BOB DOLE: Does Hollywood still think Ozzy Osbourne is funny now that he's shipped his underage son off to drug rehab? America is awash in reality TV. The reality is it's debasing and degrading.
Mr. President, don't your show biz pals realize the consequences? They package dysfunctional people like the Osbournes, giggle at the coarseness and the crimes, and sink lower for higher rating. For eight years you treated Hollywood like your own piggy bank. Now how about joining me in demanding a little responsibility? Ask those entertainment executives who wrote you those big, big checks: Isn't there some way to reach the most viewers without appealing to the worst in viewers?

Reality exacts a price – sadly, from Ozzy's son today. Maybe from other kids tomorrow. President Clinton, how low can things go?

BILL CLINTON: I've never watched "The Osbournes," but 10 years ago did challenge the entertainment industry to take violence and other things harmful to kids out of their programming. I pushed for the first TV ratings system and the V chip to give parents more control over what their kids watched.

Reality TV makes money because adults watch it. Fox, the network full of conservative Republicans, has reality shows. You and Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh haven't attacked them.

huh?

allow me to weigh in here. for one, rush has nada to do with the fox new channel. secondly, anyone who watches the o'reilly factor or listens to factor radio KNOWS - absolutely KNOWS - that he hates reality TV and constantly criticizes them. how many times have i heard mr. bill talk about how these types of programs are bad for america? quite a few!

which brings me to my question, what the # is bill clinton talking about, and why would 60 minutes and cbs air this blatant uneducated attack?

There goes Clinton again! Him and Carter are competing for the title of America's worst former president.

I do remember Fox having Ted Nugent on (I think on Hannity and Colmes) in a opposite-Ozzy role. Though, Fox TV and Fox news can be to different things. And O'reilly routinely goes after thug rappers and people like that. Clinton goes on to mention Rush for the sake of demagoguery. CBS is known to be liberally-bias and like most other news networks employs a great number of Clintonites.

News should not be an OP or editorial rant, it should be just as its promised, NEWS!!! Fox is Entertainment.24 Hours Entertainment.How can a network be SO biased & expect to be treated fairly?The same goes if there was an all liberal news show.Fox has been slamming Clinton for years, I'm glad to see him FINALLY speka out!

you're glad about it? you're glad that bill clinton made himself look like an jackass in this commentary?

and how can you regaurd fox news channel as entertainment? that channel shows NEWS all day until 7 o'clock when the o'reilly factor begins.


jesus crispies...

[Edited on 03-07-2003 by kramtronix]

you're glad that bill clinton made himself look like an jackass in this commentary Posted by Kramtronix

Well in all fairness, Clinton always looks like a jackass... he cant really help it...

Romantico:
let's keep things in perspective and distinguish news from commentary (i.e., Crossfire is different from Headlines news, Rush is a pundit, etc)

Dan Rather is surely a liberal, and Tony Snow is conservative, etc, etc. If you think Fox is getting a bad rep how about CNN's 'non reporting' of atrocities in Iraq just to keep their access?? This all moot: Look at what people watch (ratings)

Originally posted by romantico
CNN is another right wing outlet(Like all Cable news is)

I don't think Clinton made an ass out of himself.

[Edited on 3-5-2003 by romantico]

[Edited on 3-5-2003 by romantico]

CNN being right wing? What cave have you been living in? CNN has a definite lifet wing, liberal bias.

And you don't think Clinton made a jackass out of himself with this commentary? He spoke withou knowing the facts. Bill O'Reilly slams reality TV. And he does it with frequency!!! Clinton said "Reality TV makes money because adults watch it. Fox, the network full of conservative Republicans, has reality shows. You and Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh haven't attacked them. "

Don't run from the truth.

And you and all the Cintonites can point out speech bloopers all you want, but the fact of the matter is that Bush handled the foreign policy NIGHTMARE that Clinton left us in with EASE.

Had Clinton had a foreign policy, maybe Gore would have won.

