Fox News Watchdog

After previously falsely claiming that Democrats did not include GOP ideas in the health care bill, Fox News and right-wing blogs are now attacking President Obama’s plan to consider four GOP ideas as part of a new health care proposal as a “gimmick.” They have also seized on a Republican congressman’s claim that “Snooki” from MTV’s reality show Jersey Shore has “more substance” than Obama’s offer to consider the GOP proposals.

Fox News asks: Is plan to put four
GOP ideas in bill a “gimmick?”

Fox Nation:
“Gimmick? Obama says he likes 4 GOP Health Care ideas.” The Fox
Nation linked to a TalkingPointsMemo.com article about Obama incorporating four
GOP ideas into his health care proposal under the headline, “Gimmick? Obama
says he likes 4 GOP Health Care ideas.” The TPM article outlined the four proposals
of which Obama expressed interest and said nothing about it being a
“gimmick.”

Fox
& Friends: “True
bipartisanship or a political trick and a trap?” On the March
3 edition of Fox News’ Fox &
Friends, co-host Steve Doocy teased a segment about Obama’s plan with
Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL) by asking whether it was “true bipartisanship or a
political trick and a trap.” During the segment, Roskam said, “I think the
president is sort of parsing,” but that he didn’t “answer … the overwhelming
criticism of this massive takeover of health care.”

Van Susteren:
“Bipartisan or gimmick?” On the March 2 edition of her Fox
News show On the Record, Greta
Van Susteren hosted Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) to discuss whether Obama incorporating
the ideas was “bipartisan or gimmick.” Ryan said Obama is “using sort of
Republican labels but not Republican substance” and “add[ing] a few decent ideas
on top of a horrible structure.”

Fox News, blogs seize on GOP
representative’s “Snooki” comparison

Rep. Broun:
“Snooki, from the Jersey Shore, has more substance than
President Obama’s offer.” In a March 2 press release, Rep. Paul Broun
(R-GA) stated of Obama’s plan: “I don’t know if we should be insulted or humored
at the President’s feeble attempts to incorporate Republican ideas into his
latest health care proposal. Snooki, from the Jersey Shore, has more substance than President
Obama’s offer.”

Fox
& Friends: Snooki
comparison a “Republican’s reality check.” Throughout the March 3
show, co-host Gretchen Carlson repeatedly reported on Broun’s statement while
discussing Obama’s plan. During one report, an on-screen graphic called Broun’s
statement a “Republican’s reality check.” From Fox &
Friends:

Van Susteren:
Snooki has “more substance” than Obama plan? “Ouch.” Also on her
March 2 show, Van Susteren reported that “Georgia Republican Congressman Paul
Broun is not impressed” with Obama being open to Republican ideas and read his
statement that “Snookie from the Jersey Shore has more substance than
President Obama’s offer.” After reading his statement, Van Susteren said,
“Ouch.”

HotAir.com:
Snooki comparison is “shameless genius.” On HotAir.com, blogger
Allahpundit wrote, “Kudos to Broun for his
shameless genius in choosing a metaphor that guaranteed every hack in the
Beltway corridor (starting with yours truly) would be writing about his
boilerplate press release tonight. Coming soon: Biden ruins the GOP’s attempt to
obstruct reconciliation by summarily ruling their amendments out of order and then taunts McCain
with, ‘That’s one shot, kid!’ ”

Fox uses food metaphors to attack
Obama’s plan to consider Republican ideas

Ingraham: “If you have a vat of poison, and you put in a few
blueberries and a few raisins … it might taste a little bit better, but it’s
still poison.” On the March 2 edition of Fox News’ Fox & Friends, Fox News contributor
Laura Ingraham said of Obama incorporating GOP ideas into the health care bill:
“If you have a vat of poison, and you put in a few blueberries and a few
raisins, you know, it might taste a little bit better, but it’s still
poison.”

Carlson on
Roskam’s “leftovers” with “a few Republican bread crumbs” analogy: “I didn’t
know you were so talented in the kitchen.” During the March 3
segment with Roskam, Fox & Friends
aired a video in which Roskam said Obama’s plan is like “leftovers
that they’ve popped into the microwave, pulled out, given some sprinkles of salt
and pepper, tossed a few Republican bread crumbs across the top, and now put it
in front of the American public and said, ‘Ooh, isn’t this good? Don’t you like
this this time?’ ” Carlson said it was an “interesting cooking analogy” and that
she “didn’t know you [Roskam] were so talented in the kitchen.” Roskam replied
that Obama incorporating GOP ideas is “gestures, but that’s all that they are.”
Carlson also later summed up Roskam’s criticism of the bill by saying he would
rather have it passed “piecemeal, to use another cooking
analogy.”

Attacks are the
latest in right-wing media’s ever-shifting criticism of health care
debate

Conservative
media’s criticism of Obama considering
GOP ideas is
at odds with past,
false
criticism
that health care bills contained no GOP proposals.
The conservative
media’s suggestion that Obama’s consideration of four GOP proposals is a
“gimmick” is at odds with their previous false complaint
that Democrats did
not include any Republican ideas in the bill.

Conservative
media constantly shifts its
criticism of
the health care debate.
In addition to now
decrying attempts at bipartisanship, the conservative media has also flip-flopped on their criticism about the
length of health care proposals, changed the definition of “death panels” in
order to revive the falsehood, and shifted their attacks on the public option.
For example, numerous conservative commentators on Fox News — including Peter
Johnson Jr., Andrew Napolitano, and Andrea Tantaros — warned
that the health care
summit
was a “trap” or a
“setup” for the GOP. Previously, Van Susteren, Ingraham, and Fox News
commentator Monica Crowley had all complained that the GOP had been “locked out”
and “excluded from the
discussion.”

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