Nevada Democrats Cancel Fox Debate After Bad Obama "Joke"

The Nevada Democratic Party has canceled an upcoming debate, to be co-hosted by Fox news, in the wake of a stupid joke Roger Ailes told about Barack Obama. Yahoo News AP wire excerpt:

DAVENPORT, Iowa - Sen. Barack Obama said Sunday he was not greatly offended by the Fox News chief's word play about his name that led Nevada Democrats to cancel a presidential debate hosted with the network.

Fox's Roger Ailes made a remark last week about the similarities between the Illinois senator's name and al-Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden.

At a Radio & Television News Directors Association Foundation event in Washington on Thursday, Ailes said, "And it is true that Barack Obama is on the move. I don't know if it's true that President Bush called (Pakistani President Pervez) Musharraf and said, 'Why can't we catch this guy?"' according to a transcript provided by Fox. Bin Laden is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan or the country's lawless border region with Pakistan.

I suppose, if you are in the mood to give Ailes the benefit of the doubt, you could think that he was also picking on the Preznit, who is, after all, widely known for lapses in what passes for his concentration in matters such as this one. Unfortunately, this racist remark shows that Ailes is a mean-spirited, partisan prick (which seems to be a requirement to work at Fox), so no benefit of the doubt will be forthcoming.

The Nevada Democratic Party announced Friday it had canceled an August debate, to be co-hosted by Fox News Channel, and cited Ailes' comment.

Ailes went too far, the state's Democratic Party chairman, Tom Collins, and Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., wrote Fox News. "We cannot, as good Democrats, put our party in a position to defend such comments."

Nevada Democrats already were under criticism by MoveOn.org Civic Action, a network of liberal activists, for the partnership with Fox, which the group called "a mouthpiece for the Republican party."

In response, Fox News vice president David Rhodes said, "News organizations will want to think twice before getting involved in the Nevada Democratic caucus which appears to be controlled by radical, fringe, out-of-state interest groups."

Fox IS a mouthpiece for the Republican party. And I seriously doubt that Harry Reid is going to be controlled by "radical, fringe, out-of-state interest groups". Sure, Harry has displayed the rubber backbone problem in standing up to this brutal administration, but he is right to hold Fox accountable. Now, he should go one step further and convince ALL Democrats to boycott appearing on this fascist network.

In the AP interview at a coffee shop on the second day of a weekend visit to Iowa, Obama said he has been surprised at how quickly the intensity of the presidential race has picked up. He brushed aside media reports on issues from stock trades to parking tickets.

"You know it's to be expected," Obama said. "I was surprised that my parking tickets from 20 years ago got so much attention. But this is part of the vetting process when you're running for the most powerful position on earth, and it's to be expected that things get magnified."

Obama said he was confident he would withstand scrutiny. "Fortunately, I feel very comfortable about how I've conducted my life, and I think I will survive the vetting process with flying colors," he said.

Funny, but for a guy who people think hasn't got enough experience to be a good president, he is certainly getting more than his share of mud tossed at him, especially at this stage of Campaign 2008. Do you have the feeling that the GOP is scared of Obama? I wonder who scares them more, Obama or Hillary?

Any Hillary attacks will likely not throw her because she has already been through the shit storm from 1991 on, and she has not only survived, she has thrived -- nothing can possibly shake her. So far, Obama has handled these issues well. I think he has shown he is a fighter -- something the Democrats desperately need right now.

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