Morning news shows are a goldmine of cringe-inducing moments and epic fail goodness. The title alone makes me laugh because only half of it is accurate due to the fact that it airs in the morning. By far the unintentionally funniest show is that morning cup of crazy on Fox News, Fox and Friends. They truly cover news stories that no one else does as their on-air promos suggest because no one in their right mind would consider it news. I'm finally starting to understand Walter Cronkite's distrust of the 24-hour news network model: you'll call anything news to fill time.
Hosts Steve Doocy, Gretchen Carlson and Brian Kilmeade actually took President Barack Obama to task for ordering a Budweiser instead of an American-brewed beer during his recent "Beer Summit" with Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Sgt. James Crowley.
If I led the marketing campaign for Bud, I would run with coverage immediately. "Drink Budweiser instead of Coors! It won't give you the crazies!"
And this wasn't just a three-minute spot they dedicated to the topic. According to a recent episode of The Daily Show and a clip posted at Gawker, Fox and Friends must have dedicated even more time to Obama's snubbing of domestic beer companies. Even one of their reporters in the White House Press Corps brought up Obama's beer loyalty during a White House press briefing with Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. I'm glad I didn't watch all this as it aired because it would have driven me to drink before noon.
A politician's beer choice shouldn't get more than a minute of air time on a national news network. It's barely worth the time discussing between three ale-swilling drunks who don't have the motor skills to pick anything except "It's Raining Men" on the jukebox.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
8-02-2009 @ 11:18AM
midwich said...
When will you guys learn to separate your politics from your tv criticism? This flagrantly biased piece is exactly the kind of thing that drove me away as a regular reader before the last election.
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8-02-2009 @ 12:50PM
Brett Alan said...
Despite what Fox News and other conservative mouthpieces would have you believe "flagrantly biased" does not mean "including facts that are inconvenient to conservatives". This was a ridiculous story that Fox would never have considered doing about a Republican. Just because you don't consider it "politically correct" to say so doesn't mean that there's even a slight hint of bias in the TV Squad story.
8-02-2009 @ 1:44PM
hub said...
Hahahahahahaha.......*breath*....hahahahahahahah....
Really? "*Flagrantly* biased"? You might want to look up the definition of flagrant. This is pointing out ridiculous "news" coverage. It would be equally as ridiculous if CNN or MSNBC had done it.
8-02-2009 @ 11:35AM
Mark Cohen said...
Agreed - this isn't news- or blog-worthy.
As an avid beer drinker, I'd also like to point out that Blue Moon is made by Coors; they thus had an american beer!
And are we so scared of all things foreign that they can't simply have a beer they enjoy? Ah, right, this was from the crowd that made fun of Obama for getting dijon mustard...
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8-02-2009 @ 3:38PM
Alicia R. said...
Blog worthy? Anything is blog worthy, and this made me go and look up to see who exactly owned Bud and Miller. And they aren't American Companies (Although part of Miller is still owned by one.)
8-02-2009 @ 11:50AM
bc said...
Budweiser is still brewed in the US; it's just owned by a Belgian-based corporation. And you know that if the US government had done anything to prevent an American icon like Anheuser-Busch from being sold to foreigners, conservatives would have been up in arms about anti-capitalism.
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8-02-2009 @ 12:45PM
bc said...
In fact, it's difficult to find an "American" beer outside of microbrews (which is not necessarily a bad thing, but they can be expensive)--Anheuser-Busch is owned by Belgian InBev, Coors is 50% Canadian (MolsonCoors), and Miller is owned by South African Brewing. Pabst is American-owned, but doesn't operate any of its own breweries--all of its beer is made by Miller or Lion.
8-02-2009 @ 1:12PM
ac said...
They should of went with Yuengling...
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8-02-2009 @ 3:39PM
Alicia R. said...
Amen! Actually that was what my husband said, is Yingling the only American brewery left? (Besides the microbrews)
8-02-2009 @ 1:43PM
Rebecca said...
When I saw this, I stared at the screen for a few minutes just thinking "really? no....I mean....really?"
This would have been ridiculous no matter the alleged political persuasion of the reporters.
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8-02-2009 @ 1:55PM
Jimmy said...
If Coca-Cola was bought by a German company, would it be suddenly be an international cola, and not American? No.