I hate it when people denounce news as being spun right or left when the only reason is that they disagree with the news that is being broadcast. One side says Liberal Media, the other says Conservative, when you are just seeing the same thing from two sides of an issue. Oh No! CNN didnt report enough on this, they reported too much on that! They are left/right wing and I will not watch them anymore. Now when anyone brings up CNN I can say they are liberal/conservative dont believe their lies. The only one I see as being really spun is FOX, who scrolled "Michael Moore fan club at phonebooth on seventh and fifth." When a network purposefully lies like that, it shows how bad they are.

Bush handled the foreign policy NIGHTMARE that Clinton left us in with EASE.

Just like Bush handled that economic "nightmare" with ease? Oh no, we have a surplus! Increase military spending, we must enter a recession to recover from the horrid effects of a good economy. And what the hell are you talking about? Foreign policy nightmare? The man was a great negotiator, not as good as (NOBEl PEACE PRIZE WINNING) Carter but at least when he was around he at least tried to stop the middle east conflict rather going in and raping TWO third-world countries.

And how does Clinton look like a jackass? He is being paid in the seven digits to give lectures. Bush on the other hand waves at Stevie Wonder.

Come on stop dissing reality tv and start dissing the people who watch it and keep it on the air. That these shows are so successful says something about the state of the American people. If they were seen as bad by the majority of America then they wouldnt be broadcast would they? And seriously, what is so bad about reality TV. Worse stuff happend on soap operas, and sit-coms and saturday morning cartoons but were those being bashed? People were still influenced by them. The answer to problems is not criminalization but education. Education is the only way to stop most of societies problems. Forgive me for some more bush bashing, but what does Bush do? He cuts the budget for education.

xaos

[Edited on 4-5-2003 by xaos]

Originally posted by xaos
The only one I see as being really spun is FOX, who scrolled "Michael Moore fan club at phonebooth on seventh and fifth." When a network purposefully lies like that, it shows how bad they are.

Just like Bush handled that economic "nightmare" with ease?

And how does Clinton look like a jackass? He is being paid in the seven digits to give lectures.

1) Fox News is not spun. It is conservative. There is a HUGE difference between the two. CNN reporting anti-war protests during 45% of their air time is SPIN. The liberals are just upset because conservative speakers have been muzzled and confined to talk radio, but are now begining to emerge on TV - the liberal playground.

2) I'd say that Bush is working on the "Economic nightmare." Don't forget, this economy was starting to tank at the end of Clinton's 2nd headlock of a term. Bush basically INHERITED it. Moreover, Bush's term is not up yet, and I'm pretty sure he'll have another one. I think that any ONE President who had to deal with 9/11, Afghanistan, rounding up hidden cells in America and Iraq all in a single term would have a HELL OF A TIME keeping a tight lid on EVERYTHING.

3) How did Clinton look like a jackass? Did you not read the damn thing? He said conservatives (like O'reilly) do not attack reality TV. The fact is, O'reilly is constantly attacking reality TV. What's not to understand? Clearly, Clinton did not do his homework before making that comment.

And you say he's getting paid absurd amounts of money to make speeches... Does that give him a "jackass license?"

"Oh.. It's OK that he said that because he was getting paid."

Does that mean it was OK for bin Laden to escape the clutches of the U.S. Government in 1996 because Clinton was getting paid then too?

WAKE UP PEOPLE, AND SMELL THE BULL#.

Clinton isn't a president anymore!!
let him do as he pleases in my opinion. But you all make excellent points. As for Fox news, I think they do a wonderful job.

You are 100% right Fox!!! I agree!

You say Fox isnt spun, it's conservative. But what is the difference between spinning and showing poilitical opinion? Anytime a news network fails in it's duty to show true, unbiased news by letting the opinion of the reporters get through it is doing a bad job. Bending the truth right or left is betrays your viewer. You say there is this HUGE difference, where is it? I mean, if there was this wide gaping crevasse between the two, wouldn't we see it? Where is this titanic difference between being conservative and reporting valid events? Hmmm?

