Chris Wallace vs. Bill Moyers
Bill Moyers took exception to some things that Karl Rove made in his FNS interview with Chris Wallace. This Sunday, Chris Wallace decided to put Moyers in his place. Here’s the transcript of to a most delicious smackdown:
WALLACE: Time now for some mail, actually, one letter from liberal commentator Bill Moyers. You may remember in my interview with Karl Rove last Sunday, I asked him about a Moyers statement that Rove is reportedly an agnostic who manipulated the Christian right for political gain.Well, Rove answered that he’s an observant Episcopalian and Moyers, quote, “ought to do a little better research before he does another drive-by slander.”
Bill Moyers didn’t like that and sent me this letter, which he also posted on his Web site. He quoted four print stories for his contention that Rove is agnostic, none of which offer any proof other than what Rove supposedly told colleagues over the years.
Then Moyers wrote this. “Obviously, Rove wanted to blow smoke because his version of reality is undermined by his own previous statements and by the reporting and analysis of journalists who have done their homework and don’t take his every word as gospel, no pun intended.”
Well, to save on postage, Bill, here’s my response. If you want to find out about someone’s religious beliefs, a good first step might be to ask him.
If you had talked to Rove, as I did, you would have found out he reads a devotional every day and the biggest charitable contribution he ever made was to his church. Of course, you never called Rove.
That’s reporting 101, but it would have gotten in the way of a tasty story line about a non-believer flim-flamming the Christian right. I guess, Bill, reporting is easier when you don’t worry about the facts.
Bill Moyers has been an over-the-top nutjob for ages. He’s taken cheapshots at the Bush administration since the inauguration. I’m not sure he’d believe anything that anyone connected with the Bush administration would say.
The good news is that he picked a fight with someone a whole lot smarter, and more objective, than he is. He foolishly picked a fight with Chris Wallace. You can’t get a better smackdown than that last paragraph. For that matter, the last sentence is as good as it gets in smacking down Nutroots idiots like Moyers.
Technorati Tags: Bill Moyers, Nutroots, Chris Wallace, Karl Rove
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog
August 28th, 2007 at 12:53 am
[...] Cross-posted at California Conservative Categories: Rove, Media Bias, Agenda Media, Activism | [...]
August 28th, 2007 at 9:08 am
Chris Wallace is spot on and he usually is. This is the greatest reason the Dems don’t want anything to do with FOX. They cannot speak the truth. They do not look for the truth. They are hate-mongers out to destroy people they do not like or agree with. To hell with the truth and accuracy. American public will believe anything we spew at them…….Not anymore Libs. Because of FOX and its affiliates we now get the other side of the so-called truths out there. Too bad for the MSM.
August 29th, 2007 at 9:34 pm
This is another example of the left knowing what the right is thinking based on next to nothing. I read some articles where some guy said he said somethings and I think he’s agnostic. Classic.
These people are a joke; hence, none of them, not Kerry, not Edwards, not Obama, not the media, etc. hold real jobs. They hold politically orientated positions where they parrot the party line or make a living off others by BSing. The party of simple “thinking” and as research shows, feelings matter, not the facts.
September 2nd, 2007 at 7:11 pm
While taking Rove’s “word as gospel,” Wallace completely disregards the numerous contradictory reports that justify Moyers’ claims:
1) “The White House will miss his indubitable political acumen. What other agnostic could have mobilized hundreds of thousands of conservative Christians behind a political banner?” - San Antonio Express News, [8/14/07]
2) “I could be wrong here, but I distinctly recall conversations with Rove friends who’ve told me that his struggles with faith did not lead him to Jesus Christ. Yet he knew and understood how to interact with (and manipulate, at times) the standard-bearers of the evangelical Right and the Catholic conservative intellectual elite…..” - The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder, [8/13/07]
3) “[Rove] told his friend Bill Israel years ago that he was agnostic and that ‘he wished he could believe, but he cannot.’” - James Moore, co-author of Rove bio, Bush’s Brain, [8/13/07]
4) “Rove once told a colleague that he had no religious affiliation and was ‘not a Christian.’” - James Moore and Wayne Slater in Bush’s Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential
From PBS website
Rick Byrne, Director of Communications, BILL MOYERS JOURNAL:
The PBS Ombudsman Michael Getler posted another column This week regarding “My Fellow Texan.” In that column, he includes the letter below from a viewer. For the record, Bill Moyers did ask Karl Rove to come on BILL MOYERS JOURNAL, by fax and by mail. These requests were made before Chris Wallace responded on-air on Fox News Sunday to Bill Moyers’ letter, and we still haven’t heard from Karl Rove.
As usual Conservatives can’t handle the truth. Reporting 101 Wallace did not contact Moyers’ to confirm his story. Fox News is not news, but simply republican propaganda.