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8-02-2009 @ 5:12PM
Chet said...
Yes, yes it would.
Is Toyota American because it builds some cars here?
8-02-2009 @ 3:12PM
Jimmy_MO said...
Is this even surprising to anyone? I mean, if you're a Republican there are legitimate criticisms you can make about a president from the opposing party; however, for the most part Fox is comprised of a bunch whiny school children. One only needs to look at the frothing Bill O'Reilly.
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8-02-2009 @ 3:16PM
Big Al said...
Walter Cronkite isn't just rolling over in his grave, he's spinning like a top! I agree, this is just plain ridiculous coverage, no matter the network, no matter the political affiliation.
You can take the President to task for his taste in beer, considering there are so many tasty microbrews available (Bud is swill), but that's about it. To make this a political issue is outright, to put it mildly, idiotic.
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8-02-2009 @ 5:42PM
Regular Cup Of Joe said...
This is funny, it reminds me of how celebrities act. They want (demand) people to pay attention to them, and act like children when the the press does not give them the exposure they want. They demand that their political views are aired, but take no responsibily in how it will hurt the regular person. Then when the paparazzi gets involved, giving them exposure like they demand, their private lives are off limits.
Here we have a President that used this as a PR event. And make no mistake about it, it is just that, a PR event (look at how the chairs were arranged in a 3-camera layout for a TV show effect). So when people treat it like a celebrity event - after all, this is not a President, he is a celebrity and demands to be worshipped like one - people are upset. CNN even reported that the White House reported days before what each was going to be drinking (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/07/29/bee-choice-at-obama-meeting-touches-off-new-debate/), furthering that this was a PR event.
As for FOX making it an issue about the nationality of the beer, you need to look to others also, including one person who has a big -D next to his name. In the article I referenced above, Richard Neal, a **Democrat** from Massachusetts, sent a letter to the whitehouse asking to use domestic beers (specifically Sam Adams). But that is ignored because we can't criticize a Democrat for doing the same thing, we need to go after that evil FOX news.
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8-02-2009 @ 6:14PM
Dr. Steve Brule said...
If that was the case, then why the hell didn't Fox News criticize him for staging this, or not coming off as genuine, or...anything BESIDES the motherfletching beer choice?? There could be different arguments as to why this whole 'beer summit' thing is stupid, but criticizing the beer choices and devoting that much time to this talking point is idiotic.
Basically you just pointed out how badly Fox News botched a logical counter-attack.
8-02-2009 @ 6:45PM
Regular Cup Of Joe said...
You are right, Steve. The problem is that FOX needs this type of thing to fill air time. MSNBC does not have problems filling air time with all that time they devote to Olberman giving the Nazi salute and calling Bush a fascist, or Matthews getting a chill up his leg, or using the original slogan of "The Power of Change" (no politician used a similar slogan), or giving a tour with Obama in the White House, or...
Is FOX more right leaning than the others? Sure. But to claim that only they do this type of news story, while the others give pure, hard hitting news, only news, and is in no way unbiased for the left, is a disingenuous joke.
8-03-2009 @ 3:17AM
Picviewer said...
Surprised they got the beer company right, anyone else see them labeling Iran as Egypt the other day? FoX news the special ed of news.
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8-03-2009 @ 5:05AM
Nathaniel said...
I actually found myself wondering about the non-domestic beer thing, too, so to devote only a minute and a half to it, whatever. But in the end, it was more about pulling two guys together to feel better or something, and yeah, enhancing Obama's image as a regular American guy. Say what you will about his politics (I personally don't have an opinion and willingly admit my ignorance), but I like Obama the guy.
And yeah, at least Bud is still brewed in the US, but you know what? It's true, some foreign beers are just better!
But seriously, when the government is footing the bill, you don't order some puny regularly-priced beer available for $6 or so a six-pack on the shelf, you order a freakin' St. Bernardus abt. 12!
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8-03-2009 @ 6:22AM
Martin Sundstedt said...
Bah, pointing fingers at someone for not drinking american beer ? If they are so upset about using being unpatriotic for using non-american things, they should look to themselves first.
Bet you a hundred dollars those machines/cameras/computers they use are made in some factory in China or Taiwan. In fact if they would live as they want others to live, the channel would be dark as a dungeon. Which wouldn't be such a bad thing...
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