Shouldn't Bush be working on this economic nightmare before he subjugates third-world countries for oil? Work on the domestic policy, before you kill civilians is the rule for most presidents. There is no real crisis that demands immediate attention, other than an oil shortage. He should fix the economy before spending hundreds of billions to kill people.

So about Clinton being a knoxville, why, because he didnt do his homework? How often do you do your homework? Does lack of attention to studies constitute the immediate derogatory title? So he made a mistake, big deal. You know how many mistakes our current president has made? You want specific examples? Here:

"And the time is getting worse. That's what people have got to understand up there in Washington or over there in Washington down there in Washington, whatever. Thought I was in Crawford for a minute."
-- George W. Bush, Scranton, Pennsylvania, Jan. 16, 2003

DUBYA: So what state is Wales in?
CHURCH: It’s a separate country next to England.
DUBYA: Oh, okay.
-- Exchange between Dubya and Welsh teenage singing sensation Charlotte Church, as reported in MSNBC, Oct. 30, 2001

And you would think that if many people would pay millions to hear him speak, he must be doing something right. When was the last time Bush Sr. Gave any sort of lecture? I guess people will pay to hear the opinion of, in your words not mine, a "jackass."

And was it really okay for the US to have trained Bin Laden? We did, dont you know? And that we gave weapons of mass destruction to Iraq to use against Iran? And that we put the Taliban in power? Letting Bin Laden escape? Do you think that some secret service agent went to Clinton and said "Mr. President, the terrorist is getting away!" and Clinton said "Let him go, he will be back, mwahahahaha!" Come on, are you that blind?

xaos

Just a brief comment, I don't live in the US so I don't watch these news channels. The only thing I do see are quotes, and brief snippets on British TV. But what I have noticed is that you all seem to agree that CNN is on the left-wing of US TV news.

Well... when I watch CNN (which is about the only US news channel available over here) it seems a little bit further right than Margaret Thatcher. i.e. in this country, CNN would be right-wing nationalist. So to say that it's "liberal" is a good indication that something is very wrong with the US media. We don't use the term Censored News Network when talking about CNN for nothing...

I've also heard a lot of right-wingers say how great FOX is. Well, from what I've seen, practically every "scoop" they report ends up being unsubstantiated. They just tow the Bush line, unquestioningly, and ignore any news which doesn't fit their political agenda. That's not news, it's propaganda.

So well done to Clinton for standing up and speaking his mind, now he's just got to defend himself from all the anti-patriotic slurs that will be aimed in his direction because he dared to insult the current presidents mouthpiece.

whoa! the demoncats sure are defnesive up in here! i mention how a former president didn't do his homework before making a snide comment about o'reilly and fox, and you guys turn this into a bush/clinton pissing contest. niiiice! i know you fellas are angry that bush is domineeringly dealing with the foreign policy nightmare mess that slick willy left our country in, but damn it man! when does it all end?


the fact still remains, clinton made the comment and he was wrong. talk about a "bumbling" idiot.

When Clinton comes out smelling like Roses

Originally posted by kramtronix
whoa! the demoncats sure are defnesive up in here! i mention how a former president didn't do his homework before making a snide comment about o'reilly and fox, and you guys turn this into a bush/clinton pissing contest. niiiice! i know you fellas are angry that bush is domineeringly dealing with the foreign policy nightmare mess that slick willy left our country in, but damn it man! when does it all end?


the fact still remains, clinton made the comment and he was wrong. talk about a "bumbling" idiot.

I trying to figure out how the current Foreign policy nightmare is Clinton's. I am willing to acknowledge that he played his part. But if my historical readings are correct (and they are) Bush Sr. helped in the training and arming of bin Laden and the Taliban, Reagan with his Middle East envoy Don Rumsfeld helped Saddam develop chemical weapons. Pinning all of the U.S.'s troubes on one present is really easy to do but shows that you don't do your homework.. There is plenty of blame to be put on Clinton, some bad decision making and maybe playing to nice with the current target of our venom, but look at the people who put those people in positions of power in the first place.