles was brilliant too.
The host of the "Jerry Springer Show," Jerry Springer. Always a pleasure to see you, sir, and thanks for coming in.
SPRINGER: You're great.
OLBERMANN: Glad for standing up — thank you for standing up when that circumstance prevailed.
